“….”

Hazel couldn’t get any words out, as if her mouth was stuck together. In the meantime, Achilleon’s face grew harder and harder.

“You screamed so loud earlier, why do you keep your mouth shut now?”

Hazel chewed the flesh at the back of her mouth.

‘I’m doomed.’

“I’m sorry, I was rude.”

Hazel quickly knelt down and lowered her head.

“Raise your head.”

“…….”

“You acted as if I had abused the cat.”

“Meow.”

Titty was still crying as he grabbed it by the neck. It wasn’t anything painful, but the cat in the big man’s hands looked infinitely smaller, like dust on a mirror.

“I misunderstood.”

Truthfully, what Hazel had seen earlier looked exactly like the man was abusing the small animal, but of course she couldn’t say that.

She glanced up at the white bundle of fur in Achilleon’s hand and saw big green eyes looking at her pitifully.

“That cat……I was looking for it.”

“This?”

The cat pounced and bit the finger Achilleon held out to point to Titty.

“Yes.”

Hazel held out her hand, expecting Achilleon to give her the cat, but he just put his hand on the cat’s neck and stroked it. Titty stopped biting his finger.

Hazel couldn’t help but gulp all over when she saw the clear teeth marks on Achilleon’s finger.

She was afraid that he would throw the cat to the floor right away with that temper of his. Hazel stared at the cat nervously. At that moment, Achilleon looked at Hazel.

“Are you the owner of this cat?”

Hazel nodded but stopped.

“Owner…..no.”

At that moment, Titty meowed loudly. It was a cry of disappointment.

“I think it recognizes you.”

Achilleon looked at the cat, who stretched its neck towards Hazel, and then looked at Hazel again. Its sharp blue eyes were searching for answers.

“It’s a cat that wanders around the royal palace. I’ve been feeding it so it recognizes me.”

“It’s too clean to be a stray cat.”

Every time Achilleon’s large hand brushed the cat’s snow-white fur, the sound of Titty’s purring echoed through the air.

“Who are you, then?”

“I’m a court lady.”

“Court lady….”

Achilleon scanned Hazel’s appearance sharply. She was dressed in pretty luxurious clothes, although her clothes were messed up by branches here and there. It seemed that she was at least an aide to the royal family, not an ordinary maid.

“Who do you serve? The Princess?”

“…No…I misunderstood you because of the darkness…”

Hazel held out her hand towards the cat, but Achilleon raised that cat higher. The cat meowed pitifully.

“Please give it to me. Your Highness. The cat is fierce and it might hurt you.”

“Do you know who I am?”

The question mixed with laughter.

“……..”

Hazel slumped and breathed in. She was in a panic and couldn’t think straight.

“I asked if you knew me.”

Hazel felt that Achilleon’s fierce gaze would pierce through her head at any moment.

“I was told that we had visitors from the Demophos Empire today.”

“And that’s how you knew who I was? Just from that?”

“…I saw the pattern on your clothes. The griffin.”

“Oh.”

Achilleon made a series of short exclamations as if he was satisfied. The golden griffin embroidery that adorned the collar of his uniform was the symbolic pattern of the Demophos Empire, and only the Crown Prince could wear it.

“By the way, didn’t you mention that it’s dark around here?”

“…….”

“You seemed to have a very good vision. That’s an amazing ability. I’d like to take you to the battlefield.”

The words were thrown around like a joke, but it was no joke. Hazel had heard and known Achilleon’s way of speaking enough to sting.

“Answer me.”

“…….”

“Who sent you to follow me?”

“No, no one. And I didn’t follow you.”

Hazel didn’t want to meet anyone in this life and tried to avoid them as much as she could, but what kind of craziness was this?

“I really just went looking for my cat. Please believe me.”

“But you knew at once that I am the Crown Prince.”

“…….”

“We’ve never met before. What am I supposed to think?”

Achilleon was still the same now as back then. He always hangs on to trivial things. Hazel was once again amazed at his steadfastness. But first, she had to give a satisfactory answer to this man. The Crown Prince with trust issues.

Otherwise, she would be treated as a spy and die in a flash.

“Actually…”

Hazel opened her mouth in a panic. She knew that Achilleon’s character would not wait long for her.

“Actually?”

“I’ve seen you… from a distance. At the welcome ceremony today. I’m just a maid of honor, so you probably don’t remember me.”

“…….”

“You only saw me once, but you remember…”

“Meow.”

Hazel felt nauseous to hear the cat’s cry, as if it knew she was lying.

“But the attendants were all men.”

Hazel felt like she just wanted to bite her tongue and die at this moment.

“Actually, I heard a rumor.”

“What rumor? The ugly creatures are coming?”

“Actually, they’re very beautiful… I mean rumors about them being very handsome.”

Hazel spat out as much as she could, then immediately regretted it.

“Is that so?”

But surprisingly, it seemed to have worked in convincing Achilleon.

His brows were less wrinkled. Hazel had a little hope.

“Among the ladies, rumors spread fast…so everyone knew about it. I think that’s why I recognized you at once, even though it’s dark…”

Hazel continued to speak, greatly embarrassed.

Unusually, every time she complimented Achilleon, the cat in his hand meowed. And the voice sounded to Hazel like it was screaming, lie, lie, lie.

It didn’t matter. If only she could get out of this difficult situation.

“I’m sorry for the misunderstanding…..ah..”

Hazel gulped as Achilleon suddenly got closer, lowered his head, and stared straight at her with his blue eyes.

“Is that so? Well, then.”

It was as if she had forgotten how to breathe. Hazel stared into his eyes. His mouth curled up quickly, as if he was pleased that she didn’t avoid his gaze.

After a moment, Achilleon stepped back.

“I’ll remember your face.”

“I’ll go now, thank you.”

Hazel didn’t know what she thanked him for, but she did anyway.

“Meow.”

As the cat in Achilleon’s hand purred longingly, Hazel instinctively reached out and snatched the cat from him, backing away quickly.

“…….”

Achilleon looked at her with a surprised look on his face. Hazel slowly moved to the left.

“Stop there.”

As his low voice rang, Hazel took another step back this time. Achilleon moved swiftly along with her steps.

“I said stop there.”

A wild scene unfolded as the woman ran away with a cat and the man was chasing her. That was how it looked.

Snap!

“Stop there, ugh ….”

Achilleon’s foot got caught in a mousetrap, which was the one that caught the white hair beast earlier.

“Damn it.”

He shook his foot forcefully, but the mousetrap was quite strong. Now he understood why the trapped cat couldn’t get out on its own.

Annoyed, he kicked his foot several more times, but the tightly closed trap could not be unraveled. Eventually he had to bend down and open the trap himself. In the meantime, the woman was moving away from his vision at a rapid pace.

Watching the woman’s back as she ran off into the distance, Achilleon cussed in a low voice.

***

Gasp. Gasp.

After running away as fast as she could, Hazel leaned against the wall at a corner of the palace and struggled to breathe.

“Meow.”

The cat in her arms tossed and turned uncomfortably, and it was only then that Hazel realized that she had been holding Titty a little too tight.

“I’m sorry, Titty, I’m sorry.”

The cat began to lick Hazel’s hand as she relaxed her grip.

“I’m glad I found you. You were scared, weren’t you?”

Looking into its sparkling green eyes, Hazel’s palpitating heart seemed to subside slightly.

Even so, the shock of what had just happened hadn’t completely worn off.

“How did he get there?”

Achilleon was supposed to be at the welcome party with his entourage. The whole court’s attention would be there, so Hazel never expected to meet the party’s main character elsewhere.

And it was in a secluded part of the palace.

She thought it would be very easy as long as she didn’t meet him. And she thought she would never run into him.

“I’ll remember your face.”

Achilleon’s voice resonated in her ears.