CHAPTER 16: A CAT’S MORNING

Well, of course, as someone who had been deathly afraid of cockroaches in her past life, there was no way in hell Mimi was going to do this new daily quest.

Meanwhile...

"Nooooo! Mimiiii!!!" Emilia gasped as she spotted the scene of the crime.

A hundred scratches...

Individually, each one wasn’t much.

But together...

The once-pristine pastel-pink fabric now looked like it had been attacked by a gang of very determined, very tiny bandits. The gold trim was still fine, but the silky seat had visible frays, and one spot even had a little tuft of stuffing poking out!

"Meoww!"

Mimi meowed to say she was sorry, her tail curling up and tapping against the floor.

Though honestly... it was only 50% her fault!

The rest? That was on the system!

Yes—it was the system’s fault! It made her do it!

Emilia just sighed, facepalming helplessly. She shook her head, then reached down to pet Mimi’s head.

Huh?

Mimi froze for a moment.

No punishment?

But... more pets?

What’s going on?!

Did Emilia just forgive me this easily?

"Haizz... Actually, it’s my fault for not preparing a scratching pole for you," Emilia said with a smile.

Because, after all, Mimi was just a cat. And it was a cat’s nature to scratch things for nail maintenance.

Besides... what’s done was done. There was no "unscratching" the couch.

"Don’t worry, I’ll have someone fix this later," Emilia said.

"No, actually..." she added suddenly. "Now that I think about it, the way you scratched it... isn’t it like a work of art? Wow! So if you like, you can keep destroying it, Mimi!"

WHAT???

Mimi blinked in surprise.

Wow...

Was it really this easy to get away with crimes when you were cute and fluffy?

Well... if she said so...

Alright!

"Meow!" Mimi replied.

Then she turned back to the couch and scratched a few more times, carving fresh marks and sending a bit more stuffing puffing out from inside.

Meanwhile, Emilia watched with a huge grin on her face as Mimi continued her "artwork."

[Ding!]

[Emilia thinks your work of art looks great! Keep scratching!]

[Bond with Master +1 point!]

[Progress to Bond Level 2: 11/100]

[Evolution point +0.01!]

[Progress to next evolution: 0.11/1000]

________________

Half an hour later, after her morning exercise of painting the poor couch with her claw marks, it was finally time for breakfast.

Yesterday evening, Mimi had shared dinner with Emilia—a small piece of steak—and it had been incredible!

Today, she wondered what they would feed her. Earlier, Emilia had promised her the best-tasting breakfast in the entire kingdom, and that promise had Mimi buzzing with excitement.

Knock, knock!

A soft, sweet voice called from outside.

"Milady, your breakfast is ready. Would you like to have it now?"

"Yes, Lina, you can come in!" Emilia replied.

The door opened, and in stepped the maid, carrying a large breakfast tray.

Ohhhh! MAIDS!

Mimi’s eyes instantly lit up.

As a fan of anime and anime-style games, of course she loved cute maid girls! Especially the ones in Arventia!

Lina, Emilia’s personal maid, was absolutely adorable! She had blonde hair with soft curls, a frilly white apron over a neat black maid dress, and a delicate maid headband perched on her head. Her gentle, doll-like face could melt hearts, and the way she walked was so elegant!

She was carrying two trays—one big and one small. Obviously, one was for Emilia, and the other was for Mimi!

Lina walked toward the table and set Emilia’s breakfast down.

"Milady, here’s your breakfast."

Mimi hopped onto the table to get a better look.

Ooooooh!

It’s an English-style breakfast!

There were two delicious sausages and two sunny-side-up eggs! There was also a small piece of butter on the side, two slices of perfectly toasted bread, and some beans.

And for dessert, there’s ice cream!

In a small glass cup sat two scoops, one white and one brown, must be vanilla and chocolate flavored! Amazing!

Mimi could already feel her stomach growling just by looking at the meat.

She approached the plate slowly.

Sniff, sniff.

Mmmmmhhhmm~~~!!!

Absolutely delicious!

Even her tail was swaying in approval now!

She couldn’t wait to taste it!

However, this was just Emilia’s plate. Mimi’s special plate, the promised ’best food in the whole kingdom’ had yet to arrive!

But then—

As Lina placed Mimi’s plate next to her, Mimi froze.

Eh?

Mimi was utterly confused.

What... the heck is this?

On the plate sat a horrifying mound of wet food—probably some unholy blend of mystery meat, minced into oblivion, then drowned in a questionable brown gravy. It was neatly garnished with a single decorative leaf, as if that would somehow disguise the atrocity beneath and make it look like some kind of gourmet delicacy.

But the worst part...

Nestled among the chunks of meat was a tiny fish head, its cloudy eyes staring directly into Mimi’s soul.

AHHHHH!!!!

WHAT IS THIS NIGHTMARE?!

Seriously?!

"Here, Mimi, this is your breakfast!" Emilia said cheerfully. "Hehe, how is it? I’ve instructed Lina to find the best-tasting brand of cat food for you! Try it—you’ll love it!"