“Before we start living together, let me tell you a few things to keep in mind. First, I hate noise. Especially at night. So, I’d appreciate it if you paid extra attention to that. I won’t tolerate any ruckus or behavior like that at night.”
“Mya……ah.”
“And second, I hate filth. Do your business only in the designated spot. Got it?”
“…….”
“Answer me.”
“Eng.”
Leonard treated Yellian as if he could understand every word. At this point, it was Yellian who felt bewildered. Why was this guy treating a cat like a person? And why was he himself playing along with it?
“If you cause trouble, I’ll throw you out. Remember that.”
“Myak!”
Yellian’s ash-blue eyes, which resembled fish eyes, sparkled. He had just thought of an easy way to escape from this crazy mad duke.
He didn’t need to struggle to run away. If he caused all sorts of trouble in this house, Leonard would naturally kick him out, and that would mean goodbye to the mad duke.
Having come up with this clever plan, Yellian smirked contentedly. Seeing Yellian’s expression, Leonard’s eyes narrowed.
“Why are you smirking like that?”
“Myaat.”
“I can’t understand you if you answer like that. From now on, if you have something to say, speak in human language.”
Isn’t this guy completely insane?
Yellian glared at Leonard with discontent. His round, large eyes narrowed, and the pupils of his blue eyes stretched into thin vertical slits.
Of course, Leonard knew Yellian was a feline humanoid, so he meant it sincerely. But to Yellian, it just looked like Leonard was a lunatic demanding a cat speak human words.
And so, in the same space, with completely different thoughts, the two of them… no, one person and one cat, stared at each other with an inexplicable tension hanging in the air.
* * *
Yellian circled around Leonard’s feet as he sipped his tea. He was plotting to cause trouble so he could get kicked out.
Yellian tensed his legs and leapt onto the table. At that, Leonard’s brow furrowed. He had never imagined that a furry creature would dare climb onto the table while he was having his tea time.
Even so, curious about what this furball was up to, he quietly watched. Yellian trotted across the table with his tiny paws and stopped in front of the teapot.
Yellian stared directly at Leonard with round, innocent eyes, as if daring him to react.
Leonard’s lips tightened. His expression seemed to ask, “What are you trying to do?” Yellian responded with a look of complete ignorance.
But soon after, while staring straight at Leonard, Yellian swatted the teapot with his front paw, knocking it off the table.
Thanks to the plush carpet, the teapot didn’t shatter, but the tea inside spilled out, slightly wetting the tip of Leonard’s shoe.
“……What is this nonsense?”
“Nyaa?”
To Leonard’s icy question, Yellian tilted his head as if to say, “What’s the problem?”
Honestly, Yellian felt a chill run down his spine. Since Leonard was the mad duke, he didn’t seem like the type to show even a shred of mercy, even to an animal.
He couldn’t help but fear that Leonard might lose it and try to cut him down right then and there. Yet, he also held a baseless belief that no matter how awful Leonard was, he wouldn’t actually harm a cat.
I’m this cute, so what are you gonna do about it?! Huh?!
“Yellian.”
“Weng.”
“I’ll ask you one more time. What is this nonsense?”
“Myaa?”
Even to Leonard’s chilling question, Yellian tilted his head as if he didn’t understand. At that, Leonard took a deep breath, as if trying to cool his anger.
It seemed like the plan was working. If he caused trouble a few more times like this, the mad duke would surely lose his temper and throw him out. Yellian thought as much, smiling smugly to himself.
* * *
“Yellian.”
“Mya.”
“Are you going to keep being uncooperative like this?”
“Wyaeng.”
Leonard’s response seemed to barely contain his anger, and honestly, Yellian was intimidated. But there was one thing he couldn’t compromise on. The meal Leonard had offered him was cat food.
Though he looked like a cat on the outside, Yellian was human at his core and had no desire to eat cat food. So, he refused to eat and just kept glaring back and forth between the food and Leonard.
At that, Leonard pushed the bowl of cat food even closer to Yellian.
“Eat.”
“No……nyaang. Sinyanyang.”
Yellian almost reflexively said “No” but caught himself at the last moment and quickly changed his response.
Leonard’s brow furrowed, and his eyes narrowed. But that lasted only a moment before he shoved the bowl of food right under Yellian’s nose again.
Yellian turned his head sharply to the side, signaling he didn’t want to eat. Of course, it wasn’t that he wasn’t hungry. He hadn’t eaten anything all day, so he was indeed feeling the pangs of hunger.
But that didn’t mean he was so desperately hungry that he’d lose his mind and eat cat food.
“I’ll offer it one more time. If you don’t eat, I’ll take it away.”
“Myak.”
“Fine, have it your way, you stubborn cat.”
Leonard, seemingly at his limit, stood up abruptly with the bowl in hand. But Yellian wasn’t fazed. As he’d said before, he wasn’t so hungry that his stomach was sticking to his back, forcing him to eat cat food.
Yellian watched Leonard throw out the food and walked over to the wall. Then, he raised his right front paw determinedly. His tiny but sharp claws popped out with a snap.
“……What is this nonsense?”
Leonard was on his way back after dumping the bowl and its contents into the trash. He had only taken his eyes off Yellian for a brief moment. But in that instant, Yellian had scratched up the wallpaper with his tiny claws as much as he could.
Leonard, who liked things neat and orderly, closed his eyes and took deep breaths to calm the rising anger as he stared at the shredded middle of the wall.
He’s just a kitten, a feline humanoid kitten. He’s probably acting like this because he’s not fully grown yet, so I should be a bit more patient. I can’t kick out or kill such a rare feline humanoid.
In truth, these thoughts of Leonard’s came from what Elton had told him. According to the veterinarian who first examined Yellian, when feline humanoids are young, their cat-like instincts are stronger than their human ones, so they often repeat the problematic behaviors of kittens.
Honestly, when he first heard that, Leonard thought, “It’s just a cat, how much trouble could it cause?” It was the kind of naive thought only someone who had never raised a cat could have.
“Myaang, myaang.”
Even amidst this, Yellian kept scratching at the wallpaper with his claws, as if daring Leonard to watch. Leonard, witnessing the high-quality wallpaper turn into rags in real time, felt dizzy.
Honestly, it wasn’t about the money. He had more than enough of that. But he didn’t want to see his clean, tidy room become a mess. Only one piece of wallpaper was damaged, yet that single piece made the entire room look filthy.
“Stop it, Yellian.”
“Mya?”
“I said stop.”
“Myaaa-.”
Yellian responded cheekily and didn’t stop scratching.
Come on, are you still not going to throw me out? You’re not going to kick me out?! Hurry up and get rid of me, you mad duke! Give me my freedom!
At that moment, Leonard, unable to hold back any longer, began approaching Yellian with a terrifying aura.
Startled, Yellian flailed his short legs in a panic to escape. However, since his body still wasn’t fully recovered, he couldn’t run very fast. In contrast, Leonard was unbelievably agile and quick for a human.
In the end, Yellian was caught by the scruff of his neck by Leonard. Hanging limply in Leonard’s grip, Yellian was honestly terrified.
Of course, his goal was to anger Leonard and get kicked out of the mansion, but he still wanted to leave with all his limbs intact.
“This simply won’t do.”
“Myeng.”
“It’s no use regretting it now.”
“Myaang……?”
Yellian whimpered in a trembling voice at Leonard’s ominous warning. Something felt very wrong.
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