“I’m sorry, but I need you to leave now.”
“…What? Are you talking to me?”
“Yes. For personal reasons, I won’t be doing business in the evenings anymore.”
Aria’s voice came out colder than ice.
“But why—”
“I’m under no obligation to explain my personal circumstances to a customer. If you really want to visit our shop, could you come during the day instead?”
His face twisted instantly, like he’d bitten into something rotten. Then he muttered something under his breath in a low, sinister voice.
“…fucking bitch, acting all hard to get… And I don’t like that damn cat either….”
“Would you please leave?”
Aria firmly told him to leave once again.
Making no attempt to hide how pissed off he was, the bastard finally stalked out and kicked the door on his way.
I didn’t sleep a wink all night.
I kept worrying that the bastard might come back and start causing trouble again.
Even curled up inside my soft, fluffy little healing hideout, I couldn’t relax. The heroine must have felt the same way, because she got up and started preparing for business before the sun had even risen.
I’d eaten breakfast downstairs and was resting when—
Jingle, jingle.
The instant I heard the door open, I went straight into high alert.
I whipped my head around.
Fortunately, what I saw was dark navy hair.
Hey!
I bolted toward the male lead.
What took you so long?! Your entrance is way too late! Do you have any idea what happened last night?!
The second I saw his face for the first time in four days, all my pent-up indignation came rushing out.
I followed him around like a walking siren, yowling nonstop.
Raymon stopped dead and looked down at me, visibly bewildered.
“Oh? Mr. Raymon…?”
Aria happened to emerge from the kitchen at that moment and looked startled when she spotted him.
The moment Raymon saw her, a faint smile touched his face.
Of course, it disappeared almost immediately.
“Good morning.”
“Yes, good morning.”
Despite his stiff greeting, Aria answered brightly.
“But why are you standing over there? Come in.”
“Well… I’m not sure why, but I think your cat is angry with me.”
“What?”
Once she understood what he meant, Aria burst out laughing.
A huge grown man was frozen in place in front of one tiny cat, looking like he had absolutely no idea what to do.
Of course it was funny.
“I’ll step outside and come back in once the cat calms down.”
“No, it’s okay. He’s doing that because he’s happy to see you.”
“…He’s happy to see me?”
“Look. His tail is straight up. That means he’s greeting you.”
Yeah, you bastard.
I’m asking why the hell you only showed up now.
“Mr. Raymon, you’re the first customer Roro has ever greeted this enthusiastically.”
“I see.”
Raymon worked up the courage to give my head a tentative pat.
Who said you could touch me?
I gave him a slight glare.
“Have you eaten?”
“I have.”
“Then I suppose you should have some tea. Is green tea all right?”
“Yes. That’s fine.”
Aria led him to a seat by the window, then went into the kitchen to make tea.
In the meantime, I sat beside the male lead and poured out my grievances.
That bastard is making me so fucking uneasy. Couldn’t you hurry up and catch him and throw him in jail or something? I can’t live like this….
Yeah.
I was anxious.
Because what had happened last night was different from the original story.
That stalker bastard showing up in the evening and pounding on the door.
Aria throwing him out.
Neither of those scenes had existed in the webtoon.
Things had changed because I was here.
Aria had probably taken a harder line because she wanted to protect me.
It was good that she’d chased him away, but the problem was that he wasn’t the kind of bastard who would just quietly back off after that.
What if he started holding a grudge against Aria?
…Not knowing what he might do next was seriously getting under my skin.
Of course, to Raymon, all he could hear was a cat meowing and whining at him.
Being a cat is so fucking frustrating. I can’t even communicate….
I let out one heavy sigh after another.
Raymon watched me as though I were the strangest thing he’d ever seen.
Aria approached carrying a tray with teacups.
The bitter scent of green tea tickled my nose.
“Thank you.”
The two of them enjoyed their tea while exchanging bits of conversation now and then.
The atmosphere was so peaceful that even I, just sitting there watching them, started to yawn.
“And I owe you for the other day.”
Raymon took something from inside his clothes and placed it on the table.
It was a leather pouch.
“I prepared this as a token of gratitude, so please don’t feel too burdened by it.”
“What? What is this?”
Obviously, it was full of gold coins.
Sure enough, the moment the heroine opened the pouch, she looked shocked and immediately tried to refuse it.
“No. I can’t accept this.”
“Please take it.”
“No, this is far too much money.”
“Then at least let me pay for this tea….”
“I brought this out because I wanted to drink it with you. I never intended to charge you. Please put it away.”
At the heroine’s gentle but firm words, the male lead obeyed like a well-trained military dog.
His usually expressionless face looked just a little disappointed, though.
“I apologize if I made you uncomfortable.”
“There’s nothing to apologize for. Instead, please keep visiting us often.”
Raymon, who had been putting the leather pouch away, abruptly raised his head.
“…Would that be all right?”
“Of course. I’d be happy to have another kind regular customer.”
“……Yes. I’ll become a regular.”
Look at this guy.
He looks happy.
It was strangely fascinating to see such vivid changes in his emotions—things I’d never been able to see in the webtoon.
“But… did something happen?”
“What?”
“…It may not be any of my business, but you seem a little troubled.”
“Ah. Do I?”
Aria gave an awkward smile.
“I didn’t sleep very well last night.”
“If something is troubling you, I’d be willing to listen.”
Under Raymon’s serious gaze, Aria seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking.
“…There’s been a strange man coming to the shop lately. He always comes in the evening when there aren’t any other customers, and every time he does, Roro gets frightened and stressed.”
I wasn’t scared.
I was fucking pissed.
“Yesterday… Roro wasn’t feeling well, so I closed early. But that man came to the shop anyway and got angry. I managed to send him away, but… he seems very strange, so I can’t stop worrying about it.”
“…I see.”
A flash of displeasure crossed Raymon’s face.
Then, as if he had made up his mind, he spoke.
“I’ll help you.”
“What? You will, Mr. Raymon?”
“I didn’t mention it before, but I’m a knight.”
Technically, you’re the knight commander.
“If you ever need help, will you call for me? I want to repay the kindness you showed me last time.”
“I appreciate the offer. But I can’t drag someone uninvolved into this.”
“Myaaagh!”
I sprang to my feet.
What do you mean, uninvolved? He’s your future husband!
Just ask him to help!
I climbed onto the table and tried to persuade Aria, but—
“Roro, why are you crying? You just ate… How strange.”
Aria, who couldn’t understand a word I was saying, merely tilted her head.
Then she scooped me up in both arms and tried to calm me.
“Anyway, just listening to me is enough.”
…Right.
Even in the webtoon, the heroine refused his help the first time.
The male lead still worried about her, though, so whenever he had time, he patrolled the area around the shop every day.
It took an hour and a half to travel here from the capital by carriage.
Later, the male lead even had a private magic portal installed so he could come here every single day.
To put into perspective just how absurdly wasteful that was, it was basically like taking a private jet worth hundreds of millions just to come drink a few dollars’ worth of tea.
Well.
I guess you had to be willing to go that far to qualify as a male lead.
“…Even so, if anything happens, please tell me.”
“Yes, I will.”
After that, the two of them kept talking for another half hour.
“Is it already that late…? I should be going.”
Raymon stood from his seat.
I hopped down from my chair and bit the hem of his robe.
“Grrrrrr!”
Don’t go!!!
Stay until tonight, just in case!!
When I refused to release the end of his robe, Raymon stopped walking and looked troubled.
“I’m sorry!”
Aria immediately grabbed me around the middle to stop me, but I stubbornly clamped down harder with my teeth.
“Roro, Mr. Raymon has to leave. Are you sad to see him go?”
“…Grrrrk.”
What are you going to do if that bastard comes back to hurt you?
“Mr. Raymon, you’ll come again tomorrow, right?”
“I’ll come tomorrow.”
“Roro, did you hear that? He says he’ll be back tomorrow. So let him go, all right?”
Aria coaxed me gently.
At that soft, affectionate tone, I had no choice but to open my mouth and release the robe.
I watched Raymon’s back as he left the shop, thumping my tail against the floor.
…All right. Use your head. I’m a human being. I should use my brain.
Tomorrow, when the male lead came back, I absolutely had to keep him here until nightfall.
I started thinking about how I could stop him from leaving.
Should I “accidentally” spill water on him and soak his clothes?
No.
He’d probably just leave while wet.
Or maybe I could write a fake threatening letter that would make him too worried to leave.
I could pretend that bastard wrote it.
That’s it!
I immediately ran upstairs.
I approached the book Aria had left unfinished and opened it to the front.
Usually, the very first page was a blank endpaper.
I bit down on the empty sheet and tore it out.
Then I climbed onto the desk and found the bottle of ink.
I gripped the stopper with my teeth and struggled to pull it free.
For a second, I almost ripped out my tiny teeth along with it—teeth smaller than grains of rice.