Chapter 93: A Stray Cat
Lillith and I eventually arrived at the dining hall where breakfast was already being prepared.
The moment we sat down, several servants immediately began moving around the room.
Despite staying here for nearly a week now, I still wasn’t entirely comfortable with how quickly everyone responded whenever Lillith appeared.
A short while later, one of the servants returned carrying breakfast.
A large plate containing eggs, roasted potatoes, freshly baked bread and slices of smoked meat was placed in front of me while another, significantly more extravagant looking meal, was placed before Lillith.
I was just reaching for my fork when Clara entered.
Unlike us, she was carrying her own plate.
Lillith immediately noticed.
"Where did you get that?"
Clara sat down across from us.
"I made it."
Lillith blinked.
"You made your own breakfast?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
Clara looked equally confused at Lilliths absurd statement.
"Because I enjoy cooking."
For several seconds Lillith simply stared at her.
I could practically see the confusion in her eyes.
The idea of voluntarily cooking your own food when servants existed seemed completely foreign to her.
Eventually she just shrugged and started eating.
Breakfast continued peacefully for a while before Clara eventually asked the obvious question.
"So what are you two doing today?"
I glanced toward Lillith.
Lillith glanced toward me.
Then she immediately leaned against my shoulder.
"We don’t have plans."
She paused slightly before then looking up at me.
"Can we go on a date?"
I thought about it for all of three seconds as I had absolutely nothing to do but kill time until the week was over.
"Sure."
Lillith immediately brightened.
Then I looked toward Clara.
"Want to come?"
Lillith let out the most offended noise I had heard all week.
"Leon."
"What?"
"Do you know what a date is?"
Clara immediately gave out a small chuckle.
I ignored both of them.
Clara eventually shook her head.
"I can’t."
"Busy?"
She nodded.
"My grandmother works in the capital today and I promised I’d help her."
That settled that and not long afterward, Lillith and I left the manor together.
The royal capital was significantly busier during the weekend.
Markets filled the streets while merchants loudly advertised their products from decorated stalls.
Nobles traveled through the larger roads in luxurious carriages while commoners crowded the shopping districts.
The first place Lillith dragged me into was a clothing store, it seemed that this had become a routine every time we went it.
But this one was a very expensive clothing store.
Unfortunately for me, she immediately began picking things out.
"Try this."
"No."
"What about this?"
"No."
"This one?"
"No."
Half an hour later I somehow exited with three new outfits despite rejecting every single suggestion she made.
Lillith seemed incredibly pleased with herself.
After that we visited a bookstore where I spent almost an hour looking through engineering texts while Lillith occupied herself by following me around and occasionally resting her head on my shoulder.
It was interesting looking at the engineering standards and practices of this world, although nothing useful could be found in them.
After that we wandered through several artisan stores, watched a street performer juggling enchanted lights, browsed a furniture workshop and spent nearly forty minutes arguing about whether I needed decorative curtains for the workshop back home.
The answer was no.
To which Lillith disagreed, strongly.
Several hours passed surprisingly quickly and we had just left another store when something caught my attention.
A faint rustling sound had caught my ear which made me stop walking.
Lillith took several more steps before noticing.
"What are you looking at?"
I stared toward a nearby alleyway.
"I heard something."
Lillith immediately glanced toward it.
Then looked away.
"It’s probably nothing."
She grabbed my arm.
"Come on."
I didn’t move.
"Lillith."
"What?"
"It’ll only take a minute."
She sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes.
"Fine."
The two of us entered the alley and at first there was nothing unusual.
Just old crates, scattered trash and damp stone walls.
Then we turned the corner and the sigh we saw froze me.
A small girl stood at the far end of the alley.
She couldn’t have been older than twelve.
White hair covered in dirt hung down around her face while black lines ran through it. A thin rag barely covered her body while broken chains and metal cuffs remained attached around her wrists and ankles.
Blood stained parts of her clothing.
But what stood out most were the fact that she had cat like ears and a tail.
They flattened immediately the moment she saw us.
Then came a low growl.
"Grrrr..."
Sharp fangs became visible.
Despite clearly struggling to remain standing, she positioned herself defensively.
Then slowly began backing away.
Limping.
Desperate.
Terrified.
Lillith studied her for several seconds and shrugged.
"Probably a runaway slave."
I looked at her.
"What?"
Lillith looked back.
"What?"
"Wasn’t slavery outlawed?"
"It was."
She sounded completely unsurprised.
"That doesn’t stop rich and powerful nobles."
My expression darkened as Lillith continued.
"Beastkin aren’t common in Valenore, but they’re not unheard of either as you could easily find them in their respective areas."
Her eyes moved toward the girl’s ears.
"A white tiger though..."
She paused.
"That’s most likely a very exotic and rare sub species of BeastKin."
The girl flinched as we continued talking.
Lillith crossed her arms.
"Some collector probably wanted something exotic."
I stared at the bleeding child and back at Lillith.
"That’s horrible."
"It is."
Lillith nodded before then immediately wrapping herself around my arm.
"Now that your curiosity is satisfied, let’s go."
I didn’t move and Lillith sighed at my stubbornness.
"Leon."
I continued staring at the girl.
She looked exhausted girl, she looked hungry, terrified, and all alone.
"Lillith."
"What?"
"We can’t leave her."
Lillith stared at me.
"Why not?"
For several moments I couldn’t even properly explain it.
How could I the answer seemed obvious?
Because she needed help and that was enough to
I gently pulled my arm free from Lillith and started walking toward the girl.
Immediately Lillith’s eyes widened.
"Leon."
I kept walking.
"Leon."
I continued to ignore Lillith who began desperately calling out to me.
"LEON STOP."
I ignored her.
The girl immediately panicked making her growling intensify.
Tears began forming in her eyes.
I slowly raised both hands.
"It’s alright."
The moment I got close enough, I gently reached out and touched her shoulder.
That turned out to be a mistake.
The girl spun instantly as her fangs sank deep into my arm and pain exploded through it.
I flinched.
Behind me I heard Lillith’s murderous aura erupt.
The girl seemed to realize what she’d done.
Tears immediately began pouring down her face, but she didn’t let go.
She just stood there trembling, terrified confused and desperate.
I looked down at her and gently raised my free hand.
And patted her head.
The girl froze.
"It’s okay."
Her body shook.
"I know."
More tears appeared from her eyes.
"I know everything is scary right now."
Her grip loosened.
"I promise it’ll be alright."
The girl stared at me, finally she released my arm.
A second later her eyes rolled back and she collapsed.
Luckily I caught her before she hit the ground, carefully lifting her into my arms.
Then I turned around.
Lillith was standing there.
Completely expressionless.
Which was far more frightening than when she was angry.
"Put her down."
I immediately tightened my hold on the girl.
"Lillith."
Very slowly Lillith responded to me, her voice colder than ice.
"Put."
"Her."
"Down."
I shook my head.
Lillith pointed at my arm.
Blood was running down it with the very large bite mark remaining visible.
"Look what she did."
"She was scared."
"I don’t care."
Her eyes narrowed.
"She hurt you."
I sighed.
"Lillith."
"The punishment for that is death and a painfull one at that."
The words were spoken so casually that it took a second for them to register.
Then she added.
"If you absolutely want, I’ll make it painless."
I instinctively shifted the unconscious girl behind me.
Trying to shield her.
"Lillith."
That finally made her expression change.
Not anger.
Annoyance.
"What has this girl done to deserve this?"
I looked down at the child.
"Nothing."
"Then why?"
The answer came easily to me.
"Because she needs help."
Silence.
Then—
"Tch."
Lillith clicked her tongue.
Clearly unhappy.
Eventually she looked away.
"Fine."
Relief immediately washed over me, then she pointed at the unconscious girl.
"But if she ever hurts you again..."
Her eyes became cold.
"I’ll kill her right then, even if I have to pry her from your hands."
I didn’t respond because I knew she wasn’t joking.
A second later she walked over and tore a strip from her skirt.
I blinked.
"Lillith."
She ignored me.
Carefully wrapping the cloth around my injured arm.
Once she finished, I looked at the ruined skirt.
"You didn’t have to do that."
Lillith tied the final knot.
Then looked up at me.
"You went this far for a stranger."
Her expression softened slightly.
"So of course I’d go this far for you."
——————————
The journey back to the Nightbane residence was surprisingly quiet.
Lillith spent most of the walk glued to my side while occasionally glaring at the unconscious girl in my arms.
Every time I looked over, she would immediately look away and pretend she wasn’t staring.
Unfortunately she wasn’t very convincing.
By the time we arrived at the manor, several servants had already noticed us carrying an unconscious beastkin child through the front entrance.
The looks they gave us were certainly interesting.
Mostly confused.
And in one servant’s case, deeply terrified after noticing Lillith’s expression.
Eventually we brought the girl to one of the unused guest rooms.
The room itself was comfortable enough. A large bed sat against one wall while a fireplace quietly crackled nearby, filling the room with warmth.
I carefully lowered the girl onto the mattress.
Only after doing so did I finally get a proper look at the chains still attached to her wrists and ankles.
"Lillith."
"What?"
"Can you remove those?"
Lillith glanced toward them.
"Sure."
She walked over, reached down and grabbed one of the chains.
For a brief moment I thought she would unlock it somehow.
Instead—
Crunch.
The metal immediately crumpled in her hand like paper.
I stared.
The chain looked less like metal and more like foil after she was done with it.
A few moments later all the restraints had been reduced to twisted lumps of scrap.
Lillith dusted off her hands.
"There."
I wasn’t sure whether to be impressed or terrified at what Lillith had done.
The girl remained asleep throughout the entire thing.
Lillith immediately grabbed my hand afterward.
"Can we go now?"
I looked at the sleeping child.
Then back at Lillith.
"I think I should stay here."
Immediately an extremely annoyed expression appeared on her face.
"I regret not killing her."
I decided to ignore that statement entirely.
Instead I dragged a chair beside the bed and sat down.
Lillith watched me for several seconds.
Then sighed dramatically.
A moment later she grabbed another chair, carried it across the room and dropped it directly beside mine before sitting down.
Then she immediately leaned against me.
"If you’re staying, I’m staying."
I didn’t even bother arguing.
For the next hour we simply waited.
Occasionally we’d talk or we’d sit in silence.
Eventually movement appeared beneath the blankets.
The girl’s ears twitched and her eyes slowly opened.
I immediately stood up, slowly very walking towards her.
"Hey."
The girl froze.
For several seconds she simply stared at me.
Then her gaze moved past my shoulder, toward Lillith.
The effect was immediate as her ears flattened completely and every trace of color drained from her face.
She let out a startled cry and rapidly scrambled backward.
Unfortunately she moved too quickly.
A second later she tumbled right off the bed.
Blankets and all.
She immediately wrapped herself completely inside them.
The resulting blanket lump began shaking violently.
I quickly moved around the bed.
"Are you alright?"
No response.
Not a single sound.
I looked back.
Lillith was still sitting in her chair.
Staring directly at the blanket.
Her expression was completely cold.
I pinched the bridge of my nose.
"Lillith."
"What?"
"Could you please leave for a bit."
Her eyes widened.
"What?"
"Please."
"No!"
I sighed.
"Lillith."
"After what she did?"
She pointed toward my arm.
"There is absolutely no way I’m leaving you alone with that stray cat."
I stood up and walked over to her.
Then grabbed her hand.
Immediately all of her anger seemed to short-circuit.
"Lillith."
She blinked.
"Please trust me."
For several moments she didn’t respond but I continued.
"I’ll be fine."
A faint blush appeared on her face.
Then she looked away.
Clearly unhappy.
Very unhappy.
Eventually she stood.
"Fine."
Relief immediately washed over me.
Then she pointed toward the blanket lump.
"But I’m standing outside."
I sighed.
"Lillith."
"If the little cat tries anything."
She crossed her arms.
"I’m coming back in."
With that final warning she left.
The door closed behind her.
The room became noticeably calmer.
I waited a few seconds.
Then slowly walked back toward the blanket.
The trembling had become slightly weaker.
I crouched down.
"The scary lady is gone."
For several moments nothing happened.
Then—
A tiny opening appeared in the blanket and single white eye peeked out watching me carefully.
The eye immediately looked around the room.
Then back toward me.
I smiled.
The blanket opening widened ever so slightly.
Finally a quiet voice emerged.
"Who are you?"
I smiled.
"My name is Leon."
The girl stared at me and then asked another question.
"Are you taking me back to them?"
The fear in her voice was impossible to miss.
I shook my head immediately.
"I don’t even know who they are."
"And even if I did."
I smiled gently.
"I wouldn’t take you back."
For several seconds she simply stared before I asked.
"Do you have a name?"
The blanket shifted until eventually a hesitant answer came.
"...Silvia."
I smiled again.
"That’s a beautiful name."
The single visible eye widened slightly.
Then quickly looked away.
"Are you okay?"
Silvia immediately looked suspicious.
"Why?"
The question genuinely surprised me.
"Why what?"
"Why do you want to know?"
I blinked and then laughed softly.
"Because I’m worried about you."
Silvia froze.
The response seemed to completely catch her off guard.
For several seconds she just stared at me.
Then finally she spoke.
"You’re weird."
I couldn’t help but laugh.
The sudden sound immediately made her flinch.
She recoiled deeper beneath the blanket.
I quickly raised both hands.
"Sorry."
Silvia continued staring.
Then eventually asked another question.
"Why didn’t you hurt me?"
I looked confused.
"Hm?"
"When I bit you."
Her voice became quieter.
"Why didn’t you hurt me?"
I glanced toward the cloth wrapped around my arm.
Then back toward her.
"Because I knew you didn’t want to hurt me."
Silvia froze.
I continued.
"You were scared and just wanted to survive."
Silence.
"I don’t think you’re a bad person for wanting that."
The room became completely quiet.
Then I smiled.
"So why would I hurt you when we can just get along instead?"
Silvia stared.
Then after several seconds—
"You’re really weird."
I laughed again.
"A lot of people tell me that."
Something changed.
Slowly the blanket lowered and eventually, disappeared entirely.
For the first time I properly saw her.
White hair with black streaks.
White ears and eyes.
Countless bruises accompanied by countless scars.
She looked far too thin.
Far too exhausted.
And far too young.
Silvia them cautiously stood and slowly began circling around me.
Sniffing like a curious animal.
Eventually she stopped beside my injured arm.
Her ears lowered.
"...Sorry."
I smiled.
Then gently placed my hand on top of her head.
Silvia froze.
For a brief moment she looked ready to run.
Instead she closed her eyes as I gently patted her head.
The tension slowly left her body, a tiny smile appeared.
Then her head pushed slightly against my hand seeking more.
I couldn’t help but smile more .
As Silvia looked genuinely happy.
