“I’m sorry, but please leave now.”
“…What? Are you talking to me?”
“Yes. Due to personal reasons, I won’t be doing business in the evenings anymore.”
Aria’s voice flowed out colder than a slab of ice.
“So why—”
“I’m not obligated to explain my personal reasons to a customer. If you truly wish to visit our establishment, would you please come during the day?”
The man’s face crumpled in an instant, twisting into a look like he’d bitten into something rotten. He muttered something under his breath in a low, ominous voice.
“……Stuck-up bitch, playing hard to get. And I don’t like that damn cat either…….”
“Please leave.”
Aria firmly repeated her request for him to go. The man left with obvious ill will, radiating irritation as though he was only leaving against his will, kicking the door on his way out.
I didn’t sleep a wink all night. Afraid that bastard might come back and cause trouble.
Even inside my cozy, fluffy little hideaway house, I couldn’t relax. It seemed the female lead felt the same — she was up before sunrise and had already started preparing for the day.
It was while I was having breakfast and resting on the first floor.
Jingle jingle.
At the sound of the door opening, I immediately went on high alert. I snapped my head around — and thankfully, what I saw was a head of dark navy hair.
Hey!
I scrambled toward the male lead.
What took you so long?! You’re way too late making your entrance! Do you have any idea what happened last night?!
Seeing the male lead’s face for the first time in four days, a rush of indignation surged through me. I trailed after him like a walking siren, meowing and wailing nonstop.
Raymon stopped in his tracks, looking flustered as he gazed down at me.
“Oh? Raymon…?”
Aria, who had just come out of the kitchen, spotted him and looked genuinely surprised. A subtle smile ghosted across Raymon’s face at the sight of her. It disappeared just as quickly, of course.
“Good morning.”
“Yes, good morning.”
Even at such a stiff greeting, Aria responded with a bright smile.
“More importantly, why are you just standing there? Please come in.”
“Well… I’m not sure why, but it seems the cat is upset with me.”
“Pardon?”
Understanding dawning on her, Aria burst out laughing.
It was funny enough — a large grown man frozen in place, seemingly at a complete loss over what to do in front of a small cat.
“I’ll step back outside and come in again once the cat has calmed down.”
“No, it’s fine. He’s just excited to see you.”
“…He’s excited to see me?”
“Look. His tail is held up high. That’s a sign of happiness.”
That’s right, you idiot. I’m asking why you only showed up now.
“Roro has never greeted a guest this enthusiastically before. You’re the first, Raymon.”
“Is that so.”
Raymon gathered his courage and gently touched the top of my head. Who said you could do that. I gave him a slight side-eye.
“Have you eaten?”
“I ate before coming.”
“Then you’ll need some tea. Is green tea alright?”
“Yes. That’s fine.”
Aria guided him to a window seat in the shop, then headed to the kitchen to brew tea. In the meantime, I sat beside the male lead and let out a long string of grievances.
I’m so on edge because of that bastard, I could die. Can’t you just hurry up and have him locked away? I can’t live like this, it’s making me anxious….
Yes — I was anxious right now.
Because what had happened last evening was different from the original story. The scene where that stalker showed up at night and pounded on the door, and the scene where the female lead chased him away — neither of those existed in the webtoon.
It was different because I was here.
Aria must have responded more aggressively in order to protect me. It was a relief that she drove him off, but the problem was that he wasn’t the type to back down so quietly.
What if he developed a grudge against Aria? …Not knowing how he might act from here on out made me feel impossibly unsettled.
Not that Raymon could hear any of it — to him, it probably just sounded like a cat meowing and whining.
Can’t even talk to him since I’m a cat… this is so frustrating.
I let out a long string of sighs. Raymon watched me with curious eyes.
Aria approached carrying a tray with teacups. The faintly bitter scent of green tea tickled my nose.
“Thank you.”
The two of them chatted occasionally as they shared their tea. The atmosphere was so tranquil it could make even a watching cat yawn.
“And — I owe you for the other day.”
Raymon took something out from inside his robe and set it on the table. It was a leather pouch.
“I prepared this out of gratitude, so please don’t feel too pressured by it.”
“Sorry? What is this?”
Obviously a pouch of gold coins. The female lead opened the leather pouch and, sure enough, looked startled and immediately declined.
“No, I can’t accept this.”
“Please take it.”
“No, this is far too much money.”
“Then at least let this cover the cost of the tea…”
“But I put this out so we could drink it together. I have no intention of charging for it. Please put it away.”
At the female lead’s gentle but firm words, the male lead obeyed like a well-trained military dog. His stoic face looked just a little bit put out, though.
“I apologize if it made you uncomfortable.”
“There’s no need to apologize. Instead, please visit us often from now on.”
The male lead, in the middle of tucking away the leather pouch, suddenly looked up.
“…Is that alright?”
“Of course — having one more kind, regular customer would be nothing but a pleasure.”
“……Yes. I’ll become a regular.”
Heh, he looks happy. It was fascinating — seeing such vivid emotional shifts that you’d never get to see in the webtoon.
“By the way — did something happen?”
“Pardon?”
“…It may not be my place to ask, but your expression looks somewhat dark.”
“Ah. Does it?”
Aria smiled awkwardly.
“I didn’t sleep well last night.”
“If you have something weighing on you, I’m willing to listen.”
At the sincerity in Raymon’s gaze, Aria seemed to deliberate for a moment before speaking.
“…Recently, a strange man has been coming to the shop. He shows up during the evenings when there aren’t any customers, and every time he does, Roro gets frightened and stressed.”
I wasn’t frightened. I was furious.
“Last night… Roro wasn’t feeling well, so I closed up early, but he came to the shop and got angry. I managed to send him away, but… he seems like such a strange person, it’s been on my mind.”
“…I see. Something like that happened.”
A look of displeasure flickered across Raymon’s face. Then he seemed to make up his mind and spoke.
“I’ll help you.”
“Pardon? You will?”
“I should have mentioned it sooner — I’m a knight by profession.”
More precisely, the Commander of the Knights.
“If you ever need assistance, would you call on me? I’d like to repay the favor from before.”
“I’m grateful just to hear that. But I can’t involve someone who has nothing to do with this.”
“Mrrrow!”
I shot to my feet. What do you mean he has nothing to do with it — he’s your future husband! Just let him help!
I climbed up onto the table and tried to convince Aria, but—
“Roro, why are you crying? You just ate… how strange.”
Aria, unable to understand me, only tilted her head in puzzlement. She wrapped both arms around me and tried to calm me down.
“In any case, just having someone listen was more than enough.”
…That was right — in the webtoon too, the female lead declines once. Even so, the male lead, worried, begins patrolling the area around the shop whenever he has free time each day.
It takes an hour and a half by carriage from the capital to get here, and later on the male lead even has a dedicated magic portal built so he can visit every single day.
To put into perspective just how absurd a waste of money that is — it’s like chartering a private jet worth hundreds of millions just to come drink a few-dollar cup of tea.
Well, I suppose that’s exactly the kind of thing that qualifies you as a proper male lead.
“…Even so, if anything happens, please let me know.”
“Yes, I will.”
After that, the two of them talked for another thirty minutes or so.
“It’s already so late……. I should be going.”
Raymon rose from his seat. I climbed down from the chair and bit the hem of his robe.
“Grrrrr!”
Don’t go!!! Just in case, stay until nighttime!!
When I refused to let go of the hem of his robe, Raymon came to a halt, visibly at a loss.
“I’m so sorry!”
Aria quickly grabbed my body to stop me, but I stubbornly clamped my teeth down harder.
“Roro, Raymon has to go. Are you sad to see him leave?”
“…Grrrr.”
“Come on, let go. Be good.”
What are you going to do if that bastard comes to cause trouble?
“You’ll come back tomorrow, won’t you, Raymon?”
“I’ll come tomorrow.”
“Roro, did you hear that? He says he’s coming back tomorrow. So let’s let him go.”
Aria coaxed me gently. At that gentle tone, I had no choice but to open my mouth and release the robe.
I watched Raymon’s retreating back as he left the shop, tapping the floor steadily with my tail.
…Right. I need to use my head. If I’m going to think like a person, I need to think smart.
Tomorrow, once the male lead arrives, I’ll make him stay until nighttime no matter what.
I thought hard about how to keep the male lead here. Should I accidentally knock over some water and soak his clothes? No, he’d probably just leave in wet clothes.
Or maybe I could write a fake threatening letter while pretending it was from that bastard, to make the male lead too worried to leave.
That’s it!
I immediately headed upstairs. I made my way to a book Aria had left out after reading and opened only the first page.
The very first page was usually a blank flyleaf with nothing written on it. I gripped the blank paper with my mouth and tore it out.
Then I climbed up onto the desk and found the ink bottle. I struggled to pull the cap off with my teeth. My tiny teeth — smaller than a grain of rice — nearly came out along with it.
