Chapter 11: Eating, Conflict, and… Bathing!

“And what else?”

In the dining room, Carola sat at the opposite end of the table, smiling as she looked at Phyllis.

“And I also became the Saintess of the Catfolk.”

While eating a fish dish, Phyllis told Carola about the dream she had.

“No.”

Carola set down her wine glass.

Phyllis froze with her fork halfway to the fish steak. She blinked her slightly confused blue eyes and looked at Carola across the table.

“That dream is not allowed.”

Carola picked up her napkin and dabbed at the nonexistent stain at the corner of her mouth, her tone calm.

“You are my lover, Phyllis. From the moment the master-servant contract was signed, your future could only be tied to me. A saintess? Serving a cat god? Heh.” Carola let out a very soft scoff. “Those things have nothing to do with you. You only need to serve me.”

“I… I just had a dream,” Phyllis protested softly. “And I never said I wanted to be a saintess… meow.”

Phyllis put down her fork. At this moment, even the delicious fish seemed hard to swallow.

Even her usually lively cat tail now looked listless, curling beneath the chair.

“Even dreams are not allowed,” Carola said firmly. “Your dreams, your thoughts, your present, and your future all belong to me. And they can only belong to me.”

Carola stood up, walked around the table, and came to Phyllis’s side.

“Do you understand?”

Carola lifted Phyllis’s chin with her finger, forcing her to look up.

“I… I understand, meow…” Phyllis turned her head, trying to shake off Carola’s hand, but that hand followed her relentlessly. “Aren’t I behaving right now? Eating, sleeping, letting you drink my blood, meow.”

“Not enough.” Carola leaned close to Phyllis’s ear. Her breath brushed against Phyllis’s sensitive cat ear, making her body tremble uncontrollably. “I want your world to contain only me.”

Phyllis’s heart pounded wildly.

‘I’m done for. Her obsessive level seems to have gone up again.’

“Unfortunately, you can’t do that right now.”

Phyllis did not know where the courage came from, but she stood up and shoved Carola away.

The air in the dining room froze.

Phyllis herself was startled by what she had done.

What had she just… done?

She had actually pushed away a battle-monster-level yandere vampire?

‘I’m done, I’m done. Carola is going to drain me dry in a fit of rage.’

Carola also seemed surprised by Phyllis’s resistance.

But she did not act further. Instead, she stepped back a few paces and examined Phyllis.

Carola wanted to see what Phyllis planned to do next.

‘If that’s the case, then…’

Phyllis acted the moment the thought formed, gathering her strength and charging straight at Carola.

Carola still did nothing. She was actually curious how much Phyllis’s combat ability had improved after receiving the gift.

Thump.

Phyllis’s knees gave out. She fell to the ground, lunged forward, and tightly hugged Carola’s lower leg clad in black boots.

“Master! I was wrong, I was wrong, meow!”

Phyllis buried her head, her voice exaggeratedly tearful, her body trembling in sync.

Yes.

Phyllis was trying to get through this by acting cute.

Carola: …

Carola looked down at the increasingly over-the-top Phyllis, and even her usually cool expression could not hold.

I was planning to see how much you had improved after receiving the gift, and this is what you do?

Carola recalled the contents of a book she had read before.

“Catfolk…”

The book was titled How to Tame the Catfolk.

However, Phyllis was somewhat different from ordinary Catfolk. Many methods that worked extremely well on Catfolk were not very effective on her.

Only catnip seemed to work a little.

Other things, like scratching under the chin, barely got any reaction from Phyllis.

Who was the author of that book again?

It seemed like the author was also a Catfolk.

Carola pulled her thoughts back and raised an eyebrow at Phyllis, who was still clinging to her leg.

“Let go.”

Carola ordered.

Phyllis jolted and quickly released her arms, as if she had been burned.

‘She’s not angry.’

But Phyllis still knelt on the ground, looking up at Carola with watery eyes, waiting for her judgment.

Crying cat meme.

“Get up and go take a bath.”

Carola left the hall.

“Ha! Okay, meow!”

Phyllis stood up and followed Carola toward the castle’s open-air pool.

Warm mist rose from the pool, and moonstones embedded around the terrace emitted a soft glow.

Carola removed her black silk nightgown and stepped barefoot into the pool.

Phyllis pressed her lips together. Under Carola’s gaze, she slowly untied her own dress.

The slightly cool air touched Phyllis’s skin, making her shiver.

She hurried to the edge of the pool but did not jump in immediately.

Instead, she tested the water with her hand. After feeling that it was warm and comfortable, she carefully slid into the pool.

Phyllis deliberately chose the corner farthest from Carola, submerging most of her body and leaving only her head and slightly trembling cat ears above the surface.

Carola looked at Phyllis, who was keeping her distance.

Below the water, the outline of her body flickered faintly in the ripples, enticing.

Above the water, Phyllis’s short black hair was soaked, a few strands clinging to her cheeks and neck. Her blue eyes looked even more moist in the steam.

What Carola liked most was the awkward expression on Phyllis’s small face, a mix of resistance and reluctant obedience.

Gulp.

Carola swallowed unconsciously.

“Come here.”

Carola flicked some water toward Phyllis.

Using both hands and feet, Phyllis swam over to Carola.

When Phyllis drew close, Carola reached out her hand.

“Master, what are you going to do, meow!”

Phyllis looked at Carola in horror.

But she realized that Carola was only gently pinching her wet cat ear.

“Hm?”

Carola looked at Phyllis’s reaction with confusion.

“Uh… it’s nothing, go on…”

Phyllis instead felt a bit embarrassed.

‘Wait, that’s not right. I just got touched.’

“You are my lover.” Carola’s hand slid down, brushing over the side of Phyllis’s neck, where the mark from the master-servant contract still remained. “And you can only be mine.”

Phyllis’s whole body stiffened as a faint tingling sensation spread from where she was touched.

“I understand, meow.”

Carola withdrew her hand, leaned back against the edge of the pool, and closed her eyes.

“Wash my back.”

She ordered Phyllis.

Phyllis picked up the soft towel that had already been prepared by the poolside and somewhat clumsily wiped Carola’s smooth back.

During the process, Phyllis naturally touched Carola’s skin.

Carola’s skin was cool and delicate, like fine cold jade.

‘Feels great. Love touching it.’

But Phyllis also knew clearly that beneath that silky skin lay terrifying power.

After the bath, it was time for “feeding.”

“As punishment, I’ll drink a bit more blood today.”