Chapter 55
For some reason, a faint sense of disappointment welled up inside him.
For the first time, Étienne couldn’t accept what he was feeling.
Both the cat and Étienne himself felt… strange.
“Lady Eloise’s tea party — I heard Lisette might attend.”
“Really?”
“I think I’ll have to stop by for a bit. What about you, Étienne?”
“I’ll pass.”
Étienne declined Marcel’s offer to accompany him, yet on the day of the tea party, he secretly slipped into the garden in the form of a small wolf.
He only wanted to check if the duchy’s informant was delivering accurate reports — nothing more.
The boy told himself he definitely wasn’t going because he was worried about the cat.
“Hey, you son of a—!”
The moment he arrived, he sensed a sudden flare of Lisette’s mana, followed immediately by a sharp curse.
Étienne perked up his ears, straining to confirm if he’d heard correctly.
Before, Lisette’s mana core had been surrounded by a solid barrier, but now it seemed that barrier had fractured slightly.
Her voice was no longer audible. Instead, Arnaud was scolding Eloise, berating her for Lisette’s behavior.
Étienne hesitated — unsure whether to intervene — until Marcel stepped in to smooth things over.
From afar, Lisette looked visibly dependent on Eloise, nestled in her embrace.
So the spy wasn’t lying after all, Étienne thought.
It had been a while since he’d seen Eloise, and contrary to the rumors that she’d become irritable and volatile, she appeared calm and composed.
Everyone who had left Étienne seemed to be living in peace.
The boy finally decided to accept everything — even the strange emotions he didn’t understand.
Watching Marcel leave the tea party, Étienne quietly followed and slipped away as well.
“They say Lisette caused an uproar at the duchy.”
“I see.”
“Aren’t you curious how she’s doing now, Étie?”
“I was never curious.”
Even when Marcel mentioned the cat, Étienne showed no reaction — not even to the childish nickname “Étí.”
It seemed like his quiet, uneventful days would continue — until one invitation lightly stirred him.
“An invitation has arrived — from the duchy. It’s for a banquet. From Lisette.”
Something peculiar was stamped beside the signature line:
A big round circle and four smaller ones — the prints of a cat’s front paw.
A faint, ticklish warmth bloomed in Étienne’s chest — the same feeling he’d had when first returning to his homeland.
So she hasn’t forgotten me after all.
It was the first letter he’d ever received that wasn’t from a wolf clan chief’s orders.
Even though it was addressed to both Marcel and him, Étienne couldn’t help but feel that the cat had called for him personally.
He found himself looking forward to the duchy’s banquet.
“Étí, how long are you going to stare at the mirror?”
“…It’s my first time visiting the duchy, that’s all.”
Étienne fidgeted with his jacket collar out of nervousness.
When the long wait was finally over, he and Marcel arrived at the duchy.
“Marcel! Étienne!”
A cheerful, lively voice — like a cat’s meow — greeted them.
Étienne almost smiled but quickly forced his expression back into his usual frown.
“Thanks for coming, Étienne.”
“You… you’ve changed.”
He could tell right away that Lisette’s body was now filled with mana.
It was clear how much Eloise adored her — her white fur gleamed with a healthy sheen, and her jewel-like eyes sparkled brighter than ever.
The small, scruffy kitten had become a refined young lady — the sapphire necklace around her neck suited her perfectly.
“Did you forget our promise? You said you’d come to rescue me. Why didn’t you show up at the tea party?”
The boy had never forgotten.
And realizing that Lisette remembered made Étienne’s lips twitch again.
“…I was there.”
“Then why didn’t I see you?”
“Because I went in my wolf form.”
Étienne directly revealed his identity to her.
He wanted her to know that he too was a beastman — just like her.
Lisette accepted the truth without a hint of surprise. That only made her seem stranger to him again.
“I never told you I was a wolf beastman.”
“Y-you did! I heard Marcel call you the chieftain of the beastmen!”
“And you remembered that?”
“Plus, you smell like a dog.”
Dog smell, she said.
Since entering the imperial palace, Étienne had only transformed into a wolf once — during the Empress’s tea party.
Even the most sensitive beastmen couldn’t usually recognize another’s true form once they’d taken human shape — not unless it was mentioned outright.
Étienne had only recognized Lisette because he was especially attuned to beastly mana.
Still, there was something undeniably odd about her. He couldn’t stop noticing.
As they descended into the ballroom, he kept glancing at the cat — but her eyes never left Eloise.
“My lady, may I have this dance?”
Marcel offered his hand to Eloise, and Étienne reluctantly prepared to take Lisette in his arms.
But before he could, Raoul stepped in and scooped Lisette up — leaving Étienne’s hands hanging awkwardly in the air.
The sight of her small body drooping limply in Raoul’s arms made him uneasy.
“Young lord, that’s not how you hold a cat,” someone chided.
Raoul Monclaire — the mischievous boy who had wormed his way between Marcel and Étienne in Eloise’s absence.
Ever since becoming Marcel’s playmate, Raoul had shown an odd sense of rivalry toward Étienne.
Étienne, who had once tried to get along with him, eventually gave up and accepted it.
“Give her to me.”
Raoul refused, insisting on holding Lisette himself despite her obvious discomfort — which irritated Étienne even more.
Watching the two of them bicker comfortably together made him feel… annoyed.
Thankfully, Sophie appeared and took Lisette upstairs to the second floor, sparing the boys a quarrel.
Étienne wanted to follow, but as he was attending in his capacity as the future chieftain, he had to restrain himself.
Raoul’s sharp gaze burned into him.
“I don’t like you, Étienne.”
“I see.”
It was nothing new — a truth he’d long since accepted — so there was no reason to be hurt.
A vein twitched on Raoul’s forehead.
His inability to hide his emotions made him look childish in Étienne’s eyes — even though they were the same age.
“That look of yours — I hate it. You’re just like my sister, who’s given up on everything.”
That was when Étienne finally understood.
Eloise hadn’t abandoned them — she had simply accepted what she could not change.
His gaze shifted to the center of the ballroom, where Eloise danced — her eyes fixed on Lisette, who had gone upstairs.
Lisette had changed Eloise profoundly.
Rumors of her cruelty had vanished, replaced by whispers that she now smiled from time to time.
“I don’t think she’s given up on everything.”
Perhaps neither Eloise nor Étienne himself had fully surrendered yet.
Maybe that bold little cat — who caused trouble even in the worst situations — was the one reminding them of that.
When the banquet drew to an end, Étienne quietly entered Lisette’s playroom.
Seeing the cat fast asleep, having dozed off during her own banquet, made him chuckle helplessly.
“You really are strange.”
She had refused to come here, even fasting for two meals — yet now she was sprawled out so comfortably in the duchy.
Étienne reached out and gently stroked her soft white fur.
A faint, unstable mana current pulsed against his palm.
Looks like I’ll be staying up tonight, he thought.
He let a small amount of his own mana flow into Lisette’s mana core to stabilize it.
Sure enough, after returning to the palace that night, he felt a sudden disturbance.
Lisette’s mana flared violently — forcing Étienne to rush back to the duchy.
“Nyaah…”
Landing on the windowsill of Eloise’s bedroom, he heard a weak groan.
There, on the floor, lay a girl with cat ears — Lisette.
Her body shimmered faintly, then gradually shrank, returning to her small feline form.
No way…
Beastmen could only take human form when they awakened.
He had suspected her awakening before, when she’d spoken in human language — but seeing her half-human, half-beast form confirmed that her condition was unstable.
Étienne made up his mind once more:
Since he had saved her, he would take responsibility for her.
***
The next day, Lisette returned to the imperial palace for a medical checkup.
Seeing her looking so downcast made Étienne uneasy.
And the day after that, three became four again — Marcel, Eloise, Étienne, and Lisette.
Those who had left had all come back.
Even if it was only temporary, Étienne felt more at peace than he had in a long time.
Still, one thing worried him — the flow of Lisette’s mana.
“Hey… your mana flow is…”
