Where Did Lila's Husband Go?
The door opened, and in walked a druid catgirl with cat ears. Dressed in a revealing gown that accentuated her figure, she sauntered toward me with a seductive sway. Her arms and legs, covered in fur just like a cat's, swayed with her tail swishing playfully behind her. A subtle smile played on her lips.
She looked like a beastkin at first glance, but she was a full-fledged druid.
"Hello. I'm Catty."
Spotting me, she flashed a mischievous grin.
"Robinson said it was an important guest, but I didn't expect the store manager."
She looked genuinely surprised. No wonder—after shrugging off temptations from so many women, here I was, showing up at her door.
"I have some questions."
"What do you want to know? I hope it's something deep."
As she approached, she pressed her furry cat paw against my chest, kneading it softly.
"Oh, or maybe you're not into this kind of thing?"
The fur vanished from her hand, transforming it into a perfectly human one.
"How about this?"
Like a child with a fascinating new toy, Catty poked and prodded at my body curiously.
"Truth be told, you're quite the hot topic around the lake brothel. Does the convenience store manager in front of the brothel district have any interest in the lake's girls? And if he does, who would he claim first?"
She giggled, her fingers drifting lower.
I didn't bother stopping her hand. I just watched.
"Huh?"
She groped my soft, unresponsive cock.
"This is a bit of an ego bruise, you know?"
"That it doesn't get hard?"
"I thought I had my own charms."
"Sorry. You are attractive, Catty, but you're not my type."
"And that hurts even more, you know."
I had no intention of wounding her pride unnecessarily.
"Anyway, I didn't call you here for that, so cut it out."
"Now I'm even more determined..."
She pouted as she kept fondling my limp dick with no reaction.
"So, what's the real reason you're here?"
I handed her the golden leaf Lila had given me.
"Huh? What's that?"
"Do you know what this is?"
"No way—you got this from the druid herself?"
"You know it well."
"Of course. It's from one of my own kind."
Catty alternated glances between me and the leaf, her face full of surprise.
"Store manager, you must have a big heart. What good deed did you do to earn something like this?"
"I just helped her out when she was in a bind. Can you tell me what it means?"
"It's far from trivial. This thing requires not just her power, but even a piece of her lifespan to create."
"Her lifespan?"
"Oh, don't worry about it. For a long-lived druid, it's not that fatal. Judging by the leaf shape, she's a deer-type druid, right?"
I nodded.
"So, what does this leaf mean?"
Gazing at the leaf fluttering in my hand, Catty explained.
"It means she owes you a debt of gratitude. And that she'll repay it even with her life. No matter what you command, she'll obey unconditionally."
"...Like a lord-vassal bond?"
"It's even more fundamental and primal than that, but by human standards, yeah."
I got the picture. It meant Lila felt that indebted to me.
"But it seems like she pushed herself too hard. She doesn't have much power left, and yet she plucked out a leaf like this. Must've been tough."
Catty peered closely at the leaf.
"You can tell all that?"
"A little. See how the edges are slightly wilted? It means she's too weak to fully manifest the leaf. Could be pregnancy, childbirth, or her forest being polluted. One of those."
Ho ho. She nailed it. Childbirth and a polluted forest—both spot on.
I was impressed. I'd pegged Catty as just a ditzy, smiling type, so I'd been a bit skeptical. But she was a druid through and through. I saw her in a new light.
"She lives in the nearby Behindbell Forest. She was pregnant—not long along—and needed milk, so I helped her out."
I gave a quick rundown of how I'd gotten the leaf.
Catty nodded right away.
"That explains it. She must've been backed into a corner. You probably felt like her lifesaver."
Lifesaver. Why did those words weigh so heavily?
"But why didn't her husband step up? Even robbing a bank would've been more efficient together, right?"
It bugged me that her husband hadn't moved a finger while his wife and kid struggled.
"Hmm..."
Catty looked troubled by my question.
"There probably isn't a baby daddy."
"What?"
Dead, maybe?
"If she's this drained from the pregnancy, it doesn't look like normal conception."
Totally unexpected.
Not normal conception? Did druids have other ways?
"I'm guessing self-cloning."
"Self-cloning?"
"I've heard that when a forest is on the brink of destruction, a lone druid can use magic to clone herself and get pregnant."
"..."
"Of course, it's just my guess. Not all druids reproduce that way, and it's not common."
"That's... pretty surprising."
Self-cloning. Even hearing it from a druid herself, it was hard to wrap my head around.
"Yeah, self-cloning... She clones herself, huh."
"Druids are special beings. Some fish-types even do external fertilization."
Catty said it like it was no big deal.
"Well, everyone evolves differently, I suppose."
I was shocked—a lot—but having lived in 21st-century modern society, I could accept it with an open mind.
"It's just a possibility, of course. There could be a dad. Or he might've died in an accident. But if the pregnancy weakened her this much, it's not impossible."
"Thanks. You told me everything."
"You're trustworthy, store manager. And not many get something like this. You know druids instinctively keep their distance from evil folks."
"You mentioned that before."
Catty smiled faintly and slipped out of her clothes with a graceful shimmy.
"So, shall we get to the main event?"
"I'm good. That's not why I came."
"Come on, you're a man too. You can't say you're not interested."
Sorry, Catty. You just don't do it for me. I'm grateful for the info, but no dice.
"I am interested, but that's not what today's about."
"Hmmm. I'm curious about you too. I told you about druids—fair trade if you tell me about yourself?"
I gently pushed away the seductress shaking her cat tail and stood up.
"You're attractive, but I have someone else in mind."
I made an excuse and turned her down.
Catty let out a disappointed sigh at my polite rejection.
"Can't be helped. You didn't come for that anyway. Aww, I wanted to see the back of the stone-cold manager who ignores all women."
She sighed deeply as she redressed.
No matter how much she wanted it, my body wasn't cooperating.
If only my body worked right... I'd grab her wrist roughly and make her moan under me by now.
Shoving aside the regret, I left the brothel. I pressed a hefty sum into Catty's hand as payment for the intel—a token of my thanks.
A debt worth repaying with her life, huh.
That kind of heavy gratitude was a problem. I'd have to send something else via Dmitri as an apology.
"Do-jin subdued the robber who hit the bank."
"Yes. It's the front-page story in today's Imperial Gazette, detailing Lord Do-jin's exploits."
"Got it. You're dismissed."
Princess Chloe sipped her morning tea while listening to the messenger's report, as she did every day. The warm brew prepared by her head maid was the foundation of her routine—a ritual so vital that its taste could make or break her day.
"This is delicious."
Was it because she started the day with news of Do-jin? The tea tasted especially good today.
"Your skills are improving, Head Maid."
"You flatter me, Princess."
"You may go."
"Yes. Please enjoy."
Once the head maid closed the door—confirmed with a sidelong glance—Chloe picked up the newspaper the messenger had left.
Count Do-jin Kim Subdues Bank Robber, Protects Noble Assets
The Golden Merchant Association expresses gratitude for Count Do-jin Kim's heroic actions and for his subsequent deposit into their bank...
A large photo dominated the front page: Do-jin escorting the captured robber.
"As expected..."
So cool. Cooler than any other man.
Subduing a robber single-handedly—one even the central bank's guards couldn't handle. He was the man who'd put her brother on the throne.
"Haa... haa."
She hated him for cutting off contact without a word, but his masculine appeal burned even hotter.
I said I'd forget him. I said I wouldn't listen...
She'd tried to cut off all news of Do-jin, but her heart wouldn't comply. The moment she heard he was in the papers, she'd sent for the Gazette. Princess Chloe still couldn't let go.
"I have to forget..."
Her heart raced at the sight of his face in the photo. Their brief time together flashed vividly in her mind.
"Newspaper in the morning? You're an early riser."
A visitor entered Chloe's room.
"Father."
It was her father, the Emperor ruling the empire.
Chloe hurriedly hid the paper.
"Because of Do-jin?"
"..."
"No need to hide it. I know better than anyone that you can't force a heart to change."
Since the princes' bloody strife, the Emperor's fiery, immovable stubbornness had softened—at least to Chloe. Others might not notice, but she did.
Her old father would've berated her:
"Forget him at once. That man is useless to the imperial family."
"I'm sorry."
"Still can't forget?"
"Yes..."
Haa. The Emperor's heavy sigh echoed in the room.
"What of your betrothal?"
"Just a little longer, please. Once I've sorted my feelings... I'll give you my answer then."
"...Very well. But know the time is short."
"Yes, Father."
She'd thought today—good tea and all—would be a fine one. But the aftertaste in her mouth now felt bitter. Chloe grimaced faintly.