Yellian stared blankly up at the human before it. The person was none other than Emperor Abigail Rapelson, the main beastkin from
Seeing a character from a book in person felt novel. Of course, Leonard and Elton were also characters from a novel, but the feeling with Abigail was different.
And understandably so, since Yellian knew well of Abigail’s tragic end. Knowing the bleak future that lay ahead while the person themselves was unaware of it made Yellian’s feelings complicated.
Yellian let out a short sigh and shook its head. At that moment, it felt a gaze from above. Its eyes widened as it instinctively looked up at the person watching it.
‘……Wow, are they crazy? Why are they so beautiful?’
The silver hair resembling moonlight and the mysterious violet eyes were incredibly beautiful. It was as if they were a perfectly crafted ball-jointed doll.
While it was natural for Leonard and Abigail to boast striking beauty as the main characters of the novel, Yellian couldn’t help but wonder who this person was to possess such breathtaking allure.
Just as Yellian couldn’t take its eyes off the man, the man was also staring intently at Yellian. The strange feeling of being unable to look away from each other was oddly unsettling.
Finally, Yellian subtly turned its head away. The silent gaze they had shared for a while was broken.
“Really a cat, huh. The rumors were true.”
At Abigail’s muttered words of amazement, Yellian looked at him. Then, Abigail gently waved his hand right in front of Yellian’s nose.
“Butterfly, aren’t you a good one? Want to catch it?”
“…….”
Yellian stared at the fingers with a dubious expression. It didn’t like Abigail’s behavior, treating it as if it were an actual cat.
“Why no reaction? Don’t cats usually like this?”
Abigail tilted his head in confusion. He liked cats. However, liking them was separate from actually knowing much about them.
And for good reason-cats had long been viewed negatively in the imperial family. They were considered impure animals.
Of course, in the last few decades, more commoners had started keeping cats, and as more people grew to like them, the image of cats had improved significantly.
However, in the imperial family, known for being conservative in every aspect, cats were still regarded with suspicion. Thus, no matter how much Abigail liked cats, he could neither keep one nor live with one.
For someone like Abigail, the only chance to see cats was during his secret outings, where he might spot a stray. Then, he heard the news that his longtime friend Leonard had started keeping a cat.
Abigail had repeatedly tried to persuade Leonard, who bluntly refused his request to see the cat. He even used the banquet as an excuse to visit the duke’s estate, intending to subtly ask to see the cat, but Leonard didn’t allow even that.
He later heard from a confidant that the cat had briefly caused a commotion in the banquet hall, but by then, it was already too late.
Even after that, he asked several times to see the cat. Still, Leonard refused, and an exasperated Abigail, fed up with it, made a unilateral declaration that he would come to the duke’s estate to see the cat.
In any case, after much effort, Abigail finally got to see the cat that Leonard had so fiercely guarded.
Now that he saw it, even though it was quite ugly, it was definitely worth holding close and caring for. Isn’t it said that once you fall for something ugly, there’s no turning back? That’s how Abigail saw it. He thought that if someone fell for this small, ugly, yet cute creature, there’d be no way out.
“Butterfly, come here. Give me your paw, paw.”
“It’s not Butterfly, it’s Yellian. And it’s not intelligent enough to give its paw just because you ask.”
What did you just say, you jerk?!
Yellian immediately glared at Leonard upon hearing his blunt words. Its gray eyes tried to pierce Leonard with what it thought was a fierce gaze. After a brief moment, Yellian deliberately extended its front paw to Abigail as if to show Leonard.
“Oh, Leonard! Did you see that? Yellian just gave me its paw. This little one is incredibly smart, isn’t it?”
“What’s your game?”
Unlike the excited Abigail, Leonard wore an expression full of dissatisfaction. He believed there must be a reason Yellian so willingly gave its paw. To be precise, some ulterior motive.
However, from Yellian’s perspective, there was no hidden dark motive as Leonard suspected. It simply wanted to put Leonard’s arrogant attitude in check.
Did he really see it as just a regular cat? To say it wasn’t intelligent enough-how could he say something so harsh!
“Alright, let’s try again. Paw!”
Thump.
At Abigail’s command, Yellian once again extended its soft front paw. Abigail held the tiny paw in his hand and grinned ear to ear.
“This is amazing! Leonard, Yellian is incredibly clever. Yellian, can you do this too? Lie down!”
Ugh, this is really annoying.
Though Yellian felt irritation rising, seeing Leonard’s expression turn to bewilderment somehow made it feel better. Taking solace in having gotten one over on Leonard, Yellian lowered its body flat to the ground.
“You can even lie down? That’s impressive! How about this? Roll over!”
With Abigail getting more excited and seemingly ready to go through verses two, three, and even four, Yellian finally had to put a stop to it.
“Let’s stop. I’m tired.”
“Huh? Wha-wha-what?!”
Abigail’s eyes widened as if they might pop out. Meanwhile, Leonard clicked his tongue and shook his head, as if he had expected this.
And the beautiful man who had been watching the entire scene with an impassive gaze also looked at Yellian with a shocked expression.
“D-Did it just speak……? It spoke, right? I didn’t mishear, did I……?”
“Yeah. You didn’t mishear.”
To Abigail’s bewildered question, Leonard responded indifferently. Hearing his reply, an even greater shock hit Abigail a moment later.
“A cat that talks! Leonard, why are you so calm about this! Anderson, you heard it too, right? Leonard said I didn’t mishear…… So, this cat really did speak, didn’t it?”
“What’s going on here?”
The beautiful man’s name seemed to be Anderson. The man called Anderson asked Leonard for an explanation. Of course, he also appeared surprised, but compared to Abigail, his level of shock was negligible. He seemed to have been born with a naturally calm disposition.
“It’s a feline humanoid.”
“A feline humanoid?”
“What?”
At Leonard’s reply, Abigail and Anderson questioned simultaneously. Abigail, seemingly stunned by the unexpected words, alternated his gaze between Leonard and Yellian. Anderson stared intently at Yellian.
“You mean…… the feline humanoid? The one from legends? How can this be……. Are you saying feline humanoids actually exist?”
Abigail’s reaction was one of disbelief. He kept muttering to himself while thoroughly examining Yellian. Leonard, seemingly too tired to explain further, simply took a sip of the tea a servant had prepared.
In contrast, Anderson was quiet. Unlike Abigail, he didn’t repeatedly ask questions. He was too busy staring at Yellian with his vivid violet eyes.
“This is unbelievable. So that’s why you refused to show me the cat all this time? Because it’s a feline humanoid?”
“I wasn’t sure myself. This damned feline humanoid brat hadn’t said a single word until now.”
“…….”
At Leonard’s words, which sounded like he was grinding his teeth, Yellian swallowed dryly with a blank expression.
Though it only just realized this, perhaps due to the wide space between its brows, Yellian gave off more of a clueless impression than a sharp one. It looked like the type to get scammed and not even realize it.
Whether it knew Leonard’s thoughts or not, Yellian tried its best to put on a harmless and innocent expression.
“A feline humanoid, really…… I can’t believe it.”
At Anderson’s muttered words, Yellian looked at him. At the same time, a human and a creature’s gazes crossed in the air.
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