Chapter 40

“Huh. It moves.”

The ball of fluff moved!

Startled, I stomped my feet in place.

“Uuung— gyaang.”

I had no idea what it meant, but it generally sounded like it was declaring itself adorable.

Then, from between the purring fluff, a tiny face popped out.

Pointed ears rising in little triangles. Eyes still half-asleep, the corners pressed into straight lines.

A pale pink nose, and beneath it, an adorable tiny mouth shaped like the Korean letter siot.

Oh my god.

My face melted at the sight of the awakened fluffball.

And then it happened.

The baby cat, glancing around at its surroundings, slowly opened its eyes.

But—

Between the white-furred eyelids appeared vivid purple irises.

“...Baby?”

Wait a second.

Unable to believe it, I squeezed my eyes shut and opened them again.

“Kuung?”

Even so, the white fluffball continued staring back at me with dazzling purple eyes.

“Purple eyes. Then it really is a monster.”

“Yes. They were definitely purple eyes, and it definitely was a monster. I think it said something like, ‘Alive-daa,’ too.”

At the conversation drifting from the meeting room—one that seemed to emphasize the word purple over and over—I silently lifted the cat.

Its eyes are purple, right?

No matter how I look at it, upside down or backwards, they’re definitely purple, right?

Pale-faced, I raised the fluffball higher.

“...You’re really a cat, right?”

“Nooong—”

“Nooong? Does that mean no? Can you speak English?”

“Yaa—”

“.......”

Did that mean yes this time?

Unfortunately, I didn’t know how to interpret cat language, so I tilted my head.

Whatever it was, I had definitely picked up something strange.

***

Sparkle, sparkle—

It almost felt as though a glitter effect was trailing behind him.

Walking through the corridor, Knox turned his head.

“.......”

The owner of those sparkling eyes was Aisha.

Far away, a little chick peeked out from behind a pillar, staring fixedly at Knox.

Her lips were puckered into a little triangle too, as if demanding he look at her.

But—

“There’s no one here.”

Pretending not to see Aisha, Knox continued on his way.

“!”

Then, something that seemed flustered hurried out from behind the pillar and rapidly began chasing after him.

‘.......’

Knox stopped walking again and swiftly turned around—

This time, Aisha was hiding behind a pedestal displaying expensive porcelain, peeking out with only her face visible as she stared at him.

Sparkle, sparkle—

Her blue eyes practically shot glitter beams while desperately craving attention.

But.

“How strange. I could’ve sworn someone was following me.”

Yawning widely, Knox muttered to himself and turned his head away again.

“Aw, come on, Mister Knox!”

In the end, defeated in the bizarre battle of nerves, Aisha trudged out into the open.

“I’ve been staring at you super obviously this whole time, so why won’t you talk to me?”

“Let’s call it the side effect of ding-dong ditching.”

“Ahh, whyyy—!”

“I apologize, but I don’t believe I’ll be able to devote much attention to raising Lady Aisha for the time being. The aftermath of the ding-dong ditching and corpse game has left me struggling for a while.”

More accurately, it wasn’t that he was struggling.

He was too embarrassed to show his face.

This was trauma.

The moment the white pajama hood had been pulled back, he had seen knights pouring in beneath the ceiling—and Mai’s face.

No matter how little Knox cared about people’s opinions—

A twenty-four-year-old man being caught lying in a corridor while wearing monster-print pajamas?

‘This is even more humiliating than wiggling my ass while climbing walls to uncover the young lady’s identity.’

At least his ass had been pretty.

But being sprawled out in the hallway had become an unbearable dark memory.

“Well then.”

Politely bowing his head, Knox resumed walking.

“Ah, M-Mister Knox.”

The flustered young lady stubbornly continued following him before finally revealing what she really wanted.

“A-Are there cat-type monsters too?”

“?”

At the unexpected question, Knox stopped walking and turned around for the third time.

This time, he hadn’t stopped to ignore her or refuse her.

It was simply the strangest monster-related question he had ever heard.

“What exactly are you asking?”

Only then did he ask with genuine interest, but surprisingly, Aisha didn’t seem pleased.

Instead, she looked around to make sure no one was nearby before asking in an oddly serious whisper.

“You’ll keep it secret?”

No.

“Yes.”

Knox coolly answered with a lie.

“You promise?”

No.

“Yes.”

“Jeez.”

The mechanical replies clearly made Aisha uneasy, but in the end, the innocent young lady chose to trust him and approached.

When Knox kindly bent down for her, Aisha rose onto her tiptoes and whispered into his ear.

“When I saved older brother Lucas before, I rescued a baby cat too, remember?”

Had she?

Since he had no interest in animals, Knox nodded vaguely.

But then—

“The baby cat’s eye color is purple.”

At the young lady’s unbelievable statement, Knox’s eyes narrowed.

“...Pardon?”

“The cat I rescued has purple eyes, and, um, Mister Knox, you’re like a monster expert and the president of the Monster Lovers’ Association and all that, right? Do you know what it is?”

Naturally, Knox had no idea either.

Cats were animals, and animals and monsters were strictly separate species.

Monsters, to begin with, were beings born beyond the end of the world, where humans did not live.

How they were born and what species their ancestors had been remained subjects of research, but monsters and animals were unquestionably different.

Flustered, Knox furrowed his brow.

“...For now.”

“Yes?”

“For now, show me the actual creature.”

“Follow me.”

As expected of a former spy young lady.

Every single time she appeared, she brought enormous news with her.

A little while later.

The young lady who had led him to her bedroom picked up something wriggling atop the bed.

“Is that the purple cat?”

“Yes. Agoo, agoo, you’re so cute.”

It was rare to hear Aisha genuinely coo over someone in a voice that actually sounded like a real five-year-old.

While Knox observed the unusual sight, he watched the fluffball in Aisha’s arms slowly open its eyes.

“.......”

Then he swallowed hard.

It was true.

The kitten, small enough to fit inside Aisha’s two palms, had unmistakably purple eyes.

“...Well now.”

Thump thump.

The heart of the monster fanatic began pounding like a drum.

So startled that he even removed the monocle he was wearing, Knox cautiously asked,

“May I hold it?”

“Yes. Of course.”

He reached out to receive the fluffball.

“Khyaak!”

The cat, which had been lying there drowsily, suddenly puffed up all its fur in alarm.

Then it dramatically rolled over, turned its back on Knox, and burrowed deeper into Aisha’s arms.

Aisha spoke regretfully.

“Ah. You got permission from me, but you didn’t get permission from the baby.”

“It can’t be helped. That’s fine.”

Knox smacked his lips in disappointment.

“Still, purple eyes are the symbol of monsters. This is truly fascinating.”

“Right? So actually, I want to raise this little one, but...”

The hesitant young lady’s tiny shoulders drooped.

“Keeping it here at the estate in secret... probably isn’t possible, right?”

Hmm.

Honestly, I want to raise it myself.

‘This is an excellent research subject.’

Knox fell deep into thought for a moment.

“...So it’s impossible?”

“We simply keep it secret. Let’s raise it here for the time being.”

At the unexpected answer, an exclamation mark practically appeared over Aisha’s face.

“But there’s a condition.”

“A condition?”

“Yes. We’re taking this cat to a Monster Lovers’ Association gathering.”