***
Pak— pak— pak—
I stopped moving for a moment and looked around. Thankfully, there were no humans passing by. Reassured, I started digging again.
Pak pakpak—
I’m digging right now. To be precise, I’m looking for a necklace I buried underground. These were things I buried when I first entered the Imperial Palace—fairly large and quite valuable items. Sure, I’ve been given several new necklaces since then, but that’s that, and this is this. Since everyone thinks these were lost, it should be fine if I secretly take them back with me.
Pak— pak— pak—
My grandpa’s rich, so if he wanted to buy something, he could buy anything he wanted. But he’s a miser who’ll buy things for me without hesitation and absolutely never buy anything for himself. And if I worked part-time or something to buy him a gift, instead of being proud or happy, he’d grab the back of his neck and faint, saying I made his precious grandboy suffer. These weren’t earned through labor anyway, so if I take them back and give one to Grandpa and one to Grandma, it works out perfectly.
Pakpakpak—
After digging for a while, something catches at the tip of my claw. I gently scrape away the surrounding dirt and uncover the buried necklaces. I’d forgotten about them for a long time, but they’re much bigger than I remembered. Feeling pleased, I carefully stack the two necklaces together and pick up the cords in my mouth.
Now I just need to secretly take these to my room in the Crown Prince’s palace.
Well, “my room” is just what it’s called. Ever since my patron found out who I really am, I haven’t gone in there at all. Still, if I hide them deep in a corner, no one will ever find them.
Hmm. But……
If I take them all the way to my room, I’ll run into a lot of humans.
They’ve got pretty large gemstones on them, so if anyone sees them, it’ll be a huge commotion. When the necklace was lost before, the maids turned the room upside down trying to find it.
What am I supposed to do with this?
I look around in frustration, but no good idea comes to mind.
What do I do……
As I stand there blankly worrying, a large leaf catches my eye. I drag it over with my front paw. When I place the necklaces I was holding onto the leaf, the size difference becomes obvious. I pin the necklaces down with one front paw and start folding the leaf over them with the other, rolling it up like wrapping a package. It comes undone a few times, so I have to redo it, but this much is manageable.
Making sure the tightly rolled leaf doesn’t come loose, I bite down on the end and start walking toward my room.
“Oh my, Nabi. What’s that?”
A leaf.
“Nabi, why are you carrying a leaf?”
Just a leaf.
The passing maids each say a word as they go by. Normally, I would’ve let out a gentle meow for the pretty ladies, but now’s not the time. If I open my mouth, the rolled-up leaf will unravel and expose the necklaces.
Walking briskly as if I were just carrying an ordinary leaf, I reach my room and hide the necklaces under a low cabinet. Even finding them, let alone pulling them out, would be difficult for a human. I’ll take them with me properly—turn one into Grandpa’s brooch and one into Grandma’s ring.
After hiding the necklaces, I sit down for a moment to rest. Then I glance down and notice my paws are filthy with dirt. If I go to my patron like this, he might get suspicious. There’s no way he’d think the normally fastidious me went digging around in the dirt.
I should wash my paws before going to him—but where should I wash them…?
Nyaaang—
The moment the cry echoes through the open door, the atmosphere in the study changes.
The expressions of those who had been stiffly hunched over their work at desks in the corner suddenly brighten, as if they’d just met a savior. Calyx withdraws the sharp aura he’d been radiating all this time and looks toward the boy padding softly into the study.
Nyaang—
When their eyes meet, the boy lets out an affectionate cry.
Behind the boy as he pads closer, dainty pawprints—left by damp paws—are stamped here and there. He must’ve been splashing around in water somewhere.
The boy hops up onto the desk, bumps his head lightly against Calyx’s hand, then rubs against it insistently. Calyx strokes the boy’s head and lets out a bitter smile.
He seems to be in a good mood. The sound of the boy’s purring is loud enough to fill the entire study.
It doesn’t seem to be just because of the petting. His half-lidded eyes are brimming with satisfaction.
The thought of why doesn’t last long. Unlike his front paws, still wet with moisture, the area around his mouth is smeared with dirt here and there—he must’ve been playing in the soil. Even so, Calyx doesn’t ask whether he’d been digging around. Seeing that he’d washed his own front paws, it’s clear he didn’t want to be found out.
“Looks like you had fun.”
Nyaaang—
The boy answers enthusiastically, purring away. Swallowing a sigh, Calyx strokes the boy’s back.
It’s a strange boy—one who offers up boundless trust so freely, yet refuses to give up even the smallest thing easily. He’d thought that after starting from light kisses and slowly putting in effort, he’d finally made the boy fully his. But once again, the boy doesn’t yield so easily. No—beyond that, he’s trying to leave him entirely.
Surely, the boy thinks of their nightly kisses and mutual caresses as something special too. Otherwise, he wouldn’t say things like telling him not to kiss other women. And yet, if he thinks of him as something that special, why does he still want to leave?
After committing such a cruel act—asking him to personally find a way for him to leave—he comes close like this again, entrusting his body without any defenses and purring away. As if nothing had happened.
“The book. You still haven’t found it?”
To that question, he answered that he hadn’t. Even if he had found it, he would’ve burned every last one, but in truth, he hadn’t found it. At least he can take comfort in the fact that he didn’t have to lie to the boy.
Promising to search every other country if necessary was, even by his own reckoning, an utterly ridiculous thing to do. Still, seeing the boy’s expression brighten even a little was some consolation.
If there were a concrete way for the boy to leave, he would block it all and destroy it. But there’s no way to stop the boy from simply deciding to leave on his own. How could he make the boy abandon that thought?
He was raised wrapped in love from a young age—it’s only natural that he misses that place. What’s bitter is the fact that he didn’t give his heart enough to this place to abandon it.
For now, things will be quiet. Having promised to send people to search other countries, the boy will likely forget about leaving for a while. Whether the boy’s mind will change during that time remains to be seen—but that’s just a matter of putting in more effort. And if that doesn’t work… maybe he should play the fool, like he’d said while drunk—act gentle and harmless, someone who can’t do anything without the boy. Thinking that, Calyx lets out a bitter smile.
***
“Lyx.”
At my call, my patron answers by pressing his lips against my earlobe. I bite down on my lower lip and steel myself.
I’m about to tell my patron that I’m leaving the Imperial Palace for a while.
I’d planned to wait a few days, until his mood improved, before saying anything—but I’m too anxious to endure it. All I can think about is finding the witch as soon as possible, lifting the curse, and going back to that forest. Just thinking about leaving behind my patron, who looks so happy just being with me, makes my chest feel tight enough to make breathing hard. Still, I have to go back to my grandpa. I brace myself and open my mouth.
“Lyx. I’m thinking of going to see the witch.”
The movement of my patron, who’d been holding me from behind and pressing his lips against me, stops dead. I feel my heart start pounding wildly and steady my breathing. It’s beating so fast, like I’ve committed some terrible crime. It’s probably guilt and regret.
“…The witch?”
At Lyx’s quiet question, I nod.
“Yeah. The witch. I told you I was cursed and turned into a cat, right? There’s a chance I can turn back into a human now, so I want to go ask the witch how to lift the curse.”
When the arms around my waist withdraw and I turn around, my patron is staring at me. His face, devoid of any trace of a smile, looks cold. I reach out and knead his face gently with my hands.
“The curse……”
After staying silent for a moment, my patron slowly opens his mouth. But I cut him off quickly. If I didn’t, I felt like my resolve would crumble.
“I’ll lift the curse, and while I’m at it, I want to go back to the forest where I fell. Since I came from there, I figured the way back might be there too.”
My voice probably started trembling near the end. Even though I forced strength into my belly to speak.
My patron stays silent, his mouth closed. Without realizing it, I keep trying to avert my gaze, and I have to forcibly rein myself in. If I look away here, I feel like I’ll truly become a terrible bastard.
