The cat wandered around the shop, poking its nose into every corner as though it were taking a tour.
After making a full circuit of the teahouse, it sat down on the floor and looked up at her.
“Now that I get a proper look at you, you’re really pretty, aren’t you?”
Only then did Aria fully appreciate just how beautiful the cat was, and a soft smile touched her lips.
It didn’t jump onto the furniture, race around, or hide under anything.
It simply sat there with remarkable dignity, silently making its demands known.
For her distinguished little guest, Aria poured some water into a bowl and set it down.
Only then did the cat lower its head and begin lapping it up.
Afraid she might disturb it while it drank, Aria resisted the urge to pet it and simply watched in silence.
“My first customer today is a pretty little thing like you. That makes me happy. Are you hungry?”
“Myaa.”
“Hold on… Let me see if I have anything a cat can eat.”
Reluctantly tearing herself away from watching it, she went into the kitchen.
Unfortunately, she couldn’t find anything particularly suitable for a cat.
“Sorry. This is stew I made this morning. Do you want to try some?”
She spooned a little onto a plate and set it down.
The cat crouched beside it and cautiously took a taste.
“Well? Is it good?”
“Waooow. Waooowooow—”
Fortunately, it seemed to approve. It dug in enthusiastically, making noises the entire time.
“You eat human food just fine, huh? Maybe you really do belong to someone…”
The cat completely ignored Aria’s muttering and buried its face in the plate, devouring the stew.
When it finally lifted its head, orange-red stew was smeared all over its whiskers and fur.
Aria let out a quiet laugh and wiped its face with a damp handkerchief.
She kept the cat with her until evening.
Then she picked it up and carried it around the village, stopping from house to house to ask whether anyone knew its owner.
Everyone shook their heads.
None of them had ever seen the cat before.
“Hmm. Where in the world did you come from?”
When Aria set it back down, the cat merely stood there and stared quietly up at her.
She thought it might wander off and find its own way home.
Instead, it stayed exactly where it was.
With no other choice, Aria started walking first.
The white cat immediately trotted after her.
When she stopped, it actually overtook her as though it were the one escorting her, then went all the way to the front of her teahouse and meowed.
As if telling her to open the door.
Was this…
Had she just been chosen by a cat?
Aria burst into a soft laugh.
“If you’re okay with it, do you want to live with me?”
“Myaaaa.”
The cat let out a long meow, its tail quivering with what looked suspiciously like joy.
Aria had acquired a new family member to take responsibility for practically overnight, yet rather than feeling overwhelmed, she found the whole thing strangely wondrous.
Almost as though it were fate.
She even found herself wondering if perhaps this little cat might bring her good luck.
“Then I’ll be counting on you. Now, what should I call you?”
Smiling, Aria stroked the cat’s head.
Never once imagining the devious schemes concealed inside that fluffy white skull.
******
At first, I thought the universe had screwed me over in a way that shouldn’t even have been possible.
A cat?
Seriously?
I hadn’t even transmigrated as a human!
But…
The more time passed, and the more accustomed I became to this body, the more I started thinking:
Wait. Isn’t this actually way better than being human?
Having a flexible body instead of one that constantly ached was a whole new world.
My leg could go all the way over my head!
My body stretched and stretched like melted cheese, unbelievably limber and agile, without a single stiff muscle anywhere.
Just how garbage had my old body been, constantly screaming, If you don’t stretch right now, your neck is going to seize up!
More importantly, there was one fact that made me happier than anything else.
Cats didn’t have to work.
I grew up in an orphanage, so I’d spent my entire life working one part-time job after another without a break.
Handing out flyers.
Working convenience stores.
Chicken restaurants.
Loading and unloading trucks.
You name it.
It didn’t matter how exhausting it was. I needed money if I wanted to support myself.
But if I was a cat…
I didn’t have to earn money at all, did I?
I could just become somebody’s pet and live comfortably for the rest of my life…!
The moment that realization hit me, I had never been happier to be a cat.
There was only one problem.
Whose house was I going to freeload in?
Only one person came to mind.
The protagonist of this story.
Aria.
The Aria I knew had modern knowledge and common sense, along with a strong personality and a serious sense of responsibility.
And this webtoon had the most airtight happy ending imaginable.
Sure, a villainess and other antagonists showed up to cause trouble along the way, but in the end, the heroine and male lead got together and lived happily ever after.
By the ending, Aria became a duchess.
And just how high-ranking was a duchess in a romance-fantasy class system?
If you translated it into modern Korea, it was basically like joining the top ten richest conglomerate families in the country.
I needed to secure my spot beside the heroine while I still could.
Becoming the future duchess’s beloved pet cat?
That was basically winning the lottery.
And if this was still early in the webtoon, Aria should currently be an ordinary small-business owner.
I had to find her and attach myself to her before she became Superstar Duchess Aria.
So I went looking for the heroine.
Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult.
The forest where I’d appeared happened to be directly behind the village where Aria lived.
Once I wandered around a little, I recognized the village scenery from the webtoon almost immediately, and finding her shop was easy.
My real concern was whether the heroine would willingly adopt some cat she’d never seen before.
After all, she hadn’t owned a pet in the original story.
Would I have to stand on two legs and do the Happy Happy Happy dance in front of her?
Or sit in the rain and sing some heartbreaking little song?
I spent a surprisingly long time worrying about how to convince her to take me in.
Thankfully, kindhearted Aria adopted a homeless little cat like me after only one day.
And thus began my glorious era of success as the heroine’s pampered pet—
Or so I thought.
Except…
…Her business was doing this badly?
The early chapters of the webtoon were all about the heroine escaping her family, settling somewhere far away, opening a teahouse on the ground floor of her new home, and living a quiet, cozy healing life.
Her exact financial situation, though…
That wasn’t something I’d ever known in detail.
Damn it. She went all-in on this house?!
Maybe buying the place had wiped out every coin she had, because Aria ate nothing but vegetable stew every single day.
Tomato stew one day.
Carrot stew the next.
Then cabbage stew.
Then spinach stew.
Heroine!
Meat!
Where is the meat?!
Forget “healing.” In reality, her teahouse was so dead that I was starting to worry the two of us would collapse from malnutrition before the romance even got started.
If you opened a pretty café, you had to advertise it!
If there was no social media in this world, then go outside and tell people about the place yourself!
Did she seriously think customers were going to magically appear while she sat inside waiting around forever?!
Eventually, I couldn’t take it anymore.
I ran out of the shop myself.
Here I was, finally a cat, hoping to enjoy a lazy life without ever working again…
But if I wanted to live comfortably, Aria’s business had to start making money first.
I approached a group of teenagers on the street who looked to be in their mid-teens.
Kids that age probably had a decent amount of pocket money.
“Oh! There’s a cat coming over.”
“It’s so pretty. Hi, kitty.”
One of them crouched and held out a hand.
I stood still and deliberately pushed my head into it.
If you wanted something from someone, you had to give them something in return….
For now, I would set aside my human dignity.
“Careful. What if it suddenly scratches you?”
“It’s letting me pet it just fine. This cat’s super tame!”
Fingers scratched between my ears and under my chin.
Against my will, my chin kept tilting higher.
Ah… Shit. This feels weird. Don’t touch me there. Just pet my head!
“…Purrrrrr.”
“I think it likes it.”
I was making my displeasure perfectly obvious, but these teenagers apparently hadn’t developed the ability to read the room yet.
They crowded around me, all reaching in because everyone wanted a turn.
If I had been a real cat, every one of you would already be covered in blood.
Once I’d attracted enough attention, I slipped between their legs.
Then—
Tatatat!
I sprinted a short distance away, stopped, and looked back at them.
“Ah! Kitty, where are you going? Come play with us some more.”
“What’s it doing?”
“Doesn’t it look like it wants us to follow?”
“Maybe another cat got hurt? Let’s go check!”
One of them was smart enough to understand me.
Perfect.
I led all four teenagers toward the teahouse.
Aria happened to be standing outside, looking around as though searching for something.
I ran straight toward her and cried out.
“Waaang-ong! Mya-mya-mang-myaa!”
Heroine! I brought customers!
“Roro! Where did you go? Did you go out for a walk?”
No.
I went out to drum up business.
I worked hard to bring them here, so hurry up and reel them in!
I meowed urgently at Aria’s feet.
Unfortunately, she seemed unable to understand a word I was saying and simply picked me up.
“You had me worried when you disappeared.”
“…Oh, there’s a shop here? Is that your cat?”
One of the teenagers finally worked up the courage to speak to Aria.
“Yes. His name is Roro.”
Aria smiled brightly and opened the door to the teahouse.
“If you’re curious, would you like to come inside?”
The teenagers nodded and followed her in.
“What do you sell here?”
“Tea. We have all sorts—black tea, herbal tea, and plenty of others.”
“I don’t really like tea… It’s bitter.”
One of the teenagers muttered.
You little punk!
How can you say that right in front of the teahouse owner?!
What, do you think she’s an NPC?!
“Hmm. If you like sweet things, would you like some cocoa instead?”
“Yes! I’d love that!”
“Myaaaa…?”
Wait.
You’re not giving it away for free, are you?
A sudden sense of dread came over me.
My long tail began smacking sharply against the floor.