* * *
The castle had never housed any animals other than horses.
“Should we give it some milk?”
Xenia, one of the servants, was about to say they should ask permission before letting an animal into the grand castle, but she held her tongue when she saw Lowell’s expression.
He was looking at the cat with a slight frown, his gaze tinged with sympathy.
“No, if we have chicken breast, please boil some instead.”
The servants widened their eyes at Lowell, surprised at how knowledgeable he seemed about cats.
Meanwhile, Lowell reached out toward the quiet feline.
The Grey cat, which had been sitting still, let out a soft meow and sniffed his fingers.
“Let’s just leave it be in the castle for the winter. But don’t get too attached—it should be able to leave whenever it wants, without feeling tied down.”
Despite saying that, Lowell was already preoccupied with petting the cat, which clung to his hand.
He even sat down, shaking his fingers playfully to capture its attention.
“What are you doing?”
Felix had come looking for Lowell, unable to tolerate his brief absence, and found him waving his hand around in the air for some reason.
Seated on the ground, Lowell turned toward the sound of Felix’s voice.
“Oh, a cat wandered in because of the cold. I was going to give it something to eat.”
Felix glanced between Lowell and the cat before speaking.
“It’s pregnant.”
It wasn’t as if Lowell had suddenly become pregnant, so the meaning was obvious.
The servants immediately shifted their focus to the cat.
“Now that you mention it, its belly does seem a bit swollen. The fur must’ve hidden it.”
“Pregnant animals sometimes seek out human settlements. There aren’t many warm places around here, so it probably found its way to the castle.”
Felix explained, sounding completely unsurprised.
“Do you want to keep it?”
He asked a little belatedly, noticing how smitten Lowell seemed with the cat.
Unexpectedly, however, Lowell shook his head.
“Once you take something in, you have to take responsibility.”
Lowell wasn’t the type to avoid responsibility.
Sensing that there was more to his reasoning, Felix remained silent, waiting for him to continue.
“Besides, animals don’t live long. It’s fine to give it food or let it rest in a warm place, but… if I keep it, I’ll be heartbroken later.”
Felix now understood what Lowell was afraid of.
In Felix’s eyes, just feeding the cat already meant he had taken it to heart.
But knowing how kind Lowell was, he didn’t point that out.
He also wasn’t too thrilled about sharing Lowell’s attention with a fluffy little creature.
“Still, it’s impressive. It must’ve come all the way here to find a safe place for its kittens.”
One of the servants, who had brought the chicken breast, spoke with admiration while offering the food to the cat.
Lowell glanced between his own belly and the cat.
‘It’s doing better than me.’
He suddenly felt a bit embarrassed by the thought.
“So, it’s fine if we don’t kick it out?”
“Yeah.”
The servants, who had secretly wanted to take care of the cat, smiled in relief.
Meanwhile, Lowell found himself thinking about Choco, his previous pet in Korea.
He had sworn never to raise another pet again, so he figured he wouldn’t dote on this one too much.
That resolve didn’t last long.
The cat, which the servants named ‘Grey,’ quickly grew fond of Lowell.
Though Lowell refused to acknowledge it, it didn’t take even ten days for him to become completely attached.
“I told you to stop coming to me.”
Lowell spoke as if annoyed, but as the cat wove between his legs, he pulled a dried fish from his pocket.
He wasn’t heartless enough to push away an animal seeking affection.
‘If you really want it to stay away, you should stop carrying around things like dried fish.’
Felix watched as Lowell, still in denial, indulged the cat.
He had half a mind to shoo the animal away himself, but he knew that would only earn him a look of utter disappointment.
“Your belly’s gotten even bigger. You’re not hungry, are you?”
Lowell even spoke to the cat in a lilting voice, as if addressing a child.
‘He’s smiling from ear to ear.’
And yet, if asked whether he intended to keep the cat, he would still put on a sad expression and say, ‘No, I shouldn’t get too attached.’
‘At this rate, he’ll end up cuddling it to sleep.’
Felix clicked his tongue and continued watching.
Sensing his intense gaze, Lowell awkwardly got to his feet.
“I-It just seemed hungry.”
Grey was far from starving.
In fact, it was eating five meals a day instead of three.
In other words, Lowell was just making excuses.
“There’s a new batch of books arriving today, so I should go check them.”
Even as he said that, his gaze remained fixed on the cat.
Sensing his affection, the cat followed him all the way inside.
Lowell, careful not to step on it, walked in tiny, cautious steps.
‘Maybe I should’ve had the servants keep it from the start.’
But it was too late now.
Grey was already more attached to Lowell than the servants who fed it.
It even waited outside the tower for him.
Felix could only hope that this small creature wouldn’t bring Lowell any heartache.
“Grey is nowhere to be seen.”
But it seemed Felix’s wish wouldn’t come true this time either.
Another week had passed, and Grey, who had been appearing sporadically, had now vanished entirely, not even a single strand of fur in sight.
As the day wore on, Lowell’s face darkened with every passing hour.
To make matters worse, a blizzard struck the next day.
“Where could Grey have gone in this weather?”
Lowell let out his hundredth sigh as he stared out the window.
He had wanted to search the castle that morning, but Felix had barely managed to stop him.
Felix, watching Lowell pick at his food in frustration, sighed along with him.
He had scoffed, muttering, “So much for not being attached,” but Lowell, too distracted, hadn’t even heard him.
“Let’s have the knights search around the castle. So for now, stop worrying and eat something.”
“It’s not that I’m worried. I just can’t order the knights to go out in this snow.”
Despite his words, Lowell’s face was full of concern.
“For trained knights, this amount of snow is nothing. I’ll send a few out.”
“R-Really? That’s okay?”
A flicker of light returned to Lowell’s downcast eyes.
Just that reaction was enough to make Felix sure he’d made the right choice.
“Yes.”
Felix ended the conversation as if there was nothing more to discuss.
He didn’t know why Lowell was so adamant about denying his feelings, but he was starting to worry he’d make himself sick from fretting too much.
“Well… I’d feel bad if he froze to death. Even the people who fed him would be disappointed.”
Lowell hastily came up with a reason to justify the search. Felix gave him a cold stare.
‘If they find him, I’ll have him stay in the servants’ quarters this time.’
He had already decided on a way to keep Lowell from worrying so much over the cat.
“I’ll have them inform us if they find him, so for now, just rest. You’ve been up all day without a break.”
“Alright.”
* * *
