I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 235

Chapter 118.1

As the servants brought the food, the meal began in earnest.

The nobles gathered here seemed very curious as to why I had arranged this gathering, but they endured and exchanged a few meaningless conversations. By the time dessert was served, I glanced at the script, ready to get down to the main topic. Then, Dimitri, who had sneakily glimpsed at my script, intercepted my line with a mischievous grin.

“These days, it seems like the monsters are causing an unusual amount of trouble in managing estates across the country. How is everyone’s situation?”

‘My lines!’

That was an important line attempting to transition the subject to the current dream demon incident.

Glancing at Dimitri, I reached under the table and lightly pinched his thigh as a warning not to joke around, but he suddenly held onto my hand. No matter how hard I tried to pull away, it was no use. As I spoke to him through ventriloquism, he spoke back in ventriloquism.

“Let me go.”

“You asked me to hold it, didn’t you?”

“When did I ask you to hold it? Aren’t you going to let me go?”

“I’ll think about it.”

When I tried to push away his hand that was holding mine with my other hand, he caught that hand as well.

‘Ah, really.’

While I muttered under my breath under the table, Dimitri casually continued the conversation with the nobles, wearing a nonchalant expression.

“Count Tara, I heard the damage is extensive.”

“Yes, even without that issue, I’ve been having a hard time. The people of the territory are trapped in their nightmares and can’t wake up…”

Count Tara, mentioned, spoke gloomily. He couldn’t hide the discontent in his eyes as he glanced at me briefly.

‘His territory is the place that suffered the most damage from the nightmare demons.’

It was clear why he harbored dissatisfaction towards me.

His territory was close to Blois, and he believed that the monster damage had worsened due to my gathering of cat shapeshifters in Blois. It seemed that rumors persisted that the cat shapeshifters were still causing trouble by using dream demons.

He asked meaningfully, looking at Dimitri.

“What about Blois? Is it better because the Duke is protecting it, or…”

This time, he looked at me.

“I wonder if the Duchess’s hobbies are having an impact.”

He was asking if Blois was spared from the dream demons because Dimitri was a cat shapeshifter or if it had become a hotbed for dream demons because I was gathering cat shapeshifters.

It was a question that subtly mocked both of us.

‘To openly display hostility even though you know the elders have been censured.’

He must have seen the elders’ heads on stakes on the way to Blois, yet he showed no fear. In the meanwhile, everyone was too busy watching their words and being cautious despite their grievances.

It was difficult to be asked questions while both of my hands were held by Dimitri.

‘Now is the perfect time to step forward.’

I glanced briefly at Dimitri, whose grip on my hand was firm. Then, he was looking at me and smiling brazenly as if I should’ve been delivering my lines by now, according to the script.

Having no choice but to give up my hand, I smiled casually and spoke to Count Tara as if nothing had happened.

“Oh my, even though Count Tara has diligently searched and driven away the cat shapeshifters to Blois, and yet the damage is still significant? If it’s true that the cat shapeshifters are causing trouble with the dream demons, isn’t that really strange?”

He narrowed his eyes and asked me.

“Is the rumor true? Wouldn’t you two know better.”

“What about the Count? Didn’t you chase away the cat shapeshifters because you believed the rumor to be true?”

Seeing Dimitri sneak a glance at the script, I whispered.

“It’s not written there. I was just being sarcastic because he was rude.”

Dimitri considered being a shapeshifter a weakness and felt inferior because of it. Although he had reached the point where he could casually joke about it in front of me, knowing my fondness for cat shapeshifters, he still felt uncomfortable discussing it around people who despised them.

Despite knowing this, Count Tara continued to poke at Dimitri.

‘Without fear. He doesn’t even know what we’re putting up with.’

It was amusing.

In the minds of the nobles, the fact that Dimitri was both a shapeshifter of the slave class and someone of higher rank than them didn’t quite come together—they seemed to view those two realities as separate, like oil and water. So, even though they would sometimes cross the line and mock him, a warning would quickly remind them of their mistake. They would bow their heads in apology, only to have their pride wounded in the process.

‘No, it’s not just the nobles who act this way. In the past, slave traders would be indifferent until they were confronted with authority and power. Only then would they tremble. It’s not unique to the nobles.’

It was like dropping a black leader into the American South in the 19th century.

For the people of this world, Dimitri—who sat at the top of the hierarchy—was both confusing and frustrating, a disruption to the structure they were so loyal to. If he hadn’t had the means to protect himself, he might have been assassinated long ago.