It didn’t hurt much, but I was surprised and covered my face while rolling off the bed.

“Miss, are you okay?!”

Hearing my scream, Mandy burst open the door and came inside.

The back of my head that hit when I fell from the bed hurt more than the cheek Goldie hit, so I waved my hand with a tearful face.

“Mmm, I’m okay. I fell from the bed while sleeping.”

I got up and looked at Goldie, who seemed to be frozen in place, apparently very surprised after hitting me.

“Goldie is okay too. I’m fine.”

“But Miss, there’s a scratch……”

Mandy pointed at my face with a trembling hand. When I checked in the vanity mirror, there was a slight wound on my chin.

Well, isn’t this kind of thing a badge of honor for people who raise cats?

I gestured to Goldie again that I was okay and received simple treatment from Mandy.

“But what did you come for?”

“Ah, there’s a reply from the young master you sent a letter to last time.”

“Really? Thanks for letting me know.”

After the treatment ended, I read the letter Mandy brought and wrote a reply.

During this time, Goldie sat quietly on my lap like a doll.

***

That night, Shailyn fell asleep holding Goldie.

Goldie, thinking she had fallen into a deep sleep, slipped out of her arms.

The moonlight seeping through the window illuminated the golden fur with a faint grayish tinge.

Goldie, no, Chester, who sat by Shailyn’s bedside, raised his hand that had changed into a cat’s front paw and lightly touched his small chin.

‘Is it okay?’

This morning, surprised by the sudden kiss, he had unconsciously extended his claws.

It was fortunate that the wound seemed small and shallow, but the fact that he had left a scar on a woman’s face brought tremendous guilt.

‘I should have escaped earlier…… The path out is becoming more and more distant.’

Chester let out a small sigh.

Perhaps because her intimacy had soared after receiving one kitty punch, Shailyn now slept with him beside her even when sleeping.

For him, who had to escape the Diart residence as soon as possible, this was extremely troublesome.

‘I don’t know when I’ll return to human form……’

Just like when he had suddenly transformed into a cat while going to the Magic Tower after finishing external schedules.

Returning to human form also happened randomly.

If he were to return to his original form while being held in Shailyn’s arms…….

‘That absolutely cannot happen.’

Just imagining it was horrifying, so Chester squeezed his eyes shut.

The problem was that Shailyn locked the door tightly to prevent his escape, so he couldn’t run away either.

In cat form, his magic power also disappeared, so it was impossible to squeeze out the faintly remaining power like on the first day to open the locked door.

‘At least the young lady is quite oblivious, so my identity hasn’t been discovered yet.’

He looked down at Shailyn with complex eyes and recalled when he came to the Diart residence alone with Carl.

‘This unpleasantly resembles the tower master.’

Carl, whose red eyes flashed sharply, grabbed his scruff and examined him closely while muttering ominously.

‘Unless he’s a crazy perverted bastard, there’s no way he’d use magic to transform into such a kitten.’

‘……’

‘If you’re really the tower master, don’t even think about doing anything improper to my master. I won’t stand for it.’

If human speech had been possible, he might have gotten angry on the spot and refuted everything one by one.

However, in the current situation where he had even received one kiss from Shailyn, he couldn’t completely deny Carl’s words either.

He felt unnecessarily uncomfortable and was about to go sleep on the cushion as usual when—

“Mmm, Goldie……”

Shailyn groped with her hand in her sleep and pulled him back into her arms.

Looking at her face sleeping soundly, he strangely couldn’t push her away.

‘It would be big trouble if I get tamed like this.’

While worrying about that, drowsiness came over him from the warm temperature, and Chester’s eyes slowly closed.

Today too, one cat couldn’t leave one person’s side as the night deepened.

***

About ten days had already passed since being with Goldie.

Now I even brought him when dining with the ducal family, putting him at my feet and feeding him.

“Shailyn, you really adore that cat. But doesn’t it look like a person somehow?”

Dain asked while glancing at Goldie curiously.

Goldie’s body flinched for a moment.

“Since I’m Goldie’s master, naturally he has no choice but to resemble me.”

I puffed out my chest proudly and replied, then Dain tilted his head and muttered.

“No, those mysterious eyes are strangely familiar……”

“But where’s Deborah? Did she already go to work?”

I looked at the empty seat next to me and drooped my eyebrows worriedly.

From a few days ago, Deborah, whose work had suddenly become busy, came back very late at night and reached a level where I could only see her face in the morning.

Then today, she hadn’t been visible since morning.

“She didn’t just go to work early, she didn’t come home from work at all yesterday.”

“What―?!”

I was shocked at Dain’s sighing response and put down my utensils.

If it’s not overtime but all-night work, isn’t the Magic Tower a black company rather than just a workplace?

“Even so, she’s a grown adult, so we can’t go to the Magic Tower and argue that they’re making her work too hard. We’re frustrated too.”

Lord Diart said with a low groan. No matter how much of an adult she was, they couldn’t help but worry when the youngest of the family was overworked.

At that moment when a gloomy atmosphere surrounded the dining hall from the breakfast table.

“Miss Deborah has arrived!”

Paul shouted vigorously like a soldier bringing news of victory.

The duke, who had been picking at his food with a dark face, immediately commanded.

“Bring Deborah here!”

“Yes, Your Grace!”

Shortly after, Deborah appeared with a haggard face and dark circles under her eyes.

We all looked at her pitifully and hurriedly seated her in a chair, trying to feed her first.

“Are you hungry? Even if you’re tired, you should eat first before sleeping.”

“Yes, you’ll be in big trouble if you starve when busy. You have to eat even if you have no appetite.”

Deborah, who had plopped down next to me and let out a long sigh full of fatigue, raised her hand.

“I have something to tell you.”

“Huh? What is it?”

“An emergency situation has occurred at the Magic Tower. This news will be known throughout the empire this afternoon.”

Deborah’s voice saying this was heavily sunken. Everyone became quiet and looked at her in the ominous atmosphere.

Deborah moved her dry lips and announced in advance.

“The tower master has gone missing.”

“……!”

Everyone was speechless at the shocking news they hadn’t expected. Among them, I was the first to speak.

“Wh, when?”

“About ten days ago. He went out for external business and suddenly disappeared.”

That time…… was the day I went to the Magic Tower looking for the tower master for the magic stone trade.

Recalling the Vice tower master who had been pale and rigid at that time, I belatedly felt like puzzle pieces were fitting together.

No wonder he called someone but didn’t show up…….

“Until now, only the Magic Tower people secretly searched, but since the last schedule was what it was, they decided to assume the worst-case scenario and switch to going publicly.”

“What was the last schedule that makes it so?”

At Dain’s question, Deborah answered like a sigh.

“He explored a cave presumed to be a heretic hideout. So everyone’s worried he might have been retaliated against.”

“Ah, that’s understandable.”

“Anyway, I’ll probably be too busy to come home often for a while. I’m on emergency duty until we find the tower master.”

Then Lord Diart and the duke each said a word to Deborah with worried faces.

“Work carefully. I know it’s an urgent situation, but don’t overdo it too much.”

“Try not to directly deal with heretics if possible. People possessed by demons don’t know what they might do.”

“I understand. Don’t worry, everyone. Anyway, I’m still a low-level mage, so I only support seniors from behind and don’t have much work to do directly.”

Deborah smiled maturely, ate roughly, and returned to the Magic Tower again.

I went up to my room holding Goldie and fell into serious thought.

‘The tower master has gone missing……’

The image of him dancing earnestly to match me during the preliminary round kept coming to mind.

Since I knew him quite well and had considered him as a male lead candidate, the news of his disappearance was very concerning.

I grabbed Goldie and asked.

“Hmm, is there any help I can give in searching for the tower master?”

“Meow.”

Goldie shook his head as if he understood exactly what I said.