It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 126

“Umm……”

Kitty opened her eyes in the late afternoon.

No one disturbed her late sleep, considering she had witnessed her dad and brother’s death the day before.

‘I can’t see anything.’

It was probably because she had cried so much and slept so deeply. Kitty tried to sit up and stretch.

But, her fingertips touched something hard yet warm.

Kitty forced her swollen eyelids open. Then, a handsome man’s face was right in front of her.

“Ethan?!”

His face looked a little gaunt, as if he hadn’t slept. However, that didn’t hide his outstanding beauty, but it was the first time Kitty had seen Ethan so tired.

Ethan’s hair, which always maintained a similar style, was sticking out like a bird’s nest, and several buttons on his shirt were undone.

Seeing him rub his eyes with a faint smile, she felt that something was terribly wrong.

‘Am I in the same bed as Ethan right now……?!’

Her head spun instantly.

Ethan widened his already round eyes even more and suppressed a laugh as he looked at the dizzy cotton ball [referring to Kitty in her small, fluffy cat form].

“Kitty, did you sleep well?”

When he gently lifted and released her small, soft paw with his thumb and forefinger, Kitty finally felt relieved.

Ethan was in his adult form, but she was still in her small cat form.

She must have been exhausted from crying last night and turned back into a cat, and Ethan must have returned to his human form and hugged her tightly to sleep.

It was clear that nothing similar to the novel that Vaniel had lent her had happened.

“Meow, what are you thinking so hard about?”

“D, did I do anything wrong?”

“Well.”

Ethan gave a sly smile and pointed to his chest. There were two adorable paw print marks on it.

‘I’m crazy, Kitty!’

A grown cat leaving jelly marks [paw prints] on another man’s body!

Kitty was shocked by her own carelessness.

If Caris found out about this, she might be dragged to the study and have to relearn everything about relationships between men and women from scratch.

“You kept pressing my chest with your front paws while you were sleeping.”

“……!”

A grown cat even kneading [a cat’s instinctive behavior of pushing its paws into a soft surface]!

Kitty turned her head away, avoiding his gaze. Even though she had seen such a shocking scene yesterday, she was embarrassed to act like a child in front of him.

‘It would have been okay if it were Theo or Deon.’

Ethan happily watched the cotton ball puff up and deflate its cheeks.

He hadn’t slept a wink because he was patting Kitty, who was sobbing even in her sleep, but he felt better than ever.

Kitty, who tried not to cry in front of others, was now crying in his arms, and even her sleep-talking was adorable.

‘……I want to groom her fur.’

Ethan suppressed the urge as he looked at Kitty’s luscious four soft paws. He was leaving the bear territory this afternoon, and he couldn’t leave cat scratch marks on his face.

“Then I’ll be on my way.”

Ethan got out of bed and poked Kitty’s pink nose. Her ears, which were already perked up, twitched once.

Hesitating, Kitty spoke to him as he buttoned up his shirt and tried to leave the room.

“Ethan, thank you.”

He didn’t say anything in particular, but just made eye contact. It was a basic courtesy to carefully consider the mood of one’s companion, so to receive thanks for such a thing.

“Get ready and come out. We have a lunch appointment.”

Ethan said that and closed the door. Before lunch, he was going to return to his room downstairs and take a short nap.

Then, he happened to run into the Gridwolf brothers.

Theo and Deon, who were busy managing the leopards and coordinating schedules with the Polly couple, were unaware of what had happened and spoke to him.

“Ethan, where were you yesterday? We had something to discuss about moving the leopards to the wolf territory.”

“……”

“Wait, you……!”

Theo approached Ethan closely and sniffed near his shirt collar. He was shocked as he smelled a familiar scent.

“You, don’t tell me!”

Ethan brazenly exercised his right to remain silent.

However, this time, Deon swept Ethan’s shirt with the sleeve of his black jacket.

The cat hairs that Ethan hadn’t managed to remove were all stuck to Deon’s sleeve.

“Ethan, give up and tell the truth. Kitty is the only one with fur that flies around like this.”

“……”

“Well, shall we all go up to the roof together?”

Ethan was grabbed by the arms by Theo and Deon and dragged away.

* * *

“Guild Master, the young lady has accepted the tea time. She said she’s having her last tea with Katrina, so she invited you to join.”

“Thank you for the quick arrangements. I’ll leave for the meeting place immediately.”

Haschka of the Gray Sleigh Merchant Guild quickly got up and followed the employee.

He had been just as busy as Kitty in the bear demi-human territory, but the problem was that there were still so many things he wanted to do here.

No, the reason things had turned out this way was all thanks to Kittia Gridwolf.

‘I knew the young lady would find the sacred object, but……’

Haschka was just planning to join the wolf delegation to observe the economic situation of the bear territory and talk to the person in charge of finance.

The bear demi-humans were friendly to him simply because Kitty, who had received Katrina’s invitation, had included him in the delegation.

‘I thought I had gained enough just from this opportunity.’

The bear territory was something that all merchants would drool over.

Just visiting this place first and talking to the person in charge of finance at the Polly family was already ahead of other merchant guilds.

‘I didn’t expect there would be more than this.’

He was about to wrap up his schedule and rest when Kittia found and awakened the sacred object she had lost and subdued the invading leopards.

The bear demi-humans, who were always listening for anything related to sacred objects, found out about all of this in half a day.

‘The fact that the Polly family members didn’t know the location of the sacred object was immediately buried.’

The bear demi-humans, who worshiped the mirror used by the goddess, were enthusiastic about the cat chosen by the goddess.

Several dignified snow meows [a type of cat] were born among the large teddy bears. It was proof that everyone had a good impression of Kittia.

‘So, if I get help from Kittia-nim.’

Haschka took a deep breath and entered the glass greenhouse. He felt strange himself, as he had never been this nervous even when he was a novice merchant.

“Katrina-nim, Kittia-nim. Thank you for allowing me to join you.”

“It’s alright, Haschka.”

Katrina offered him a seat. Haschka sat down and checked Kitty’s condition. Except for the fact that her eyes were a little swollen, she looked the same as usual.

“Young lady, I’m glad you’re feeling better. I was very worried yesterday.”

“Actually, my heart still hurts, but I can’t just stay still. Today is also the last day I’m staying here.”

“That’s a shame.”

Katrina let out a short sigh with sincerity.

When she didn’t know the whereabouts of the mirror, she had no choice but to be wary of outsiders. But now that everything was known, there was no reason to push away valuable relationships.

Especially with a friend who had soft jelly palms [cat paws].

Although the Polly family’s status had fallen due to a series of events, it was highly praised that they had recognized the goddess’s cat, who possessed two sacred objects, and formed an alliance.

The Polly couple even attended the Gridwolf’s New Year’s festival and were relieved to see their daughter’s discernment in forming a relationship with Kittia, saying they could close their eyes in peace.

‘As long as Kittia-nim has Polly’s mirror, the relationship will continue.’

Whether the Polly family can maintain its status now depends on my ability.

Katrina smiled lightly and placed a pretty cookie on Kittia’s plate.

“Please promise me that you’ll come visit after you finish your work.”

“Thank you for always being so kind, Katrina-nim. I hope the leopard issue and the Jerian issue are resolved quickly.”

Silence fell while Kitty quickly swallowed the snack. Katrina’s gaze naturally turned to Haschka, who had requested to join them.

‘……I thought we would have a cozy farewell alone.’

If Kitty hadn’t received a message from the dog demi-humans and said, ‘Would it be okay if I introduced Haschka-nim to you? He’s a dog demi-human who runs a very wonderful merchant guild!’ she wouldn’t have allowed him to join.

If she hadn’t perked up her cat ears while explaining about the cat brush she had received from Haschka.

But once she saw her cute appearance, she couldn’t help but allow it.

“You’re Haschka-nim, right? From the Gray Sleigh Merchant Guild.”

“Yes, that’s right.”

Haschka felt a sense of wariness for some reason and greeted her politely. Kitty quickly introduced the two to each other.

“But are you leaving with us too, Haschka-nim?”

“Ah, that’s…… It would be great if I could stay here, but there’s no way. The reason I came so suddenly was to ask if there was a way to stay in the bear territory.”

Haschka spoke honestly instead of beating around the bush.

Thanks to Kitty’s efforts, the atmosphere had softened, but the bear demi-humans still didn’t allow outsiders to stay for long periods of time.

“If you allow me, I can be of great help to the Polly family and Kittia-nim.”

“Hmm.”

Katrina sipped her tea and looked at the intruder. Judging by his outward experience, Haschka was not an easy person to deal with.

Yet, he was treating Kittia, who was much younger than him, like a master. It meant that he was a person who had already figured out which side to be on, just like her.

‘The Gray Sleigh Merchant Guild Master is acting like a tongue in her mouth [doing her bidding].’

Indeed, there must be some kind of charm in those soft palms.

“What kind of help?”

“If you allow me, I’d like to use our merchant guild’s money to pave the way for outside merchants to come and go and build a large lodging complex.”

The bear demi-humans traded among themselves, so they didn’t have facilities to accommodate large-scale merchant guilds.

If he provided all the money needed for that, it wouldn’t be a bad thing for Katrina.

Haschka also used his keen senses, which he had built up over time, to understand Katrina’s intentions.

‘She seems satisfied, but it seems like something is missing.’

In that case, he could adjust the details of the negotiation so that she could get what she wanted and be happy.

“And, I’d like to transfer 10% of our merchant guild’s shares to Kittia-nim. That way, we can reduce the bear demi-humans’ antipathy.”

Of course, it would also be very advantageous in gaining the favor of the bear demi-humans.

Kitty, who had been listening quietly, was startled and widened her eyes.

“Excuse me? 10%?”

10% of the largest merchant guild’s shares would be more money than she could earn even if she knitted and sold things for the rest of her life.

As she looked at him, Haschka shrugged and corrected himself.

“15%. Instead, please allow us to engrave the young lady’s soft paw on the inn flag of the bear territory.”

That way, the merchant guild’s image in other areas would also improve. It was clear that Katrina wasn’t the only one who owed Kitty a favor, so the advertising value was sufficient.

“But Haschka-nim……”

Kitty thought this offer was ridiculous, but Katrina was resting her chin on her hand and listening seriously.

‘A pink jelly picture [paw print] on the inn flag.’

Wouldn’t Kittia or other cats come to visit to see it? The corners of Katrina’s lips lifted slightly.

“If you give Kittia-nim 20% of the shares, I’ll allow you to build a Gray Sleigh Merchant Guild Malan branch here.”

Malan branch?

Kitty blinked as she watched the two of them smiling and shaking hands.