Side Story 1. Hello, Baby!

“Come to think of it, I haven’t seen that fellow for the past few days?”

Surprisingly, Lucas was the first to notice that Elizabeth, the Taylor family cat, had disappeared.

He mentioned this while cutting an apple into bite-sized pieces for Giselle, who was suffering from severe morning sickness. Giselle ate the apple and furrowed her brow, tilting her head.

“You’re right. She’s been away from her spot a lot lately. But she used to come back at mealtimes…… Oh?”

She glanced at the low table beneath the window, which was practically the cat’s designated seat, and then widened her eyes and stood up.

Giselle, who was getting up while cradling her pregnant belly, momentarily staggered. Seeing this, Lucas quickly stood up and supported her.

“You need to be careful.”

“Thank you, Lucas.”

Giselle gave an awkward smile to the man who had supported her. As her due date approached, her body often didn’t move as she wanted, as if it no longer belonged to her.

Her movements were sluggish due to her heavily swollen belly, and she occasionally experienced dizziness as well.

She leaned against Lucas, who was supporting her waist, as she slowly approached the window.

On the table beneath the window sat the cat’s food bowl. It was still full of cat food, completely untouched.

“What’s going on? The food hasn’t decreased at all.”

Even with her due date approaching and her body feeling heavy, Giselle had always personally taken care of feeding the cat. Because of this, she was certain that the amount of food hadn’t decreased at all.

“I wonder if someone else has been taking care of Elizabeth?”

With the hopeful thought that this might be the case, she quickly turned around to call a maid.

“Calm down, Giselle. You’ll fall if you move like that.”

Lucas soothed the anxious Giselle, seated her on the sofa, and pulled the bell cord in her place. Shortly after, the head maid entered.

“You called for me.”

“Have you seen Elizabeth?”

Giselle urgently asked as soon as she saw the head maid. The head maid’s eyes widened, then she furrowed her brow and answered.

“Pardon? If you’re referring to the cat…… no, I haven’t seen her for several days. But I thought she was still eating her food regularly…… Oh my!”

The head maid stopped mid-sentence when she suddenly noticed the food bowl by the window and her eyes grew wide. She seemed to have just grasped the situation.

“As you can see, Elizabeth hasn’t come to eat her food today. I’m sure someone in the mansion has seen her or fed her elsewhere, but I’m still worried. Could you please check for us?”

He was well aware that despite the cat’s haughty and prickly personality, some of the maids had fallen for her charm and would occasionally provide treats or toys.

Probably this time too, she had managed her meals that way.

But for some reason, he felt uneasy.

‘Even so, she’s never disappeared like this before.’

Giselle couldn’t hide her worry and nervously bit her lip. Seeing this, the head maid quickly bowed to reassure her.

“I’ll look into it right away, madam. Don’t worry. She’s a clever creature.”

“……Yes. I’m sure that’s right. Thank you, head maid.”

Giselle noticed the head maid’s concern and forced a smile. But she couldn’t stop the sigh that escaped as soon as the head maid left the room.

“Sigh…… Where on earth has she gone? Not even eating.”

“Like the head maid said, don’t worry too much, Giselle. That cat is surely eating well and having fun somewhere.”

Lucas approached Giselle from behind as she continued to sigh, gently wrapped his arms around her waist, and spoke.

“I suppose so? I’m not too worried. It’s not like she’s going to starve wherever she is……”

After all, she was originally a stray cat.

Of course, she had been quite thin from not eating properly during her stray days, but…….

Giselle was about to sigh again with worry about the cat when she suddenly felt Lucas’s lips nuzzling her nape and twisted her body.

“Oh my, what are you doing! Ah! That tickles.”

She involuntarily burst into laughter and turned toward him. The touch of the man, who had been suppressing himself for the sake of his heavily pregnant wife, was relentlessly persistent.

* * *

“Where on earth are you hiding?”

Giselle muttered to herself in frustration, pressing her throbbing temple with her hand.

About three weeks had passed since they noticed the cat was missing.

During that time, Giselle hadn’t seen the cat even once. She had asked the head maid to inquire among the staff about the cat’s whereabouts, but no one had seen her or provided her with snacks.

The only consolation was that fish, jerky, and other items left in the kitchen kept steadily disappearing.

「Madam! I’m sure Elizabeth has been taking them.」

It was technically theft from the kitchen, but the head maid had been so relieved to report this to her.

That’s how worried Giselle had been since the cat disappeared.

“Please try some of this, madam.”

And the concern of those watching her continued to grow. Giselle waved her hand at the nanny and replied with a sigh.

“I don’t feel like it, Nanny. I’ll eat later.”

“Even so, please try a little. You barely ate lunch. I was relieved that your morning sickness seemed to be subsiding lately…… Oh dear, it seems your morning sickness has returned due to worrying about Elizabeth.”

The nanny muttered with a sigh and again offered her food.

Since she could at least eat fruit, the chef had specially prepared an apple pie, raspberry macarons, and juice made from freshly squeezed oranges, all arranged on the table.

It wouldn’t be right to continue refusing such thoughtfulness. Giselle took a deep breath after the nanny’s repeated urging and picked up the cup of juice.

“Ugh.”

But as soon as she took a sip of the juice, her stomach churned. Giselle quickly covered her mouth with her hand and lowered her eyes.

“I’m sorry. Orange juice was fine before, but today it seems…… my stomach can’t handle it.”

“You have no reason to apologize to me, madam. This is all because of Elizabeth. Sigh, how well is she hiding? Even with the staff searching the entire mansion thoroughly, she can’t be found……”

The nanny started to lament but quickly closed her mouth, fearing her words might further depress Giselle. Giselle glanced at the nanny and chuckled, shrugging her shoulders.

“I know. Where on earth is she hiding? ……I wish I at least knew why she’s hiding.”

She felt like grabbing the cat and asking directly if only they could communicate. Giselle gently rubbed her swollen belly and sighed.

“Right, baby? Why is Elizabeth hiding? Is she upset with me for some reason?”

As Giselle was sharing her concerns with the baby in her womb, she suddenly heard hurried footsteps outside the door, followed by the door bursting open. The head maid had entered, forgetting even to knock, her face beaming.

“We found her, madam!”

“What?”

“Elizabeth! We finally found her!”

It was such good news that she couldn’t blame the head maid for forgetting to knock.

* * *

Lucas had just returned home with desserts from the bakery that Giselle frequently visited.

At first, people were surprised to see the dainty bakery box in his hands, but now they were used to it, so no one in the mansion was particularly shocked.

Fitz Wendel, the butler of the Taylor family, followed him with a composed expression, reporting on various matters.

Among these reports came news that was trivial yet had caused quite a stir in the mansion today.

“Eliza…… You found the cat?”

Lucas inadvertently began to say the cat’s name but frowned and changed his words. Although he had named her himself, he still wasn’t used to the name.

Fitz seemed to understand his master’s feelings and smiled quietly before nodding in response.

“Yes, master.”

“After making everyone so worried…… Where was she found?”

“To be precise, rather than being found, Elizabeth has returned. However, not alone…… ahem.”

“……?”

Lucas stopped in front of the bedroom door and turned to look at the butler with a puzzled expression. Fitz cleared his throat and made an ambiguous expression, as if trying not to smile.

“I see. I’ll go in.”

He didn’t bother asking what had happened. He could hear the rest of the story from his wife.

‘Besides, it’s not like I need to hear it right this moment.’

In any case, Giselle would be relieved now that the cat had returned. Lucas was about to open the bedroom door with a more relaxed expression when he heard:

“What are you crying about when you’re the one who messed up!”

“……!”

As soon as he entered the bedroom, he heard a cold voice scolding someone. He involuntarily flinched and froze in place.

This was followed by a retorting sound, as if protesting against her.

“Meow!”

Ah, she’s scolding the cat.

Lucas felt embarrassed for having been startled and ran a hand over his face. Then he knocked on the open door.

“Who is…… Ah! Lucas!”