Veronica successfully hid behind the curtains without anyone's notice. The nervousness in her heart began to fade away. She beca more courageous and bolder. She peeked out of the curtain and decided to hide underneath the throne. No soldiers would look for her there and she would be safe.
Just as she planned, she used nearby statues as covers and jumped from one place to another. Unknown to her, soone spotted her tiny body and her bold moves. That person squinted their eyebrows.
Veronica was now standing behind a statue that was before the stairs. There were seven stairs and then her goal awaited her. The throne.
There was a statue in every other stair. She reached the highest stair by jumping from behind one statue to another. 'Yes! I've almost reached it. This is so easy. I will just need to jump only once and then I will reach there. You can do this Ver!' She gave herself so encouragent and was fully ready for her last jump.
Just then, she heard a voice, "Oh? What's this?"
Veronica instantly froze. She shut her eyes and told herself in her mind, 'I saw nothing. I heard nothing.' She repeatedly told herself that and decided to stay behind the statue. She couldn't dare to move and was too scared to even open her eyes.
To her surprise, she was picked up in a very ungently manner. Soone grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and picked her up.
"Hey, what are you doing?!" she shouted with all her might but the only word that ca out of her mouth was, "ow?!"
Veronica used her paws to slap the mannerless person and managed to leave only a scratch.
"Ouch."
Upon hearing a monotonous remark, she finally opened her eyes and saw a pale face and long dirty blonde hair. The person was wearing glasses. His left cheek had three scratch marks which were definitely done by her a few seconds ago.
"The Pri Minister!" She exclaid. "ow!" She covered her mouth when she realized she spoke like a cat.
The Pri Minister narrowed his eyes. He comnted, "You are the most unusual cat I've ever seen."
"It's because I'm not a cat!" Veronica berated him with as much indignation in her voice as possible which ultimately sounded again like "ow!"
The Pri Minister tilted his head. "Hmm? Do you understand what I'm saying? As I thought, you are unusual. Or perhaps, intelligent."
Veronica's tiny heart was going wild. She was so scared that she couldn't think of anything. 'Wait, what about the king? Did he see ? He won't recognize , right?' She fearfully thought.
She turned her head to look for the king. The king was standing in front of the throne. He was so excited and angry that he couldn't sit calmly. His eyes were scanning the crowd with eagle-like tenacity. He had no ti to pay attention to an insignificant cat.
She sighed in relief. She looked at the Pri Minister who was staring at her and began to observe him. 'Hmm, what are you planning, glasses guy? I don't have ti for your ga. Leave alone!' She now used her right leg to kick him.
The Pri Minister was ready this ti around. He moved his hand away. This way, Veronica wasn't able to reach his face.
"Let go, glasses guy!" she shouted in anger. "ow!"
This ti, she was rather loud. Her voice attracted attention from so people. The king was one of them.
King Edward V looked at his Pri Minister and noticed that he was grabbing a cat. He slightly frowned. "A cat? Where did this co from? Have you forgotten that animals are prohibited inside the Imperial Palace?"
He didn't hate animals but his mood dropped when he couldn't see Veronica. Even his soldiers couldn't find her. Before entering the ballroom, he found out from his n that Veronica entered the ballroom and was Major General Orion's partner. However, right now, Major General Orion was standing with other high officials. There was no woman in that n's group.
The Pri Minister was quick to apologize, "I'm sorry, Your Majesty. This is my pet. It must have missed so it ca to find ."
"Is this your pet? When did you get a pet?" King Edward V gave him a doubtful look with narrow eyes.
The Pri Minister lied without batting his eyelids, "Recently, Your majesty. It's not even a week. She doesn't know anyone other than . She relies on a lot. Probably followed my scent"
Veronica thought, 'I have to show the king that the glasses guy is my master or he might order to cut in half.' Just as she planned, she sweetly called, "You, glasses guy, thank you for saving ." Her eyes twinkled and gave a happy expression. "ow!"
King Edward V saw that the cat was really chummy with his Pri Minister. He said, "Take it out. I don't want to see it again."
"Yes, Your Majesty. Thank you for your benevolence." The Pri Minister bowed and took away Veronica.
'Thank goodness I'm out of the ballroom. But, what will happen to now?' Veronica pondered. She glanced at the Pri Minister who grabbed her in a much gentler way this ti. She sat on his arms without a fuss and thought, 'He isn't a bad guy but I cannot stay with him. I have to et Arthur and sohow convince him of my true identity.' Thinking of how she ended up as a cat, her heart was filled with sorrow. 'I cannot trust anyone anymore.'
The Pri Minister walked for a long ti before he reached his office. He put down the cat on the floor and said, "You have been obedient for a while. I guess you are smarter than you look. Are you hungry?"
"Yes, I'm hungry. I didn't get to eat anything. I'm thirsty too," Veronica stated how much she had suffered. "ow! ooow! eeow!"
"Judging by your look, I guess you are hungry. I'll give you sothing to eat right away. Stay here," the Pri Minister left her in his office.
Veronica was satisfied with his attitude. She looked around the office and thought, 'That's an intelligent man. He understands right away. I'm so glaaa… ahhh!'
She jumped three ters back and looked at the thing that was given by her new owner warily. She didn't even realize when the Pri Minister entered the room.
But, that wasn't the point right now. The main point was – he offered her a dead mouse.
'W-why is he giving a rat?' Veronica thought. The dead mouse was bleeding. It was dirty too. The sll that was coming from it was rotten. Anyone would vomit if they slt it.
"What? you don't like it? Most cats love eating rats though," the Pri Minister spoke as he rubbed his chin.
"I'm not like other normal cats. I'm a human cat. I can't eat rats or anything raw!" Veronica started to reprimand him. "Even if I could, how could you give a bloody, rotten rat? Where is your humanity?!"
She moved around and said, "ow. oow! eow!"
That's what the Pri Minister saw. He comnted, "So, you don't like rats. How unusual." He threw the rat out of the window and sat on the couch. "I think I underestimated you. You have a clean body and an excellent feature. You are a pet of a noble, aren't you?"
"…" Veronica stayed quiet. She didn't want to bring up anyone imaginary and cause more trouble.
The Pri Minister poured a glass of water into a ceramic bowl. Then, he left the bowl on the ground and shoved it toward her. He remarked, "Let guess, your owner didn't want to leave you at ho and brought you here, to the Imperial Palace. Whoever is this, must be foolish. I don't have to guess that it's an aristocratic lady. Only females have pets like cats and birds. Too bad that your owner will never find you. Since you were lost, she has to think you have been killed by the guards after they found you. If you want to survive in the Imperial Palace, be a good pet and no trouble will co toward you."
As he talked to her, he observed her every action.
Veronica was thirsty and she had an adventure. She was craving sothing to eat and drink. Finally, she was given a bowl of water in front of her.
She was relieved and went closer to the bowl. She didn't even care about what her new owner was saying. She started to think, 'How should I drink water? I can't lick water. If I try licking it, who knows how long it will take. I'm so thirsty. I would rather drink it like a human.'
She lowered her head in the bowl and opened her mouth. As she tried to drink, she choked miserably.
"Cough! Cough! Cough!" she started to cough vigorously. There was no stopping there.
The Pri Minister monotonously advised her, "Since you turned into a cat, you should act like a cat, Miss Veronica."
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