It’S A Cat, Adopted By A Wolf Family? [EN]: Chapter 76

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“Baby, what’s wrong?”

Karis asked, offering me the seat next to Jackal. Sir Elliot must have reported to them before visiting me. That meant we could get straight to the point.

“How about announcing at the New Year’s festival that Jerian used Blue Moon on the rabbits?”

Thanks to the extensive invitations, many beastmen would grace Gridwolf’s New Year’s festival with their presence.

Among them were leaders and high-ranking officials from other races, as well as owners of trading companies.

They were the ones I had invited, hoping they would spread the word about me using Gridwolf’s bow.

So, if we leaked certain facts to them, the rumors would quickly spread throughout the beastmen world.

“The leopards may already know that Jerian is using Blue Moon on the rabbits.”

Karis said.

They had received reports before that Jerian was acting independently using the real Blue Moon, so the leopards probably knew he had other intentions.

Delta Leopid, the head of the family, was said to be particularly sharp.

“I think so too. But it’s different whether only the leopards know about it or all the beastmen know.”

Leopards were animals with a strong sense of pride.

They might already be a little prideful about being in a strategic partnership with Jerian to use Blue Moon, but it would be a different story if everyone knew that Jerian was trying to turn against the leopards.

“If we do as you say, we can at least damage the leopards’ pride.”

Karis said with a smile, telling me to do as I wished. Her voice and eyes were filled with a deep desire for revenge against the leopards.

* * *

Scratch—

At the same time, Jerian was scratching the sofa with his hard nails, trying to suppress his anger.

A crumpled letter lay on the floor, soaked and stuck to spilled alcohol.

[Come if you dare.]

[—Soft Paw.]

It was definitely Ann and Marie’s handwriting. But the nickname Soft Paw was definitely….

‘Damn it, they were mocking me.’

Jerian’s nails dug deeper into the sofa.

He felt like a fool for being happy that he had infiltrated Ann and Marie into the Gridwolf mansion.

Since when had they noticed? It was possible that they had noticed Ann and Marie’s identities from the beginning and forged their handwriting to send fake letters.

The two letters were strangely different.

“That tiny thing…!”

Jerian couldn’t contain his anger and raised his voice. But no one came running to check on his well-being.

Because the leopards had taken most of his subordinates away, citing that they had misreported Kittia’s abilities.

Jerian bit his nails. The leopards were probably already plotting to invade the cat territory, finding fault with him.

‘If the foxes finish their work quickly, I’ll have a chance of winning….’

With no other choice, he had to continue what he was doing, trying to hide his anxiety.

He didn’t know that the situation could get any worse.

* * *

Finally, the day of the New Year’s festival arrived. Since many beastmen were coming, I was busy preparing from the morning.

It started with taking a bath with Karis. My temporary family always made me smell like a wolf when outside guests came.

Even now, long after I revealed that I was a cat, it was the same. I guess they wanted to let everyone know that I was under the protection of high-ranking wolves.

“Baby, is the water temperature okay?”

“Yes, it’s perfect.”

I was in a small wooden bucket in my cat form. Karis was occupying the bathtub in her large wolf form.

My bucket was floating around in Karis’s bathtub.

When I was young, taking a bath together like this made me feel seasick, like I was on a small boat….

Splash—!

Now, I was skilled enough to move the bucket in the direction I wanted using my tail.

“Then, please.”

Karis said to the maids who were holding brushes with their sleeves rolled up.

They put rubber duckies and bubble bath into the water and began to wash the two furry animals diligently.

Karis’s abundant fur produced a lot of bubbles as it was rubbed. Of course, my fur was just as good.

After the bath, we came out of the tub and shook our bodies side by side.

“Ah….”

I got even wetter because of the water droplets falling from Karis’s large body.

Jackal, who was watching us with a large towel, chuckled.

“Come here, Kitty.”

I jumped into the towel that Jackal had opened. It was a warm and fluffy towel that smelled like sunshine.

Jackal put me on his lap and carefully dried my fur.

“It’s like squeezing water out of a cotton ball.”

When I was young, I would have been scared by his heavy voice, but now I could speak shamelessly.

“Please make it fluffy.”

“I will.”

While Jackal was drying me, the maids squeezed Karis’s fur.

Finally, Jackal massaged my soft paws and toe beans [cat’s paw pads].

Soft—

A subtle wrinkle appeared on Jackal’s forehead.

“Kitty. Your jelly seems a little harder.”

“I’ve been practicing shooting arrows with Gridwolf’s bow lately, so I’ve developed calluses. If I leave it like this, the jelly will harden like a stone….”

At my words, not only Jackal and Karis, but also the maids around me looked at me in surprise.

Everyone really likes my soft paws.

“I’m just kidding. It’ll be soft again in the afternoon.”

Jackal poked my cheek, which was smiling mischievously. It was a fun time to play around, biting his hand.

I hadn’t been able to spend quality time together for the past few days because I had been training with Gridwolf’s bow, but now I felt like I was being compensated.

Although I still couldn’t draw and shoot an arrow with the bow despite repeated training.

“Jackal, give her to me when you’re done drying her.”

Karis said. Jackal put the fluffy me on Karis’s back. I rolled around there for a while.

The more I rolled around, the stronger the wolf smell on my body became.

My brothers said this process was like carefully coating batter on shrimp to make shrimp tempura.

After I had rolled around enough, Jackal picked me up and shook me off. Karis’s fur fell off my body, revealing my fair fur again.

“Smelling it, you’d think she was a wolf.”

“Stand tall and proud, Kitty.”

“Thank you, both of you!”

That’s how I was able to finish preparing to greet the guests.

I returned to my room and changed into the clothes that Vaniel had chosen for me. I tied my hair up in high pigtails and put the dagger ‘Persuasion’ on my belt, and I was no different from a wolf.

Finally, when I put on the cloak made of Jackal’s fur, a servant announced from outside the door.

“Young lady, the guests have arrived.”

“Okay. I’ll be right out.”

I took a deep breath. Just yesterday, the bear beastmen, who had been maintaining a closed-door policy, sent a letter saying they would send someone to the New Year’s festival.

The relationship with the bear beastmen would be the biggest variable in the battle with the leopards. So, there must be no mistakes.

‘It’ll be okay. My left whisker fell out this morning, right?’

It was definitely a sign that luck would be with me.

“Let’s go, Vaniel.”

Every time I moved, the velvet dress brushed softly against my legs. Gridwolf’s bow had to be specially showcased in the plaza tonight, so I hadn’t brought it out yet.

However, with a firm resolve, I jumped up in surprise as soon as I left the room.

“You look even prettier today, young lady. It’s going to be hard to be your escort.”

It was Cleed, who was leaning against the side of my door in a different outfit than usual.

I stared at Cleed with wide eyes, as if I had forgotten all about my determination.

Cleed’s appearance was usually no different from the knights of Gridwolf. Of course, Cleed was much more flamboyant and handsome in terms of appearance alone, but that’s what the outfit meant.

He was supposed to be in the fox squad within Gridwolf, so he was forbidden from wearing particularly flashy or luxurious clothes.

But now he was shining like a prince in a fairy tale.

A white uniform that was more structured than what he usually wore, his hair styled and slightly swept back, and a friendly smile revealed beneath it.

Suddenly, I remembered Sir Elliot glaring at Cleed during training and muttering as if complaining.

“The mana core seems to be settling in faster than expected. At this rate, he’ll be independent soon.”

Cleed’s current appearance didn’t seem strange even if he left the wolf territory with the foxes right away.

“Young lady, why are you staring like that?”

When I didn’t answer, Cleed leaned down and brought his face closer.

“Do I look good to you now?”

“What…!”

I answered reflexively, but Cleed’s words were true. Cleed was so handsome that it seemed a waste to have him as my escort.

Cleed shrugged his eyebrows as if he could see right through me, then held out his hand. It was the same action as usual.

I put my hand on top of it. His hand, which was calloused from the hard training like mine, was much bigger than I thought.

“Tell me if your heart tingles, young lady.”

“Cleed, don’t joke around.”

I said sullenly and came down the stairs. Sir Elliot, who was standing in the lobby to greet the guests, cleared his throat and threw out a word.

“Cleed. Your outfit is inappropriate.”

“Wouldn’t it be okay since my face is good?”

Sir Elliot looked at Cleed, who immediately retorted, with surprised eyes. His pupils, which were shaking greatly as if he had witnessed insubordination, immediately turned to me.

“Young lady… I’m having a hard time at work like this. Cleed’s prickly magic is stabbing me.”

Sir Elliot said in a gloomy voice. Cleed frowned slightly, as if he hadn’t expected this reaction.

“I’ve been wanting to ask you, which of your parents is a fox?”

“Cleed!”

I glared at Cleed with sharp eyes. When I took my hand away, Cleed apologized with a start.

“I’m sorry, Sir Elliot. I think I got carried away because of the festival.”

“…….”

When Cleed smiled with his eyes folded, Sir Elliot looked disgusted.