The Villain Family’s Strongest Butler
Chapter 25
“So, to put it simply, you sneaked into the Corridor of the World Tree and stole some fruit that had fallen on the ground?”
At my words, the furball immediately protested, sounding wronged.
[What do you mean, stole?! It was just lying there for the taking, so I ate it!]
“…….”
Right. What was the point of holding a furry beast to human standards? Better to just drop it.
Still, whatever fruit this creature ate didn’t seem ordinary…….
‘Wait, more importantly, it’s saying it stole fruit from the Corridor of the World Tree and ran all the way to the Imperial Palace’s temple.’
The Corridor of the World Tree was located in the Hertia Mountains at the northern edge of the Empire.
Ever since monsters began appearing around the World Tree, the Temple had placed it under special supervision, and human visitors had ceased going there long ago.
Getting in there, stealing something to eat and getting out, and traveling all that distance to the temple in the Imperial Palace were by no means easy feats.
‘Of course, I don’t know when it ate the fruit.’
I looked at the furball with a doubtful gaze and asked again.
“Then besides the fruit, what else did you scavenge?”
Gasp. The furball started in surprise and said:
[How did you know?!]
“…….”
Ahem. Clearing its throat with a little cough, the furball continued.
[I didn’t just pick it up off the ground; I was starving, so I nibbled on a few leaves, too.]
Oh, and drank some of the water flowing around the corridor.
“……Oho.”
You certainly had a well-balanced meal.
‘So it basically tasted everything edible inside the corridor?’
Gluttonous little cat.
Since ancient times, the Corridor of the World Tree had been known as a mystical place.
Though it was closed off now as the World Tree was dying, back when the tree was full of vitality, countless people flocked to the Corridor of the World Tree to heal illnesses or ward off misfortune.
To the point where people were eager to buy not just the leaves and bark of the World Tree, but even the water flowing through the corridor around it.
‘Considering the tree’s sap sold for a fortune, that says it all.’
In any case, after stealing and eating the World Tree’s fruit, the furball claimed it gained the ability to understand and mimic human speech.
Though, of course, it had never met a human who could actually understand what it was saying.
[When I went in, the World Tree was lush and green. The fallen fruit was fresh, and the water flowing through the corridor was crystal clear.]
Though it must all be dried up by now.
‘Wait.’
If it ate there before the World Tree withered…
‘Doesn’t that mean it was at least ten years ago?’
I asked the furball,
“How old are you?”
[Mmm.]
The furball thought for quite a while. Then it tilted its head and answered candidly:
[Dunno?]
Hehe. The furball gave a silly grin.
“…….”
Judging by its size alone, I had taken it for an unmistakable kitten.
Even Renda the veterinarian had only said it was an adult, not seeming to know its exact age.
‘It must be a lot older than it looks.’
Just as I was looking at the furball and thinking that—
[By the way.]
Sniff, sniff. The furball pressed its nose against the back of my hand and sniffed.
“What are you doing?”
[You smell nice.]
“Unlike a certain someone, I wash every day.”
[I wash every day too! What I meant is, you smell like that fruit I ate.]
“The fruit you ate?”
[Yeah, the fruit I ate in the Corridor of the World Tree.]
“……Really?”
I lifted the back of my hand to my nose. Sniff, sniff.
‘I can’t tell.’
As I tilted my head in doubt, the furball spoke up.
[So, can I just eat and sleep here from now on?]
“…….”
I slowly crossed my arms and looked coldly down at the excited furball.
“All right, Furball. If I let you eat and sleep here, what can you do for me in return?”
[I told you, I’m Byul, not Furball?!]
“Your name isn’t what’s important right now.”
[Huh?]
The furball stared up at me as if asking what on earth I was talking about. I spoke firmly.
“There’s no way I picked up a shameless cat whose only intention is to freeload and sleep all day.”
A shameless cat?! The furball flared up.
[I-I am a great cat!]
I nodded with an indifferent face.
“Right. And what can this ‘great cat’ do other than shout and meow?”
[I can speak the human tongue! I bet there isn’t another cat in the world that can speak human language like me?!]
“Indeed. But I’m the only one who can understand it.”
[…….]
“By that logic, aren’t I the greater one here?”
[Urk!]
The furball trembled all over, shaking with indignation.
[What do you want from me, then?!]
I smirked.
‘Nothing in this world is free, my great furball.’
—“Look at the lid here. Bottom right. Do you see the small writing?”
—“Yes, I see it. ……Initials?”
—“Right! I put both our initials on it. Tee-hee, and what do you think this is in between our initials?”
—“……A heart?”
—“That’s right!”
Giggle, giggle.
“…….”
I woke up to the sound of a young girl’s laughter.
I had dreamed again.
“Ugh, my head…….”
Holding my forehead, I sat up in bed.
‘Whenever I have these dreams, my head throbs like it’s going to split open.’
My head ached, and my chest felt tight and heavy. I poured myself a glass of water and gulped it down, but the suffocating feeling in my chest hardly eased.
Just then.
[Butler. Did you have a nightmare or something?]
“…….”
I whipped my head toward the sound.
It was the furball.
“……Ah, right, you were here.”
[……That’s terribly rude, Butler.]
I had completely forgotten that I had picked up a cat from the temple.
“It’s just because I’ve never shared a room with anyone before.”
[Am I the first?]
“Yes.”
Hmph. The furball hummed as if pleased.
“By the way, why are you up on the bed?”
Instead of staying on its cushion on the floor, the furball had climbed onto the bed. Curled into a ball right next to my pillow, it glanced at me and said,
[It’s warmer and softer here. Besides, Butler smells nice.]
Saying so, the furball swished the tip of its tail, which was curled neatly against its body.
That smell again.
Since yesterday, the furball kept insisting I smelled nice.
I looked down at the furball with a suspicious gaze.
‘Could this thing not actually be a cat?’
What if it was the cub of some ferocious beast that attacks and eats humans?
‘Maybe I smell like prey to it.’
The thought crossed my mind for a moment.
‘If it shows any sign of that, I’ll just kick it out.’
Releasing it into the mountain behind the Grand Duke’s Residence wouldn’t be a bad idea either.
“Do whatever you want.”
Just try attacking me while I sleep, you little rascal.
I gently scratched the star-shaped mark on the furball’s forehead with my fingertips.
Evidently enjoying it, the furball began purring and closed its eyes.
A soft chuckle escaped me.
I petted the furball to my heart’s content until it slipped away from my touch and hopped down to its cushion, then I got out of bed and opened the window.
The cool dawn air rushed in.
‘……The dream has become clearer.’
The dream with that young girl.
Thanks to that, I clearly saw the girl who had hated her own name so much.
Platinum blonde hair and blue eyes.
Looking at the delicate harmony of her eyes, nose, and lips, it was obvious she would grow into an extraordinary beauty before long.
Anyone could tell it was this body’s childhood.
‘As expected, they were memories of this body.’
And the boy sitting across from the girl.
I could only ever see the back of the boy’s head.
‘Black hair…….’
Honestly, when it came to black hair, the only person who came to mind was the Grand Duke.
‘If only I could have seen his eyes.’
If he had purple eyes, I could have been certain it was the Grand Duke.
‘How tantalizing.’
Having only suspicion without concrete proof was a bit frustrating.
‘No, wait.’
It wasn’t as if there was no evidence at all.
‘The pocket watch!’
The content of this dream was different.
The children appearing in it were the same, but the setting and the topic of conversation were completely different.
And the topic of conversation this time was a pocket watch.
‘I’ve seen that pocket watch.’
There was a pocket watch the Grand Duke took out every day whenever he checked the time.
It looked quite valuable, but for something the Grand Duke carried around, it was a bit… how should I put it? It felt heavily worn by the passage of time.
‘So I had just assumed it was a keepsake from his parents.’
But what if, just like in the dream, he had received it as a gift from that girl?
‘All right. Let’s check.’
Whether the pocket watch in the dream belongs to the Grand Duke, or if there’s another boy involved.
‘If I check inside the lid, I’ll know.’
Oh, and the heart between the initials too.
‘How cute. A heart.’
Then, soon after, a sense of emptiness washed over me.
Even if the dreams showed this body’s past, either way, it wasn’t my business.
Watching little kids’ romance play out felt truly bizarre.
‘A romance I’ve never even experienced once myself…….’
I could just consider it like watching a play.
Yet thinking that the black-haired boy might be the Grand Duke made it feel all the weirder.
‘Why do I have to watch the Grand Duke’s romantic history……’
The unsettled feeling wouldn’t go away.
Just then.
[I’m hungry, Butler.]
Give me something to eat.
“…….”
My gaze, which had been directed outside the window, shifted to the furball.
‘Right. No need to obsess over the dream.’
If the memories are meant to resurface, they’ll come back on their own.
‘For now, I need to make a plan to put that furball to good use.’
In exchange for providing the furball with food and a place to sleep, I proposed a certain contract.
