Chapter 1

I sat curled up like a tiny ball inside a basket lined with silk woven from golden thread, trembling nonstop.

My pupils, widened with pure fear, reflected cold blue eyes that held not a trace of warmth.

That dazzling blond man was the only person in this world whose face I recognized. The Emperor of the Empire.

Klaus von Bismarck.

Despite his beautiful appearance, he was known for a vicious and cruel temperament so extreme that people said even the fires of hell would burn hotter at his name.

Yet the bright blue eyes that scanned me were utterly indifferent.

He must have decided I wasn’t even worth treating as an enemy.

Anyone would think the same.

After all, I was nothing more than a palm sized kitten.

The Emperor’s pale lips parted slightly as if annoyed.

“What is this lump.”

Tobias clutched the basket I was in and bowed his head, flustered.

“Your Majesty, it is a sacred creature sent from the Temple of Favia.”

“…A sacred creature.”

His eyes clearly didn’t believe it even a little, but this time I couldn’t blame Klaus.

Because I obviously wasn’t anything like a sacred creature!

He asked in a flat voice.

“Can it perform mistletoe divination.”

Tobias’s shoulders visibly flinched, and my pupils practically shook.

This insane Emperor!

Would a kitten barely two months old have even seen mistletoe before!

I didn’t even have enough time in the day just to sleep!

At that moment, the man standing beside the Emperor took a step toward me.

The black haired man looked high ranking at a glance.

He reached out and gently stroked my back.

This was my chance, so I let out a small, cute cry.

“Nya…”

If it meant surviving, I had to bring out every bit of charm I had, even if I had to pull it from the afterlife, sob.

I carefully watched his reaction and rubbed my head against his large palm.

Then his cold, dark eyes softened slightly.

Phew, I’m alive.

It felt a bit embarrassing to say it myself, but ever since I was born as this cat, I had been showered with praise.

They said the Goddess Favia had given both wisdom and beauty to this small body.

So of course even this black haired guy would fall for me.

Just as I was getting full of myself, he finally spoke.

His voice was as indifferent as Klaus’s, yet he spoke casually to that terrifying Emperor.

“Fetching mistletoe branches is too much of a hassle. How about letting it do rune divination instead.”

Whaaat?

I blinked my wide eyes repeatedly, hoping he was joking.

Runes? Weren’t those things only in fantasy novels…?

As I stared blankly, he suddenly dumped a pile of porcelain like pieces onto the table.

What was with that speed?!

He clapped his hands together with a sharp sound and came to his own conclusion.

“Even if it’s a sacred creature, it’s still just a baby cat. Predicting the future seems excessive. Hmm, let’s just have it guess something simple from the past. What should we choose?”

Simple… the paast?

Only then did I notice the strange glint in his pitch black eyes.

Ah, the ancestors were right about everything.

Birds of a feather flock together.

This guy and that guy were both completely insane.

The blond lunatic answered calmly.

“Then let it guess the lunch menu. If it can’t even get something this trivial right, it’s useless and I’ll have it thrown into the bear enclosure.”

He said that while glancing out the window.

Eek, my body trembled in shock.

Was there really a bear enclosure somewhere out there?

Ah, my fantasy life of possessing a cute kitten was about to end in just six weeks.

The black haired lunatic commanded.

“What are you standing there for. Bring the sacred creature here.”

Poor Tobias approached them, shaking.

Tobias Meyer.

If this were my country, he’d probably be a middle schooler. For the past two months, the young temple attendant had taken better care of me than even my own mother cat.

Tobi finally set the basket down on the table.

Seeing his trembling eyes somehow cleared my mind.

If this was the end of my short life as a cat, I wouldn’t submit to their cruelty.

I sent Tobias a gaze full of affection, then boldly stepped forward with my front paw.

Sway, sway. My tail, long compared to my body, waved gracefully above my hips.

I walked across the table, stretching out my fluffy paws one after another.

My soft pink paw pads made no sound at all as the wicked Emperor and his friend watched with faint smirks.

Whatever.

I picked up one of the scattered porcelain pieces in my mouth at random.

The black eyes, shining with interest, moved closer.

“Let’s see.”

Then that large hand was placed in front of my face.

I wanted to spit the piece out with a “ptoo!” and be done with it, but that wasn’t possible.

As a mere baby kitten, I could only drop it with a soft tap.

The black haired man picked it up and said with a hint of laughter.

“It chose ‘Fehu’.”

At that, Klaus suddenly stood up.

The tall Emperor looked even more imposing with the silver fur draping down to his knees.

The face that had seemed so beautiful in books now looked like a grim reaper.

Klaus glanced at the piece and replied curtly.

“I did not eat beef at lunch.”

My tiny cat heart pounded like it would burst.

W-what?

Did I pick wrong after all?

Was I going to the bear enclosure now?

But then the black haired man burst out laughing.

“Oh come on, Your Majesty. Even if you didn’t eat it, roasted bull thigh was clearly the main dish.”

Oh my god, black hair guy.

That meant I got it right?

I take back what I said about birds of a feather.

I was wrong.

Overwhelmed, I looked back and forth between them.

Klaus muttered with a hint of disappointment.

“…I wanted to entertain the black bear for once.”

B-black bear.

His blue eyes scanned me again.

They were so terrifying that my tail fur stood on end.

Fortunately, the black haired man added.

“Even if you gave Sven something this small and fluffy, it would only ruin his appetite.”

For once, I was glad I was still a baby.

If I had been a big cat around five kilograms, that would have been a disaster.

The black haired man took out a shining silver coin and handed it to Tobias.

“His Majesty will remember the loyalty of the Temple of Favia and remain with the priests forever.”

Poor Tobias looked like he had aged three years in just thirty minutes inside the audience chamber.

“Th-thank you, Your Majesty. This humble servant will now take his leave…”

W-wait, what?

I stood awkwardly on the table scattered with rune pieces and shot Tobias a desperate look.

Tobi!

Don’t go, don’t leave me here!

These guys are completely insane!

Maybe he somehow heard my thoughts.

“Wait.”

Klaus cut him off.

“If you leave, what is to be done with this lump.”

Lump…

Even at that humiliating remark, I just sat still like a loaf of bread.

Tobias didn’t know what to do and simply bowed his head again.

Klaus frowned slightly, then asked as if giving up.

“What is your name.”

“Tobias Meyer, Your Majesty.”

“I appoint you as the caretaker of the Imperial sacred creature. Go to the chamberlain and receive your quarters.”

“Th-thank you, Your Majesty.”

Even though he answered that way, I could tell Tobias would have gladly given up a finger just to return to the temple.

Sorry, but that worked out in my favor.

After Tobias left, the black haired man rudely grabbed the back of my neck with that large hand.

“Look at this, Your Majesty. It’s an odd eyed one. Since ancient times, sacred creatures with odd eyes were said to see the future through their green eye.”

I’d been hearing that since the temple, but it was complete nonsense.

I wanted to know my future more than anything, but I couldn’t see a thing.

Klaus glanced into my eyes again and said without a trace of a smile.

“Let’s look forward to it.”

My tail puffed up again.

No, could you please not look forward to it, even as a joke?

I’m not a sacred creature and I can’t see the future!

I’m just a cat… actually, a cat who used to be human!

* * *

Where did it all go wrong?

I, Im Mari, was just an ordinary rookie bank employee.

Sure, my nickname was “Kim Mari roll,” but there was nothing special about me.

But was it really such a crime to stop by a bookstore on payday and enjoy my hobby?

Without knowing he was such a cold blooded bastard, was it really such a sin to be captivated by an illustration of the Emperor and impulsively buy the book?

I was sitting on a bus, about three pages into reading it, when I got into a traffic accident. Right when I thought I was going to die, the next moment I was sucking on something warm.

I only regained consciousness in brief flashes, so it took a long time to figure everything out. But in short, I had been reborn as the only kitten of a temple cat named Katarina.

No, does that even make sense…?

It was already absurd enough to possess a book I hadn’t even read three full pages of, but of all things, a cat?

Out of those three pages, one was a map and the other two were character descriptions with illustrations.

If there was one bit of luck, it was that the language of this country had been patched into me.

Though as a cat, I could only understand it.

But if it’s a novel, what does it matter if a cat talks a little!

Why is this world so rigid!

Anyway, as a mute cat, I spent two months safely growing up beside my mother.

Then, as soon as I was weaned, I was offered to the Emperor.

That was just yesterday.

But because I was a cat who couldn’t speak, there was something I hadn’t been able to tell anyone.

The title of that damned book was .

The “cat” in the title appeared right after the Emperor in the character introduction.

Could it be that I’ve become an incredibly important cat?!

Moreover, the last line I read before the bus accident was…

[How to humanize:]

I didn’t know for sure, but maybe this cat was some kind of beast person!

It sounded like a ridiculous dream, but it was my only hope right now.

A way to end this life as a cat who couldn’t even speak and might be dragged to the bear enclosure at any moment!

The problem was that I hadn’t seen the line below it at all…

What on earth was the method?

Forward roll? Back roll? Jumping off the third floor?

…No, if I jumped off the third floor, I’d just die the moment I turned human, so that couldn’t be it. Anyway, no matter what I tried, I still hadn’t turned into a human.

Maybe I needed to eat something?

Food that turns you into a human!

Garlic? Mugwort!

Ugh, whatever. I’ll just try eating something.

It’s not like things could get worse than dying anyway.