Chapter 5.1

Would this be explained in the diary too?

Confused but determined, I once again cupped my hands around my eyes and peered out the window.

“Found you!”

One of the dead thieves twitched, his back shifting slightly.

And beneath him, there I saw a tiny gray kitten, trapped and desperately mewling.

“You’ve got to be kidding me… I have to go all the way out there?”

I tapped my foot anxiously.

I didn’t even have the courage to step outside yet. I know the diary said that no magic within the mansion could harm me, but trusting that so easily was another matter.

What if I’m wrong and end up like those thieves, riddled with arrows?

But I couldn’t just leave that poor kitten out there.

My hesitation didn’t last. I sprinted upstairs, tore a pillowcase off one of the pillows, and tied it around my face so that I couldn’t breathe in the black ash swirling through the air.

After rummaging through the wardrobe, I found a pair of brown boots and hurried back down.

The man, face still pale, eyed me.

“You’re going out?”

I ignored him. My trembling hand closed around the front door handle.

Don’t hesitate. Do not hesitate. That kitten needs you.

“Ugh!”

The moment I opened the door, a suffocating heat slammed into me.

Maybe there really was no one left in this world. No one but me, the man inside the mansion, and the kitten I was about to rescue.

What about Louis de Cocoa? And the female lead? Were they all already dead?

Wincing against the unbearable heat that made it hard to breathe, I carefully took one step forward.

Meow! Mrowl!

The kitten’s cries grew clearer and more desperate as I neared the corpse.

I approached the kitten slowly, picking up the pace as I went. I continued to glance back over my shoulder several times, but thankfully no arrows rained down on me.

It seemed the diary had been telling the truth. As long as I was within the bounds of the mansion, I was safe.

Clutching my pounding heart, I crouched down. The moment the kitten saw me, it let out a shrill, pitiful cry.

Meow! Meeoow!

“O-Okay! Come here! I’ve got you!”

I used all my strength to shove the corpse aside, even though I dreaded touching that thing. I created a gap, and the kitten wriggled free, instantly leaping onto my lap. It was trembling so hard, its fur bristling.

It couldn’t have been long since it was born. How terrified it must have been.

“Come with me, little one.”

Meow!

The kitten was wary of me, but it didn’t resist as I cradled it in my arms and sprinted back to the mansion.

I wanted, more than anything, to forget that I had just touched a dead body.

All I could think about was giving the kitten a bath, checking it for injuries, and finding something for it to eat.

“I-I’m… never going outside again…”

The moment I crossed the threshold, I slammed the door shut and slid to the floor. My heart was pounding so hard it felt like it might burst out of my throat.

Today, I woke up in a stranger’s body, in a world that’s gone, and watched people die right in front of me.

Will I ever be able to process this?

I don’t know. If this was what getting transported into a romance fantasy was really like, I’d rather just go back to my old world.

Meoow.

“I’m sorry… you’re hungry, aren’t you?”

Sniffling, I lifted my head with the kitten still cradled in my arms.

If I somehow return to my original world, what will happen to this little cat?

I knew nothing, and that was what made it so frustrating.

As I buried my face in its soft fur, Killian tapped the marble floor with his finger.

I buried my face in its soft fur when I heard a sharp tap, tap. Killian’s fingers were lightly drumming against the marble floor.

Right. A few minutes ago, this guy was threatening my life.

“Putting aside the fact that you know me.”

He circled back to our earlier conversation like nothing had just happened. As if the fact that I’d just risked my life to save a kitten didn’t interest him in the slightest.

One second, he’s glaring at me all scary and looks ready to kill me, and the next, he’s initiating casual chit-chat?

“Is there no one else in this house besides you?”

I should’ve said yes immediately, but I hesitated, tightening my arms around the kitten instead.

Killian was dangerous. Not just dangerously handsome, but actually dangerous. Ruthless and violent.

I hadn’t written out a full backstory for him, but he was still the boss of the criminal underworld. I made him that way.