“Sorry, Chief Inspector Itefeil. Miss Feilin is discussing some matters with the master. Please wait in the back garden.”
As soon as Itefeil entered the count’s residence, a servant came over and told him that Feilin wasn’t available at the moment. Itefeil waved it off, saying he didn’t mind, then made his way to the back garden like he knew the place by heart.
He’d arrived at noon. To be honest, it wasn’t a good time to visit someone. Showing up at this hour could easily interrupt their meal or whatever else they might be doing.
But this was urgent. La Luna looked listless, and the only person he knew who kept cats was Feilin. With no other choice, he’d come to bother her at this hour. As soon as he arrived, he was sent to the back garden, where Feilin seemed to be discussing something important with someone who’d come to visit.
Itefeil set La Luna down on a table in the back garden, then wandered around looking at all the strange plants Feilin kept. The garden held an astonishing variety, from rare flowers to wildflowers you could find by the roadside. Feilin had arranged each in just the right place, making the whole garden a pleasure to look at.
Just as La Luna lay on the table with her eyes rolled back, pretending to be dead, a black shape began creeping toward her.
“Meow!!”
La Luna saw what kind of cat it was. It was Black, Feilin’s pet black cat. She had to admit, Black looked quite dapper: a white patch of fur in an upside-down triangle beneath his neck, four white paws like gloves, and a white muzzle. He really did look like a suave little cat dressed in a suit.
But what did that have to do with her?
La Luna paid no attention to Black’s attempt to intimidate her. She just thought about how she’d have to practice for nine hundred years without sleep or rest if she wanted to become human...
A sense of helplessness welled up inside her. She sprawled across the table, looking even more like a limp, salted fish.
“Meow?”
Black approached La Luna warily. When he saw that she wasn’t reacting at all, he grew bolder and jumped onto the table, stopping beside her.
“Meow, meow?”
(What are you doing here?)
La Luna noticed Black asking her a question, but she had absolutely no desire to answer.
Talking to a cat was just too stupid.
She considered herself a clever cat, with brains at least. Unlike other cats, she could think just like a normal human.
(She even understood art and could paint.)
That was what La Luna thought, though ever since she’d become a cat, those skills didn’t seem to be much use.
A cat who understood art?
The whole empire would die laughing.
“Meow, meow meow? Meow!”
(Hey, hey! I’m talking to you.)
Seeing that La Luna was still lying there and had no intention of paying him any attention, Black grew a little anxious.
“Meow meow meow! Meow meow!”
(Listen, my owner is mine! I’m not sharing! Don’t think you can come here and steal her love from me!)
After figuring out what Black was saying, La Luna rolled over and gave him an eye-roll.
“Meow, meow.”
(What a stupid attention-seeker... Whatever. You’re not bad at being a pet.)
La Luna spoke to Black with open disdain.
“Meow meow? Meow?”
(See that woman crouching over there? That’s my owner. She’s friends with your owner, so she brings me here to play all the time. Do you even know what friends are?)
“Meow meow, meow?”
(Friends? You mean cats who bring you food all the time and mate with you?)
(?)
Dude, you’ve got issues. Big ones.
La Luna couldn’t take Black yapping beside her any longer, especially since he was spouting nonsense. She bared her claws and threatened him, making it clear he should stay away.
“Meow!”
(Get lost! I’m in a bad mood today.)
Then she waved her little paw at him.
“Meow, meow.”
(If we fight, I’ll tear you to pieces!)
“Meow...”
(Eep...)
Black was definitely intimidated by La Luna. She was a little bigger than most cats, and his animal instincts told him she was a formidable hunter he couldn’t afford to mess with.
Black turned and ran.
(Honestly. I guess in the animal world, whoever has the bigger fists makes the rules.)
La Luna watched Black flee, then settled back down to lie still in peace. But before long, Black came back.
“Meow.”
(You look down, so I brought you something good.)
“Meow?”
(What... is that?!)
Black returned with a box in his mouth. The box was tightly shut, but La Luna’s incredible sense of smell still caught a faint scent leaking through the cracks.
(That smell! It’s hitting hard!)
La Luna suddenly felt as energized as if she’d taken drugs. She snatched the box away with one paw, not even noticing that her sharp claws had punched a hole through the back. The scent poured out through the opening.
“Meow~”
(Cat...nip??)
La Luna immediately wanted to kill Black. The moment she smelled the stuff, her body started writhing against her will, and she became incredibly hyper!
Itefeil, standing nearby, finally noticed the commotion.
“Uh... what’s with those two cats?”
Itefeil stared wide-eyed at the two cats on the table, writhing wildly over the black flakes spilling from an opened box.
“Are they... **?”
