Episode 3
I woke up half-asleep to the soft touch stroking my back. When I raised my head, I saw Mamela smiling warmly.
“Aril, did you sleep well?”
“Meow.”
I rubbed my face against Mamela’s hand, then looked at the thick book she was ho 03lding in her other hand.
‘That’s the book Mamela always reads.’
From observing her daily habits—something every cat must do—I learned that, besides eating and sleeping, she spent the most time reading.
‘Does that book have something good in it?’
Curious, I placed my front paws on her leg and peeked at the pages.
But what I saw was just squiggly alien letters. They were packed so tightly, it was almost creepy.
‘Wait… is that really human writing?’
‘And they can actually communicate with that?’
Mamela laughed softly above my head, probably because she found my interest funny.
“Aril, should I read it to you?”
She put the book down for a moment, lifted me up, and set me on her lap.
When I looked up, her hand gently stroked between my ears. The pleasant touch made me flop down on her lap, purring loudly.
“Aril, do you know about Suin?”
“Meow?”
Mamela picked up the book again.
“In this land—the Holy Empire of Crodellia—people have worshipped the gods for a long time. Suin are beings that came down from the sky once every hundred years in the past. They look human, but half of them is made up of a spiritual animal.”
She pointed at an illustration in the book. Half of it was a human, and the other half was some kind of beast.
The bizarre drawing shocked me.
‘How can something like that exist…?’
If half is beast and half is human, then wouldn’t their bodies be uneven? How do they even live like that?
I decided I’d rather not meet one.
But Mamela, unaware of my thoughts, continued reading.
“Suin were said to bring happiness and prosperity to humans. But, for some unfortunate reason, they stopped appearing hundreds of years ago.”
She let out a soft sigh. When I looked up, she seemed a little sad.
“I really wanted to meet one, just once.”
“Meow.”
“When I was little, I truly believed Suin existed. But my brother told me it was all just superstition. So now… I don’t believe anymore.”
Mamela smiled bitterly, but when she turned a few more pages, her voice grew brighter.
“But this! This is why I wanted to meet a Suin. A partner! A Suin’s partner is chosen the very moment they first meet. Isn’t that so romantic? So fated?”
I stayed quiet, listening, but my head was full of confusion.
‘If only I could understand human words properly…’
I glanced at the strange letters filling the pages. My head spun a little, making me frown.
‘Why do I feel so frustrated…?’
It felt like something was on the tip of my mind but blocked by an invisible wall. Thinking harder only gave me a headache, so I gave up.
‘Weird. Why do these creepy letters feel so familiar?’
I slowly recovered my health. I still couldn’t overdo things, but now I could move around more freely.
During this time, something important had changed—my meals.
Before, Mamela gave me delicious milk in a bottle. Now, she poured brown kibble into a yellow bowl with paw prints.
“Aril, aren’t you hungry?”
When I only stared at the kibble with a sulky face, Mamela tilted her head.
“Aril?”
“Meow…”
Giving in to her gaze, I reluctantly crunched the food. But I froze at the taste.
What was this?
It tasted like moss. No—like licking the bottom of my paw!
It smelled like meat, but the flavor was bitter and weird. Still, with Mamela watching me eagerly, I couldn’t spit it out. I forced myself to chew and swallow.
‘Humans must have very poor taste…’
After struggling through, I finished it all. Then I sat politely and looked at Mamela.
There was a reason I endured it.
She beamed at me and patted my head.
“Good job, Aril. Since you finished everything, I’ll give you a snack today.”
She took out a crinkly bag from the drawer. Just the sound made my heart soar—the bag with dried meat inside!
“Here.”
“Meow!”
I snatched the little piece happily. It was tiny, gone in seconds, but oh so delicious.
‘So tasty!’
Purring, I wagged my tail, savoring the smoky flavor.
The only problem was Mamela’s snack-giving was random. And even when she did, the pieces were as small as my claw.
‘Maybe Mamela is poor…’
I couldn’t ask for more, since she herself always ate so quickly and so little. Maybe she didn’t have enough food.
Feeling touched, I gently patted her hand with my paw.
‘Once I’m fully healed, I’ll bring her lots of delicious things.’
With that vow, I swallowed the last crumb. But soon, a ball of yarn rolled by and caught my eye. Meat? What meat? I pounced and wrestled it with glee.
Mamela chuckled and stroked my back.
“Aril, I’ll do my homework now. Play by yourself, okay?”
I played with the yarn, then got bored, and went to chew on my fish plushie instead. Biting and clawing it felt strangely stress-relieving.
But then—rip!
I froze.
The plushie’s tail had torn, dangling by a thread.
‘What? It ripped? Is it broken forever?’
Panic hit me. Quickly, I turned my back to Mamela and stared at the damaged tail.
‘What do I do? Will she hate me?’
Trying to fix it, I frantically licked the ripped part, as if grooming would glue it back together.
But then—
“…Aril, what are you doing?”
I stiffened.
“Mee… meow?”
Slowly, I turned my head. Mamela was looking at me with a puzzled face.
‘She didn’t see the plushie!’
Sneakily, I pulled it under me and sat on it. Then I meowed brightly, pretending nothing happened.
“Meow!”
She smiled and patted me.
‘Phew… safe.’
But suddenly—paper appeared right in front of my nose! My heart nearly jumped out.
“I drew this,” Mamela said.
I tilted my head.
On the paper was… something.
She pointed at it proudly. “This is my brother. Doesn’t it look good?”
I blinked at the drawing, then at Mamela’s face.
“Meow…”
Honestly, it looked awful. Maybe it wasn’t even a drawing but some new kind of human writing?
Mamela giggled. “Don’t you want to meet my brother too, Aril?”
“Meow?”
“He’s much older than me. Everyone is surprised when they hear the age difference. But he’s amazing! In fact, in the Empire, if someone doesn’t know his name, they must be a spy.”
She raised her thumb proudly.
I stared at her thumb, then copied her with my little paw.
“Huh? Did you just copy me?”
She grabbed my paw suddenly. I panicked and wriggled, but she didn’t let go.
Laughing happily, she said:
“His name is Idilos. Remember it, Aril. He’ll be your family too.”
Then she let go and went back to her crayons, drawing cheerfully.
I sighed with relief and looked at my fish plushie.
Despite all my licking, the tail was still half ripped off.
‘When I lick my fur, it fixes itself… but this doesn’t…’
What if Mamela found out I ruined it? What if she thought I was a bad cat?
My chest tightened.
I pressed the plush down with my paw and thought desperately:
‘…Should I hide it?’
