Chapter 18

“Right in the alley just over there. It wasn’t hard at all!”

The child spoke proudly, but his father’s eyes were filled with alarm.

Does he recognize me?

The man opened the cage door.

A faint hope rose in me, but I didn’t dare step out.

What if he just grabbed me and tossed me straight into a pot?

He reached into the cage with a hesitant hand.

To my frightened eyes, it looked nothing but large and rough.

I instinctively lashed out with my claws, but he didn’t get angry.

He simply looked me over with a serious expression.

As if he had reached a conclusion, he finally spoke.

“Son, this isn’t a stray cat…”

Yeah, that’s right!

Mister, we’re finally on the same page!

The boy blinked and asked.

“Huh? It’s not a roof rabbit?”

The man sighed.

“This is a very rare breed of cat. It must belong to a high ranking noble. I should find out if any nobles passed through here today.”

With that, he hurriedly grabbed the coat he had just taken off.

Before leaving, he warned his son firmly.

“You must not hurt the cat. If we return a lost animal and receive a reward, it’ll be worth far more than a bit of meat. Understood?”

Phew, I’m saved.

Even though he sounded like a kidnapper demanding ransom, I only felt relieved.

Mister, that’s a really, really great idea.

Please take me to the Emperor.

You’ll get as much money as you want, seriously.

R-Right, Your Majesty?

I let out a sigh of relief and stayed pressed into the corner of the cage.

After the sound of the door closing, the disappointed children gathered around me.

“It’s not a rabbit…”

“Yeah… it looked tasty though…”

“Meow!”

I cried out in frustration and hunger.

One of the slightly smarter kids spoke.

“Come to think of it, hasn’t this cat been hungry since earlier? We’ve had it locked up for a while. If it starves to death, won’t we get in trouble?”

I perked up instantly.

Kid, I agree!

So hurry up and bring me food!

Soon, one of them brought a few pieces of dark bread and held them out.

I was hungry enough to eat even if it were poisoned, but it was too hard.

It would crumble if I tried to bite it.

Did they really give this for me to eat? Or were they messing with me?

I rolled the pieces under my paws, drooling but unable to eat them.

After some time, the parents returned together.

The woman, likely the children’s mother, rushed over without even removing her coat and looked into the cage.

Then she gasped.

“Oh my, even the cat I saw when I delivered to the Ross family wasn’t this pretty. Children, what have you done?”

At her words, I turned my head sharply and snorted.

What did they do? They tried to eat a cat under the Emperor’s protection, thinking it was a rabbit!

If I could speak, I’d report everything!

She examined me more closely, then noticed the pieces of bread at my feet.

“And what are these crumbs?”

Under her scolding, one of the girls answered timidly.

“We thought it was hungry since noon, so we gave it some, but it wouldn’t eat…”

The woman pressed her forehead.

“Oh dear, it looks like a kitten that just stopped nursing… what should I give it?”

She went into the kitchen and rattled around for a while.

Then she brought a bowl of thin soup.

It didn’t look as nice as palace food, but there were bits of bacon floating in it.

Well… I guess.

I’ll think about whether to report your kids to the Emperor later.

I like children after all…

And His Majesty’s temper is terrible…

That was how my difficult day outside the palace came to an end.

* * *

This house was just as cold as Lydia’s room.

But here, I had to spend the night in a cage without even a blanket or body warmth.

I barely slept, and from shivering so much, even my joints began to ache.

The house was already busy before the sun rose.

It turned out the couple ran a grocery store on the ground floor.

Even while preparing for business, they worried about me.

“What should we do with the cat? The steward of the Heine family stopped by yesterday, but they said they don’t keep animals.”

“If someone lost a cat, they’ll come looking for it. Let’s display it somewhere visible.”

If they just let me go, it would be simple.

But I couldn’t say that, and even if I could, they didn’t look like the kind to release me without payment.

“Meoow.”

So I remained trapped in the cage, placed on a stall lined with oil and wine.

Just yesterday, I was wearing a cloak gifted by a queen from another country, and now this.

It was so cold and humiliating that I trembled.

At least the shopkeeper’s wife showed some sense and wrapped a blanket around the cage.

It blocked some of the wind, but it was still freezing.

I had always slept wrapped in warm wool blankets on the Emperor’s bed, and now I had spent a night in a drafty wooden building.

That was how my miserable new day began.

The first customer, wearing a black cloak, asked.

“Oh my, what’s this cat? Is it for sale?”

The shopkeeper lied calmly.

“No, a noble left it here for a while yesterday.”

After that, people kept showing interest.

“Oh my, what a pretty cat.”

“Is this cat for sale?”

“Wow, what kind of cat is this?”

I felt like I had become a display item.

After hearing the same things over and over in the cold morning, I finally got a piece of ham for lunch.

Waiting here for someone to recognize me was clearly madness.

The only ones who truly knew my face were nobles and high ranking servants of the palace.

There was no reason for them to come here to shop, not even by the end of winter.

Nobles wouldn’t shop themselves, and the palace seemed to receive deliveries.

Just yesterday, Lydia had been sorting delivered fish.

If days passed and no one recognized me, what would happen?

Would they give up on the reward and just eat me?

I had heard the couple scolding their children that morning.

In this area, stray cats were called “roof rabbits.”

And in winter, when food was scarce, they were eaten gratefully.

If this cage opened again, I had to escape no matter what.

But could I make it back to the palace safely?

What if I got caught again?

What if they didn’t realize I belonged to someone, or didn’t care because they were too hungry?

What if an animal caught me instead of a person?

I regretted leaving the castle so impulsively.

‘In Kella, staying by the Emperor’s side is the safest.’

I missed Klaus’s blue eyes so much as he said that.

* * *

In the bitter cold, the day dragged on endlessly.

Late in the afternoon, when the sun was starting to set, I heard heavy breathing and a girl’s voice.

“H-H-how much is the herring?”

I had been curled up so long I felt like I had frostbite.

Even though the voice sounded familiar, it was hard to open my eyes.

“Twelve for two pennies!”

“T-That expensive?”

The shopkeeper didn’t even bother replying.

I forced my eyes open.

The owner of the voice was counting coins in front of the shopkeeper.

I looked at her once, then shut my eyes again, then opened them.

Oh my god, I knew that face.

The girl handed over two coins.

“Um, here…”

Lydia!

It’s Lydia!

“Meow!”

The moment I cried out, Lydia’s gaze finally landed on me.

“Meow! Meooow!”

She tilted her head, confused, and the shopkeeper sighed.

“What’s wrong with this cat… the owner hasn’t shown up either. This is a problem.”

Lydia stared at me for a long time, then asked softly.

“Sacred creature?”

“Meow! Me-ow!”

Lydia, it’s me! It’s really me!

I nodded frantically and cried out as loud as I could.

Just as I never expected to meet Lydia here, she didn’t expect to see me either.

Of course she didn’t.

We had just met in the palace garden yesterday morning.

“Meooow! Meooow!”

Finally, Lydia asked.

“Oh my, is it really you, sacred creature?!”

She pressed both hands against the cage in a panic.

Her kind face turned pale, as if she herself were trapped.

The coins she had been carefully counting fell and rolled across the stall, but her eyes stayed fixed on me.

The shopkeeper’s face also filled with shock and worry.

He must have heard the word sacred creature.

“Child, do you know whose cat this is? Is it from the temple?”

Despite the cold, sweat seemed ready to drip from his face.

Mister, it would’ve been better if I were from the temple.

I belong to the Emperor!

Lydia cried out on my behalf.

“Oh my god, sir, what have you done? This is a sacred creature of the Imperial Palace. His Majesty cherishes it like family. It responds like a human and performs divination!”

Well, the rumors about me were a bit exaggerated…

But it looked like I could finally go home.

Overjoyed, I cried out at Lydia.

“Meow! Meow!”

“Oh no… what should I do… Sacred creature, should I take you out?”

I nodded rapidly, and the shopkeeper hurriedly opened the cage.

The moment I got out, I leaped straight into Lydia’s arms.

Her familiar warmth was comforting, but Lydia looked even more frightened than I did, tears forming in her eyes.

“Oh my, out here in this cold… Sacred creature, are you alright? How did you end up here… who did you follow out…?”

Since I couldn’t answer, I simply burrowed into her warmth.

The shopkeeper covered his mouth with his thick hand and paced in and out of the shop.

It looked like he was desperately trying to figure out a way out.

Then he returned and asked Lydia.

“Um… are you a servant of the Imperial Palace?”