Kailas clamped his mouth shut and turned around. Then he headed back toward Cioranne’s room.

[‘The Dragon Trampler wonders why you’re so quiet.’]

“……”

Though the deity addressed him, Kailas didn’t respond. His mind was filled with only one thought:

‘Cioranne is the enemy.’

He couldn’t believe how he’d forgotten this fact. Come to think of it, wasn’t it all her fault that he was cursed and turned into a baby panther?

Once the doubt began, everything became suspicious. From wondering if she truly didn’t know about the curse, to questioning whether the affection she showered on him like sunshine was genuine.

As he was walking firmly down the corridor, a door suddenly flung open and Cioranne rushed out of her room with an urgent expression. Her flushed face was looking around anxiously, but the moment her eyes met Kailas’s, she broke into a bright smile.

“Kyle!”

She had clearly rushed out looking for him after opening her door and finding him gone.

In the past, he would have felt an inexplicable tightness in his chest at her gaze, but now everything about her seemed detestable.

‘Don’t be fooled by her seemingly warm smile and gentle touch. The moment she realizes I’m beast-folk, she’ll strangle me.’

From the beginning, their relationship had been forced. He was only staying with her to break the curse.

Yet he had almost given her his heart without realizing it. Intoxicated by the affection she showed to a mere cat.

‘I was careless. To think I trusted her.’

Kailas simply stared at Cioranne with dry, golden eyes. Seeing that he wasn’t coming to her despite her call, Cioranne tilted her head.

“Kyle?”

She knelt down and lowered herself to meet Kailas’s eyes.

“How did you get out? Did anyone see you?”

Her kindness in lowering herself even for a mere cat now cut through Kailas’s heart like a blade.

‘She acts this kindly even to a cat!’

Yet she committed such a massacre at Olzen!?

“Meow!”

“Ugh!”

The moment her fingers were about to touch his fur, Kailas’s paw struck first. His sharply extended claws raked across the back of Cioranne’s hand. Filled with rage, he tore deeply into her skin.

Droplets of blood splattered, but Cioranne didn’t even glance at them. She looked at Kailas with a bewildered expression.

“…Kyle?”

A part of his heart felt like it was being pierced by a needle seeing her wounded look, but Kailas deliberately glared at Cioranne with fierce eyes.

‘I can’t be deceived by this woman.’

* * *

Kailas’s protest continued for four days. Whenever Cioranne reached out her hand, Kailas raised his claws and scratched her. It was his determination not to allow even one of her fingers to touch him.

‘If she touches me, my resolve weakens.’

The gentle touch that not even his mother had given him seemed to dull his heart. But if it was kindness that would eventually turn away, he’d rather never have known it at all.

Not only did he reject physical contact, but he also firmly refused catnip and toys, causing Cioranne to grow increasingly depressed with each passing day.

It got to the point where Holy Knight Richard came to see Cioranne personally.

“Why so gloomy, Cioranne? Did something happen?”

“Richard.”

Cioranne, who had been rushing back to her room as soon as mass ended just to stare at Kailas, made a tearful face.

Since raising cats was forbidden in the temple, she couldn’t tell anyone about Kailas, which had been frustrating. So when Richard, who knew the whole situation, came to her first, she couldn’t help but feel relieved.

“Kyle is acting strange.”

“The cat?”

Richard’s gaze swept over Kailas, who was sitting stiffly in the room.

“He looks like he’s just lying there quietly.”

“No, he’s not.”

Richard tilted his head. Looking again, the cat was just sitting proudly like a sphinx.

Cioranne heaved a deep sigh. Then, to demonstrate, she picked up a food bowl and approached Kailas.

“Kyle, you need to eat.”

The moment Cioranne reached out her hand, Kailas bared his claws.

“Meow!”

“Oh!”

His claws scratched the back of Cioranne’s hand again, drawing blood. Kailas bared his teeth fiercely.

‘Is this woman stupid? Why does she keep reaching out after being scratched dozens of times?’

Now it felt like his own heart was being shredded. Kailas found it painful even to look at Cioranne and turned his head away sharply.

Cioranne turned to Richard with a “see what I mean” expression, and Richard, turning pale, grabbed her hand.

“Are you okay? You’re bleeding!”

Cioranne shrugged. The wound healed instantly with her holy power, leaving only a faint blood mark on her skin.

“I’m fine. Wounds like this heal quickly. But I’m worried about Kyle acting this way…”

“That’s not fine at all!”

Richard ended up shouting. Cioranne froze, staring at him with wide, startled eyes.

Richard held Cioranne’s hand firmly with a deeply furrowed face. Then, exhaling like a sigh, he spoke in a low voice.

“Please, value your body more.”

“But…”

This really isn’t anything at all. Cioranne parted her lips to answer that way. But Richard, who had already read her intention, called her name in a strict tone.

“Cioranne.”

“…Alright.”

Though she answered, it was clear from her face that she didn’t understand at all. Kailas, who had been watching the two inadvertently, clicked his tongue.

‘That woman is insensitive to herself. No matter how much they tell her, she won’t realize it.’

Because her wounds heal instantly with holy power, she doesn’t fear getting hurt at all.

‘That’s why she’d say pain is better than tenderness that makes her whole body tingle.’

Though that was the Cioranne from his dream, Kailas unconsciously equated her with the current Cioranne. And then he was suddenly startled.

Recalling the Cioranne from his dream, he simultaneously remembered the words he had spoken while embracing and kissing her.

[Tenderness is your punishment.]

‘Ugh, what am I thinking in this situation?’

He was terrified of himself, being so rational and sharp even in his dreams. Kailas scratched his fur vigorously, as if to chase away unnecessary thoughts. When he looked up, both Richard and Cioranne were staring at him.

‘W-what?’

Though he had decided to be hostile toward Cioranne, seeing those innocent eyes made his heart waver mercilessly again. Just as Kailas turned his head away first, Richard stroked his chin and asked:

“When did the cat start acting strangely?”

“Since I returned from dawn mass four days ago.”

“Four days ago? The day you suddenly stood up and talked back to His Holiness?”

“It wasn’t talking back. It was a harmonious exchange of opinions.”

At those words, Kailas’s eyes widened too.

‘Talked back?’

He had heard something similar in the senior priests’ conversation. But it wasn’t as intense a word as “talking back”…

‘Did she defy the Pope to defend beast-folk during mass?’

Kailas perked up his ears to listen to their conversation. Unlike the senior priests’ casual description, Richard pressed his forehead and shook his head.

“I thought my heart would stop then too. No matter how much His Holiness’s sermon bothered you, how could you stand up during mass? You know his temperament…”

“His Holiness is always calm and gentle.”

“Are you joking?”

Knowing Pope Incensino’s erratic nature, Kailas unconsciously nodded. He had thought only he, as an enemy, knew the Pope was a hopeless sadistic pervert, but it seemed Richard, who was on the same side, also knew how difficult he was.

Richard folded his thick arms and sighed.

“Honestly, I found it refreshing. I’m not fond of the temple’s current stance on beast-folk either. To be frank, there wasn’t even a consensus within the temple. Many holy knights like me are dissatisfied with the oppression of beast-folk.”

“The highest knight of the temple shouldn’t say such things.”

“Honestly, you’re dissatisfied with it too. Isn’t that why you couldn’t hold back and stood up that day?”

“……”

This was a question Kailas was truly curious about as well, but instead of a clear answer, Cioranne only gave a faint smile.

Looking at her, Richard twisted his lips in frustration.

“I also don’t like how His Holiness treats you so carelessly. Even a single sword would be treasured if it were mine, but he treats you like a blade that won’t break no matter how hard he strikes.”

“Because I actually don’t break. I don’t get hurt.”

“Not getting hurt doesn’t mean you don’t feel pain.”

Cioranne tilted her head, wondering what the difference was. Richard, knowing that Cioranne was terribly insensitive about herself, held her hand firmly instead of explaining further.

“But Cioranne, it was reckless to express that dissatisfaction during mass. That man hates having his authority challenged more than anything. I was anxious he might brand you a heretic right there.”