Chapter 3
The reason Juan remembered Duke Leonard Abrams so vividly was simple.
The novel was just that shocking.
He was a character obsessed with his long-time friend and confidant, Emperor Abigail Rapelson.
It wasn’t always like that, but one day, when Abigail was nearly killed in an assassination attempt, Leonard realized his feelings and began to go mad.
Wondering what on earth this was, Juan looked it up and found that Leonard, having lost his mind, was referred to by the term ‘mad duke.’
Having become the mad duke, Leonard Abrams grew so obsessed with Abigail that he used his position as lord and his closeness to Abigail to start eliminating imperial figures.
At first, Abigail trusted his friend Leonard and didn’t think he would do anything to harm him.
Thus, he didn’t find it strange when Leonard purged nobles and gradually replaced imperial figures.
By the time Abigail finally sensed something was wrong, the imperial court was already filled with Leonard’s people. In essence, Abigail had become a puppet emperor.
On top of that, Leonard was using imperial servants to poison Abigail. As a result, Abigail nearly lost his eyesight completely.
Despairing over losing both his confidants and his sight, Abigail resented Leonard for doing this to him.
Isolated in the imperial court and robbed of his vision, Abigail couldn’t escape Leonard.
Leonard seemed to love Abigail, cradling him in his arms, yet sought to destroy him, displaying a love that was utterly incomprehensible.
Chains…… putting chains on him…… At this scene, Juan shouted, ‘Get a grip, you lunatic!’……. Leonard would beat Abigail senseless and dunk him in water. Forcing him to take aphrodisiacs and keeping him in heat for days on end was the least of it.
Leonard even pulled out Abigail’s perfectly fine molar just because Abigail didn’t smile at him.
He starved him for days, feeding him nothing but semen…… As a Korean, Juan found such cruelty utterly unbearable.
“So, I’ve ended up at Duke Leonard Abrams’ estate, haven’t I?”
Juan neatly summed up his reality. There was no need to dwell on it for long.
“I’ve got to get out of here fast.”
Having made up his mind quickly, Juan hurriedly looked around.
However, there was nowhere to escape.
The windows were tightly shut, and the large door was firmly closed as well.
On top of that, his body hadn’t fully recovered yet.
After arriving at the lord’s estate, Juan had felt overwhelming exhaustion, lost consciousness, and fallen asleep.
In the meantime, a veterinarian must have come by, as Juan’s body was wrapped in bandages in various places.
He didn’t know exactly where he was hurt, but the pain he felt clearly wasn’t imaginary.
Juan decided to bolt the moment the door opened.
Dragging his aching body, he struggled to stand by the door. As soon as this door opened, he would run.
* * *
“What?”
Leonard’s brow furrowed. Elton, unsure of what to do, cautiously gauged Leonard’s mood.
He was just as bewildered since he hadn’t expected things to turn out this way.
“Elton, say that again.”
“W-Well…….”
Elton swallowed dryly. Seeing Leonard’s eyes narrow, fear washed over him.
Even though Elton had worked under Leonard for a long time, he still felt scared when Leonard looked at him with those eyes.
An inexplicable chill always emanated from him.
“Elton.”
“Y-Yes. I’m sorry. It’s about the cat we picked up yesterday…….”
Lost in thought, Elton flinched at Leonard’s call and opened his mouth.
Leonard slightly raised his chin, as if urging him to continue.
“It seems it might not be a cat, but a feline humanoid.”
“……Ha.”
Leonard let out a sigh of disbelief. Feline humanoids were extremely rare, even within the empire.
No, ‘extremely rare’ might not even be the right term.
After all, he had never heard of anyone actually encountering a feline humanoid. Their existence was more like a legend passed down through stories.
To think they had picked up a feline humanoid off the street. It was hard to believe. But even stranger was the appearance of the cat he had seen yesterday.
“Elton, are you sure about that?”
“I…… I can’t be certain, but…… the veterinarian who examined it said it didn’t seem like an ordinary cat.”
“Did that thing speak?”
“No…….”
“I’ve heard that feline humanoids can speak human language.”
“Y-Yes, that’s right.”
“And they can supposedly transform into a human form as well.”
“Yes, that’s correct…….”
As Leonard pressed him, Elton answered while breaking out in a cold sweat.
Leonard cornered people like this and then sank into his own thoughts.
It was said that boiling and eating a feline humanoid’s heart could cure incurable diseases and grant a life akin to immortality.
Because of this, many sought after feline humanoids, but there were no stories of anyone actually finding one.
Of course, since hunting feline humanoids was illegal, it’s possible someone could have secretly captured one and eaten its heart without anyone knowing.
That might be why there were no accounts of actual encounters with feline humanoids.
From what he remembered of yesterday, that cat didn’t seem any different from an ordinary one.
Of course, he hadn’t closely inspected it, but it looked just like any stray cat he’d seen countless times.
He couldn’t help but doubt whether such a creature was really the rare feline humanoid.
Still, he didn’t think the veterinarian would have said something baseless.
Unless they were out of their mind, they wouldn’t make unfounded claims to the lord’s household.
In truth, Leonard had no interest in a feline humanoid’s heart.
He had no desire to cure incurable diseases or achieve immortality.
However, he was somewhat intrigued by the feline humanoid itself.
Since such a rare being had fallen into his hands, he wasn’t foolish enough to discard it.
Holding onto a feline humanoid could prove useful in some way.
“Elton.”
“Yes.”
“Move that cat to my room. From now on, I’ll take care of it myself. We’ll see whether it’s truly a feline humanoid or just a cat. Naturally, keep this matter a secret. Make sure the veterinarian keeps their mouth shut too.”
“Understood!”
Elton quickly responded and hurriedly left the office to carry out Leonard’s orders.
Alone in the office after Elton left, Leonard muttered to himself while stroking his prominent jawline with his hand.
“A feline humanoid, huh…… Something interesting has rolled into my hands.”
* * *
Juan pricked up his triangular ears and stared at the door.
He could hear someone’s urgent footsteps getting closer.
He had heard footsteps in the hallway several times before, but no one had opened the door and just passed by.
Having been disappointed a few times, Juan wrinkled his nose in irritation.
But this time, he had a good feeling for some reason.
He didn’t know who it was, but it felt like they were coming to this room.
Planning to escape the moment the door opened, Juan stretched his front legs forward, limbering up to bolt.
His body still ached, but he hoped he could at least run a little.
At that moment, the door swung open with a bang. Juan, ready to dash, bolted forward…….
“Ouch!”
“Argh!”
Juan slammed his face hard into the leg of the person blocking the door.
Clutching his stinging nose with his front paw, he let out a yelp. Of course, the person he collided with also grimaced in pain from the hit to their shin.
Then, their eyes widened in shock.
“H-Hey, did you just speak?!”
“……Meow, meowww.”
Snapping back to his senses at Elton’s words, Juan quickly mimicked a cat’s meow.
He couldn’t let them know he was a talking cat.
Leonard was already a lunatic; if he found out there was a talking cat, who knows what he’d do.
Thinking this, Juan looked up at Elton with an innocent expression and meowed like a cat once more.
“Meow, meowww.”
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