“……I didn’t do it on purpose.”
Yellian glanced at Leonard’s expression. Its already small voice grew even quieter as it mumbled. Yet, unable to resist the rare spicy taste, it kept licking the tomato sauce without realizing.
“Even now, you still want to eat pasta?”
“Nom, gulp, sorry, nom, I am, nom.”
“……Just eat quietly.”
“Yes!”
Watching the feline humanoid cub give a half-hearted apology while refusing to stop eating, Leonard decided to give up instead.
The temptation of arrabbiata was too strong for Yellian to notice Leonard’s complicated feelings. It was too busy noisily devouring the bright red pasta.
In truth, no matter how spicy arrabbiata was, it couldn’t compare to the tongue of Yellian, accustomed to the Extreme Spicy series. But there was one variable: the fact that Yellian had been eating nothing but under-seasoned grilled fish for days.
After eating food with almost zero spiciness for so long, even moderately spicy arrabbiata was enough to make its head spin. Without realizing, Yellian wagged its tail rapidly, expressing its joy.
The problem started then.
“Why are you crying?”
“Huh? Gasp, what? Am I crying?”
Flustered, Yellian rubbed its eyes with its front paws in a cat-like washing motion. It was shocked to see its tiny, fluffy paws damp with tears.
It hadn’t even realized it was crying. Sure, eating arrabbiata was moving enough to bring tears, but to actually cry? It was baffled by its own inexplicable behavior.
“This won’t do. Stop eating.”
“Gasp, no! I just started!”
“But you’re crying.”
“That’s……. I don’t even know why I’m crying, but I can’t stop now!”
Yellian tried to grab the pasta bowl with its front paws to prevent it from being taken away…… but failed. Holding a smooth glass bowl with cat paws wasn’t easy.
Leonard was dumbfounded watching this. He couldn’t understand why it was so obsessed with food-to the point of shedding tears.
“Stop eating for now. First, we need to check if there’s something wrong with your health.”
“No, I’m fine!”
It answered in a rebellious, almost tearful voice, but Leonard remained cold. He boldly took away the still half-full bowl of arrabbiata.
Unable to contain its anger and betrayal, Yellian even clawed at Leonard’s pant legs. Yet, Leonard didn’t even blink.
It felt like tears would fall from frustration. Well, it was already crying…… No, upon regaining composure, the tears had already stopped. While eating delicious food, tears had flowed unbidden, but now, when it actually wanted to cry, they stopped as if lying. It was baffling.
‘Knock, knock.’
That was when a knock broke the silence.
“My lord. It’s me, Elton.”
Elton’s voice came from beyond the door, but to Yellian, whose meal had just been stolen, it didn’t matter if Elton came or not. The only thing that mattered was that Leonard, who took its food, was the biggest jerk in the world.
“Perfect timing. Yellian wanted human food, so I gave it some, but it started crying while eating. Why is that?”
“Human food? Why would you give it that!”
“Because I’m not a real cat but a feline humanoid!”
Yellian retorted irritably at Elton’s reproachful question. Its already squeaky voice grew even sharper with annoyance. Of course, Yellian would never realize how petty and cute it sounded.
“Ah, right. But human food might be too stimulating……. What did you give it?”
“Arrabbiata.”
“Gasp, that’s even spicier! How could you feed that to this little one!”
“It said it was fine. I didn’t force it. More importantly, it suddenly started crying while eating arrabbiata. Why is that?”
Leonard preempted Elton’s nagging. Elton glared at Leonard, looking like he wanted to argue, but knowing Leonard was his superior, he didn’t press further.
“It could be an allergic reaction……. Or, structurally, cats’ eyes and tongues are closely connected, so eating something too delicious can make them cry reflexively.”
“……It cried because it was too delicious? What kind of ridiculous creature does that?”
“That’s why it’s cute.”
Elton wore a dreamy expression at Leonard’s exasperated reaction.
Yellian looked back and forth between the two with wide eyes, then felt a slight self-loathing upon realizing it had cried because the arrabbiata was too good. At the same time, it realized it could eat the arrabbiata again.
“My lord, my lord! Give me back my food, quick!”
At its urgent, chattering voice, Leonard glanced skeptically between Yellian and the arrabbiata before decisively placing the bowl back in front of Yellian.
As if waiting, Yellian immediately buried its snout back into the plate.
“Nyanyanyanyan, ungnyanyanyanyan.”
Unintentionally, happy purring sounds filled the air as Leonard stared at the tiny head buried in the plate.
Watching the feline humanoid cub make bizarre noises while eating, he somehow…… felt oddly proud. Even though there was no reason to.
* * *
The duke’s estate was noisy from the morning. Yellian, unable to fully open its sleepy eyes, looked around, wondering what was happening.
The room’s owner, Leonard, had disappeared early in the morning. Yellian found it much more comfortable without him, so it didn’t even watch him leave. It was too busy stretching and sleeping.
But the continuous noise eventually forced Yellian to open its eyes in annoyance. Just then, the door burst open, and Leonard appeared. He looked down at Yellian with disdain before clicking his tongue.
“A feline humanoid with a swollen face. Unbelievable.”
What’s that supposed to mean?
Yellian swallowed words it couldn’t say aloud and glared at Leonard. Whether its face was swollen or not, surely even a feline humanoid could swell up after eating a whole bowl of arrabbiata and sleeping. Grumbling, it headed to the large mirror in the corner.
“Oh……. It really is swollen. So feline humanoids can swell up too. And a lot…….”
Yellian was quite shocked upon seeing its reflection. Until now, it had thought there was no such thing as an ugly cat. But surprisingly, there was-and it was itself.
“By the way, my lord, why is it so noisy outside?”
Even while looking in the mirror, the noise made Yellian thump its tail on the floor in annoyance. Leonard clicked his tongue briefly at the sight.
“An annoying guy decided to come.”
Shaking its head, Yellian found the unusually polite answer suspicious. Must be its imagination. Yeah, no way.
“What are you thinking?”
“I’m not thinking anything. I don’t have thoughts to begin with.”
“……Not surprising.”
Leonard easily accepted the hastily added excuse, though it left Yellian feeling oddly uneasy. Of course, it was its own words, but the quick agreement didn’t sit right.
Even so, it wondered who the “annoying guy” was, but since it would find out soon enough, it didn’t bother asking. It was better to avoid talking to Leonard as much as possible.
But Yellian soon regretted its complacency. No matter how much it disliked talking to him, it should’ve at least asked who the visitor was.
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