Chapter 72: What the Catnip Revealed

Rosetta’s pale face turned red in an instant. Strangely, she had no immunity to Arthur de Fabian’s kindness.

Heh. Arthur curved his eyes into a smile and lifted the teacup prepared by the maid.

“Go ahead and drink. You like honey tea, don’t you?”

“…Yes.”

Rosetta carefully held the base of the golden teacup in her hands. The hot, sweet aroma that numbed her nose was truly delightful.

Her eyes naturally caught sight of the pretty, large jar of honey tea placed on the tray. Arthur, of course, didn’t fail to notice this.

“Do you want it?”

Rosetta, startled at being found out, shook her head vigorously.

“N-No.”

“Don’t lie. Berg Mountain honey tea is incredibly delicious.”

“Is… is that so?”

Even as she spoke, her eyes kept darting toward the jar.

The Madam had always told her not to covet others’ possessions. She tried hard to look away, but it was impossible to suppress her instinctive desire.

‘Don’t be greedy for what belongs to others.’

Rosetta tightened her hair ribbon with both hands to steady her mind.

Arthur, who had been watching her with deep interest, gently folded his golden eyes and whispered sweetly.

“It’s fine. That belongs to you, Rosetta.”

“But it’s someone else’s. How can I… take something that belongs to Your Highness?”

Heh. Arthur chuckled.

“There’s no one watching. Does it matter if it’s mine or someone else’s?”

“Pardon?”

Arthur pushed the jar of honey tea closer to Rosetta.

“Take it.”

His golden eyes, as if melted from pure gold, stirred Rosetta’s deepest desires.

After hesitating and fidgeting with her fingers several times, Rosetta finally stretched out her arm, grabbed the jar’s neck, and tucked it into her arms.

“Thank you.”

Her expression brightened as if she had never hesitated. Her cheeks were flushed with a rosy hue.

Arthur, who had pushed his teacup aside, smiled softly as he looked at the blushing Rosetta.

“Now, shall we hear a bit about you, Rosetta?”

“Not about the Saintess, but about me?”

“Listening to your story will eventually lead to hers, won’t it? Don’t you agree?”

“Oh, that’s true! Ask me anything. Since I’ve received such delicious tea, I’d like to repay you.”

“Haha, good. I like how clear and straightforward you are about rewards and punishments.”

Arthur brushed his silver hair over his shoulder and leaned his upper body closer to Rosetta.

“I’d like to know how you’ve been spending your time at the campsite. Would that be alright?”

His coaxing voice was as soft as a feather. Momentarily embarrassed, Rosetta began stroking the jar of honey tea in her arms as she started to talk.

“Well, actually, the Duke collapsed…”

“Did he?”

“Aren’t you surprised, Your Highness? I was very startled because the madam was so upset.”

“Oh, I’m surprised inside. So, what happened next?”

Starting with the story of General Jude being captured to the events at the Everlasting Snow Mountains, Rosetta shared everything without holding back.

“You met a raccoon?”

“Yes. My intuition tells me it’s definitely a beastman. But the madam, not understanding my dislike for animals, treated it so kindly. Isn’t that too much? I risked my life to repay her kindness.”

“That must have been hard.”

“She even brought that raccoon to the barracks. You can’t imagine how upset I was. I still haven’t gotten over it.”

A beastman raccoon, huh.

“Oh dear, how unfortunate.”

Arthur’s large hand reached out to touch Rosetta’s cheek. Her small face was completely enveloped by his hand.

“If it were me, I wouldn’t have done that. For someone who dislikes animals, that must have been quite distressing.”

“Your Highness understands my feelings?”

“Of course. I, too, dislike beastmen, just like you, Rosetta.”

“Your Highness and I seem to have something in common.”

Arthur smiled as he looked at Rosetta’s eyes, which sparkled like stars in the black night sky.

＊

Knock, knock.

“My lady? Are you inside?”

At that moment, as the catnip was taking effect, Maya’s voice came from outside the door.

“Maya?”

Oh no. Not now!

Kiki was still writhing on the bed, completely lost in ecstasy.

“Maya, now’s not a good time.”

“Why not? And what are all these blue leaves scattered in the hallway?”

Oh no, I hadn’t noticed the leaves sticking out from under the door.

“They’re weeds. I pulled them out, but they seem to be toxic, so I was going to throw them away but accidentally dropped them.”

“Really?”

“Miya?”

Kiki, who had been lying on his back, suddenly raised his head. Alarmed, I whispered softly so Maya wouldn’t hear.

“Xavier, what’s wrong?”

“Miya?”

Did he just say Maya?

Kiki jumped off the bed with a thud, went to the door, and started scratching it with his claws.

“Miya?”

“What’s gotten into you?”

Not understanding my frantic question, Kiki continued scratching the door.

“My lady? I hear a cat.”

“Really? I don’t hear anything.”

“Miyamiya?”

Xavier, please!

“I just heard it again.”

“……”

I glared at Kiki in frustration, then racked my brain for an excuse.

“Oh, a cat must have just passed by the window.”

“Is that so? Then please open the door so I can come in and organize your things.”

Gasp. Seeing the doorknob turn, I quickly pressed the latch to lock it.

“Oh? It’s locked from the inside?”

I hurriedly picked up Kiki, who was scratching the door, and pressed my lips to his. As always, a black haze spread like a mist, and I turned to pin Kiki beneath me as I fell onto the bed.

“Ugh.”

Sss.

Underneath me, Xavier appeared in human form, frowning and holding his forehead. Trapped between my arms, the now-naked Xavier lay defenseless.

His teal eyes, clouded with excitement, and his red lips, damp with saliva, exhaled heavy breaths. His taut chest and sharply defined six-pack abs were provocatively on display. His entire body lay limp, completely unguarded.

As I stared blankly at his body, Xavier, still under the influence of the catnip, murmured.

“Mmm, Maya. Tell her to leave.”

I draped the white sheet over his waist and asked.

“Xavier, are you conscious?”

“Tell her… to leave. Maya.”

“You don’t want her to come in? Because she’ll find out you’re a cat?”

“…Yes.”

So that’s why he was scratching the door?

The hallway outside had gone quiet. Had Maya given up and left?

I chuckled softly and gently rubbed the deep furrow in his brow with my fingers.

“Are you back to your senses? You seemed like you were in heaven just now.”

“Was I?”

“You were even drooling, like this.”

“What?”

Xavier’s tightly shut eyes opened slightly, and I exaggeratedly mimicked drooling.

His face turned a deep red, more than I’d ever seen before.

“Oh my, our Duke doesn’t get drunk on alcohol but gets intoxicated by catnip?”

“Hah.”

Xavier ruffled his hair with both hands and turned his head away.

I turned my head to hide my laughter, then looked back at Xavier and asked.

“Hmm, what’s with this catnip? Why did you suddenly turn into a cat?”

“Ah, that raccoon… the Crown Prince.”

“Pardon?”

Xavier pressed his palm to his eyes and handed me a small card from beside the pillow.

[This is revenge, you damn cat. Lulu.]

“Oh my.”

“There was a ‘holy power absorber’ inside the card.”

“Oh.”

It was no surprise that the raccoon Crown Prince had figured out that the cat was Xavier.

Grinding his teeth, Xavier let out a growl of frustration.

“That damned raccoon. I won’t let him off.”

“……!”

I covered my mouth with both hands, stifling a gasp—or rather, suppressing the laughter that threatened to burst out.

‘Xavier has every right to be angry, but why is this so funny?’

I laughed internally, barely managing to compose myself before speaking.

“See? I told you to stop bothering animals.”

“Are you amused by this? Instead of being angry?”

What a shame I can’t take a picture of you, Xavier.

I couldn’t say it aloud, so I kept my mouth shut, though my cheeks twitched uncontrollably.

“Wife, how long do you plan to laugh while staying on top of me?”

“What? Ah!”

Xavier, who had been pouting, suddenly grabbed my waist and shoulders, flipping our positions. My arms were pinned under his large hands.

His face was still flushed, likely because the catnip’s effects hadn’t completely worn off. His teal eyes, filled with desire, languidly gazed down at me.

“No, I’m angry. Very angry!”

“Hm.”

“Really! How could he play such a trick? That raccoon is truly awful!”

Finally, his red lips curved into a smooth arc.

“That’s more like it.”

“Yes, of course.”

Though Xavier had been the one to provoke Lulu, this prank was far too dangerous.

To put something like a holy power absorber inside—how could he do such a thing when he’s in a similar situation?

Wait a moment.

“Xavier, you mentioned a holy power absorber? A thing like that exists?”

Could this perhaps allow me to share my holy power with beastmen?

“What are you suddenly talking about?”

“Tell me more about the holy power absorber.”

I gently pushed Xavier’s shoulders and sat up. He let me go without resistance, watching me with curiosity as I looked at him. Wrapping the sheet around his waist, he staggered to his feet and gulped down the water from the bedside table.

Well, his throat must have been parched.

“It was something that used to be distributed exclusively in Moirai, but it’s rare to see it nowadays. I didn’t expect the Moirai to still have it.”

Why is it an absorber? There are bottles that can store holy power, like the one Xavier had.

“Tell me more.”

Placing the cup back on the table, Xavier began to explain in a deep voice.

“The Empire wanted to control the Beast Kingdom. This was a tool once distributed in Moirai through the temples under the pretense of supplying holy power…”

“But this is an absorber, isn’t it? Doesn’t it take away their holy power instead?”

“Exactly. From the Empire’s perspective, it made it easier to deal with beastmen who had turned into wild animals. Predatory beastmen are rare, after all.”

The Empire deceived the beastmen by claiming it was a simple holy power supply device and spread the absorbers throughout Moirai.

Then, many beastmen, left defenseless as their power was drained, became victims of a massacre, according to Xavier’s explanation.

“After that incident, the beastmen began killing innocent imperial citizens in retaliation.”