According to the young priest, Kyle’s fever was indeed due to growing pains.

‘Even under a curse, it seems the body still grows.’

Until recently, Kyle’s body was like that of a four-year-old child, but now if he transformed, he would probably look about seven.

Licking his slightly plumper front paws, Kyle thought to himself:

‘Maybe the curse will automatically break someday just by staying near this woman.’

At this rate of aging, it would take no time to reach his original age.

But thanks to being sick, the misunderstanding was cleared. Kyle’s golden marble-like eyes captured Cioranne’s face.

‘This woman defended beast-folk at the infirmary too. She healed humans whom the temple branded as heretics.’

He had thought everyone in the temple was a thief. It was the first time he realized there were good people like her too.

‘The Olzen incident must be a misunderstanding. A woman like this couldn’t possibly have carried out a massacre.’

There must be circumstances he didn’t know about.

And as the misunderstanding cleared, embarrassment and regret flooded in like a tide. Perhaps sensing Kyle’s softened mood, Cioranne brought her face close to his and asked:

“Kyle, are you feeling better now?”

Instead of answering, Kyle stuck out his red tongue and licked Cioranne’s hand.

Normally, he would never lick this woman’s hand.

‘But I scratched her up pretty badly.’

Here. I’m sorry.

It was an apology difficult to express in words.

“Oh?”

When Kyle’s rough tongue touched her hand, Cioranne’s eyes widened. Her blue eyes seemed to tremble, then quickly filled with tears.

“Are you not upset with me anymore?”

“Meow?!”

Was I so fierce that you needed to cry about it?

As tears began to fall from Cioranne’s eyes, Kyle didn’t know what to do and twitched his ears back and forth. Cioranne pressed her forehead against Kyle’s small one and shed tears.

“I don’t know what happened, but I did something wrong. I’m sorry. Please don’t be sick, Kyle.”

Warm tears wet Kyle’s nose bridge. Kyle wanted to click his tongue.

‘This silly woman.’

She should be scolding him for being a bad cat, for being ungrateful, and smacking his bottom, not crying herself.

Looking at Cioranne with wavering eyes, Kyle squeezed his eyes shut.

‘Oh, whatever.’

Kyle’s rough tongue licked Cioranne’s nose bridge.

Lick.

At this clear display of affection, Cioranne’s face turned pink. She smiled brightly and hugged Kyle.

“Kyle.”

Despite all his previous resistance, being held in her warm embrace wrapped his entire body in a sense of security. Even he had to admit it. The unconditional affection from someone was intoxicatingly sweet.

Nuzzling her face against Kyle’s soft fur, Cioranne said, “I was so scared. I’ve never worried like that before. Since holy power could solve everything. I really thought my heart would drop.”

Kyle kept his mouth shut. While he’d seen her heal minor scratches, this was the first time he’d witnessed her display such large-scale holy power.

‘I understand now why humans cling to the temple so much.’

Holy power didn’t work on beast-folk, so they had no reason to go to the temple for treatment. But for humans who couldn’t regenerate their bodies like beast-folk, holy power was the only means to extend their lives.

‘If I weren’t beast-folk, she wouldn’t have worried either.’

She could have healed anything with holy power.

‘Yet with such power… she didn’t boast at all and healed people unconditionally.’

While priests with power not even approaching hers discriminated against patients.

She seemed more godlike than “The Dragon Trampler” who occasionally spoke to him. As Kyle surrendered to Cioranne’s touch with downcast eyes:

Cioranne smiled brightly and said, “But thanks to you, I now understand the desperation of people reaching out for help. It’s all thanks to you. Thank you.”

What on earth was she thankful for? Kyle was dumbfounded and snorted.

‘She’s truly strange.’

She praised him for eating, praised him for sleeping, and now she’d probably praise him just for breathing well.

‘Even my mother didn’t act like that…’

As Kyle buried his head in his front paws, suddenly feeling like crying, Cioranne carefully placed him in his bed.

“I’m glad you’re better. Can you stay alone for a while?”

“Meow?”

Cioranne’s index finger gently stroked Kyle’s head as he looked up questioningly. Then, she filled Kyle’s bowl with food and brought fresh water.

But somehow… there was too much food.

‘Does she know I’ve grown?’

There shouldn’t be much difference in his baby panther appearance. As Kyle tilted his head:

Knock, knock, came a sound at the door.

“Holy Maiden.”

The voice that followed was exceptionally dry.

“His Holiness is calling for you.”

Everyone in the temple spoke to Cioranne with a kind voice. This was the first time someone had called her with such an emotionless tone.

‘What’s going on?’

Maybe it was just his feeling, but his fur seemed to stand on end.

Yet Cioranne’s face showed no expression. She smiled as usual and rubbed Kyle’s nose bridge with her index finger.

“I’ll be back soon.”

Cioranne didn’t return for five days.

* * *

For the first day or two, he thought she must be busy. The meddlesome temple had its fingers in every corner of the continent. Perhaps the Holy Maiden, symbol of the temple, had to visit somewhere.

But when the food started running out, he began to think something was wrong.

‘With Cioranne’s personality, she would have at least asked that knight who’s deeply in love with her to take care of me.’

She wasn’t the type to forget about Kyle when going on a long journey.

‘Besides, she didn’t take anything with her.’

No matter how minimally Cioranne lived, she should at least have packed basic underwear or socks.

But Cioranne’s last appearance wasn’t that of someone going on a long journey. She had just been cuddling Kyle when she was called and simply walked out.

Kyle anxiously paced around the room waiting for Cioranne to return. On the fifth day, he finally jumped out through the window.

[‘The Dragon Trampler asks where you’re going.’]

The deity, who had been silent throughout the five days Cioranne was missing, suddenly spoke up. Kyle answered without slowing his pattering steps:

‘I’m going to find Ran. She hasn’t returned all this time, so something must have happened.’

[‘The Dragon Trampler asks if you know where she is.’]

‘Why don’t you tell me?’

An ominous premonition flashed in his mind. He felt he needed to find Cioranne as quickly as possible.

[…..]

But the deity, whom he thought would eagerly help, unexpectedly fell silent.

‘Why are you suddenly so quiet, unlike yourself?’

The deity, usually characterized by being annoyingly noisy, maintained a strange silence. As Kyle’s eyebrows furrowed at that silence:

After long deliberation, the deity carefully uttered one sentence.

[‘The Dragon Trampler says she wouldn’t want that.’]

This statement from someone who had been quietly listening made him angry. Kyle bared his fangs and growled.

‘She wouldn’t want it? You want me to keep quiet like a house cat and just wait? I can’t do that!’

[‘The Dragon Trampler says you are a cat, aren’t you?’]

‘Hey!’

Who turned me into a cat in the first place! Even if everyone calls me a cat, you should call me a panther!

‘Anyway, tell me. I’ll go get her myself.’

Despite his long-standing prickliness, Kyle was confident that Cioranne truly loved him. Whatever reason kept her away, he believed that if he gave her a kiss first, she would do whatever he demanded.

Looking at Kyle with his confidently shining golden eyes, the deity displayed a message window to Kyle in a different color than usual.

[Right, left, straight, straight, right, enter underground.]

Like a child playing peek-a-boo, thinking they’re invisible with covered eyes. As if changing the text color meant the deity hadn’t said anything.

‘You’re playing hard to get while giving me directions anyway.’

But the directions were somewhat peculiar. It seemed Cioranne was inside the temple.

‘If she’s in the temple, why couldn’t she come to me?’

If she was busy with important work, she could have at least brought him food and then returned to her duties.

Kyle obediently followed the path the deity indicated. He worried about being caught by priests along the way, but as he got closer to his destination, there wasn’t a single person in sight, not even an ant, so there was no need to worry.

‘I didn’t know such a gloomy place existed beneath the temple.’