CH 34

“Oh my. Look at Butterfly!”

Julia exclaimed with a voice as sweet as a nightingale’s. At this, the maids scattered here and there scurried to gather around. I looked at the maids circled around me with sullen eyes.

“Oh my. What to do~!”

What to do, what will you do?

“Aw. So cute I could die~!”

Don’t die.

“I can’t~! So adorable I could die!”

But you still have to keep on living.

The maids each made a fuss about how they would die. How high-pitched were their voices that my ears hurt. But I was the kind of man who knew how to be understanding of women at times. Something like the maids being a bit rowdy was something I must endure.

“Butterfly. You like it that much?”

Julia asked. I looked about the new hideout that I had taken possession of. It was perfect.

Mn. I like it a bit.

Nyaong, as I cried, the maids started again about dying, even that they couldn’t go on living and made a fuss. I would only like if they didn’t really die.

I twisted my body and hugged the bundle of red yarn.

The armful bundle of yarn was soft and round and just perfect for hugging and rolling around. The bastard was so big that I had to unsheathe my claws and secure it by stabbing into both sides, but I liked that too. To say it frankly, I had fallen in love at first sight. Since it had a big bulk I would call it 「Bulky」.

I was currently inside Julia’s knitting basket. To be more precise, I was inside the knitting basket hugging the red yarn bundle. Roll to the right, roll to the left; nothing could be more fun than holding this big thing and rolling side to side. Of course, not being an easy guy, I rolled forward and back every so often as well.

There was another good thing. It was the deep knitting basket I occupied. Because of this basket’s deep shape, its brim was quite high and perfect to roll around in. Rolling to the right, rolling to the left, my back was always snug against the basket.

The various cushions and pillows the maids and Julia had made for me on a daily basis/every day were all disposable, but it seemed this basket was one of a kind. I didn’t know why Julia hadn’t given this to me before.

Julia, who had been squirming for a while, finally settled her heart and returned to being absorbed in her knitting. The sight of her sitting in a chair and knitting was quite feminine. Of course, Julia was a woman… And even more so from the size of her gentle bosom.

But a problem had arisen.

Each time Julia’s hands moved, red thread unraveled from my yarn ball. I batted at that piece of string with my front paws.

No. This is mine. Mine.

But with my interference, the string stubbornly unraveled. Looking at Bulky, there wasn’t much change in size, but I knew well enough. If it was just left like this, this lovable guy would shrink and eventually disappear.

Hugging Bulky with all my might so I wouldn’t lose it, I glared at the murderer who was Julia. But Julia was so absorbed in her knitting that she wasn’t even aware who she was killing. But even so, I couldn’t scratch or put teeth-holes in the pretty Julia for that.

What to do.

For a moment, I thought, gazing at Bulky, Julia, and the unraveling red yarn. This cozy basket and Bulky, I could never give up the both of them. As soon as I thought of losing either one of the two, tears sprung up in my eyes.

I regretted it. I should never have come to this room where the Julias rested… I would never have known this pain of losing them if I had never known of their existence.

This was all because of that Sugar Prince who had rubbed his face against my lips. If it weren’t for that guy, I wouldn’t have sought refuge in this room, and I wouldn’t have had this heart-paining encounter.

As I was thinking, the Bulky in my arms was gradually getting smaller. With a determined mind, I stood up. And I whispered to Bulky.

Bulky. I’ll save you, little one.

Looking at Julia, she was lost in knitting.

I lightly slipped out of the basket and, Ahng, I bit the edge of the basket. The basket, tightly woven with something like straw, was quite heavy, but it wasn’t so much that I couldn’t carry it. Even if I couldn’t lift it, I had to in order to save Bulky

Biting the basket in my jaws, I tiptoed backwards toward the door.

Four meters…three meters…two meters…

As I drew closer to the door, my jaw and teeth ached, but I bore with it.

Two meters…one meter…

Now I was about to reach the door soon, when,

“Oh my. Butterfly! You can’t take that!”

Julia sprung to her feet and was coming towards me.

At the sight of Julia striding toward me, I bit down on the basket hard and darted for the door with everything I had.

“Butterfly—!”

I heard Julia call behind me, but I didn’t stop. If I could just get it to Sugar Prince’s bedchambers like this, then this basket and Bulky would be mine.

“Butterfly!”

Just a little farther. I only have to go a little farther.

Looking at the bedroom door visible before me, I tried my hardest. But because of the basket’s weight, I couldn’t bear to hold the basket any longer.

“Goodness. You’ll be the death of me. Come here, Butterfly.”

Ultimately, I had been planning on setting the basket down and catching my breath, but Julia was drawing nearer while tutting. The basket and Bulky, Julia and Sugar Prince’s bedroom doors, I looked between them. And I made a decision. As I bit the Bulky that was inside the basket and darted, Julia called after me fretfully. I didn’t pay any heed and sprinted toward the door. The Bulky dangling from my jaws was lighter compared to the basket and Bulky together, so it was fine to run with just it.

“Butterfly—!”

As soon as I arrived at the door, the guard who had been watching since before opened the door for me. Without lingering any longer, I slipped inside.

Where would be the safest?

I scanned the bed chambers, and the large bed came into view. If I were to be atop Sugar Prince’s bed, then they certainly wouldn’t recklessly just take Bulky from me. I quickly leaped onto the bed.

“Butterfly!”

I looked behind me and saw Julia come into the bed chambers. I dropped Bulky and puffed my chest and lifted my chin towards Julia.

Nyang—

This is mine now.

I looked at her with eyes challenging her to come at me if she dared but.

“Pft—”

Julia suddenly covered her mouth with her hand and began to giggle. As she kept stifling her giggles, her entire body shook.

“Ahahahaha—!”

Finally, Julia exploded into laughter holding her stomach, and I wondered if she had lost her mind from having the yarn stolen from her. But when the pursuing maids came in and saw me, Puhahaha, they also began laughing like they had lost their minds. I wondered if all of them had gone crazy.

“Ahahaha… Bu—Butterfly. Ahahaha. Oh my. Our Butterfly…”

Julia, wiping the tears welling in her eyes, said as she laughed and cried. Wrinkling my face, I swung my gaze over to where Julia’s finger was pointing.

……

……

Ack—!

I looked beneath my paws and jumped in surprise. Bulky, who had definitely been round and plump when I had run away with it, had vanished into thin air, and a small, tangled mess of yarn was lying there in its place. I dug into the sheets beneath my paws searching for the real Bulky. But Bulky had disappeared.

“Ahahaha. Oh my. Oh my. Our butterfly. Poor thing. Ahaha.”

The maids had all collapsed onto the floor laughing. I nudged the small yarn bundle that was before me instead of Bulky with my paw. The bundle was attached to a single red thread. Getting up, I followed the string attached to the bundle with my gaze; down from the bed, and all the way past the doorway. When I jumped from the bed and stuck my head out the door, I could see the red string stretch all the way down the hallway.

“……”

I jumped back onto the bed and lifted up the sheets with my nose. And having dug deep into the folds of the sheets, I curled into a ball and laid down.

My red and plump and round bulky was dead. I had killed it by recklessly running away with it. When I had fled, if I had just bitten off the string attached to Julia’s knitting basket, then Bulky wouldn’t have died in vain like this.

This was all that jerk Sugar Prince’s fault.

It was because that guy had suddenly rubbed his lips against me. If it weren’t for that, I would have gone to his office with him, and I wouldn’t have ever met Bulky. Villain. Perverted bastard!