CSTB Chapter 11

The field mouse who introduced himself as Oliver turned out to be more trustworthy than expected.

Rosé had thought he’d dart away the moment they left the storage building, but surprisingly, he kindly guided her deep into the forest.

[This way, kitty! Over here!]

Thinking the potatoes gnawed on by mice were no longer edible for humans, Rosé had told him to take one. Maybe that moved him.

He struggled to carry the potato in his tiny hands, so Rosé had passed it to him by mouth — maybe that earned her some points too.

In any case, after following Oliver’s lead past the storage building, they reached a small field nestled between the trees.

[There’s really a field here?]

Even if it was unlikely that the Emperor or any nobles would venture behind the storage, who would’ve thought a field could exist inside the palace grounds?

As Rosé muttered while setting down the potato she held in her mouth, Oliver quickly responded.

[Yes! It used to be a place where wild grass, flowers, and wild wheat grew, but they suddenly turned it into a field. That’s when food became scarce… My family and I even started wondering if we’d have to move.]

It didn’t seem like Oliver was lying when he said today was the first time he’d entered the storage out of hunger.

She was certain he’d seen her, yet several field mice were peeking from the underbrush, staring hungrily at the potato.

They must’ve been starving to risk coming out in front of a predator like a cat.

[You’re really saying you and your family didn’t raid the storage?]

To this, Oliver shook his head so hard it looked like it might fall off.

[Really! People say the Emperor keeps reducing the food supply. We knew we’d be in trouble if we got caught, but we figured they were making this a field anyway.]

That didn’t seem like a lie either.

There were barely even ten mice scrambling for the potato Rosé had tossed into the brush. That wasn’t enough to blame the missing food entirely on rodents.

‘It was never the mice — that made no sense.’

Yeah, obviously.

There must be dozens of workers in the palace. If there were that many mice to eat all the food, there would’ve been a massive uproar by now.

[Oliver.]
[Yes, kitty?]
[I told you — I’m not “kitty,” call me Rosé. Anyway, how long have you lived here?]

Her first suspicion was proving right — this was definitely the work of a person.

[I haven’t been alive that long, but my family’s lived here a long time!]

Regardless, Oliver was more helpful than expected.

He claimed to be less than a month old, but his family had settled here long ago. That’s how he knew so much, even about how Noah came to the throne.

[What do you want to know? I pretty much know everything that goes on around here!]

It made sense — life inside the palace would directly impact the lives of field mice living nearby.

According to Oliver, no other mice lived in this part of the forest.

It figured — this was the Emperor’s residence. Even in times like this, pest control must be airtight.

[Do you know when the storage started being empty like that?]
[It’s been like that ever since the new Emperor took the throne. But things got worse about six months ago. That’s when they even turned this place into a field.]

With food running low, and winter making it hard to find bugs or forage for fruit, Oliver had finally entered the storage for the first time.

While answering Rosé’s questions, he also firmly restated his innocence.

‘So the food didn’t disappear from storage — it never even arrived there in the first place.’

Thinking about it, that actually made more sense.

There were too many eyes in the palace. If someone had tried to sneak food out after it was delivered, they’d have been caught instantly.

Rosé continued talking with Oliver for a while, but when she noticed his eyes constantly drifting toward the potato, she decided to leave.

Even if Oliver meant no harm, sticking around would probably make the other field mice gorge themselves and get sick.

As she retraced her steps, Rosé reviewed everything she’d learned so far.

The handmaids were right — problems with the servants’ food began after Noah’s ascension.

— “The servants who were planting potatoes here said so. Starting six months ago, the two loaves of bread we used to get turned into one.”

The worsening conditions dated exactly six months back.

‘Someone’s using Noah’s image for their own gain.’

But why had things gotten worse starting exactly six months ago?

And the maids had definitely submitted complaints about the food — so why didn’t Noah know?

‘That someone must be intercepting the reports on the way up.’

In any case, Rosé decided it was best to return first and think further later.

But the storage building wasn’t appearing as fast as expected.

‘Huh? Isn’t that the same rock I saw earlier…?’

Everything looked the same — trees, trees, and more trees. She’d gotten lost.

By the time she realized it, she was walking the exact same path she’d come down.

‘Where am I?! I need to get back to Noah!’

For a moment, Rosé panicked at the realization she was lost — but then she remembered: she was a cat.

If she climbed a tall tree, she could get a better view of her surroundings.

‘Wow…’

She picked the tallest tree nearby and climbed to the top — and was stunned by the view.

The palace, gilded in gold, the neatly arranged gardens before it, and behind it all — a vast forest and a gently flowing river. It looked like a scene straight off a postcard.

‘Do people go swimming there in the summer?’

If this were a peaceful romance novel, the main characters would probably be splashing around in that river right now…

‘Seriously, couldn’t I have been reincarnated into a nice, comfortable story, even as a cat?!’

Even as she admired the view, Rosé couldn’t help but sigh.

And then — she heard her name faintly in the distance.

“Lady Rosé! Where are you?”

“Lady Rosé! Please come out!”

“Lady Rosé!”

She could hear Evelyn and Amelia’s voices — and even Jonathan’s occasionally.

‘Ugh, they already noticed I was gone.’

It wasn’t even lunchtime yet — how had they figured out she’d left her bedroom?

Feeling guilty, Rosé turned toward the direction of the voices and leapt from tree to tree.

“Meow! Meoww! (Here! I’m over here!)”

She didn’t expect the Emperor himself to be out looking for her… but there he was.

As she finally reached a spot where she could see the storage building, she also saw Noah striding toward her from the distance. Even from far away, it seemed he had heard her cries.

‘What if he’s mad…’

He’d probably scold her and the maids too. Rosé, growing anxious, picked up speed.

‘Ack! Wrong jump!’

But while leaping to another tree, she lost her footing.

She stumbled — and started falling.

There was no way to correct her balance midair.

‘Nooo!’

She thought she was going to crash face-first into the ground — but someone caught her.

Noah had somehow reached her just in time.

Rosé had tightly shut her eyes, but now she slowly opened them and looked up at him.

‘Noah…’

She’d expected him to yell — but instead, he held her tightly and let out a deep sigh of relief.

‘He wasn’t worried about the maids first — he was worried about me.’

That’s when Rosé realized something she hadn’t considered.

If she disappeared, Noah would worry.

He was always so composed — no foolish antics, no nonsense. She kept forgetting what she meant to him.

True to form, Noah couldn’t calm his heavy breathing after catching her. No one else noticed, but the hands holding Rosé were trembling.

Just like in the novel.

He held her silently, finally able to breathe — and grew anxious if she wasn’t around, even for a moment.

She’d forgotten that too.

He looked so strong on the outside. She hadn’t expected this level of fragility.

As Noah’s labored breaths continued, Rosé clamped her mouth shut.

The Emperor, running around out of breath, just to find one cat?

Her heart fluttered with happiness — but also ached.

Just how alone must he have been… to cling to a single cat like this?

Still, this was bad.