JSOML 20

Chapter 20

Theodore, who had snuffled with moist eyes and looked as if he would never let Lery go, quickly quieted down.

It was because he had been dragged away to his office by Luke, who was pressing him to finish his incomplete work.

Lery thought he could finally get some peaceful rest, but Theodore’s inner monologues refused to leave his side.

‘How am I supposed to sleep alone?’ ‘I’m already lonely.’ ‘The night without Lery is going to feel way too long.’

He had babbled incessantly with pouted lips. On top of that, even while being dragged away by Luke, he kept glancing back at Lery, clinging stubbornly.

‘There’s being crazy about cats, and then there’s that complete lunatic.’

Lery was entirely drained of energy by that fleeting glimpse of madness. Somehow, his limbs felt as heavy as waterlogged cotton.

After barely shaking off Theodore’s lingering image, Lery badgered Sonia into taking him out for an evening walk.

It was partly because he couldn’t contain his excitement over the ‘Humanization Reward,’ and partly out of anticipation that he might run into the Viper.

“Myaang……. (Is he not coming today……?)”

A shadow attached and detached repeatedly from the tip of Lery’s pink paw pads.

He was already on his tenth lap around the fountain. However, there wasn’t even a glimpse of the Viper.

Lery let his fluffy tail droop completely and looked around his surroundings.

Since the Humanization reward lasted for only one hour, he needed the Viper’s help, but…….

‘Am I being too impatient?’

Lery shook his head back and forth. Come to think of it, approaching him without understanding what kind of person he was could be dangerous.

However, since he had to leave this place tomorrow, today was the only day he could ask him.

“Myamyang. (Forget it, forget it.)”

Lery just tapped uselessly at the innocent dirt ground in disappointment.

Part of him wished he had asked back then, while another part thought that might have been too rash—the two thoughts flickered back and forth like an angel and a devil.

As his deep thoughts grew, the neatly kept dirt floor gradually turned into a complete mess, and Lery’s pristine white front paws became smudged with black.

‘He seemed so excited just a moment ago.’

Sonia, who had been watching Lery closely, grew worried. Just a short while ago, he had seemed thrilled to go outside, but now his mood appeared completely reversed.

Lery was spinning around in circles as if something felt uncomfortable, dragging his tail down low. Almost as if he was filled with regret.

Eventually, Sonia approached Lery cautiously, squatted down, and asked softly:

“Lord Lery……. Why do you look so down?”

“Myamya, myang. (It’s nothing, Sonia.)”

“You’ve gotten dirt all over your pretty paws.”

Sonia gently took Lery’s front paw and dusted it off with a tender touch. At Sonia’s gentle touch, the memory of Theodore’s obsessively fixated eyes flashed through Lery’s mind, making him squeeze his eyes tightly shut.

As expected, rather than a so-called master who only made assumptions to suit his own taste, Sonia, who understood his heart without him having to say a word, was a hundred, a thousand times better.

“Could it be…… you’re really feeling sad about being away from His Highness?”

“Mya? Myeoang. (Are you crazy? Why would I be sad about that?)”

“Is that a no……?”

“Myangmyang! (I said no!)”

Why are you misunderstanding too?

When Sonia tilted her head, Lery let out a sharp cry. It was to the point of embarrassment that he had just thought Sonia understood his heart.

Lery pulled his front paw right out of Sonia’s grasp and thwacked his long tail against the floor in annoyance.

It was because Sonia’s misunderstanding had brought back memories of Theodore’s obsession, which he had temporarily forgotten.

However, completely failing to grasp Lery’s inner thoughts, Sonia began to bark up the wrong tree entirely.

“Hmm…… if it’s not that, then…….”

“…….”

“Pacing around the statue, digging up the ground constantly…….”

Sonia stroked her chin as she continued her useless deduction. And before long, she blurted out a completely absurd conclusion with wide, rounded eyes.

“Could it be again……?”

“Myang? (What?)”

“Do you need to use the bathroom?”

“……Mya? (……Sonia?)”

“Oh dear! W-Wait a moment! You can’t do your business in the flower bed this time!”

“……Mya? Mya?! (……Sonia? Sonia?!)”

No matter how desperately Lery called out to Sonia, it was no use.

Sonia, who had already jumped to her own conclusion, scooped Lery into her arms in a flurry. She then sprinted full speed toward Theodore’s bedroom.

“Myeoang……. (Listen to me for once…….)”

Only Lery’s sorrowful voice, unable to reach Sonia, drifted helplessly through the air.

Lery had no choice but to puff up his full-moon-like face even rounder in frustration.

‘It’s a complete curse not being human, a total curse.’

Lery’s round eyes narrowed into thin triangles.

Every time he was placed in such a stifling situation, his longing for the ‘Humanization Reward’ and his desire to turn back into a human deepened.

No matter how he thought about it, he had to settle things at Ian’s house. Even if it was just a one-hour voucher…….

“Lord Lery! Please hold it in just a little longer!”

“Myeoaang……. (Do whatever you want…….)”

Sonia sprinted down the wide hallway like a short-distance marathon runner. One could even sense a profound sense of duty from her running posture.

Lery replied with an ‘anything goes’ attitude and stared blankly at the scenery rushing past from inside Sonia’s arms.

The long path he had strolled down with Sonia now felt surprisingly short thanks to her shining sense of duty.

It was just around the time they arrived at Theodore’s bedroom at breakneck speed.

Ending the walk so abruptly to return was frustrating enough to die for, but a series of ridiculous events unfolded one after another.

“Lord Lery, we’ve arrived……!”

“…….”

The moment Sonia urgently threw the door open, the sight that unfolded before them was absolute horror itself.

“Huh? Lery?”

Theodore, who had been busily arranging something, waved his hand at Lery with a bright, beaming smile.

Unlike his gloomy face before heading off to the office, his radiant smile looked like the sunshine that had long since clocked off, but Lery couldn’t care less about his flawless looks.

“I’m not quite ready yet. What if you come back so soon~”

“Myamyak!! (You crazy bastard!!)”

Just what on earth was going on!

Lery struggled with all his might to break free from Sonia’s arms. Then, he began to step backward away from Theodore, who was steadily creeping closer.

And with good reason—seeing a tall man who looked easily over 188 cm (6’2″) tall surrounded by small, cute white cat plushies made him look like a genuine lunatic.

‘Besides, the appearance of those cat plushies…… look just like me…….’

What’s more, taking a closer look at the plushies’ features, their blue eyes, round faces, and long, fluffy tails bore an uncanny resemblance to Lery.

It was as if they had been custom-made by taking a direct mold of Lery himself.

“Hahaha. Lery, were you surprised? It was worth preparing this starting a week ago.”

“……Myaa. (……Crazy bastard.)”

“Do you like it? Look at this. It’s a plushie that looks like me. In case you feel lonely without me when you sleep.”

Theodore proudly thrust a plushie that resembled himself right in front of Lery.

‘He really has lost his mind!’

They were only going to be apart for a single night, yet unable to endure even that, he pulled off such a horrific event!

Lery, completely unable to comprehend his terrifying, obsession-level love for cats, threw up both hands and feet in surrender.

“Why~ Are you shy?”

Theodore, mistaking Lery’s backward steps for shyness, stepped even closer to Lery while clutching the bizarre cat plushie in his arms.

However, Lery merely raised his hindquarters high and growled menacingly.

“Myeoyaa?! (Put that away right now?!)”

The fact that he unsheathed his claws with a posture ready to tear the plushies to shreds at any moment was an added bonus.

And just like that, Lery’s chaotic night deepened.

The era of Lery’s suffering, which he thought had reached its period, continued into the very next day.

Self-centered, tyrannical, crazy bastard, obsessive man…….

As if proving that the words describing him were not wrong, Theodore was causing trouble from the early morning hours.

Its name: Operation ‘Lery ♥ Theodore = 1 + 1’.

Never be separated from Lery’s side for even a single second!

Unyielding against everyone’s dissuasion, he maintained a steadfast stance.

“Your Highness……. There is something I must say to you.”

At a time when he was busy processing work in his office, Luke, who had been soaked in stress since early morning, asked Theodore in a solemn voice:

“Yes.”

“Was it…… truly necessary for you to go that far?”

“What is it this time?”

Luke wiped his face down with both hands, shocked by his innocent and naive expression. How could anyone be so brazen?

Luke pointed his index finger straight out. He then indicated Lery, who was curled up like a raincloud on top of Theodore’s lap.

“I am talking about Lord Lery!”

“Lery will wake up. Shh.”

“No, Your Highness……! Following the morning meeting, all the way to the office! Are you planning to stay glued together the entire day?!”

Luke, whose face had turned as red as a radish, huffed and puffed while beating his chest. No matter how much he thought about it, he simply could not understand his lord.

Due to the fact that Lery was being sent to Ian’s residence today, Theodore had accompanied Lery everywhere, from the dining hall to the meeting room and the office.

With him sticking like glue without caring in the slightest about the glances from all around, even the Emperor himself had clicked his tongue in silence.

However, instead of Theodore, who remained completely unaffected, arrows were flying straight at Luke.

‘Just how on earth have you been assisting him?’ ‘To think he behaves like that, can he even be called the next Emperor?’ ‘For a future ruler to obsess over a lowly cat…… tsk tsk.’

With the nobles and ministers—including the Emperor—throwing remarks at him one by one, Luke’s already sparse hair count was thinning even further.

Luke rubbed his burning eyes violently, a stark contrast to his scalp, which had grown even cooler after being stripped bare.

“……Sob. You are too much! Your Highness truly does not understand my heart.”

And before he knew it, he blurted out his agony aloud.

Was it because of his delicate and pitiful voice? Lery, who had been rolled up like a tissue on top of Theodore’s lap, squirmed.

At that moment, Theodore’s pupils shot downward at lightning speed.

Seeing that scene, Luke slapped his hand against his forehead once again.

It was because he realized far too late that his lord hadn’t been listening to his wailing in the first place.

“Lery, did you wake up because it was too noisy?”

Theodore asked Lery in a low, gentle voice.

Lery waved his cotton-ball paw and said limply to Luke:

“Myamya……. (It’s faster to just give up, Luke…….)”

It was a profound piece of advice from a tiny cat who had already mastered the truths of life.