chapter 11
Before I knew it, Ian—whose expression had softened—was poking the cat’s cheeks repeatedly.
“This one says he doesn’t want to tell us?”
When Ian pressed my cheek, it sank in like a soft sponge cake. Ever since coming here, I’d been eating all kinds of desserts, and maybe because of that, my once gaunt body had turned soft and squishy.
I’d basically been “kidnapped and inflated.”
This cat inflator.
But seriously, how unfair is that? I can’t even finish a single cookie in one sitting.
Lately, thanks to Ian and Mari, I had been slowly expanding the types and amounts of food I could eat.
But strangely, anything that wasn’t dessert still didn’t go down well.
And yet somehow I was getting rounder. If I was going to gain weight, I’d rather just grow into an adult cat.
It felt oddly unfair.
When did I ever say I didn’t want to tell you?
“Just now.”
He kept poking my cheeks as if he liked how they sank in with every press.
No, I mean I don’t have a name!
I crossed my short left and right front paws into an X shape.
No matter how I looked at it, it didn’t really look like an X.
“You… don’t have a name?”
Yeah.
I nodded.
Oh. He understood. Amazing. How did he even get that?
It just looked like a ball of fluff to me. Though if you looked closely, the tangled fur did kind of form a messy X.
Ian’s expression suddenly went cold.
Allen, sounding flustered for the first time in a while, asked again.
“You don’t have a name?”
Nope. I don’t.
But I’ve been living just fine without one. I’ve survived until now, haven’t I?
I shrugged.
“What kind of name would be good…”
As if his earlier cold expression had never happened, Ian softened again and narrowed his eyes slightly.
“Tell me what you want. Blackie? Sooty? Bibi? Malsooki?”
Oh my god. Where did ‘Malsooki’ even come from? Your brain really can just invent names that shouldn’t exist even in my past life…
“Or how about Nero?”
Black cat Nero?
What, am I some character from a famous song? How does coincidence even line up like that?
I kept my stiff expression firmly in place. Not that I was trying to soften it anyway.
If you name me any of those, I’m cutting ties with you. I won’t see you again.
His gaze lingered on me for a moment before drifting away.
“Those kinds of cute eyes and expressions… If I name you one of those, maybe you’ll look at me like that every time I call you.”
What do you mean “cute expression”?
Can you stop twisting the meaning of cute…?
Oh no. He’s weird.
He really is a pervert.
Again, I respect preferences—but please don’t direct them at me.
I stared at Ian with a cold, drained look.
“From how you look now, I doubt you’d even listen or acknowledge it.”
Yeah. I’d probably ignore you like a stranger.
“Really? That’s a shame.”
“I think it might actually be fine if Ian gets ignored by the cat. It might be good for him to taste a bit of the world’s bitterness…”
Allen muttered his personal wish quietly.
“Allen, what did you say? You want to spar with me tomorrow morning?”
Ian lifted one corner of his mouth.
“I’ll stay quiet.”
Allen immediately shut his mouth. Satisfied, Ian glanced at him once before turning back to me. Silence briefly filled the room.
“Hm…”
Tap. Tap tap.
His long, straight fingers drummed steadily on the desk in his office.
“A name…”
After thinking for a moment, he stopped.
“The name… Ariel. Let’s go with Ariel.”
Alright. I like it.
I nodded in satisfaction and leaned my head against his hand. Sleepiness was overwhelming me, and I couldn’t hold my head up anymore.
Ariel was definitely better than Malsooki or Sooty.
Ian gently stroked the back of my neck and shoulders as I leaned in. My fluffy black fur parted under his touch and then settled again.
“Ariel…?”
Allen repeated it with a look like he was wondering if his master had eaten something strange.
He looked utterly disturbed, as if his lord had gone insane. Thinking he might need to bring a physician to fix his mental state, Allen pressed down the goosebumps rising on his arms.
He looked at Ian with an unfiltered expression for once.
Ah. So you’ve finally lost it.
Because, unknown to the black cat, “Ariel” in ancient beastman language meant “lovable beastman.”
Love and his master? Even in death and rebirth, it was a ridiculous combination.
“Allen. Your expression is quite disrespectful.”
“I apologize.”
“I’m normal.”
“Ah. Yes.”
Allen replied flatly.
Ian, normal people don’t say they’re normal.
He swallowed the words.
Thinking that anyone insisting they were normal clearly needed a doctor, Allen turned back to his pile of documents.
And this thought would later become the reason Allen ended up sparring with Ian—what Allen would describe as “getting beaten within an inch of his life.”
“Ian-nim, the previous head has ordered that you host the Peace Day Festival.”
“Now that I’m the head, it’s my responsibility.”
“Isn’t it usual for the former head to help during the early years? I’m being overworked down here.”
“That’s unfortunate.”
So it’s already Peace Day… The first day of the new year is almost here.
Peace Day.
Peace Treaty Anniversary Day.
The name sounded grand, but it was just an abbreviation.
As the name implied, it commemorated the day representatives from all regions gathered and established an unprecedented era of peace, so it was celebrated with the largest festival of the year.
After the peace treaty, wars had drastically decreased, aside from a few minor conflicts.
To celebrate, people welcomed the new year joyfully alongside the festival.
Nobles attended the Peace Day parties hosted by the ruling families of the four regions in rotation, while commoners joined festivals held in free cities during that week.
Even if the host family disliked a certain noble house, invitations had to be sent to all nobles without exception.
And once invited, nobles were obligated to attend unless they were formally barred from entry.
Because the benefits of attending far outweighed the benefits of not going.
That’s why this was essentially the only party where nearly all nobles gathered.
Not attending meant being socially cast out.
The event would be talked about for an entire year, endlessly gossiped about in high society.
Naturally, many beastmen gathered for various reasons—some hoping to catch the eye of powerful figures and change their lives, some for business investments, and others simply to eat, drink, and have fun.
But the biggest expectation among them all was romantic love.
“I heard the young heir of the hyena clan and the young lady of the eagle clan fell in love at the ballroom?”
“Right? Their photos were in the continental gazette—they looked completely lovestruck.”
“Oh my.”
“I wish I could experience a fate like that too.”
Since almost all nobles attended, beautiful and handsome beastmen gathered in one place, and with the lively atmosphere of the festival, it was only natural that romance would blossom.
“Such a perfect date—meeting at a party, then fireworks and a ballroom…”
Many couples even continued meeting afterward by staying in townhouses near the central city.
“I heard a pigeon beastman and a crow beastman announced their marriage!”
“Oh my, how could that even happen?”
“That’s truly love that transcends everything.”
Because of that, so many “couples of the century” were born that people even said relationships formed on Peace Day lasted a lifetime.
Selestine is going to love this.
She always dressed extravagantly during Peace Day, like a noble peacock despite her saintly appearance.
She always said she’d become someone so high above me that I couldn’t even look up to her.
But honestly, she hadn’t done anything to back that up so far. Had she even dated anyone? If she wanted fate-like love, she at least had to start dating.
Objectively speaking, Selestine was beautiful. Very beautiful.
Her round, clear light-green eyes were so pure they almost felt sacred. The kind of face most men would admire at least once.
Yet she had never dated anyone.
She was a notorious single.
Where in the world would you find a tall, handsome, kind, and gentle man with higher status than her?
She probably rejected every confession with random excuses.
It was obvious.
And then she’d take it out on me afterward.
Ah. I want to go to the festival this year too.
If only to laugh at Selestine.
But if I actually went, I’d probably just tremble and not be able to do anything.
Whether because of illness or being watched, I had never been able to attend any festival before.
Still… maybe this year I could.
I felt a small spark of hope.
I’d rather go to the free city than the noble events.
Maybe there’s fried chicken and beer there. If not, at least beer.
The taste of beer from my past life lingered in my mind.
I’ll beg Mari to take me to the central city. If that fails… it’ll be night, maybe I could sneak through the gate and no one would notice.
“Why are you smiling so suspiciously?”
Ian poked my mood, which had been ballooning with excitement like a balloon.
Suspicious?!
It’s called a happy smile!
“Ariel, no matter what, you’re not allowed to run away.”
I’m not running away. Why would I run from a place that feeds me warm meals and lets me sleep comfortably?
Unless there’s somewhere better, of course.
His hand gently stroking my back sent warmth spreading through me.
Swoosh, swoosh. My fur parted under his touch.
If you think this is enough to make me fall asleep, you’re mistaken…
Ah. This body. Always sleepy.
So useless.
Ian continued stroking Ariel’s sleeping body, watching it rise and fall softly.
The relaxed expression he had been wearing slowly disappeared. His face returned to its usual cold, frozen expression.
“Allen. Did you know the Simond family has a black cat?”
Allen felt a shift in Ian’s atmosphere and answered carefully.
“No, I did not.”
Ian fell into thought.
Why didn’t they even give it a name? And when we raided the Simond family, they only escaped among themselves…
Even if that could be explained, the lack of a name still felt strange.
As if they had tried to erase its existence entirely.
As if it should not exist in this world.
Ian finally spoke, his voice colder than before.
“Investigate Ariel and the Simond family. Everything.”
