I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 205

Chapter 103.1

After I sent official letters to each territory, the news that the Duchess of Blois was bringing wandering cat shapeshifters from all over the country had apparently become a hot topic in social circles. Even if I didn’t want to hear, I could hear how I was being evaluated outside the world through the mouths of various people.

Many people were laughing at my eccentricity. Some called me crazy, while others expressed concern.

Sometimes, I was shaken by thoughts of whether I was doing the right thing, or whether I had taken on too big a task, and what would happen if things didn’t go as planned.

There were times when everything seemed dark. At first, I had a clear conviction and had conducted thorough research before executing the plan. Still, as so many people were mocking and laughing at me, my anxiety grew.

That was just how human hearts were, wasn’t it?

Dimitri held me next to him.

“Don’t worry too much, Rowaine.”

He comforted me upon hearing my sigh.

I felt sorry for showing him my helpless state even though I was the one who had caused all this, but I couldn’t help it.

“I’m worried because it’s the first time I’m undertaking something this big. I’m sorry, Dimitri, for showing such an unreliable side.”

“It’s a skill to take on such a big task for the first time.”

“You’re giving me too much credit. Although what I need right now isn’t sweet words of comfort, but the confidence that things will go according to plan.”

Dimitri stared at me.

“It wasn’t necessarily consolation.”

I pondered what he meant by those words and remembered that he wasn’t someone who spoke without reason, and I was a little surprised.

‘What, did he know it himself?’

A cat that was self-objective.

He sat down at the desk in my office and looked down at me before he opened his mouth again.

“Rowaine, at times, you tend to judge others based on what you want to hear.”

“…Me?”

He narrowed his eyes.

“Don’t be so sure you understand everything about a cat’s mind.”

“I said that?”

“Aren’t you acting as if you know everything just by looking at their eyes?”

At that moment, as Dimitri’s pupils dilated significantly, I didn’t miss it and raised my pen to block his attack swiftly.

“I told you to stop playing around.”

When I glared at him, he put down the pen he had been brandishing like a sword onto the desk as if his excitement had waned.

He had been playing a prank on me earlier, swinging the pen at me and poking me in the arm.

As a result, it was incredibly disruptive to my work.

Dimitri stroked his chin and spoke somewhat ruefully.

“You could have taken up martial arts.”

“Suddenly?”

“I’ve been thinking about it for a while. People who are agile enough to stop me are rare.”

“Ah.”

I couldn’t help but chuckle when I saw his serious expression. He seemed quite amazed by how I was able to fend repeatedly deflect his playful ambushes every time.

“It’s not that I’m agile. It’s that I’m good at reading Dimitri.”

“Ha?”

Seeing him laughing as if that couldn’t be possible, I showed him a hand mirror I had taken out from the desk drawer.

“Dimitri’s pupils dilate and then constrict instantaneously when you’re going to attack. Didn’t you know?”

He scoffed.

“No way.”

Then, he examined his pupils in the mirror.

To convince him, I raised my pen and made a sudden stab at his side. Instinctively, while still looking in the mirror, he raised his hand to block my attack.

“See? It’s not just when you’re attacking. It’s when you’re focused in the moment.”

“D*mn.”

He touched his forehead as if feeling self-conscious.

“I can’t believe I’ve been so obvious.”

Saying so, he glared at me sharply.

“How long have you known about my weaknesses that I didn’t even know about?”

‘All cats are like that.’

I smiled to myself and shrugged my shoulders.

“So, will you stop playing around and get up from my desk?”

When I pushed him away, he reluctantly got up and started to wander around me.

“Don’t even wander around.”

I couldn’t understand why he was so bent on disrupting my work, as though he was afraid someone would say he wasn’t a cat. Eventually, he flopped down on the couch with a bored expression.

“Aren’t you going to go horseback riding today?”

“I still have work to finish.”

“Now Sasha is quite good at dealing with the demon.”

“Dimitri, are you bored?”

He answered firmly as if he had no intention of hiding it.

“Yes.”

I glared at him, who had left his own office to come here and was so leisurely wasting his time disturbing me.

“I’m currently busy allocating the budget for accommodating the cat shapeshifters, providing food, and other necessities. Dimitri, why are you so idle? Does Viscount Villefranc also know about this?”

I asked, suspecting that he had probably entrusted his loyal aide with the work and sneaked out.

“I’m the Duke. I’m his superior.”

As he finished his words, he stared at me with the expression of a ruler as if wondering why he should be concerned about his aide’s feelings.