12. Little Predator

While I was stressed out about how the hell I was supposed to take care of this furry lump, Gyeonga looked nothing but thrilled.

The moment Tang Jung left, Gyeonga shot over like an arrow and stared at me with sparkling eyes.

Her face all but said: I want to touch Cane.

I held back a laugh and asked, “Want to pet him?”

“Y-yes......!”

At my offer, Gyeonga’s cheeks turned pink and she nodded hard.

Like she was trying to calm herself down, she spun in place a couple times, then bent down to match eye level with the sable.

“L-little...... squirrel.......”

He’s a sable.

“Prrp?”

“Y-you...... have...... such...... pretty eyes.......”

“Prrrp?”

“A-and...... your f-fur...... is so soft.......”

Gyeonga reached out carefully. Cane rubbed his cheek against her fingers like he was being cute on purpose.

“Oh my...... what a good, good baby.......”

“Gyeonga. If you like him, pick him up.”

“I-is that...... okay......?”

“Of course. Obviously.”

Cane even stretched his front paws toward her like he wanted to be held. Gyeonga hugged him with extreme care and gasped.

“Ah......! He’s...... s-so...... sooooo...... soft.......”

As she stroked Cane, Gyeonga smiled in a way I’d never seen from her before.

So she really likes animals.

Watching her with a warm feeling, I suddenly froze.

...Was that the reaction Grandfather was hoping for?

I realized it too late. Tang Jung was already gone.

Wow. I’m oblivious. I should’ve at least acted happier.

Cane stayed still in her arms for a moment—then scratched at her sleeve with his front paw like he was asking to be put down.

“A-are you...... g-going......?”

“Sk.”

He answered, then hopped out of her arms.

He stretched lightly, then started trotting around the building like he was patrolling his territory.

“Hey. Don’t get your fur on my blanket.”

“Skree.”

“Why are you digging around there? There’s nothing to eat.”

“Skreee.”

After rummaging through the annex to his heart’s content, Cane finally lost interest in the room itself and turned his attention to people.

He climbed right up Tang Geunmyeong’s back while Geunmyeong was cleaning up the pond.

Tang Geunmyeong didn’t move a muscle until the sable was sitting on top of his head. Then he said, flatly, “......Get down.”

“Sk.”

At the faint irritation in his voice, Cane flinched and hurriedly jumped down to the floor.

Acting like nothing happened, he groomed his fur, returned to the study, and tried to greet Deokju.

“Prrrk?”

“......”

“Skree?”

“......”

But Deokju didn’t react. She only looked down at him.

When Deokju stayed statue-still, Cane looked sulky and turned his eyes on me.

“Don’t bother Deokju. Come here.”

I crooked my finger. Cane trudged over, sat with his butt pressed against my foot, and curled himself into a tight ball.

Gyeonga crouched down beside me, following him, and whispered, “L-little...... squirrel...... If you sit there...... you’ll get d-dusty.......”

“Prrrk.”

“W-want me...... to make you...... a nest......?”

After gently brushing the dust off his fur, Gyeonga brought over a small basket from somewhere and stuffed scraps of cloth into it.

“G-go...... inside.......”

When she gave his butt a tiny nudge, Cane went into the basket like he was doing her a favor and settled in. After a bit of rustling, he started snoring softly. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

“...Is he sleeping right now? What a life.”

When I shot the basket a look, Gyeonga put a finger to her lips.

“Shh...... L-little squirrel...... is sleeping.......”

Then she pulled out a walnut from her sleeve and placed it inside the basket.

“When he wakes up...... he can...... e-eat.......”

Gyeonga was really treating him like a full-on squirrel.

And because I’d somehow become the servant of a newly promoted furry lord, I had to read in silence so I wouldn’t wake him.

Cane slept through the afternoon like he owned the place—then, as evening came, he blinked awake.

More accurately, he woke up the exact moment dinner was ready.

He marched out of his “nest,” strode to the dining room with his head high, and shamelessly climbed onto my table like my dinner tray was his personal feeding station.

I frowned and shoved him away.

“Where do you think you’re going. Get down.”

“Skree!”

“Your fur’s flying everywhere. Are you a person? Why are you on the table?”

“Skreeek!”

“No. If you climb back up, you’re getting scolded.”

Tail twitching in offended beats, Cane threw himself on the floor like a toddler having a tantrum. He looked like he was demanding food.

“H-he...... looks...... hungry......,” Gyeonga murmured.

“I guess I do have to feed him. What does a sable even eat?”

“S-sweet...... fruit......?”

As Gyeonga and I made faces like we were doing advanced calculus, Deokju said quietly, “Shouldn’t you feed a spirit creature a Grain-Avoidance Pellet?”

“A Grain-Avoidance Pellet? He’s not going to eat that.”

It was basically the martial world’s... protein bar—

No. Not even. It was the kind of emergency ration people chewed during secluded training.

And for starters, it tasted bad.

Even with my lukewarm reaction, Deokju didn’t back down.

“Just in case, I’ll try.”

She carefully took out one Grain-Avoidance Pellet and set it in front of Cane.

Of course, my prediction was dead-on.

“SKRAAAH!”

Cane kicked the stinky pellet away and leapt back with a furious hiss, like, Why are you trying to feed me this garbage?

“H-he...... doesn’t like it......,” Gyeonga whispered.

“He says no.”

“.......”

Deokju lowered her head without a word and put the pellet away. She looked slightly disappointed.

So you wanted to feed him something, too.

Cane snorted like he’d just witnessed something pathetic, scratched behind his ear with his back paw, then hopped right back up onto the table.

“Prrrk.”

“What.”

“Prrrrrk.”

He planted himself in front of the meat plate and looked up at me.

Drool dripped steadily from his tiny muzzle.

“...What, you want this?”

“Skree.”

“Can you even eat seasoning? This is spicy.”

“Sk!”

He answered bravely like he didn’t care at all.

I scratched my head.

“Is it fine because you’re a spirit creature? Okay—try a little. If it’s too hot, you have to spit it out immediately. Got it?”

I tore off a duck leg and held it out. Cane’s ears perked, and he chomped down.

“Chomp, chomp.”

“...You’re eating like a pro. You’ll choke. Slow down.”

“Chompchompchompchomp.”

Watching him demolish a piece of meat nearly the size of his whole body made me stare.

“You’re tiny—why do you eat like that? Isn’t it spicy?”

“Sk.”

In no time, he stripped the duck clean and pushed the plate with nothing but bones left toward me.

“More?”

“Prrr.”

Cane nodded, blinking like he was trying to look cute.

Gyeonga hurriedly grabbed the dish like she was putting her body between him and temptation.

“M-my lady...... You...... you should stop...... If you keep giving him food...... the little squirrel...... gets bad habits.......”

“Skree.......”

“N-no...... You...... ate...... a lot already.......”

“Skree? Prrr......?”

“N-no, I said no.......”

“Skreee.......”

“Ghk......! F-fine...... j-just...... one bite...... more.......”

No. Gyeonga, no. She fell.

Hypnotized, chanting just one bite over and over, Gyeonga only came back to her senses after an entire duck had vanished into Cane’s stomach.

We stared at him in awe.

That meat looked bigger than his stomach. Where did it even go?

After finishing his meal, he patted his round belly and flopped flat on the tabletop.

So that’s why his fur shines. He eats like that, of course he looks glossy.

“Hey. If you’re done eating, get down. I need to eat too.”

“Prrrrrk.”

Right then, Songji came in carrying silk. She tilted her head when she saw Cane sprawled on the table.

“My lady. I’m back. I brought the summer silk from the servants’ compound—...Oh my, where did you get a fur pelt? Are you cold?”

“Songji, you’re here? Grandfather gave this earlier—”

“R-rat! It’s a rat!”

Songji shrieked, flung the silk, and /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ Cane jolted up and leapt off the table.

“Songji. That’s not a rat. It’s a sable—”

“Kyaaah! It moved! Martial artist! Catch that thing! A broom, where’s the broom?!”

It’s a sable. Songji. Not a rat. It’s a sable.

Songji grabbed a broom in a panic and tried to smack Cane over and over.

Cane spun around the table to avoid her, then dove straight into my clothes.

The ticklish feel of his fur made me twist and squirm while trying to stop her.

“Songji, calm down. Grandfather gave him to me, so we have to raise him—hey, that tickles. Cane! Hey!”

“R-rat! Kyaaah! The rat went into my lady’s body! My lady! Take your clothes off!”

Mm. She can’t hear me.

I laughed helplessly and let Songji go wild.

*****

After his brutal initiation, Cane looked like his soul had left his body.

He’d gone limp like an invertebrate, and he refused to leave my lap. He seemed genuinely traumatized by Songji’s broom.

“Prrr....”

I soothed him while he whined weakly.

“Okay, calm down. Songji apologized.”

“I thought it was a rat. My lady, you know how it is. If a rat even catches the eye of someone upstairs, the maids get beaten half to death.”

Songji mumbled with an aggrieved face.

That was true.

From Songji’s perspective, not knowing where Cane came from, that reaction was inevitable.

“Anyway, Cane isn’t a rat. He’s a sable. Don’t try to chase him out again. And Songji is family, so you listen to Songji too.”

“Prrrr.”

As I tried to calm the two of them—no, one human and one sable—I got hit with a strange feeling.

I never thought the words family would come out of my mouth so naturally.

Not long ago, I’d thought of Songji as just a roommate.

Now, I felt like I’d be lonely if she wasn’t here.

Maybe life with the three of us had become familiar without me noticing.

I looked at Songji with something soft in my eyes.

Yeah. At least I adapted to this Tang estate faster because Songji was here—

“Even if you look at me like that, you still have to wash your hands before bed. After you touch that thing, you wash your hands. If you touch filthy things, you’ll catch a cold, my lady.”

...I wasn’t looking at you because I didn’t want to wash. What do you think I am?

She really wouldn’t let me have a moment.

At the word filthy, Cane bristled and bared his teeth with an angry hiss.

“Skreeek!”

“What, you’ve got a problem, weasel?”

He’s a sable.

I sighed and pressed my fingers to my forehead.

Looks like it was going to take time before Songji and Cane could become friends.