Chapter 2 The Cursing Cat I thought you were a gentle and refined prince…
Unfortunately, Ashley followed her instincts first: she sinfully reached her hand towards the black cat's head.
The black cat bared its teeth and screeched, then with lightning speed swatted her hand away, leaving a stinging, bloody welt.
"Ouch! You naughty cat!" Ashlin covered the back of her hand, looked at the black cat again, and finally came to her full senses.
The black cat's ears twitched back, seemingly a little ashamed. He pretended to rub against the bedpost, as if nothing had happened.
It must be said that it really does look exactly like the prince, especially those sapphire blue eyes.
But she recited the spell exactly as Sanova had written in her notes. While it couldn't cure terminal illnesses, it would definitely cure the prince's lung disease. The magical particles generated by the spell would adhere to the cells in his body, helping him defeat the illness.
“Are you Lucas?” Ashlin asked, then realized that whether it was Lucas or not, she was definitely an idiot. After all, she couldn’t understand cat language.
The black cat meowed angrily a few times.
Ashlin opened Sanova's photocopy of his notebook and stared at the incantation: Corpus sur per lumen felīnum.
Isn't that how she pronounces it?
Her heart sank, and she trembled as she put down her notebook, her vision blurring.
That's not how she pronounces it.
It should be sur, not sāneat. She misread "May the body be healed by the cat's light" as "May the body be healed by the cat in the light." If she had actually taken her Latin lessons, she wouldn't have made such a basic and laughable mistake.
“I’m sorry, Your Highness! I mispronounced the spell just now… I hope not, but I may have accidentally cursed you,” she said to the black cat. “Would you mind if I cast the spell on you again?”
The black cat squinted and hissed at her, its tone sounding somewhat like a swear word.
Ashlin could understand him; if it were her, she would have cursed too.
This time, she pronounced the spell correctly.
Suddenly, apple-green light filled the entire room. After the light faded, the black cat and she looked at each other in bewilderment.
“Well,” Ashlin said weakly, “at least the scars you scratched me have healed.”
Lucas the black cat hissed fiercely at her, jumped off the bed, and began pacing around the room.
“Alright, let’s try some magic to break the curse,” Ashlin suggested. “It seems you’re under the black cat curse. Cats are auspicious symbols for wizards, and all wizards love cats, so cats often appear in various spells. There are many ways to break the curse, and we should try them one by one.”
Lucas glared at her angrily.
"Meow."
“Of course, it’s also possible that it’s not a curse at all, in which case you’ll be back tomorrow,” Ashlin quickly added. “We’d better try a few more times.”
For the next hour, Ashlin used all the knowledge she had acquired. She first tried every spell in Sanova's Notebook related to "removing curses" with her staff, but they either had no effect or produced strange results.
Once, she changed Lucas's breed, turning him into a gray tabby cat. Another time, she turned him into a terrifying big black dog. To avoid being bitten, she quickly turned him back into a cat.
The scariest thing wasn't that she turned him into a black bear and broke several chairs, but the mosquito. She thought she had made the prince disappear and almost swatted the mosquito to death.
Ashlin was on the verge of a breakdown, overwhelmed by a wave of frustration. She began to wonder if entrusting the mission to her was the biggest mistake of his life.
Her magic was too weak, and her thoughts too scattered; she could not break the curse no matter what.
“This is completely useless,” she cried. “Why are there so many spells that can transform people or things, but not one that can turn them back into people?”
Lucas thrashed his tail impatiently, as if he had a deep grudge against the floor.
She plopped down on the floor, disregarding her image, and continued flipping through her notes, trying to decipher the teacher's messy handwriting that looked like scratches.
Next time we meet, I must remind the teacher to practice calligraphy more.
“Wait, I found it!” Ashlin exclaimed excitedly. “This spell might work.”
It was an illusion spell that required a single hair from the human Lucas.
Illusion has always been a middle ground between black and white magic. Many terrifying dark wizards were originally illusionists.
To be honest, it can't lift the curse, it can only temporarily make anything look like someone, but Ashlin decided to deceive herself and at least muddle through the royal lunch.
Another blinding green light flashed by.
A thin boy wearing a light white shirt was kneeling on the floor in an odd posture, with his hands supporting him on the floor.
He was handsome, and his jet-black hair, though seemingly messy, looked quite elegant when it hung down in front of his eyes.
Prince Lucas looked up in confusion, brushing the black hair that was covering his eyes behind his ears.
"I did it!" Ashlin exclaimed excitedly. "Your Highness, you're back to normal!"
The unfinished words turned into a "meow".
No way.
Ashlin clutched the back of her head, her spirits plummeting once more. She desperately wished she could start her life over. Suddenly, she understood what it felt like for those without magical talent to try and learn magic.
“Well, illusion spells last longer between things of the same type. The illusion of a cat turning into a human is too difficult to maintain.”
Next, she began to try out a magical ritual, drawing a six-pointed star on the floor with charcoal and arranging candles and salt crystals.
"Great Sun God, I beg you to wash away the curse upon Prince Lucas." She knelt on the ground, silently praying. "Return his true soul to him."
Half an hour passed, and nothing happened.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
"What is it?" she asked in a low voice, her voice tense. "His Highness is still resting."
"The King and Queen invite you to lunch. Please do not keep them waiting," the voice outside the door replied.
"knew."
Ashlin didn't dare to speak until she was sure the footsteps had disappeared into the distance.
“Oh, what am I going to do? I’ve messed up the only task Sanova entrusted to me! Now, when the King and Queen find out, I’m sure I’m going to die.”
The black cat actually nodded.
"You're really good at comforting people, thanks." Ashlin said irritably, "But you didn't do anything wrong after all... You were sick for so long, and when you woke up you were a cat, it must have been really tough."
She plopped down on the ground, hugged her legs, and buried her head in her cloak.
“That’s it, I have to tell them,” she said to herself. “What’s the use of wallowing in self-pity? If Sanova were here, he would make me confront my mistakes.”
She took a deep breath, mustered her courage, and prepared to go out, only to be attacked by furry creatures at her ankles.
The black cat suddenly let out a shrill cry and pressed its paws down on her feet.
"What, Your Highness? Do you have other ideas?"
Lucas trotted to her spellbook and nudged the next page with his nose.
Ashlin looked closely: Animal communication spell, cat.
“Oh, of course, clever little cat,” she whispered. “Auris animi, lingua bestiae.”
The green fluorite at the tip of the staff vibrated, emitting a buzzing sound like a bee.
“It should work!” Ashlin said expectantly. “Your Highness, please say something and let us know.”
“Idiot,” the black cat said clearly.
Ashlin knew that she was indeed more talented in the magic of communicating with plants and animals.
She just couldn't imagine why he, who was clearly a gentle prince last night, had turned into a cat with a bad temper this morning, swearing the moment he opened his mouth.
Can a curse change the personality of a soul? Theoretically, no.
But perhaps when a cat is too frustrated, even a well-mannered prince cannot tolerate it in the slightest.
“I thought you were a gentle and refined prince,” she complained.
“Listen, you must never tell Father or Mother about this, not even the royal physician or my sister Elaine,” Lucas said. “Otherwise, your best fate will be imprisonment.”
“You don’t understand. Father doesn’t trust magic, and asking Sanova Bailey to do it was a desperate gamble. We have to solve this ourselves.”
"But I've already tried all the spells..."
"I have no idea."
“What do you mean ‘you don’t know’? Miss, as far as I know, you are his adopted daughter.”
“Literally. He’s been away for over a month,” Ashlin said. “During that time, I’ve been writing to him, but the only reply he’s given is asking me to come to the palace to treat you. He hasn’t said anything else.”
"You don't know where he is, so how can you write to him?" Lucas asked, then immediately answered himself, "Oh, text teleportation magic."
“Yes. I have a stack of parchment at home that has been enchanted, and Sanova has another stack. What we write on it, the other person can see on their own paper.”
"Then I suggest you write to him now."
Ashlin picked up her pen and began to write.
“Perhaps… we could look for clues at your house, or ask your wizard friends, I don’t know,” Lucas said. “In any case, we must not let Father and Mother find out what I look like.”
"If you're implying that I should take you out..."
“Of course not. That would only make you look like a suspicious dark wizard plotting to kill the prince,” Lucas said. “It has to be me going out in human form. I didn’t turn into a cat immediately, did I? Actually, I was sleeping soundly in human form until the sunlight woke me up.”
"Then, perhaps you will turn back into human form at night."
"Exactly."
"But what about lunch later? You'll be a cat all day."
“Tell them I’m not feeling well… No, they’ll come to visit me.” The black cat, having found no answer, changed the subject. “What I don’t understand is, why did you turn the healing spell into a curse in the first place? What’s the principle behind it?”
“I don’t know either.” Ashlin shrugged. “A single word can change the entire nature of a spell. I’ve never been able to understand this kind of precise magic.”
“Oh, so what can you possibly learn?” Lucas asked sarcastically.
"I haven't thought about this much."
Ashlin finished writing her letter, received no reply, and sat back down on the floor, opening her spellbook to search for inspiration. They were running out of time; if they didn't go for lunch soon, they would arouse suspicion.
“I’m hungry,” Lucas said boredly. “Do you have any food on you?”
Ashlin rummaged around and pulled a bag of dried citrus fruits out of her small purse.
Upon smelling it, Lucas instantly sprang two meters away as if he had seen a ghost, his tail bursting open, turning the entire cat into a ridiculous arch.
"Get this thing away from me!"
"What?" Ashlin asked, puzzled. She picked up a piece and chewed it. "It's not bad, it tastes great."
"Throw it away."
"You said you were hungry!"
"I am a prince, I can throw you away as I please! Otherwise, you will be convicted of treason."
These words, coming from a cat, carried little intimidation. Ashlin glared at him, then remembered that cats might dislike the smell of citrus, so she put the dried citrus aside.
“Ah, I really miss food.” Lucas returned to normal and complained, “If you have any roasted corn, cheese or dried fish… you could get me some.”
Ashlin felt that the words reminded her of something, but like a naked fish, she couldn't grasp it.
She rolled her eyes.
“I am a witch, not your servant.”
“But if it weren’t for me, you might be dead, Your Highness! On the bright side, at least you’ve recovered, right?” She suppressed her mixed feelings of guilt and anger, trying to steer the conversation in an optimistic direction.
However, Lucas probably lacked this optimistic temperament.
"Meow, I'd rather die. Do you know how much of an insult this is to the royal family, little witch? If this isn't resolved... meetings, classes, visits, so many important matters—of course, we can't let a cat handle them!"
Ashlyn felt her blood rushing to her head.
Rationally, she knew Lucas was right. People couldn't possibly know the prince had turned into a cat, and if other countries or magical races found out, it would greatly diminish the prestige of the Deville family; besides, a cat couldn't do all the things the prince would do.
But hasn't she been trying her best to make up for it?
She was simply at her wit's end.
For the entire morning, her magic was almost exhausted, and she had flipped through her notebooks until they were completely full. The cat, however, kept taking his anger out on her, scolding and calling her names in a condescending tone, as if she should obey him in everything just because of such a small mistake, because he was the prince in the spotlight, and she was a witch who couldn't be seen in public.
If their roles were reversed, would a nobleman expend so much effort for a country wizard? After all, Helian Royal City is not near Foxtail Bend; she came to the capital alone, without even a horse, and received no help from any royals along the way.
Her reward was a mere single-digit amount of copper. She knew it was a lot for a witch, and she shouldn't complain, but with so many troubles happening at once, her head was spinning.
"If only Sanova were here," she thought. "He would know how to break the spell, and he would know how to calmly handle this situation."
“Yes, you are the most noble. As for me, I have no news of my loved ones, and I have traveled thousands of miles to come to a strange city, just for a rude prince. Why should I have bothered with all this in the first place?” She took a deep breath and threw the poor bag of copper next to the black cat. “The curse is my fault, indeed; but I could have not come. After all, this is not a job with much pay.”
Tears welled up in her eyes, but she blinked hard, forcing them back. Not now, she told herself; she couldn't be weak in front of this arrogant prince.
Lucas didn't say anything more, but slowly walked over to her and nudged her arm.
After a while, he spoke softly:
“I apologize for my rudeness, Miss Bailey. I admit that it happened so suddenly that I was caught off guard and lost my composure. Anyone could make the same mistake as you, and you have nothing to blame yourself for. I shouldn’t have scratched you either… You saved my life, thank you.”
Ashlin suddenly looked up, staring at the air strangely as if she hadn't understood what he said.
She hadn't listened to what was being said earlier; what truly caught her attention was a sentence she'd heard a few minutes earlier.
"What's wrong?"
“Say it again,” she said, then added, “Please, Your Highness?”
Lucas's tail started wagging again.
"I won't apologize or thank you a second time."
"No, not that. Going back further, before the royal family and those who died of illness."
Lucas looked at her as if she had three heads.
"If you have any roasted corn, cheese, or dried anchovies... could you get me some?"
Get him some.
A mischievous smile appeared on Ashlin's face.
"Why do I have a bad feeling?" Lucas tilted his cat head.
“I suddenly remembered that the illusion spell just now turned you back into a human for a few seconds,” Ashlin explained. “The reason it was only for a few seconds is because it’s too difficult to disguise a cat as a human. But if it were to disguise a person as another person…”
“Don’t tell me it’s what I think,” Lucas said in horror.
However, Ashlyn had already climbed into bed and picked up the black hair that Lucas had dropped.
"Your hair loss is quite severe, Your Highness."
Before the black cat went berserk, she had already recited a spell to herself.
A note from the author:
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