Chapter 16: Her True Feelings

“Mya, meooow!”

Both Rexton and I turned our heads simultaneously toward the Duke’s tent.

“Is that Kiki?”

“That can’t be.”

“What?”

I squinted at Rexton, who seemed to be trying to dodge the question, when I sensed someone approaching from above.

“Viscount Rexton!”

“Ah, General Jude.”

Jude was coming down briskly.

“Wait, you need to come here.”

“What’s going on?”

“Someone destroyed my personal tent and ran away.”

“Who on earth would dare destroy the tent of a Gauntlet Expert?”

Rexton asked in disbelief.

Jude was an expert-level warrior, along with General Wilhelm and Ethan. Although none of them had reached the rank of ‘Master’ like Xavier, they were all skilled fighters of the next level, known as Expert Combatants. There was no doubt about their exceptional combat abilities.

“It must have been Wilhelm. He’s definitely holding a grudge because I mentioned during the briefing how he’s so obsessed with eating from the crack of dawn.”

Oh, so that’s what happened.

“I was talking to the Graham representative, but how foolish!”

‘What?’

Was she badmouthing me behind my back?

“General, were you talking about me?”

Jude seemed to realize too late that I was standing behind Rexton. She covered her mouth, looking startled, but then had the audacity to act defensive.

“Yes, I talked behind your back! What’s wrong with speaking the truth?”

“Miss, I apologize on her behalf. General Jude has a hot temper and made a slip of the tongue.”

As Jude spoke boldly, Rexton stepped in front of me with a troubled expression.

“It doesn’t seem like a slip of the tongue to me.”

When had she avoided my eyes? Now she was crossing her arms and glaring at me. It was almost laughable to think it was a mistake. Rexton sighed deeply as he glanced back at Jude.

“My apologies. General, please apologize immediately.”

“No way! You know how much trouble that woman caused His Grace in the past. Why am I the only one being scolded?”

Even Rexton’s sharp glare didn’t faze her. Jude was just that kind of person.

Considering the severity of Yuria’s past behavior as a stalker, there was no room for excuses.

However, I had already formally apologized to the Duke, and he had accepted my apology.

I had nothing to feel guilty about anymore!

“I have no intention of accepting an apology from someone so rude and ignorant.”

“What did you say?!”

“General Jude.”

Rexton stopped Jude, who was yelling at me, and asked her a question.

“You said your tent was destroyed.”

“Yes, but this woman!”

“Focus on one thing, General Jude.”

Rexton’s icy tone deflated Jude’s bravado.

“I was sitting in the tent when it suddenly collapsed. Someone deliberately cut the ropes. There were marks as if they’d been sliced with a blade.”

“You didn’t sense anyone approaching?”

“That’s what I’m saying!”

“It’s impossible unless it was someone of the same Expert level or higher, like a Master.”

“Exactly! It must have been Wilhelm. Who else could it be?”

She glared at me as she said this.

What the heck, was she blaming me for this?

‘Could she actually be a fool?’

“This isn’t the time for this. His Grace…”

Rexton seemed about to say something to Jude but glanced at me and shut his mouth like a clam.

“His Grace what? I need to have a word with this woman… Ow!”

Just as Jude, with her fish-like brain, twisted her body to approach me, a rock flew out of nowhere and hit her forehead with a loud thud.

“General!”

“Oh my.”

Blood trickled down Jude’s forehead, soaking her face.

“XX! Who did that?!”

“Let’s go see a healer.”

“Blood, blood! Wilhelm! I’m going to kill him!”

Jude screamed like a madwoman.

Rexton gave me a warning look, silently telling me not to enter the Duke’s tent, and then dragged the raging Jude toward the field hospital.

‘Serves her right.’

That’s what happens when you don’t treat people kindly. She cursed at me for no reason and got what she deserved.

It was impressive she didn’t pass out even after being hit by a rock, in a different sense.

‘But what’s this? Did General Wilhelm really throw it?’

He didn’t seem like someone who would plan something so meticulous.

I looked around, but all I could see were tents.

“Meow.”

Then, once again, I heard Kiki’s cry from inside the Duke’s tent.

‘Kiki is definitely here!’

My lips curled into a smile. Since I was already here, I might as well see Kiki and meet the Duke. I should deliver the luxury uniform and beg him to stick to the contract before leaving. Better to leave before things got worse.

Rexton’s warnings were already out of my mind. I lifted the tent flap, adorned with the Duke’s emblem of a knight with a sword, and stepped inside.

The flickering lanterns illuminated the interior of the tent. Clothes that seemed to belong to the Duke were scattered near a mirror, but the owner of the clothes was nowhere to be seen.

‘Is he showering? I don’t hear water.’

I took another step inside, answering my own question.

“Is anyone here? Your Grace? Kiki?”

There was no one. I placed the new uniform on the bed and looked around the room.

“No one’s here?”

I sat down on a nearby sofa. A mirror placed opposite the sofa caught my eye.

At that moment, I saw a faint reflection of a silver-gray cat in the mirror.

‘It’s Kiki!’

She was stuck in the narrow space under the sofa, unable to move. I barely held back a grin as I spoke to myself.

“Kiki, I know you’re there. I brought lots of tasty treats.”

I opened a pouch of chicken br*ast from my pocket and spread it out on the sofa table.

“Sniff, sniff.”

Kiki crawled out slowly, his nose twitching.

Resting my chin on my hand, I watched his through the mirror with satisfaction.

＊

Chomp, chomp, chomp.

‘This is wrong, I shouldn’t!’

But the beast’s instincts overpowered Xavier’s reason. His nose was already buried in the pouch, devouring the chicken br*ast.

He wanted to stop, but this damned cat’s mouth wouldn’t listen. The realization that this cat’s mouth was his own filled him with despair.

“Hello, Kiki?”

‘Ack, you startled me.’

It was Yuria Graham.

Her clear, sky-blue eyes sparkled like crystal and curved into crescent moons as she smiled. The warmth in her gaze was overwhelming.

“Were you hungry? Eat as much as you want.”

“Myaa! (Don’t bring me things like this!)”

He glared and shouted, but his voice came out as a beast’s cry.

‘Oh no, not again.’

Just ten minutes ago, he had been human. He’d been changing clothes after returning from the laundry area, still mulling over Yuria’s words.

‘If it’s delicious, just say it’s delicious. If you’re grateful, just say thank you.’

‘I couldn’t just sit still like other noble ladies in a battlefield where people are dying.’

Her words had struck him deeply.

A pang of guilt settled in his chest. After all, she claimed to be sincere…

Just then, Rexton’s voice came from outside the tent.

“Your Grace, Lady Yuria Graham is here to see you briefly.”

“Why?”

“She has something to deliver.”

“……”

Xavier stroked his chin, a smirk forming on his lips.

“There are many ways to give both the disease and the cure.”

“Having delivered the message, I’ll take my leave.”

But as soon as Rexton left, Xavier had transformed into a cat. Startled by his reflection in the mirror, he’d hidden under the sofa.

‘Am I really startled by my own reflection?’

Feeling pathetic for becoming dumber every time he turned into a cat, he clutched his head with his front paws. At that moment, a hand reached under the sofa and pulled him out.

“It’s dangerous under there, Kiki.”

Yuria Graham dragged him out from under the sofa.

She picked him up and placed him on her lap. He thought about escaping, but before he knew it, he was kneeling on all fours on her lap, completely settled.

“Purr, purr.”

And even making an embarrassing noise.

‘I…I can’t resist.’

“Oh my, you’re purring.”

She began patting his fluffy bottom.

‘No, not the bottom…’

He tried to wriggle away, but the rhythm of her pats, combined with his full stomach, made him drowsy. In the end, he surrendered his bottom to her.

As he resigned himself to her touch, she suddenly spoke in a choked voice.

“Kiki, I want to go home soon.”

“……”

Wide awake, Xavier looked up at Yuria. Her gentle hand stroked under his chin.

‘Ah, no. Not there.’

“I know the Duke doesn’t like me. I don’t want to stay either.”

“Myaa…”

“I just wanted to help, but I guess I tried too hard. I even ruined his uniform.”

“Myaang?”

Her half-closed eyes looked pitiful.

“Yes, I know. I brought the finest commander’s uniform out of guilt.”

Xavier sighed internally as he glanced at the neatly folded uniform on the bed.

“I hope he doesn’t hate me too much for what I said earlier.”

“……”

‘If it’s delicious, just say it’s delicious. If you’re grateful, just say thank you.’

‘So she’s been thinking about that.’

It wasn’t that he wasn’t grateful. Xavier had paused when she said those words, and he’d been distracted by them even during the tactical training with his knights.

‘I suppose I should thank her.’

Xavier cleared his throat and looked at Yuria.

“Hmm? Do you have something to say?”

“Myaang, myaang.”

“What? I don’t understand.”

Ah, right, I’m a cat right now.

Even basic communication was impossible. It was hopeless.

‘Where has that idiot Rexton gone?’

As he cursed Rexton, Xavier’s small body suddenly floated upward.

“Meow?”

“Thank you for comforting me.”

Yuria’s small face came close to his. The cat’s teal eyes widened.

‘Ah, she’s pretty,’ he thought, just before something shocking happened. Her cherry-red lips drew closer.

“Kiss.”

Her warm breath brushed against the cat’s glossy forehead. The teal eyes widened even further in shock.

“What are you doing to our Kiki?”