From above, the bathtub looked extremely wide and deep. Without exaggeration, it seemed big enough to fit not only a tiger but even a hippopotamus.
Well, if a tiger were to wash comfortably, it would need a bathtub large enough for something like a hippo to fit inside. A tiger might even splash around and play in it.
‘If the tub’s too tight, it’d be uncomfortable to wash properly.’
Marie carefully lowered me—dangling from her hand—onto the bottom of the tub.
I wandered around inside it.
It was so large that being in it alone made me feel like a person stranded on a deserted island.
After setting me down, Marie skillfully turned on the water.
Shhhhhh—
Water began to fill the wide tub.
Even after the water rose past my ankles and up to my waist, Marie didn’t turn it off.
If it fills all the way, I’m going to drown.
My eyelids trembled.
Surely she’s not accidentally filling it all the way… right? No way. Still, ever since coming to this mansion, I feel like I’ve been facing a lot of life-threatening situations that no one intended.
‘Marie, Marie. Please turn off the water.’
I’m not the same species as you.
I splashed the water with my front paws and looked at her desperately.
Splash, splash.
It was an SOS signal for survival.
Marie smiled brightly.
“Are you enjoying playing in the water?”
‘This isn’t playing! That’s not it!’
Despair filled me.
How did a survival signal turn into playtime?
‘Turn off the water!’
I kept splashing and stared at her with pleading eyes.
But Marie only looked at me with a satisfied smile.
So this is how I die after 19 years of life. So futile.
Will my epitaph read: “Cause of death — drowned while bathing”?
Fortunately, she didn’t actually intend to kill me. Soon, Marie turned off the water and began washing me.
Normally, cats hate water and would struggle wildly, but I wasn’t an ordinary cat. I simply left my body in Marie’s hands and sank into thought.
To be honest, it would be more accurate to say I was too exhausted from everything that had happened over the past couple of days to struggle.
‘How did I end up in the Cadelion mansion…?’
Cadelion of the North.
Serdihan of the South.
Ashila of the West.
Marcos of the East.
And the central free city.
Broadly speaking, the continent was divided into these five regions.
After the Age of Chaos ended, the beastfolk grew tired of fighting one another, and the representatives of each region came to govern their respective territories.
Thus, the beastfolk chose the strongest family in each region as their representative. Except for the central region, which was run freely by the agreement of four leaders without a single representative, the continent was divided into four main parts: East, West, South, and North.
The standard for determining the ruling family was simple.
The leading family would govern the region for generations, and if someone didn’t like it, they could simply kill the current ruler—like a subject rebelling against an emperor.
However, such events were extremely rare, even counting from the time the first rulers were chosen.
‘Recently, the leaders have changed quite a bit. Twice in just over ten years…’
Until now, except for Ashila in the West and Marcos in the East, the ruling families of the North and South had never changed.
The Cadelion family, where I currently was, was called the Shield and Spear of Ice.
Their official title was Guardians of Ice.
They were given that title because they protected against monsters from the northern mountain ranges.
But people tended to think it was more because “everyone in the Cadelion family is ridiculously strong, and above all, has a terrible temper,” so instead of being called Guardians of Snow, they were deliberately called Guardians of Ice.
“Are you okay?”
Lost in thought, I felt Marie gently kneading the back of my neck as she asked. The way she pressed into the tense spots showed real skill. This was talent.
‘Mm, yes. This is great.’
I purred contentedly and nodded.
If I ever turned back into a human and made some money, maybe I should repay her by opening a massage shop for her.
Anyway, Ian Cadelion—the current heir of the Cadelion family—was among the strongest of all its heads throughout history.
Those who had seen him on the battlefield all agreed: he didn’t seem like a beastfolk at all.
The book described him like this:
“Wrapped in golden, healing pheromones, he cut down enemies in a radiant blaze, exuding an overwhelming presence unlike anything seen in beastfolk.
Countless enemies were swept away like ants caught in a tidal wave, falling beneath the tip of his blade. His wounds healed the moment they appeared, and both allies and enemies marveled at the sight.
As he annihilated his foes, he looked like a god of war who had descended briefly into the mortal world out of sheer boredom.”
But isn’t there a saying that ability and personality are inversely proportional?
Ian Cadelion was a perfect example.
The male lead of this story was insane. And not just insane—he was insanely strong. The book even said he was among the most unhinged of all Cadelion heads.
They say when smart and powerful people go crazy, there’s no answer for it—and that was absolutely true. Who else would even think of imprisoning the owner of one of the continent’s largest merchant guilds?
‘No, a bit higher. Yeah, right there. Perfect.’
Enjoying the massage, I continued thinking.
In this grim novel, the female protagonist, Chloe, was the owner of a merchant guild.
And not just any guild—it was so large that anyone on the continent would recognize its name.
Was it one of the top ten? Or top seven?
Either way, the important thing was that Chloe’s guild was enormous.
That was why she could even attempt to escape the Cadelion mansion. At one point, she even came close to succeeding.
That alone was incredibly impressive.
In the original story, she tried to escape with the help of many beastfolk—but every attempt failed.
‘Especially when she tried to escape with the help of a snake—she almost made it.’
Ian personally explained to her, in detail, why each escape attempt failed—and what he did to those who helped her.
Cruelly, he would even add, “If you’d done it this way, you might have succeeded.”
As if mocking her to try again next time.
‘There’s no need to be that kind even here…’
As Chloe’s escape attempts became more frequent, one day he destroyed her merchant guild without even lifting a finger.
Then, smiling brightly, he threw the heads of those she had been waiting for—those who were supposed to help her escape—at her.
And said that her guild was gone.
Chloe fell into despair and tearfully begged him to spare her people.
Watching her, he excitedly described how the guild had been destroyed—
Even detailing what he planned to do with its members.
In the book, as he spoke to her, he looked like a child eagerly waiting to see what present he’d receive on Christmas.
And the guild’s end was brutally horrific.
A chill ran through me, and I shook my body, sending droplets of water flying everywhere.
“Shall we stop the bath, little kitty?”
Marie, now soaked by the splashing droplets, calmly dried me with a towel as if it didn’t bother her at all. Seeing her clothes wet made me feel a little guilty.
But she didn’t seem to care in the slightest, thoroughly drying the remaining moisture from my body.
‘Wow… that feels amazing.’
Even her towel-drying skills were exceptional. Seriously, she needed to open a massage shop. I’d only just met her, but I already liked her a lot.
After drying me to some extent, Marie grabbed me to lift me up.
‘Ah… I don’t like that…’
I’m never going to let myself be carried around like this again after today. Seriously.
Making a resolution I’d already made more than ten times since arriving here, I shut my eyes tightly and braced myself.
And then—
My body was suddenly lifted into the air.
Hey, at least give me time to prepare!
That’s just cruel.
‘Aaaah… it’s so high…’
Every time she lifted me, it felt like being on a roller coaster slowly climbing right before the drop.
From a kitten’s perspective, the height of an adult woman lifting me made the ground feel impossibly far away. Trembling, I placed both my front paws firmly on her hand—like I was clinging to a lifeline.
‘I’m going to develop a fear of heights at this rate…’
Well, I already kind of had one.
I squeezed my eyes shut.
‘Think about something else…’
I tried desperately to distract myself.
One sheep… two sheep… five sheep… no, that’s not working.
Chirp chirp, sparrows. Peep peep, chicks. Quack quack—wait, ducks don’t bark. Barking is for dogs. Am I losing my mind? And why does barking make me think of Ian Cadelion? He’s not a mad dog—he’s a tiger.
‘Wow… I’m in that tiger’s mansion.’
The reality of my situation suddenly hit me.
A baby kitten in a tiger’s den.
I had never imagined—or wished for—something like this.
‘What am I supposed to do now?’
The question had no answer. My thoughts became foggy, like my mind was shrouded in mist. Maybe because I’d just been bathed, my body felt warm and heavy. As soon as I relaxed, drowsiness crept in again.
With my eyes closed, the darkness ahead felt like my uncertain future.
‘…I already slept for 25 hours…’
Yet somehow, I kept getting sleepy.
Limp in Marie’s grasp, I drifted off once more.
Contrary to my worries, life in the Cadelion mansion for the past week had been peaceful.
Forget imprisonment—the male lead who brought me here was always too busy working to even show his face.
And that was absolutely wonderful.
So I lived the life of a typical freeloader—sleeping early, waking up late. Marie even remarked that I seemed to spend more time with my eyes closed than open.
‘Ah, the blissful life of an unemployed person…’
The soft pink cushion sank deeply under my weight as I climbed onto it.
At some point, things had started appearing in my room one by one. Before I knew it, the room had transformed into an incredibly cozy, almost addictive space I never wanted to leave.
It started with the super fluffy cushion I was lying on now.
Then came a luxurious-looking food bowl that made it seem like I should bow my head before eating, a cat house that felt too grand to even step into, and even a towering structure reaching up to the ceiling—like something out of a fantasy story.
At this rate, it felt like I could film a story about a kitten hero going on adventures inside this room.
“Kitty.”
Just as I was sprawled out lazily, someone called for me.
