Chapter 28
With pain like that, it would’ve been easier to just tell the truth, so why he kept enduring it was beyond me.
“Spare me, please spare me! Hic. I– I was wrong about everything. It’s true I pretended to save the Duke, hic. Not only did I embezzle property, I also committed a grave offense against the young lady. Hic. I slandered her.”
“Do you admit your crimes?”
“I admit it! Please, please, at least spare my life…”
Peeking through narrowed eyes, I saw the butler crawling on the floor, his legs seemingly broken.
His petty-looking face was covered in tears. I thought I would feel relieved, but strangely, I didn’t.
At that moment, a gentle light radiated from the Duchess, flowing toward the butler.
It was part of the light magic the heroine once used—healing.
With a cracking sound, the butler’s broken bones snapped back into place.
“Thank you! Thank you, Duchess!”
“There’s no need to thank me. I have another gift for you now.”
From her fingertips, a small flame bloomed, flying into the butler’s chest and sinking near his heart.
She spoke softly, as if reciting a poem.
“With every breath you take, you will feel the pain of your blood vessels burning.”
No sooner had she finished speaking than the butler clutched his chest, gasping for breath.
The black smoke still clinging to him seeped into his nose and mouth.
Perhaps this was not light magic at all, but the magic of darkness—its opposite.
“An unending nightmare. The perfect severance pay for you.”
“Guh—guhhhk…”
“From now on, you will labor not here, but in the work camps. When the sun rises, your body will be torn apart. When the darkness falls, your mind will shatter.”
Such was the end of his vile greed, which had trampled over a young girl.
I watched him for a while, then lifted my head toward the Duke and Duchess.
“Don’t forget—you both share the blame too.”
They were no less guilty of hurting Eloise.
The night was deep, so I hurried back to her.
She might have once again fallen asleep in sorrow, forgetting to even take her medicine.
When I came up from the basement and rushed to Eloise’s bedroom, the door was already slightly open for me.
“Come in, Lizet.”
Thankfully, she looked better than expected, holding a water cup as if she’d just taken her medicine.
As always, Sophie was quietly and kindly by her side.
“I’m back!”
I forced my voice to sound cheerful as I nestled into Eloise’s arms.
For some reason, I felt I could finally fall asleep peacefully tonight.
The next day, after a new butler was appointed to the Ducal household, I was the busiest of all.
There were still servants who seemed to have been in league with the old butler.
During interviews, they tried to stay calm, accusing the butler to save themselves.
As long as they remained, subtle disdain toward Eloise would spread like weeds.
‘Did they think I’d just leave them be?’
Without anyone’s orders, I secretly followed one of them.
Before entering her room, the maid glanced nervously around—suspicious behavior if I ever saw it.
Holding my breath, I peeked through the crack of the door.
She rummaged under her bed and pulled out a small box.
Then, taking an earring from her pocket, she placed it inside.
‘Wait—that’s the pearl earring Eloise said she was tired of not long ago, isn’t it?’
That was enough evidence. I darted from the servant quarters and ran toward the manor.
But perhaps I was in too much of a hurry—because I crashed straight into a suit of armor and tumbled across the floor.
“Yikes! Cat down!”
“Oh no, are you alright, Lady Lizet?”
“It’s the Captain of the Knights! Perfect timing!”
It was Whiston, the knight commander. I remembered his handsome face from our previous two encounters.
I told him what I had seen, and using his authority, he immediately began an investigation.
Thanks to that, evidence was quickly secured and the maid was arrested.
“Thank you for taking the initiative in this, Lady Lizet.”
“Please keep helping me in the future too!”
Having powerful backing was reassuring. But I didn’t stop there.
I caught the steward—the butler’s old henchman—striking lower servants.
One by one, I hunted down the rest of the guilty and delivered them to the knight commander.
Thus, in just a few days, a sweeping purge of the ducal household staff was underway.
“Sophie, I think I’m overworked these days.”
“You’ve really gone through a lot, running everywhere like this.”
Sophie smiled as she brushed my fur.
Watching us, Eloise picked up one of the morning gazettes.
“There’s a saying going around about the Duke’s house these days: ‘By day, Lady Lizet listens, and by night, the cat listens.’”
“So in the end, it’s all just me, huh.”
A soft chuckle rang out above my head. Sophie’s brushing made my body feel heavy and drowsy, like melting into the floor.
Daytime hunting mice, nighttime massaging Eloise—my body barely had time to rest.
“Too much change isn’t good, Lizet.”
“I know. I was only planning to weed out the ones allied with the butler anyway, Eloise.”
I wanted to rest too. As soon as the brushing ended, I hopped onto the sofa and rubbed against her sleeve. She sighed softly and stroked my head.
“What if the Second Prince bans you from entering the palace?”
“Marcel? Ban me?”
I widened my eyes, and Eloise gently rubbed my chin.
It felt so good I forgot all about human dignity.
“Purrr~”
“I heard you even clawed out the butler’s whiskers?”
“Purrr. Yup, yup. He was the one who hurt you the most.”
Eloise’s hand stilled, leaving my head tilted to the side.
Right after the Duke couple’s curse-like punishment, I had ripped out all of the butler’s facial hair—practically tearing open his mouth.
“Lizet.”
“That trash didn’t just harass you, Eloise. He even tried to pin his crimes on you. Don’t you feel wronged?”
She neither confirmed nor denied it.
Setting down the gazette she’d been reading, she lifted me into her arms.
Her cold body temperature enveloped me, along with the slow beating of her heart.
“Eloise, now that the butler’s gone and so many people have changed, things will be fine.”
“Yes. It will be fine. So rest easy.”
She whispered the very words I wanted to say. Her turquoise eyes glittered under the chandelier light.
The butler would suffer a fate worse than death. Still, it was nothing compared to the sorrow Eloise endured.
“Eloise, what were you reading? I’m curious too.”
I only meant to lighten the heavy mood, but her brow furrowed.
She set me on her lap and pointed at the paper on the table.
“The society gazette.”
The newsletter that reported social affairs every two or three days—Eloise never missed it.
Every noble in the Kalenia Empire would know whatever was printed there.
On the front page was a huge portrait of a white cat wearing a sapphire necklace.
That necklace looked awfully familiar.
“What cat is this?”
“The demon cat casting a shadow over House Monclaire.”
Eloise read the headline aloud. Apparently, that lovely cat was supposed to be me.
The Demon Cat Casting a Shadow over House Monclaire
The Duke’s cat, Lizet, who sparked the cat craze in the Imperial Capital of Kalenia, recently made headlines by speaking during the Imperial pet tea party. Some nobles have speculated Lizet might be a beastman… Unlike ordinary cats, Lizet—brought from the Northern Mountains—has heterochromatic eyes…
“Hmmm.”
Recently, many servants including the butler have been replaced at the Duke’s estate. The dismissed all claim, in unison, that their lives were ruined because of the cat. Is Lizet truly safe from the mana of demons?
Though dressed in flowery words, the message was simple.
They were calling me a cat tainted with demonic mana.
This world believed not only in beastmen and magic, but also in angels and demons.
It seemed the Northern Mountains carried some kind of legend about demons.
‘So, they’re trying to tarnish the Duke’s prestige with scandal, huh.’
“Lizet, can you read?”
“Mrrrow?”
Startled, I let out a cat’s meow.
Eloise’s eyes grew cold as I stared fixedly at the gazette.
Only nobles with proper education could read. If a mere cat could too, it would look all the more suspicious.
