I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 283

Chapter 142.1

I heard from the butler that a group of noble ladies came to visit me as a courtesy.

‘It’s a little annoying.’

When nobles who had been down in the estate came up to the capital, it was a social etiquette to visit and inquire about their well-being or exchange pleasantries, and it seemed they came under the pretext. I had the butler inform them that I was still eating, and then I leisurely finished my dessert and tea before getting up.

I was planning to quickly exchange greetings and send them off, then go horseback riding with the cats.

As I left the dining room, the noblewomen weren’t waiting for me in the drawing room but were gathered in the hall on the first floor, presumably touring the mansion.

“Ah, Duchess of Blois!”

The ladies spotted me and waved cheerfully, wearing the most friendly smiles on their faces.

‘What is this?’

As someone who tended to be wary of strangers, I hesitated the moment I saw them calling me so warmly with big smiles. Adorned with fancy feathered hats, brooches, and flashy fans, they looked like a group of peacocks with splendid tail feathers. They approached me and greeted me ostentatiously.

“Oh my~ Duchess, it’s been a really long time, hasn’t it?”

“I saw you at the imperial palace yesterday, but I was disappointed we didn’t get a chance to talk.”

“We stopped by to see how you have been. Is everything alright?”

I felt it intuitively.

‘…They have some other motive.’

At that moment, I heard the children’s voices scuffling on the stairs. The two of them, who had gone up to change, were coming down the stairs dressed in their riding clothes. Coco jumped down first, with Sasha chasing closely behind.

“Stop right there!”

“Would you stop if you were me?”

“You’re in very big trouble!”

I quickly signaled to the butler with my eyes.

‘Take them somewhere out of sight quickly.’

The butler understood and caught Coco in mid-air as he descended the six steps almost as if he were flying. If he had fallen, it was at an angle where he would have collided with the ladies. As the servant beside me reached out to catch Sasha, who was following him, the much more agile Sasha used the servant’s shoulder to somersault through the air and landed perfectly in front of me.

“Tada!”

Sasha looked up at me with a proud gesture as if to ask how good she was, then suddenly noticed the ladies standing beside me and hesitated.

“Huh…?”

Sasha, her mouth open wide enough to show her fangs before pointing at one of the noblewomen.

“Sienna?”

The woman called Sienna then opened her eyes wide in surprise.

“Aren’t you Pretty?”

She knew Sasha’s old name.

I glanced back and forth between Sienna and Sasha with an incredulous feeling.

‘…Is she the one who abandoned Sasha?’

Sasha, with a complicated expression, stared intently at Sienna.

“Sienna…”

Sienna, smiling broadly as if she was amazed, pointed at Sasha and chattered excitedly.

“Oh, this is the kid I threw away! How is she here? I can’t believe it!”

“….!”

I silently stared at Sienna as she laughed.

For a moment, I couldn’t say anything. Was this what it felt like to have blood rushing backwards? My chest heated up, and my hands curled into fists on their own. I couldn’t believe what I had just seen and heard.

‘Laughing?’

She was laughing?

I thought that if the person who abandoned Sasha ever saw her again, they would at least not react like that. Without any sense of guilt, she laughed so confidently and said things like, ‘This is the kid I abandoned,’ right in front of her?

Sienna snickered, not even noticing the change in my expression.

“Pretty, you’ve grown a lot since I last saw you. You’re growing up so quickly. You were cute when you were little, but now you’re… Well, anyway, it looks like you’re doing well with your new owner?”

I thought Sasha would be angry. I expected her to pour out her resentment and fury. Shouldn’t that be the case? But at this moment, Sasha, who was usually so bold and belligerent, was now in tears with a face full of longing rather than resentment or anger.

Hearing Sasha’s words felt like a crushing blow to me.

“Sienna, didn’t you miss me? I really missed you…”

It felt like I had been hit on the head.

Instead of getting angry and asking why she threw her away, she said she missed her.

I recalled the night Sasha, who had been abandoned, first met me—how she had hidden in my bed because she was lonely sleeping alone.

“I missed you…don’t go… I’m scared…”

It seemed like just yesterday that I had patted her all night, comforting her as she muttered in her sleep, unable to rest peacefully.

She had learned to hunt on her own, trembling with fear and battling loneliness after being abandoned. When I thought about how harsh and miserable her life on the streets must have been, resentment and anger swelled within me toward the woman who had left her. Yet, Sasha herself didn’t harbor any resentment.