He ran a hand through his hair anxiously. "Can I pretend to be a furniture instead?"

"..."

"..."

Agatha and I stared at him emotionlessly.

He looked back at us and smiled sheepishly. "...That’s a no, isn’t it?"

The footsteps outside the door grew louder.

Gawain looked like he was about to start sweating bullets.

Before he could say another word, Agatha suddenly grabbed the back of his collar.

"Wha—"

And threw him straight out the open window.

"Go hide outside," she said flatly.

"You witch—!"

His voice vanished as he disappeared beyond the balcony.

I didn’t even hear him land.

Impressive.

Agatha dusted her hands calmly and turned back toward the room.

Everything was already neat again. The daggers were gone, boxes were stacked perfectly, and even the table was cleared.

If someone walked in now, it would look like nothing had happened.

Perfect.

Just in time—

Knock. Knock.

"Come in," Agatha announced, when I gestured for her to speak.

The door slowly opened as I immediately sat up straight on the table, pretending to carve one of the energy stones.

Agatha stood beside the shelf with perfect maid posture.

The person stepped inside.

And the first thing I saw was black hair, followed by a familiar lazy smile.

Mikael.

Apparently this house had a "walk into Blanca’s workshop whenever you want" policy now.

His sharp eyes swept slowly across the room before finally landing on me as he walked closer.

"My Lady," Mikael greeted politely before bowing.

Even when bowing, however, those sharp eyes didn’t stop observing everything.

"I came to inform you that Master Soren had to leave without speaking to you," he continued, straightening up. "He was suddenly called to attend an urgent meeting."

I quickly opened my OmniSync and wrote: "When will he come back?"

Mikael read it.

"Master said he might be gone for... three to five days."

As he spoke, his eyes casually drifted toward the open window just for a second then back to me.

I didn’t care. Instead, my eyes began to sparkle.

Three to five days without Soren hovering around the workshop.

Which meant...

Three to five days to secretly carve my own energy stone.

By the time he comes back, I could finally shift into my human form.

No more waddling around as a tiny chubby leopard.

No more people calling me "cute."

No more being picked up like a living stuffed toy.

Freedom.

My tail swished slightly at the thought.

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

While Blanca was busy imagining her glorious return to humanity—walking on two legs again, having opposable thumbs again, finally being able to slap certain idiots properly—Mikael slowly drifted toward the open window.

"Do you have anything more to say to the lady?" Agatha said approaching him.

Mikael didn’t look at her. "I just want to feel the breeze before going," he finally looked at her smiling. "Why is that wrong?"

Agatha noticed immediately.

She moved closer to him, her steps quiet but deliberate.

"Do you have anything more to say to the Lady?" she asked, her tone perfectly polite in the way that meant not polite at all.

Mikael didn’t even glance at her.

Instead, he stopped in front of the open window and looked outside, letting the breeze ruffle his hair slightly.

"I just want to feel the breeze before going," he said calmly then turned his head and gave her a pleasant smile. "Why? Is that wrong?"

Agatha’s eyelid twitched.

She stopped herself from rolling her eyes.

Barely.

For a split second, a ridiculous thought crossed her mind.

’Mikael and Gawain.’

If someone told her those two were twins separated at birth, she would believe it.

Both were annoying.

Both talked too much.

Both had that same smug smile that made people want to throw furniture.

Unfortunately, that theory immediately fell apart because Gawain wasn’t even the same species which made his existence in this floating island even more of a problem.

Agatha stepped closer to Mikael, her voice lowered. "Get out now," she whispered. "Before I kick you out myself."

Mikael chuckled quietly. "You’re very hostile again."

"You’re very annoying again," she replied. "Don’t push your luck."

He leaned one arm against the window frame, still smiling lazily. For a moment, his eyes scanned the outside.

The balcony, railing, sky, and the very suspicious bushy area just below the ledge.

His gaze lingered there for half a second then sighed softly. "Such a nice breeze," he murmured.

Agatha’s fingers twitched slightly.

If he leaned even one inch further, she would absolutely throw him out herself.

Finally, Mikael straightened up. "Well," he said casually, dusting invisible lint from his sleeve. "I suppose I’ve taken enough of your time."

He turned towards the door but before leaving, he glanced once more at Blanca.

His smile returned. "Take care of the Lady, Agatha."

Agatha folded her arms. "That’s literally my job."

He nodded as if satisfied then walked out.

The door closed.

Three seconds passed.

Five seconds.

Then a pair of hands suddenly grabbed the window ledge.

A head slowly popped up.

Gawain. 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Hair slightly messy.

Face full of betrayal.

"I heard everything," he whispered dramatically.

Agatha turned toward him and without a word, grabbed another dagger.

Gawain disappeared back down instantly. "OKAY I’M GOING BACK DOWN."

~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~ ~~~

Now that Mikael was gone, I immediately dropped the innocent act.

My gaze sharpened as I look at the window. "Gaw...ang," I struggled to say.

One second he was outside the window, the next second he was already standing beside me like some sort of teleporting emotional disaster.

Agatha visibly flinched, even she hadn’t seen him move.

"My Lady really?" he said, placing a hand over his chest in dramatic betrayal. "Gawang?"

He leaned closer.

"You can pronounce your maid’s name perfectly but not the name of the manny who raised you for years?"

I opened OmniSync then I began typing.

He leaned over immediately to read.

"If I remember correctly, you abandoned me on a deserted island."

Gawain froze.

I continued typing. "You were planning to let me starve, weren’t you?"

Gawain gasped like I had just accused him of treason.

"I did leave you there!" he said defensively then quickly raised a finger. "But it was only temporary!"

He opened his mouth to continue explaining but the usual carefree smile on his face slowly faded as his eyes shifted towards Agatha.

The temperature in the room dropped slightly.

"Must we discuss this in front of someone who isn’t family?"

The room went silent as I looked towards Agatha.

Agatha gave a respectful bow. "I will guard the door, My Lady."

But before leaving, she shot Gawain a long, icy glare. The kind that promised severe consequences if he tried anything suspicious.

Gawain immediately returned a bright friendly smile and even waved at her. "Thank you, scary maid!"

Agatha’s eye twitched then she turned and walked towards the door and closing it.

Now it was just the two of us.

Gawain leaned against the table, folding his arms while studying me carefully. "So what do you want to know My Lady?" he asked.

I typed on my OmniSync and turned the screen toward him. "Start with why you left me alone on that island."

He scratched the back of his head, then sighed. "I left you there because it was the safest place I could hide you," he began. "I even packed you your own survival kit!"

I typed slowly. "Except you didn’t come back."

For once, Gawain didn’t have a witty reply ready. His usual carefree expression dimming. "I tried," he said quietly. "But by the time I returned... you were already gone."

Then, without warning, he grabbed me and hugged me again very tightly. "My Lady!" he said with teary eyes. "Do you know how much I suffered trying to find you?!"

I was once again being used as an emotional support plushie.

"I hacked the imperial main system controls," he continued dramatically, "accessed their security cameras, evaded dozens of guards, and almost got my face printed on wanted posters!"

I blinked. ’What...?’

"Luckily," Gawain continued proudly, "I overheard some military guards talking about the empire’s general taking care of a leopard cub..."

I sighed deeply.

’Where am I?’

’What is this conversation?’

’Who is this man again?’

I didn’t even bother listening anymore and pushed his face away with my paw.

"NYANG!"

Translation: Get away!

"I miss you too," he said warmly.

"NYANG NYANG NYANG!"

Translation: That was not what I said!

"I’m just glad someone’s properly taking care of you while I was gone."

He still didn’t let go so I awkwardly typed on the OmniSync while trapped in his hug.

"There’s something that’s been bothering me."

He leaned down to read.

"You said you left me there because it was the safest place. So does that mean my life was in danger?"

His smile faded slightly.

I continued typing. "Did you do something stupid?"

His eyebrow twitched.

Then I added the final line.

"Also, leaving me alone on that island was absolutely the safest thing you ever did instead of taking care of me."

Gawain froze completely. His face slowly cracked into a wounded expression. "My Lady..." he whispered dramatically. "That was unnecessarily honest."

I stared at him flatly.

He sighed and finally loosened his grip slightly, though he still held me like I might vanish if he blinked.

"Alright," he said. "You deserve the truth."