Chapter 2: A Fateful Encounter
Chapter 2: A Fateful Encounter
ONE day—a little over two months since the evening Amy fainted and remembered her previous life—she and her mother Isabelle, the Countess of Northland, paid a visit to the Duke of Coverdale’s estate.
Nobles generally engaged in philanthropic activities in response to some public need. Many of these activities were passed down in the family from generation to generation, but there were also many who devoted themselves to causes they had a particular interest in.
One such noble was the king’s younger sister, though through marriage she was now the wife of the Duke of Coverdale. The duchess’s unrivaled love of cats was common knowledge in high society circles. She tried to educate others about the issue of animal breeding all while taking care of stray and abandoned cats herself.
It was also commonly known that the duchess would throw her doors wide open to like-minded cat lovers. As soon as Isabelle had told her that Amy wanted to adopt a cat, they were both warmly invited to her home.
The duchess showed them to the room that acted as her cat sanctuary, where the cats could spend their time however they wished.
“Wow…!” Amy exclaimed, eyes sparkling with wonder as the room came into view.
This is absolutely amazing! It’s just perfect!
Atop the floor blanketed in low-pile carpet was a huge wooden tower where the cats could climb and play. There was a gently swaying hammock that dipped in places where several cats had curled up. Little cat houses of woven wicker were set up throughout the room. Every inch of the room looked incredibly comfortable.
There wasn’t a trace of animal odor or hair anywhere due to the purification magic cast inside the space. Amy had heard that the duchess employed a magician full-time, so the cleanliness of the room didn’t come as much of a surprise. At the same time, Amy became even more determined to work harder at learning magic.
Amy could see snippets of soft backs and relaxed tails peeking out between the seating cushions placed throughout the room, making her feel as though she had just walked into a cat café.
Despite it being her first time meeting the duchess, and Amy herself being far below the duchess in rank, Amy found it very hard to rein in her ever-building excitement as she was shown into the room.
All the cats were rescues, but there were so many different types and colorings that Amy felt her attention pulled in a hundred different directions at once. Her heart ached when she heard that one of them had been abandoned in a park so young that its umbilical cord had still been attached. No one knew if something had happened to its mother or if a person had abandoned it on purpose.
It was impossible to protect every single abandoned cat in the world. But even so, Amy truly believed that helping cats, as much as one’s means allowed, was important.
A satisfied smile spread between the duchess’s plump cheeks as she watched Amy gazing at the cats in wonder. The duchess had always said that girls these days were too skinny. She had so warmly welcomed Amy to her home for that reason alone. Perhaps she had felt a sense of camaraderie.
“So,” the duchess said to Amy gently, “I’ve heard you’ve been studying my book on how to take care of cats. But of course, a good match has a lot to do with personality and compatibility… Which kind of cat would you prefer, then?”
“Hm… That’s kind of hard to say. They’re all just so cute.” Amy covered her cheeks with her hands and sighed.
There was a brown striped cat that had only one ear folded down. There was an elegant blue-gray cat with slightly stumpy legs. There was a cat with white only on its feet, like it was wearing socks. There was a cat with a slightly bent tail. They were all adorable!
There was also a slightly chubby cat who for quite some time had been leaping at the curtains and then falling over, and one who had been eating treats on the other side of the room with a mustache-like pattern on its face. They were each so uniquely charming it was like comparing apples to oranges!
That’s why, if I can only choose one…
“I think I’d rather have the cat choose me.”
If a cat came to live with Amy, they would have to leave the place they’d come to know and love and leave their cat friends behind. Amy at least wanted them to decide for themselves whether they wanted to come home with her.
“I just don’t think it’s fair if I’m the only one happy with the choice.”
The duchess beamed when she heard this.
“That’s exactly right! Very wise, Amy. There are many adults who don’t even understand that.”
Perhaps there were some things only cat lovers understood.
The three of them walked right past the sofa and instead sat on the floor cushions, letting the cats crawl on their laps. They continued discussing cats like that for a while, eventually agreeing that Amy should go along and meet all the cats a few times to try to find a compatible one.
But at that moment, Amy looked past the duchess and noticed a cat coming out from behind a stack of cushions in the corner of the room.
After looking at Amy appraisingly, the cat suddenly turned its face toward the window.
“Ah!” Amy gasped quietly, surprised.
“Oh, yes,” said the duchess, turning around and cheerfully introducing the new face. “He’s been with me here the longest.”
His fur was black and had orangey-brown stripes. Tufts of long hair sprouted out of his slightly large ears, which were pointed like perfect triangles. Amy could tell the long, thick fur on his body was incredibly soft, even from where she was sitting. His tail, which was probably the same length as his torso, was long, thick, and bushy. What surprised her most, however, was the sheer size of him.
“He’s enormous…”
“He’s an adult, so he won’t get any bigger than this.”
He was so huge, he looked more like a miniature tiger than a housecat. Even if Amy did try to lift him in her arms, his hind legs would probably still drag on the floor. That is…if she would be able to lift him at all.
Isabelle quietly drew closer to Amy and whispered in her ear, “It looks like a breed even bigger than a Maine Coon!” Amy thought so, too.
In her previous life, Amy had always wanted a huge long-haired Maine Coon. She never dreamed she’d meet the spitting image of her dream cat in this life!
“Come here, Tigger,” called the duchess.
Although the cat’s ears twitched, his gaze was resolutely fixed on the window. Only when it seemed as though enough awkward silence had passed did the cat finally turn to face the group.
An excess of hair around his neck made his body look even bigger. His defined mouth had such a lovely curve, almost as if he had popped out of a painting.
And Tigger’s eyes were the exact same shade of gold as Amy’s.
When the duchess called again, he started walking slowly toward them. The soft tmp tmp sounds of his wide, graceful feet against the ground were almost too cute for Amy to handle.
Amy could sympathize with the cat as he took a slight detour and seemed to be calculating the distance between them. They were strangers in Tigger’s room—of course he would be wary.
You’re pretty sharp, Tigger.
Amy suspected he had been observing the group even before he had appeared in front of them, ever since they had entered the room.
“Tigger’s five years old, a male, of course,” the duchess continued. “He’s quite big, but he’s just a pampered boy and a little shy of strangers.”
“Really?” asked Isabelle. “What was his life like before he came here?”
Tigger had finally made his way over to them. As the duchess petted him, she grinned slightly, reminiscing to herself.
“An acquaintance of mine had raised Tigger since he was a kitten, but they passed away very unexpectedly. With no one who would claim him, he came here, but he just hasn’t been able to meet the right owner. He’s been here for two years now.”
Amy had heard that it typically took fostered cats six months at the longest to find a new owner. Two years was quite long.
“But he’s so wonderful…,” Amy lamented.
“You think so? It’s just his size, you see. People can’t seem to help getting so shocked and put off by it.”
Amy was not exactly tall. Tigger would probably be taller than her if you included the length of his tail. But she wasn’t scared by this. Instead, she rather enjoyed imagining what it would be like to hug him and be blanketed by the soft creature.
As the duchess continued to pet him, he let out a small chirp of pleasure.
The brief, high-pitched, sweet sound resembled the chime of a bell and was wildly out of place with his large frame. Amy thought her ears might melt with happiness.
“He sounds so cute…!” she cooed.
“Would you like to pet him?”
“Are you sure?”
The duchess smiled and beckoned her over.
“Come here by us, slowly and quietly.”
Amy approached and sat down silently in front of him but slightly off to the side to avoid spooking him. She simply sat there wordlessly until Tigger, contentedly being stroked by the duchess, finally took notice of Amy and turned toward her.
He’s such a beautiful kitty…and those eyes…!
Up close, Tigger’s beauty became even more apparent. His fluffy fur was totally soft everywhere, like cotton candy.
As Amy stared with pink cheeks, Tigger looked directly at her.
Amy felt like she might be sucked into his golden eyes.
“This girl is my guest today,” the duchess explained to the cat. “Won’t you let her be your friend?”
“Hello, Tigger! My name is Amy.”
Amy put out her hand to Tigger without touching him, asking wordlessly if it would be all right for her to pet him.
After making sure he didn’t hate the idea, she gently extended her hand and petted him between his ears and around his forehead. She readjusted so she could run her hand down his body a few times.
“My—it looks like he’s okay with it!” said the duchess happily. “That doesn’t happen often!”
“Your fur is so smooth, Tigger. You’ve got such a beautiful coat, you know? It’s so lovely.”
Although the duchess was a little surprised that such a shy cat was meekly letting Amy pet him, she was delighted to hear Tigger being spoken of so well. Tigger did not seem entirely displeased either, his golden eyes squinting contentedly.
His fur was as smooth and soft as silk. Running her hands through his thick hair, Amy couldn’t keep herself from smiling. Spellbound, she moved her hand underneath his chin. The inner part of the fur around his neck grew even shorter and denser. His fur was also malleable, so even though her hand could easily sink into it up to her wrist, the fingertips of Amy’s small hands couldn’t even reach the skin underneath.
Amy wondered if he had gotten used to being touched by her, or if it just felt nice being petted. Tigger placed his front paws on Amy’s lap to rub up against her.
“Oh my goodness, he’s so fluffy and cute…!” she muttered.
“This is wonderful, Amy! He’s never even been that attached to me!”
Never before had Tigger fawned over someone so obviously. This time the duchess was genuinely astonished, but Amy didn’t have the wherewithal to respond.
Unable to refuse the sweet meow Tigger chirruped in his high-pitched voice, Amy started petting him with both hands. It almost looked like Tigger was petting her, too, and their closeness seemed to give off the illusion they were hugging each other.
Her study of magic had prolonged her wait to get a cat. But in fact, it was this very magic—and particularly the healing magic she had put so much effort toward—that had awakened a special type of healing magic lying dormant inside Amy.
This rare power was still weak, and because it did not affect humans, Amy herself was unaware of its existence. However, there were some highly sensitive animals that could sense it… What Tigger felt from Amy herself and from her hands was a sense of security and, above all else, a comfortable warmth.
Eventually, Amy was completely toppled over by Tigger, but she was so entranced that she didn’t even try to free herself from under the bundle of soft fur until she was rescued by the panicking duchess.
There never was and would probably never again be anyone whom Tigger was so taken with. It was quickly and easily decided that Amy, who had already won the duchess’s confidence, would adopt him.
There was, unfortunately, one bump in the road—having never expected to care for such a large cat, the Northlands still had some preparing to do before they could take him home.
Amy wept, and the duchess promised her that Tigger’s adoption would simply be put on hold until they had finished getting their home ready for him. Amy, in turn, promised Tigger that she would visit him all the time until she could take him home, and then Amy and Isabelle took their leave of the duke’s residence for the day.
🐾🐱🐾
ONE day, Amy was visiting the duke’s estate to see Tigger.
While her mother, Isabelle, and the duchess were talking, Amy took Tigger with her to walk around the courtyard.
“Hey! You!”
From the opposite side of the hedge blossoming with white flowers appeared a boy who looked to be a little older than Amy but younger than her brother. At being called out to so unkindly, she involuntarily stepped back to hide behind Tigger.
In her past life, when she was in elementary school, Amy had been terribly bullied by a mean boy in her class. On top of that, in this life she was unaccustomed to interacting with people besides her family, so she had a tendency to be wary of boys her own age.
The boy wore well-tailored clothing and fit in with his surroundings very naturally. He must be one of the duke’s sons…, Amy realized. From his looks, she guessed he was probably the youngest one.
His bright blond hair glittered dazzlingly in the sunlight, and he had the same blue-gray eyes as the duchess. His self-assured expression made him appear strong-willed and self-indulgent, but there was something more than that…
Wait…his face looks like…
The opening screen of that cell phone game returned to her mind. This boy’s face was identical to the handsome young man who smiled arrogantly in the second spot from the left. The one Amy had assumed was some sort of aristocrat.
Oh my god! It was just as I feared!
“You’re the one? I heard you were coming in the afternoon.”
“Pardon? Um…I had arranged to arrive in the morning…”
The boy interrogated her rudely, but she had given her word that she would visit. She had planned to stay until around midday, which she explained to him, but he raised one of his finely shaped eyebrows like he doubted her.
To top it all off, he looked over her chubby body with judgmental eyes and let out a soft snort of laughter. She had no desire to attract this boy’s attention, but it felt bad being so obviously snubbed before he even knew her name.
“I thought you were just trying to cozy up to my mother, but Tigger, too? I’m sorry to tell you that all your efforts have been in vain. Your face isn’t so bad, I suppose, but… Well, you should give it up while you’re ahead.”
“But…I can’t give up now! We’re already preparing a special room and everything.”
“What?!”
He may not have known it, but Tigger’s adoption was already a sure thing. The duchess was very thorough when it came to her animals, so the proper documents had already been exchanged.
And anyway, looks and weight don’t matter when you’re adopting a cat!
She knew this boy was probably a love interest in the game and didn’t want to have anything to do with him. But she couldn’t give up Tigger, either!
As if the cat sensed how she was feeling, he looked back at her and gave a small meow, which seemed to say, “It’ll be okay.”
I have to come right out and tell him Tigger’s coming to live with me.
Amy barely had any experience talking to a boy one-on-one. She was so nervous her legs were shaking, but she continued her rebuttal.
“Duchess Camilla gave me permission.”
“So now you’re calling my mother by her name?”
“Yes. She said we were too close for those formalities and told me to call her that.”
“I can’t believe it… Are you serious about this, Mother?” he grumbled to himself, face-palming and rolling his eyes at the sky. “Such a chubby little…”
Tigger’s bushy tail softly swished against Amy in encouragement.
Right! Amy thought in response. I won’t back down now!
But maybe this boy just really likes Tigger and doesn’t want to give him away… So I’ll need to set his mind at ease and let him know that after I adopt him, I’ll take really good care of him and shower him with love and affection.
Joining her hands in front of her chest as if in prayer, Amy passionately continued. “Um—I know you probably won’t believe me, but I…I think it was love at first sight!”
“HUH?! What are you—”
“It’s the first time I’ve ever felt this way. So there’s no way I’ll give up!”
Amy rushed forward, jerking her head up to look into his eyes because of their height difference. She was so desperate to convince him that she and Tigger were meant for each other that she didn’t notice they were only inches apart.
The boy’s face turned bright red, and he started incoherently stammering nonsense.
True to her nature, Amy was so nervous that tears were threatening to spill out of her big gold eyes. But even still, she held her gaze, because her brother had once told her, “If you look away, you lose.” Of course, he had been referring to fighting magical beasts, not arguing with aristocrats.
The boy was the first one to break his gaze.
“R…Really?”
“Yes! Even Duchess Camilla happily told me it was fate!”
“F-Fate?!”
“We’ll treasure each other. We’ll always be together. We’ll sleep in the same bed, and I’ll even help out with bathing!”
“No way! B-Bathing?!”
“Well, it’s still pretty new to me, so I might not be great at it, but I’ll give it my best shot! Well…it’s just…I heard you can get closer that way…”
I wonder if that’s not actually true…? Amy thought once she saw his reaction.
He was hiding the lower half of his face with his hand, but Amy could clearly see that his face had turned scarlet down to where his cravat was tied around the base of his neck.
It would make more sense for his face to turn white… Amy thought distantly.
“Y-You’re that smitten?!”
“Yes…I am. I really am. I’m so in love that I often dream about it,” Amy finished with pink cheeks. She could hear several incoherent starts and stammers from behind the hand shielding the boy’s mouth.
Now he understands my feelings…doesn’t he? With a little lingering uneasiness, Amy unconsciously repeated in a soft voice, “It’s love… It’s love…”
A small bird chirped in the courtyard, where the tension hung so thickly in the air, they could almost hear each other breathing.
“…My…my name is Alexander Gilles Coverdale. You can call me Alec.”
“Alec,” she repeated, breathing a sigh of relief that his voice was finally capable of speech again.
Once she addressed him as she was instructed, Alexander brushed aside his golden bangs and nodded, looking satisfied, his face still tinged with red. His haughty attitude from when they first met was completely gone, and it was as if all the malice had been drawn out from his countenance and voice.
As Amy’s anxiety dissipated and she broke out into a smile, Alexander awkwardly looked away again, a blush still lingering around the corners of his eyes.
It was then that Amy finally realized that they were so close, they were practically touching. Quickly stepping back, a smile escaped her lips in a vain attempt to shield her embarrassment.
“U-Um… I’m Amy Northland,” she said, gently picking up the hem of her skirt and giving a simple curtsy. “So anyway, I hope that explains why I’ll be taking Tigger to live with me one day. But I’ll bring him back to visit here sometimes, so I hope you won’t be too—”
“What? Tigger?” asked Alec suddenly. “I thought… Wait, as in the daughter of the Earl of Northland?
“W-Well…yes.”
Alexander looked stunned—he was unable to speak.
Amy hemmed and hawed, but she didn’t know how to respond to that. Suddenly, the duchess’s cheery voice rang out, breaking the delicate silence that hung between them.
“Amy dear! You forgot your hat!”
“Oh, Duchess Camilla!”
Looking back, Amy saw the duchess holding her hat and heading toward them. Her mother and a few maids were also with her.
Amy quickly rushed over to meet them.
“Oh, Alec,” said the duchess. “I told you to stay in your room.”
Alec made a noncommittal noise.
“Well, that’s all right. Have you finished getting acquainted? This is Amy, daughter of Isabelle, the Countess of Northland. They’re going to be Tigger’s new family!”
“…So I’ve heard,” he grumbled aloofly.
The duchess chided Alexander with a sigh, then turned back with a smile and put the hat on Amy’s head. The duchess deeply missed her own daughter, who had been married off the year before, so she tended to coddle Amy.
Meanwhile Isabelle, who welcomed her shy daughter interacting with others, looked at the two of them with evident pleasure.
“Alec, go back in the house. You can’t go out today, remember? Now, Amy! We have a little gazebo, so let’s go play with Tigger over there. How about some tea, too?” she added with a wink, showing Amy the basket one of the maids was carrying. Inside were sweets specially made by the duke’s chef.
Ever since Amy had first been served the sweets and had gone a little overboard with praising their unbelievable taste, the kitchen staff seemed to be at the top of their game. She was a little embarrassed at her unchecked conduct, looking back, but she was pleased. She was never one to turn down delicious food!
“That sounds great, Duchess Camilla. Um…thanks for the company, Alec.”
“Oh, sure.”
Amy curtsied once more, turned around, and walked deeper into the courtyard garden.
After making sure the three ladies and single cat on the other side of the hedge had disappeared from view, Alexander crouched down and buried his head in his hands.
“…This can’t be possible…”
The entire reason Alexander had come home from the school dormitories today was to attend a formal marriage interview with a prospective spouse chosen by his parents.
Alec, the youngest son, had an older brother and an older sister. Although he had made it this far without a fiancée, he also knew that, as the son of a duke, he couldn’t escape his fate of a political marriage forever.
But he had started going to school, and with learning so many things and making so many friends… It was the most fun he’d ever had in his life. Engagements and marriages just had to wait a little longer. Alec would simply meet the girl and make her object to the engagement.
If he used his good looks, put on an arrogant air, and treated her rather rudely, the fainthearted lady was sure to detest him… The plan wasn’t bad, but he had been using it on the wrong person!
And what’s more—he didn’t particularly think she was all that bad…
“Ugh…”
Alexander preferred slender, mature girls. So he was thrown into confusion when he realized he thought Amy, the exact opposite of his type, was cute.
Her features were rounded, her cheeks so plump he wanted to pinch them. She looked as cute as a button with her hands clasped in front of her chest. Her skin looked so alabaster and soft that he had felt drawn to touch it. He had been struck by her expressive face, her large, teary golden eyes, and her finely shaped lips as she passionately argued about love.
As he sat on his haunches and tore out chunks of grass, shiny black leather shoes appeared in the corner of his vision.
“Young Master, you’ll ruin your mother’s lawn that way,” a voice warned.
“Gramps… You were watching, weren’t you?”
“Well, my eyesight and hearing have gotten quite bad in my old age, you know. But if you were to mistakenly fall in love with the wrong girl, that is something I’d certainly like to see.”
What Alec heard was, “Oh, I was definitely watching.”
As he felt heat rising up to the crown of his head, Alexander complained to his trusted butler.
“I hadn’t heard we were supposed to have a guest this morning.”
“Oh! You hadn’t? That young lady has visited a lot recently. She’s very charming… Quite popular among the servants.”
The sight of a chubby girl innocently playing with a huge cat nearly her same size had melted the servants’ hearts. Moreover, although she appreciated the differences of their social ranks, Amy’s memories of her past life made her more concerned about showing deference toward those older than her. As a result, she was never rude to the servants, and she was always received by them very favorably in turn.
“The Earl of Northland… Does that mean she’s Harold’s little sister?”
Harold, who had already been making a name for himself as a dual-blade adventurer, was something of a celebrity at school. Alexander, whose high social rank prevented him from delving into dungeons, secretly admired him.
“Indeed. She is also one of the candidates to become Prince Edward’s fiancée.”
“Ed’s fiancée?!”
The Third Prince had been Alexander’s friend for as long as he could remember, always close at hand as both a playmate and a study buddy.
When Alec stood up, he was at eye level with his elderly butler. It was a strange feeling, realizing he was now the same height as the man he had spent so much of his life looking up to.
The butler was a crafty old man, but he was someone he could trust. Alec hadn’t heard that Ed had been gathering marriage candidates, but it was probably true since the information came from the butler.
Alexander pressed him to explain further with a look.
“Lady Amy appears reluctant to attend her upcoming initial meeting with Prince Edward.”
“Are you saying she doesn’t want to marry him?” he scoffed. “He may just be the Third Prince, but it’d still make her a princess consort.”
“It seems Lady Amy is more interested in animals than marriage.”
“Hm…so she’s just a candidate to become his fiancée, huh?”
Suddenly, Amy’s face appeared right beside Edward’s in his mind. The girl who had just waltzed off and his childhood friend… Alex felt a strange sensation in his chest, but he wasn’t sure if it was a premonition or simply a prediction.
“Well, I wonder what will come of it.”
“Does the course of your love hinge on it, young master?”
“Watch it, Gramps…”
“Why, it’s just the ramblings of old age! Come now, it’s about time for you to prepare to meet your own candidate for marriage, young master.”
“…Sure. Got it.”
From the other side of the hedge, the duke’s son exhaled a heavy sigh and headed back toward the large house.