Chapter 48

Chapter 48

Mew.

The kitten padded up to the man’s knees and rubbed its head against his leg.

“Is this your cat?”

The man nudged the cat away with a brush of his hand and asked.

“No. Not mine.”

I looked down at the lump of charcoal-fur and shook my head.

“Then this dumb little stray is still just a wanderer……”

At my words, the man muttered irritably, glaring at the cat.

“This ugly fleabag shows up every single day, shedding dirty fur everywhere!”

Then his voice snapped, blazing with sudden fury. The anger in his face and tone was so raw and real that for a split second I flinched, half-expecting him to hurt the cat.

Mew.

The cat kept crying, as if the man didn’t exist.

“You little bastard. Sneaking in here without a proper meal. There’s nowhere else to beg, is there?” He narrowed his eyes hard, then dug into his pocket.

He pulled something out abruptly. I looked closer — it was a piece of bread. He tore it into bite-sized chunks and tossed them to the cat. The thing started wolfing it down like it hadn’t eaten in days.

“Tch. Look at you, eating like you’ve got a demon in your gut!” He grumbled, then irritably fished into his own coat again.

This time, a water bottle and a small bowl came out. A bowl of water was set down in front of the cat, too.

“…I guess you take care of that cat.”

The motion was so familiar I was nearly certain of it.

“What? I detest cats!”

But his answer was nothing like what I’d expected.

What the…? He totally seems to like them…

“Did you nobles lose one of your cats, or something?”

The man shifted his gaze from the cat to us and asked.

“Something like that.”

I hedged. The truth was that I was looking for word of a dead cat, not a lost one—but I couldn’t very well explain that whole story.

“I’ve been around here a long time, and I’ve never seen any black cat but this one. Looks like the one you’re looking for isn’t here, my lords.”

“Ah. Is that so?”

“It is. If I had seen it, I’d have no reason not to say so.”

He waved one hand back and forth as he answered. Then the Duke stepped abruptly in front of him.

“If you’ve been here that long, you must know quite a few people on this street.”

He asked.

“Well, yes. I suppose so.”

“Then make me one request. I don’t care how old the rumor is—gather every story about the black cat that lived around here and bring them to me. I’ll pay you for it too.”

“You’ll give me more money?”

At the word ‘payment,’ the man snapped his head up, his eyes gleaming.

“Right. I want everything you can dig up—from the oldest tales to the most recent information.”

“Old news too?”

The man wore a puzzled expression for a moment. And no wonder—if all he wanted was to find a lost cat, there’d be no need for old stories. It was suspicious enough for him to wonder.

“Well, alright.”

Still, he didn’t pry further into our situation. He seemed to think it wasn’t worth getting involved in matters that had nothing to do with him.

After that, we wrapped up our talk with the man and climbed into the carriage heading back to Cuvershaiden. The Duke and I sat facing each other once again as the carriage jolted and rattled.

“Didn’t get much out of that.”

I said in a sulky voice. I hadn’t expected to uncover some massive revelation from my brief conversation, but failing to get any news about the black cat at all still stung.

“Wait and see. That man will bring back whatever he finds.”

“You think so?”

“He said the cat came from this street. Someone here would have seen it, someone would have cared. If no word surfaces at all, that in itself gives us another hypothesis to consider.”

That was true. Even Madam had looked into the cat, but no one knew anything about it. And despite living here a long time, that man said he’d never seen any other black cats either. So getting nothing more did feel a bit odd. The Duke was right—I should consider other possibilities.

For instance, the cat in Cuvershaiden had been dead far longer than I thought, leaving no one alive who remembered it. Or maybe Shion was just completely wrong about where it picked up the soul.

If that were the case, gathering information would get even harder… Maybe sending the cat’s soul into ascension would be trickier than I’d imagined…

*Clunk—*

Right then, the carriage suddenly tilted and came to a halt. At the same time, my body lurched and slipped forward.

“Whoa!”

In a flash, I planted both feet on the floor and swung my arms wildly to balance myself. Thanks to that, I managed not to fall, arms thrust out in front of me.

Oh. I’m alive… My sense of balance! It hasn’t rusted away!

Feeling a swell of pride, I lifted my head. There, right before me, was the Duke, watching me. His hand was stretched out toward me—he must have been trying to catch me as I nearly tumbled.

“Ah…”

I let the arm I’d been thrashing with drop to my side. My face burned—I must have looked ridiculous flailing in front of him.

“…….”

“…….”

The Duke slowly lowered his own outstretched arm, then deliberately averted his gaze from me.

No, don’t do that! Don’t pretend you didn’t see. That kind of consideration only makes it more humiliating!

Heat rose to the roots of my hair. Inside, I was sobbing like a child.

“Are you all right?!”

The coachman’s shout came from outside the carriage. Perfect timing—he was my savior, arriving with that voice.

“What happened?”

The Duke turned his head fully away from me, opened the carriage window, and asked the coachman.

“The wheel’s stuck in a rut, Your Excellency. My apologies.”

The lane leading to Neo Street was a dirt road. The ground must have softened and given way after the rain. Either way, the wheel was sunk deep in mud—we’d need to lift the carriage to free it. So we climbed out to wait while they dealt with it, and the carriage door swung open.

‘Still a bit chilly at night….’

The night air hit my skin the moment I stepped down from the carriage. I hunched my shoulders and crossed my arms to keep warm. The Duke noticed, then slipped off his outer coat and draped it over my shoulders.

“I’m fine, Your Grace. It’s not that cold.”

I looked up at him as I spoke. But he ignored me, tying the sleeves of the coat snugly around me, trapping me inside it.

“Wear it anyway.”

He even straightened the collar for me, his cold fingers brushing against the side of my neck.

“Your hands are cold, Your Grace. Aren’t you the one who’s chilly?”

“I’ve always run cold….”

“Really?”

Without thinking, I grabbed his hand as it withdrew from me. His chilly temperature pressed against my palm.

‘Even if he runs cold, this is too cold….’

In that instant, the Duke tightened his grip around my hand. Then, without a word, he pulled it close to his chest.

“Laura.”

“Yes? Yes.”

His low voice brushed against my ear. I blinked up at him.

Huh…? Did I do something wrong?

“I know you already turned me down, but I’ll ask once more, out of my own selfishness.”

“Pardon?”

“Will you come as my partner to the Crown Prince’s birthday banquet?”

“Yes… yes?”

“Is it too much for you?”

“No. It’s not that… it’s… well…”

Honestly, how could it not be overwhelming? Me, barely more than a commoner, attending an imperial banquet as the Duke’s partner….

Of course, when I went to Krentis, I had been with him too, but that was nominally for ‘work.’ So this was a completely different case. I hesitated for a moment, lifting my eyes to study the duke.

“No… no. Actually, the partner thing wasn’t important.”

“……”

“I thought even taking it slow would be fine at first. I felt like you’d always be mine.”

“……”

“But that bastard Benat made my heart race.”

“……”

“Truth is, I don’t really know what the right way to do this is… I’m not good at that sort of thing. I’m sorry. You can forget this.”

Then he bent at the waist before me, and brought the back of my hand to his lips.

Huh?

Huuuh?

No? How could anyone forget something like this?!

Thankfully, it was the dead of night. Otherwise, he’d have caught me completely red—my whole body blushing.

What the hell, Duke? So you’re the type who can do things like this?! Weren’t you never like this before?

The light kiss passed like a stretched film. Then the Duke slowly released my hand. Or perhaps it was only in my eyes that the whole scene dragged by in slow motion.

“It seems the coachman has freed the carriage wheel. We should be going now.”

He turned away from me, clearing his throat with a low cough. He seemed to feel a little embarrassed by his own actions.

“Yes…”

I watched his retreating back and answered as if talking to myself. My soul felt as if it had been sucked out of me.

Because of that, even after returning to Cuvershaiden, I couldn’t sleep at all. The Duke’s words, so close to a confession, kept circling in my mind.

‘What do I do?! What the hell do I do?!’

I knelt on the bed and started pounding the pillow. Then I leaped up and paced circles around the room.

‘It’s not like I didn’t know. I’d felt it faintly before.’

But how can he just come at me like this?!

After pacing the room, she pressed herself flat against the wall and pounded the surface with her fists.

“Aaagh!”

“Hey. Laura. Will you keep it down?! Are you even trying to sleep?!”

The lady-in-waiting in the next room snapped, annoyed by my racket. Only then did I realize I was being a nuisance and pulled my hands away from the wall. Instead, I grabbed my head with both hands and crawled back into bed.

“Laura. What’s wrong with you? Seriously?”

Her voice echoed in my ears once more. I curled my body tight and opened my mouth, my lips trembling.

“Yeah. What do you think’s wrong with me?”