"What a... what a gorgeous cat," Sigrid marvelled, staring at the pillow-soft feline in Lanqi's hands.
She immediately thought of Boss Cat's stray feline friend whom Hyperion had mentioned at lunch; to think it had wandered right into their kitchen.
Still, looking at how huge this cat was, it clearly had a hearty appetite.
"Uh..." Lanqi looked down at Talia-cat.
He saw only that the big gray cat was unusually well-behaved—or rather, startled out of its wits, curling into a ball, not daring to let Sigrid see it like this.
"Lanqi... Lanqi, can I hold it?"
Sigrid had heard from Hyperion that this cat wasn't fond of strangers, but would remember the kindness of anyone who fed it. Lanqi was clearly the one who had fed it the most.
Testing the waters, Sigrid took a small box of snacks from the cabinet, wanting to see if she could lure the cat with them in a moment.
"Meow..."
Yet the big gray cat huddled even tighter in Lanqi's arms, as if unwilling to leave his embrace, not even daring to face Sigrid with its head or tail, letting out a low growl.
"It's... Maybe you need to take your time befriending it," Lanqi said to Sigrid, sensing Tata's unease.
"Is that so? By the way, has Tata seen this cat? I'll go call her over—she's bound to love it."
Hearing this, Sigrid nodded with a hint of disappointment, understanding that befriending such a cat couldn't be rushed. She set down the snack box and prepared to leave the kitchen to find Tata.
Tata was likely doing chores in some room on the first floor, as usual.
"Meow, meow!"
The big gray cat jumped in fright, frantically pawing the air toward the snack box Sigrid had just set down.
If Sigrid searched every other room right now and found no sign of her, Sigrid would likely grow suspicious—even though Talia had completely concealed her human presence and appearance.
"It wants to eat this?" Sigrid asked Lanqi, picking up the snack box again with a hesitant look.
"Perhaps, yes."
Lanqi could only act as Tata's interpreter.
At this moment, Tata refused to speak human words, using telepathy to make him speak on her behalf instead.
"Kitty, come here?"
Sigrid took out a bacon waffle, broke off a small piece, and coaxed the big gray cat to jump over to her.
"Meow..."
The gray cat cast a pleading glance back at Lanqi.
Lanqi's face was a portrait of helplessness.
If you asked him, Tata shouldn't care about saving face right now; she should just generously admit to Sigrid that she was the cat.
"Meow!"
After a bout of agonized hesitation, Talia decided that if word got out that she had turned into a cat and let Lanqi stroke her, she might as well be dead. Gritting her teeth with a sharp meow, she braced herself and continued playing the cat.
It leaped down from Lanqi's embrace and padded toward Sigrid.
"Kitty, come here!"
Sigrid grew increasingly excited as she watched the cat draw near. She could hardly imagine how soft it would feel to wrap her arms around it.
"...Meow."
Enduring the shame in her heart, Talia took light, graceful steps toward Sigrid, constantly telling herself to focus only on the snack in Sigrid's hand.
Yet before Talia could even take a bite of the waffle, she felt herself locked in a grip and lifted into midair.
"Little kitty, I caught you!"
Sigrid beamed with happiness as she hugged and stroked the big cat.
"Meow, meow!!"
Caught completely off guard by the sudden weightlessness, Talia instinctively squirmed twice, only to realize there was no escaping at all. Faced with such overwhelming physical strength, resistance was futile, so she could only slowly give up.
"Sigrid, don't just hug it without feeding it. Cuddling without feeding is outright fraud," Lanqi chimed in from the side.
"Oh, right."
Snapping back to her senses, Sigrid hurriedly held the waffle up to the cat's mouth.
The big gray cat in her arms showed some resistance, bewildered by this sudden feeding. It tilted its head slightly, letting out a low whimper from its throat, deeply hesitant about whether to accept food from Sigrid.
"Do you not like this?" Sigrid asked in confusion.
Earlier, the kitty had clearly looked ravenous for the waffle, yet now that it was held to its mouth, it seemed not to want it.
"Meow."
A jolt of alarm flickered in the big gray cat's golden eyes, the lingering scent of pastry wafting past its nose. It sensed that Sigrid had noticed something amiss, detecting an inconsistency in its behavior as a cat.
If Sigrid's suspicions deepened, things would turn dire.
It had to act.
At last, it gingerly stuck out its pink tongue, leaning forward to lick the treat from Sigrid's fingertips. The savory sweetness of glazed roasted dried fruit and vegetables mingled with the aroma of cheese, blooming across its palate.
In that instant, it greedily bit the entire pastry into its mouth, chewing away.
Well, this was already her second time pretending to be a cat anyway. She might as well just tell herself she was a cat and stop overthinking!
Talia hypnotized herself continuously.
"..."
Watching the big gray cat stop resisting, Lanqi thought it was fine this way—at least it saved him from having to carry the cat to see Violet himself.
Talia was getting better and better at playing a cat.
Singing, dancing, voice acting, dramatic performance—she had the full repertoire.
Truly a multi-talented demoness; the Demon Realm had simply been too small a stage, stifling her gifts and talents.
"Meow!"
Talia let out a cat cry.
In her mind, she was also warning Lanqi.
If she weren't unable to speak right now, she would have pounced on him and given him a savage feline trampling.
"Now that you've found the cat Violet wanted, shall we head out?" Sigrid asked Lanqi, glancing at the tidied kitchen and the mana-powered dishwasher humming along.
"Sure, I'm ready too."
Lanqi looked at Sigrid, who had changed into a tailored white shirt beneath a flowing coat, paired with a long black skirt. Her crisp, dashing look bore a striking resemblance to the Cardinal of Hegemony. Over time, he had nearly forgotten her original aloof and haughty demeanor.
"Hold the snack box for me, will you?"
Giggling, Sigrid walked out of the kitchen. With both hands full holding the cat and wanting to keep feeding it on the way, she needed someone else to carry the box.
"The moment you smile, you stop looking like the Cardinal of Hegemony," Lanqi muttered at her request. Looking at the snack box resting on the counter, he shook his head, picked it up, and walked toward the foyer.
He took his gray overcoat from the coat rack.
"You talk about me? Back on the Northern Continent, your coat could be black, beige, or purple for more formal occasions, but it was almost always paired with a white shirt and a light-brown argyle vest, and half the time you wore a red tie. Now, all anyone ever sees you wear is that gray coat," Sigrid remarked, cradling the cat as she watched Lanqi drape the overcoat over himself.
"It was all because of that person that the two of us changed," Lanqi said, a flicker of emotion in his eyes as he lowered his gaze with a sigh.
"Yeah. If we could meet across a thousand years in a vast sea of people, it was all thanks to that person. Perhaps he was the real matchmaker."
Sigrid also seemed to recall the past, a faint smile playing at the corners of her lips.
If not for that person, she and Lanqi might never have met; in a sense, it was that person who guided their encounter.
Sigrid couldn't speak highly of Lanqi's matchmaking skills, but as for that person, she truly had to give him credit.
"Meow..."
Talia desperately wanted to retort, but she could do nothing except utter a meow. Even she knew which person they were talking about.
Lanqi pushed open the heavy wooden door, and the afternoon sunlight instantly flooded the foyer.
"Going out in the afternoon like this feels so warm and cozy. The winter sun doesn't feel scorching at all."
Lanqi had felt for a while now that the weather today was wonderful.
"Then let's have dinner outside tonight. Tata recommended several Brillda restaurants she carefully handpicked," Sigrid said to Lanqi as she stepped out of the manor into the courtyard.
"Sounds good," Lanqi agreed. As it happened, opportunities to explore restaurants in Brillda were running out.
They made their way through the monastery's residential area. The afternoon breeze drifted past, accompanied by the gentle, pleasant babble of the flowing river.
Beneath the clear sky, a vibrant, pure blue stretched out into the distance.
Lanqi and Sigrid set foot on the road leading toward the monastery's Grand Hall. This spacious residential street was even quieter in the afternoon, flanked on both sides by towering oak trees and lush green lawns.
"Are you going to leave a message for Tata, or should I?"
With both hands holding the cat, it wasn't very convenient for Sigrid to cast communication magic right now.
"It doesn't really matter if we don't. Leftovers don't exist in our house anyway."
Lanqi never had to worry about too much dinner being made at home.
"Meow!"
The big gray cat tried hard to lash Lanqi with its tail, but couldn't reach him.
Today was a weekday. Due to the early afternoon hour and the sheer size of Saint Creti Monastery, few people were seen along the way.
The journey to the Grand Hall was still quite long, so they usually opted for the campus shuttles when traveling back and forth.
Walking along the residential road, a station quickly came into view.
Before long, their afternoon shuttle arrived.
Boarding the Saint Creti Monastery shuttle bus, Lanqi and Sigrid took seats in the back row. Looking out the window, they occasionally saw a campus worker or two, along with a few students walking toward the academic buildings.
Back on the Northern Continent, the two of them had often ridden together. Though it had been trains back then, the feeling of sitting side by side and chatting was very similar to this moment.
This time, however, even without chatting with Lanqi the whole way, Sigrid didn't feel bored in the least.
"Little kitty, you were born to be eaten up by Mama, mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah."
Once seated, she buried her face in her dream cat even more shamelessly.
The big gray cat endured Sigrid's nuzzling with an expression of utter despair.
"Outsiders can't stand us, and we can't stand outsiders," Lanqi remarked thoughtfully, leaning against the window.
Fortunately, aside from the driver, they were the only passengers on the shuttle at this hour. Otherwise, other riders would probably be staring right at them.
Sigrid was probably worried she would never see this cat again after returning to Ikerite, which was why she was determined to play with it to her heart's content all at once.
"Lanqi, save me, meow," Talia pleaded with Lanqi through her thoughts.
"..."
Lanqi's advice was that Tata should just confess to avoid even greater embarrassment when the truth came out later. But Tata was stubborn to a fault, clinging to her pride and dead set on playing the cat today, so Lanqi couldn't say much more.
"Where exactly did you pick up this cat?"
The more Sigrid looked at the big gray cat, the less it seemed like a stray, resembling instead a long-domesticated house cat.
"I first ran into it beneath the city walls. Then the next day, it came to my front door on its own..." Lanqi began weaving a tale for Sigrid.
Listening to Lanqi recount the past of how they met, Talia couldn't find a single flaw to refute. She truly wondered how on earth this man could utter such complete nonsense without technically telling a single lie.
Gradually, their destination came into view outside the window.
Situated in the south-central area of Saint Creti Monastery lay the Elsaya Sanctuary Healing Center. By day, sunlight illuminated the entire precinct, making it stand out vividly against the blue sky; by night, the illuminations along the garden's outer wall transformed it into a brilliant star in the monastery's night sky.
The shuttle arrived at the stop. Sigrid, cat in arms, stepped off alongside Lanqi.
At two in the afternoon on this winter day, the blue of the sky was even more luminous.
"So you're saying that at first it went hungry one meal and full the next, but after being pampered with chicken one meal and burgers the next, it gradually grew tame and docile?"
"Yes, it's gained two whole kilograms."
"Meow (screw you)!"
Chatting continuously, Lanqi and Sigrid walked toward the Elsaya Sanctuary Healing Center.
At first glance, it appeared no different from an ordinary hospital, yet inside lay a world of its own.
Passing through the hospital's heavy gates, what met their eyes was a massive central garden.
The garden spanned roughly the size of two arenas, enclosed on all sides by the hospital buildings. Filled with shrubs and flowers, its winding, crisscrossing paths resembled a giant labyrinth, where many plants rarely seen in Brillda were meticulously tended.
The two walked past the marble fountain at the center of the garden. Crystal-clear water gushed forth day and night. On several benches circling the fountain, birds occasionally perched, merely watching as people passed by.
"Back when I worked as a butler in Palieu, the City of Flowers, I cared for quite a few rare plants. A pity those flowers were all destroyed later on; it was truly regrettable," Lanqi said, gesturing toward several antique greenhouses around the perimeter of the garden, where rare flora from across the Southern Continent was cultivated.
"And what about the criminal who destroyed the plants?" Sigrid asked upon hearing Lanqi mention his past in Posen.
"He was already medium-well when I saw him."
Lanqi recalled Beelzebub, the mastermind behind the City of Flowers crisis who had broken into Count Baptiste's estate, only to be caught red-handed by the enraged Bishop of Destruction. If Toliado had fled any slower, he likely would have met the same fate as Beelzebub.
"The City of Flowers truly has simple and honest folk," Sigrid remarked, thinking back to those two islands of Naicalis.
"Actually, truth be told, the City of Flowers truly has simple and honest folk in the most literal sense. Even noble scions whom you might initially take for hooligans are fundamentally pure-hearted. Because the entire City of Flowers was so prosperous overall, there wasn't much conflict—it was just thrown into chaos by Perlman during the City of Flowers Incident. Still, it's just as well that the ticking time bomb went off early. Now might be a great opportunity for the demons of the Kingdom of Posen and the people of Posen to reset their relationship. Splitting the demons into their own separate group might even be a good thing," Lanqi explained to Sigrid as they walked through the garden.
In this garden, hospital patients, medical staff, and a handful of visitors often took leisurely strolls, meditating by the fountain or contemplating among the blossoms.
Though the hustle and bustle of the city was just outside, the garden's interior remained tranquil and serene. Chirping birds and buzzing insects filled the air, and glancing up revealed blue skies and white clouds. Stepping inside felt like entering another world, leaving the disputes of the outside world momentarily forgotten.
The two stepped into the hospital's main building.
"Hello, I'd like to visit the special ward on the fifth floor," Lanqi said to the nurse at the front desk, handing over his identification.
"Professor Landry! Please wait just a moment."
The nurse, who had just come on shift for the afternoon, looked up in slight surprise at the monastery's celebrity professor.
Word had it that the white-robed Pope who had clashed with Hyacinthus three times three days ago was none other than Landry, and that he was the key figure who had exposed Hyacinthus's lies. However, no concrete information had yet confirmed these rumors.
Professor Landry was already famous as an imperial military engineering expert, and if he possessed unfathomable martial prowess on top of that, it only made him seem all the more mysterious within the monastery.
Then again, given how outrageous the rumors surrounding Professor Landry already were—the current version claimed he had two hundred fiancées—any further tall tales were actually easy for people to accept.
Chapter 859