It felt like they had been engaging in all sorts of explicit acts for quite a while. Exactly how many times or how many hours, they couldn’t tell.
What was certain was that in the end, they begged to stop, unable to go on, before passing out as if fainting.
“……The afterlife looks quite a lot like the living world.”
Yellian muttered, struggling to open their swollen, puffy eyes.
They were sure their body was in the afterlife, yet the scene before their eyes was no different from the room they saw yesterday. They had expected the afterlife to be a bit more fiery red or pitch black, so this unexpected normalcy left them a little disappointed.
“The afterlife? What are you talking about?”
“Leonard?”
At the stern question, Yellian called out his name in surprise. Yellian, who had thought they must have died from the unbearable pain of their body breaking apart, was quite shocked by his voice. They hadn’t expected Leonard to be in the afterlife with them.
He looked remarkably neat. So clean-faced and well-dressed that Yellian wondered if last night’s events had just been their own dream. Meanwhile, they were wrapped tightly in a blanket, completely naked.
And with that, they couldn’t help but wonder if this was still the living world. Hearing his usual blunt tone, it seemed this must be the living world, and naturally, they hadn’t died after all.
“I’m not dead……?”
“Don’t even say such horrible things.”
“I thought I died from too much pleasure……, ah!”
‘I thought I died from too much pleasure.’ Yellian couldn’t finish the short sentence. It was because Leonard had slapped their exposed forehead with his palm, making a sharp sound.
Yellian rubbed their stinging forehead and glared at Leonard with resentful eyes. However, Leonard didn’t even flinch.
“That hurt! Isn’t that too much?”
“Too much? What’s too much?”
“You say you like me, but you just hit me!”
“I hit you because I like you. It’d be weirder to stay quiet after hearing something like that.”
At Leonard’s resolute words, Yellian was so shocked they couldn’t respond. True to his reputation as a mad duke, he said terrifying things so casually that in a way, it was impressive. Yellian had a lot to say but couldn’t speak freely, so they shut their mouth.
“Now you should answer.”
“Answer what?”
“We spent the night together, and you’re not going to say anything?”
“…….”
Only then did Yellian realize what Leonard was talking about. He was waiting for a reaction to their confession. He hadn’t asked directly, but he must have been curious.
Yellian closed their mouth for a moment, lost in thought. Honestly, they still didn’t know their own heart clearly. The only thing they were sure of was that the night spent with Leonard wasn’t bad. No, to be honest, it was pretty good.
“Yellian.”
“Just wait. I’m thinking very seriously right now.”
“Is it because of me?”
“Yes, exactly.”
“Alright. Then I’ll wait quietly.”
Leonard truly didn’t say anything more. Taking advantage of the silence, Yellian continued their thoughts.
Let’s put this incident aside for now and go back to the past. How did they think of Leonard back then?
A terrifying mad duke. Someone they shouldn’t get involved with. But…… someone who was strangely kind to them. Someone who would risk his life to protect them. So…… someone who kept drawing their attention.
“Someone who…… keeps drawing my attention.”
Yellian muttered the thought aloud without realizing it. They still didn’t have an answer. Whether they liked him or not.
But one thing was certain: he kept drawing their attention.
If before they were desperate to escape, now it was different. Part of the reason was Geumdong and Gamja, but honestly, it was because Leonard kept drawing their attention.
“Leonard.”
“Have you found your answer?”
“No. That’s not it. I just want to ask one thing.”
“Go ahead.”
“This feeling of constantly being drawn to someone, what is it?”
At Yellian’s question, Leonard showed a briefly surprised expression before giving a faint smile.
“Am I constantly drawing your attention?”
“Well……. yes, that’s right.”
There was no reason to lie. Lying wouldn’t gain them anything. So they answered honestly. Yellian themselves was confused about what this feeling was. They hoped Leonard would at least give a hint. Something to help them understand what they were feeling right now.
“Is that all?”
“……I don’t know.”
“Then think more about why I draw your attention. Take your time.”
They had believed he would give an answer right away or at least a clue, but Leonard firmly drew a line.
Even as they glared at him with sharp eyes, feeling both resentful and annoyed, Leonard showed no intention of giving an answer.
“Let’s get you cleaned up.”
Instead, he lifted Yellian up in his arms. Embarrassed, Yellian found themselves carried to the bathroom in his embrace.
* * *
“Just what is wrong with that body of yours?”
“Hiss. Don’t say that. I don’t know either. I’m the most frustrated here.”
Yellian retorted with a hiss at Leonard’s question. Hiss, yes, a hiss. Of course, they weren’t in human form when they did that.
Yellian had suddenly turned into a cat again. It was the third day after their passionate night with Leonard.
Leonard was busy reviewing documents, preoccupied with work, while Yellian was frantically waving a fishing rod toy for Geumdong and Gamja.
Yellian, now human, insisted that they wouldn’t be eaten by Geumdong anymore and begged Leonard to let Geumdong back into the room.
Leonard said that since the future was uncertain, Geumdong should be cared for at the estate’s internal kennel where other animals were kept, but in the end, he gave in to Yellian’s relentless requests and brought Geumdong back.
Contrary to Leonard’s worries, Yellian and Geumdong got along well. Well, since Yellian was human, Geumdong didn’t try to eat them, which might be why. Whatever the reason, Yellian felt satisfied for proving Leonard’s concerns wrong.
However, that satisfaction shattered exactly three days later. While waving the fishing rod toy, they bent over from exhaustion to catch their breath, and when they looked up, the ceiling seemed suspiciously high. Not only that, but the furniture in the room had become absurdly large.
“Aaaah! This is so frustrating!”
Yellian screamed. It was because they had turned into a cat again.
Suddenly, for some unknown reason, they kept switching between human and cat. If they at least knew the cause, it might ease their mind, but not knowing made it maddeningly frustrating.
Unable to contain their rising frustration, Yellian clutched their head and rolled around the room.
“A cat again?”
“That’s what I’m saying! That’s what I’m saying!”
Yellian snapped back irritably in a squeaky voice, throwing soft punches into the air. Leonard shook his head at the sight before lifting Yellian up and placing them on the desk.
“Stay still. Before Geumdong decides to eat you.”
“Yep…….”
Yellian, who had already been eaten by Geumdong once, didn’t want to experience it a second time, so they decided to obediently listen to Leonard.
Leonard seemed to call for the butler, and soon after, Francois, the breeder affiliated with the duke’s estate, arrived.
Yellian had seen him a few times before. Of course, since it wouldn’t do any good to be caught as a talking cat in front of the breeder, they pretended to be a normal cat, so Francois likely thought Yellian was just an ordinary cat.
Because of that, he paid little attention to Yellian and Gamja. His sole focus was on Geumdong.
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