187 Cornelia and Little Gray
“Why haven’t you left yet?”
Mia noticed that Dekan had stopped after just two steps and turned back to look at her, as if he had something to say.
“Are you going to ask me for more cat treats?”
Mia couldn’t believe it. Dekan had just mercilessly taken the Spirit Cat from her, and now he had the audacity to turn around and ask her for cat food.
“No, can you directly give me the recipe?”
After some thought, Dekan seemed to have decided to express his true thoughts.
Mia held her sides to suppress her laughter and shook her head. She couldn’t help but burst out laughing because of Dekan.
Mia: “You’re treating me like an insider, aren’t you?”
Dekan: “It’s not that I don’t want to lend you the Spirit Cat, but today it’s its turn to be with Cornelia. After the assessment, I’ll make new cards for you.”
Mia: “I suspect when you make the new cards, you’ll need my help.”
“Caught on, huh? Haha.”
Dekan awkwardly scratched the back of his head and laughed.
“Getting all this from me, don’t you feel guilty?”
“Can friendship be called freeloading?”
“Urgh…”
Mia sighed, her expression as if saying, “You win.”
Then she asked a palace servant to bring paper and a pen. She wrote down a recipe and handed it to Dekan.
“Here, remember to return me ten portions once you’re done.”
“Ten portions? Are you hardcoding consumer protection law into your DNA?”
“What do you mean?”
“Nothing, ten portions it is.”
After exchanging some pleasantries, Dekan bid farewell to Mia and Alice once again, then left the Royal Palace.
“Meow, you’re really nice, Dekan!”
The Spirit Cat lay in Dekan’s arms, its voice much more docile than usual.
But Dekan said nothing.
He felt that the Spirit Cat might have misunderstood something.
The thing keeps feeding you; it could drive you into foolishness.
Dekan just wanted to create this novel cat bait for Cornelia to see if it could lure more cats to the back mountain.
After all, Dekan noticed she would occasionally gaze melancholically towards the back mountain.
Her biggest regret was always scaring off the cats.
Thus, Dekan started researching new cat treats in his dormitory as soon as he returned.
By the time he produced a sample, it was already night.
The Spirit Cat stared expectantly by Dekan’s side and even licked its lips from time to time.
Dekan didn’t intend to let it eat any more that day, but seeing its pitiful state, he reluctantly gave it a small piece.
However, after the Spirit Cat hastily devoured it, its eyes were still fixated on the remaining treats in Dekan’s hand.
“Give me a little more meow!”
“No, you can’t eat anymore today.”
Dekan resolutely refused.
Then he used the “Transformation Spell: Spirit Cat,” transforming into Little Gray, in preparation to taste the bait he had crafted.
If the effect was remarkable, perhaps the next time the Master was about to take over his body, Dekan could possibly seize the moment and produce a cat treat, then transform back into a cat.
If even Dekan couldn’t control his appetite, then the Master certainly wouldn’t be able to resist.
He wanted to see the look on the Master’s face when they became a cat obsessed with food.
The demon who fell into feline depravity was indeed amusing.
Indeed, as soon as Dekan transformed into a cat, he immediately sensed the irresistible allure of the cat treat.
Even with all his effort, he couldn’t help but swallow unconsciously.
The quality of the product was a definite success.
At the right time, he would give some of the finished product to Cornelia for her to use the treats to lure the cats on the back mountain.
If combined with the “Three Corpse Frenzy” spell, it would possibly stimulate the cats’ appetites, making them lose their inhibitions and approach Cornelia.
As long as the cats realized that Cornelia was not dangerous, maybe in the future they would naturally come to accept her kindness without needing the bait.
But as Dekan resisted his own appetite and thought about everything,
The Spirit Cat saw an opportunity and decided to take a bold chance.
It pushed Dekan’s feline form aside, grabbed the cat treat, and ran off.
“You thieving cat! Haven’t you had enough after stealing my potions when we first met, meow!?”
Dekan, realizing the situation, started laughing despite his anger.
This shameless cat was sometimes willing to die for food.
“Meow meow meow!”
The Spirit Cat darted around, swallowing the treat whenever it could.
As long as it finished eating the treats, the most Dekan could do was scold it!
Finally, the Spirit Cat, though having eaten the treat, was tackled by Dekan’s feline form.
“Damn you meow… You shouldn’t eat too much of this!”
Dekan knew the special cat treat from Mia was more like medicine than food.
He never intended to let this portion go to the Spirit Cat.
“Meow meow… I’ll stop stealing your food next time…”
The Spirit Cat said, sounding a bit pitiful.
“You said the same thing the last time meow.”
Dekan felt the Spirit Cat was incorrigible, a repeat offender.
“Meow…”
The Spirit Cat felt like Dekan might not let it off so easily this time.
At this moment, there seemed to be some movement outside Dekan’s door.
Even before seeing who was there,
Dekan and the Spirit Cat instantly guessed who the visitor was.
It had to be Cornelia, who discovered the Spirit Cat hadn’t come home and decided to look for it at Dekan’s dormitory.
The Spirit Cat had a quick idea and shouted, “Cornelia! Save me meow!”
“Ho, how… How did you…?”
Cornelia, who was about to knock before entering, directly opened the door without hesitation, anxiously searching for the Spirit Cat.
She assumed the Spirit Cat was in danger.
She had been particularly worried since the Spirit Cat hadn’t come home.
But when she entered the room, all she saw was Little Gray pressing down on the Spirit Cat’s head, behaving like a bullying cat.
“Sm, small Gray, no, no bullying the Spirit Cat!”
Cornelia rushed over and picked up Little Gray.
She separated the two cats who seemed to be fighting.
Although Cornelia was reprimanding Little Gray, there was an indescribable tenderness and joy in her tone.
It had been a long time since she last saw Little Gray.
The first kitten who had willingly approached her.
She thought she might not meet it again, but unexpectedly, she stumbled upon it.
“…”
Dekan hesitated for a moment whether to transform back into human form before Cornelia opened the door.
There was a chance he could successfully dispel the transformation magic.
However, if he were spotted, all would be ruined.
Furthermore, if he transformed back, Cornelia would see human Dekan pressing the Spirit Cat down, which wouldn’t be easy to explain.
So he decided to stick to the safer option.
Seeing Cornelia’s delighted face, Dekan felt somewhat helpless.
He thought Cornelia with the Spirit Cat would be enough to replace Little Gray,
and then he’d figure out a way to make more cats approach her, making her forget about Little Gray.
But he didn’t expect that she still cherished Little Gray, unable to forget it.
“Cat, Teacher Cat, where is Dekan?”
Cornelia, holding Little Gray, scanned the living room but saw no trace of Dekan.
“He went to the palace earlier meow, while he’s away, I secretly invited Little Gray to have some treats here meow.”
The Spirit Cat naturally helped Dekan lie.
It had an agreement with Dekan; it would never reveal that Little Gray was Dekan in feline form.
This could be considered part of the card’s after-sales guarantee.
“Oh!”
After Cornelia understood the situation, she soon fell into a dilemma.
She thought she should put Little Gray down and, as agreed, take the Spirit Cat with her.
But she also didn’t want to let Little Gray go.
Because she didn’t know when she would meet Little Gray again.
She became anxious, unsure of what to do.
“You can take Little Gray home with you today meow, it’s too late to leave him on the road. Don’t worry about me; I’ll just stay here with Dekan for one more day!”
The Spirit Cat once again came up with an idea and said to Cornelia.
The Little Gray that Cornelia was holding immediately glared at the Spirit Cat and let out a furious “meow!”
It originally wanted to praise the Spirit Cat for providing a convincing excuse.
But unexpectedly, the Spirit Cat turned around and stabbed it in the back.
This scoundrel Spirit Cat was certainly holding a grudge against it!
“R, really? Is that okay?”
Cornelia’s eyes seemed to sparkle, and without realizing it, she tightened her grip on Little Gray, but then relaxed slightly, worried she might harm it.
“Of course, meow.”
The Spirit Cat turned around and squatted on the ground to answer.
As long as it didn’t look at Dekan, it wasn’t afraid of Dekan.
“Thank you, Spirit Cat!”
“Leave quickly, leave quickly. I’m already tired of looking at this gray cat.”
The Spirit Cat hurriedly ushered Cornelia and Dekan out.
This way, it could escape punishment.
So, with gratitude, Cornelia took Little Gray back to her dormitory.
This was Dekan’s first visit to Cornelia’s dormitory.
He generally didn’t visit friends’ dormitories.
Because most of the time he was busy crafting cards in the workshop.
So when there were matters to discuss, his friends usually came to his dormitory.
After entering the room, Cornelia gently put Little Gray down.
Little Gray raised its head to observe the structure of the dormitory.
It was similar to Dekan’s dormitory.
Equally tidy.
The only difference was that Cornelia seemed very fond of flowers and plants, and she had cultivated quite a few potted plants inside.
“Let’s, let’s give you a bath first.”
Cornelia crouched down and looked at Little Gray while asking.
“Meow meow meow!”
Little Gray took two steps back and let out a resolute refusal.
It didn’t want Cornelia to bathe it!
“But, unless you take a bath, you c, can’t sleep with me!”
Little Gray decisively took another two steps back, indicating that it wouldn’t bathe and was ready to run away if necessary.
It was a cat with principles and would never allow such clichéd scenarios.
Cornelia helplessly pursed her lips.
The weather in late February was still a bit cold.
“Alright, don’t be afraid, we won’t bathe.”
Cornelia was too indulgent towards Little Gray, then picked up the now-unalarmed Little Gray and carried it into the bedroom, placing it on the bed.
She then lay down on the bed, watching Little Gray.
“Little Gray, it’s been such a l, long time since we last met.”
Cornelia poked Little Gray’s head, happily saying.
“Meow.”
“I, I miss you so much. Would you please come see me more often?”
“Meow…”
Little Gray lowered its head, appearing quite conflicted.
“So, you don’t like staying here in the dorm… I won’t lock you up, I promise, don’t worry!”
Cornelia seemed to understand Little Gray’s nature.
It was a wild little wanderer who wouldn’t be content to be looked after like the Spirit Cat.
Little Gray nodded.
Cornelia could feel that Little Gray trusted her.
Even though Little Gray should be a stubborn and intelligent cat, it never doubted her words.
She stroked Little Gray’s soft fur.
“Next time, when will I see you…?”
Little Gray didn’t respond.
But it quietly lay down by Cornelia’s side.
Seemingly wanting to reassure her that, at least for now, it wouldn’t run away.
“You and Spirit Cat are truly very different…”
Cornelia thought the Spirit Cat was a chatterbox that rarely listened to others unless it wanted to hear their stories.
Little Gray, on the other hand, appeared aloof but would patiently listen to her talk.
“Actually, I am rather stupid, not good at socializing, only have brute strength, and easily scare others away, even harming them…”
“But, but you don’t fear me at all.”
Cornelia felt particularly lucky and comfortable that day, having a cat willing to listen to her heart. Thus, she couldn’t help but let out her thoughts.
“Actually, when I first arrived at the Kingdom of Norton, I was still worried whether life would be difficult.”
“Meow?”
Little Gray cared if Cornelia had been mistreated.
“In reality, it’s not difficult at all; each day is very peaceful and joyful, and I’ve made quite a few good friends.”
Cornelia continued.
Little Gray lifted its head and stared dumbfoundedly at Cornelia.
This was the first time Little Gray had heard Cornelia complete such a long sentence without stuttering.
A smile appeared on her face, one that she herself might not be aware of.
“All of this is because I met him at the very beginning.”
Cornelia added, her smile growing more apparent.
“Meow…”
Little Gray seemed somewhat dumbfounded.
“Spirit Cat always likes asking me about my daily stories, so I’ve gotten used to it and naturally told you, Little Gray.”
Suddenly aware of her possible boring topic, Cornelia began stuttering again out of nervousness.
She knew that Little Gray could completely understand her words.
Just that perhaps unlike Spirit Cat, Little Gray lacked familiarity with the Norton Kingdom language and could only understand but not communicate well.
Or it just preferred silence.
“Perhaps you think my topics are quite boring.”
“Meow meow.”
However, Little Gray just shook its head.
It didn’t find Cornelia’s stories boring at all. Instead, it was willing to listen endlessly.
“Little Gray, you’re really good!”
Cornelia excitedly hugged Little Gray.
Thus, Cornelia kept hugging Little Gray and softly talking in its ear until midnight.
Only when she felt tired did she lie down and doze off.
Little Gray, looking somewhat weary, quietly crawled out of Cornelia’s embrace.
It looked at Cornelia sleeping soundly, covered her well with the blanket, and then nimbly jumped onto the window ledge, lightly leaping out…
