“Myaaaak! Myaaaak!”
Yellian’s eyes practically spun at the sight of the large, steaming grilled fish. It didn’t know what kind of fish it was, but its considerable size and plumpness made it look incredibly delicious.
“No, Yellian. It’s hot right now.”
Ah, it’s tastier when it’s hot! What’s the point if it cools down?!
Yellian shot a fierce glare at Elton, who was trying to stop it, and nimbly dodged his hand to approach the grilled fish. It was already starving to the point of madness, and the savory smell of the grilled fish on an empty stomach drove it out of its mind.
“Wam!”
Before Elton could stop it again, Yellian hurriedly buried its nose into the fish. The moist, tender flesh flooded into its mouth. Overwhelmed with happiness, Yellian unknowingly let out a purring sound once more.
“Purr purr purr purr.”
“Elton, what on earth is that sound? It’s making strange noises.”
“Ah, that’s purring. It’s a sound cats make when they’re happy, so Yellian must be feeling really good.”
What?!
Hearing Elton’s response, Yellian was struck with shock. It hadn’t even realized it was purring. Though it firmly believed its mind was human, it was flustered by this cat-like behavior. Yet, contrary to Yellian’s thoughts, its body was indeed purring like a cat. Fortunately, as soon as it realized this, the purring stopped as if by magic.
Feeling dejected, Yellian licked at the remaining fish flesh. At first, it tried to bite into it with its teeth, but not much got into its mouth.
While pondering how to eat more fish in one bite, it instinctively licked with its tongue, and the rough surface caught the fish flesh, pulling it into its mouth.
Even this felt very cat-like, but instead of feeling repulsed, Yellian was satisfied with being able to eat a lot of fish at once. Such was the fickle nature of a person’s heart… no, a cat’s heart.
After eating its fill of fish, Yellian’s belly protruded roundly. Satisfied, it lay down on its back, purring again, but quickly regained its senses and fell silent.
“Elton, that thing’s belly looks like it’s about to burst. Is it okay?”
“Yes, they say that kittens’ bellies swell up like that since they don’t grow sideways when they eat. It won’t be like that once it gets a bit bigger.”
“What a bizarre creature, really.”
Yellian shot a discontented glare at Leonard, who muttered while clicking his tongue, but soon succumbed to the weight of its bloated belly and sprawled out flat on its back.
Elton burst into a chuckle at the sight, while Leonard looked exasperated, but Yellian didn’t even bat an eye.
* * *
It was already the fifth day since Yellian had started living at Leonard’s house.
Yellian gave a disinterested glance at the grilled fish in front of it, then abruptly turned its head and swatted the fish with its front paw.
“What kind of insolent behavior is this?”
“Myat.”
“You didn’t like the cat food, so I’ve been bringing you grilled fish every meal. And instead of being grateful, you act this insolent?”
Leonard crossed his arms and looked down at Yellian, giving a scolding that wasn’t quite a scolding.
But from Yellian’s perspective, it had its own grievances. Imagine eating nothing but grilled fish every day for days on end. Wouldn’t you get sick of it? On top of that, it was fish without even a hint of salt.
Even though it’s said that the amount of salt humans eat is fatal to cats, Yellian’s true nature was human.
Its tongue had been seasoned by all sorts of spicy foods like side dishes, spicy skewers, and cheese snowins. So eating unseasoned grilled fish every day was torture.
Even that only lasted for about three days, after which Elton insisted on balancing its nutrition by sprinkling cat food over the fish. In the end, Yellian had no choice but to eat the cat food as well.
“If you don’t want to eat, then starve.”
“Myaaaaak!”
“And you even talk back every time. Truly insolent.”
“Myap!”
This had become a daily routine of bickering between Leonard and Yellian. It was a fight with no winner, but the two engaged in these battles of nerves several times a day.
“Eat or don’t eat, it’s up to you, but don’t cause trouble. Today is an important day.”
Yellian pondered Leonard’s words deeply. Why was today important? It vaguely remembered overhearing something between Elton and Leonard, but couldn’t recall it right away. Then, a sudden realization flashed through its mind, and its eyes sparkled.
“Why are your eyes gleaming so ominously?”
“Myak.”
To think it was being scolded even for its eyes sparkling, Yellian retorted with a tone full of protest, though in truth, its intentions were indeed impure.
Today was the day a banquet was being held at Duke Abrams’ estate. It was said that numerous nobles would attend, and there was much talk about whether the Emperor would come or not.
Emperor Abigail Rapelson was the main character of this novel. While Yellian wasn’t entirely uninterested in seeing him in person, it was naturally more focused on the variety of foods that would fill the banquet hall.
Yellian resolved to escape no matter what and fill its hungry belly at the banquet hall.
* * *
“What are you trying to do?”
“Myaa.”
Yellian followed Leonard closely wherever he went. It looked up at him with innocent eyes, pretending to know nothing. Leonard seemed suspicious of this unusually innocent gaze.
Yellian’s goal was to follow Leonard out of the room and join the banquet. Escape was a secondary concern; first, it would fill its belly at the banquet, then think about escaping.
“Haha, looks like it likes you, my lord.”
“No way. Just a while ago, this thing was acting so insolent.”
“Kittens are all like that, aren’t they?”
Even with Elton’s reply, Leonard didn’t let go of his suspicions. He was certain this insolent feline humanoid kitten wanted something.
“Shall we head out soon?”
At Elton’s words, Leonard gave a slight nod. As he moved toward the door, Yellian hurriedly followed on its short legs.
Leonard narrowed his eyes at Yellian. He couldn’t understand why it was acting like this when it usually didn’t. Normally, it looked at Leonard with disdain, so why was it following him with such innocent, clear eyes now?
“Myak, myak, myak!”
Blocked by the door, Yellian cried pitifully. Leonard was still wondering what scheme this cunning creature was plotting, but Elton seemed to think otherwise.
“My lord, couldn’t we take Yellian to the banquet? It looks like it wants to go with us.”
“Say something that makes sense.”
“I’m not saying you have to hold it the whole time, just let it roam a bit. Besides, we’re not letting it outside the house, just keeping it in the banquet hall. That should be fine. And Yellian isn’t just any cat…….”
“Myak! Myak! Myak!”
Yellian, praising Elton for perfectly grasping its intentions, interrupted him with urgency. It cried loudly, full of intent to go to the banquet. At that, Leonard looked straight at Yellian.
“What, you want to go to the banquet?”
“Myak!”
“You’re quick to answer at times like this.”
“Myak!”
“Fine, do as you please. But don’t cause any trouble.”
“Myak!”
In the end, Yellian was carried out of the room in Elton’s arms.
This was its first outing since coming to this room. And it was to a banquet hall filled with delicious food, no less. Excited, Yellian couldn’t help but purr again without realizing it.
As soon as they arrived at the entrance of the banquet hall, Elton carefully set Yellian down.
“Don’t cause trouble and behave, Yellian.”
“Myaa!”
Yellian replied energetically and carefully scanned the inside of the banquet hall.
On one side of the banquet hall, a long table stretched endlessly, laden with all sorts of food. Seeing the various dishes arranged as if at a high-end buffet, Yellian swallowed hard.
Its pale gray-blue eyes gleamed with a hint of madness.
Indeed. It had been days since Yellian last felt the sensation of being full. It nibbled at the food given to it to avoid starving to death, but that was all.
Of course. For the past few days, all Yellian had eaten was unseasoned grilled fish.
At first, it refused to eat cat food, thinking it had human dignity. But when hunger became unbearable and its eyes spun, it had no choice but to crunch on the cat food.
Seeing the deliciously prepared food, Yellian’s eyes spun again. Unable to hold back any longer, it charged toward the food, weaving through people’s legs with its short limbs moving busily toward the table.
“Kyaa! What’s a cat doing here!”
“Oh my, how cute.”
“A cat at a banquet, of all things.”
It thought it was running swiftly, but with its short legs, it was more of a toddle. Moreover, though Yellian would never admit it, its tail stood straight up in excitement at the sight of food.
The nobles attending the banquet were startled by the sudden appearance of a small beige cat. Paying no mind to them, Yellian just kept toddling toward the food on its short legs.
Finally reaching the table, Yellian looked up at it. It seemed impossibly high, but who was Yellian? Though it didn’t want to admit it, it was a cat, an animal specialized in jumping high.
‘Alright, let’s give jumping a try.’
Yellian tilted its head up stiffly and tensed its hind legs. Then, with all its strength, it leaped.
“Uwaaaah!”
Perhaps because it wasn’t used to a cat’s body, Yellian ambitiously jumped but failed to land on the table. Instead, it barely clung to the tablecloth with its claws, dangling halfway down the table. As it struggled not to fall, it heard murmurs from behind.
“W-Wait, didn’t it just say ‘Uwaaaah’?”
“Right……. I’m not the only one who heard that, am I?”
It seemed people had heard the scream it let out without realizing. The thought of what might happen if it was discovered to be a talking cat made Yellian’s mind race.
After all the effort it had put into hiding that it could talk over the past few days, it couldn’t be exposed so pathetically like this.
“……U-Unyaaaang, unyaaaang!”
In a rush, it decided to mimic a cat’s cry. It became a cat that cried strangely, but there was no other option at the moment. Yellian desperately hoped they would fall for it.
“Ahaha, what was that? It was just a cry.”
“This cat cries in such a bizarre way.”
“Yeah, exactly.”
Fortunately, people were simple-minded. After all, it would be easier to think a cat cried strangely than to believe it could speak human words.
Relieved, Yellian began climbing up the tablecloth, sharpening its pitiful claws.
“But is it okay to let a cat climb onto the table?”
“Of course not. How dare it try to climb up where people’s food is, making everything dirty. I’ll take care of it.”
Hearing the angry voice from behind, Yellian’s heart raced. Even if it got chased away, it decided to at least take one bite before being kicked out. With that thought, Yellian hurriedly moved toward the top of the table.
Though still unaccustomed to a cat’s body, perhaps due to its desperate desire, Yellian managed to climb onto the table without slipping further.
A feast of delicacies lay right before its eyes. Yellian opened its tiny mouth as wide as possible, ready to lunge at the nearest chop steak.
“I’m pretty sure I told you not to cause trouble.”
“Nya, ah…….”
Along with a deep, heavy voice, a frail cry escaped Yellian’s open mouth. Then, with its scruff grabbed tightly, Yellian was lifted into the air.
The one who had lifted Yellian by the scruff was Leonard.
Yellian glared at Leonard, whose image filled its eyes, while flailing its pitiful front paws in resistance. However, Leonard’s expression didn’t change as he spoke indifferently.
“Just eat your cat food.”
Comment