It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 37

Sigma used all her knowledge to interpret Kitty’s reaction.

‘At that distance, she must have been exposed to the Blue Moon’s madness, right?’

If so, the Gridwolf Young Lady should have been either in pain or unaffected due to immunity.

‘But a cat enjoying madness… I’ve never heard of that.’

Sigma’s body shuddered. She felt a joy that couldn’t compare to the times she dissected beastmen in a damp laboratory.

“I didn’t think the Gridwolf couple would adopt an ordinary cat, and I was right…”

Sigma returned to the panther’s territory to report, a dangerous smile on her face. The lives of the fox beastmen were not her concern. Her only focus was on the cute cat they had kidnapped.

Her fervent eyes remained fixed on Kitty.

* * *

“The madness is getting closer, though it’s faint.”

Cleed reported to Elliot. Elliot handed the gift boxes he was holding to his aide and began to gesture.

It meant that beastmen were approaching with their scent concealed by some device, so they should strengthen their guard.

‘The Young Lady is still young and a cat, more sensitive to magic than wolves, so who knows what might happen even with a little madness.’

It was fortunate that Kitty was small enough to be subdued even if she was consumed by madness.

Soon, the suspicious individuals came a step closer. Just as Elliot was about to order an attack, Kitty stretched out her arms and said in a voice filled with happiness.

“Kyaa—! I suddenly feel so good!”

“……?”

Madness was enjoyable? Elliot was taken aback. However, the men who were slowly approaching Kitty seemed even more bewildered.

Elliot quickly spoke, taking advantage of the enemies’ dazed state.

“Subdue them.”

“Yes!”

Theo and Deon surrounded Kitty and crouched down. Meanwhile, the wolf knights captured all the men with suspicious auras.

Cleed, who forcibly dispelled their magic by generating mana, soon hardened his expression.

“…You guys, are you foxes?”

“Krrr!”

When they took off their robes, the fox beastmen’s characteristic blonde hair was revealed. It wasn’t as golden as Cleed’s, but it was definitely a trait of the fox beastmen.

“Don’t think of siding with them just because they’re fellow fox beastmen. Judging by their eyes, they seem to be controlled.”

Iden grabbed Cleed’s shoulder and took a step back. Kitty was still surrounded by Theo and Deon, muttering while huddled up.

“Ninety-nine, ninety-eight… Ah, what’s next?”

“Ninety-seven.”

“Ninety-seven…”

“You can get up now, Soft Paw.”

Kitty resolved to practice counting backward from one hundred and stood up.

Then she saw Cleed, pale and trembling. Theo clicked his tongue and explained the situation to Kitty.

“It seems a fox beastman affected by the Blue Moon tried to attack our Kitty but failed.”

The foxes, even now subdued by the wolf knights, growled at Kitty.

With the target Sigma had brainwashed them with right in front of them, their hunting instincts were aroused regardless of their will.

Elliot shouted in a stern voice.

“Knock them out. If they try to do anything foolish, you can break their legs.”

The fox beastmen, who had lost their minds, were brutally trampled by the wolves. Cleed clenched his fists, grinding his teeth.

The wolves struck the back of the fox beastmen’s necks with their hands, knocking them out one by one.

While Cleed hesitated, unable to attack his own kind, a fox beastman who had not yet been subdued suddenly picked up Kitty and ran at full speed.

“Kyaa!”

“Kitty!”

“Young Lady!”

The fox beastman grabbed the struggling Kitty tightly and leaped high into the air.

“Stay still.”

“No way!”

Because Kitty struggled with all her might, the fox beastman gradually lost his balance. The Gridwolf knights leaped to a high place at the same time.

The fox beastman used magic to stay in the air and quickly tried to get away.

Seeing the shopping district gradually receding beneath her feet, Kitty took a deep breath. The fox beastman gave a bitter smile.

“I know you’re the daughter of a stray cat. I heard you stole food and were kicked out of the territory, right?”

“……!”

“Is the cat going to howl or something?”

Kitty flinched. Clearly, her howling was terrible compared to the wolves’ howling. She didn’t receive any compliments during class either.

But.

“If I stay still now, they’ll take me away!”

Nyawoo—!

Kitty shouted at the top of her lungs, and the fox beastman’s face contorted. His body suddenly sank to the ground as he belatedly tried to cover Kitty’s mouth.

Thud—!

A huge figure soared through the air and slammed the fox beastman to the ground. At the same time, someone gently caught Kitty’s body.

Kitty quickly recognized whose touch was stroking her.

“Lord Karis?”

“My dear, that was a wonderful howl.”

“……!”

“Thanks to you calling us so wonderfully, we were able to come and save you.”

Kitty’s cat ears perked up with pride. She had lost her hat when she was kidnapped.

The cloud of dust spreading over the fox beastman’s body on the ground cleared.

Jackal, holding the perfectly bound fox beastman in one hand, stroked Kitty’s head.

“Your howling has become louder since you turned seven.”

“Hic! Lord Jackal, your hair…”

It was the same hairstyle as the burly cats Jerian always brought with him. If he had a nail-studded wooden plank, it would have been exactly the same.

“I cut it a little. Is it scary?”

“……”

Kitty shook her head without realizing she had a terrified expression. Jackal smiled bitterly.

The wolf knights and the carriage quickly followed Kitty. Theo and Deon rushed over and hugged Kitty.

“Kitty, are you okay?”

“Soft Paw, are you hurt anywhere?”

Kitty shook her head gently. Her heart was pounding at the fact that the wolves had rushed to save her even with her somewhat lacking howling.

Of course, the most relieved was Elliot, who was in charge of overall security.

“Oh, Young Lady. Thank you for howling. Thanks to you, my small and precious salary won’t be cut off.”

“……?”

“We will thoroughly interrogate the foxes to ensure that the same thing doesn’t happen again.”

Elliot said.

Only then did Kitty recall the fox beastman’s words that she had forgotten because she was being kidnapped.

“I know you’re the daughter of a stray cat. I heard you stole food and were kicked out of the territory, right?”

Kitty’s mind went blank, and she didn’t even realize that her legs had lost strength.

In her mind, the fox beastman’s unfocused eyes and the gradually darkening faces of the Gridwolf couple appeared simultaneously.

The sharp five letters tore Kitty’s heart to shreds.

Stray cat.

‘No, my mom is…’

She was just hungry. She had to eat for the little ones in her belly.

So she touched Jerian’s food storage. That was an unchanging fact.

“……”

Should I tell the truth after all? It would be better for me to tell them first than to find out the truth from the foxes’ mouths.

But if I did, I might be kicked out of the mansion. I might be misunderstood as a cat with bad habits.

As Kitty hesitated, Karis took something out of his bag. It was a cloak with a wonderful wolf fur trim.

“Kitty, you seem very surprised, so I’ll give you your present in advance.”

“This is…”

“You’ve always wanted to have wolf fur trim, haven’t you?”

Kitty looked back and forth between Jackal’s noticeably shorter hair and the cloak that warmly wrapped around her body.

Her eyes welled up with tears as she thought about how Karis and Jackal had worked hard to prepare gifts to celebrate her birthday.

Even if she was kicked out of the mansion, she couldn’t lie to these people.

“Umm, Lord Karis…”

Kitty said in a tearful voice. Karis, flustered, hugged Kitty tightly and patted her back.

“My dear, don’t you like the present?”

“It’s not that, I have something to tell you.”

Kitty sniffled in Karis’s arms and began a short story. It wasn’t easy to confess that her beloved mother had stolen food from someone else.

Moreover, she wasn’t proud either, since she had shared the food that her mother had stolen from Jerian’s food storage with a heavy body.

It might be a lie to say that she had never stolen.

“But at that time, my mom had little ones in her belly… *sniff*, Mom was…”

Teardrop-like tears fell from Kitty’s large eyes.

“Mom was a cat. Me too… My dad and brothers too… But I didn’t lie about being a wolf to hide the stealing… Really…”

Kitty said each word with difficulty. She closed her eyes tightly, afraid of the wolves’ reaction.

But even if she was kicked out like this, she didn’t want to lie to the kind and gentle wolves anymore. She couldn’t make up a family to prepare for revenge for her family either.

“Kitty.”

Karis called Kitty’s name in a trembling voice and then hugged her tightly. The warmth that enveloped her whole body as if saying that any lie was okay made Kitty’s sobs subside a little.

“You don’t have to say anymore.”

“……”

“We adopted you not because you are a baby wolf.”

Kitty’s eyes widened at Karis’s careful voice.

“We decided to temporarily adopt you because you came to us with a difficult body that day.”

“Ah…”

Karis continued, patting Kitty slowly.

“Kitty’s mother’s matter is okay too. Parents originally do anything to protect their young. Kitty’s mom too, me too…”

Karis’s eyes were as red as Kitty’s. Karis explained in a soft voice as if talking to himself.

“There are things to protect, but the situation just didn’t allow it.”

“……”

“People call such things inevitable. So you don’t have to feel guilty about it.”

“Lord Karis…”

Karis patted Kitty until her crying stopped completely.

‘It’s an inevitable thing, so you don’t have to blame yourself.’

She was telling Kitty that, but even at this moment, she was thinking of the daughter she had buried with her own hands.

Thanks to the small cat sobbing in her arms, she was able to make excuses for herself, so was she a little better?

“I’m glad you’re safe, my dear. Happy birthday.”

Kitty smiled brightly with tears welling up in her eyes. The still undried tear marks sparkled.

“Thank you, Lord Karis.”

“Do you like the cloak? It’s wolf fur, so it’ll be very cozy.”

Kitty shook off the tears that had gathered and smiled brightly.

“It’s this much warm!”

When Kitty, wearing a red cloak, spread her arms wide and spoke, the wolves couldn’t hide their pride.