Chapter 17: EBPLB

Ian looked down at the cat in front of him and smiled a cold, sticky smile.

As though a bucket of ice water had been poured over him, his mind cooled instantly. Once his thoughts settled into that chilling calmness, the beastfolk whispering around him no longer entered his awareness at all.

With slow movements, he stroked the kitten in his arms using his index finger.

Unlike his cold, sunken thoughts, something strange and feverish boiled inside him. Blood chilled from his fingertips and coursed through his entire body.

“Where were you trying to go?”

Recalling the situation from moments ago as calmly as possible, he spoke softly.

Even while conversing with the people approaching him earlier, Ian had kept all his attention focused on the basket he was carrying.

So even while talking to others, there was no way he wouldn’t know how his cat was moving around inside the basket, what posture she was taking, or what she was doing.

Did something happen? Or should I have lined the basket with a softer cushion?

A strange unease slowly clung to him as the basket continued trembling lightly.

“I greet the head of House Cadelion….”

“…Lord Cadelion, regarding this proposal….”

But as if mocking his growing anxiety, more people than usual crowded around him today.

“Ah! Lord Cadelion, I think I stepped wrong and injured my ankle. If perhaps….”

“I should call a servant for you.”

“That won’t be necessary. I couldn’t possibly trouble the busy servants over something so minor. If you could simply escort me to the lounge—”

“Fortunately, there’s already a servant walking right beside us.”

“Ah….”

“This young lady seems to have hurt her foot. Please escort her to the lounge.”

“Lord Cadelion, regarding support for the monster-subjugation forces….”

“If you send the details by letter, I’ll review the matter favorably.”

“Y-Yes, sir!”

Wearing the gentle smile he always used, he swiftly dealt with each bothersome situation one after another.

Then the basket, which had only been swaying slightly until now, suddenly began shaking violently, as though whatever was inside had finally made up its mind.

Noticing the little furball moving frantically inside, Ian stepped away from the crowd.

Disappointed gazes followed after him, but he ignored them and quickened his pace.

The instant he escaped the people, the timing aligned perfectly.

The black furball kicked open the basket lid and launched itself into the air.

It leaped so high that anyone would believe it was a frog rather than a cat.

If another person had seen it, they might’ve mistaken it for a bat flying through the banquet hall.

That was how high it soared.

And at that moment, his heart dropped.

Did she want to escape that badly?

He had never once felt cold in his life, yet now the blood throughout his body chilled rapidly from the tips of his fingers, and the sensation of his heart twisting painfully was vivid.

Well, in a crowded banquet hall like this, movement would be difficult.

This probably was the perfect chance to escape.

She was the first thing he had ever brought back himself.

Though he’d selfishly dragged her to Cadelion, he never expected her to try escaping this quickly.

A hollow laugh escaped him.

Why are you trying to run away? Should I really have hidden you inside the mansion?

Or perhaps he should’ve tied her up.

So she could never take even a single step outside and could only look at him.

Those eyes looking at only me so blindly… I think I’d like that too.

No matter what emotions filled those devoted eyes.

A sticky, unsettling darkness wrapped around him like a serpent. Self-reproach, anxiety, anger, obsession—murky emotions rose from deep within his chest.

Like a tiny snowball swelling larger and larger at terrifying speed, those emotions devoured everything around them.

A gigantic hole made of black, muddy feelings opened its jaws toward him.

The true feelings he had pretended were pure darkened once more like pitch-black darkness.

Even if these emotions differed from before.

This violence had a different texture from the past.

Blue eyes filled with possessiveness flashed sharply.

Ian curved his eyes to hide the pitch-blackened feelings within him.

“I told you escaping wasn’t allowed.”

His dark blue eyes swirled with a strange, eerie obsession from some unknowable place.

“Explain.”

Ariel stared at him with a flustered expression.

Ah. If I mess this up, my life is screwed.

Her survival instincts—the very thing that had kept her alive for nineteen years in a brutal environment—were screaming warnings at her.

Who would’ve thought jumping out because she wanted alcohol would become such a huge problem?

Judging by those disturbingly broken-looking blue eyes, it seemed best to tell the truth.

I sighed and pointed my paw toward the table covered in finger foods.

You know… that finger food over there.

Then I made a little gesture of tipping a wine glass into my mouth with my paw.

I wanted to drink the alcohol beside the finger food….

Embarrassment flooded over me, making my face burn bright red. After finishing my explanation, I buried my face into Ian’s hand and went limp to hide.

The only place available to hide my face being Ian’s palm was truly depressing.

I never thought this would happen to me.

If possible, I wanted to crawl into a mouse hole and disappear immediately.

I needed time alone.

Ah, this is so humiliating.

“…You wanted to drink alcohol?”

Ian spoke slowly.

Seeing the kitten nodding violently, Ian was overcome by an indescribably absurd feeling.

The reason she’d tried escaping him… was because of alcohol?

It almost felt like he had lost to liquor.

Along with that bizarre sense of defeat, all the tension suddenly drained from his body, and overwhelming relief crashed over him like waves.

His gaze softened considerably.

Hurry and let’s go.

Having completely abandoned even her shame, Ariel patted Ian’s shoulder insistently. Pointing toward the table of finger foods, she hurried him along.

Then suddenly, Ian drooped the corners of his eyes and put on a sorrowful expression.

“Are you planning to go share love with someone else again, Ariel?”

“…?”

“How could you abandon me for another—”

That mouth of yours!

Ariel hurriedly clamped his mouth shut.

Ian widened his eyes and stared at the fluffy paw covering his lips.

When did I ever do that?!

As though asking whether she truly didn’t understand, he folded his eyes into a bright smile.

Then, while smiling innocently, he slightly opened his mouth as if to put the fluffy paw inside it.

Startled, Ariel recoiled backward in horror.

“H-Hey, tiger…?”

Part of her paw was still caught between his teeth, preventing her from pulling away. Ariel stared at Ian with trembling eyes.

Satisfied by the way her eyes shook, Ian finally released the fluffy paw from his mouth and curved his eyes slightly.

“…You were trying to go share love with that. Meanwhile, I became a tiger abandoned after only watching Ariel.”

Ian whispered into Ariel’s ear.

Blocking your mouth made it sound even weirder because the middle part got cut out!

“The alcohol or me?”

“Y-You!”

Only after Ariel smacked him repeatedly did Ian finally begin moving again.

Haah. Life is hard.

Ariel flopped face-down across Ian’s palm.

Holding Ariel in one hand and the basket in the other, Ian walked toward the table filled with finger foods.

That one. That one.

Sitting comfortably in Ian’s palm, I pointed toward a wine glass glowing with a brilliant purple hue as though it had been waiting for me. The embarrassment from earlier had long since vanished. Thinking about it, temporary humiliation instead of losing a leg was actually a pretty cheap price to pay.

“No. Not this one.”

Ian spoke gently yet firmly.

Tch.

I pointed to the wine glass beside it instead. Tiny cold droplets clung to the surface of the glass.

The refreshing scent of the softly pink wine was incredibly tempting.

“Not this one either.”

Then the one in front of it.

This one was a golden wine carrying the luxurious scent of tropical fruits. It looked like the kind of wine that would make you fall in love with its smooth finish after just one sip.

“This one?”

He pointed at the wine I’d chosen.

Yes, yes!

I nodded enthusiastically.

Then he picked up the orange juice sitting two seats away from all the wines I’d been staring holes into.

Poking my nose lightly, he spoke teasingly.

“You little drunkard cat. Should a kitten really be drinking alcohol?”

I’ve already tried it before. Besides, I’m already nineteen! I’m an adult!

Unlike my previous life, this world counted people as adults from eighteen onward once their birthday passed.

Still unable to let go of her attachment to alcohol, Ariel stared at Ian while drooping like a rain-soaked cat.

“No matter how you look at me, wine is still forbidden.”

He firmly covered my eyes.

Tch. Cold-hearted jerk.

Because Ian carried me around in his palm, I could feel gazes focusing on me far more clearly than when I’d been inside the basket.

Perhaps because of Ian’s status, nobody openly stared, but the sneaky glances were painfully obvious.

Some people even frowned upon seeing me and deliberately avoided the area.

The excessive attention made my entire body prickle.

“I greet the head of House Cadelion.”

A man with jet-black hair approached them.

“I greet the head of House Ashila.”

Ashila of the Serpents.

A family that had taken the leadership of the western region from House Idas of the Leopards several years ago.

In the novel, Ashila had also actively helped the heroine escape.

Because of that, my impression of him before meeting him had actually been quite favorable.

Wearing a faint smile, he approached us.

Then his eyes met mine as I raised myself from where I’d been lying in Ian’s palm.

The moment our gazes locked, the black pupils of the Ashila family head narrowed vertically like a slit.

But only for a moment.

Soon he folded his eyes kindly and spoke in a gentle voice.

“What an adorable cat you have. It makes me want to take her home and raise her myself.”

…But why does this feel so unsettling?

Did I see something wrong?

“Unfortunately, I found her first.”

“Ah, if I had found her first, would I have been able to take her instead?”

His voice dripped with regret, though his eyes remained fixed on me.

“If you ever intend to bring that cat to the western estate, please let me know.”

A deep smile spread across his face.

“I’ll make sure everything is prepared with utmost care.”

With those words, the head of House Ashila departed.

Did he really come all the way over to Ian just to say that?

What’s with that guy?

Why did it feel like he somehow knew me?

I’d never seen his face before. Never heard his voice before.

Yet a subtle sense of discomfort wrapped around my entire body.