Page 179 of Lethal King

“Do you know where Willow is now?” I gently ask.

“That depends,” she sighs. “Do you know how long cats live?”

Her question catches me off guard.

“I don’t.”

“Well, I do. About fifteen years. That means I’ve likely run out of time. Willow is probably dead by now…”

“Willow is a cat?”

“She was a cat,” Rozalia whispers. “It’s stupid, I know, but…”

“No. It’s not stupid,” I assure her, thinking of the only example in my life I can use to sympathize. “My sister feels the same way about the kitten that interrupted us in the throne room.”

“Kaja?”

Just like that, Rozalia returns from the past.

“Kaja? Who’s Kaja?”

“No one,” she says, shaking the haze from her eyes. “… But your sister is worried about the kitten from your coronation?”

“She has spent way too many precious resources searching for that thing,” I grunt.

“Well, she should stop.”

“I know that’s what—"

“Because I have the cat.”

I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve questioned my hearing tonight.

“You what?”

“Well, not technically, obviously. But a good friend of mine is looking after her on my behalf. The kitten is safe.”

“You took the cat too?”

For my count, that’s Mel’s painting, my crown, and Adriano Sabatino’s sacrificial kitten that Rozalia stole from me on that fateful day.

“It just happened,” Rozalia shrugs, slowly composing herself again.

“My sister wants her,” I say, wrapping my fingers around her hand.

That’s not entirely true. Mel just wants to know the kitten is safe. If anything, she wants me to have the black cat.

“Wasn’t getting her painting back enough for your sister?”

“That was a gift for me. It’s my painting now. Not hers.”

“Alright. So now you have your crown back and the painting. Isn’t that enough? At least for tonight?”

“No,” I realize.

For maybe the first time ever, Rozalia doesn’t try to pull away as I tighten my grip around her. But that might be because it’s not a controlling grip.

It’s a caring one.