I Picked Up a Cat and It Turned Out to Be the Emperor

Kailas buried his face in his front paws to avoid Richard’s gaze. Perhaps from all the running around earlier, his paw pads still felt warm.

‘…It wasn’t just me being spiteful.’

The schedule Kailas had seen for Cioranne was incredibly busy. Not only was it completely devoid of fun, but it was filled with unnecessarily long events one after another. So many people kept visiting her, and whenever he tried to get a good look at them, their faces would disappear.

6 AM, dawn mass.

10 AM, morning mass.

2 PM, afternoon mass.

6 PM, evening mass.

Four regular masses every day. And there were even more prayers and masses that happened randomly. Even when they were in the same room, it was difficult to play with her for long periods.

‘But he was trying to take Cioranne away from me.’

That’s why he had acted out. A childish provocation saying, “She likes me more than you.” A show of pride that no matter how much Richard tried to take her away, she wouldn’t leave if Kailas acted cute.

‘Why did I even bother?’

But lying here now, he wondered why he had done something so childish. She wasn’t particularly significant to him, and he was only staying with her now because he had no choice if he wanted to break the curse.

After spacing out briefly, Kailas scratched the floor with his claws.

‘This is all that woman’s fault for being so busy! If we want to break the curse quickly, we need to try different experiments. Why have four masses a day?’

The silent deity then spoke to Kailas smugly.

[‘The Dragon Trampler says that four prayers a day is the minimum required to commune with him.’]

‘What nonsense about communion.’

It was just laughable to Kailas. He grumpily replied to the deity.

‘Then tell that woman to receive greetings from you just once a day. Preferably just the dawn greeting.’

I’m sleeping at dawn anyway. She can have mass or not while I’m sleeping.

After saying that and giving a big yawn, the deity trembled with anger.

[‘The Dragon Trampler says he’s going to get high blood pressure because of this guy.’]

Tremble all you want. Kailas buried his nose in the catnip to calm his anger. As his mood improved, he felt the urge to roll around on the floor.

Through his daze, he heard Cioranne’s gentle voice.

“Travel safely. May the deity be with you.”

Though he had always thought the temple’s blessings were obvious, meaningless words invented just to extract money, for some reason, Cioranne’s voice didn’t irritate him.

Rather, it somehow made a corner of his heart tickle.

‘Damn, have I been brainwashed too?’

Hearing it four times a day, it wouldn’t be strange if he had been brainwashed. Kailas grunted with effort, and the deity mocked him.

[‘The Dragon Trampler says it’s not brainwashing, but the process of awakening to sacred truth.’]

‘Don’t talk nonsense.’

Kailas responded tersely. After all he had been through, how could a few words make the world seem beautiful and everything appear to be under divine arrangement?

‘If this is truly divine arrangement, then the deity is a bastard.’

Beast-folk oppressed as slaves without knowing why, an emperor who abandoned his hairy son despite accepting beast-folk, and a Pope who shouted that beast-folk shouldn’t be liberated in the name of the deity.

Was this mess of a world really under divine arrangement?

[‘The Dragon Trampler answers that it is the unfathomable providence of the deity.’]

What the hell! Unfathomable providence?!

‘That’s why there’s no such thing as a deity in this world. They can all go to hell.’

If it’s unfathomable providence, isn’t that as good as not existing at all!

Kailas retorted sarcastically. Then the deity responded somewhat spitefully.

[‘The Dragon Trampler says that even the catnip you’re biting and sucking was created by me.’]

[He says if you want to curse, give up catnip too.]

[He mocks you, ‘You can’t do it, slave to catnip.’]

‘……’

Kailas closed his eyes again. He wanted to bitterly mock the deity, but once catnip was mentioned, he simply couldn’t refute it.

‘No. I could give up everything else out of pride, but not catnip.’

Just don’t look. If he didn’t look, his pride wouldn’t be hurt.

‘Damn, how did I get hooked on something like catnip!’

[‘The Dragon Trampler says, ‘That’s so like you.’]

Crack.

Just as Kailas was scratching the floor again with his claws in response to the blatant mockery, Cioranne, who had just seen Richard off, approached him again.

“Hey! You’ll damage the floor if you scratch it like that. Bad kitty.”

Slender fingers slipped under Kailas’s armpits and lifted him up. Kailas instinctively struggled and scratched the back of her hand with his claws.

“Nyaa.”

Unlike Richard’s, her soft hand immediately turned red and beaded with blood.

“Meow.”

Kailas froze at what he had done. But Cioranne, seemingly unconcerned about the wound, carefully hugged him close.

Cioranne patted Kailas’s back. She smelled similar to catnip. Somehow it was a scent that lowered his guard and stopped his thoughts.

“Meow……”

Having unconsciously made such a vulnerable sound, Kailas was startled and raised his claws. He was angry at himself for becoming so relaxed.

‘This woman is the root cause of my condition. I shouldn’t let my guard down like this.’

Because she’s the enemy.

But thinking of her as an enemy somehow made a corner of his heart feel cold.

‘Face this woman as an enemy?’

Kailas looked up at Cioranne with dazed eyes. Cioranne tilted her head slightly, seemingly asking what he meant.

Her clear face, full of nothing but affection, strangely seemed to tighten Kailas’s chest.

‘What would she do if she found out I’m Emperor Kailas?’

Right now, he was just a baby who could barely toddle around. But Emperor Kailas was completely different from his current self.

Thick, long arms, firm thighs, well-developed muscles throughout his body.

Jet-black dreadlocks like burning black flames, and golden eyes that shone clearly even in darkness.

Would she still smile so innocently if he bit her pale neck with his sharp canines and pinned her down with his palm?

‘…That would be impossible. She’s only treating me kindly because she doesn’t know I’m Emperor Kailas.’

Just as he despised the temple, the people of the temple would also despise him.

Those pale blue eyes would look at him with a cold gaze. Filled with the contempt and hatred he was familiar with.

Just imagining it felt like pressing ice against his chest.

‘So why on earth should I feel these emotions?’

Just thinking about it made him feel drained. Kailas limply rested his head on her palm. Cioranne met his gaze.

“What are you thinking about?”

“Meow.”

What are you asking a cat, woman?

Kailas answered indifferently. He meant to tell her to stop talking nonsense, but Cioranne smiled gently and praised him.

“You must be tired from playing so hard earlier. Thank you for playing with me. Good boy.”

This time, the corners of his mouth tried to curl up, but he firmly held back. He couldn’t smile just because he was praised—he had his dignity as an emperor.

Whether his mind had become childlike because his body had turned into a baby, or if he had always been this childish.

‘This is all because of you. You picked me up on your own, hugged me, and even sang to me…’

Things that not even the mother who gave birth to him had done.

Cioranne, who was maintaining eye contact with Kailas, smiled brightly and kissed the bridge of his nose.

“Kailas.”

Her beaming face was as bright as the sun. Usually, she was pale and didn’t have much presence, but when she smiled like this, she was quite pretty, like a modest star flower.

‘Now she’s even calling me by a nickname as she pleases.’

Kailas’s eyes sparkled like jewels as he pouted and turned his head away sharply.

‘I’ll call her by a nickname of my own choosing too.’

Her name was Cioranne Letus, right? What should he call her?

Her name is quite complicated. Chio? Chi? Those all sound strange.

‘…Ran. I’ll call her Ran.’

It was a nickname that suited her pale, colorless appearance.

Kailas closed his eyes. Perhaps it was because he had created a nickname, but somehow he felt a fullness in his stomach this time.

* * *

[‘Kailas’ vows to call you ‘Ran’.]

“Huh?”

What does this mean?