NOVEL NEXT Chapter 178: chap 178
She sat, tail swishing.
> "Don't move. Don't you move, Velmir. He's baiting you. Like some idiot alley cat—"
Her cat body leapt forward.
> "I hate this body. I hate my instincts. I HATE—"
SPLASH.
"Good girl," Vex chuckled, quickly scooping her up before she could bolt.
> "You! You manipulative—wait, no, NOT THE SOAP!"
He gently lathered his fingers with a mild cleanser and began stroking it along her back. Velmir's mind shrieked in anguish while her feline body melted under the warm touch and suds.
> "You're scrubbing too hard! I'm not a horse! That's the wrong direction—my fur has a grain, you simpleton!"
"Your fur's really soft under all this dirt," Vex murmured, leaning closer, running his thumb just under her chin and down her throat.
She froze.
> "That's… that's a vulnerable spot. You shouldn't… ngh…"
Her eyes drooped involuntarily, body purring louder, tail flicking once, twice… then curling lightly around his wrist.
"I should've gotten a cat sooner," he muttered.
> "You should've been strangled in your cradle."
He grabbed a small bucket and poured warm water gently across her back, washing the soap away in smooth, practiced sweeps. His hands were surprisingly careful—rough, yes, but aware. He didn't jab or yank her tail like some fool.
But then—he tried to scrub her belly.
> "NO! NO YOU DON'T! THAT'S—"
"Hmm?" he blinked as she hissed and wriggled violently.
"Guess you're ticklish there," he said with an amused hum.
> "I'LL KILL YOU WHEN I'M HUMAN! I SWEAR IT ON MY MOTHER'S GRAVE!"
Ignoring her fury, he finished rinsing, then dried her with a large, soft towel that completely enveloped her tiny body.
He even rubbed her head with the edge of it, lifting her ears gently, then holding her against his chest again as he stood.
"There. All clean," he murmured. "You smell way better now."
> "…Why do I feel violated?"
Wrapped like a baby in his arms, Velmir could only lay there, seething and helpless, dripping in warm water and shame.
But her heart… had stopped racing.
The heat in her chest, the fog of primal instinct—it was beginning to settle. Slowly. Steadily.
And deep down, where her warrior mind fought to retake control, she knew:
> "Just a few more minutes… and I'll be human again. And when I am… oh, you poor, poor man…"
Unbeknownst to her, due to all this exoerinece, her emotions become even too messed uo that she wasn't gonna becomig human any soon enough...atleast until not comoose herself and stay away from emotionally intense stimulus—anger, hatred, humilation and just so on.
The water had long gone lukewarm.
The soap lather was thick in his hand.
And Velmir—once feared tactician of the Eastern Line, once the Ice Lily of Varenth—was now a soaked, writhing, furball of indignity… held firmly between the calloused palms of a man who had no idea how to bathe a cat.
> "I JUST NEED TO STABILIZE. JUST… NEED… TO STABILIZE MY EMOTIONS."
Her inner chant cracked.
> "You are calm. You are composed. You are not—GAAH! NOT THE BELLY, FOOL!"
Her soaked tail flicked wildly as Vex pressed a soapy hand into her underside, muttering with surprising sincerity, "Damn, you're a mess. Streets will do that to you."
> "YOU ARE FROM THE STREETS!! YOU WALKING DISEASED PHALLUS!"
She screamed inwardly, her mouth only letting out a pitiful, wet "Mrrreeeowrr!" that echoed off the tiled walls like a dying violin.
"Yeah, yeah, complain all you want," Vex said, voice calm as a monk on a mountain. "You're dirty. Let me wash you."
> "I'M NOT DIRTY, I'M TRAUMATIZED!"
And then… he did it.
He lathered her tail.
Velmir's soul left her body for a moment.
Her legs twitched. Her spine arched. Her fur bristled.
> "NO! NOT THE TAIL! THAT'S—THAT'S A SENSITIVE NERVE ENDING! YOU UNSPEAKABLE DEMON!"
Her body, against her will, mewled. Mewled. And then collapsed weakly into his arms like a damp towel.
Vex, of course, misunderstood entirely. "Tch. Look at you. What a spoiled little thing. You like it, don't you?"
He patted her head gently, wrapping her up in a towel like a burrito, fur sticking out messily from the edges, tail dangling off the side.
She looked like a sad sushi roll, utterly defeated.
> "I will burn your soul in a sacred flame. I will tear your name from the records of time. I will—oh gods, this towel is warm..."
He left the bathroom without shame. Hair still damp, abs glistening faintly, wearing nothing but a loosely tied robe and his usual smugness.
Velmir's soaked feline form lay flat across his head like a crown of indignity.
Both front legs were gently held in place beside his ears, her tiny paws twitching in exhausted protest as he descended the stairs—whistling.
---
Downstairs, the air smelled faintly of stew and firewood.
Mirea was on the floor, hunched and counting a pathetic pile of copper coins one by one, her lips whispering numbers.
Maira was ruffling through shelves and old packs, clearly searching for something, too focused to notice the looming presence of the half-naked man until—
"Hey," Vex said casually. "You gotta meet my new friend."
They both turned.
Maira's eyes widened first.
"Awwww… a CAT?"
Mirea gasped, instantly crawling over. "So cute! Where did you find her?!"
She reached up, eyes sparkling.
Velmir's soaked, flattened cat body twitched once.
> "DON'T TOUCH ME. DON'T YOU DARE TOUCH ME—"
But Maira was already gently rubbing her behind the ears.
"Oh wow… she's soft! A bit wet, though."
"She just had a bath," Vex said with pride, as if that were a heroic feat. "Clean now. She was from the streets or something."
> "SAY 'FROM THE STREETS' ONE MORE TIME, I SWEAR TO THE GODS—"
"She looks noble," Mirea said, tilting her head. "Her fur's too fine for a stray. Maybe she's a runaway?"
Vex shrugged. "Then she ran into me. Lucky cat."
He smirked, walking past as if he hadn't just upended the dignity of a royal-born halfblood warrior with a sponge and determination.
Velmir's eyes, glowing with silent, seething rage, locked onto Maira's for a split second.
> "Please. Kill me. End it. Or kill him. Either works."
But all Maira saw was a damp, fluffy cat riding on a bare-chested man's head like a floppy crown.
And she laughed.
"Oh! Let's keep her!"