“Myaaah!!”
Sister!!!!!
I shot straight up from where I was lying, launching myself directly into her lap. I buried my face—still damp with tears and snot—deep against her chest, desperately drinking in the familiar, comforting scent that belonged only to my sister.
“Whoa, what is into you? Wait, May, are you crying?”
Startled, she scooped me up into her arms. A second later, her ruby-red eyes widened in genuine surprise.
“What’s wrong, hmm? Did you have a nightmare?”
Feeling the warmth of her body and hearing her voice full of genuine affection made a sharp, aching knot form in my throat.
Oh gosh… it really is my sister.
Sniffling, I burrowed even deeper into her embrace. Flustered, she began gently stroking my back to soothe me.
And then—
“Did a bug pop out or something? Want me to catch it for you?”
In an instant, every single tear dried up.
……?
I blankly lifted my head. My sister was looking down at me with a mischievous, teasing smirk.
“Our May is a cat, yet you can’t even catch a bug. What are you going to do without your sister?”
Seriously, Sister?! You’re talking about bugs at a time like this?! Granted, it was true that I was deathly afraid of bugs, but still… !
“Kyaung!”
Unable to hold back my frustration, I swung my front paw at her.
Anticipating the move, she leaned her head back and effortlessly dodged my swipe, breaking into a bright grin. “How about that? I dodged it, didn’t I?”
Ugh, so annoying! The fact that she could tease me so effortlessly that all my tears vanished into thin air was a talent all on its own.
I thrashed my paws around in a fit of righteous fury. Chuckling softly, my sister stood up while keeping me securely cradled in her arms.
“My little May. It looks like you really did have a bad dream.”
Despite her playful words, the hand stroking my fur was infinitely tender. Slowly, I stopped flailing.
A dream…?
Could all of that really have been just a nightmare?
As I groggily tilted my head, my sister’s eyes met mine, and she offered a sweet, soft smile. “Just what kind of dream did you have to make you act like such a baby?”
“Yang, nyang, uyaang.”
(Sister, don’t you remember?)
The Saintess said Adrian died because of you. That’s why those people tied you to the pyre…
No.
I frantically tried to piece together how to explain it before giving up with a mental sigh. Instead, I focused on organizing the facts right in front of me:
The desk calendar dated ten years in the past.
My sister, completely alive, healthy, and untouched by flames.
Myself, still trapped in a cat’s body because I hadn’t mastered humanization yet.
The cozy, familiar furniture of our home.
It was undeniable.
Right now, we’ve just recently settled down in the capital with Adrian’s help.
All the pieces pointed to a single, impossible truth: I had somehow traveled back in time!
“Myaung.”
I raised my left front paw. In response, the pure white cat in front of the mirror lifted its left paw with a grumpy expression.
“Myaaung.”
I raised my right front paw. The cat copied me once again, looking rather ridiculous holding both paws up in the air like a cheerleader. Its deep blue eyes stared blankly back at me.
Yes. This was my current form.
Maybel, my sister’s one and only cat familiar!
What exactly is a familiar? It’s a magical creature whose soul is permanently linked to a master. My sister had saved my life when I was dying by sharing her own mana, creating a unique bond that didn’t exist anywhere else in the world.
Well, it’s not like I can use magic as skillfully as she can, though…
I swished my tail against the floor in annoyance before drooping in discouragement. Besides, I’m just a clumsy familiar who can’t even transform into a human properly yet.
Whenever I remembered how helpless I was, and how my sister had been captured because she rushed to save me—
“Kyauung!”
My vision flared red with sudden rage. My fur puffed out instantly as I huffed and puffed. Because of those vile humans! For my sister to suffer such a horrific fate… !
“The witch has bewitched the Hero!”
It was a complete and utter lie. First of all, my sister had zero reason to bewitch the Hero. She hated humans so much that she used to live entirely by herself in the quiet, isolated mountains!
Then, one day—
“Myaa, mya! (Sister, there’s a person over there!)”
While out walking near our home, I had discovered a heavily injured man collapsed on the ground.
Adrian von Valencia.
That guy, with his brilliant green eyes shining beneath sun-like golden hair, turned out to be the beloved Hero of the Regalis Order, and the second son of the Duke of Valencia—the sole ducal family in the entire Empire!
“I’ve kept you alive, so leave at once.”
The moment his treatment was finished, my sister had coldly ordered him out. But Adrian had stubbornly clung to her.
“Come to the capital with me. Please?”
He had pleaded with earnest sincerity, explaining that monsters were multiplying rapidly across the land and that he had been wandering alone to try and curb their advance. Since my sister also felt a rising sense of crisis regarding the monsters, she eventually accepted his proposal. That was how the three of us ended up moving to the capital together.
Until one day, Adrian went out on a monster subjugation mission and mysteriously vanished. And the ungrateful people immediately blamed Sabina for his disappearance…
“Myaaung…”
Recalling my sister’s final moments made my eyes sting again, but I forced the tears back. I couldn’t afford to be a weak, useless cat anymore. I couldn’t lose her a second time.
I have to become strong, no matter what!
I lifted my head with fierce determination. I refused to drag her down this time. And to prevent that—
First, I have to succeed at humanizing!
Narrowing my eyes, I stared at the fluffy white cat in the mirror. “Myaa.” When I let out an impatient mew, the reflection mirrored me. Sure, my sister loved me like this, but I couldn’t protect her if I was just a tiny house cat!
Normally, my humanization skills wouldn’t unlock for quite a while yet but my soul was different now that I had regressed.
In this life, I’m going to unlock my human form much faster!
That way, I could build up the strength to shield her from danger. I closed my eyes tightly, groaning as I concentrated every ounce of my willpower. To pull off the transformation, the first step was—
I have to draw out the mana my sister shared with me.
My vision plunged into absolute darkness. I swallowed hard.
Focus.
Even though I couldn’t see anything, it was fine. I just needed to recall the exact sensation of when I had first managed to transform in the past. With a desperate wish in my heart, I dug deep into my inner core.
It’s in there.
A deep, comforting warmth—the exact same mana as my sister’s…
After sinking deep into my own consciousness for what felt like hours, a tiny, faint spark flickered within the dark void. It fluttered with a brilliant, unmistakable violet hue.
Found it!
An involuntary cheer echoed in my mind. Stretching out my paws within my mind’s eye, I grabbed the light.
At that exact moment, a blinding, pure white light burst from my body like soft dandelion seeds floating on the wind.
Slowly, the light faded away.
Blink, blink.
I cautiously opened my heavy eyelids.
Reflected in the mirror wasn’t a cat, but a little girl. Cascading, glittering silver hair. Deep blue eyes resembling the summer sky. A six-year-old child with chubby, rosy cheeks!
I did it!
The little girl in the mirror flushed pink and clenched both small fists in victory. A goofy grin spread across my face.
“I succeeded!!”
Right at that exact second—
Click.
The door swung open, and Sabina poked her head into the room.
“May, what are you doing here by yourself?”
Thud.
The basket slipped right out of her hands, spilling a mountain of harvested herbs all over the wooden floorboards. As my sister’s face hardened into a terrifying, icy expression, my entire body froze solid.
Uh-oh.
I gasped internally. My sister’s raw, overwhelming mana had instantly locked down my surroundings!
M-My body won’t move…!
Her bloodthirsty red eyes glared sharply at me as I stood there paralyzed, unable to twitch even a single finger.
“Who are you?”
S-Sister…?! It’s me! It’s Maybel!!
My face turned stark white, and I could only frantically flap my lips without a single sound coming out.