“Catsha?”
“What?”
Sensing that something was wrong, Melissa slowly nodded.
“You mean that kid people in the village were talking about? They say a Catsha’s been roaming around, so a few people are already lying in wait in the village. We could call them over right now.”
“……What are you talking about?”
Melissa frowned.
“What are you planning to do by calling those people?”
“Mel.”
The man calmly called out to Melissa, who was starting to let her emotions get the better of her.
“Do you have any idea how much a Catsha is worth? This isn’t the time to be worrying about things like that.”
“You’re going to hand over a child that young to a place like that just for money?”
A Catsha’s bounty was enormous. That was why illegally run shops were desperate to capture one by any means necessary.
“…?”
As the voices grew louder, Neya, who had been asleep, also woke up.
There wasn’t a separate room—just a single bed beyond a very thin wooden wall—so Neya could hear everything they were saying.
“Mel!”
At the shout that followed, Neya flinched.
Carefully climbing down from the bed, she hid behind the wall and watched what was happening.
“Our baby will be born soon! If we just hand over that one kid, we’ll never have to worry about money again!”
“No matter what, how can you sell off a child who doesn’t know anything…!”
“Think carefully, Mel.”
Grabbing Melissa by the shoulders, the man spoke in a desperate voice.
“…We have to save our own child first.”
“…”
At those words, Melissa could offer no rebuttal.
‘…They’re going to sell me?’
She remembered what Alex had once told her—how there were many places outside that illegally sold off Catshas, and that she needed to be careful.
She knew such things happened, but Neya had never imagined she would experience it herself.
“…”
Though she was young, a Catsha’s instincts still lived within her.
Sensing danger, Neya immediately transformed into her cat form. There was a small window beside the bed.
She leapt straight through it. Being such a small cat, she made no sound at all.
Outside, the rain was still pouring relentlessly, but Neya ran without a second thought.
It was the first time she had ever felt fear.
Having left behind everything—her clothes, her compass—Neya could only run aimlessly.
After running for a long time, her foot slipped and she sprawled onto the ground.
At some point the rain had stopped, but the dirt was still soaked from the downpour earlier.
Unable even to think about getting back up, Neya lay there, exposed to the rain.
‘I’m cold…’
She didn’t even have the strength left to turn back into a human.
Azure had been right. A young Catsha could never survive alone outside.
‘Hugh…’
She wondered if Hugh had once collapsed alone in a cold place like this. If he had suffered a lot.
Tears spilled from Neya’s blue eyes.
Her body temperature kept dropping. Just as she could no longer fight the drowsiness and closed her eyes, she suddenly heard the sound of a carriage in the distance.
Because it was climbing a rain-soaked hill, the carriage was moving slowly.
Following the road at a steady pace, it suddenly came to a stop—right in front of Neya.
“Oh dear…”
Seeing a cat collapsed in the middle of the road, the coachman looked troubled.
“What is it?”
At the voice that came from inside the carriage as a window opened, the coachman hurriedly replied.
“Ah, it’s nothing! I’ll take care of it right away, so you don’t need to worry!”
Before he could finish speaking, the carriage door burst open.
The one who stepped out was a young boy with red hair. His green eyes immediately went to the cat lying in front of the carriage.
The tiny cat lay limply on the ground, seemingly unconscious. Her white fur was smeared and stained with mud.
“A cat?”
Murmuring that, the boy walked straight over. The coachman panicked.
“Young master! It could be dangerous—please let the guards check first!”
No matter what he shouted, the boy paid no heed and crouched down in front of the cat. A guard who had been riding in the carriage approached him belatedly.
Keeping his eyes fixed on the cat, the boy said,
“She’s sleeping.”
“She looks like a dead cat. I think it would be best if we returned to the carriage for now.”
“Yes, young master! I’ll take care of it!”
Though the guard and the coachman said that, the boy didn’t pay them any attention.
Instead, without a moment’s hesitation, he reached out and picked up the cat.
As a result, his clothes were stained with mud as well, but the boy spoke as if it didn’t matter.
“Bury her.”
“Young master…”
Perhaps used to behavior like this, the guard wore a conflicted expression.
“…?”
Suddenly, the boy blinked and looked down at the cat in his arms, a puzzled look on his face.
Standing beside him, the guard tried to persuade him again.
“Young master. If the lady finds out, it’ll be serious. I’ll bury it instead, so—”
“She’s alive.”
“…Pardon?”
At those words, the guard asked back in disbelief.
Looking up at the guard, the boy said clearly,
“She’s alive.”
Tickled by the sunlight, Neya woke up.
‘Warm…’
She was sure she’d been out in the cold before falling asleep, but now everything felt soft and warm.
She still seemed to be in her cat form, and it felt oddly stuffy, as though she were being held by someone.
‘Who is it…?’
Neya slowly opened her eyes.
In front of her was a young boy, perhaps about seven years old. He was asleep, holding Neya tightly, his red hair mussed where it was pressed against the pillow.
Maybe because she moved, the boy slowly opened his eyes.
His gaze met Neya’s.
“…”
The boy smiled brightly and hugged her even tighter.
“It’s not time to wake up yet.”
He spoke to her as naturally as if this were nothing unusual.
At the same time, the way he stroked her was so gentle and kind that Neya’s eyes began to close again.
A soft purring sound escaped her as she was about to fall back asleep—but she suddenly snapped back to her senses and opened her eyes wide.
‘This isn’t the time for that!’
She didn’t know where she was or who the person in front of her was. After what she’d just been through, she couldn’t let her guard down.
‘What if I was captured?’
If she’d been sold to some terrible place like the man in the cabin had mentioned, it would be disastrous.
Neya struggled, trying to wriggle free from his arms. The boy reluctantly let her go.
As soon as she was on the floor, Neya hopped and bounded toward a nearby window.
‘I have to escape!’
If this was some awful place that exploited Catshas, it would be terrible. She didn’t know where she was, but all she could think about was getting home as quickly as possible.
But when she looked out the window, Neya couldn’t help but gasp.
‘It’s so high!’
It was a height impossible to compare to the countryside manor she’d lived in.
Beyond the window, she could see a garden and walking paths—and even farther away, several other grand, ornate buildings.
‘Just where is this place to be so extravagant…?’
Neya’s mind fell into confusion.
