<Episode 21>
Inside the pouch were colorful school supplies. Writing utensils and ink, a fountain pen, and even a fluffy cushion to use when sitting at a desk...
But what caught my eye were the colored pencils with a whopping three hundred colors.
I clasped my hands together and admired the brand-new, shiny colored pencils with my eyes only.
“Do you like the gift, Kitty?”
“Yes! I think they’re really pretty colored pencils.”
As I tried to calm my pounding heart and spoke like an adult, Caris smiled.
“It’s only temporary, but you can’t keep borrowing colored pencils from Theo or Deon every time you need them, can you? Go ahead and take them.”
“Oh, thank you. Then I’ll take peach, wolf-gray, sky blue, grass green…”
I spent quite a while picking out the colors I wanted. After picking out ten colored pencils, I felt a little self-conscious.
When I glanced upwards, Caris and Jackal looked a little concerned.
“Kitty, don’t you like the other colors?”
“Oh, they're all so pretty! It's hard to choose.”
“Then why don’t you just take the whole set?”
I asked with wide eyes.
“I get to have all of them?”
“Of course. Theo and Deon already have colored pencils.”
“But…”
I was already wearing shiny clothes and shoes. If they bought me these expensive-looking colored pencils too, it would cost a lot of money.
“'Cause if the wolf family goes broke because of me, I won't have anywhere to go!”
What should I do? As I fidgeted, Deon shoved the whole set of colored pencils into my arms.
“Don’t worry, Soft Paw. The Gridwolves are super rich. You don’t have to just pick out the colors you like.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. Mom and Dad are giving them to you as a gift to encourage you to study hard.”
Deon chimed in. Caris and Jackal nodded, so I hugged the colored pencils tightly to my chest.
“Thank you! I’ll study really hard!”
Caris stroked my cheek and smiled.
“Actually, we were a little late because we were talking about a teacher to help Kitty with her studies. You'll meet him at the tea party in a few days.”
“Oh, did you go to see my tutor?”
“There’s a very smart wolf in the Weavers family, who lead the wolf clans with the Gridwolves. The Weavers and the Gridwolves are also close friends. You'll learn a lot from hanging out with him.”
Did they ask someone to be my tutor? I was about to ask, curious, when Deon asked, sounding grumpy.
“Mom, you're not gonna leave Kitty with Eden Weavers, are you?”
“But Eden is Kitty’s age, isn’t he? He knows a lot, and he has a calm personality, so I’m sure he’ll be a good friend to Kitty.”
Theo didn't seem to like Caris's answer.
“But Eden, that jerk...”
“Theo. Watch your mouth in front of your little sister.”
“Eden, that... so-called friend! He's so full of himself! He's totally gonna make fun of Kitty like he did with us.”
It sounded like there was some kind of history between Theo, Deon, and this wolf kid, Eden.
Since the two families were so close, Eden, Theo, and Deon used to be really good friends when they were little. Even though it was more like Theo and Deon kept bugging Eden while he was trying to read.
Eden was a super smart wolf who could read all kinds of hard books, so he probably found Theo and Deon annoying.
“Eden told us he wouldn't hang out with dummies. He's totally gonna hurt Soft Paw's feelings, too.”
Deon grumbled. Caris gently stroked Deon’s head and said.
“It hasn't even been four years since Eden's mom was killed by the leopards.”
“……”
“When you lose someone important, you put up walls. You might even push other people away. When someone gets close, you get scared of losing them, too.”
Deon, who'd been all worked up, calmed down.
“Do you think Eden's been mean to us since Mrs. Weavers died because he actually cares about us?”
“Only Eden can answer that. But you guys know better than anyone that Eden's not a bad person, right?”
Theo finally gave in, too.
I tried to picture what this Eden kid would be like, but gave up. A wolf who used to be nice but turned mean.
I dunno, but saying he won't hang out with dummies is pretty mean...
If this Eden kid became my tutor, I'd definitely learn a lot, but I wasn't sure if I, a cat, could put up with his attitude.
If he said he wouldn't teach me 'cause he didn't like me, what was I supposed to say?
My mom, dad, and brother said I was a super smart cat, but could I keep up with a wolf like Eden?
I figured I should get a head start on studying.
“Theo and Deon can teach me the alphabet, and if I just practice reading, I'll be able to read books in no time.”
While I was thinking about all this, Deon, looking much happier, called out to me.
“Kitty, what are you thinking about?”
“I was thinking it would be good to start studying soon. You guys can teach me, right?”
“Of course! You have no idea how hard we worked so that Eden wouldn't call us dumb.”
Caris told Deon again not to use bad words in front of me.
I'd just learned a new bad word, and I thought to myself, real quiet.
“Stupid, no-good Jerian.”
I was proud of myself for learning a new bad word. But Caris immediately tickled my ear and told me not to learn words like that.
Caris chatted with me a little longer and then went inside to take care of some work. The servants started cleaning up.
‘Oh, that’s my box.’
I tightly gripped the corner of the velvet box that the servants were staring at intently. My brothers laughed and scooped me up, putting me in the box.
“Stay still like this. We’ll take you to your room.”
“But it’ll be heavy. The colored pencils and the cushion are in here too.”
“But you're all skin and bones. You need to eat more and get stronger.”
The two of them lifted the box on both sides. All of a sudden, I was flying through the air in the box, and I smiled really big.
“Having fun, Soft Paw?”
“Kinda!”
Theo and Deon exchanged glances and grinned, then suddenly started shaking the box like a rollercoaster.
“Kyaa―!”
While they goofed around all the way to my room, I held Caris's gift tight and hung onto the box, yelling the whole time.
* * *
While practicing waltz and stomp with Theo and Deon, the date written on the invitation soon arrived.
Like a grown-up cat, I woke up early and hopped out of bed.
Hmm, if I grow just a little bit more, my feet will touch the floor when I sit on the bed!
Lena giggled when she saw how happy I was.
“Miss, we have guests from the Weavers family today, so you need to take an extra good bath.”
“Yes!”
Lena washed and dressed me, telling me all about the awesome friendship between the Weavers and the Gridwolves.
The Weavers family used to rule the wolf clans and territories with the Gridwolves, but now they've let the Gridwolves take over most of it while they take a break.
“Today, Mr. Hogwood Weavers and his son, Eden Weavers, are coming over.”
“Oh…”
“When she was alive, she was an amazing strategist who gave orders to the whole wolf army. They say Eden's a genius, too, just like his mom.”
The leopard rampage four years ago.
I didn’t remember it well because I was young, but I knew about it because my mom and dad had mentioned it several times.
‘That’s when the leopards bit my tail.’
Even I, who got the tip of my tail bitten off back then, hate leopards, so how much more would Eden hate them after losing his mom?
‘As much as I hate that jerk, Jerian?’
I just hoped he wouldn't be too mean to me. And I hoped he was a wolf who couldn't even tell I was a cat.
“Lena! Could you tie my hair up a little higher today? I want to make sure my hair covers my wolf ears, even if they stick out.”
If I put my hair up in high pigtails, I could hide my ears real quick by turning around if they popped out.
Lena, who was really good with her hands even though she couldn't see very well, tied my hair just like I wanted.
“Should we head out? Everyone else is probably waiting for the guests in the lobby.”
“Yes!”
Since I was just temporarily adopted, I wanted to be on my best behavior. I headed to the lobby to greet the guests.
Deon scooped me up and spun me around.
“Aw, your pigtails are so cute! You put them up higher today, huh?”
“I'm trying to hide my wolf ears. They'll think it's weird if they suddenly pop out.”
“Everyone would think it's cute even if your ears did pop out, but let's try to keep them hidden.”
Deon put me down, and soon after, I saw beastmen approaching from afar.
‘Hic!’
I froze when I saw this huge wolf beastman—he was built like a rock! He was way more muscular than Jackal!
“Mr. Hogwood Weavers, the head of the Weavers family, and his son, Eden Weavers, are here!”
the gatekeeper announced. I jumped, startled, and asked Theo.
“What? What do you mean?”
"D-Does that mean they want to... to eat me up because I'm cute again...?"
“Oh, 'are here' just means they're coming in. It's kind of a confusing way to put it, right?”
“Oh.”
“Don’t worry too much, Kitty. Let’s go greet them.”
Theo and Deon took my hands on either side. I took each step, trying not to suddenly pop out my claws and poke them.
Mr. Hogwood laughed really loud, crouched down, and looked me in the eye.
“Haha. Hello, little one?”
‘He's got total wolf eyes!’ Theo and Deon held my hands tight—they were shaking so bad—so I could finally talk.
“Um, hi, Mr. Hogwood? I'm Kittia, the baby wolf. I'm staying with the Gridwolves for a little while.”
Then Mr. Hogwood smiled.
“Ha! Caris, you were right, she's super cute. She looks just like a doll!”
His voice was so loud it startled me, and I fell right on my butt. Theo and Deon scrambled to pick me up and brush off my clothes.
Then, that Eden kid behind Mr. Hogwood muttered, sounding all cold.
“And she's supposed to be a wolf? She gets scared so easily. What a joke.”
