<Episode 20>
"Eden Wivis? Who is that?"
"He's someone. You'll meet him soon at the tea party. And don't worry, there's no way he'll fall for Kitty."
Theo was confident.
'Does he think nobody's gonna fall for me 'cause I'm so small?'
Well, wolves seemed to like tall and elegant women like Lady Caris.
Anyway, I've got a new problem.
Do all wolves grow up to be so handsome? Cat beastkins are generally short compared to wolves...
If I don't do something, they're gonna figure out I'm a cat because of the size difference. I'm already way smaller than Theo and Deon.
'I need to drink a lot of milk to avoid being found out as a cat. What else can I do to grow taller…?'
I heard eating little fish, bones and all, is good for your bones, but if I just keep eating fish, everyone's gonna think I'm a cat.
While I was busy worrying, Deon, who was back to acting like a prim and proper young lady, said to me.
"Lady Kittia, shall we enjoy tea now?"
"Oh, yeah, that's a great idea! I'll pour."
Deon waved his finger all primly.
"No, Lady Kittia. The teapot is very hot, and your soft hands might get hurt. You can ask an employee waiting in the back to do it."
Wow, Brother Deon is really good at playing a girl. I nodded and asked the employee behind me.
"Excuse me, could you pour the tea?"
"Of course, miss. Please feel free to ask."
The employee held the teapot very elegantly.
The golden-brown tea, perfectly brewed, was poured into the cups, gurgling softly. The vanilla smell made me feel all sleepy.
"Can we drink the tea now?"
"Sure, or you can see if anyone wants milk or sugar."
Theo said. I glanced around at the people sitting at the table. The two of them made these little 'no thank you' gestures, all prim and proper.
Uh oh.
I asked earnestly.
"How will anyone know I want sugar and milk?"
"Ugh... Don't worry, your big brothers will take care of it."
"Our Soft Paws needs sugar and milk."
Yay for milk!
The employee saw what was going on and came over to pour milk in my tea. I watched, all happy.
"I'd like two sugar cubes, please. Oh! Can I have three?"
"Certainly, miss."
The employee put three sugar cubes in my teacup in the shape of a heart. Theo and Deon looked at me with slightly surprised eyes.
"Won't three be too sweet?"
"Of course, it's sweet if you melt them all."
"……?"
"If you pop the sugar cube in your mouth before it melts, it just disappears! The tea soaks in, and it's so yummy! Sugar cubes are special, so you gotta savor them."
Everyone got kinda quiet and sad for some reason. Theo and Deon looked sadly at the snack tray.
"Kitty, let's eat proper snacks."
"Yeah, delicious and nutritious snacks. Not sugar…"
I didn't get why the two wolves were so bummed out. But I figured I knew what they meant by 'delicious and nutritious snacks'.
On the three-tiered tray placed on the table, there were plenty of glittering desserts. The sweet scent made my mouth water.
"Kitty, I'll explain the names of the desserts."
"Yes!"
Theo pointed to each snack on the tray and explained them.
I wanted to grab one right away, but I knew at a fancy tea party, you're not supposed to just grab food.
I put my hands together real nicely in front of the snack plate and gave the employee those puppy-dog eyes, just like before when I asked for tea.
"Ah, miss. Would you like more sugar cubes?"
The employee asked, all red in the face. I shook my head and said clearly.
"Since the tea's ready, how about we have some snacks? I'd like an egg tart, please."
"Ah, yes!"
The employee put an egg tart on my plate with these fancy tongs. I whispered real quiet.
"Please add one more sugar."
The employee placed the snacks they each chose on Theo and Deon's plates, and then added one more sugar cube to my cup.
Mmm, that's the stuff! Just as I was getting all happy, letting the sugar melt real slow, Theo said.
"Alright, Lady Kittia. Now we need to have a conversation."
"But my egg tart just arrived on my plate…"
"Kitty is the host now, so you need to lead the conversation to some extent. Just start talking about something. You eat and drink a little bit while other people are talking."
"Okay, Theo, brother… no, Lady Theo."
My eyes darted around while I tried to think of something to talk about.
Deon took a huge bite of a big tart, like he was trying to show me that the longer I took, the less snacks I'd get.
"Hey, Lady Deon. You're gonna leave some for me, right? If you gobble it all up so fast, I'll get nervous."
"Ugh, you're driving me nuts. Okay, okay. I'll eat slow for our little Soft Paws who's working so hard."
I giggled and started thinking again. If I don't want them to know I'm a cat, I should talk about...
"I hope my winter fur looks good this year. Don't you guys think so too?"
Deon chuckled and went along with it.
"Of course. A big, fluffy coat is what makes a wolf proud. When we're done shedding and turn into beastkin, we'll have awesome fur decorations."
"Oh, for real?"
"Yeah. But Kitty's still a baby wolf, so she won't have any yet."
I imagined the Gridwolf family with cool gray fur decorations. They would all look good together, like they were wearing matching outfits.
'No way. I have fluffy fur too. Mom was always shocked when I shed, right?'
I can't be with Mom this shedding season, but wolves shed kinda the same, so it's okay.
'I'll worry about that later.'
Once the conversation started, the words flowed naturally. Lady Theo talked about interesting new books in the study, and Deon talked about the dandelions blooming all over the garden hill.
We chatted and ate snacks for so long, the sun started to set before we knew it.
"Should we start cleaning up?"
Theo said. I was a little sad that the fun time was ending.
"Let's do it again next time!"
"Yeah, let's clean up. It's dinnertime."
"But I'm full…"
"Today is salmon cream steak."
"I'll try to make some room. I guess if I walk, I'll digest it."
"Kitty, did you have fun?"
Deon asked, lifting me down from the chair. I nodded really hard. I hoped the real tea party day would be as happy as this.
"Um, are we the only ones here who aren't grown-up wolves?"
"Well, no. There's probably gonna be one more young wolf. He's older than Kitty, but two years younger than us."
Theo's face looked like he'd just bitten into something gross.
"Eden Wivis. The only son of the Wivis family, and he's a real jerk."
Ah, that wolf story from before came up again.
"What does 'jerk' mean?"
"No, forget you heard it. It's not a word for our Kitty to use."
It's a bad word, I thought to myself, all happy.
'Jerian, you jerk.'
The glass greenhouse at sunset was dyed entirely red, making it very beautiful. Just as we were leaving the greenhouse, Lena came running up.
"Lena, what's wrong?"
"Young masters, young ladies! The master has just arrived!"
"!"
The three of us ran super fast when we heard Lady Caris was back. Actually, Theo and Deon each grabbed one of my arms and ran really fast.
I'm still way shorter than them, so my feet barely touched the ground. I got from the greenhouse to the mansion lobby in like, five jumps.
Beyond the wide-open door, a carriage was stopping. The servants were all lined up, waiting for Lady Caris, and Jackal was standing smartly in the middle.
Click—
As soon as the carriage door opened, long legs touched the ground. It was Lady Caris.
I wanted to run to her, all excited, but I waited my turn and stood nicely in line behind Jackal.
Jackal looked at me, standing behind him and fidgeting, all curious.
"What are you doing?"
"I'm waiting my turn. 'Cause I'm a good little wolf who knows how to wait in line."
Jackal chuckled and stepped back half a step.
"I'll let you go first. Go ahead."
"Ah, thank you!"
I scampered. As soon as Lady Caris saw me and smiled, I jumped up and hugged her right around the chest.
"Lady Caris! I'm happy you came back early!"
"I'm happy you welcomed me, my dear. Have you been well?"
"My brothers helped me practice for the tea party, so it was fun. And now Lady Caris is here too!"
I was trying to talk so fast, my words kept getting messed up because of my missing tooth.
"You're so cute, I could just eat you up!"
"Ah, Lady Caris too…?"
I carefully closed my eyes and held out my cheek, just like I did to Jackal.
Lady Caris chuckled and kissed me on the cheek.
While I was twisting my body in embarrassment, Lady Caris, who had checked something large that an employee brought, put me down on the floor.
"Here, Kitty. This is a present I prepared for you. Do you like it?"
At Lady Caris’s words, the employees opened the lid of the box. I saw the large box in front of me and sparkled my eyes.
"Wow—! It's a really 멋진 box! The cloth padded inside looks really soft too, doesn't it? It must be comfortable."
I slightly lifted my skirt and put one foot into the large box. Lady Caris chuckled and patted my shoulder.
"Well… Kitty. That's a box for gift wrapping. But if you like the box, I'll give you that too."
"Ah."
"This is the present. I couldn't help but buy it when I thought of you."
Lady Caris handed me several gift pouches that were inside the box. After checking the contents, I exclaimed once again and widened my eyes.
