TWFLLYM Ch 1
- Jan 23
- 7 min read
The Midnight Banquet
[Roserikta] “Clobellina.”
A clear, calm voice echoed against the backdrop of the evening sun streaming through the window.
[Roserikta] “Come out now. It’s time for dinner.”
She placed a plate on the small kitchen table. It was piled high with freshly blanched broccoli and cabbage.
[Roserikta] “...Is it too much to leave it completely unseasoned?”
She searched the cupboard and pulled out salt and pepper. With a few light shakes, the seasoning settled over the wilted vegetables.
[Roserikta] “This should be fine. They say it's better without seasoning, but still...”
She stared at the bland, tasteless meal with a flicker of pity.
[Roserikta] “Clobell! Come and eat before it gets cold! It’ll taste even worse then.”
But she had no choice. She could no longer ignore its growing weight.
Clobellina, a three-year-old cat who had lived with her for just as long, had grown far beyond "healthy." She had transformed into a magnificently plump creature that now slid across the floor on her soft belly.
The cat door had long since broken because she kept getting stuck. Clobellina used that as an excuse to stop moving entirely.
Her greed for food was legendary; she often singed her whiskers by loitering too close to the oven, hoping to steal a piece of freshly-baked bread.
[Roserikta] “...You were so small when we first met.”
Her mind drifted back to that fateful night. People said the night a witch and her cat first met was orchestrated by destiny.
Back then, Roserikta had found a tiny, crying black cat abandoned on the street. Picking it up, she felt the moon's guidance—she knew this was her bonded companion.
It had happened shortly after the passing of her grandmother, the woman who had raised her and left her the historic pharmacy.
Perhaps because they were both alone in a dark world, they felt like a match made in fate. That was why she was always soft on Clobellina. Even though she knew the cat was greedy, she couldn't bring herself to stop her.
[Roserikta] “And that’s how you ended up like this.”
She had to be firm. This time, she would make Clobellina lose weight through a strict diet: two meals a day, consisting only of blanched vegetables. To avoid tempting her appetite, she had decided to keep the food bland.
[Roserikta] “I can’t give in. If she gains any more weight, it might ruin her health. ...Clobell? Why aren't you coming?”
She opened the kitchen door and stepped into the pharmacy.
[Roserikta] “Clobell?”
Silence.
Clobellina was clearly protesting the new diet. After breakfast, she had vanished and hadn't shown her face all day. Roserikta could only guess what she had been up to by the scratches on the cupboard and the marks on the pantry door.
[Roserikta] “You know it’s useless. I want you to live a long, healthy life. So, even if you call me a miser or ask if I’ll get rich by saving on cat food, I can bear it. Come out, Clobell. You’ll find that blanched broccoli actually tastes good after a while.”
[Roserikta] “Fine. If you finish your meal quietly, I’ll give you half a piece of carrot cake. But you'll have to go for a long walk afterward.”
[Roserikta] “Clobell...?”
Usually, the cat would appear with a reluctant meow at the mention of cake. But she was nowhere to be found. Roserikta finally realized that Clobellina might not be hiding—she might actually be gone.
[Roserikta] “No way.”
A sense of dread washed over her. She opened the small side door at the back of the shop, which hid the stairs leading down to the basement laboratory.
[Roserikta] “Clo—oh no!”
She froze. Axaca powder was scattered all over the laboratory floor, and the bottle that held it lay shattered. On top of the thick layer of powder, there was a very clear set of cat paw prints. She knew exactly what this message meant:
I’m running away from home. I can't live on that kind of food.
[Roserikta] “Unbelievable. Does she really think she can survive out there on her own?”
If she did, Clobellina was a fool. From the moment a witch made a contract with a cat under the moonlight, their fates became one.
Roserikta pinched a bit of the Axaca powder between her fingers. She closed her eyes and whispered an ancient incantation.
[Roserikta] “...Eora Eni’ra’bi Genewa Wyn. Show me. Show me what I wish to know.”
As her lips stopped moving, the powder scattered from her fingertips. It didn't look like dust anymore; it looked like particles of the finest light.
When the light finally settled, the calm left her face.
[Roserikta] “That wretched cat!”
There was a reason why a lazy cat had done something as drastic as running away.
Today was the day of the Imperial Palace's most luxurious annual banquet. There, rare and delicious foods would be flowing like a river.
[Roserikta] “What have you done?”
She threw open her closet. She grabbed her cloak and hat, then hopped onto her broomstick.
[Roserikta] “When you get home, starving, you will be the least of your worries. You little troublemaker!”
Whoosh!
Her broom soared into the darkening sky.
[Kalart] “Beautiful...”
The palace banquet hall was silent. The music and dancing had stopped, and the guests held their breath. This massive silence was a sign of pure shock.
[Kalart] “What is your name?”
The person asking the question was the Crown Prince, Kalart Leichester Gretran. He was holding a black cat—one that looked more like a back-alley brawler than a royal pet—with almost reverent care.
Kalart was twenty-eight, the next in line for the throne, and the only direct descendant of the imperial bloodline. He was a man who seemingly had everything: unparalleled beauty, a powerful physique, a brilliant mind, and immense talent. Yet, he was single.
Even ten years after his coming-of-age ceremony, he remained unmarried. In an imperial family desperate for heirs, his marital status was a source of constant anxiety for the Emperor, the Empress, and the entire empire.
The Emperor held grand banquets every year to gather eligible women, but none had captured the Prince’s heart. There were whispers about his preferences, but none were true. He seemed incapable of affection. It was like a curse.
This was not the first time the Prince had seen a cat. Dozens of pedigree cats had been presented to the imperial family over the years. Naturally, he had never spared them a single glance.
Yet now, he called this cat beautiful. He didn't just stroke it; he made eye contact and held it with careful, deliberate hands. He spoke gently and focused all his attention on it, trying to gain the cat’s interest.
[Guest] “Is that... even possible?”
It made no sense. It was easier to believe the black cat was a witch’s familiar that had spiked the Prince’s wine with a love potion.
[Clobell] “Meow.”
The black cat tapped the Prince’s nose with a haughty paw and pointed toward the roasted pork on the table.
Human. Offer me food.
[Kalart] “Do you want to eat that?”
[Clobell] “Meow.”
Kalart gestured behind him. An attendant, who had been as dazed as everyone else, snapped to attention and began carving the pork.
[Kalart] “Smaller pieces.”
[Attendant] “...Pardon, Your Highness?”
[Kalart] “She has to eat it with that tiny mouth.”
[Attendant] “Ah, yes! At once, Your Highness!”
The attendant sliced the meat into tiny bits. The black cat watched with glinting eyes, drooling slightly.
[Kalart] “Were you that hungry?”
The Prince took a snow-white napkin and personally wiped the drool from the cat's mouth.
[Kalart] “Is this small enough for you?”
He began to feed the cat piece by piece.
The plump cat ate like a glutton, occasionally nipping the Prince’s fingers, but he only continued to feed her with a gentle expression.
A collective, hushed sigh filled the room. Beautiful young women dabbed at their eyes, wishing they had been born as cats.
Once the cat finished, he took one of her pudgy paws in his hand.
[Kalart] “I have never seen anything as beautiful as you in my life.”
The crowd gasped. The Prince formally pressed his lips to the cat’s paw.
[Kalart] “Will you be mine? If you stay, I will give you anything you desire—everything within my power.”
[Nobleman] “My lord, those words are...”
It was, for all intents and purposes, a marriage proposal.
[Clobell] “Meow!”
The cat rubbed her forehead against his hand. It looked like an acceptance.
He watched her with an enchanted gaze.
[Kalart] “...Is this what they call love at first sight?”
Though quiet, his words hit the guests like a thunderclap.
[Kalart] “Everything about you is lovely. Lovely... Ah, yes. This feeling must be love.”
Now, the guests could only gape in silence. After ten years of indifference, the Prince had finally lost his heart to a cat.
He leaned in and kissed the cat’s forehead.
[Kalart] “I think I love you. Will you love me in return?”
[Clobell] “Meow...?”
Suddenly, the cat’s eyes went wide. She scrambled out of his arms and bolted.
[Kalart] “Where are you going! Do not leave!”
[Clobell] “Meow...!”
The cat slipped through the terrace doors.
[Kalart] “Catch her!”
Chaos erupted.
Kalart, his hands trembling with shock, joined the chase himself, jumping straight down into the garden.
[Attendants] “Your Highness! You'll be hurt!”
But Kalart landed perfectly and sprinted through the garden. An intense flame of obsession burned in his dark eyes.
[Kalart] “Dammit.”
A curse escaped his lips. The moon was bright, but the black cat was nowhere to be found.
[Kalart] “Why did you leave?”
He couldn't believe it. The ecstasy he had felt was now a bitter sense of loss.
[Kalart] “Cat... damn it.”
He realized he didn't even know her name.
[Kalart] “When I find you... I’ll tie you down. So you can’t go anywhere. So you can’t abandon me.”
Just as his thoughts turned dark, a voice drifted through the air.
[Roserikta] “Clobell!”
[Kalart] “...What?”
He froze. His ears caught a voice more beautiful than anything he had ever heard.
[Roserikta] “You wretched cat! Get over here right now!”
[Clobell] “Meow...!”
The cat popped its head out from a bush.
[Kalart] “Cat!”
But a hand appeared from thin air and snatched the cat by the scruff of its neck.
[Roserikta] “Don't act pathetic. Just wait until we get home.”
A sudden wind gusted, and they were gone.
Kalart stood there, devastated. Then, something caught the moonlight at his feet. It was a silver collar.
[Kalart] “Clobell...ina.”
He gripped the collar tightly.
[Knight] “Your Highness! Are you hurt?”
[Kalart] “I need to find her.”
[Knight] “Is that the cat’s?”
[Kalart] “Find a cat named Clobellina. Search everywhere. Scour every inch of the city until you find her.”
[Knight] “Yes, Your Highness!”
Kalart remained rooted to the spot.
[Kalart] “I have to find her.”
The cat, the voice, the beautiful thing he had lost—he would find them all.
Before sunrise, the capital city was covered in posters of a black cat, sought by the Crown Prince himself.
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