Chapter 131

It was a very refreshing morning.

It felt as if my body was telling me that I had gotten enough sleep and that it was a very comfortable sleep.

‘Ah, I feel so refreshed.’

As I was stretching happily, memories of yesterday suddenly flashed back, and my eyes widened.

‘I slept with Dimitri!’

Last time, Agwen came and woke me up, telling me that Dimitri had left first, but today, there was no sign of her.

‘…Did I wake up too early? Is Dimitri still next to me?’

As I wondered, I glanced to my side to check. However, the space next to me was empty.

‘Did he also get up early and leave first today?’

Along with the comfort of being alone, I felt a strange sense of wistfulness. Despite the fact that it was so normal and natural for me to wake up in the morning and find the space next to me empty, why did I feel this emptiness now?

‘…Is it normal to get used to having someone next to you after just two days of sleeping together? What’s wrong with me?’

Embarrassed at myself like this, I shook my head to shake off the thoughts.

“It’s more comfortable being alone! Sleeping alone in this spacious bed is the best!”

Muttering to myself, I confidently rolled over.

Squelch.

‘Euuaaaaaak!’

The next moment, I screamed internally at the unexpected squishy sensation and hastily jerked my body backward. In the split second that followed, a thousand thoughts raced through my mind.

‘…What did I just step on? A ghost? A ghost’s corpse? Some severed limb of a ghost?’

They say you couldn’t scream when you were scared… that was spot-on.

I looked down, sobbing into my throat, unable to make a sound in case I provoked the ghost. However, the moment I confirmed what was under my foot, I was as shocked as if I had seen a ghost.

Sure enough, there in front of me was a gray cat, sleeping peacefully with all four paws pointed skyward.

Very familiar.

“Bl… ue?”

In response to my call, Blue, who must have been in a very deep sleep, barely opened one eye and glanced at me before he slowly closed it again.

‘…How can a cat sleep so deeply?’

They say even cautious cats could fall into such a deep sleep in a place they feel completely safe that they wouldn’t wake up easily…

‘Anyway, that’s definitely Blue.’

Wasn’t Blue the cat that Dimitri kept in the Blois mansion?

‘So… why is Blue here? And why on this bed?’

While I was deeply perplexed, what caught my eye was the garment Blue was lying on.

‘Dimitri’s pajamas?’

As I rolled my eyes and pondered what could have happened, I chuckled at a ridiculous idea that crossed my mind.

‘No, no way.’

My pupils fluttered violently as I glanced at Blue and then at Dimitri’s pajamas, dismissing the idea as ridiculous.

‘N-no, it couldn’t be…’

Didn’t I discard the idea that Dimitri could be Blue a long time ago?

‘That’s impossible… it can’t be…’

I looked down at the cat in front of me blankly, unable to make a sound. Blue, who was sleeping with a very happy face, looked very peaceful.

Feeling as if I were about to open Pandora’s box, I paused and hesitated before shutting my eyes.

“Uh… Di-Dimitri.”

Blue slowly fluttered open his eyes, not sure whether it was because of the sound of me calling or just my voice echoing in the quiet room.

As soon as this gray cat made eye contact with me, it stretched leisurely.

“Did you sleep well, Rowaine?”

And greeted me good morning in a very cute voice…

‘Blue… spoke…’

“….”

“….”

Perhaps he realized that his voice had become very cute. Dimitri and I stared at each other for a while, frozen like statues.

I glanced away from him, slowly slipped out of the blanket and put on my slippers.

“I… uh, I, um, I have some, something, to do outside, so, I’ll just—”

With that, without looking back, I stormed out of the bedroom. Even as I closed the bedroom door, Blue, or rather Dimitri, the grey cat that was undoubtedly him, remained frozen in the same stretching position.

̊ · : * ✧* : · ̊

Blue was Dimitri.

So, Dimitri was Blue.

That beautiful gray cat, the one who purred and meowed so cutely to me, was Dimitri.

I stumbled down the hallway, not even realizing I was in my pajamas. Just then, there was a commotion from the bedroom, followed by the door bursting open.

“Rowaine! Rowaine, wait!”

Dimitri urgently called out to me. I was startled and turned around, only to be terrified and quickly averted my gaze.

“Don’t come out! Don’t come out! Uaak!”

It was because Dimitri, who had transformed from a cat into a human, was naked.

“Huk.”

He must have finally realized this and ran back the way he came. His footsteps faded into the distance, and then the bedroom door slammed shut.

As soon as I heard that sound, I ran hurriedly as if I was being chased by something.

I just wanted to run away.

I frantically ran down the stairs and sprinted through the corridor, hiding my body in any open room I could find. Even though I couldn’t walk alone inside the mansion even during the day because of the ghost, the ghost was the least of my worries right now.

My face was burning very hot.

“This is crazy!”

As I slumped down with my back against the door, memories of everything that had happened with Blue until now flashed through my mind like a whirlwind.

All the nonsense I only show in front of cats!

“Oh my, why is our Blue so pretty? Who does our Blue resemble to be such a cool cat? Aigoo, Aigoo!”

“Our Blue always smells nice. You’re just my type ♥.”

“Ah, Blue. Put that baggage down. Your coolness ♥ Kyaaak!”

“Why is Blue always so cute no matter when I see you? Uunngg. You’re too cute, I feel like I’m going to die. Ehnng! I’m dead! Keut!”

“Our Blue is climbing a really big wall. Do you know that? Perfect~!”

“Uugh, my heart…! Our Blue’s cuteness makes my heart…! Kuht!”

“Blue~ Our Blue~ If I catch you, I’ll give you a million kisses~! Mmwaaaaah! I’ll give you kisses like this~!”

The silly things I restrained myself from making in front of Coco and Sasha exploded in front of Blue.

Why? Because Blue was a cat!

Blue was just a ‘normal’ cat who was okay with whatever silly nonsense I made! Though that wasn’t all. In front of Blue, I cried easily, complained about everything, whined, and showed my foolish expressions without hiding anything.

Although, in fact, I had actually done all of that in front of Dimitri…

‘…Oh, I’m insane.’

I sat with my shoulders slumped, staring at the ceiling with vacant eyes.

‘Besides, I saw it.’

Yes, I saw it.

Dimitri rushed towards me…

‘Naked.’

Blood rushed to my head, leaving me feeling dazed.

̊ · : * ✧* : · ̊

Dimitri, who had turned into a cat, was grooming himself frantically on the bed with the bedroom door locked.

Lick, lick.

The sound of him cleaning his fur was urgent. It was a behavior he would do when he was freaking out and needed to calm himself down.

‘But Rowaine will still love me, right? Will she still love me? Because I’m cool?’

As if hypnotizing himself, Dimitri concentrated on a single sentence.

‘She will still love me.’

He kept repeating that sentence over and over again as if he wanted to fill his mind, or rather the entire room, with that sentence. Otherwise, it seemed as if memories of all the antics he had indulged in front of Rowaine as Blue would quickly come to mind—whining like a kitten and strutting around to show off his coolness—and he couldn’t bear it.

‘…I should’ve done it in moderation.’

But whenever he appeared in front of her as Blue, Rowaine would often show a genuinely happy expression that she wouldn’t show to anyone else.

How could he not be cute when she was so happy?

Not only that, but when he climbed onto her lap and being petted by her made him feel like he had everything in the world. It was a temptation too sweet to resist.

“I thought it would be okay if I never got caught…”

Dimitri, who broke down in frustration, buried his face in his round paws and rolled frantically back and forth on the bed.

“She will still love me. Rowaine will still love me. She will love me.”

Dimitri repeated it like a mantra.

She would still love him even if she knew he was Blue.

Beneath that behavior was his anxiety.

“Ugh, you really turned into a cat?”

“Gross!”

“Dirty shifter! Do you eat stuff like this?!”

“Hahaha, what if we give him trash!”

The mocking voices and taunts of Cayetana’s children, his half-brothers, echoed in his ears.

The feeling of being ridiculed simply for existing.

The experienced of feeling like he wanted to hide in a mouse hole just for being born like this.

It remained an indelible shame for Dimitri.

“She will love me. Rowaine… she will love me. Me…”

Dimitri mumbled and repeated blankly… to avoid being consumed by the thought that she might hate him, too.

 
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