“So, why am I in this state again?”
“How should I know?”
At Leonard’s exasperated reply, Yellian glared at him with sharp eyes. Of course, Leonard didn’t seem to be affected in the slightest. Regardless of Leonard’s state, Yellian was not in a good mood.
The reason was simple. Upon waking up, Yellian had turned into a cat once again.
At this point, Yellian wanted to know why they kept transforming like this without control. In a fit of frustration, Yellian rolled around on the floor.
“You’re shedding fur.”
“What did you say?!”
Instead of sympathizing with Yellian’s misfortune, Leonard coldly remarked, ‘You’re shedding fur.’
Unable to suppress their rising anger, Yellian finally hissed at Leonard. As expected, Leonard didn’t seem to care much this time either.
“Leonard, do you know how petty and mean you are? Instead of sharing in your lover’s pain, you treat it like someone else’s problem!”
“I’m hurting plenty.”
“I don’t feel it at all!”
Yellian rolled around on the floor again. As Leonard had pointed out, beige fur wafted through the air.
Watching this, Leonard’s brow furrowed in dissatisfaction, though the corner of his mouth curled upward.
Though he spoke curtly because Yellian’s sudden transformation into a cat caused him various inconveniences, Leonard found cat-Yellian somewhat cute in their own way. Of course, he had no intention of revealing this to Yellian.
“Life… why is it filled with so much pain…? Gamja, do you happen to know why your big brother’s life is so hard?”
“Meow.”
“Alright. I’ll stop talking nonsense.”
For some reason, Yellian felt like they understood Gamja’s response. Gamja replied nonchalantly to Yellian’s words, then stepped into a sunny spot, flopped down, and exposed their belly. Seeing Gamja’s carefree posture, Yellian also flipped over to lie on their back.
“Be careful, or you’ll get stepped on.”
“As long as Leonard is careful, no one will step on me… Argh!”
No sooner had the words left their mouth than Geumdong, who had been curled up asleep in the corner, suddenly woke up and dashed mindlessly toward the bowl, stepping on Yellian in the process.
Even as a cat, Yellian had been living with Geumdong for quite some time.
Thanks to various training sessions, Geumdong no longer tried to eat Yellian when they were a cat. However, training hadn’t extended to not stepping on Yellian, so this accident was unavoidable.
“Leonard, I think I’m done for. It hurts so much. How can life be this painful? Or wait, since I’m a feline humanoid, should I call it a ‘cat life’ instead of a human life? But does that even matter…? The most important thing is that I just got stepped on.”
Leonard picked up the chattering Yellian and moved them to the sofa to prevent Geumdong from stepping on them again. Even while lying on the sofa, Yellian grumbled for quite a while.
At that moment, a knock sounded at the door. As usual, Yellian assumed it was Elton, relaxed their body, and slumped down.
“Who is it?”
“My lord, it’s Thomas.”
Surprised that it wasn’t the expected person, Yellian widened their eyes in shock. Of course, Yellian knew well enough who Thomas was. He was the butler of the duke’s estate, another of Leonard’s trusted confidants.
“What is it?”
“I’ve come to deliver today’s newspaper.”
“Come in.”
Receiving the newspaper from Thomas as he entered, Leonard wore a puzzled expression. Instead of immediately opening the paper, he alternated his gaze between the newspaper and Thomas.
“I thought the newspaper was delivered during breakfast.”
“Yes, my lord. Normally, the newspapers are delivered all at once during breakfast, but today there was a first edition, so I had to bring it separately. The other newspapers will be brought up at mealtime.”
“I see. You may leave.”
Thomas bowed respectfully and left the room. Until then, Yellian had been as quiet as a mouse, letting out a sigh of relief only after the door closed.
Though Yellian had seen Thomas quite often, they hadn’t yet been exposed as a feline humanoid to him, so they had to be cautious. Yellian felt frustrated at having to live hiding their identity like this for who knows how long.
Whether Leonard knew Yellian’s feelings or not, he focused on the newspaper Thomas had delivered.
For the past few days, articles about the punishment of animal abusers had been continuously published in the newspapers. Every newspaper emphasized that even nobles would not receive leniency in punishment.
After the uproar had settled, the newspapers returned to covering trivial daily stories as before. They published articles on rumors circulating among the common folk and even miscellaneous scandals.
As Leonard skimmed through the newspaper with an unimpressed expression, his gaze stopped at a particular point.
Beneath the provocative headline, the article detailed how cats could transmit numerous diseases to humans and other animals. As Leonard read the article, deep wrinkles formed between his brows.
“What’s wrong, Leonard?”
“It’s nothing.”
What nonsense are they printing? Cats are such clean animals-how could they transmit diseases?
Leonard felt anger rising within him. Even looking at Gamja, who came from the streets, they not only used the litter box properly but also spent half their waking hours grooming themselves to stay clean.
The idea that such cats could spread diseases was absurd. Leonard decided he needed to find out who wrote this ridiculous article.
* * *
It was a peaceful afternoon. Leonard had left the estate for some reason, and Yellian was kneading a pillow with their paws while purring.
At that moment, the sound of the door opening was heard. Thinking it might be Leonard, Yellian turned to look, but it was Francois standing there.
Francois was a breeder at the duke’s estate, responsible for Geumdong’s training. Knowing this, Yellian assumed he had come to train Geumdong again.
“Geumdong, come here. Hurry.”
But upon second thought, something felt off. Francois had never come to train Geumdong when Leonard wasn’t around before.
Given Leonard’s personality, he wouldn’t allow anyone else into the space where Yellian was while he was absent. Because of this, Yellian also felt that the current situation was strange.
“Don’t be scared, come here. It’s me, Geumdong. You know me, right?”
[Kyuuung.]
“Yes, yes. Come on over.”
Geumdong tilted his head as if unsure but approached Francois. Yellian watched the scene closely.
Francois was hiding something behind his back. Though Yellian didn’t know what it was, they felt uneasy and quickly moved toward Francois and Geumdong.
“Yes, just a little, a little closer…”
Francois and Geumdong were now close enough to touch. At that moment, Francois pulled out what he had been hiding behind his back. It was none other than a large sack.
Francois opened the sack and, holding a fish in one hand, lured Geumdong into it.
“Ah, ow! …This crazy cat!”
At that moment, Yellian lunged at Francois and bit his hand with all their strength. Francois let out a scream involuntarily but quickly lowered his voice after glancing around.
Come to think of it, Francois had seemed oddly greedy from the first time he saw Geumdong. Now Yellian understood why he had looked so entranced whenever he saw Geumdong.
Determined not to let Geumdong be taken, Yellian stood in front of him and glared at Francois.
[Kyuuuung.]
Sensing something was wrong with Yellian’s behavior, Geumdong slowly backed away. As a result, the distance between Francois and Geumdong widened again.
“You annoying cat! Get out of the way!”
Francois kicked Yellian with all his might. Yellian flew and crashed into the wall. Whether it was fortunate or not, the pain was so intense that they couldn’t even scream.
Yellian knew they couldn’t reveal their identity as a feline humanoid to others, especially not to Francois.
“Geumdong, come here. Are you not coming over right now?!”
Seeing Francois trying to lure Geumdong again, Yellian gritted their teeth and charged at him.
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