Chapter 87

After making a tomato stew with white fish, I was having dinner in the cafeteria.

Lelena was eating dinner in her room.

Perhaps due to the tension from the new environment, Lelena seemed to be tired.

I thought she might be even more exhausted eating with me and the unfamiliar servants of the detached palace, so I had the food delivered to her room.

"By now, Lelena must be finished eating, I wonder..."

I brought a dessert, a tea ice cream, to my mouth.

The scent of tea mixed with the sweetness of milk, making it taste like milk tea, which was delicious.

Regarding the ice cream, I have been conducting research and improvements on flavors, starting with strawberry ice cream.

Honey, blueberry, cherry, and apricot.

I tried making various flavors of ice cream, but the one that was most well-received was this tea-flavored ice cream.

"Melting, melting tea," Gilbert also praised it.

"Miss Letitia, may I speak with you now?"

As I was enjoying the aftertaste of the tea ice cream and leaving the cafeteria, a beastgirl servant called out to me.

I had entrusted Lelena's dinner service to her, who is from the same lynx tribe as Lelena, and asked her to check on her.

"Did Lelena eat her meal?"

"Yes, she finished it, but..."

Her voice became smaller, as if it was hard to say.

What happened?

"...She cried."

...Was there a dish she disliked so much that she cried?

If so, I did a bad thing—---

"Meow!!"

"Meow!!"

What's happening!?

With a cat-like cry, there were sounds of running around.

The sound gradually approached, and a small shadow darted out.

"Meow!!"

"Little One?!"

Please help me!

Little One jumped up towards me with that kind of momentum.

I caught her instinctively and held her.

Then, a black cat appeared, chasing after Little One.

"...I've never seen this cat before."

In the detached palace, there are a few cats that the lynx tribe members keep as companions.

However, I had never seen a completely black cat like the one in front of me.

The black cat puffed up its tail and glared at Little One.

As I was wondering what to do, light footsteps approached.

"Wait—Miss Letitia?!"

It was Lelena.

Perhaps from running around, her hair and clothes were somewhat disheveled.

Lelena bowed to me and quickly picked up the black cat.

"Miss Letitia, I'm very sorry! Melan caused trouble—"

The black cat's name seems to be Melan.

I observed Lelena, Melan, and Little One.

Fortunately, neither Melan nor Little One seemed to be injured.

"Is this Lelena's companion?"

"It's the companion of my deceased father. Now, I take care of it and brought it here with me."

"I see. It must have been excited in the unfamiliar environment."

"Yes, I was a bit distracted, and I'm sorry... It's a curious and active cat, but it rarely fights with other cats. It seems to have gone out of control—"

I see.

That might be understandable.

I looked at Little One.

"Little One, are you hurt anywhere?"

Little One shook her head.

Then, I asked if any furniture was broken while they were running around, and Little One shook her head again.

"Wow, that's impressive. You're a smart cat."

"...Actually, this one isn't a cat."

"Huh?"

Lelena's mouth opened wide in surprise.

Yeah, I understand how you feel.

When I first met Little One, I also thought she was just a cat.

"This one is a gardener cat, a mythical creature."

"Gardener cat... this one... I've never seen one before..."

"The people in the detached palace know this one is a gardener cat, but since gardener cats are rare mythical creatures, I'd prefer it if you didn't spread the word outside the palace. ...Can you do that for me?"

"Of course!"

Lelena nodded rapidly.

In her arms, Melan seemed to have calmed down a bit, and the bristled fur was settling down.

"This one is called Little One, but she looks exactly like a cat, doesn't she? Even though she looks like a cat, she isn't one, so it's understandable that Melan would be wary of her."

The other cats in the palace also kept their distance from Little One at first.

Now, I sometimes see them basking in the sun together, but initially, they were clearly wary of her.

Little One has a big heart; as long as she doesn't interfere with the strawberries, she doesn't get angry or start fights, so I hope Melan will get used to her.

"I hope time will resolve the issues between Melan and Little One. Lelena, can you watch over them?"

"Yes, I'll make sure Melan doesn't bully Little One."

Lelena bowed and was about to leave with Melan.

"Lelena, wait. I have one more question."

"What is it?"

"Was there anything in today's dinner that you didn't like?"

"That's..."

Lelena hesitated.

"Everyone has a dish or two they don't like. If you had told me beforehand, I could have avoided it. Can you tell me?"

Well, if it's something like "I can't eat any vegetables," that would be a problem.

But from Lelena's character, I didn't think she would have such extreme picky eating.

"Well, it's not that. The food was all delicious, but I just couldn't help crying when I ate the white fish—"

Was it because of the food I made?

I tried not to show any such emotion and listened to Lelena's explanation.

"I never thought I'd be able to eat the same white fish dish from my hometown here in the detached palace, so I was surprised and cried."

"...I see. You were surprised."

I nodded and decided not to ask any more questions.

Lelena must have been not just surprised... but also nostalgic.

I had heard from Crona that the tomato stew with white fish I made today was Lelena's favorite.

I made it to welcome her, but it seems to have reminded her of her hometown, causing a kind of homesickness.

Even though she was trying to be strong, Lelena is still a child.

I reaffirmed that I need to pay more attention and watch over her.

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"Little One, you must have had a tough time earlier, didn't you?"

Back in my room with Little One in my arms, I spoke to her as if checking her mood.

Earlier, Melan had started the chase, and I wanted to comfort Little One, who had been caught up in it.

"Meow~"

In the room, there were only me, Little One, and Lucian.

Recognizing it as a safe place, Little One got down from my arms.

She was grooming herself, straightening her fur that had been messed up from being held.

...Hmm.

Little One doesn't seem to be too bothered by Melan, but maybe she's just hiding her stress.

When keeping multiple cats, it's essential to observe and care for the resident cat.

What can I do for Little One?

As I was thinking, Little One walked to the writing desk.

She crouched slightly and used her spring-like legs to jump up.

"That's unusual. I thought this one was a well-behaved cat..."

Lucian muttered.

As he said, it was rare for Little One to jump onto my desk, which is my private space.

I was curious as to why she was tapping the stack of papers in the corner of the desk.

"Is this the recipe book I wrote... Do you want to read it?"

"Meow!!"

She nodded.

Little One's right paw was mimicking the motion of turning pages.

It was too cute.

"To go to the trouble of bothering Miss Letitia... What a naughty one."

"Little One must be considerate. She's being careful not to damage the paper with her claws."

I sat in the chair and turned the pages for her.

Little One can't read, but the recipe book had simple illustrations.

It was no surprise that the page that caught Little One's interest was the one I expected.

"Strawberry jam cookies..."

"Meow!!"

Little One's paw patted the hand-drawn illustration of the cookie.

Then, her paw moved back and forth between the illustration and her mouth several times.

"Do you want me to make strawberry jam cookies tomorrow?"

"Meow!!"

Little One's eyes sparkled.

...The key to keeping multiple cats is to consider the resident cat.

So, I decided to make additional cookies for Little One.

Thank you for reading.

I have corrected the typos and missing words.

Thank you to everyone who pointed out the typos and missing words.