Chapter 17 - My Happy Home

Chapter 17 – My Happy Home

It happened so quickly. She couldn’t stand the urge to scratch like she couldn’t stand a physiological phenomenon.

“Kyaa, miss!”

When she heard the screams of the nanny next to her, Bella hurriedly got out of Rosanne’s arms and ran to the entrance of the mansion.

“Mi, miss…! The face!”

She was anxious to hear those words and turned her head to look at Rosanne’s face. She had clear scratches on her face, and blood was oozing from underneath.

‘Oh… What did I do to the female lead?”

While Bella glanced back, the door in front of the entrance was closed.

As she tried to run away to the corner, a long shadow covered her.

‘Ah, screw it.’

Just as she was about to jump, she heard the butler’s excited voice from behind, and he grabbed her body with both hands.

“How dare you scratch Miss, you’re such a blasphemous cat!”

Once the butler caught it, the other employees grabbed Bella’s body one by one.

‘No, where are these bastards touching!’

Obviously, when people rescue a cat, they wrap it in cloth or something, though who catches it so ignorantly?

“I must kill you right now.”

“No, let the cat go! It’s because I suddenly hugged it.”

“Wait! This cat’s eyes are red. This is… a monster!”

Bella panicked for a moment and stopped her movement.

‘Isn’t there a cat with red eyes?’

If they found out she’s from the underworld, there’s nothing she can do.

Thinking so, Bella, remaining as a cat, curled her fur and focused her magic on her four paws.

She practiced human magic several times over the years, but most of them didn’t work very well. When she tried to call for butterflies, bees came out, and when she tried to bloom flowers, it withered.

The magic that called rain called blood.

Thick blood dripped from the walls of County Psilia.

‘Ah… I really look like a villain.’

As soon as the people saw it, they screamed, and Bella got out of their grasp effortlessly.

“No! Catch that monster!”

It’s not hard. This time, she casts a spell that summons bees.

‘Oh… Bees are coming, so this time flies are coming.’

Although flies are less dangerous than bees, that should be fine.

At that, Bella jumped out of the open window and ran, and she barely managed to get away from the County.

Bella was walking quite a distance from the County, sighing.

Also, on all four legs.

She was still in the form of a cat.

‘Why am I still like this?’

As if she was embarrassed by herself, she jumped lightly and returned to Bella’s figure again. As time passed, a beautiful sunset was setting over the horizon.

“Haha… By the way, why did I really do that?”

She staggered as she was tired and floundered on the side of the road.

Bella slowly glanced down at her own hands. She scratched her so deeply that she could see Rosanne’s red blood through her nails…

‘I wasn’t a big fan of Rosanne, though.’

She almost injured the female lead of the novel.

‘Will it leave a scar on her face?’

If only she had scratched her neck a little further down, not her face. A slightly ominous thought popped into her head, and Bella hurriedly shook her head.

‘I’ve turned into a cat so long that I must have thought like a cat.’

Cats are also very fickle animals. There are a lot of cats that bite because they don’t like being hugged.

She knew it was an absurd self-rationalization.

Bella remembered something she had never known before.

‘How can I have fun killing it…?’

Does she possess the novel and was gradually getting into this role?

With that thought lingering in mind, Bella didn’t want to think any further.

‘Let’s find Myu first.’

The city of Illinois was slightly larger than the other cities.

She did not have the energy to run, so she walked slowly through the night and arrived. Although it was close to the County, it was quite a distance from Bella’s mansion.

‘It’s such a work going home.’

Thinking about how many more days she would have to visit here, she already sighed.

Bella let out a second sigh as she saw her balance dwindling as she ate only a simple breakfast.

‘Yes. Let’s work all the time, work.’

She roamed all of the nearby job agencies, looking for clues about ‘Myu.’ By the time she entered the last job agency, she was exhausted.

The only thing she could hold on to was that it felt nostalgic for her because finding her was similar to what Bella did as a police officer in her previous life.

“Welcome!”

“Hello. We’re trying to get a maid for my mansion.”

“Yes!”

“Are there any girls with brown hair about ten years old?”

“Haha. You’re very specific. We know about one child.”

Hearing the answer, Bella’s eyes lit up as if she had just found a pearl in the mud.

“She’s named Orin, and she cleans pretty well…”

“Ha…”

As expected. It’s not easy. As Bella let out a sigh, she asked the smart employee of the job agency.

“Are there any special children you are looking for?”

“No…”

It would have been nice if she could say the name earlier, but she couldn’t.

‘One doesn’t explain everything during the first investigation.’

If she says that she is looking for [ Myu ], they might have hidden that Myu.

“It’s okay, because there are a lot of people looking for such children.”

Such children…?

Bella frowned slightly, though the staff spoke quietly, covering the side of the mouth with a hand. “There are children who are homeless around here.”

“Homeless…?”

“Even if they suddenly disappear, no one knows.”

At that, the staff gave a wink to Bella. However, the wink only made Bella feel horrible.

“What kind of human trafficking is the default option here?”

Bella wearing a demon mask doesn’t give up being human, but why do these people in human masks speak vicious things without hesitation…?

Although Bella is small, she grabbed the staff’s neck and hung them from the ceiling.

“Keuh… Keuhk…”

Nonetheless, she could not kill the staff. Just before the staff was out of breath, Bella warned by letting go of her hand.

“I’ll be watching.”

And so, she went straight to the vacant lot the staff had been talking about. It was near a place where free meals were distributed at the entrance of the city.

Bella found a bunch of children there without difficulty.

A little brown-haired girl of a peculiar stature was begging away from the crowd.

She asked, giving the money that she had to the girl.

“What is your name?”

“…Myu.”

She found her.

She finally found her.

Bella thought finding Myu would make her happy as if she had been promoted, but it wasn’t at all.

“The relationship started by handing out a slice of bread.”

In the novel, it was only described as, ‘a brief passing by when she was young.’

As Bella turned away from Myu, her tears welled up. According to the novel, Kiehl would have lived in the same state as the homeless kids wandering around here.

Where danger lurks like this. Alone.

Overcoming a few dead ends.

‘I miss Kiehl…’

Now that she has found where Myu is, all she had to do was return to the mansion.

Even though it looked like she was exhausted, Bella quickly turned her back and strode away.

She ran and ran, though her feet were cold because of the cold winter.

As the sun went down, all the red light in the sky disappeared, and darkness came quickly, but she ran.

Seeing County Psilia looked further away, her heart was even more uncomfortable.

‘Is Rosanne okay?’

Even as she thought about the previous day, Bella spurred on more quickly, trying to erase the strange mood.

By the time she had reached the mansion, the moon lit the path for her. Bella entered the mansion’s gate, and as she entered the garden, she had the illusion that the white flowers were singing in the moonlight.

‘The only place to breathe is that house… my house.’

When she opened the door, Pur, who was finishing the cleaning, was startled and ran to her.

“Miss!”

How heavy was her last step…

Bella bent down on her knees and flopped down, just like that.

When she arrived at her mansion, they all ran to the front door at Pur’s loud voice.

Seeing her fall, they all felt the same.

‘We’re set free.’

In the meantime, sometimes Kiehl wakes up at night and looks for Bella. He would have nightmares and be nagging about what to do if something happens to Bella. They couldn’t even say that the princess of the underworld doesn’t die so easily because of their ‘animal kingdom’ concept.

“Bella…”

“Yes, I’m finally back.”

“That’s a relief.”

“Now, I can sleep well.”

She used all of her stamina to transform into a cat, though Pur thought it was easier than her worries.

“I’ll take you to bed!”

The only thing that bothered me was Kiehl.

“Bella turned into a cat.”

“Yes, she must have used a lot of energy!”

“Is she sick?”

“Since she’s back, she’s going to bed!”

Jenkins, who watched the scene, reassured Kiehl that she had returned.

“Master, she will recover soon.”

“Still…”

Nevertheless, Kiehl was still uneasy, he stomped his feet and looked at Bella’s bed.

“Young Master, if you’re worried, sleep with the Miss.” Iwer took Kiehl and tapped the space next to where Bella lay down.

“Is that all right?”

“What would I say to the Young Master? So, go to sleep and see you tomorrow.”

Everyone hurried out of Bella’s room, leaving only Kiehl and gave each other high-fives.

“Don’t wake me up tomorrow.”

“I’ll sleep until late tomorrow, too.”

***

When Bella opened her eyes for a moment, Kiehl was sleeping peacefully next to her.

‘Huh…?’

Why did Kiehl look so big? When Bella put her hand to Kiehl’s face, she saw her own cat paws first.

‘Wow. I really ran with all my might.’

Perhaps because of Bella’s fluffy feet, Kiehl gently opened his eyes. His blonde hair and sparkling amber eyes were looking at her as his eyes dazzling in the morning light.

Everything about Bella melted on his face.

She’s tired of looking for Myu for the past full week, day and night. She suffers from the troubles and hardships from the County Psilia.

Everything she struggled to find Myu and ran to this place…

Kiehl hugged Bella tightly.

“Are you sick?”

Saying so, he gently stroked her back.

Every time Kiehl’s warm hand passed by her, she was strangely in tears. Then, strangely, he put his lips to Bella’s forehead slowly.

“I, I’ll do it.”

Bella fell into a quiet sleep, hugging Kiehl’s tickling breath.

No matter how the novel goes, if only it could stay as it is.

‘How nice would it be?’