Once I realized he intended to return me to Aria, I gave up on my pointless escape attempts. It wasn’t like I could get away easily with Lippert in the same room anyway.
Yeah. No point wasting my energy. I might as well eat as much good food as I can while I’m here.
While Lippert ate, I climbed onto the table and helped myself to his food. I wandered around sampling one plate after another, but Lippert made no particular effort to stop me.
After filling my stomach, I sprawled out on the sofa, only for Lippert to come over and fasten a collar around my neck.
What the hell? I was about to take a nap!
“You must be tired of being cooped up all day. Want to go outside with me?”
I hadn’t even answered, but the bastard scooped me up anyway. Cradled in a grown man’s solid arms, I was carried outside.
We ended up in the garden behind the mansion.
I’d learned a few things during my stay here.
This was a count’s estate, and Lippert was staying here as an important guest.
And soon, they were planning to hold a ritual to heal someone.
“Good afternoon, Father.”
At the sound of a voice, I looked up.
A young noblewoman was approaching beneath a lace parasol, accompanied by a maid. Apparently, she had come out for a walk.
“Yes. A pleasant afternoon to you as well.”
Lippert greeted her with a gentle smile.
“Lovely weather for a walk, isn’t it?”
“Yes. It seems almost a shame to spend such a bright day lying in bed.”
Up close, the young lady looked so pale she might collapse at any moment.
“Oh, a cat.”
Our eyes met.
“May I pet him?”
Who the hell are you asking permission from?
I was dumbfounded.
Lippert readily nodded, and the young lady cautiously reached out.
Her fingertips touched my forehead, cold in stark contrast to the warm spring air.
“Hello there. …Does he have a name?”
“We haven’t known each other long, so I haven’t had the chance to name him yet.”
“I see. He’s such a sweet, beautiful little thing.”
I slowly narrowed my eyes in greeting.
After stroking me only very lightly, she withdrew her hand and hesitated.
“…Father. Do you truly believe God will heal me? Can I really become healthy after just one ritual?”
Lippert fell silent for a moment, as though considering the weight of her fear.
“God never turns away from the suffering of those with good hearts.”
As he spoke again, a soft breeze swept past us.
Rustle.
A tiny leaf came loose from the swaying branches overhead. It spun lazily through the air before suddenly disappearing from my sight.
Where’d it go?
I jerked my head from side to side, searching, until I felt someone staring down at me.
“Maong.”
What are you looking at?
When I raised my head, the faintest smile curved his lips.
A moment later, one large hand reached toward the top of my head.
“Waong!”
Don’t touch me!
…And plucked off the tiny leaf that had landed there.
“It may be difficult to believe, but only three days ago, this little one was dying in the street. Blood was running from his mouth, and he was gasping as though he might stop breathing at any moment.”
“My goodness….”
“As you can see, however, he is perfectly healthy now. Even an incurable illness has no meaning before the will of God.”
“…….”
“Just as God guided me to this little one, there must also be a reason He guided me to you, my lady.”
His voice drifted down with a languid hint of amusement.
At the same time, his fingers slowly traced from the top of my head down my back.
“So please, do not worry.”
This bastard.
Is he seriously petting me like it’s the most natural thing in the world?
While I smacked at his hand with my front paw, the young lady’s eyes grew moist.
She clasped her hands together and closed her eyes, apparently offering a brief prayer to God.
“Then I’ll continue my walk. May God’s grace be with you today as well.”
Lippert bid her farewell and left first.
His hand continued petting me the entire time.
As we crossed the garden, overflowing with fresh green grass and blooming flowers, he spoke almost in a whisper.
“She’s suffered from lung disease for years, so she’s spent nearly all her life inside this mansion. …She really is unfortunate, isn’t she?”
“Myaong.”
You’re scamming her, though.
Lippert really was a priest from the Holy Kingdom.
The problem was that the grand temple he belonged to was secretly a cult that worshiped an evil god.
Lippert held a fairly high position even within that cult—a high priest.
And he had been granted a special ability.
A terrifying power that allowed him to transfer internal injuries, illnesses, pain, and the like from one person to another.
That’s right.
It might look as though someone’s illness had been miraculously cured through a sacred ritual, but in reality, he was simply using the evil god’s power to dump that illness onto somebody else.
This count’s family had fallen for Lippert’s deception as well and agreed to undergo one of his “sacred” rituals.
…It is a scam, but it’s not like he’s doing it out of pure malice, so I can’t exactly tell him to stop.
Lippert gained money and connections from nobles, while the nobles got their incurable illnesses cured.
Depending on how you looked at it, it was a win-win.
And from the perspective of someone desperate enough, I doubt they gave a damn whether the power saving their life came from God or an evil god.
Same went for me.
…But that still doesn’t mean you get to touch me!
At some point, his finger had slipped beneath my chin and begun scratching gently.
I twisted my head this way and that.
But the more I tried to evade his hand, the more stubbornly it followed.
What really pissed me off was the way my body kept twitching whenever his fingers scratched exactly where I was itchy.
Feels goo—no, I hate it!! Stop touching… Wait. Scratch right there a little more.
Why the hell is this bastard so good at petting?
Without meaning to, I squeezed my eyes shut.
“You seem to be enjoying yourself.”
“……!”
I snapped back to my senses and thrashed around, trying to escape his arms.
Lippert obediently lowered me to the ground.
Standing on the lush grass, I looked up at him.
“Go wherever you like. I’ll follow.”
He watched me with the easygoing gaze of a father letting his child run around.
He knew the collar meant I couldn’t get far, which was probably why he looked so damn relaxed.
Annoying bastard.
“Why aren’t you going? Want me to carry you again?”
“Weong!”
…Fuck off!
I snapped irritably and took off running with my back to him.
A muffled chuckle came from behind me, but I made a point of ignoring it.
Still, it felt good to be outside again after so long.
As luck would have it, a butterfly was fluttering around right in front of me.
My butt wiggled.
Wiggle, wiggle.
And before I knew it, I was bounding after the butterfly.
Of course, I had absolutely no intention of catching it.
Up close, butterflies were bigger and creepier than I remembered. I didn’t even want to touch the thing.
I ran hard after my fellow member of the Butterfly Running Club until I finally stopped, panting.
The butterfly abandoned its lagging companion and fluttered away without me.
Now that was some proper cardio for once.
After catching my breath, I turned around and spotted the bastard searching for me in the distance.
He’d let me loose because he trusted this shitty collar, but now that he couldn’t actually see me, he was peering around and searching through innocent bushes.
…Maybe I should mess with him a little. Consider it payback for all the unwanted petting.
I slipped between flowers tall enough to reach my head.
I planned to hide in the flower bed until he was completely exhausted from looking for me, then stroll out shamelessly as if nothing had happened.
As I wandered deeper among the flowers, one blossom swaying gently in the breeze caught my eye.
It was a yellow-gold flower, the same color as Aria’s hair.
Its petals seemed to sparkle, fresh and beautiful enough to belong in a florist’s display.
The heroine would probably like this.
After a moment’s hesitation, I snapped the stem.
With my mouth, obviously.
Ptoo.
I spat out the bitter-tasting piece of stem, then carefully picked up the flower without damaging the petals and walked out of the flower bed.
That was when I spotted a black-haired man standing some distance away.
I hadn’t made a sound, but somehow Lippert turned toward me immediately.
“Hmm?”
His eyes widened slightly.
Then he strode straight over.
Lippert bent down and extended a hand.
With sunlight forming a halo behind him and his neat priestly robes, he looked like he was about to offer me salvation or something.
“There you are. And that flower… Is it for me?”
As if!
Why the hell would I pick a flower for some huge grown man?
“What a good boy.”
Golden sunlight shone clear in his blue eyes.
There was an oddly warm light in them.
While I was distracted by it, my body suddenly rose into the air.
Two hands had slipped beneath my forelegs and lifted me up.
“What a very good boy.”
Hey! I didn’t bring this for you!
I was about to yell at the inexplicably moved bastard because he was making me uncomfortable when his face drew closer.
And before I could even blink, his lips touched me and pulled away.
……?!!
He.
Kissed.
My forehead.
My mouth fell open.
The flower dropped from between my teeth.
Lippert didn’t seem to care. He gathered me into his arms like a baby and looked down at me with gentle eyes.
“…Maybe I should keep you.”
“……!”
D-Don’t say terrifying shit like that.
I’m going to become the future duchess’s beloved pet and live comfortably all the way into old age!
Don’t get in the way of my effortless success!
Unfortunately, my silent scream never reached him.
Lippert bent down and picked up the fallen flower.
Then he brought it to his nose, inhaled its scent once, and murmured something ominous.
“…I should find out whether I can have it preserved.”
He sounded strangely pleased.
Maybe it was because he was a villain, but even something that harmless somehow sounded creepy coming from him.
I spent the entire walk back to the room trembling uneasily in his arms.
He meant preserving the flower… right?