Chapter 15 - Cats Make Everything Better

"Young master, this boy is Jordan. His father is one of the mansion's gardeners."

"Ah, is that so? Good to meet you."

So that's why he's covered in dirt. The kid must have been working hard, how admirable. I wonder if he lost a tool or something though, he looked pretty troubled earlier.

"G-greetings, young master Halesworth!"

Jordan bowed at a 90 degree angle, his face totally stiff. However, he bowed so fast that he actually lost balance and almost tipped over with a tiny "wah!".

"No need for formalities." I laughed, grabbing his shoulders to steady him. "Anyway, you were searching for something earlier right? We've got nothing to do, so we'll help."

Rather than being relieved or thankful, the boy looked up at me with a horrified expression.

"T-that, I wasn't, really looking for anything, hahaha." Jordan stammered, his eyes swimming. "I was just, err, p-playing? Yeah!"

"Is that so…" I said flatly.

This boy was probably the worst liar I've ever seen. If he had just smiled and told us not to worry about it, we wouldn't have paid much attention, but now he was absurdly suspicious. What on earth was he hiding?

"Please allow me, young master."

While I was wondering how to get him to spill the beans, Emma suddenly spoke up. She walked over to my side then placed a hand on the boy's head as if patting him affectionately. Jordan looked at her with clear nervousness in his eyes.

"Jordan. What. Were. You. Looking for?"

Her uncharacteristically stern voice made it clear that there was no way he was gonna be weaseling out of this.

Jordan shivered, and as if our combined pressure was too much for him to bear, the boy burst into tears.

"Uwaaaaaaaaaaaaah!"

…

A few moments later.

In between pitiful sobs, the boy confessed his 'crime'. So he was actually keeping a pet in secret, huh? And it managed to run away from him during a moment of carelessness, leading to the current situation. I did something similar when I was a kid so I immediately sympathized, and had zero intention of scolding him.

"Please don't fire my dad, it's all my fault!" He blubbered.

"It's fine, it's fine. There's no need to cry, I'm not mad at all." I said in as gentle a voice as I could manage, patting his head while crouched down to his eye level. "I promise that nothing bad is going to happen to you or your father."

Seriously though, please stop crying. My reputation was bad enough as it was. I don't want to become known as a guy who bullies children and makes them cry! In the first place, it was Emma who scared him to tears, but who would believe that! The maid in question was just looking on with a satisfied smile like it had nothing to do with her.

"Uu…" He sniffled.

"Come on, kids your age shouldn't shed tears lightly." I said while pulling out a handkerchief. "Use this."

Jordan received the handkerchief, wiped his eyes, then blew his nose on it.

"BFFFFTTTTT!"

My mouth twitched a bit. "You can keep it, I have a spare."

Emma held back a giggle. "Well then, young master, what should we do now?" She said, bringing the conversation back on track. "You said that he would not be punished, but keeping a pet without permission isn't something we can ignore. Sooner or later someone else - like the madame - will find out."

The boy quivered, then looked up at me with a pleading expression.

I sighed. One problem after another, these days.

"Let's figure that out later. First things first, we can't do anything until we find it." I said helplessly. "What does the kitten look like?"

"Umm, Floofbottom has dark gray fur with black stripes… and he's a little fat, I guess?"

Floofbottom.

Really.

I struggled to keep a straight face as I nodded. "Let's look for… Floofbottom then."

"Sniff… thank you, young master!" Jordan said gratefully. "You're a lot nicer than they say."

Damn right I am. Make sure to tell everyone you know, kid.

The three of us split up, combing the gardens for any sign of the gray critter. Emma was a little reluctant to leave me alone, but I insisted that it would be fine. It's not like I was actually limping. This crutch was more of an inconvenient fashion statement than anything else.

I decided to head over to a secluded little path that led to the kitchen's back entrance. My guess was that the kitten might have been drawn over there by the smell of food. It was better than wandering around aimlessly, right? And if Floofbottom had gotten into the kitchen itself, I'd definitely hear the resulting commotion.

Hmm.

"Nothing here. Drat."

Before I knew it the stone paved path came to an end I was standing in front of a wooden door. Behind it lay the mansion's kitchen, which I had never actually seen before. Feeling a little curious, and thinking that it was better to rule this place out now, I pushed open the door.

"Excuse me." I called out while entering. "I'm looking for a-!?"

…

What I saw inside rendered me speechless.

"Meeew! Mew?"

Imagine that, the damn cat really was inside the kitchen. Living up to his name, Floofbottom was a gray ball of fluff and cuteness, with big blue eyes and large ears. He was currently sitting on a kitchen counter, mewling sadly while pawing at the air with his adorable jellybean toes. But finding him here wasn't the most surprising part.

"Don't even think about it. Chocolate isn't good for you, so even if I wanted to share, I couldn't. Go away already!"

My sister was protectively holding a plate of chocolate cake away from the crying Floofbottom. It was the same as the one Emma and I tried this morning. After giving another warning glare to the kitten, she stuffed a large forkful of the cake into her mouth, and her eyes narrowed into happy crescent moons. "Mm, delicious!"

I couldn't believe it. The Christine Halesworth was sneaking food and arguing with a kitten. Everything I knew about the game was crumbling around me.

I mean, the chocolate cake really was good, so I understood wanting more than a slice, but that didn't make this sight any less surreal.

"Meeeew."

Floofbottom let out a heartbreaking whimper while watching her eat. It looked like he wouldn't give up until he got a taste.

"Ugh, so annoying!" Christine huffed angrily. She put her fork down and snapped. "Fine, I'll look for something you can eat, just be quiet and stay there."

"Let me help. Maybe we still have some of that smoked cod from last night stashed away somewhere."

"Ugwa!?"

My little sister jumped to her feet the moment I spoke up. She turned to me, looking shocked and - for some reason - furious. "How long have you been standing there!?" She demanded, pointing a finger at me accusingly.

"A while. No need to be embarrassed, talking to cute animals is perfectly normal." I laughed, half-hobbling over to the counter. "Isn't that right Floofbottom?"

Upon hearing his name, the fat kitten immediately reacted and tottered over to me. "Mew!" He sniffed me once or twice, then brushed up against my arm. Awww, what a friendly guy.

I picked him up and the kitten settled down in my arms without even a hint of resistance. Floofbottom let out a purr as I gently scratched under his chin, closing his eyes in blissful satisfaction. Okay, I'm usually more of a dog person, but this little guy was winning me over fast. No wonder Jordan couldn't bear to part with him.

"Floofbottom?" Christine raised an eyebrow in disbelief. "Wait, no, that cat is yours!?"

"N- err, yes. Yes he is." I was about to deny it but quickly thought better. Wasn't this the perfect solution? "It was a spur of the moment thing. Our parents don't know yet, but I'll tell them later. So far I've been getting the gardener's boy to look after him for me."

Such was my oh so brilliant plan. I would claim ownership of Floofbottom so that nobody could say anything, then let Jordan continue to take care of the fat kitten 'on my behalf'. Pretty simple, but probably our best shot at this point since keeping it secret was no longer an option. Christine had seen everything.

You could even say that the cat was out of the bag.

That was terrible. I'm sorry for being born.

Christine bit her lip. There was a complicated look on her face as she gazed at Floofbottom. "They never let me…" I heard her mutter under her breath.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" She snapped angrily. The girl crossed her arms while glaring at me. "Hmph, good luck getting permission from mother. She'll definitely have you get rid of it, you know how she feels about keeping animals in the house. It'll serve you right too for being so impulsive!"

I smiled helplessly. Floofbottom, as if feeling threatened, let out a tiny mewl and snuggled deeper into my arms. Kitten and sister stared at each other for a while in awkward silence.

...

"You can pet him if you want. He's nice." I offered helpfully.

For a moment Christine's hand twitched, as if she really was about to do so.

"Mew?"

"...!"

But then she just turned and ran off. It was so sudden that I didn't get the chance to stop her.

"Wait, sis! You haven't finished your cake yet!" I called out after her in alarm.

There was no response as she disappeared behind the kitchen doors.