Then, while holding Kyle, I turned toward the building he had referred to as a cat daycare and said:

“Why don’t we go inside and continue our conversation there? I’d like to take a closer look at His Majesty too.”

“Sounds great!”

I pressed down on my pounding heart. This was the first time in my life I’d experienced this—having so much to say that my mouth tingled and my heart raced.

‘I should talk about Kyle, right? What should I talk about? How I met Kyle? Or maybe about when Kyle licked the back of my hand.’

Even now, thinking about Kyle coming to find me in the basement and licking my broken arm brings tears to my eyes. I’ve heard that animals lick wounds because that’s their only way to treat injuries.

So Kyle must have been trying to heal my broken arm by licking it.

‘Our Kyle is smart, knows a lot, and seems to understand human speech well…’

Oh dear. I have so much to say, but how can I convey it all?

I was nibbling my lip, worried I might just ramble incoherently about Kyle without properly conveying his charm, when Noel, who had been about to open the shop door, stopped in his tracks and called out to Richard, who hadn’t said a word since Noel’s appearance.

“By the way, Richard, didn’t you say you had something to take care of?”

“Huh? Well, that…”

Richard blinked, seemingly flustered. He glanced at my face briefly before lowering his head. This hesitation was unlike the usually confident and cheerful Richard.

‘I guess it’s a secret from me.’

Richard is an adult too, so he doesn’t need to tell me every little thing. I pretended not to notice and stepped onto the stairs leading up to the shop.

“Shall we go in this way?”

“Holy Maiden, please wait a moment. It seems Richard has something to say.”

“What?”

So that business was about me? I tilted my head and turned to look at Richard.

“Richard, do you have something to tell me?”

Standing in the midday sunlight, Richard looked slightly different from usual. His slightly flushed cheeks and his gaze that couldn’t meet mine indicated he was about to say something important.

I kept my mouth shut and waited for Richard to speak. After fidgeting with something in his pocket for a moment, Richard spoke in a heavy voice.

“Cioranne, I’m happy to see you getting along well with my brother.”

“…? I’m happy too. Actually, I’ve been itching to talk about Kyle. But I need someone willing to listen.”

Even now, I just want to go inside and talk about Kyle.

I looked back at Kyle, who was being held quietly in Noel’s arms. His golden eyes somehow looked indifferent.

‘Even when Kyle looks indifferent, he’s adorable!’

Just as I was internally squealing, Kyle’s innermost thoughts were transmitted to me clearly.

[‘Kyle’ thinks that guy is an idiot.]

…His inner thoughts aren’t charming at all.

‘Sob, our baby cat is secretly looking down on people. Surely he doesn’t think that way about me too?’

Have I been playing with Kyle too much? Does Kyle need character education?

‘I should probably read him some scriptures when we return to the temple.’

[‘The Dragon Trampler’ exclaims that’s an excellent idea.]

[He strongly, strongly agrees, He says.]

[He says this personality needs to read it a thousand times to become human.]

…The deity seems to have a lot of pent-up feelings.

I inadvertently resolved to give Kyle character education. While I was having this conversation with the deity, Richard was still hesitating, unable to speak his mind. Finally, Noel, unable to wait any longer, made the first move.

“Well, I’ll go inside with His Majesty and sit down first. I’d also like to see how well His Majesty adapts to the cat daycare.”

“Ah…”

No, I want to go in quickly too! I also want to see the other cats at the daycare!

Just as I grabbed the hem of Noel’s clothes, Richard, who had been hesitating for a while, finally spoke up.

“That’s not it, Cioranne. Just like you wanted me to get along well with that cat, I wanted to introduce you to my brother. He’s my family.”

Before I could even think about how the conversation was taking an unusual turn, Richard spoke to me loudly.

“Cioranne, marry me!”

* * *

At Richard’s proposal, Kyle understood what it meant to have blood rushing backward. For some reason, his stomach felt completely turned inside out, and an extremely hot mass rose up his spine, past the back of his neck, and toward his head.

His blood pressure was rising from anger!

‘That idiot.’

The claws he had kept hidden automatically extended from his toes. Kyle growled, baring his white fangs in fury.

‘I thought I made myself clear earlier, but he’s still proposing without coming to his senses?’

Why would he propose to her when he couldn’t even selflessly put Cioranne first? When he didn’t have the strength to protect her from all criticism.

[‘The Dragon Trampler’ asks why you’re making such a fuss.]

‘Because I’m angry!’

Kyle wrinkled his nose in anger.

‘That stupid woman is frustrating enough, and now they want to pair her with an equally frustrating idiot?’

Could Richard really fight against the Pope or others for Cioranne’s sake? Kyle thought not. No matter how rebellious Richard might be, he was surely kinder than Kyle had been at age five.

Kyle, who had been watching Cioranne close her mouth in apparent surprise and Richard facing her with a serious expression, tapped Noel with his front paw.

‘Do something about this.’

At Kyle’s touch, Noel nodded as if he understood. Then, firmly holding Kyle with both hands, he spoke in a calm tone.

“Holy Maiden, may I say something?”

Cioranne’s expression suggested she was actually relieved that Noel had intervened. The funny thing was that Richard’s expression showed the same relief.

‘That guy really won’t do!’

Kyle glared at Richard with fierce eyes. Then he tapped the back of Noel’s hand with his front paw, claws slightly extended.

‘Tell them it won’t work. Say you absolutely oppose it.’

Surely that fool would back down if Noel pointed out the reality of the situation.

Thinking this, Kyle was twitching his nose when Noel spoke in a solemn tone.

“Richard has admired the Holy Maiden for a long time. I hope you understand that his feelings are not at all frivolous.”

“Meow?!”

What are you saying, you fool!

‘Tell them it won’t work! Why are you saying that?!’

Perhaps he meant that since Richard’s feelings weren’t frivolous, she should think even less of him.

Kyle was frowning at Noel when Noel continued with a gentle smile.

“If you marry Richard, I pledge the Ferol family name to protect you. So please make your decision thinking only of Richard.”

“Brother…”

Richard looked at Noel with eyes full of gratitude. Noel winked lightly at Richard and opened the door to the cat daycare, saying:

“Then I’ll leave you two to talk. I’ll withdraw so as not to interfere.”

Since Noel’s original target was Kyle, not Cioranne, his natural exit made sense. Kyle needed to write several letters, and there wouldn’t be enough time even if he transformed quickly and started writing.

“Phew.”

Having naturally separated Cioranne and Richard, Noel closed the door behind him and sighed with relief.

The whole reason for setting up this strange cat daycare shop was to meet Kyle naturally. This way, he could meet Kyle whenever Cioranne left him here.

Noel went further into the shop and put Kyle down. Then he gazed at Kyle with a satisfied expression.

‘He’ll say I did well, right? He’ll ask how I came up with such a brilliant idea?’

Plus, Cioranne and Richard’s marriage—Noel was in favor of that too. Cioranne was like the general of the enemy camp, to use a military metaphor. Persuading someone like her would be extremely difficult.

‘The Pope is a bit concerning… but the Ferol family isn’t what it used to be.’

They wouldn’t helplessly separate Richard from the family like before.

Just as Noel was putting on a serious expression with these thoughts, Kyle immediately transformed into a human. The chubby-cheeked, black-haired cute child opened his cherry-like small lips.

“Hey.”

Although his voice was extremely harsh.

“Yes, Your Majesty?”

Expecting a storm of praise, Noel was taken aback by the casual “hey.” He blinked in confusion. Kyle glared at him and said concisely:

“Bow down.”

“What? Your Majesty? Why are you so angry? Are you upset because I said I was impressive?”

“…I said bow down.”

For some reason, he couldn’t explain why. Some emotion that Kyle himself wasn’t aware of was sealing his lips.

Kyle crossed his arms and looked down at Noel, who was awkwardly bowing.

You clueless fool. You need to be taught a lesson.