Chapter 11
Catherine left Rose, who was busy reading the newspaper from beginning to end, and went outside to feed the cat.
The heavy rain had lasted for two straight days, and she hadn’t been able to feed it even once.
She had been worried about that.
As if it had been waiting for her all this time, the cat called out from the patch of weeds where it always stayed.
Meow—
“My goodness… how do you keep getting ten times bigger every time I see you?”
As she opened the can of food, Catherine measured the cat with her eyes.
When she had first arrived here, it had looked like a kitten no more than four months old.
But now, less than a month later…
It had grown so large that it didn’t seem much smaller than Catherine herself.
It had practically gone from a kitten to the size of a person in only one month.
The growth rate was unbelievable.
Do cats normally grow like this?
Hmm…
Absolutely not.
Meow—
“Excuse me.”
Still…
As long as it was healthy, that was enough.
Having faithfully fed it every day made her feel strangely proud.
“Miss?”
She remembered her mother saying something similar when she was around ten years old.
My little girl has already grown so much.
“Miss! Are you listening?”
…I miss Mother.
After I finish feeding the cat, maybe I’ll go look at Mother’s portrait…
Wait.
Mother’s portrait?
“Ah!”
She finally remembered why the book Cesare had borrowed had looked so familiar.
It was the very book where she had hidden her mother’s picture.
No way!
There weren’t many books in the mansion to begin with.
Yet out of the ten or so books…
He had borrowed that one.
“Oh no… my book!”
“Miss!”
“I’ve been trying to get your attention!”
Catherine hurriedly stood up—
Thud!
“Aah!”
“Ugh…”
Someone groaned.
Rubbing away the tears that had formed from the pain, Catherine looked up.
The man she had bumped into was one of the Imperial Knights who had broken into the mansion the previous night.
“Why are you here…?”
Was his name…
Damian?
The knight Cesare had punched.
Rubbing his aching chin, Damian answered with a grimace.
“His High… no.”
“Lord Cesare sent me here.”
“You came without ringing the bell again.”
Had he already forgotten getting beaten up for trespassing?
Damian pointed toward the mansion with an unfair look on his face.
“Because your doorbell is broken!”
“I’ve been waiting outside for two whole hours today!”
Catherine didn’t have time to listen to excuses.
She needed to get that book back immediately.
What if Cesare carried it around carelessly and lost her mother’s picture?
“Fine.”
“Just tell me why you’re here and leave.”
“I’m very busy right now.”
But…
How am I supposed to call Cesare?
Their meetings had never happened because of appointments or chance.
He was always the one who came to the mansion.
She had never imagined she’d have to look for him herself.
Seeing Damian hesitate…
Catherine finally snapped.
“I said hurry up!”
“…I’ve been ordered to receive punishment here for ten days.”
“Punishment?”
“For breaking into the mansion?”
“Yes.”
She had only guessed.
She hadn’t expected to be right.
Damian ran a hand through his hair and spoke with a defeated sigh.
“So…”
“Damn it, this is embarrassing.”
“For the next ten days…”
“You may order me to do any work you want.”
“Good.”
“Then clean up our garden.”
Could a Grand Duke really order Imperial Knights around like servants?
Catherine had no idea what authority Cesare had.
But she had something much more important to deal with.
“…What?”
Damian blinked blankly and looked around.
The weeds around him had grown all the way to his knees.
“You mean…”
“This mess?”
“Me?”
“By myself?”
Catherine nodded and headed toward the mansion.
The only way she could think of to summon Cesare was the magic circle in the basement.
The first time they met…
He had appeared because of that suspicious magic circle.
“You’re seriously going to waste one of the Empire’s greatest talents like this?”
“Are you in your right mind?”
She went upstairs to her bedroom, took the basement key, and came back down.
Damian followed behind her nonstop.
“Fine.”
“I’ll do it.”
“But a mansion this big must have a gardener, right?”
“I’ll just help him.”
His constant talking made her head ache.
“…Right?”
“That’s how this works?”
“So where is the gardener?”
“Sigh…”
“We don’t have one.”
“…What?”
“A mansion this large doesn’t even have a gardener?”
“You’re joking.”
Are all Imperial Knights like this?
What happened to dignity… seriousness… and discipline?
Catherine quickly blocked Damian before he entered the basement.
“Don’t come in!”
“Why?”
“Didn’t I tell you to go clean the garden?”
“I’m not pulling weeds with my bare hands.”
My head…
She was certain now.
Cesare had sent this man here just to give her a headache.
“Then wait here for a moment.”
“Why?”
“Can’t I go down?”
Why, why, why…
But after thinking about it…
There wasn’t really any reason to stop him.
A goat-headed monster had nearly destroyed the mansion before.
Who knew whether the magic circle was dangerous too?
Having company was probably better than going alone.
“Fine.”
“You go first.”
Catherine pushed Damian ahead and they descended into the basement.
Having an Imperial Knight with her made her feel a little safer.
When they reached the bottom of the long staircase…
Damian stopped.
“I have a bad feeling about this.”
“You’re absolutely right.”
Good instincts.
Even so…
He apparently preferred this over pulling weeds with his bare hands.
Damian carefully pushed open the wooden door.
Immediately…
The enormous crimson magic circle came into view.
“Whoever possesses me shall rule the world.”
It looked as though flames could burst from the floor at any moment.
There was no time to investigate it.
Catherine picked up an old mop leaning against the wall.
“…Ha.”
“So this is what he was talking about.”
While Catherine soaked the mop in a bucket of filthy water…
Damian let out a long sigh behind her.
“To think something this incredible was hidden beneath the basement…”
“That old wooden door alone has been containing all of this magical energy?”
“How?”
She understood why he was fascinated.
But she hadn’t brought him here to admire it.
“Come here, Sir Damian.”
“Help me erase the magic circle.”
Fortunately…
There were a few more old, dried mops among the broken furniture.
She soaked one and handed it to him.
Damian’s serious expression instantly disappeared.
“You want to erase…”
“This magic circle?”
“You’re joking… right?”
“No.”
“I’m serious.”
“Hah…”
Damian laughed in disbelief.
His face practically said,
Is this fool out of her mind?
He wasn’t helping at all.
He was only getting in the way.
Catherine’s patience was beginning to run out.
Still…
She held it in.
“If you don’t want to help…”
“Go upstairs and pull weeds instead.”
She tossed the mop aside and began scrubbing the magic circle herself.
If she rubbed hard enough…
It actually came off.
After staring blankly for a long while…
Damian suddenly rushed toward her.
“Miss!”
“Have you lost your mind?”
“Do you even know how dangerous…”
“…and how valuable this magic circle is?”
“I wondered why he sent us here, but…”
Creak…
“But?”
At that moment…
The tightly closed basement door slowly opened with a loud groan.
Damian immediately turned around, stepped in front of Catherine, and placed his hand on his sword.
The cold air of the basement suddenly felt even heavier.
Then…
Someone appeared beyond the glowing red magic circle.
“Go on.”
“Finish what you were saying.”
It was Cesare.
Just as always…
He wore nothing more than a shirt and vest.
Standing in the crimson light…
His silver hair almost looked red.
Catherine’s tense shoulders immediately relaxed.
Damian, however…
Remained frozen like a statue until Cesare stood right in front of him.
Looking directly into Damian’s face…
Cesare smiled pleasantly.
“Why did you stop talking, Sir Damian?”
“Go on.”
“Or were you planning to run straight back to that ‘person’…”
“And report everything hidden inside this mansion?”
“…Haha!”
“Of course not!”
“I didn’t see anything here!”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
“What?”
“Are you pretending I don’t exist?”
“Or…”
“Am I simply invisible to you?”
“N-No!”
“I would never say something like that to you, Lord Cesare!”
“I only meant that I’d keep my mouth shut!”
Whenever Damian stood before Cesare…
His endless chatter disappeared like magic.
Cesare glanced at Catherine before lightly patting Damian’s shoulder.
Even that small gesture made Damian flinch.
“Go upstairs…”
“And pull weeds with your bare hands, Sir Damian.”
“Y-Yes!”
“Thank you!”
A moment ago he acted like that was impossible.
Damian bowed deeply and fled the basement at lightning speed.
Catherine watched the entrance where he disappeared.
For some reason…
She had a feeling he would literally pull out every single blade of grass and turn the garden into bare dirt.
Cesare watched her quietly and shrugged.
“I thought it would be you.”
“Miss Panya is the only person who would dare do something so ridiculous to that magic circle.”
What kind of nonsense is that?
But what surprised Catherine even more…
Was that he had actually appeared the moment she tried to erase it.
He’s not secretly watching this mansion… is he?
Come to think of it…
She was the one who had first told Damian to pull weeds with his bare hands.
“Why are you looking at me like that?”
At this point…
Her suspicion felt completely reasonable.
Catherine narrowed her eyes.
“It’s nothing.”
“I just didn’t expect you to actually appear.”
“…Don’t tell me…”
“You did all this just to call me?”
For the first time…
Cesare looked genuinely troubled.
No…
It was a strange mixture of embarrassment, amusement, and disbelief.
Leaning against the basement wall, he scratched the back of his neck.
“You really do find a new way to surprise me every other day.”
“Very well.”
“Why did you call me?”
Finally!
That’s exactly what I was waiting for.
Catherine clasped her hands together.
She looked more desperate than she ever had before.
“The book you borrowed from me…”
“If possible…”
“Could you return it right now?”
“There’s a photograph inside that’s very precious to me…”
