Chapter 63 is not a meal replacement; revealing one's identity is the first step...

"How is he? How are he feeling? Has he eaten?"

Furina looked nervously at Leosley.

"Here you go."

Leosley showed her his clean fingers.

"Wow—well done, my good subject!"

"well done!"

Higgin was also genuinely happy:

"As long as the animals can eat, that's a sign of improvement!"

"call--"

Claudia breathed a sigh of relief and gave Leosley a mischievous look:

"Completely unfamiliar? Strangers? No experience in coaxing people? Friend, you don't seem like it at all."

"Oh dear, Your Honor, these are the absolute truths..."

Amidst a relaxed joy, Leosley frowned helplessly and squeezed a little more meat paste onto his finger.

"I've only met this Mr. Cat once."

"I don't really have much experience in coaxing people."

After all, their brothers and sisters were very obedient. After being picked up from the street and taken home, they were afraid of causing trouble for their adoptive parents. When they were sad, they would secretly cry for a while without needing to be comforted.

As for the smallest, most unusual, and most in need of care among them...

"She is very obedient, smiles when she sees me, and jumps around happily every day. She has hardly ever cried or made a fuss."

"...Wait, are you talking about children? Human children?"

Funina spoke directly, mocking her people for their lack of experience in raising children.

"Duke, children are such willful and self-centered creatures. They are utterly devoid of consideration; each one wants the whole world to serve them..."

A soft, regretful whisper interrupted her wild ramblings.

"At that time, I didn't even have a chance to coax him into playing."

Leosley reached his fingers back inside his clothes to look for the cat's furry mouth.

"And now it's even more so."

We've been apart for almost ten years.

Mainkuhn, I suppose he doesn't need me to coax him anymore?

Just as a sense of melancholy began to rise in his heart, Leosley felt the warm, wrapped material on his leg move slightly.

The silver-gray pom-pom peeked out from the fabric, timidly raising its eyes to look at him.

Leosley: "...!"

"! It's finally out—!"

Furina immediately forgot what she was going to say and screamed at the cat.

"Wow, it's this big? I thought Mr. Villette preferred smaller, more delicate creatures..."

Amidst the gasps of the gods and Melusin, the cat, perched on the human's lap, twitched its ears slightly in alarm, and finally, before everyone's eyes, mustered its strength with its hind legs—

"Mimi".

With its front paws wrapped around the Duke's neck, Mainkuen jumped onto its brother's chest.

Huh?

Leosley's fingers were still covered in meat paste, so he could only hurriedly cover the cat's butt.

"Are you alright??"

"Meow—"

The cat didn't answer, but instead rubbed its fluffy head against his chin and neck, openly and shamelessly declaring:

I like you, I like you so much!

Wait, where did the guy who was trembling and terrified just now go?

No, something's not right. This guy's emotions are changing too fast!

"Are you... are you feeling better? Why don't you rest a bit more and recharge?"

When had Leosley ever seen anything like this? Caught off guard, he kept leaning back.

"Oh my goodness... friend, your enthusiasm is frightening me... help me, ladies!"

If Navelette were here, he would certainly lend a helping hand without hesitation.

Fortunately, there are no dragons here.

"Oh."

The worry and surprise on little Claurind's face gradually faded, replaced by a blank expression.

"We're not familiar with each other at all, oh, not familiar, oh, so this is what it means to not be familiar."

What a gentleman... I was the one who picked him up first, tsk.

"...I knew it. Favoritism was there from the beginning, and letting him coax me was the right decision."

As Funina watched the half-demon recover from her terror, her gaze towards the Duke shifted from hopeful anticipation to utter disdain.

"Why can I touch your belly as soon as we meet... Why? That's not fair!"

Cat God... I know him! How awful!

"What are you talking about??"

The feeling of a heavy, warm cat nestled in his arms was both strange and familiar to Leosley.

But more than anything, it's something I'm not used to.

"Don't just stand by and do nothing, head nurse!"

Her pleading gaze turned to Meilushin again:

"Quick, take him away! The way he's looking at me is terrifyingly hot!"

"What does it matter, Leosley? Haven't you always wanted to have a pet?"

Higgin clapped her hands happily, her expression as joyful as if she were watching two cats snuggling together.

"This is precisely the time for you to gain experience."

Siegfried, if it were a normal, enthusiastic pet, I could handle it with ease, but now—

"Meow—"

The cat was gently nibbling at the leather strap around his neck, its paws rhythmically pounding against his full pectoral muscles—everything seemed perfectly harmonious—but Leosley simply couldn't ignore the messy judge's coat on his lap.

"This is so strange, so bizarre. Don't you think something's wrong?"

He held the cat, his intense confusion making it impossible for him to remain silent.

"He was so frightened that he almost vomited, but as soon as he smelled my scent and saw my face—he was fine again and acted as if nothing had happened."

"Huh? Are you showing off?"

"No, I mean—this isn't normal."

If the initial enthusiasm during the first meeting can be explained by the Maine Coon's cuddly instinct, how can we explain the second one? Stress, even mild stress, is not a simple symptom for a pet!

Even Navelette couldn't calm him down...

"This intense sense of trust and affection that is placed upon me, even enabling me to overcome my fear—"

Leosley couldn't understand it more and more, and the intense sense of confusion even made him uneasy about the creature in his arms.

"Where did it come from...? This is terrifying."

"...puff."

Looking at his taut calves, Siegwen suddenly remembered the day she was mistaken for a spy by Leosley.

I knew it.

The young man held a letter bearing the judge's name, his face calm, even relaxed upon closer inspection, as if he had finally answered many questions:

[Given my high position, how could Villette not have spies watching me?]

[Mr. Navelette was just concerned about you; that's why he wrote to me to inquire about your situation.]

The duke didn't believe it at the time, and just kept handing him a pen.

[Write whatever you want, without any reservations.]

"Oh dear..."

Higewen understands that people who have been hurt find it difficult to give their trust and will doubt the trust of others. These are unavoidable scars, protective barriers that prevent bacteria from entering the body.

But this constant anxiety must be too exhausting.

"It wasn't overcome."

So Melusin gently reminded the confused humans.

"What?"

"I mean fear, Mr. Cat hasn't overcome it."

Melusin stretched out her small palm and pressed it against the cat's messy fur.

"Feel his heartbeat carefully, Leosley."

Beneath the frenzied joy lies a vein convulsing with fear.

In the midst of excessive enthusiasm, the paw pads become cold due to lack of blood supply.

Those were details that only Vimi Lucin could see. Leosley repeatedly stroked the downy hair on its belly before he could barely perceive them.

"!This is......"

“Leosley, he did not overcome his fear.”

"He was just so happy to see you that he forgot he was scared."

This, this...

What is that?

...That sounds like a complete idiot.

"So what are you going to do, my dear Duke? No one will blame you for running away~"

Leosley, don't trust anyone.

Don't trust your parents; they've already set a price for you.

Don't trust adults; a fist doesn't lose its power just because someone is young.

Don't trust your roommate; he might steal the Eye of God you've hidden.

But what about the powerful trust that one so easily places in others?

"Although I can't understand it, I can't let this trust be betrayed."

With a long sigh, Leosley no longer backed down because of the half-demon's intimacy.

He first took the cat off his neck and forcefully held it in the crook of his arm.

"Meow—"

Leosley shoved the meat paste off his finger directly into the cat's protesting mouth.

"?"

The cat was confused and started smacking its lips.

Taking advantage of the moment, Leosley reached out and used four fingers to comb the cat's chin, smooth its fur, and rub its head.

"?"

Leosley continued scratching until the cat was dizzy and lying on its back in the human's arms, its claws all bruised and battered. Only then did he grab the cat's thigh and give a slightly arrogant smile.

"The difference between offense and defense is now clear; your days of absorbing my essence are over."

Speaking of which, the feeling of something heavy and warm moving in my arms made me realize why it felt so familiar.

It's Mainkun. The children there are all very hot. I was young back then too, and I couldn't carry them very well.

Soothing a younger brother is probably not much different from soothing a cat.

Thinking of this, Leosley lowered his head and made a declaration to the cat's golden eyes, which were wide with pleasure.

"Hello, meal replacement."

*

Navigette stood at the opera house entrance, giving a thorough inspection of all the audience members.

"S-Sir!"

All who were swept by his imposing dragon gaze trembled with fear:

"Have fugitives infiltrated our ranks?!"

"...No, no, please leave without worry."

Leosley, your brother is too hard to catch.

Fortunately, he wasn't a fugitive, otherwise even with the combined efforts of Zhu Yingting and others, they wouldn't have been able to catch him.

Navelette sighed inwardly, looking at the two people who had been forcibly detained.

"Gentlemen..."

"Don't arrest me!"

He had barely opened his mouth when the two humans panicked:

"We do sometimes like to make light of your trial results, but that's just an occupational hazard! It's normal for screenwriters to enjoy plot twists—"

"......"

Why did they suddenly start turning themselves in?

The dragon doesn't understand, yet the dragon respects.

"Okay, I will determine an appropriate punishment for you based on your statement. Thank you for your support of justice."

"No—"

"Anyway, I want to ask some questions about the boy with droopy ears standing next to you."

"What, is he a fugitive?"

The first screenwriter's eyes shone with an astonishing light:

"I told you he didn't look like a good person!"

"......"

This child seems to be easily mistaken for a bad person.

Navigette began to worry about the boy.

"It can't be that bad, I think he's just a little shy. He's huddled behind the chair and doesn't dare to lift his head. It's quite pitiful, sir. It's that chair."

...This feedback is familiar, Leosley. It's the same with everyone who's met your brother. Some say he looks bad, some say he looks miserable.

"Here?"

Navelette followed the direction the person was pointing and walked to the broken pieces of the chair.

"How did they manage to escape...?"

Even a seasoned user of the Eye of God couldn't possibly be faster than me.

Is there some kind of mechanism? Wait, what is this?

Navelette slowly lifted a piece of black cloth from the wreckage.

"oh!"

The two onlookers recognized him at a glance:

"Isn't that that kid's clothes? It looks like a curtain... Wait, he ran around naked?"

"Can't you respect someone's reputation? There might be clothes inside..."

"!!"

Villette didn't know whether Mainkun was wearing clothes underneath.

All he knew was that the inside of this simple outer robe bore many marks that were very familiar to both him and Funina.

"Silver-gray and white plush...this length,this feel..."

You can't go wrong!

Navelette began to examine her collar—the cat god had been shedding unusually much lately, and she easily found a tuft of fur on her body for comparison.

...exactly the same.

How did the cat's fur end up on my brother's clothes?

Wait a minute, thinking about it carefully, Cat God has plenty of free time every day, and he never comes into my bedroom to spend the night with me...

This extra time is enough for him to support another family outside.

What do these clues tell us?

"......"

Navelette was thinking wildly.

"!"

I see, I understand now.

Navelette suddenly understood.

There is only one answer, and that is—

Leosley, the cat god is actually your brother's cat!

......

Is it right.

-----------------------

Author's Note: Yes, young Leo genuinely believed that Siegwen was a spy planted by Navelette, as stated in Siegwen's character story.

I don't think he would think that way now... right?

By the way, it's best not to forcefully soothe a stressed cat, it's very dangerous, for both people and cats.