<Episode 32>
"Anyway."
Eden gave Cleed the stink eye. Cleed was the first to speak, all friendly-like.
"I'm Cleed. Lord Jackal put me in charge of protecting the young miss, temporarily."
"……Lord Jackal?"
"He told me to protect the young lady from all kinds of evil things."
"……."
"I won't usually be guarding her inside the mansion. But since we're in the training area, you gotta let me do my job."
Cleed flicked his fingers, telling Eden to back off. Instead of backing off, Eden tried to get closer to me, but then he scrunched up his face.
His hand, the one he'd been petting me with, was all covered in white cat fur. His black vest was also a mess.
‘Ugh, why am I shedding so much right now...?’
I got all bummed out and teared up a little.
"Lena! Help! My shedding's started, it's a total mess!"
I told Eden I needed a minute, then ran to my room and stomped my feet. Cat fur was falling off me and piling up on the floor.
Lena smiled, all nice and calm, and tried to make me feel better.
"Don't worry, sweetie. Wolf fur clumps, so if you just turn into a wolf every night and we brush it out, you'll be fine."
"Lena, could you sweep under my feet real quick?"
Lena, who can't see very well, tilted her head and swept under my feet with her hand. She got a whole bunch of white cat fur.
"Oh my goodness, you're shedding even when you're human? Usually, there's less fur when you're not a wolf..."
"Ugh... Maybe it's 'cause I'm a baby wolf and my fur's all soft. And I'm kinda extra fluffy, too."
Lena chuckled and rummaged through the closet.
"Of course, I know your fur is super soft and fluffy. I'll get you some white clothes."
"I think I need to tie my hair up tighter, too."
Lena changed my dress to a white one and re-tied my hair. Every time she brushed, Lena would say something nice about my hair.
"Wow, you're shedding a lot for a wolf."
"Y-yeah, everyone shed like this where I used to live."
"It's shedding season for everyone in the mansion, so nobody's gonna think it's weird."
Lena gathered my hair, which she usually tied in pigtails, into one and twisted it into a round bun.
Because of that, when it was all tied up, it looked like I had a giant cupcake on my head.
"Oh, so cute! This hairstyle looks great on you, too."
"Thanks, Lena. I kinda want something to put on my head, do you have anything that would work?"
"Let's see…… There's a pretty veil."
Lena put a veil on my head and chuckled, saying that it looked like I was a bride getting married.
"Be right back, Lena!"
I bunched up the bottom of the veil and tied it under my chin. I went from looking like a bride to a robber, real quick, but at least it'll keep the fur from flying everywhere...
"Hachoo!"
"Where did this fur come from?"
The guard dogs, who are usually all serious, saw me practically exploding fur and just stared.
"I'm sorry!"
I grabbed the veil tight and zoomed to the study. When I looked back, there were little white fur trails all over the red carpet.
Oh no, the cleaning people are gonna have so much extra work. I got all sad again and opened the door.
"Kitty, you're here?"
"You can watch the Soft Paw class today."
"……."
Inside, there were a total of three wolves, including Eden. Eden's clothes were a much lighter color than before, and my brothers were in gray clothes.
'Oh no, my fur will stick to them.'
I waited a bit, then finally went into the study. Theo, Deon, and Eden's eyes widened as they saw my outfit.
"Kitty…… you look like a fairy."
"Who among the three will be the groom?"
Theo and Deon smiled brightly and approached me. I flinched back and shook my head.
Whoosh—
"See? I told you, I'm shedding, so there's fur flying everywhere."
"Everyone sheds... Wait, what?"
Some of my soft, thin fur was floating right in front of Deon.
No, come back!
I thought, 'No, come back!' but when I reached out, even more fur went flying.
My fur's different from regular wolf fur, it floats around really easily.
"Ah…… Achoo!"
My brothers looked totally surprised, like they'd never seen a cat shed before. I'm gonna be shedding like this for a whole week.
I started to get teary-eyed, thinking about how I was the only one in this whole huge mansion making a fur-mess.
"Eden, can we take a break from class today?"
"Where are you going?"
"I need to go for a walk, I'm feeling kinda sad."
"Soft Paw, together……"
"I want to go alone, brothers."
I said, all sad, and pulled the veil tighter. When I turned to go, tears started falling.
My vision was blurry, and I didn't know where I was going. I just ran towards a wide-open place that smelled of grass.
This was the first time shedding bothered me this much. It was natural. Mom was always by my side, shedding fur together.
I sat down on a nearby hill and buried my face in my knees, crying silently.
'Mom…… I miss you.'
I realized there weren't any other small animals like me in the whole Gridwolf mansion.
I wasn't big enough yet to take revenge on Jerian. The wolf mansion was comfortable and gave me plenty of food, but…… Mom wasn't there.
No, Mom wasn't anywhere anymore.
I looked up at the sky. My tears were getting colder and colder, and my cheeks felt like they were freezing in the cold wind.
Poof—!
I turned into a cat and faced the wind head-on. I figured I'd let all the loose fur blow away, then go back inside.
Every time the wind blew, whoosh, more fur flew off. I looked at the sky and murmured softly.
"Mom, are you doing well? With Dad, brothers, and the little ones, all together?"
Of course, no answer came back.
"I miss you. So much."
Still nothing.
"...Once I'm done shedding, I'll be okay again."
In the end, a trembling voice came out. I curled up in a ball and sobbed quietly so that the wolves wouldn't be startled by the sound of crying.
Theo, Deon, and Eden grabbed thick blankets and immediately set out to find Kitty. It was easy to find the sad little kitty.
There was a trail of white fur showing exactly where Kitty had gone.
The velvet curtains by the hallway window were covered in fur, as high as Kitty could reach.
"Cat shedding is different from wolf shedding."
Theo said. Deon looked sad too, like he hadn't expected it.
"She's gonna be really upset if she thinks she's the only one different. She's been so brave until now."
Eden took the lead without adding any words.
The three wolves quickly found the hill where Kitty was sitting.
'Why did Kitty have to come to the dandelion hill…….'
When the wind blew, dandelion seeds flew everywhere towards the sunset. And right in the middle, the biggest dandelion of all was Kitty, sending white fur flying like crazy.
Eden quietly watched Kitty sobbing. Just by seeing her head held high as if looking at someone in heaven, he could tell who Kitty needed.
"I don't think she needs me here. You two should take care of her."
"Eden, why don't you come with us?"
"You've been leading the way here the whole time."
"It's fine. Just let me know when we can start class again."
I'm not family, so I probably won't be of much help. Eden handed the blanket he was holding to Theo and Deon and left.
Theo and Deon looked at each other, confused, then tiptoed closer. Kitty was so busy crying, she didn't hear them. She was talking to the sky.
"Mom, it's so cold and lonely without Mom."
Sob. Kitty's body shook. Theo and Deon wrapped Kitty in a blanket and replied in gentle voices.
"We're here, Kitty."
"……!"
"Soft Paw, come in here."
Kitty, suddenly wrapped in a blanket, looked around in confusion. Theo and Deon sat down on the grass, even though it was covered in fur.
"Ah, my fur will get on you."
"Then let's do this."
The two of them turned into wolves, curled up like crescent moons, and gently hugged Kitty. Little Kitty was stuck right in the middle, like a wolf donut.
Her body quickly warmed up from the wolves' body temperature and thick fur. Kitty wiped away her tears and sobbed.
"Thank you for coming."
"Kitty, do you miss Mom a lot?"
"A little……"
"Sweetie, of course you miss her. And your family misses you tons, too."
"Do you think so?"
"Yeah. They'll think of you more during shedding season. How could they forget such soft fur?"
Deon stroked Kitty with his tail.
"So let's go back inside. Your brothers will brush all your loose fur out."
"Everyone is worried about Kitty."
Kitty smiled bashfully and rubbed her face against the two wolves' bodies in turn.
"You two are really warm and kind to me, even though I'm just temporary family."
"That's because you're our younger sister."
"Even if it's temporary, we're family. Family is supposed to take care of each other."
Kitty looked up at the sky, surrounded by warm wolves. The sunset had already ended, and the deep navy sky was taking its place.
"Can we look at the stars for a little bit? I'm a baby wolf who appreciates a little romance, you know."
"Yeah, sure."
"If you know any constellations, teach them to us too."
"Okay. If you make a triangle with that star and this star, it's a fish, and if you connect this one and those three, it's a salmon..."
"……."
Although they didn't understand, the two wolves listened attentively to Kitty's constellation explanations.
The three returned to the mansion a while later. As Theo and Deon had instructed, all the employees in the mansion had changed into light-colored clothes.
The carpets and curtains had also been changed to white, so Kitty's fur wasn't very noticeable even if it flew around.
"You're back!"
"We were worried because it was cold."
"Hehe, sorry."
The three gathered in Kitty's room. Theo sat on a chair, placed a cushion on his lap, and patted it.
"I'll brush your fur, come here and sit down, Kitty."
Deon picked up a small animal brush that he had told Lena to prepare in advance.
Kitty scurried to Theo and sat facing him on the cushion. Theo chuckled and pointed out Kitty's mistake.
"Kitty. If I'm going to brush your hair, you shouldn't sit facing me, but the other way around."
"That's not why I'm sitting like this."
Kitty smiled, all sneaky, and kissed Theo on the cheek. While Theo was still surprised, she jumped up and gave Deon a quick kiss on the cheek, too.
"Thank you for coming to pick me up, brothers."
Poof—!
Kitty turned back into a cat and curled up on Theo's cushion. She buried her face in her paws, all embarrassed.
The two wolves were so touched, they just stood there for a minute with their wolf ears and tails sticking out.
Much later.
Jackal and Karis, who had heard about the whole shedding thing and rushed to Kitty's room, tiptoed inside.
Kitty, Theo, and Deon were asleep side by side on the rug in their animal forms, and Kitty, buried between the two, looked very cozy.
Karis found something and smiled faintly.
Above them, there were three big balls of fur from all the brushing. It looked like they'd fallen asleep while brushing each other.
Karis gazed at the lovely sight and asked in a trembling voice.
"……Jackal. If our daughter had been alive, would she always have looked like this?"
"……."
Jackal covered the three children with a blanket and wordlessly put his arm around Karis's shoulder.
