" S-sorry!"
Cornelia suddenly panicked. She hadn't expected the cat to react so strongly.
She was afraid the cat, which had only just been willing to get close to her, would run away.
"Meow..."
As if sighing, the cat reluctantly walked back to Cornelia and lay down beside her.
A glimmer returned to Cornelia's eyes.
She picked up the cat again and stroked it, treasuring every moment.
They stayed together like that until the sun was nearly setting and the evening glow was about to appear.
"Meow."
The cat meowed.
It had to leave.
After maintaining its transformation for so long, its mana was nearly at its limit.
"C-could you, could you live with me?"
Cornelia understood what the cat meant. Her eyes were full of longing and reluctance.
She wanted to take the cat back to her dorm.
The cat shook its head.
"Th-then, can I, can I see you again?"
"Meow."
The cat raised its paw.
Cornelia happily held out her hand and gently high-fived it.
Then she watched the cat leave, until it disappeared from sight.
During Monday morning's required class, Dekan noticed that Cornelia had been distracted the entire time.
When they went to the library together that afternoon, Cornelia spent ages staring blankly at her book.
It seemed that without realizing it, she had drawn a cat's face on the paper with the tip of her pen.
Dekan leaned in a little to take a look.
It was quite abstract, but he could just about recognize the cat's face as the cat he had transformed into yesterday.
At that moment, perhaps Dekan's hair color caught Cornelia's eye and stirred her memories. Her expression shifted.
Without thinking, she sniffed around Dekan.
Dekan immediately sensed that something was wrong.
But he kept calm and silently edged