Chapter 66: Rope + Feather = ?

“Want some dried fish?”

Phyllis carefully pulled out the dried fish she’d brought back from the dining room and offered it to Carola.

“Are you joking?”

Carola raised an eyebrow.

Phyllis quickly tucked the dried fish away.

Getting Carola mad was one thing, but she couldn’t let her throw away her precious dried fish!

“Or… how about I brush your hair? Since it tangles so easily…”

Phyllis grabbed Carola’s hair, trying to tidy it up.

But the more Phyllis tried, the messier Carola’s hair became.

In the end, it even started knotting up.

After all, Phyllis had always kept short hair.

She couldn’t say she had zero experience with long hair, but it was close.

“Enough.”

Carola grabbed Phyllis’s hand.

Phyllis helplessly stuck out her tongue.

“Are you punishing me,” Carola leaned in closer, her face almost pressing against Phyllis’s, “or punishing yourself?”

“I—I’m obviously thinking about punishment! Don’t get the wrong idea, meow!”

Phyllis blinked.

Her eyelashes brushed against Carola’s cheek.

“…”

Carola closed her eyes, the volcano inside her seemingly about to erupt.

Phyllis tried to squirm out of Carola’s arms.

But Carola’s arm tightened slightly, and she was completely trapped.

“Let me go, meow~”

Phyllis made one last desperate plea.

Out of all the punishments, the one she feared most was…

“I’ll pick for you. Let’s go with tickling your paw pads!”

Carola muttered to herself.

‘No way!’

Phyllis shook her head frantically, trying to reject Carola’s choice.

This punishment was probably the worst for her.

Comparatively, she’d rather be spanked or have her blood sucked…

At least those weren’t as… as this.

Carola remained unmoved by Phyllis’s pleading.

“Now that I think about it,” Carola said, as if mentioning some trivial matter, “it’s been a while since I tried that.”

She pulled a rope out of her Space Bracelet.

“Tried what?”

Phyllis asked, her voice trembling slightly, even though she already knew what it was.

Carola didn’t answer.

She silently began tying the rope around Phyllis.

First, she grabbed one of Phyllis’s legs.

Phyllis tried to stop her, but there was no way to do that in Carola’s embrace.

She could only watch helplessly as Carola looped the rope around her leg, binding it.

Then, upward.

Phyllis could clearly feel the rope rubbing against her skin.

The rough texture made her uncomfortable.

From her leg, it moved to her waist, then to her hands.

Carola first placed Phyllis’s hands behind her back, then wound the rope around them, coil by coil.

Phyllis could feel the rope tracing strange contours on her body through her clothes.

“W-Wait a minute, meow! Isn’t this knotting method a bit off?!”

Phyllis turned her head, trying to nuzzle the back of her head against Carola’s chin.

But Carola simply shifted aside, her hands never pausing.

“What’s wrong with it?”

Carola asked as she tied.

“I-I mean… doesn’t this binding look kind of… lewd?”

Phyllis looked down at her bound posture.

Her hands were tied behind her back, her legs together and bent, her whole body lying sideways on Carola’s lap.

And the way her… was being emphasized…

“This is a proper Binding Art.”

Carola explained.

“Does a proper Binding Art make my waist curve like this?!”

Phyllis gave her an existential glare.

“…” Carola glanced down at Phyllis, then looked away.

“…It’s your body’s fault. You’re quite flexible~”

Phyllis couldn’t find a retort.

Before she could think of one, Carola’s hand reached for her feet.

Phyllis instantly puffed up like a furball.

“No no no no no! Wait, meow! We can talk! Spanking! Blood sucking! Anything! Please don’t—”

Phyllis tried to escape, but the rope held her tight.

There was no way out.

Carola’s fingers lightly touched Phyllis’s paw pads.

Nothing happened.

Phyllis’s paw pads weren’t that sensitive.

But…

Carola pulled a secret tool from her Space Bracelet.

A giant feather.

White and soft.

Phyllis’s eyes went wide.

‘If she uses that to tickle my paw pads…’

Would she laugh herself to death?

Definitely, right?

“Which bird did you pluck that feather from?”

Phyllis tried to stall for time.

Just a little longer, and she could break free from the rope.

Then, with her 50 Agility, she could run away.

Even if she couldn’t escape Carola.

But where was this?

This was the Catfolk Sacred Land!

All she had to do was get out the door.

Carola wouldn’t risk playing this game of hiding in plain sight.

She wouldn’t expose herself.

So Phyllis could avoid this punishment.

“That’s not important.”

Carola’s fingers gently gripped Phyllis’s ankle.

Phyllis’s paw pads were pale pink, soft, and still slightly warm.

Hidden inside the thick pads were sharp claws.

The outer layer was a tough hide, protecting the soles from harm and ensuring stealth during movement.

The pads also had a self-cleaning ability, keeping them from picking up dirt and debris during normal activity.

“Carola…”

Phyllis’s voice took on a pleading tone.

“Can we do something else? Really, I promise I won’t tell Cat God anything about us from now on—”

“Too late!”

Carola’s voice was ice-cold.

Then, the feather descended.

The first touch was light, just grazing the edge of her paw pads.

“D-Don’t feel a thing, meow!”

Phyllis scoffed.

She suspected that last time, Carola had just been lucky enough to find her paw pads’ weak spot.

Recreating that situation would be hard.

“Heh~”

Carola chuckled.

The feather fell again, this time with a little more force.

“Ngh!”

Phyllis’s body jerked violently.

“Feel that?”

Carola asked.

“N-No!”

Phyllis gritted her teeth.

Carola said nothing, just waved the feather again.

This time, the force was more precise.

Exactly at the threshold of her paw pads’ sensitivity.

The feather swept across the entire pad, from edge to center, missing no corner.

Phyllis felt the sensation on her pads magnify tenfold.

Every single bristle of the feather brushing against her was terrifyingly clear.

“Hahaha—w-wait! Stop—hahahaha!”

Phyllis finally broke.

The feeling was too strange.

Not pure tickling, but a numbing tingle that shot from her soles straight to the top of her head.

Like the feather was directly stroking her nerves.

Swish~ swish~ swish~

Carola didn’t stop.

The feather brushed rhythmically over Phyllis’s paw pads, sometimes light, sometimes heavy, sometimes fast, sometimes slow.

Teasingly close, dancing on Phyllis’s sensory nerves.

Phyllis was trembling all over.

She tried to pull her foot back, but Carola’s grip was steady, impossible to break.

“Stop tickling me! I was wrong, meow~ Just stop tickling my paw pads, and I’ll agree to anything you want!”