It worked, it worked……!
Everything seemed to move in slow motion. Yellian felt the fleeting moment of landing in the grass from the speeding carriage stretch out like an eternity.
Memories of their time at the duke’s estate flashed through their mind. Leonard, who often called them ugly; Leonard, who grumbled but still did everything for them; and Leonard, who murmured in a warm voice that they were cute.
‘……It wasn’t as bad as I thought. I was so worried because he’s the mad duke from the original story.’
Having landed gracefully on all fours in the grass, Yellian glanced back. The tall grass obscured the view of the carriage.
A strange, bittersweet feeling washed over them. Escaping from Leonard had been their goal, but now that they had achieved it, their heart felt heavy. They should have been overjoyed, yet this heaviness was an emotion they couldn’t comprehend.
‘But I have to run. Soon, Leonard will truly lose it, just like in the original story.’
Steeling their resolve, Yellian began to sprint frantically deeper into the forest.
* * *
“Ugh, my head hurts.”
After running for a while, Yellian leaned their exhausted body against a tree trunk and muttered. Come to think of it, it had been some time since they got off the carriage, but their head still ached. The cause of their motion sickness was gone, so shouldn’t the headache have stopped by now? They had been so focused on escaping that they forgot about the pain.
“Where do I go now…….?”
They had managed to escape, but they had no idea where to go. It was their own decision to enter the grass, but they never imagined they’d end up wandering aimlessly in such an empty field.
“They say leaving home is tough for dogs, but for cats, it’s cat-astrophic…….?”
Yellian clutched their aching head with their tiny front paws and let out a sigh. As fatigue set in, their throat grew dry. But no matter how much they looked around, there was nowhere to drink water.
“……Let’s go.”
A voice came from afar. At the distinct sound of a human voice, Yellian’s triangular ears twitched sensitively.
They perked up their ears, cautiously checking if it was a familiar voice, but thankfully, it was one they had never heard before. That meant it wasn’t someone from Leonard’s side. They were just about to let out a sigh of relief.
“But are you sure this is okay? If we’re not careful, we could get hurt.”
“We have no choice. We’ve already received a pouch of gold as an advance. They said they’d double it if we succeed. We have to make this work, no matter what.”
As Yellian listened quietly, the conversation grew increasingly suspicious. It didn’t sound like an ordinary chat; it felt like they were plotting something. Yellian held their breath and focused on their words.
“But our target is Duke Leonard……. I heard he’s not just quick-witted, but exceptionally so.”
The first speaker added worriedly. Hearing the familiar name from his mouth, Yellian’s eyes widened. Though they weren’t sure, it seemed these people were hired by someone to do something to Leonard.
‘Could it be…… Are these the people involved in the incident where Abigail gets hurt?’
In the original story, on the day of the hunting competition, an arrow meant for Leonard nearly hit him, but Abigail took the hit instead. Because of this, Abigail almost died, and Leonard, seeing Abigail unconscious, came to realize his true feelings.
The ones who shot the arrow were quickly caught. Leonard personally tortured them to uncover who was behind it, but they were under a spell that prevented them from speaking, so the mastermind remained hidden.
Of course, Yellian, as a reader who had finished the story, knew who was behind it. It was Count Jason Lima, a sub-male lead in the original story. He had long recognized Leonard’s cruelty and sought to eliminate him early on.
‘What should I do…….?’
Recalling the original story, Yellian fell into deep thought. If they left things as they were, Abigail would be in danger.
If they hadn’t met Abigail in person, they might not have cared, but having faced him and spent even a little time together, they didn’t want him to be in danger.
However, the flow of time was moving according to the original story. In essence, this was the world of the story’s protagonists. It had a predetermined plot and set rules. Yellian wasn’t sure if it was right for them to intervene and go against the original narrative.
At that moment, they felt the footsteps of the two people growing distant. Yellian tapped their fluffy paws nervously before deciding to follow them. They still didn’t know what to do, but they felt they couldn’t let these people slip away.
Of course, a part of their mind questioned, ‘After all the effort to escape, what am I even trying to do?!’ If they got entangled with these people and ended up crossing paths with Leonard again, their escape would be for nothing.
Thinking this far, Yellian abruptly stopped in their tracks as if nothing had happened.
They felt sorry for Abigail, but he was a character from the original story, and even a main character at that. So, even if he got hit by an arrow and nearly died, it meant he wouldn’t actually die.
In the end, Yellian decided to let things flow as in the original story. Abigail would recover even if hit by an arrow, but if Yellian got caught by Leonard again, escaping would be impossible.
‘……I’m sorry, Abigail.’
With a heavy heart full of genuine regret, Yellian turned and started running in the opposite direction from them.
They walked and walked for a long time. Due to the similar-looking forest terrain, they couldn’t find the path to a village.
Of course, even if they reached a village, they weren’t sure if things would improve, but at least there would likely be more food than here.
For that reason, Yellian focused as much as possible on their sense of smell and hearing, walking in the direction where they felt any stimulus.
After walking for a while, they arrived at a place where people in armor were gathered. Though disappointed it wasn’t a village, they felt a spark of hope that following these people might lead them to a settlement.
Relieved, Yellian toddled over to them on their short legs. As the distance closed, one of the people spotted Yellian.
“Hey, it’s a cat.”
“Yeah, it is. What’s a cat doing in a deep forest like this?”
Among the people tilting their heads in curiosity, one man suddenly stepped forward. In one hand, he held a sharp arrow, and in the other, a crossbow. His mahogany eyes glinted with an eerie chill.
“Hey, you guys. Ever tried cat meat?”
At those chilling words, Yellian’s body froze. Meanwhile, the man aimed his crossbow at Yellian.
Feeling the arrowhead pointing at their head, Yellian frantically dodged. An arrow struck the ground where Yellian had just been standing.
“Hahaha, that little thing dodges pretty well!”
Dodging one arrow didn’t mean they could relax. The man, seemingly enjoying the situation, laughed heartily and loaded another arrow.
Yellian ran wherever their feet took them to avoid the arrows. Their only thought was that getting hit meant death.
As Yellian desperately dodged, arrows whizzed past and struck the ground around them. Fleeing frantically, they found themselves deep in the uninhabited forest again.
“Ah……!”
They barely avoided a fatal hit, but the arrowhead mercilessly grazed Yellian’s hind leg.
The sudden pain caused Yellian’s body to collapse forward. They tried to get up again, but the returning headache and the sharp pain in their leg made their body refuse to listen.
Thud, thud, the man’s footsteps grew closer. Yellian’s fur stood on end in fear. Their dark pupils dilated to fill their eyes.
“Finally caught you. For a little cat, you’re pretty fast.”
The man let out a creepy chuckle as he grabbed Yellian by the scruff of their neck and lifted them up.
Yellian unsheathed their claws and struggled with all their might. They scratched at the man’s forearm with full force, but since he was wearing armor, it didn’t do much damage. However, it seemed enough to irritate him.
“You insolent little cat!”
The man spat out vulgar curses as he slammed Yellian to the ground with all his strength.
Thrown with a force that felt like it could kill, Yellian couldn’t get up. Their entire body ached, and their vision spun.
The man drew a dagger from his thigh and raised it high into the air. The cold blade gleamed with a silver light.
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