It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 47

The next morning.

I stretched in the cozy bed, purring softly. It was so fluffy that I instinctively kneaded the area around me before waking up fully.

My eyes were swollen from crying so much yesterday, but I knew where I was.

“Jackal?”

“Did you sleep well?”

The warm, comforting embrace was indeed from Jackal, who had transformed into his large wolf form. Karis, in his human form beside him, gently stroked the fur on my face.

“My dear, your eyes are so puffy from crying yourself to sleep last night.”

I had passed out in Eden’s coat in the study yesterday. Eden must have handed me over to Jackal and Karis.

The two of them always slept with me when I cried. Being in Jackal’s warm embrace and receiving Karis’s caresses always made me feel better.

‘They’re so kind. They know I’m sad because of Dad and Theo….’

It felt like they were trying to make up for Theo and Deon’s absence by holding me even tighter.

I was a bit shaken by the news of Dad and my brother’s death, but I felt much better thanks to them being here with me.

I wriggled and burrowed deeper into Jackal’s fur. Karis hugged me and lay back down as well. Jackal curled his tail around us, warming us.

“Jackal’s tail fur is the warmest in the world….”

“Do you want it, Kitty?”

Karis asked with a strangely chilling voice. Every year around this time, Jackal would end up with a shorter haircut because of the wolf fur ornaments made for my birthday.

I thought for a moment and then nodded carefully. This way, they could just cut off a bit of the soft tail fur, and Jackal wouldn’t have to shave his head like a thug, right?

“That’s right. A lady wolf should have everything she wants.”

Karis stroked Jackal’s tail fur with a satisfied look. Jackal’s body seemed to stiffen a bit.

I lazed around for a while longer, and when I finally felt awake, I got up. Jackal slightly lifted his tail, creating a small tunnel for me to pass through.

“Are you going straight to breakfast?”

“No. I need to do some stretching exercises.”

“Stretching exercises?”

“Oh, would you like to join me?”

Sparkle, sparkle—

It would be wonderful if the big wolf did stretching exercises with me.

I trotted right up to Jackal’s nose and struck a pose. Jackal, who had been curled up, moved along with me.

“First, stretch out your front paws like this and stretch!”

Jackal’s dark gray body stretched out, following me. Karis chuckled as he watched us.

“Jackal, tail up high!”

“…….”

“Ears perked up!”

“…….”

Jackal followed all my movements with a stoic expression.

This is a little… fun?

I shamelessly started adding moves that weren’t originally part of the exercise. I had always wanted to do the meow dance with Jackal!

“Next is standing on your hind legs and wiggling your body. Oop-cha!”

I wiggled my soft paws as if entrusting my body to the flow of the air.

When Jackal stood on his large hind legs and shook his body, it looked like a giant gray seaweed was dancing.

“Pfft….”

Karis, who was watching, burst into laughter. Only then did Jackal return to his human form and look at me with a sulky face.

I had seen Jackal doing the meow dance, so seeing this was okay too. I jumped up and landed in Jackal’s arms.

Kiss—

When I stretched out and kissed Jackal on the cheek, his sulky face froze. I rubbed my face against him, acting cute.

“Jackal, I’m sowwy [sorry].”

“…….”

“Jackal?”

In the end, Jackal passed me to Karis with his lips tightly sealed.

“My dear, you’re amazing for melting Jackal like that.”

Karis hugged me and laughed as he headed to the dining room. I could tell just from the smell that today’s breakfast included grilled salmon.

When I sniffed with my pink nose, Karis groaned and kissed my head.

“My dear. Today, we have to conduct the maid interviews, and I have things to teach you, so let’s get moving.”

“Will Karis be in charge of my lessons?”

“I’ll be teaching you something different from what Eden does. A wolf must learn about love before becoming a seventeen-year-old lady.”

Karis is going to teach me about love. The thought of what beautiful stories he would tell me already warmed my heart.

As I wore a warm smile, Karis chuckled and added.

“I heard about your condition from Elliot. A great wolf must be skilled in love.”

“But I’ve already received plenty of love?”

“My dear, do you know how babies are made?”

It seemed Karis thought I was a clueless lady wolf. I puffed out my chest and said.

“Of course! A male beastkin and a female beastkin lie in the same bed, wrap their tails around each other twice, and then sleep, right?”

“…….”

“Ah, was it wrapping their tails around each other twice and pressing the jellies [toe beans] on both hands together while sleeping?”

When I glanced at him, Karis just smiled. I couldn’t predict what I would learn later at all.

* * *

After breakfast, I headed to the drawing room with Karis. Head Maid Flora and Butler Paul bowed to greet us.

Two chairs were prepared in the room for Karis and me, and as planned, Karis’s chair was behind mine.

“Kitty, choose the two maids you want. Flora and Paul have screened and selected six final candidates.”

“Yes, thank you.”

As Karis and I sat down, Flora and Paul gave a signal.

“Good morning, Miss.”

The six of them bowed to me in unison. There were four wolf beastkins, one dog beastkin, and one rabbit beastkin.

None of them smelled like cats. That meant the spy wasn’t stupid enough to show signs of contacting Jerian.

If they had passed the strict document screening, they would all have basic qualifications.

‘My questions and demonstrations will determine the final successful candidates.’

The six finalists were about to brew tea on the table in front of me.

Of course, the tea leaves, teacups, and gloves for the maid candidates were all provided by Gridwolf.

They must have applied for the maid position with the intention of sticking by my side for a long time to gather information, so they wouldn’t risk poisoning the tea here.

‘Shall I start the questions?’

I thought about going back to being a six-year-old baby cat and scanned everyone. Jerian would have definitely told them what he remembered about me.

“First, could you briefly introduce yourselves?”

Everyone talked about whose recommendation they had received, how they had applied, and how they would do well in the future.

They didn’t forget to subtly praise my appearance and conduct at the end.

However, only the rabbit beastkin gave a slightly different answer.

“Hello, Miss Kittia? I’m Vaniel. I’m a distant cousin of the rabbit beastkin Levi, whom you saved from the shopping district before.”

“Vaniel. Levi is the rabbit beastkin with the child, right?”

“Yes! Levi told me that you have very lush hair. I’m really good at styling hair. I would love to help you with your grooming.”

That was a slightly unique reason for applying. I nodded and then asked everyone a few more questions.

Some people gave answers that I liked, while others, like Vaniel, gave answers that showed their own opinions.

As the questions continued, it gradually narrowed down who I should take in as maids.

“Then, finally, please brew a cup of tea each. Please only use the ingredients in front of you.”

At my words, the six maid candidates brewed tea with graceful movements.

There were various ingredients on the table, including sugar, milk, ice, and lemon slices, so six different teas came out.

Among them, two wolf beastkins put a lot of milk into lukewarm black tea, added three sugar cubes, and then took them out and placed them on a side plate. The sugar cubes, soaked with milk tea, sparkled.

‘That’s….’

Even before tasting the tea, I could pick out the two people I had to choose.

When I gave a look, Flora dismissed all the applicants with a thank you for their hard work in the interview.

“Kitty, have you decided?”

Karis had already gotten up from his seat and asked me. Instead of nodding right away, I made a slightly unreasonable request.

“Karis. Is it possible to hire a total of three maids?”

Considering the salary paid to one employee, my request was definitely unreasonable….

“Sure.”

“…….”

Just how much money does Gridwolf have? Anyway, thanks to Karis’s permission, I was able to make the necessary decision.

* * *

The next day, the three newly selected maids punched in for their first day at the Gridwolf mansion. They were Ann and Marie, who were wolf beastkins, and Vaniel, who was a rabbit beastkin.

“We’re going to be using the same room.”

“We’re colleagues, so please take care of me.”

“I’m honored to have passed with such wonderful wolves.”

The three greeted each other warmly as if it were their first time meeting. But in fact, Ann and Marie had greeted each other a long time ago. It was at the residence of their employer, Jerian.

Jerian had made a secret offer to them. He would give them so many jewels that their eyes would pop out if they worked as maids at Gridwolf.

As soon as they heard the news of their acceptance, they were able to receive part of the promised jewels as a down payment, so the two were swallowing their laughter as they changed into Gridwolf’s maid uniforms.

Jerian, who had been worried that the people he had planted would fail in the final interview, seemed ridiculous.

‘I thought one of us would fail, but the cat lady chose both of us.’

‘I don’t know why she chose that rabbit, though….’

Anyway, the cat lady’s eye for talent seemed terrible. It must have been because they answered according to Kittia’s tastes, as Jerian had told them.

Ann and Marie hummed as they leisurely prepared for work.

Kitty, who was leaning against the hallway and listening to the humming coming from inside the room, smiled quietly.