The Duke’s Companion

“The treatment has been successfully completed.”

The doctor wiped the sweat off his forehead and said, then he placed the sweaty handkerchief in his arms and handed the kitten wrapped in a blanket.

In a bundle of blankets, the kitten was in it, Mamela carefully took the blanket and held it in her arms.

Thanking the doctor, Mamela headed to the carriage with the blanket in her arms. 

Jonah, who was following her, spoke carefully. “Well, miss,”

“Yes?”

“What are you going to do with the cat? You’re not going to take it with you, are you?”

Asked by Jonah, Mamela answered with an innocent smile.

“I will raise it.”

At her cheerful answer, Jonah doubted her ears.

The Duke of Cadellarot was a man who hated and despised animals and detested them with contempt. 

There’s no way his sister, Mamela, doesn’t know about it.

Jonah, who turned pale, asked back, despite her rudeness.

“Are you serious?”

“Yes.”

Lovely golden eyes turned to the cat in her arms.

It occurred to Jonah that she should stop her. It was clear that the cat would be in trouble if it was caught by the Duke’s tricky guard in all seasons of the year.

Jonah hurried before Mamela got into the carriage.

“Lady, the headmaster will definitely tell you to abandon the cat.”

“Well, if so I’m going to hide the cat for a while.”

“What? What if you get caught?”

“I’ll ask my brother; I can’t keep it a secret forever, right?”

Mamela answered calmly and climbed into the carriage. 

When Jonah couldn’t take her eyes off the mixture of shock and concern, Mamela said.

“Don’t worry. My brother will do whatever I ask.”

At the end of the sentence, there she wore the happiest smile in the world.

ꕥ

My body was as heavy as cotton soaked in water. I trembled and lifted my eyelids with difficulty.

As I slowly regained consciousness, burning pain in my stomach came over.

‘Aw…It hurts!’

A certain face suddenly appeared in my sight as I uttered a groan. I almost screamed in surprise.

“Meow, you’re finally awake!” (Mamela)

My heart pounded. I barely squeezed my voice out startled.

“Meow…?”

‘Who is that kid?’

It was a girl with flowing blonde hair and yellow golden eyes like fireflies. I was wary of the girl and quickly snorted.

An unfamiliar smell. It was the first time I smelled it.

The girl jumped up, unable to relax her guard. I trembled again, startled, and glared at the girl.

The girl looked at me halfheartedly and smiled while making eye contact.

“Meow, please wait a little bit. I’ll bring the food.”

The girl left me in the room, and my eyes rolled looking around the room.

“Where the hell am I? Why does my whole body hurt so much?”

In particular, my stomach hurt so badly that I even thought I might die soon.

‘Did that kid hurt me earlier?’

Shaking my head, I stared at the door where the girl disappeared. If that’s true, I have to run away quickly in this gap. 

Then I tossed and turned.

But I couldn’t move my body properly.

When I lowered my head, I saw something like a strange blanket wrapped around my body tightly.

‘I can’t move.’

After struggling for a long time, I lost strength. In the end, I gave up and just stared at the ceiling.

‘I guess I’ll have to die like this. Will she hit me? I hoped she wouldn’t eat me.’

Tears welled up in fear. How did I get caught by such a scary kid…?

Waiting for death, I slowly traced my memory. But nothing came to mind as if my mind was empty.

As soon as I frowned, I heard footsteps running from afar. 

With my ears pricked up, I quickly closed my eyes and pretended to be asleep.

The presence of a girl approached with the sound of the door slamming open.

“Hm? Did you fall asleep again?”

The girl was snooping on me. Out of fear, I tried not to open my eyes. But where does the delicious smell come from?

Sniff, sniff!

My nose unintentionally wrinkled, something like the cry of a dragon echoed in my stomach. I couldn’t endure it and opened my eyes.

When I made eye contact with the girl, I felt dizzy. I was supposed to pretend to be asleep!

“Oh, you’re awake. That’s a relief.”

The smiling girl waved the bottle in her hand. I was wary of her every move, but I couldn’t stop reacting to the delicious smell.

‘No, you’re going to eat me!’

Then the girl came up to me. As she shook her head fiercely while standing still, something slipped into my mouth.

I opened my eyes in surprise. The girl said soothingly to me, “Are you very hungry?”

When she mumbled, I felt a soft touch. There came a warm, savoury liquid.

As soon as I swallowed, my eyes turned round.

“It’s delicious!”

Without a doubt, I started to eat what was inside in a hurry.

The girl took the bottle, which had shown the bottom in an instant.

My entire body was exhausted, and my guard was shaky. The blanket lifted to my entire body.

As I struggled with fear, the girl holding me began to rub my back.

Soon after, I burped slightly. The girl laughed.

“Good job. What a cute cat.”

I was dazed by that strange warmth. The warmth from her palms to my back made me feel strange and unfamiliar.

I glanced at the girl thinking, ‘Well, she gave me warm and delicious food… Isn’t she a good person? I don’t think she will hurt me.’

It was just an intuition.

In addition, I don’t know if I should judge her by this situation, but her appearance seemed far from that. 

She was like clear sunlight.

The girl held out her hand. I put my nose in the girl’s hand, smelled it, and looked up.

When our eyes met, the girl spoke again, “I’m Mamela. And I’ve been thinking about your name…”

Mamela said with her blushing cheeks as if a little embarrassed.

“Aryl.”

“…”

“It’s Aryl.”

I blinked as I heard the girl’s gentle voice. She seems to be saying something very seriously…

‘What are you talking about?’

The problem was that I couldn’t understand any of those words at all.