Rere struggled to lift the cat, probably it was too heavy for a child her age.

Nevertheless, she didn’t have the slightest intention to put the cat down.

“Re-Rere!”

The surprised Ian sprang up from his seat and rushed to Rere.

But Rere just turned her body a bit.

“No. Don’t come closer.”

“H-Huh?”

“You’re going to say I can’t raise pets again, right?!”

“Huh??”

Pouting, Rere vehemently blocked him from approaching.

“They want to go with me. Look! They’re hugging me! So if you say that I can’t raise pets like last time, I’ll surely…!”

“…You’ll surely do what?”

“I’m going to abandon Daddy and take the cats with me!”

Ian’s expression froze for a brief moment.

“A-Are you going to abandon Daddy…?”

“Yeah!”

Perhaps it had been going on for a few times already, but Rere was more stubborn than ever.

“..A-Are these cats more important than Daddy?”

“Yeah! I….I always wanted siblings! So let me bring them!”

Ian only scratched his head awkwardly. So I approached those two and leaned down.

“Did your daddy never allow you to raise animals, Rere?”

“Yeah!”

“Do you know the reason?”

“…Because Rere is sick…”

Rere lowered her head to the floor and mumbled to herself.

“Daddy said no because I might get sick.”

Rere looked up to me sulkily.

“But Rere also wants siblings! Are you going to stop me, Mom?”

“Who knows.”

“Don’t ‘who knows’ me! A-Are you going to stop me?”

“Yes!”

“Ho-how can you do that! You’ve changed a lot, Mom! I won’t call you mom anymore! I won’t call you Big Bunny either!”

As if really shocked, Rere’s eyes were twice as big as usual.

Rere opened her mouth wide and shook her head as if she were denying reality.

However, she quickly met my gaze as if she had a change of mind.

“Are you really…going to stop me…? If you try to stop me, Daddy might fall in love with you, but I might end up hating you instead. Hmm?”

She acted so adorably.

She was so adorable that I wanted to hug her and kiss her cheeks even as she knelt on the ground, attempting to carry a heavy cat.

Her perfectly plump cheeks were the best.

“Bunny….”

I couldn’t help but smile at Rere’s sad plea.

“I think you may be able to change your daddy’s mind.”

“There’s no way he would change his mind. He’s a stubborn man!”

Nevertheless, Rere stared at Ian with her puppy-eyes.

“Daddy…”

“…”

“Look. He’s not answering.”

“Have I ever been wrong about what I said?”

“I know…but you’re wrong this time. Because Daddy doesn’t answer.”

“If it were before, I would not have agreed because I didn’t know the exact cause of my daughter’s illness. But it’s alright now.”

Ian was already kneeling in front of Rere and patted her head gently.

“Huh? W-What did you just say?”

“Why are you asking? You can take them with you.”

“Really? I-Is it really okay?”

“Yes. You can take them.”

Rere’s eyes, which were already large, grew even bigger.

“Really? Really? You can’t take back what you said, okay?”

“Of course.”

“D-Daddy has changed. He’s really changed. Cats! He said I can take you guys with me!”

“Meow!”

“Meowww!”

The cats meowed louder as if they understood what Rere was saying.

“The cats seem to like it, too. Then I’ll get the cats ready and come down in a minute.”

“Please don’t be in a rush. You can come in a few days…”

“I’m afraid I can’t do that. I’ll bring a light bag for the time being and come back whenever I can if I need anything. We must leave immediately because the lady likes my friends so much.”

Smiling brightly, he went upstairs and came down within minutes.

“You’re returning…this fast?”

“I always packed my bags because I didn’t know when and who would visit.”

At that moment, I felt Ian’s shoulders flinch.

“I-Is that so?”

He packed some small glass bottles, cookies, and two thick blankets. The glass bottles were filled with tea and cocoa that he wanted to give us. And there was no way I didn’t know that it was marshmallows and cookies.

“What is that blanket for?”

“These cats are attached to blankets like humans do. This is all I’m bringing. I think I’m ready to go.”

“Ah, but the cats…”

“If you put them down, they will follow you on their own. They’re smart kids.”

Listening to him, Rere hurriedly let go of the cats as if she had been waiting.

Then the cats followed after the butler, wagging their tails.

“Wow! Mom! Can cats follow people like that?”

“I know, right?”

Usually they would run away, but the cats didn’t think about going out even though the door was open. They just continued to hang around the old butler.

“They are different from what I read in the book!”

“These kids must be smart.”

“Wow…I want to do that, too!”

Rere ran to the door and stood in front of the cats.

“You guys are going to my house now. So follow me, okay?”

“Meow?”

“Meow!”

I watched with awe as the cats followed Rere.

The old butler’s jaw also dropped as if he had not expected that behavior, and he soon smiled.

“The cats seem to like the young lady.”

“I agree.”

“Then let’s get going.”

The cats and all of us followed Rere as she led us into the carriage. The carriage departed for the duchy as soon as we were all seated.

“I never thought I would ride the duke’s carriage again.”

After watching the old butler wipe away his tears, I glanced at the cats that were seated close to Rere.

“What are the cats’ names?”

“Ah!”

“Ah?”

“…They don’t have names. I didn’t exactly call them by names.”

Contrary to what he said, the old butler, who even prepared the blankets for the cats, had a proud expression on his face as he watched Rere and the cats.

“Why doesn’t the young lady give them names?”

“Me? Me? Can I really name them?”

“Yes!”

“Oh my god! Okay.”

Rere, who was shaking in excitement, stroked the cats’ heads.

“Sister will give you pretty names!”

“Meow.”

“Meow!”

But the old butler who was sitting across from us looked quite embarrassed. For a brief moment, I saw him mouthing the words ‘they’re all males.’ It seemed I was the only one who saw it because neither Ian nor Rere reacted.

Then, the carriage slowed down.

“I think we’ve arrived.”

“Oh my god…I…I’m coming back.”

He breathed a sigh of relief as he looked at the castle through the window.

“Nothing has changed since the last time I saw it. Everything is the same!”

“Is that so?”

“I can still clearly picture how the duke ran through the castle as a child.”

“Why don’t you get out and see if anything has changed for yourself instead of just sitting here?”

“Yes!”

The carriage door opened before I knew it, and Rere was the first to jump out of the carriage along with the cats.

“Rere, let’s go together.”

“I have to show the cats around the house, so I’m really busy. I’m too busy right now to play with Mom.”

This must be how it felt when your daughter brought her boyfriend home.

“Y-You’re not going to go with Mom?”

“Yeah! Mom can go on her own. I’m going to play with the cats.”

“Huh..oh…”

But I wasn’t the one to give up here.

Leaving Ian behind as he introduced the old butler to the servants, I followed Rere.

“This is the garden. The trees here are really big, right?”

“Meow!”

“Meooow!”

“Everything here is mine, so feel free to play and run about as much as you like. But please don’t pick any of the flowers here, okay?”

She acted like a guardian to the cats, explaining things to them, which was really cute.

Rere was busy telling the cats about the castle even though they were unable to understand her.

Suddenly.

A white cat running around the garden excitedly stepped in the muddy water. Then Rere ran to it and knelt down.

“Oh, my.”

“Meow?”

Rere sighed heavily and took a handkerchief from her arms and wiped the cat’s paws.

“You can’t play like this.”

“Meowwww.”

As if it didn’t like Rere grabbing its paw, the cat tried to pull away, but Rere didn’t give up.

“Gosh. If your paws get dirty, you could become sick. Keep your paws clean at all times.”

“Meoww…”

“Okay? You are not allowed to go into muddy water! That doesn’t mean you can go into another water. You’ll catch a cold.”

Rere pouted and wiped the cat’s paws for a while.

“It’s done!”

“Meow.”

“This won’t do. There are puddles here and there, so let’s stop looking around here. I’ll show you around the house instead. There are a lot of dolls, you know?”

“Meow?”

“Meow!!”

“Let’s go! Let me show you around!”

Rere raised her fist high into the sky and walked ahead with a grin.

“Meoww!”

“Meow!”

And the cats also meowed louder as soon as they passed the gate leading to the garden.

They started running excitedly in a long hallway that I saw for the first time in my life.

“What do you think? Sister is the best, right?”

“Meow!”

“Meoow!”

“Your sister is filthy-rich. From now on, you’re going to live here! I’ll treat you as my little siblings!”