I Don’t Care About the Story, I Want a Cat ～Transmigrated into an Otome Game～ - Chapter 11

Request for a Friendship

They set off with Edward astride Vintus, and Amy on a fawn coloured mare called Fenti,  riding with Marvin. The two horses trotted alongside each other. Fenti was a calm horse and had been used by Princess Florence when she was learning how to ride.  

She had been a bit worried about her heavy weight. But when she voiced these concerns to Marvin, he laughed it off assuring her that it would be perfectly fine. He had told her she would be the weight of a kitten for the horse. That had somewhat put Amy’s heart to ease but she still apologised to the horse in her heart before she climbed on its back. 

She waved back at her mother, who had decided to stay back at the stables, as they set off to the walking course. The road was well maintained; the surroundings were abundant in nature. Being on horseback provided a good view of everything. Amy felt incredibly relaxed as she watched the greenery around them.

She watched everything with wide, enamoured eyes, nodding along enthusiastically as Marvin and Edward pointed out things around them. Occasionally, she would lower her hand to lovingly pat Fenti’s neck. Her excitement naturally influenced the Prince riding next to her, and the groom who was holding the reins behind her; both of their lips lifted up into a smile. 

They spent the time talking easily with each other. However, around the time when they had reached the halfway point of their journey, Edward broke the easy and calm atmosphere by suddenly speaking out, “…… I wanted to talk to you about the Fiancee Candidate matter.” 

“Wha_!”

“Miss Amy, I’m sure you think it’s too early to talk about this, right?”

Amy’s heart had started beating loudly when he suddenly breached the subject she most wanted to avoid. She was sure Fenti would have sensed it and started acting aggressively but, fortunately, the reins of her horse were in the hands of Marvin. The groom in question didn’t move, acting as if he couldn’t hear a word of their conversation.

Anyways, from Edward’s next words, it didn’t seem like he was going to ask her to get engaged with him so she relaxed a bit. Taking a deep breath, she nodded her head to affirm his statement. 

“Yes! Yes, that’s right… Besides, these days my hands are full with Tiger so I haven’t really had time to think about it.”

She couldn’t tell him the real reason for it was her suspicion that this  world was from an otome game, but it wasn’t a lie to say that Tiger took up a great part of her mind these days. On top of that, it was still too early for her age to think about marriage. Amy was only 10 years old; she was still an elementary school student in terms of her past life. Even if the years of her past life were taken into consideration, she would just be a high schooler. She was aware of the customs of this world, but even so it was too early for her. 

Amy couldn’t bear to look at Edward so she kept her face down as she replied. She had no idea what kind of expression he was making when he heard her words. However, when he replied it didn’t feel like his voice had changed much. He didn’t sound angry, or disappointed or happy – she noticed with relief.

“That’s what I thought. However, that day at the tea party, you were the only one I enjoyed talking with.”

“Eh…”

“None of the other ladies seemed to be interested in animals.”

“Ah, I see……” 

Amy took a deep breath and finally lifted her head. Her face showed an expression of great relief. Behind her, Marvin let out a small smile at her reaction.

“That’s why I was wondering if you will allow me to become your friend?”

“Your friend?”

“Yes. Right now, Alex is the only close friend I have, but he is away at school. Although I will also start attending school from next year, right now I don’t have any friends near me. So I thought it would be nice if we can be friends; we can talk about animals. I would also like to hear what your brother has told you about school.”

Amy knew that it would be better for her to have no contact or association with the Prince. That was the only way she could get rid of her anxiety about the game.

She knew it very well but……  

“Um, are you sure? You really didn’t have fun with anyone else at the tea party?”

“Yes. There were a few ladies who did have a dog or a cat at home, but they found it boring to talk about them.”

Amy clasped her mouth close as she pondered over Edward’s reply.

Edward really liked animals. She could tell that from their conversations so far, and also from his behaviour towards Vintus. People liked to talk about things they were interested in.  

That’s probably why Edward was looking for someone who shared his interests. 

Although Alexander was a good friend of the Prince, he wasn’t that interested in animals. Even with Amy he rarely talked about her cat. The other ladies would probably take an interest in the topic if asked to do so, but talking about something they were forced to study on wouldn’t be fun for anyone.  

Thinking of this, she couldn’t bring herself to turn down his request. 

“…… are you sure about asking someone like me?” 

“There’s no one else I’d rather ask.”

Edward replied firmly as if to put all her doubts at ease. He didn’t sound like he was teasing or mocking her; it seemed like he genuinely wanted to be her friend. If she accepted, they would merely talk about their interests, nothing more. If it was just that then…… it should be okay, right? 

It would be fun to talk to him; he even looked after his horse himself rather than leaving it to the groom. He was always gentle with her so it wasn’t scary to talk to him…… she lowered her face once again, her eyes landing on her chubby hands. 

If he wanted a fiancee then he would have wanted someone who was thinner, right? But if he just wanted ‘someone to talk to’ then it wouldn’t matter if she was thin or fat. So it meant he really did just want to be friends with her. Besides, he would start attending school from next year, and she was sure he’d make friends immediately. His fiancee would be decided by that time too. So she just had to be his friend until then.

For some reason, Amy had an uncomfortable feeling of tightness in her chest when she thought of this. It was like a mixture of anxiety and unhappiness; she’d never felt like this before. 

The Prince waited patiently for Amy, who had fallen silent, to say something.

Only the sound of hoofs could be heard for a while. When Amy finally opened her mouth to refuse, she found the complete opposite words tumbling out of her, “Um, I…… I would love to be your friend.” 

“Really!? Thanks! Since we’re friends now we should speak casually with each other.”

“Huh? Oh, yes, alright.”

…Wait, what are you saying, Amy!? Is this really happening!? 

While Amy was flustered over what had just happened, Edward seemed to be grinning widely in happiness. 

“Ok then, Amy, do you see that fork in the road up ahead? We have to turn left. There’s a small river down there.”

“Ah, I see.”

“You can talk casually with me too.”

He switched to talking casually way too quickly, this Prince! 

However, this was the first time she had seen him smile in such a carefree manner. And so, she couldn’t bring herself to refuse his request. 

The Prince and Amy could talk about animals that they both seemed to like, including Tiger. And they could also talk about what they heard about the boarding school from Alexander and Amy’s older brother. These two topics were what they had in common. 

Amy had never expected to become ‘friends’ with the Prince, but if they stuck to the topics they had in common, and didn’t go any further than that, then she had no trouble with being his friend. 

In fact, now that she thought of it, she wouldn’t have liked the awkwardness that would have arisen if she refused his offer for a friendship. It would be better if she could hang out with him now, and then once he became busy with his studies she could quietly fade out from his life. This way, she’d be able to become nothing but a beautiful memory for him. 

And then if some sort of trouble arises in the future, he wouldn’t do anything too terrible to her…… And so Amy reconsidered her opinion on this matter in a short period of time. 

Amy felt a tinge of guilt for having such calculative thoughts while Edward just sincerely wanted to be her friend. But still, no matter how much she tried, she couldn’t get rid of the picture from the game, and all the villainess novels she had read, from her mind. 

Edward interrupted her thoughts as he casually asked, “Do you plan to keep other pets besides Tiger?”

“No… not yet. I just started living with Tiger… But I think someday I will.”

She did like cats and other animals. That was precisely why she wanted to cherish her moments with Tiger. If she could meet an animal naturally, like she did with Tiger, then she would welcome it with an open heart. But she didn’t want to force an animal to live with her; it wasn’t like she wanted a collection or anything. 

Even now, she missed her beloved cat who was staying home today as well. He had become used to her parents but he was still a little shy of the servants in their home… she decided to pet him lots when she went back home.

“Right now, I want to spend all my time with Tiger.”

“I can understand. You really like Tiger, huh?”

It seemed like he could relate to her as a fellow animal lover. Amy felt happy that she had someone who could agree with her. She turned a dazzling smile towards Edward in reply. This was the first time since they’d met at the tea party that she’d shown such a naturally smiling face to him. 

“Yes! Haha, I really love him!”

“……!”  

The Duchess had tons of other cats at her estate too. All of them were cute in their own unique way and there was no way they could be compared to each other. And yet, Amy had no idea how she became so taken by Tiger. He had completely charmed her. Whenever she was away from him, she missed him so much her heart started aching.

Her mother had once remarked it was as if she was in love. Even though the target of her affections was a cat.

“From the first moment I saw him… I was completely in love!”

“I-I see.”

“Ed? Your face is so red, are you feeling hot?”

“Ah, no, I’m f-fine! I’m just taken aback. Or should I say my heart was taken aback……”  

She couldn’t hear the latter half of what he said. However, even though he said he was fine she offered to exchange sides with him to let him come under the shade of the trees her horse was currently walking under. He refused, once again saying that was alright. All this while Marvin did nothing but smile pleasantly from his spot.

“You’re quite lovely, young lady.” He said.

“No, it’s Fenti who’s lovely. Look at this coat, how beautiful!”

Edward, unable to say anything, turned his gaze back to the front. The tips of his ears were still dyed red but he seemed to have calmed down a bit. 

Fenti’s trot became lighter as if she could understand that she was being praised. Amy was stroking and petting her smooth neck when Marvin suddenly pulled on the reins.  

Amy was puzzled over the sudden stop and turned back to look at Marvin. The older man had gone through a complete change as he gazed steadily into the woods in front of them with a serious expression on his face.

Edward also immediately picked up on his behaviour, realising that something must be up.

“What happened?”

“Your Highness, I can sense something there.”

Marvin put a finger to his lips, telling them to be quiet and listen. Once they were all quiet Amy could hear it. Among all the rustling of the trees, they could hear a small but shrill cry of a bird being carried by the wind.