This youth was none other than his own black cat. This was a bizarre occurrence that couldn’t be easily comprehended, but there was nothing beyond this reasoning that could explain the situation. No, disregarding everything else, he was convinced that this youth was his black cat.
He was quietly studying the youth when the air within the room wavered. The guard had come in upon hearing the unfamiliar voice. Calix motioned silently at the guard who had drawn his sword and come in soundlessly. The guard, having seen the unfamiliar figure sitting on top of Calix, checked Calix’s hand signal again and only then turned and disappeared out the door.
The youth was unaware and grumbled quietly. It seemed his irritation was not easily settled. As the gaze suddenly turned towards him, Calix slowly closed his eyes.
“This is all your faul…”
The youth that grumbled while wagging his finger suddenly trailed off at the end of his sentence. His hands fumbled as he touched his eyes.
“Hnnh. Why is it so dark all of a sudden? Why are my eyes like this? Why can’t I see?”
At any rate, it seemed that the youth had not noticed his body’s transformation. Suddenly possessing human sight, which was weak in the darkness, he was confused. Groping around his eyes, the youth made puzzled sounds: uh, uh, uh. Suddenly, he flailed around.
“Fur, fur. Fur. My fur. My face.”
The youth groped his own face, rubbing all over the smooth skin. He splayed his hand in front of his nose and inspected it meticulously.
“Hand. My hand! Ah, my arm! Ah, ah, my elbow!”
The youth felt his arms and bounced in excitement. As the excitement in his voice steadily grew, the noise outside the room became sharper. That sound was the guards getting wary.
The youth that groped his own body for a long time suddenly became silent. Calix thought that perhaps he had noticed that Calix was awake. But it wasn’t that. The youth spread and closed his hands while vacantly mumbling.
“I’m a human.”
The youth, who had mumbled as if sighing, panted softly. And then he leapt up from his spot and exclaimed/shouted.
“YES!!!”
Finally, the laughter Calix was holding in erupted, Pft. But the sound was buried inside the youth’s shout.
The youth, who was bouncing on the bed, suddenly slapped his hands over his mouth, hup. He looked around in the murky darkness,
which he could barely see in. After holding his breath for a while…
“I was almost found out.”
He mumbled. The best guards of the empire, who could sense even the smallest noise were right beyond the door, and he had shouted at a volume where even normal people could have heard. There was no way he hadn’t been found out. But it looked like the youth wasn’t capable of thinking of that(?). This part was similar to his usual behavior, which was at the same time clever and peculiarly slow-witted.
The youth sat in a squatting position when he stretched his hand out in front of Calix’s face. Based on how he didn’t realize that Calix was awake even when he had his eyes wide open, the youth’s night vision seemed to be quite bad. Calix decided to let the youth do what he wished until he (K) completely understood of the situation.
Closing his eyes, the youth waved his hand in front of Calix’s face. The motion was strong enough to have woken him even from a deep sleep. After waving his hand about in front of Calix’s face,
“Sugar Prince. You asleep?”
He whispered.
Sugar Prince, he says. Calix mulled over the youth’s words with his eyes closed.
Sugar Prince. It seemed that his small cat had always called him this. Indeed, from the very start, it had been a high-maintenance, sn.o.bbish sort of creature. Even the first time it had begged him for food, even when it whined for, or wanted something, it had looked at him with demanding eyes. As if asking for something it was ent.i.tled to have. It was impossible for that creature to think of him as its owner. But to call him Sugar Prince… Wasn’t he as daring a fellow as always?
Calix chuckled internally.
If Calix suddenly opened his eyes right now, although he would be surprised, he would, with effort, lick his paws and feign ignorance. –Although in this form he wouldn’t have paws to lick—and, instead, he would suddenly fly into a rage. As he always did.
The youth’s actions were busy. He huffed and panted, not knowing what to do with himself, and flailed about. He got off the bed and jumped in place. He even stretched. Excited that his body had turned human, he wasn’t paying any attention in Calix’s direction.
direction. Because of that, Calix could even prop his head on his handand enjoy watching the youth’s antics.
The youth’s completely exposed body under the moonbeams was pet.i.te and slender. But curiously enough, it didn’t give off the impression of being frail. Even when he had been a cat, he had been small but never weak. It seemed his physique itself was small.
The youth’s footsteps were busily going here and there all around the room. Seeing him pick up and touch each item with his small hands, it seemed like he was enjoying his human hands. Every time he picked up an item, he went, “Oh,” letting out his admiration. His expression was that of pure elation.
The youth who had been playing busily for a long time suddenly froze in place. Then, he crouched, s.h.i.+vering violently, and looked over his body. As if he just noticed that he was completely naked without a st.i.tch on him, he was startled and looked around the room. Seeing him so urgently hiding the thing that was dangling between his legs with both hands, Calix chuckled in his throat.
“Dammit. Witch-hag. Don’t you know the basic option for transformation is clothes? How humiliating.”
The youth muttered embarra.s.sedly.
A witch… Calix turned the word that came out of the youth’s mouth over in his mind and lost himself in thought. The easiest way was probably to ask the youth directly, but he had no intent of startling the giddy youth. And more than anything, he didn’t want to lose the pleasure of watching the youth chatter while moving about annoyedly. Finding out what had happened didn’t necessarily have to be through the youth. If finding out the truth became hard, he could just ask the youth at that time.
In the short moment Calix had taken his eyes off him, the youth was now pacing near the door. But he couldn’t bring himself to think of walking out. The youth knew that there were people waiting outside, and wouldn’t open the door because he didn’t want to get caught.
“What kind of room doesn’t have any clothes? And I can’t take and wear Sugar Prince’s bedclothes.”
As the youth grumbled, he came over to the bed. It seemed he had not been able to find something to wear. It was only natural, since the maids removed everything apart from what Calix would wear.
would wear. The body of the youth standing beside the bed shook. It must have been cold, since the fur pelt that once covered him had disappeared.
“Ah. It’s cold.”
The youth, who was finally unable to win over the cold, slowly crawled onto the bed. As if to make sure Calix had not awakened, he held his breath for a moment, then wriggled in to burrow underneath the sheets. Calix watched the sight of the heavily breathing youth squirming underneath the sheets towards him from the edge of the bed with enjoyment. This was the same creature that he found nestled on his chest to ward off the cold at dawn. It was likely that he had wanted to stick next to Calix for a long time because of the cold. (uh I think he’s talking about the time K decided they were having a “fight” and wanted to sleep separately XD)
Perhaps because the youth had decided that this wouldn’t work after all, he sat up all of a sudden. He stretched his hand out in front of Calix’s face and whirled it around again. Since Calix had his eyes closed peacefully, the youth stealthily came closer and resolutely laid down on top of Calix’s chest. Calix could feel a weight that was different from usual tooltip.
“Ah, as I thought, Sugar Prince’s chest-bed is the best.”
The youth that nuzzled against Calix’s chest giggled to himself. Then he rubbed his eyes with his hand and yawned. From Calix’s past experience, he knew the youth would fall asleep shortly. However, it seemed that the youth had other thoughts. He mumbled in a sleepy voice against Calix’s chest.
“I can’t fall asleep…my jewe…get them and run…have to…”
The drowsily blinking youth, who was resisting sleep was breathing softly in his sleep in a shockingly short amount of time. Calix cautiously stroked the black hair of the gently breathing youth. The sensation of it giving way under his hand was different from usual. It was natural, since the youth was not a cat. But the smooth and pleasant sensation was still there. Calix pressed his nose against the youth’s black head. It had a familiar scent as well.
“You don’t leave me bored in the least.”
Calix whispered with a voice full of laughter. At that, the youth wriggled and spoke in his sleep.
“My baaack… Sugar Prince. Stroke my back….”
Calix laughedmy back….”
Calix laughed aloud and put his hand to the youth’s back. It definitely felt different from the small back that fit within his single hand. As he stroked slowly down his spine, his smooth, furless skin slipped underneath his hand. It was such a soft sensation it was hard believe it was a boy’s skin.
Stroking slowly several times, the youth breathed peacefully again and fell asleep. Seeing his comfortably relaxed face, it appeared he enjoyed it. Calix checked that the youth was deep asleep and pulled the rope beside the bedpost. As soon as he pulled the indistinguishable thin rope that was hidden beside the thick rope used to call the attendants, the knight that was standing guard entered. Seeing his face full of tension, it seemed that after coming in a while before, he had been on edge. It was natural, since another person had suddenly appeared in the Crown Prince’s room. From that moment in time, the Crown Prince’s palace was probably on high alert.
As he stroked the youth’s head under the guard’s gaze, Calix lowered his voice and opened his mouth.
“Keep absolutely silent about this boy.”
No sooner than he had opened his mouth slowly, as if wanting to ask something, the guard nodded his head. Calix sent him away with a gesture of his hand and enjoyed the sensation of the youth beneath his hand.
What was the youth’s ident.i.ty? What had happened?
These were things he definitely had to hear about. But the youth was not someone who could harm him. He could be certain about that. Even if there was a one in ten thousand chance, he had the strength to sufficiently prevent it.
He was already looking forward to how the youth would react in the morning, and what he would say. But for now, he was happy listening to the youth’s breathing. After meeting this youth, there had not been a single joyless day. As long as this person was at his side, joy would surely not leave him.
Yes. As long as he was by his side, it was.
What would he do if the now-human youth would try to leave his side?
Calix pressed his lips to the youth’s black head.
“Of course I can’t let you.”
As Calix whispered with his lips pressed to the youth’s head, the youth squirmed. Calix stroked that person’s back.