It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 13

“Oh my… Kitty.”

Karis smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons. Theo scooped me up and held me at her face level.

I squeezed my eyes shut and waited. Karis kissed both of my cheeks.

“Really… I want to take you with me. If you were just a little bigger, I’d stuff you in a sack and take you away.”

She seemed very disappointed as she stroked my head again before taking her leave. Feeling a bit shy, I wiggled my toes inside my shoes.

I love kisses!

Grinning, I waved my soft paws at Karis for a long time as she walked out the door.

Soon, the Gridwolf’s carriage became a small dot in the distance.

The employees who had been watching me wave goodbye slowly began to move back to their positions.

Lord Elliot approached Jackal, as if he had been waiting, and reported. “Lord Jackal, where should we move the Blue Moon replica we secured earlier?”

“Just leave it in my office. I’ll get to it soon.”

Listening to their conversation, something suddenly clicked in my mind.

‘Jerian also used the word Blue Moon, I think.’

Of course, it wasn’t when he was talking to me, but when he was with the cats who managed the jewels.

I crossed my arms and thought seriously for a moment, then realized that the employees and family members were watching me.

‘It would be a disaster if they asked me what I was thinking.’

Jerian was a cat who had done many bad things besides killing our mother, and I heard that even other races of beastmen knew about him.

If I revealed what I was thinking, they might find out I was a cat, so I quickly unfolded my arms and smiled.

Everyone had a satisfied look on their faces, but Jackal sent a piercing gaze my way with a dry expression.

‘Is he suspicious?’

As soon as I had that thought, a heavy voice echoed in my head.

“I’m not suspicious, so you don’t have to be afraid.”

“Ah.”

Does Lord Jackal read minds? I immediately relaxed my body and thought.

‘Then does he want to order me to do something?’

My appearance of waiting patiently for kisses must have seemed mature. Hiding my satisfaction, I carefully asked, “Um, do you perhaps have something to tell me?”

“Today’s schedule is…”

He had such a scary face, but he was actually interested in me. I bent my fingers, recalling what Lena had explained to me in the morning.

“I ate breakfast, so I’ll have a snack, play a little, get my dress fitted, play a lot, eat dinner, have dessert, play in the bubble bath, and then go to sleep.”

After saying that, I was embarrassed because it was all just playing, eating, and sleeping. I asked Jackal the same question. “What about you, Lord Jackal?”

“Busy.”

“Hmph…”

It’s not like I asked him to play with me, but he cut me off so sharply, my lips drooped. Of course, there were many things I wanted to ask, but I became sulky.

Theo chuckled and gently stroked my shoulder.

“Father, if you speak so harshly, Kitty will be surprised.”

“Is that so?”

“Kitty, Father is a kind and gentle wolf. If you ask what he means, he will explain it again.”

What meaning was hidden in the word ‘busy’? I carefully asked again. “Um, are you very busy…?”

“I plan to be in my office all day.”

“…How is that different from being busy?”

“It means you can come and play with me in my office anytime, soft paws.”

This time, Deon explained. Jackal nodded to confirm that was indeed what he meant.

Wolves are really hard to understand. But I was happy to be invited. Quickly becoming happy, I replied that I would definitely come to play.

Jackal advised me to eat a lot of snacks and then returned to his office. Lena fixed my messy hair and said, “My lady, are you going to have a snack now?”

“No. I’m full, so I’m going to take a walk around.”

The wall I saw when I first found the mansion remained in my mind. Walking along the wall on a clear and warm day like today would feel really good.

Hearing my answer, Theo and Deon’s eyes sparkled, and they said in unison, “Kitty, your older brother will go with you.”

“I’ll show you around the mansion, soft paws.”

“Okay. But you two have to change your clothes first.”

They looked down at their pajamas and chuckled. They must sleep in much later than me.

“Now that we have a younger sister, we’ll have to wake up early starting tomorrow.”

Theo and Deon said that and quickly changed their clothes. Shirts and black pants made their handsome appearances even more striking.

Theo had his slightly longer hair tied back in a ponytail, and Deon had wet his spiky hair with water and roughly styled it.

Their golden eyes were the same, though. I complimented them on being handsome and accepted the small bag of cookies that Lena had somehow brought.

“Be careful, my lady. Remember that you have to get your clothes fitted after lunch.”

“Yes!”

I waved to Lena and followed the older brothers who were walking ahead. They were as excited as if they were going on a picnic.

If I go for a walk with my older brothers, I won’t be able to walk along the wall, but I’ll probably learn more about the mansion than if I went alone, right?

“Kitty, first I’ll show you the buildings attached to the mansion. This way.”

The Gridwolf mansion was a structure that connected several huge buildings. The mansion occupied a vast area like a small village.

From that high mountain to the plains below, it was said to be the garden of the Gridwolf mansion, so it seemed impossible to see it all in one day.

Before I knew it, we had entered the building used for parties. Theo shouted excitedly. “Ta-da! This is the banquet hall. It’s bigger than the dining room, right? When people come to the Gridwolf mansion, they share food together here.”

“It’s an incredibly luxurious place!”

There were splendid paintings on the ceiling, and even when a banquet wasn’t being held, the vases were filled with bright flowers.

Deon explained the next place we walked to. “Next, this is the party hall. That place over there is called the dance floor. It’s where soft paws will dance with this older brother later.”

“Deon, I’m the older brother, so I should dance first.”

“But you’re a terrible dancer, aren’t you?”

“You two, don’t fight!”

I squeezed between the two who were growling softly. They each grabbed one of my hands and muttered, ‘Dancing like this wouldn’t be bad either.’

“Kitty, I’ll teach you how to dance when your feet are all healed.”

“Okay. I’ll have to grow up quickly to be partners with you two, right?”

“You’ll have to eat a lot of snacks.”

After looking around the places related to the party, I was even more excited for the glamorous party. The sight of wolves filling these vast places.

“When is the party held?”

“The big party where we invite people is during the harvest festival. We dance and sing for several days. It’s in the fall, but we already had it a while ago this year. If we had known Kitty was coming, we would have waited a little longer.”

After saying that, Theo told me to look forward to the many parties that the family holds.

Eating grilled salmon with butter and grape juice under the shimmering lights would feel really good. I imagined myself in a party dress and moved my feet.

After looking at the small places for an hour, it was the order I was most looking forward to.

I love the wide garden!

…But the Gridwolf’s garden was as big as all of the cat territories combined.

Seeing me tapping my knee with my fist, Theo and Deon agreed to only look around the nearby east garden today.

“What’s in the east garden?”

“Roses, sunflowers, and a large fruit field. It’s a place that the Gridwolf’s chefs and patissiers [pastry chefs] really like.”

It was as Theo described. Every area of the garden was managed with magic tools, so even a single blade of grass was fresh.

However, what captivated me more than the rose garden organized by color or the bright sunflower garden was the field full of strawberries.

A garden where you can grow strawberries and tomatoes at the same time. I wrinkled my nose and took a deep breath of the sweet strawberry scent.

“Soft paws, why don’t you just smell them, how about eating a strawberry?”

“Ah, is that okay?”

“Of course.”

Deon picked a few ripe red strawberries and washed them in a nearby stream. I bit into a strawberry the size of my fist.

The rich juice spread throughout my mouth, making me smile involuntarily. Thanks to that, one strawberry became two, and two became five.

“Is it okay to eat this many?”

“It’s okay. As long as the gardener Phillip doesn’t hear us… Oh.”

A large shadow fell on Deon’s face. It was a dog beastman gardener with tanned skin and a cool straw hat.

That’s right, that person’s name was Phillip.

Holding one strawberry in each hand, I quickly hid them behind my back and smiled. My lips were sweetly sticky with strawberry juice.

“Greetings, young masters and young lady. Young lady, did you eat a strawberry?”

“…”

I shook my head. Phillip smiled playfully and asked me again.

“The strawberries don’t taste very good, do they?”

“No! They were very sweet and sour!”

Phillip’s eyes narrowed when I answered.

“You ate them, didn’t you?”

“Ah…”

In trouble, I glanced at Theo and Deon, meaning to ask for help.