NOVEL NEXT Chapter 177: Chap 177
As Vex slowly stood from the bed, the sticky warmth clinging faintly to his skin, he dragged a hand through his damp hair and exhaled through his nose. His heart still pounded from the intensity of everything.
Asperia was gone.
She hadn't even looked back after he said: I love you, Asperia.
At that time after it slipped out.
She froze. Her yellow eyes wide, breath caught—and then she turned, hastily grabbing her clothes and bolting out of the room like a startled deer. No goodbye. No curse. Just gone.
He scratched his head, then looked down.
His cock was still semi-hard. And on the swollen tip—a red indent, sharp and clear.
A bite mark.
Vex sighed, rubbing his forehead. "Tch… even a wild animal would have more control."
"Meow."
His brow twitched.
He turned his head. And there, perched like a smug specter on the moonlit balcony railing, sat a sleek black cat. Its fur so dark it looked like a cutout in the world, void of light. Crimson eyes shimmered, gleaming with intelligence far beyond any normal feline.
It licked its paw slowly, as if unimpressed.
"...Don't tell me you've been watching this whole time."
The cat blinked.
Vex grunted, grabbed a thin sheet from the floor, wrapped it around his waist, and walked over to the cat with slow, lazy steps.
As he neared, he chewed a strip of dried meat absentmindedly—his tail, to heal the pain he was having in his lower rehion as he got good enough gold coins from Asperia—and watched the creature carefully.
It stared back.
Then… tilted its head. And to his utter confusion, its gaze dropped to his waist.
Directly at his groin.
"…Okay, that's disturbing," Vex muttered feeling confused as he felt that cat might have mistaken his thing as some mouse, making him check if he was properly cobered and naturally he was.
Or who knows, he will become the main character of to get his dick cut off twice in single story.
Inside the cat, Velmir's soul screamed.
> "For the love of decency—LOOK AWAY, YOU INDECENT MAN!"
From the start, Velmir had always been disciplined. A high-level warrior. A noble woman belonging to half feline race where her mother was from demi-humans, married out of love to the house which was crushed by Empire in a war.
Velmir being a strategist who mastered suppression of emotion, meditation, clarity of mind always had to be on edge due to mixed blood's disadvantage. Because if she didn't... she turned into a cat.
A real one.
Not metaphorically. Literally.
And in this form, until her emotional state recovered… she had zero control. The cat instincts took over. Curiosity. Paw licking. Rubbing. Tail flicking. God help her if she saw a ball of yarn.
And worst of all… completely untransformed until she emotionally stabilized.
But right now?
> "No. No. NO. Stop purring. Stop—STOP RUBBING YOUR HEAD ON HIS ANKLE, YOU WRETCHED CAT BODY!"
But her body—her cat body—was already weaving between his legs, brushing her fur gently along his calves and emitting a soft, involuntary purr.
Vex chuckled. "Friendly, huh?"
> "No, you uncivilized brute! I am not 'friendly'—I'm cursing you in three languages right now!"
He crouched. His hand reached down, calloused fingers brushing along the top of her head, then gently scratching behind her ears.
> "Hnnn… No. No, don't… don't scratch there… oh heavens, that feels sinful."
The purring grew louder. Her tail flicked and her body leaned into his touch—completely betraying her mind.
Vex reached back to the table, tore off a small dried strip from the edge of his tail, and offered it near her nose.
"Here. Try this."
She sniffed. And instantly—mouth moved.
Bite.
> "This is… astonishing. So tender… smoky… wait—is this HIS body?! What sort of debauchery—!"
From the smell and sharp feline senses, Velmir instantly recignised that This tail was definitely part of his body, making her die from inside.
Bur her body was stubborn.
Licking her lips, the cat stepped closer, standing up on her hind legs and nudging his wrist with her nose, trying to reach more. Vex smiled, then gently scooped her up in his arms.
"Guess we're friends now."
Held against his bare chest, his warmth soaked into her fur. His scent—raw, masculine, faintly tinged with sweat and due to her sharp smell senses it become ten fold—coiled into her.
> "…I've been defiled. I've lost all honor. And I hate this....."
> "Okay, Velmir. Just breathe. Focus. Steady the pulse. Suppress the instability. Don't let the emotions spiral. If you can stay calm… you'll turn back soon. Yes. Just… a few more moments—"
Her thoughts were interrupted by Vex gently patting her side as he walked across the room. Still bare-chested, with that infuriating calm on his face, he stepped toward the bathroom door.
> "Wait. Wait, where are we going?!"
With the same casual tone one might use while talking to a stray, Vex muttered, "You must've come from the streets or something. That fur's too rough for a noble's pet."
> "YOU'RE FROM THE STREETS, YOU BARBARIAN! I bathe in blessed mineral springs! I have hair oil from celestial lilies!"
"…You're dirty," he added genuinely, opening the bathroom door with one hand while holding her with the other. "Let me wash you."
> "I bathe in perfume older than your lineage! Don't you dare—"
Too late.
Steam filled the room as he turned on the warm water. The glow of heated stone bathed the bathroom in golden amber. Shelves lined the walls, holding oils, scrubs, and bathing powders—some of which he clearly had no idea how to use.
"Let's see…" Vex mumbled, searching until he found a small bowl and began mixing something he assumed would be safe. "This one smells good. Peach something?"
> "No! No peach! I'll smell like a brothel courtesan! At least pick jasmine—wait, WHY AM I EVEN IN THIS CONVERSATION?!"
He placed her down gently on the floor tiles. The water was already pooling into the shallow basin beneath the spout. Vex rolled up the sheet tied around his waist slightly and crouched, whistling as he tested the water with his fingers.
Then, the most terrible thing happened.
He tossed another strip of his dried tail meat in front of her, right at the edge of the water.
> "…No."
She—cat body—jumped on her own directly in the tub.