Chapter 145
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 145
Since I was pretending to be Evangeline myself, I was in no position to say anything. As I met her words with silence, Canna added another.
“I would recognize you even in a different body, My Lady.”
Her absolute confidence, the sheer depth of an affection that claimed it could see through any disguise to find the real me, was almost suffocating.
There had been no sign of Rico all night. I had stayed up until dawn, agonizing over how to handle the situation.
Strangely, Evangeline’s body had excellent stamina. Pudding, perhaps because he was a beastkin, possessed such superior physical strength that he was perfectly fine despite the lack of sleep. Gabriel probably had great stamina, too; he was the male lead and the knight commander, after all.
But Canna was still a growing teenager. She collapsed before dawn, and her “dying wish” was to be laid on my bed as well.
“Please make sure to tuck me in and pat me to sleep, too.”
She sounded exactly like a six-year-old, clearly envious of Mavka. It was a simple enough request from Canna, so I did as she wished.
Pudding grew jealous, grumbling that it was special treatment, even though Canna was asleep and wouldn't even know. Then he began to pester me.
“Lady Evangeline, I want that too.”
He was vague about what he wanted, but his meaning was clear. He wanted me to tuck him in and pat him to sleep.
Did I overwork him that much?
Unlike the others, however, Pudding had to stay by my side. Unless I summoned Jelly, there was no one to replace him. Fortunately, Pudding compromised, saying I could do it later when I went to sleep.
In fact, he seemed quite pleased to have me all to himself, declaring himself the ultimate winner simply because he was the only one still awake.
“Alright. I promise.”
At my words, Pudding reflexively held out his front paw. He must have picked up the habit of making pinky promises from hanging out with Mavka. It was adorable, so I readily complied.
Since he was in his cat form, I grasped a soft paw pad instead of a pinky. Pudding stared at his own paw with dissatisfaction, then, taking advantage of the fact that no one was watching, transformed into his human form in the blink of an eye.
No matter how many times I saw it, his breathtaking appearance was surreal. Despite the past few days of exertion, his skin was flawlessly pale, without a single blemish or dark circle. With his blonde hair and blue eyes, he looked like an angel from a sacred painting or a priceless work of art. If I didn’t know he was Pudding, I would have been completely intimidated. But he was my cat.
Pudding held out his little finger to me. The hand waiting for mine was trembling. I wondered if he was nervous, but his face was so calm that I briefly thought he might just have a tremor. I hooked my finger with his. His long, elegant fingers intertwined with mine. Perhaps because he was a cat, his hand was incredibly warm, almost feverish.
“It’s a promise.”
Between Canna, Mavka, and now this, physical contact had become surprisingly frequent. It felt like only yesterday that I had recoiled when Gabriel kissed the back of my hand. It was a little frightening how accustomed I had become to the warmth of others.
It was unsettling. Growing so close to these characters made me feel as if I were losing my status as a real person and degrading into just another character in a book. Sensing my sudden discomfort, Pudding reluctantly untangled his hand, looking disappointed.
“I want to cut off your finger and keep it.”
Pudding spoke shyly, a faint blush dusting his cheeks. It was surely an exaggeration, like a fan vowing never to wash their hand again after shaking it with their favorite celebrity. Between Canna and him, why were my kids turning into such fanatics? Had I built up their salvation narratives too well? At this rate, if Bishop Marik called us a cult, I wouldn’t have a single word to say in our defense.
Although he would never actually do it, the way his eyes gleamed as he stared at my hand made me a little uneasy. I quickly urged him to change back into a cat. My logic was that since cats only have four toes on their back paws—already one less than a human's five fingers—he wouldn't think about cutting any more off.
With a satisfied expression, Pudding quickly shifted back into his adorable cat form.
However, as I was idly playing with the paws of the cat on my lap, I made a shocking discovery: cats actually have five toes on their front paws. I had always assumed they had four on each.
My pathetic lack of feline knowledge had been thoroughly exposed. Unaware that his owner lacked basic common sense, Pudding didn’t utter a single complaint, even though I had robbed him of his sleep.
While I was busy questioning my qualifications as a pet owner, I looked away for a split second, only to find that Pudding had shifted back into his human form.
Did I touch him too much? Is he protesting?
Wondering if he was subtly trying to remind me that he was all grown up, I pulled my hand away. But then Pudding took my hand and placed it on his head. So, I just went back to stroking his hair. He looked utterly content. I would never understand the psychology of an adolescent cat.
Pudding, who was soaking up the attention, didn't care in the slightest when Hazel began to stir.
“Huh… When did I fall asleep?” Hazel muttered, rubbing her eyes.
Fortunately, she didn’t complain about being the only one left on the sofa. In fact, she didn't even seem to find it odd that she had woken up there, which made me feel a bit guilty.
“You’re awake.”
“Lady Rohanson…? Ah, I must be dreaming.”
Hazel looked back and forth between me and Pudding, then promptly lay back down. I stared at her in disbelief as she squeezed her eyes shut for a few seconds before suddenly bolting upright. Seeing that the scene remained unchanged, she finally seemed to realize this was reality. Her eyes widened as she frantically looked around. Considering she had seen a demon just yesterday, it was only natural that she couldn't tell dreams from reality.
Since Hazel was staring at the human Pudding with extreme suspicion, I quickly offered an explanation, terrified that rumors would spread about Evangeline Rohanson sneaking a handsome secret lover into the Duke's estate.
“Pudding is my bodyguard.”
“The same name as the cat…? No, never mind. What a sweet pet name.”
Hazel’s expression was incredibly complex, like an employee who had just discovered their strict, sharp-tongued boss was actually a hopelessly devoted spouse at home. In her shock, she glossed right over the fact that a cat and a human shared the exact same name.
A true professional never pries into their boss's private life. She was the very model of a maid from a romance fantasy novel.
It was only then that I realized that while “Pudding” was a perfectly normal name for a cat, it sounded like an embarrassing pet name for a human. Since everyone at our mansion had met him in his cat form first, no one had ever questioned it.
As for why no one questioned Jelly's name, even though his default form was human… well, even as a human, Jelly acted like a total dog, so he had brought that on himself.
“I’m sorry. I had such a bizarre dream last night that I thought I was still asleep,” Hazel said, scratching her cheek sheepishly.
“……”
“Wait, don’t tell me…?”
With her mind cleared, Hazel was desperately trying to convince herself that yesterday’s events had been a hallucination. But my silence shattered her denial. She gasped in despair.
“It wasn’t a dream?”
I wished it were, but some wishes just don’t come true. Trust me, Hazel, I wish it were a dream too. I had spent my first two months in this body wishing for the exact same thing; I knew the feeling all too well.
“Then… Butler Rico is a demon, I almost died, and there’s another me… all of that is real?”
Hazel’s face drained of color. I shook my head and corrected her.
“There isn’t another you.”
“Pardon?”
Contrary to my expectation that a fake Hazel created by ‘The Rat’ would be roaming the mansion, no doppelganger horror story had occurred. The fake had simply vanished. I had planned to capture her during my sleepless night, but when I checked her room, it was already empty. The only clue left behind was the rumpled bedding, indicating someone had been there.
“Hazel, what you saw was probably Rico. It seems he has the ability to mimic other people.”
It seemed ‘The Rat’ used hallucinations to cause confusion, mimicking others to look exactly like them. The voice that had been searching for Mavka had also copied several different people. It could create a disguise so perfect that it was impossible to tell if someone was an infected host. A rat mimicking a human… did it eat someone’s fingernails or something? It sounded like a folktale I’d heard in my past life.
Pudding, who was well-versed in sorcery, nodded in agreement. Since demon summoning was considered a form of sorcery in this world, his knowledge far exceeded mine.
“After all, that dreg was created for the sole purpose of replacing a human.”
Just as Pudding said, the demon was originally summoned by Agera's wish to mimic Amaranth. Just as ice is cold and fire is hot, it was only natural for ‘The Rat’—a being that fed on wishes—to be a master of mimicry. This meant that, just as Hazel had testified, ‘The Rat’ had likely chased her and then shifted into her likeness when other people appeared.
Pudding stole a glance at me as he mentioned Amaranth. Seeing no displeasure on my face, he let out a visible sigh of relief. I had no idea why he was so considerate of my feelings, especially when he knew I wasn't the real Evangeline.
Once she was assured there wasn't a second Hazel running around, Hazel declared that she would return to her duties instead of hiding.
“You’re a witness. You’ll be in danger.”
Hadn’t ‘The Rat’ tried to eliminate her just last night? Her decision was beyond my comprehension. How could someone so easily frightened, someone so terrified of the demon, calmly say she was going back to work? Especially when the butler, Rico, was its host.
“Is it for financial reasons? Do you have to work?”
Hazel shook her head, adding that while she did have a family to support, a few days off wouldn't leave them starving.
“But if I take time off, the other girls will have to cover my shifts.”
Her reason was remarkably simple. If she took leave, it would create a massive hole in the work schedule. Ever since Agera fell ill, the number of maids had dwindled, and a mass resignation a few days ago had left them severely understaffed.
Sure, Hazel. You have a wonderfully noble character, a true rarity in this dark, angsty world. But your life is hanging by a thread, and you’re worried about your coworkers getting overtime?