I Reincarnated As A Villainess, But Why Did I Become A Cat Butler Instead? - Chapter 90

Chapter 45.2

“From now on, I’ll take care of these dogs’ meals myself.”

I have to feed him a lot of good stuff.

The guards were puzzled, but they nodded their heads to understand.

Since then, my routine has changed a bit. For breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks, I personally took the kitchen servants directly to the dungeon where Cadis was located and fed them with nutritious and delicious food.

At first, Cadis did not seem to be sure if he could eat the food I gave him. He endured several times without food.

Nevertheless, it did not last long.

As far as I know, the Emperor’s hounds were restricted in their diet so they could be ready for battle at any time. Hounds were never allowed to eat until their stomachs were full because their movements would slow down if they became too heavy.

In the original story, Cadis, who had the characteristics of a ‘younger man’ and a ‘large dog shapeshifter,’ was currently eighteen years old and still growing. Full of energy and hunger, he quickly gave in to rich, greasy food. Being treated as a combat weapon and never having eaten proper meals must have been difficult for him to resist the temptation of fragrant food.

At first, I eased his wariness by letting him eat and drink freely for a few days. Then, when I felt it was time to push a little further, I gave an unexpected order.

“Open the cell door.”

“…Yes?”

The guards shuddered.

“Isn’t that too dangerous? Shouldn’t the Madam go in with the knights…”

“Aren’t they bound by shackles anyway?”

“As the Duchess will know, the Emperor’s hounds can wield very powerful magic.”

“Isn’t it the shackles that control the white magic of the dog shapeshifters? No matter how much they’re the Emperor’s hounds, they can’t break the enchanted shackles.”

I pointed out that the guards were too afraid of the prestige attached to the Emperor’s hounds.

Considering the background of this world, there has been a long history when people began to treat dog shapeshifters as slaves. It was not that difficult from the beginning for humans to be attracted to the dog shapeshifters, who were very loyal to their master, though the dog shapeshifters were much stronger physically than humans.

Suspicious humans did not really trust the invisible abstract feeling of loyalty.

Therefore, a physical device had to be devised in order to reliably control the dog shapeshifters and make them enslaved with peace of mind.

Humans were able to easily research and manufacture devices that could completely control them through the cooperation of the dogs. Consequently, the magic supplies to control the dogs were quite reliable. No matter how much flying and crawling they were on the battlefield, even the Emperor’s hunting dog would not be able to destroy it.

‘…Unlike the cat shackles.’

The reason Dimitri was able to simply destroy Coco’s shackles last time was probably because—unlike the dog shackles—the cat shackles were not well developed.

Cat shapeshifters weren’t very cooperative with humans and were often criticized for being difficult to deal with. Additionally, they used the devil as a medium to perform black magic. While not all cat shapeshifters practiced this, only the strongest, like Dimitri, had the ability.

In any case, they remained relatively unfamiliar to humans compared to dog shapeshifters, and the demons they wielded were mysterious beings. Naturally, the black magic used by cat shapeshifters was also an unexplored area.

So, I assumed that even if the magical tools for dog and cat shapeshifters had similar purposes, there would be a significant difference in the depth and quality of the research behind their creation.

‘In short, even if you don’t fully trust the shackles meant for cat shapeshifters, you can rely on the ones made for dog shapeshifters.’

I reassured the guards and forced them to open the cell door.

‘Even if it was not because of the shackles, Cadis won’t attack me. The Emperor’s hounds are trained not to attack anyone unless ordered to do so.’

After several days of watching, it seems that he has been specially trained not to be a threat to me.

…I decided to believe it.

When the guards rushed out, they opened the door to the cell, ready to fetch Dimitri.

‘I hope the magic perfume works properly.’

I happened to have two perfumes that I bought at Avila’s shapeshifters supplies store. One was a magical perfume that disturbed the sense of smell of dog shapeshifters, which I had used a few days ago, and the other was a magic scent that lowered the alertness of a dog shapeshifter.

‘I wanted to be friends with a dog that I recently adopted, so I bought anything, including it in a reasonable amount… But how did I buy it so well?’

I admire my past self very much.

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