ILTDAMH|CHAPTER 72

Chapter 72 

Cat’s Identity

This man… he really would cut off an arm or a leg without so much as blinking, just to drag me away.

I need to buy time. Somehow.

“…Huh?”

Marican glanced around the shop, then fixed Hugo with a deliberately calm tone despite the fear in her eyes.

“Listen. Even if we left this very moment, it would take at least three days to reach the capital. By then, the trial will already have begun. Don’t you think it’ll be too late to save your master? Besides, if you drag me out into broad daylight like this, people will call the guards. Do you really think you can get me to the capital?”

“Stop worrying. There’s already a carriage waiting outside. All I need to do is throw you in. So quit wasting your breath!”

A carriage, waiting outside?

So he came here intending to kidnap me from the start.

Can I really pull this off?

“Fine. I’ll come with you. But first… put away the knife.”

Her voice was steady, but Hugo only pressed the blade harder against her throat, as if to say don’t even try it.

A sharp sting shot through her neck.

Marican fought to keep her composure. She drew a deep breath, then channeled all her strength into her left foot—slamming it down onto his boot with everything she had.

“—Argh!”

Hugo staggered, the blade slipping from his hand in shock. In the same heartbeat, Marican drove her elbow into his solar plexus and tore herself free of his grasp.

His gaze snapped back toward her—

—and in that instant, Cat, who had been silently circling behind him, swung a broom down with brutal force against the back of his neck.

“Ugh!”

The blow landed square. Hugo, caught off guard by the relentless assault, collapsed heavily to the floor.

“Rosaline! Are you alright?”

Zelda rushed forward, catching Marican as she stumbled, blood trailing from her neck.

“I—I’m fine, Zelda. But Cat—!”

Supported by Zelda, Marican turned just in time to see Cat kneel beside Hugo’s fallen body, ropes already in hand. With startling efficiency, she bound his thrashing limbs, ignoring his furious shouts.

“Let me go! Untie me this instant!”

“Quiet, old man. I thought you seemed suspicious the moment you walked in. Who do you think you’re messing with?”

Cat smiled radiantly—far too bright for someone gagging and trussing a full-grown man. She tied the knots tight, forced a gag into Hugo’s mouth, then gave him another sharp whack to the back of the neck. His eyes rolled back, and he slumped into unconsciousness.

“All done! Peace and quiet at last. Boss, are you okay? Wow, you were amazing just now! I thought you’d faint for sure, but you didn’t. Seriously, where did you learn to move like that? Zelda, did you see? Wasn’t she incredible?”

I… I actually did it.

Marican stood frozen for a moment, stunned that the technique Ruan had taught her had worked. Cat’s excited praise brought a flush to her cheeks.

“C-Cat, it wasn’t that impressive. Ruan showed me, back when Prince Daimond caused trouble. I never thought I’d actually use it in real life. But… is he going to be okay? He isn’t dead, is he?”

“Of course not. He’s only unconscious,” Cat assured her cheerfully.

Zelda finally exhaled in relief, though her eyes went wide when she noticed the blood trickling down Marican’s neck.

“My goodness, Rosaline! You’re bleeding!”

“…Oh. I suppose I am.”

“Wait here, boss.”

Leaving Hugo bundled in the storeroom like discarded cargo, Cat fetched the first-aid kit. She gently cleaned the wound, applied medicine, and wrapped it with practiced care.

Marican blinked at her. “…Cat, who are you, really? Are you… a knight?”

“A knight? Oh, no no no. I’m just an employee.”

“An employee? Don’t be ridiculous. The Duke handpicked you himself, didn’t he? What’s your real identity? Did he plant you here as my bodyguard?”

Zelda’s suspicion drew a sheepish chuckle from Cat as she tidied the kit.

“Bodyguard? Ha! No way. I wanted to be a knight once, but… well, let’s just say I wasn’t smart enough. Think of me more as a helper. A go-between for the Duke.”

“A… helper?”

“Exactly. The Duke worried about you, so he sent me. But honestly? Living here, working alongside you every day—it’s been so fun that I kind of… forgot my real job. That’s why I slipped up today and let you get hurt. I’m so sorry, boss.”

Marican touched her hand softly. “Don’t be. If it weren’t for you, I might not even be alive right now.”

“But the Duke said you weren’t to suffer even the tiniest scratch. When he sees this wound, he’ll kill me for sure.”

“Cat, listen to me.” Marican gripped her hand tighter, her voice warm. “That will never happen. And if Ruan dares say anything of the sort, I’ll stop him myself.”

Cat’s eyes welled as she suddenly hugged her. “Boss… you’re always so kind, so gentle. No wonder the Duke likes you so much. Honestly, if I were a man, I’d have fallen for you too!”

F-Fallen for me? Oh, honestly…

Marican’s face burned red, while Zelda muttered from the side, “Really, Rosaline, there are no ordinary people around you. Every day with you is chaos—though I admit, never boring. But Cat, I had no idea you could fight like that. If even a so-called errand girl is this skilled, then I can’t imagine how terrifying real knights from the capital must be.”

“Eh? Zelda!”

At that, both Cat and Marican burst out laughing, the tension finally easing.

As they settled down, Zelda clapped her hands. “Right, enough of this. I’ll brew some tea.” She bustled off toward the kitchen.

Cat stretched. “I’ll check outside. That man claimed someone was waiting out there. I’d better see for myself.”

She returned a few minutes later, shaking her head. “Nothing. No carriage, no accomplices—he was lying.”

“Then we should close up shop for the day,” Zelda said firmly. “After all this, we can’t exactly serve customers like normal.”

Cat agreed. “Let’s leave him tied up in the storeroom for now. He won’t die from one day without food. When the Duke arrives, we’ll let him decide what to do.”

And with that, the three women quietly shut the shop.

…

That evening, safe at home, Marican lay in bed with Cat seated by her side.

“Thank you, Cat. Truly,” she whispered.

Cat smiled, mixing a calming draught into warm water and handing it over. “Don’t thank me. If you hadn’t had the courage to fight back, things might have ended very differently. Drink this—it’ll help you relax.”

Marican sipped. The bitterness was faint, almost pleasant, and warmth spread through her. Between the medicine and Cat’s presence, her body felt heavy with drowsy relief.

After a pause, she murmured, “You know… I don’t know anything about your family. Forgive me if it’s too personal a question.”

Cat shook her head and tucked a thick quilt around her. “It’s fine. There’s not much to tell. I’m an orphan. Left at the gates of a home for abandoned children. The matron named me ‘Cat’ because, apparently, when she found me, there were kittens curled up around the bundle I’d been wrapped in.”

Marican blinked. That’s how she got her name?

Cat laughed softly. “The matron was never very good at naming. One of the girls who came later was called Lily, simply because she was brought in on a day when the matron had received lilies as a gift. She hated the name so much she changed it to Elena when she grew up. Still, I call her Lily sometimes.”

Marican shook her head in disbelief. These names sound like a child’s game.

Cat went on, voice thoughtful. “We were sometimes chosen by nobles who visited to sponsor or adopt. Lily was taken in at nine, by an old lord who wanted a daughter. She was so beautiful, he thought to raise her as his lady. But…” Cat’s smile faded. “…he tried to hurt her. She fought back, bit his ear, and fled. She never went back. She joined the information guild instead, and only kept in touch with me.”

“So you stayed in the orphanage until you were fourteen?”

“Yes. That year, the Duke himself visited us. He wasn’t like the other patrons. He made us study, saying we needed skills when we turned eighteen and had to leave.”

“And you?”

“I hated studying. So I ran away. I joined Lily at the guild instead.”

Marican’s brows lifted. “So you are guild-trained.”

Cat nodded. “Yes. I was still young when my so-called senior botched a job and left me to take the fall. The guards arrested me. That was when the Duke found me again. I’d only followed orders, but the guild always expects juniors to obey. Still, he pinned it all on me.”

Marican’s eyes flashed with indignation. “That’s outrageous! How could anyone treat you like that? So… did you take all the blame?”

Cat smiled faintly at her anger—almost as if her boss’s fury on her behalf was comfort enough.