/
‘Hmm…?’
The movement was so careful that my mind floated somewhere between dream and reality, and I could not wake up.
A warm, soft sensation touched his back.
‘Feels good… It is warm.’
Nevertheless, the careful movement did not stop. Someone’s warm body temperature, which gently penetrated into the duvet, went down further and further.
‘….!’
The moment something touched the back of my thigh, between my legs lying on my side, I woke up in shock.
‘…What?’
I lifted the quilt in a hurry—
“Huh…?”
At that moment, two blue lights flashed and stared at me.
“Sasha?”
“….”
Sasha, who was in kitten form with a black face and cream body, frowned before poking her head out.
“Why are you here? Was the bed uncomfortable? Did you have a scary dream?”
“Oh, I don’t know.”
Murmuring bluntly, Sasha then dug back into the blanket. She rolled herself round under my legs and closed her eyes.
“You can’t sleep here…”
At that moment, I remembered Dimitri drawing alone on the ground.
“Don’t you want to sleep alone?”
“….”
Sasha looked at me without a word at my question. Although she did not answer, her eyes looked like she wanted something.
“I don’t like sleeping alone.”
Was it because she is still a baby…? I gently hugged her. Despite her harsh tone, Sasha obediently dug into my arms and touched my neck with her adorable paws.
‘She is a child who is used to being hugged.’
Someone must have hugged and cared for this child so much.
…But, why did they change their mind for a moment and threw her out on the street? Why did this person take a young kitten out in this scary world?
“Were you lonely, Sasha? I’ll stay with you.”
Instead of answering me, she gently buried her face in my neck. A small, warm, round forehead was felt under my chin.
People often say that cats are not lonely animals.
After all, they are cold, and they do not know how to recognize their guardian. However, contrary to what is known, cats have a clear sense of companionship. When a companion suddenly disappears, they would feel lonely and stressed to the point that they stop eating and drinking.
Because of their habit of hunting prey smaller than their body size, cats are so social that they do not hunt together in groups, and even yield to their companions’ prey without taking them away. They simply do not show their emotions, such as loneliness, longing, and worry. Instead, they kept it to themselves quietly.
For this reason, cats are also called animals that were subjected to “quiet abuse” without even their owners noticing them.
As I gently hugged Sasha, she made a pleasant sound and rubbed her face against my neck. Holding her, I went back to the annex through the backyard where the morning dew had fallen. I then laid Sasha down on her bed with myself, and I patted her on the back. Soon, she fell asleep.
The sleeping Sasha talked a lot in her sleep. She trembled and was afraid while crying out for someone.
“I miss you…Don’t go. I’m scared…”
Listening to her sleep talking, I cried with her.
‘…I would rather she hate them and be angry.’
Why does she miss the person who abandoned her so much…? That person must have already forgotten about her. Nonetheless, Sasha’s sleep talk was so pure and honest that it brought tears to my eyes.
“I’ll be with you. I won’t leave you.”
* * *
Dimitri stood with his arms crossed in front of Sasha’s door, licking his lips.
Contrary to Rowaine’s wishes, this wonderful mansion was vulnerable to partial sound insulation as the doors and windows were plainly wooden.
…In particular, his room was adjacent to her room.
It seems she has not found it yet, though between the two rooms, there was a secret little door for easy access. Since it was on the side of the bed, the sound from there was shared even more easily. As a result, Dimitri, who heard Sasha sneaking into her room and lying in bed, was soon drawn to Rowaine’s sweet voice as she took the kitten all the way to the annex.
“I’ll be with you. I won’t leave you.”
Dimitri pursed his lips once more at the sound of her quiet voice coming through the crack in the door.
‘That senseless woman… No adaptability.’
He told her not to bring Coco and Sasha to the main building, so was that why she brought the child to the annex this morning…? It seemed that the traces of the lines he drew with his feet earlier had already become insignificant.
‘I know better than anyone that cats are selfish.’
In the first place, he did not expect Coco and Sasha to listen. Bringing a cat into a home was inherently something that required a lot of flexibility and patience.
So, the cats might have played innocent and did this, though he does not know why she is struggling alone. How could she be so obedient at times like this when she had done such an unconventional thing in front of Mrs. Elbas before like that…?
‘I do not even know.’
In fact, what he really does not know was his own self, who had followed her all the way here than Rowaine.
‘…She keeps bothering me.’
Even though she was a stranger, strangely, he kept getting worried about her.
‘It is strange.’
Yes… It was strange and mysterious so Dimitri kept letting it go. As she continued to arouse his curiosity, it was also unavoidable that the cat was drawn to curiosity. So, he wanted to leave Rowaine alone, thinking that she was free to do whatever she wanted.
‘…It is just because I am bored, since my life is dull.’
Dimitri, who had half-forced the answer in his mind, listened again to Rowaine’s voice.
In the room, Sasha’s sleep talk and her cries could be heard resoundingly. He was somehow offended. Does it not feel like he became a villain who made the child come to the annex as if she was running away with Rowaine at night…?
‘That person over there is more notorious than me…’
His pride was hurt and he could not stand it.
‘I will have to arrange a room for Sasha and Coco in the main building as soon as possible.’
Every time the little cats could not sleep and looked for Rowaine, he could not have her bring them back to the annex like this. Although he only wanted to protect his realm, she did not want to be a villain to her.
‘It is just not good for me to hear rumors that the Duchess sneaks out every night and sleeps elsewhere. So that was it, there was no other reason at all.’
He does not know why Rowaine’s lips kept sticking out as she whispers to Sasha, “It’s okay, it’s okay.”
…It was because her voice seemed to tickle his chest.
‘This is annoying.’
Ruffling his hair for nothing, it took a while before he left his spot and went back to his room.
* * *
Dimitri, who had been sneaking around the annex in pursuit of Rowaine, eventually overslept. As a result, his aide, Hyle, came to work late this morning and kept pestering him.
“…So, the Count of Bilbao couldn’t even recover the investment and suffered a lot of damage—”
However, he did not listen to Hyle’s words at all.
It was because the side of Rowaine’s room beyond the wall was bustling. Women’s voices could be heard from the small door connecting the two rooms, a major cause of the weak soundproofing.
`“You look tired today, Madam.”
“Are you in any pain?”
“Are you feeling okay? It looks like you had a hard time last night, how about getting a little more sleep today?”
“It’s supposed to be exhausting at first.”
“Did the Master act hastily? How long did he hold onto the Madam all night and never let her go so she looks so tired like this…?”
“If you don’t feel comfortable moving around, I can bring you a meal…”
The voices of the maids were filled with excitement so the conversation could be heard more clearly.
“Please be quiet, you two. It’s not like that.”
Rowaine’s troubled voice could be faintly heard next. At that, the maids wanted to shut their mouths for a moment—but, it was literally just a moment.
“By the way, it seems that the Master overslept as well.”
“The Viscount was entering the Master’s room a while ago with papers.”
“You don’t even know what to do on a day like this.”
Dimitri nodded slightly, agreeing with the maid Liddell. Meanwhile, Hyle, ignorant of it, was unaware that the maids were doing anything wrong and continued to talk about work, “For that reason, it was put on the agenda at this meeting of the elders…”
Listening to Hyle’s boring story, he once again concentrated on the interesting conversation from Rowaine’s room.
“Agwen, Liddell… Stop, don’t say anything. Shh!”
Now, Rowaine was almost crying.
Hearing a sudden voice, Hyle asked, “Why are you smiling, Duke? Did I say anything funny?”
Come to think of it, Hyle was also here with him.
“…I didn’t laugh.”
Dimitri glanced at him as if he was talking nonsense.
“You were just laughing?”
“You must’ve seen it wrong.”
“Certainly—”
“You must’ve got an eye problem.”
“….”