Ries was once again convinced—Ketir was definitely a swindler.
“Ugggghhh…”
A towering stack of papers loomed in front of him. It was crammed full of what was supposedly essential knowledge a proper aide should know. He tried scribbling out a few of the terms on a blank sheet and repeating them out loud, but even that had its limits.
“That’s enough memorization for today.”
“There’s… more?!”
“Yes. If you want to finish within the week, then you’ll need to cover this much each day.”
That was the last straw.
His brain, already overstuffed with unnecessary information, was spinning and overheating. Right there on the spot, Ries popped and changed forms.
The human who had been sitting in the chair vanished, and in his place remained a yellow cat. This time, his clothes didn’t fall and collapse over his head—his magical device had done its job.
Ketir opened his mouth to say something, but it was too late—Ries had already bolted and dove behind Justyn, burrowing in for cover.
His plump little body tucked itself completely out of sight, save for his twitching tail that stuck out, sweeping the air like a curious periscope.
“……”
“……”
The two remaining humans silently stared. To be more precise, they engaged in a wordless standoff, their gazes locked in mutual understanding.
Ketir glared openly at his superior. The look said, Please stop shielding him already. Justyn noticed and awkwardly averted his eyes.
Even though Ries hadn’t seen the exchange, he could feel it. He knew—his master was trying to protect him.
“Mreow! Meow, meow, meow!”
Just like a puppy becomes fearless in its owner’s arms, Ries mewled defiantly from behind Justyn’s back. The sounds were feline, of course—Ketir couldn’t understand a word—but the meaning was clear enough from context. My head’s gonna explode! I don’t wanna study!
Ketir let out a long, lukewarm sigh.
His tired eyes turned to Justyn.
“Your Grace.”
“……Mm.”
“I’ll respect your wishes. But just know this—every delay in his studies means less time spent by your side.”
“……”
Ketir, who had served by Justyn’s side for many years, struck right at the heart of the matter. Behind the mask, Justyn’s crimson eyes wavered with hesitation.
“…Eh?”
There was no way Ries missed that. He slowly peeked his face out from behind Justyn’s back to get a look at him. The once-firm profile was now slowly turning his way.
Their eyes met. And with that, came a tiny whisper.
“…But.”
“Mrow?”
“Just ten minutes. I’ll cover for you.”
“……”
His little triangle mouth dropped open. Betrayal welled up in his silvery eyes.
Justyn squeezed his eyes shut and looked away from his beloved cat.
To Ries, it was a devastating blow.
He froze, body and tail stiff as if he were a broken toy. It wasn’t until the full ten minutes had passed that he finally reacted.
Dragged back to the desk, Ries wailed in frustration.
“Rrrraaaaoooowww!”
How could you do this to me?!
Claws out, he scratched furiously at the desk in protest—but nothing changed. Ketir remained dutifully at his side, and Justyn offered no help.
In the end, Ries accepted reality.
…I guess I really have to study…
He sniffled as he stared at the fresh scratch marks gouged into the solid wood of the desk.
***
Five days later.
Ries had finally reclaimed his freedom.
“Barely, but you passed.”
“…You didn’t have to say that part.”
The papers sprawled before him were covered in red ink. All of it from grading.
That heartless Ketir—even pushing him to study wasn’t enough, he’d actually prepared a test. His intentions were obvious: Fail and you’ll study even more!
And so, Ries had been forced to go back and review everything he’d skimmed over. The result of that painful effort was now before him. He avoided looking at the red markings with blurred, weary eyes.
— Oof, you got all this wrong?
“…Please don’t.”
But Sefiut didn’t seem inclined to let it go. He used his fins to flutter through the exam papers and clicked his tongue.
— Messing up such basic questions? Tsk. You missed almost everything on the finance section. Not good with numbers, huh? You’ll need a lot of time to learn properly.
And that wasn’t the end of it. You should’ve done it this way, that part goes like this…—a flood of tactical advice poured from the doll’s round mouth, enough to make his head spin just from listening.
You’d think he was actually applying for a real aide position.
As Ries’s face grew paler and paler, a gentle voice interrupted the barrage.
“Congratulations.”
Justyn had approached quietly, his presence snapping Ries out of his daze. For a moment, he lit up with joy—then immediately remembered all the times Justyn had turned his back on him.
“……”
“Uh…”
His gaze turned cold and pouty. Sefiut’s commentary faded into the background, irrelevant noise.
Justyn flinched under the silent accusation. He swallowed, clenched his jaw, and blinked several times. Eventually, he offered a quiet apology.
“…I’m sorry.”
“For what?”
“For pretending not to notice how hard it was for you.”
So he had noticed. The sharp sting Ries had been nursing started to soften almost immediately. But Justyn wasn’t done.
“I got greedy. I just… wanted to reintroduce you to the estate in this form. I should’ve asked what you wanted first…”
“Huh?”
It hit him like a splash of cold water.
To see everything he’d always looked up at from below—from this perspective?
Tempting didn’t even begin to describe it.
And if Justyn was with him the whole time? Even better. After being cooped up studying for days, he was itching to do something—and this definitely called to him.
Ries completely forgot about pouting and shouted in delight.
“Let’s go right now!”
His silver eyes sparkled. If he were still in his cat form, his tail would’ve been swishing madly behind him.
Justyn was about to nod, clearly caught up in Ries’s excitement—
“Your Grace. The stand-in hasn’t arrived yet.”
“Ah.”
Ketir, who had been sorting through the test papers, chimed in. That one sentence was enough to bring the two back down to reality.
Right…
Ries scratched his cheek awkwardly.
The stand-in—someone who’d help integrate his fake identity, Rienstine Elton, seamlessly into the ducal estate’s narrative.
To avoid bizarre rumors like “Where did this Elton kid pop out from all of a sudden?”, they needed solid, verifiable evidence: witness accounts, estate entry records, and so on. The stand-in would take care of all that.
I heard the Crown Prince personally selected them…
When he first heard that, he’d been impressed by how meticulous and fast the man was. He’d almost ruined all that with his impulsiveness.
Still, there was a simple solution.
“Let’s go tomorrow.”
“…Okay.”
If not today, then tomorrow. Ries leaned close and whispered as he took Justyn’s hand.
For a moment, the man’s fingers twitched—but then they gently closed around his own.
***
The next day, the stand-in arrived.
A figure stepped out of the carriage, wrapped in a robe. Through the occasional glimpse of hair and eyes, it was clear they bore a striking resemblance to Ries.
Barely a few minutes had passed since he began spying from the window, when someone knocked softly on the office door.
It opened, and the person he’d just seen appeared inside.
“It’s an honor to meet you, Your Grace.”
A face so nondescript it would leave only a vague “I think I’ve seen them somewhere before?” impression on passersby—perfect for a body double.
“There’s a message from His Highness the Crown Prince… but before I deliver it, may I trouble you for a moment of privacy?”
“Go ahead.”
The stand-in immediately removed the robe. After smoothing out the plain inner garments a few times… surprisingly, the clothes transformed into a maid uniform.
“?”
She pulled off a wig, then expertly tied a lacy headband around her hair. Before anyone could fully process it, a completely different person was standing in front of them.
She’s a woman?!
Even the gender didn’t match. They’d been so thoroughly fooled that they were left speechless.
The same faint features remained, but no one would doubt that the maid before them and Rienstine Elton were the same person.
Once dressed, the woman bowed politely.
“Thank you. Now, I’ll deliver the message.”
She pulled out a sealed letter from her robes. Justyn took it without hesitation and opened it.
Though hastily written, the penmanship still retained an air of aristocratic refinement. Ries read over his shoulder.
Before we could secure the veterinarian, he attempted to contact House Marilon. We intend to monitor him for the time being, so you should keep an eye on the Marquess as well.
At the bottom was the imperial seal—proof that the message was genuine.
Justyn stiffened at the familiar name, while Ries grimaced.
The woman, who had kept her eyes lowered and her expression neutral the entire time, added a final remark.
“Once you’ve read it, His Highness asks that the letter be burned.”
“…Understood. I’ll do that.”
With that short reminder—part request, part warning—the letter met its end in the fireplace, just as the Crown Prince had intended. The woman took her leave swiftly, as if her job was done.
She was like a sudden storm—appearing without warning, gone just as fast. As Ries stared at the now-empty spot she’d occupied, then down at the ashes in the hearth, he muttered under his breath.
That guy is never helpful.
The smug face he’d nearly forgotten over the past few days reappeared in his mind. That infuriating man had only ever been useful once—
When he turned a blind eye to Ries’s escape.
Other than that?
Ries shivered at the memory of his time spent in that man’s estate.
