Chapter 79 (2/2)

He felt joy as he looked at Myohan’s face. He felt thrilled when he held him in his arms. His heart swelled with love and affection as he looked into those pretty eyes.

“You know they’re lying, why are you letting them get their way?”

He was happy, but at the same time, he felt uneasy. As much as he was delighted to own that smile, that face, and those eyes, he feared the fact that he might lose them at any moment.

“It would be better to let them trick me. They’ll be quiet for a while after that.”

Myohan had changed into a cat the day before. In said he wanted to eat meat, so he went into the forest knowing there were no boars there. He ended up falling in a pit that Shin had dug there and was left alone in it all night. When Shihuang went to find him, he had already turned into a cat and was casually rubbing a paw on his face.

“They’re like children, you know.”

He had to wait for a long time for Myohan to turn back. Waiting gave birth to nervousness, and it, in turn, gave birth to anxiety. What if he never changed back? What if he stayed sick?

“You know what?”

A human lifeline was much different from his, and Myohan’s life was even shorter. He was still alive thanks to O Shin, but he could disappear the moment the god took his eyes off him. On the contrary, Shihuang couldn’t die even if he wanted, not before his promised deadline.

“The cat is loved by everyone.”

He felt like the world was crumbling under his feet the moment he saw Myohan as a cat. Just like he had on the day he found him in the snow; the only thing he could do was to take him to the god.

“I keep telling you,”

Myohan looked down, enjoying the hand patting his head. He looked like he would purr at any moment.

“I’m not a cat.”

‘But you look like a cat.’

Shihuang didn’t say that out loud. He just kissed Myohan’s head. Did he resemble a cat because he had been a cat? Or had the god made him a cat because he resembled a cat? Either way, Myohan was a cat, especially when he stretched his back and yawned with sleep in his eyes.

“And I’m not loved by everyone.”

He didn’t seem to know how loved he was. He had even said, ‘You hate me,’ when Sa asked if he knew what he thought of him. Myohan thought the subjects were jealous of him as he was their god’s favorite.

“Well…”

It might have been like that at first. The subjects had been serving O Shin for many years. On the other hand, Myohan had just shown up one day. Of course, they would hate that a newcomer became their boss.

The subjects did torment him and excluded him. Myohan knew it as well.

“Stupid cat.”

However, that didn’t last very long. Anyone who knew him and had talked to him couldn’t hate him. The subjects had all looked impressed when he dived in and saved Ja without hesitation. They wanted to talk to him, but they suppressed the urge as they were embarrassed because of what they had done to him. Shihuang was sure they all liked him.

That was why he hated them even more. Their foolishness when trying to express their affection for Myohan in such a crude way angered him, and he found it ugly that they were trying so hard to get Myohan’s attention.

Each of them harassed him just because the others harassed him. They all knew it was wrong, but none of them dared to speak up and say it was wrong. They were all fools. That was how Shihuang defined them.

“You’re going back?”

After enjoying Shihuang’s hand for a long time, Myohan got up. Shihuang sighed, unhappy about the hair leaving his hand. Myohan nodded and grinned, muttering that he had rested too much.

He had always allowed the subjects to get their way. He didn’t argue even when he knew O was lying and didn’t respond even when Myo called him a half-animal. When Hae tried to take Myohan’s fair portion of food by force, he just smiled and let him take it. Shihuang tried to put a stop to it, but it didn’t matter.