Chapter 32

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Chapter 32

Dimitri wanted me to come into the main building tonight right now. It was not too difficult, so I gladly replied that I would. In the beginning, the move ended in an instant because there was not much luggage brought from Count Larscel.

“Don’t go, angel.”

“Let’s play together when the day is bright, Coco. We aren’t going anywhere, so we can meet after we wake up.”

Coco, who was left in the annex, caught me and sobbed — ho, ho — as if I was about to leave far away.

“….”

On the other hand, Sasha glanced up at me with those big eyes with a face that I had no idea what was on her mind.

“Sasha, I’ll see you later when you wake up. Okay?”

“….”

“You have to listen carefully to the sisters here.”

I pointed to the maids Dimitri had exclusively assigned to Coco and Sasha for the cats. It was precious manpower that was barely taken out of the main building in a situation where there was already a shortage of workers.

I turned and asked them.

“Even if the child is dirty, do not wash it for a while and leave it alone. They have to adapt to the new environment first.”

When you bring a cat from the street, do not wash it because it is dirty. This was because, like territorial animals, cats become very sensitive until they have a sense of stability in the place. It was a habit of cats to extremely dislike getting wet. So, if they bathe when they are sensitive, they could be severely attacked.

‘There was no help because Coco had hardened dried blood on him.’

Unlike Coco, Sasha was covered in dirt and looked healthy except for minor scratches that I did not need to treat, so I thought it would be better to leave it alone without touching it.

“May I just change clothes?”

Startled by the words not to wash, the maids glanced at her dirty clothes and questioned. At that, Sasha’s pupils widened and then narrowed as if she was anxious to hear those words. Seeing her like that, I shook my head.

“You better leave her alone.”

“Ah… Yes, Madam.”

The maids looked as if they were going to faint, though they nodded their heads without saying a word. Having finished my work, I gazed at Dimitri, who had been snooping by my side the whole time.

“Dimitri, is there something you need to do?”

He shook his head with a proud face.

“Not really.”

Even though he was not moving the luggage himself, he had been following me since a while ago and snooping around.

‘…Why did he follow me when he said he did not want to look at the annex?’

Sensing my curiosity, he rolled his eyes. The next moment, he stood up on his feet and drew a line on the ground as if he suddenly remembered.

“I’m here to definitely mark boundaries.”

Saying that, he then threatened Coco and Sasha.

“Don’t cross over from here.”

“….”

I stared at the faintly engraved lines on the dirt floor.

‘I thought he would build a wall, but that is it…?’

Was he telling them not to come over, or was he going to overlook it even if they do…?

Unsurprisingly, as soon as Dimitri turned around, the little cats with the tree frog symbols clapped each paw outside the line he had drawn. Doing that, they also had very brazen and natural faces.

‘…He would be holding a rod.’*

[ T/N: It’s an idiom which means, to hit with a rod or club to give a scolding. ]

I quickly said goodbye to Coco and Sasha and rushed towards Dimitri before he noticed the scene.

“Let’s go now.”

He quietly followed me in the lead.

We walked silently for a while. The main building and the annex building were quite far apart away from the back gate, so it took quite a bit while walking slowly. I strolled while glancing around in the hope that the blue would suddenly pop out of nowhere.

Dimitri asked, wondering why I was looking around.

“Are you looking for something?”

“Ah, the gray cat that lives here. I named him Blue. He came to see me every day, but I didn’t see him today. If I don’t see him at the annex anymore, he might be sad.”

He then snorted at my words.

“What do you mean, sad? Who would be sad?”

“Pardon? I didn’t hear it very well.”

“It’s nothing. What’s more, what’s that?”

He glanced at my hand and made a gesture with his chin. It was because I was fiddling with a cat cushion the size of a pencil case. Since I made it for Coco, I wanted to give Blue one, too.

“This is a cat cushion for the gray cat, although I forgot to put it in the yard of the annex.”

Dimitri’s expression darkened.

He looked down at the small cushion as if wondering if I was giving something like this as a gift. Seeing that, I felt like I had to explain something.

“If I don’t see him from the annex, I think he’ll be lonely. He became very close with me.”

“Close…?”

He suddenly chuckled and opened his mouth again.

“Did you ask the cat?”

“What?”

“That you’re close?”

“Do I really have to say that? It was obvious that he loved me just by looking at it.”

He tightened his coat tightly and shook his head.

“You’re very misunderstood.”

“….?”

…What is wrong with him? He had never seen me and that pretty gray cat together. Thinking that, I pouted my lips in discontent.

Then, he abruptly reached out to me.

“Give it to me.”

“….?”

At his words, I handed him a cushion and Dimitri shoved it into his pocket and uttered calmly.

“I’ll hand it over for you.”

I widened my eyes, thinking, ‘no way!’

“Do you know that cat?”

“….”

“Can I talk to the cat?”

“….”

“I’m jealous…”

He shrugged and strode forward.

I quickly followed him, trailing behind him and questioning him like an aggressive reporter, “Is this the cat Dimitri cares for…? What do you talk about with the cat? How old is Blue? What does Blue usually say, and what does he like? Can I ask how it feels to be born as a cat, how it feels to be so cute?”

Dimitri lifted his shoulders high and hid his face between his lapels as if burdened by my continuing questions. It was like a tortoise with its head in its shell.

I could not stop being so curious about what the cat was talking about.

“Duke?”

“….”

“Duke…?”

Dimitri, who had raised his collar to cover his face, eventually turned his head around.

“I don’t know.”

“But, you just said you were talking to the cat, didn’t you?”

“I never said anything like that. I just didn’t bother correcting what Rowaine was guessing.”

…Huh?

“Then, why did you take the cushion I made? You said you’d give it to the gray cat yourself.”

At that, my head was slightly bent to the side, and it seemed like it was almost going to get stuck to my shoulder. It was not just one or two questions that popped up in my head. Okay. All of a sudden, he took the cushion as if he was going to talk to Blue himself, and now, he said no…?

Dimitri shrugged his shoulders with a brazen face.

“I can’t remember what I said.”

“All of a sudden?”

“Yes.”

“You’re lying!”

As I shouted in protest, he chuckled.

“What if it’s a lie?”

Because of that, my mouth was wide open with the look of not knowing what to do.

“Well, if that’s a lie… You’ve got to get the cushion back!”

“I will.”

Even though he readily answered, Dimitri did not offer a cushion even if I reached out my hand. Question marks filled my mind.

“…When?”

“Someday before I die?”

“….”

It was not funny. Either way, he walked forward gracefully with a stern face.

‘I wondered who the cat was, so shameless…!’

I stared blankly at the back of his head. However, was it because I was thinking of Blue? Suddenly, it occurred to me that his hair, mysteriously sparkling in the moonlight, looked similar to the blue fur that sat on the wall and greeted me.

‘The blue hair was so shiny… it looked like it was shining like that.’

From Coco and Sasha, I was able to assume to some extent the fact that the fur coats of the cat shapeshifters appeared characteristically even when they became human. Although Blue’s hair color and Dimitri’s hair color also look similar…

‘Is Dimitri… Blue?’

The next moment, I quickly shook my head.

‘No way, it cannot be. Blue has been friendly to me from the beginning.’

Was Dimitri not very cold to me when I first came here? He sent me to the annex without even talking.

‘Still, there was no reason for him to turn into a cat and come to me.’

I could hardly have imagined him playing with the fishing rod toy I had made, purring and showing affection like that. There was no way a man who was so arrogant enough to feel so elegant and cold could be like that.

‘Besides, Blue gets along very well with Coco.’

A couple of days ago, it was Blue and Coco who even played a joint hunting game with toys. Even though there was a bit of a fight with cat slaps in the middle, it was at the level of cuteness.

‘Yeah, Blue is Dimitri…? That is absurd.’

I laughed out loud at my absurd thought.

While I was alone in my thoughts for a while, it seemed that Dimitri strode as fast as he could and disappeared into the main entrance hall, so I missed him.

‘What…? Well, it is a cushion, I can make it again.’

The cushion I gave him was not a waste. Nonetheless, was it not absurd and surprising that he suddenly took it and did not return it…?

‘…What is this?’

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