Now this felt right.

Letting out a sigh that sounded closer to a purr, Leion contently cuddled closer to his “Master”.

The whole thing regarding his shifting had been a surprisingly simple affair. It only took three attempts for him to figure out, as his “Master” puts it, how to “Secure the seal” within his mind. The moment Leion tried to do as instructed, it felt as though an invisible hand was guiding him towards a path. A predetermined path of success. It was laid in front of him, and all he had to do was walk.

The guiding hand Leion felt wasn’t anything new. In fact, he had felt it many times before including: when he first stumbled through the awkward steps of relearning to walk, when the odd, unplaceable scent of the village filled his senses, and even when he first used his untameable magic.

The guiding hand was none other than instinct.

Plain instinct.

Thud-thud

A heavy noise reverberated throughout the room.

Peeking his eyes slightly open, Leion stared up at the massive feline soundly sleeping beside him. There was no way the noise that woke him hadn't woken her as well. Why was she ignoring it? Pretending it wasn’t there wasn’t going to make it just disappear. Leion knew that well, very well, as that was exactly what he was trying to do.

‘Does she want me to answer it?’

Turning his attention towards the door, Leion couldn’t help but wonder. Was this some sort of test? His “Master” was distinctly weird enough to try something like that. But, still in a half-sleep state, he didn’t feel in the mood to leave this warm embrace.

Thud-thud-thud!!

You would think a person would take the not-so-subtle hint to leave after receiving no response. Or, at the very least, come to the conclusion no one is home. Common courtesy dictated that a person should leave and try again later. Whoever was knocking at the door was clearly an ill-mannered person. Instead of doing the obvious, they doubled down and started knocking at the door even harder.

Leion got up.

He couldn’t take it anymore.

Shifting back into his human-like form, Leion absentmindedly put on the clothes neatly folded next to the beddings. If there was one complaint Leion had to air out with shifting, it would be this. Unlike his “Master” who was able to instantly conjure new clothes whenever she shifted, Leion was left butt naked every time.

Frankly, upon learning this fact, he was left mostly indifferent to it. The sole other person here in this cabin was his “Master” and he didn’t feel anything around her. Plus, it felt freeing to stop wearing that cliché witch costume. Sadly, that freedom was short-lived because the moment his “Master” came back and found him doing chores naked, she got annoyed. She threatened to ban his shifting altogether unless he followed some made-up rules.

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They read as follows:

1. No shifting in front of others

2. No shifting before asking for permission

3. No shifting during the day

4. No shifting before neatly and properly folding clothes

5. No shifting unless clothes are nearby and ready to be worn

While the rules were not completely unreasonable, it still felt wrong for such a thing to be so heavily regulated. It was like someone telling you when and when not you can stand. With the sole exception to the rules being early in the morning when he was allowed to shift without permission, Leion couldn’t tolerate such treatment. The moment his “Master” left, he made sure to break every rule before she came back out of spite.

Thud-thud-thud-thud!!!

“Coming, coming…” (L)

Mumbling to himself, Leion made way to the door he almost forgot about. Putting both hands on the door, he readied to push before suddenly pausing. An odd thought had unexpectedly struck him.

Was this a good idea?

Opening the door to a complete stranger seemed like a bad idea. What… what if his “Master” really was asleep and he was just overthinking things? Looking back at feline form taking half the room, he shook his head. No, no way she slept through that noise. She was awake and merely pretending to be asleep. Additionally, if, say, the person outside was bad and really wanted to get in without them knowing, they wouldn’t have knocked. They would’ve just pulled the door open.

This door didn’t have a lock.

Finally coming to a decision, Leion pushed the door open wide.

Worst-case scenario, if the person outside was bad, he would just run back.

As the door opened, Leion braced himself.

The lightly bright blue morning sky greeted him as a chilly breeze blew past.

A woman stood before him, radiating an overwhelmingly positive aura. She was dressed in a traditional nun robe curved intricately with golden patterns. Dark, curly, red hair that matched her vibrant, bright red eyes poked out of her headscarf. A silvery cross with pointed ends and a ruby heart hung loosely around her collar.

A look of confusion flashed on her face. It was replaced by shock, which was then replaced by unbridled excitement.

“Oh! My! Gosh!!!”

Without warning, Leion found himself trapped in her burning embrace.

He was being crushed.

“H-Help!” (L)

The intended yell died into a whisper as the air in Leion’s chest was forcibly expelled.

‘No… way…!’

Black and white dots started flashing. He was about to, no, he was going to pass out any second. Struggling against the grip, Leion began flailing about in an almost mad manner. His body much desperate to survive, to breathe.

“Ah! I’m so sorry!”

The grip choking out Leion lessened greatly but didn’t entirely let go. Instead, Leion was treated to the sight of his feet leaving the ground as they walked back in the cabin.

“Baiiiihu! How could you keep her a secret!!!”

As Leion’s vision recovered, he slowly came to a realisation.

He was sat. Trapped in the laps of the stranger who had nearly just killed him.

“Did I?” (M)

A familiar voice answered over the table they sat around.

When had she moved?

“Don’t play dumb!”

Leion stared at the scene in great confusion.

What on Earth was happening?!

The sharp gaze of his “Master” turned to him. And, as if reading his thoughts, she spoke,

“Lei-Lei, Aurelia.” (M)

She held out her hand, then continued.

“Aurelia, Lei-Lei.” (M)

Forget the fact that she had basically called him “Lily” again; were those really supposed to be introductions?

“Baihu… Aren’t you forgetting something?” (A)

It appeared he wasn’t the only one dissatisfied.

“No?” (M)

“Really!?” (A)

A few seconds passed in silence.

“She is my friend—” (M)

“Best!” (A)

“Best friend…” (M)

Leion stared dumbfounded.

Wasn’t this situation a little too odd?

Something was clearly wrong.

How could his “Master” have friends?