Chapter 10: The Night We Didn’t Sleep

I dragged the cat to the bathroom to wash it.

But as soon as I brought it in, its instincts kicked in, and it started thrashing.

“Meooow! Meow!”

“Hey, hey!”

The cat escaped my arms and darted away.

“Get back here!”

It tore through the room bed, sofa, desk, wardrobe, everywhere.

Chasing it, I made a mess of the place.

“Huff, huff… Stop…!”

The problem? My stamina, or lack thereof.

Purina doesn’t exercise, so her endurance is awful.

In less than three minutes, I collapsed, exhausted.

“Ugh… Are cats always that fast…?”

‘Maybe you’re just slow.’

“It’s not me, it’s you who’s slow!”

Purina kept talking, but it wasn’t important, so I ignored her and started planning how to catch the cat.

Neuvillette…?

No, why does Purina always think of Neuvillette when she gets into trouble?

Why did he pop into my head?

How much has she relied on him?

‘I didn’t rely on him that much…’

Not exactly convincing, so I ignored her and thought of another plan.

Lure it with food?

But all I have is macarons and cake.

“Ugh, what do I do…?”

An ambush might be the only way.

Wait until the cat’s tired and falls asleep, then nab it.

“Alright.”

Let’s see who wins.

‘Um, Purina…’

Hours passed.

‘I’m getting sleepy…’

Forcing my drooping eyes open, I glared at the cat.

It stared back, unflinching.

“Grr…!”

Stubbornly, I glared harder.

The sun had set, and dawn arrived.

While everyone slept, I was still waiting for the cat to doze off.

“Why won’t you sleep…!?”

Then I remembered, cats sleep during the day and are active at night.

Is that it?

“Ugh…”

I’m reaching my limit.

Honestly, I could collapse and sleep right now.

My eyes kept drifting to the bed.

That soft pillow, those cozy blankets…

It’d feel so good…

“No, I can’t.”

Before I knew it, I was crawling toward the bed.

‘…’

Purina’s probably asleep already.

I haven’t heard her voice in a while.

“Ah.”

I give up.

I’m going to sleep.

“Lord Neuvillette!”

While Neuvillette was working, a Melusine approached him.

Smiling gently, he spoke softly.

“What’s the matter?”

“Purina hasn’t come out of her room. Is something wrong?”

At the Melusine’s words, Neuvillette’s smile cracked.

Purina.

Lately, she’s been acting like she’s mentally unwell, and it bothers him.

“Neglecting duties is a serious offense. Especially for the God of Water.”

Setting down his documents, Neuvillette spoke.

“Leave Purina to me. You can go.”

“Yes, Lord Neuvillette!”

As the Melusine left, Neuvillette let out a deep sigh.

“I don’t understand what she’s thinking.”

He stood and headed to Purina’s room.

Looking at the tightly shut door, he sighed and knocked.

Knock, knock.

“Purina.”

Wondering what she was up to, a worst-case scenario flashed through his mind.

Purina, seeing hallucinations and hearing voices.

An unstable Purina could be causing any kind of trouble in there.

With that thought, Neuvillette grabbed the door and pulled hard.

The door, which seemed unyielding, swung open.

And what he saw—

“Neuvillette…?”

A chaotic room and Purina, half-asleep, staring at him.

A loud bang startled me awake.

There was Neuvillette, standing at the door, looking down at me.

“Neuvillette…?”

He scanned the room and spoke in a low voice.

“…Purina. What’s going on here?”

I looked around. The room was a total mess.

Glancing back at Neuvillette, I said, “Um.”

I shoved control of the body back to ‘Purina’ and bailed.

“Ah…”

Purina let out a despairing sigh.

Sorry, Purina.

But the God of Water should handle this much.

“Purina, answer me.”

“W-Well, it’s…”

Flustered, Purina stammered.

Just as Neuvillette was about to say something—

“Meow.”

A cat’s cry echoed through the room. Everyone turned toward the source.

There, a black cat was meowing pitifully.

“I-I’ll explain!”

What followed was Purina’s explanation and excuses.

With Purina’s eloquent words, she barely managed to convince Neuvillette.

For some reason, he smiled when he saw the cat, but all’s well that ends well, right?

‘…’

Of course, soothing an upset Purina took quite a while.

“Heh, it was fun, though.”

‘…Not at all.’

I’ll probably be on Purina’s bad side for a while.

“Neuvillette, look at this. I brought a black cat.”

“…”

“Hehe, cute, right? ‘Purina’ loved it.”

“Purina.”

“If you want to find Purina, use this cat. She’d cry her eyes out the moment she sees it.”

“…Purina!!!”

“…”

“Please, stop it.

You know, don’t you?

Purina’s already gone. Accept it.”

“Neuvillette.”

“I saw it with my own eyes. Purina—”

“Neuvillette.”

“…”

“When Purina comes back, give her this cat.”

“…Alright.”

“Heh, thanks, Neuvillette.”