Catherine's giggle filled the room as she played with the black cat that was once a huge wolf. Requiel had been staring at it for a while now as he sat on the couch opposite to his daughter. The knights had explained to him awhile ago what happened and some couldn't help but share their thoughts such as it being a human in disguise of an animal.

"Catherine." He called for her attention in which he successfuly did. His daughter sat up straight, her hand still running all over the body of that cat. "I'm going to ask you this since your brother is still unconscious, what happened for the past two days and nights?" He straightforwardly asked.

Hearing her father's question made Catherine's brows crease. "What do you mean, Father?"

"The attack."

"Oh... the bad guys?" Catherine asks as she grabbed the cat and hugged it as if it were some stuffed toy.

"Yes, the bad guys." He didn't want to ask Catherine about it as it would remind her of such an unpleasant memory but he didn't have a choice. As the physician had mentioned to him, it was uncertain if Reigies would wake up within a day or two. His body had shown signs of fatigue due to excessive use of aura.

"Well, at first, I was confused. I woke up in the middle of the night because I heard scratches coming out of my balcony. And then I heard banging sound from the outside and it seemed to have come from brother's room so I went to check on him. Looks like he had another nightmare and fell off his bed."

"A nightmare?" Requiel asked with confusion and worry in his voice.

Catherine nodded. "Brother seems to have lots of nightmares recently, don't he?"

Requiel nodded remembering those times he would ask Reigies if he was alright during meal times. Since that day that he changed, Requiel noticed how his son would look exhausted every morning or have that expression of someone who seems to be in a deep thought. Whenever he asks him if he was alright, Reigies would always respond that he just had a nightmare.

"This nightmare... does it have something to do with his change of attitude towards Catherine?" Requiel thought. "Truly, what kind of nightmare would he have?"

"And then something broke in my room and then brother asked if there's someone in my room and I answered that there was no one since Emily left before I slept. At first I thought there was a ghost in my room but turns out they were bad guys." Catherine rambled, her grip on the cat slightly tightening. "And then brother yelled for us to run." She paused, tears starting to fill her eyes. "I-I'm sorry, Father. It all happened so fast. All I remember is that b-brother carried me and ran down the stairs. We were trapped. A-all I did was cry in brother's neck." She cried.

Requiel's heart broke. He couldn't bare to see his lovely daughter's tears. He then stood up and went over to her and sat beside her to give her a hug. She let go of the cat and turned towards her father and her little arms wrapped around him in return, only it didn't totally wrap around him.

"It's alright. You don't have to explain anymore."

"B-but I heard something about the temple."

Requiel didn't want her to continue but he couldn't help but ask.

"What do you mean?"

"W-well, I heard them saying that brother dislikes me and that he's just nice to me because he wants your favor. But that's not brother. Brother is nice. Even before. He's just always busy before. But now, he's always have time. Also, brother said that he doesn't dislike me. But he's just mad at you and that he just didn't want to hurt me. And I hope that whatever mistake father had done, you would correct it and so that you and brother would be in good terms." She looked up at him with her still wet and sparkling eyes.

Those emerald eyes of hers reminded him of someone. Someone that he dearly misses. His love...

"Anyways," Catherine speaks once again, pulling Requiel's consciousness back before it could wander deeper. "As I was saying. I heard those bad guys say that brother should hand me over to them and then he asked them if they were from the temple. They didn't answer but brother said that that's the only information he needed. I don't really understand what he meant and then brother ordered me to close my eyes and then the nexr thing I knew was that I was lying on top of brother who was having a hard time breathing." Remembering that memory brought tears to her eyes once again. "I was afraid. I thought brother was going to d-die. And then he said that he was fine and that's when Ruby appeared." She pointed at the cat that was silently staring at them as if it were listening to their discussion. More like, Catherine's story.

"She appeared out of nowhere. I thought she was going to eat us but brother carried me and put me on her back. He said that it's a friend."

Requiel's brows creased. "A friend?" His eyes then darted towards the seemingly clueless cat. "I didn't know Reigies had a pet. Most especially it being a shapeshifting one."

"Oh, she's not brother's pet. I also asked if it's a friend's pet but he said that he doesn't have a friend either. And that means, Catherine is brother's first friend!" She proudly declared. However, the joy in her face disappeared in an instant. "It's sad that brother is a loner. I mean, I have friends. Roena and Lily." She pouts.

Requiel smiled, though it didn't reach his eyes. He knew how his son doesn't like to join any events. At least that's what he made his self believe.

He then sighed. "And then what happened when you rode Ruby?" He urged her to finish the story. Not that he won't be asking Reigies of the details when he wakes up. Unlike his daughter, his son tends to not tell him everything.

"Hmm.. nothing much? After we entered the forest for a while, Ruby stopped and let us off her. And then she gently bumped her head on brother's forehead. Like this." She then grabbed the cat and re-enact what she saw. Her forehead and the cat's forehead bumped. This action of hers caused for the cat to purr loudly. "And then brother fainted and Ruby caught her with her body. Then I slept beside brother but was awaken when I heard brother calling for my name. He was having another nightmare I guess." She thought as she ran her little fingers along the cat's soft body. "Then I slept after a while, I think, and then I woke up with you hugging me."

Once again, Requiel's brows creased. "That's all that happened?"

"What do you mean, Father?"

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

"I'm asking what happened the day after you went to the forest on the wolf's back."

This time, Catherine's brows were also creased. "Father, weren't you paying attention to my story? I just said that I woke up with you hugging me and brother."

"Are you sure?" Requiel asks, still not believing what he had just heard. "Perhaps you don't have any recollection of what happened for the past two days?"

As a response to his question, Catherine stared at him, her head tilting a bit to the side. His gaze then landed on the cat that somehow mirrored his daughter's action.To hide his trouble and confusion towards the now mystery of what happened after that night, he smiled down at his daugher and gave her a pat on the head.

"Let's go and get you to bed."

~~~

Requiel sighed after closing the door that leads to Catherine's room. One of his brows raised when he noticed the cat circling his feet, its thick tail brushing against his pants. Since this morning, he's been wondering about this creature. He was suspicious with it from the very beginning but didn't really mind its presence.

"Such a mysterious being you are." He mumbled in which the cat meowed in return.

His eyes followed the creature when it started walking towards a certain direction. Its soft meow somehow resounded in the whole hallway as it sat infront of Reigies' door. The creature then slightly turned its head at Requiel's direction, its crimson eyes meeting his hazel ones.

"Well, I was about to check on him." He took a few strides to finally stand in front of his son's room. Sighing, he reached for the doorknob and opened the door. The creature made a small sound as it entered. As if it already knew the sturcture of Reigies' room, the creature went directly towards his bed.

"Oh, greetings, Your Grace." A maid crouching by the hearth stood up and slightly bowed at Requiel. "I came to check on the young lord and the hearth as per dame Higgins' order." She explained, pertaining to Emily.

"I see. Thank you, Rita. I'll be in this room for a while." He informs and dismissed her. As he approached his son's bed, he noticed that the creature, that was once a cat, has now turned into what seems to be a leopard. A black leopard. It laid at the edge of the bed, as to lay not too close to Reigies who's in deep sleep. Its thick, long tail swayed off the bed as it slightly touched the ground.

"You'll dirty the sheets. Get off the bed." Requiel ordered. In return, the creature raised its head and stared at him for a moment before lying its head back down and continued staring at the sleeping Reigies. "Are you, perhaps, ignoring me?" The creature did not respond. "I know you understand me. Get off the bed." Requiel was about to reach for it when he heard it growl that made him flinch. He sighs and let the creature be. It was then that he noticed something. "My daughter seems to have been mistaken about your gender."

The swaying of the creature's tail stoped. Its head once again raised and turned to him. For some unknown reason, he could tell how it feels through its eyes. Just like how he had first met it this morning. Currently, he could tell that the creature was irritated in which brought him amusement.

"What?" Requiel asked with a small chuckle. Truly, people would find it bizarre that he's talking with this creature. Yet, he somehow felt that it was something natural.

The creature then let out sound that seems to be a scoff before it flicked its tail and hit Requiel's leg. After that, he went back to lying his head down and staring at Reigies.

Requiel shook his head and went to get the chair that's by a study table opposite to the creature's side. He carried and settled it beside the bed. He sat and leaned back, studying his son's peaceful face with the help of the light coming from the hearth. He sat there in silence as the image of Reigies' pale face appeared in his mind followed by Catherine's confused look.

"It doesn't make any sense at all." He murmured.

Both of them were missing for three nights and two days and yet, Catherine says that she just woke up this morning when he was hugging both of them. Catherine wasn't the type of child who would lie or make up stories. In fact, she was one of those kids her age who would tell lots of stories regarding to what happened throughout her day. The very reason why Requiel had asked her of what happened, risking that he may trigger her some trauma.

'Ah, her trauma..' He thought with solemnity as an image of a five year old girl crouching beside two motionless bodies surfaced in his mind. His chest tightened, a numbing feeling spreading all across his body. The shiver he felt that day started surfacing in his body once again. Before he would be further swallowed by his old memories and emotions, a heavy paw landed on his knee. He then looked up and there he saw the leopard looking creature standing on the bed and straing at him.

"What are you doing standing on the bed? What if you stepped one of Reigies' leg?" He firmly asked.

With a small growl, the creature got off the bed and sat on the ground just beside Requiel. He looked up at him as if asking if he was now satisfied that he, who's an animal, was off the bed.

"Better." Requiel approved with a sigh. He was then startled when the creature laid its head on his lap. Instead of feeling fear or irritation, he felt comfort from this unfamiliar creature. He never had any pet even as a child. Therefore, he didn't really know how to react towards this action of this creature shaped as a leopard. "Is this why other nobles take in pets? For comfort?" He asks in which the creature lets out a sound similar to a scoff. Requiel chuckled. "Yes, yes. I dare not compare you to normal pets." He raised his hand to pat its head and did what his daughter was doing when this creature was on its cat form. He gently ran his hand on its head, making the creature purr.

"Such an interesting fellow you are. Normal leopards and other big cats can't purr." After pointing that out, Requiel noticed how its tail, that was swaying left to right awhile ago, start tapping the ground as if it were suddenly irritated by something. "Indeed an interesting one." He smiled.

Requiel stayed in Reigies' room for more than an hour, mostly staying in silence with the creature's head lying on top of his leg. From time to time, he would tell the creature stories regarding Reigies and Catherine and his resentments towards his own self. How he regret doing certain things that resulted to something that had hurt certain people he treasures. The creature only listened as his tail swayed from left to right.

"You're staying in this room?" Requiel asks the creature when he noticed that it didn't follow him when he walked towards the door. It just sat there beside Reigies' bed as it stared at him who's now by the door. "I'll leave my son in your care then." Requiel gave his son a final look before leaving the room. He didn't know how and why, but he trusts that creature just like how he trusts Valeirene and Emily. Even though it hadn't been a day yet since he met it.

Meanwhile, the left creature shaped as a leopard went back to the bed and made sure that he didn't step or laid on any part of Reigies' body. He once again laid on the edge of the bed, its tail swaying as if it were satisfied. Moments later, he could feel a familiar presence appearing behind him. A black smoke formed a silhouette similar to a human figure stood behind him and spoke.

"Such a stubborn one you are." Its voice didn't sound pleased. "I've warned you countless times to just let them be."

The leopard just continued to stare at Reigies, as if he didn't hear anything. However, his tail stopped swaying.

"Fool. You are a fool." The figure in black smoke said followed by an exasperated sigh. "Is the Judgement a joke to you? They had turned a blind eye the first time. How could you? Just for the sake of that foolish bond--"

"Call me names." The leopard interupted, his gaze not leaving Reigies. "Insult me all you want but not my bond with these two. You know nothing of us. All of you."

After a long silence, the smoke spoke once again. "I hope that your final moments with them would be joyful. So long."

When the leopard felt that the smoke behind him had disappeared, he couldn't help but sigh. As he closed his eyes, an image of two familiar figures appeared in his mind.

"How sorrowful."