1. Black Cat

The great commotion struck at dawn when it was pouring.

Barend and Aghnya had fierce arguments. Felen did not know the reason behind the quarrel between his parents, but after snooping on the maids’ talk, she knew. Barend insisted Felen couldn’t become the head of the family because she was a woman, but Aghnya refused it and stood firm on making Felen the sole heiress of the family.

In this era, women were just tools to give birth. No more than that. How pitiful.

“Then what do you wish for? You only have one daughter, Barend!” said Aghnya.

Feeling humiliated by Aghnya's tone, Barend shouted back, with a voice full of hostility.

“Watch your manner, Aghnya! Who said I only had one child?” A cynic smile crept onto his face.

“... W-what do you mean?” Her eyes widened in surprise.

“As you had found out just now. I might have another child, and my son will become the successor of Leister household,” he said. His expression stiffened.

She gazed at her husband’s jade-coloured eyes, and she found no trace of lies there. He was telling the truth, the bitter, merciless truth.

“You ... cheated on me?” Her voice quivered as her heart crushed. It was like being jabbed by thousands of sharp needles.

“Just like you betrayed me with that lowly man, so can I, Aghnya. I had sex with lots of women, and the possibility they are pregnant with my children is high.”

“You misunderstood that, Barend. I’ve never cheated on you even once,” she said, shedding tears in grief.

“How — how could you do this to me … ?”

Barend, who proved his affair, broke her heart to pieces, especially when he declared he had a child from another woman.

“You’re lying, right? You can’t betray me?” asked her, hopes gleaming in her eyes that were full of despair.

Aghnya, who used to look dignified, has now turned 180 degrees. The noblewoman looked miserable, but Barend had no plan of consoling her.

He sighed and frowned.

“That’s the truth, Aghnya. I will bring my son soon, raising him as the legal heir,” said Barend.

There was a minute of silence between the two of them. Then, Aghnya asked in an almost detached expression.

“Are you going to bring that boy’s mother to our manor, too?”

“... Yes, but not now. I’ll take her after Felenia’s Debutante.” This time, a sardonic grin played on his face.

After that, Barend left, leaving Aghnya, who was still sitting on the floor. She howled, regretting the fate that was befalling her. This was a massive stroke for her.

The maids, who had been keeping a distance, cleaned up the shattered ornaments on Barend’s orders.

Felen came out and approached Aghnya with her reluctant steps.

“Mommy, are you okay?” she said and reached out to help Aghnya stand up, but Aghnya snapped her hand away.

“Don’t you dare to touch me!” The bitter tone of her voice Felen heard for the first time made the girl froze. His mother, who used to speak tenderly, was no longer around.

“Get lost!” said Aghnya harshly. She even pushed Felen that her daughter fell hard onto the floor. She ran away to her room, didn’t realise that her impulsive action made both of Felen’s palms hurted by shards of glass.

“It hurts...” said Felen, squeaked while looking at her palms that were bleeding.

The maid who was cleaning the room approached Felen with a worried look on her face. “Miss, your hand is bleeding. We have to treat it immediately, so it doesn’t get infected.”

The maid helped Felen up. She was careful enough not to touch the wound in the young lady’s hands. “Come on, Miss. I’ll take you to your room,” she said with a faint smile.

Felen noticed the look of pity from the maid, but she didn’t care because her mind was full of her mother. Felen was deeply worried about Aghnya’s condition than her own. Even though she didn’t fully understand her parents’ conversation, she realised that her mother was feeling down right now.

“Please look at my mother’s condition after you treated me. I’m sure she’s not all right.” The maid nodded and treated her wounds.

“Sure, Miss,” said the maid, still with a genuine smile on her lips.

After the maid left, Felen watched the rain through the window. She felt anxious. Her efforts as her father’s successor appeared in meaningless because Barend had found the perfect candidate as the next head of the family.

Her existence was no longer mattered for Barend. It terrified her that someone would take over her place and she’d lost her father’s affection. The goal she had been trying so hard to get.

“What should I do ...?”

A gust of wind and the sound of a cat distracted her attention. Her focus drifted to a black cat in the balcony.

“... A cat? Why is it here?” Felen approached the cat. The rainfall wet its fur.

“My room is on the second floor. How could you climb up here? No trees in front of the balcony,” she asked in confusion. Her jade-coloured eyes stared at the cat, who was staring back at her.

“Meow...” The cat meowed as if asking Felen to help dry its black fur. It stunned her for a moment. The cat’s shining eyes looking straight at her astonished her. She admired its unique colour. Her arm reached out to caress the cat’s head, but it dodged to the side.

“Ah...” As if she had just realised what she was doing, Felen stood up and picked a white towel.

“Let me help you dry your fur, okay?” This time she asked permission first before touching the cat.

Unlike before, the cat approached her as if giving a sign that Felen could touch it. She covered the cat’s entire body with a towel, then moved it to the bed. When she focused on drying the cat’s fur, the door opened with a bang, and it startled her.

Aghnya, who barged in, rushed towards Felen. Her eyes that looked blank, but harboured with great anger, made Felen shudder. Felen didn’t move from her position in the slightest. Even when Aghnya attacked her while screaming in full of anger and heart-wrenching sadness, she stood still, taking in all her mother’s outbursts. Felen only sobbed when she saw Aghnya had lost control of herself.

“If only ... if only you were a boy, I wouldn’t have to go through this!”

“Mom ... stop, it hurts.” Felen tried to stop Aghnya when her mother strangled her. She couldn’t breathe.

Before her entire vision turned dark, the furious cries of the maids trying to stop Aghnya’s actions saved Felen from the God of death.

“Let go of me! Let go!” Aghnya refused to be driven aside by the maids, but her strength was incomparable to the five maids holding her body.

After Aghnya was no longer in the room, Felen cried. The tears welled up in her eyes, ran down her cheeks. The maids stared in pity, then left her alone. They let her calm down after making sure their young lady wasn’t seriously injured.

Felen petrified. Aghnya abused her, and this is the first time she did that. Her mother was usually gentle and lovely. In contrast to Barend, who was strict and did not hesitate to beat Felen with a whip if she made mistakes, but now they are the same.

The black cat who had been silently watching the tense incident approached Felen. It gently licked the tears that ran down her cheeks. The cat’s small body rubbed against the back of Felen’s hand, trying to comfort her, but she batted no eyes.

That incident became the beginning of Felen’s suffering. The black cat with golden eyes was always by her side whenever sadness took over because of her parents’ deeds, accompanying in silence without knowing that the cat’s actual form is a frightening figure that will make her life even more miserable.

***