The Best Wing-Cat!

Rain hits the window, a dreary morning to follow such a dreary week.

Val is a master of hiding his troubles, not a single servant has noticed. But being the only one that he opens up to, I’ve had a front row seat. What happened that night with Marius weighs heavy on his mind. He still hasn’t told me what happened to cause them to drift apart, but he doesn’t have to. After hearing him lament over his failure to reconcile and considering their interactions, it’s clear to me that perhaps Val initially had feelings of some kind for Marius as kids. Feelings that never fully disappeared.

Perhaps that night he’d wished to get closure for those feelings, or even pick up where they left off. Either way, it’s my duty as his loyal pet to wash them away and replace them with something better!

Initially, it seemed Val might be interested in Janice, which would have been convenient considering they’re picking mostly nobles as Val’s potential marriage partners. While that may still be true, it would be better to keep Val faaaaar away from Marius, which sadly, means I can no longer approve of Janice and Val as a couple. As much as it makes me mad to let Marius get his way… it’s for my Prince to move on from that jerk!

Then that means the only choices are those two servants. The library girl and the gardener boy. Both were rather cute, though I’m unsure of how this world would react to their Prince running away with a servant. Social status is clearly an issue here.

Well, everyone loves a good love story though, right? Framing it like a classic Cinderella story would get a lot of people on board. Maybe not the snobs, but I bet we can smooth things out.

I may be a cat in this life, but I can still do something about this!

Let’s focus on that maid girl first. I’ll find a way to get him and the gardener alone some other time, the maid is easier to find at this moment.

My plan is simple, get Val alone with the maid and gardener a few times and see which one he has the most chemistry with. From there, I can feign kitten innocence and “take a liking” to the one he likes as an excuse to get them together more. Nothing brings people together like a cute kitty~

Leaping from my window perch, I trod over to Val’s bed, meowing until he stirs. The poor boy, wasting his day off in bed over a bitter break up!

“Princess? What is it?” He yawns. I nudge the book that was tossed aside on his bed and meow at him.

“A story? I dunno, I don’t really feel like doing much today…”

Nope, not having that! I nip at his sleeve, giving it a soft tug before letting go and leaping down. Stopping at the door, I paw at it, looking back to Val expectantly. He sighs, but still smiles slightly. Success.

“Alright, alright. Just to the Study, yes?” He gets up, unaware he’s just played right into my delicate little paws.

The Study was quiet, so quiet I worried we’d missed the chance to see that girl again. The whole time Val is reading, I keep my ears perked for any sound. Finally, thirty minutes into our reading session, I hear some soft footsteps and what sounds like a feather duster being used. It’s so quiet you could almost miss it. I know right then that this is our girl.

I meow in the direction of the sound, Val pausing to look at me on his shoulder.

“Princess? Is something wrong?”

I leap down, trotting in the direction of the footsteps, causing Val to stutter behind me at my sudden departure. I hear him get up behind me to follow. Perfect~

As I round a corner, I spot our favorite little maid, peering over her cleaning cart for something else. Making my appearance known, I meow at her as I trot right up to her, head bonking on her leg. That startled her, as she squeaks before looking down. Immediately, though, her face softens and a smile blooms. Bingo~

“Oh, my. What a lovely kitty.” She hesitates before reaching her hand towards me and—

“Princess!”

The maid’s hand snaps back, jumping up straight and making sudden eye contact with Val, who looks a bit embarrassed himself.

“Oh, it’s you!” He says, looking from her down to me, still acting affectionate towards the girl. “P-Princess, what are you doing?”

“I-I’m sorry! She just appeared, I wasn’t going to touch her! Well, maybe a little pet but—“

“Oh, no it’s ok. You… you can pet her if you’d like. It seems like she likes you so it should be fine…”

The girl lights up, reaches down to pet my head as Val looks on bewildered. Yeah, I know I’m acting strange, but they’re talking! Results are what matters right now!

She giggles, kneeling down to continue stroking from my head to my back.

“We had a lot of cats growing up, I was beginning to miss them.” She lets slip, seemingly without realizing. “Even just petting one makes my heart feel lighter.”

Her eyes grow wide and she glances back at Val, face tinting pink. “O-oh, don’t mind my rambling! I just… felt happy.”

“No, it’s alright.” Val offers her a smile. “Princess has a talent for making others feel better just by being around. She can always tell when I need a pick-me-up and helps make my days brighter.” Val walks over to the girl and kneels down, offering me a scratch on the head. “Maybe she could tell you needed one as well.”

The girl looks on in disbelief, turning her gaze back to me with a soft smile.

“My… what a smart cat. Pets are much more intelligent than people give them credit for.”

“Indeed. I swear she understands what I tell her.”

“I have a few cats like that too.” She giggles, smile growing brighter. “My time studying was spent trying to understand them as well.”

“You studied? What did you study?”

Val’s question seems to have caught her off guard.

“O-oh. Well, I was on scholarship for a short while. Th-the Great Mage Academy…”

“A mage!” Val exclaimed. “And yet you’re here as a maid? Don’t mages get paid much higher than maids?”

“Oh… y-yes… you see…” her smile twisted into a frown, avoiding eye contact with everyone. “I made it through high school. But most high paying mages have college level degrees. I secured scholarships for that, but didn’t receive enough. I only lasted a year. So… Here I am. It’s not all bad though. Room and boarding here is nice and the work is simple. I can enjoy it.”

Val frowns. “That’s a shame. I hate to see talent get snuffed out.”

“I-I wasn’t that good at it. My family didn’t have the money, so it was a risky gamble in the first place. This is enough.”

Val studies her face, turning back to place his attention on me.

“If I may ask, what’s your name?”

The girl’s head snaps up, not expecting a question from Val.

“It… it’s Yancy.”

“Well, Yancy….” Val smiles, eyeing her. “Feel free to come and find me again should you wish to talk… or if you want to pet Princess again. I enjoyed our chat.”

Yancy’s eyes shimmer a bit before she nods with confidence.

“Y-yes! I will.”

Mission success~