Chapter 15
Neya asked in a more urgent tone than before.
“Which village is it nearby? Is it far from here?”
“No, not far. You just need to take a carriage for a little while.”
The lady pointed to Neya’s right side. At the far end, a large mountain could be seen.
“See that? That’s where Togo Village is, the one I was talking about. If you go straight that way, you’ll see it. You need to head west… Do you have a compass? That would help you find it.”
“Actually, there’s no need for that. If you just ask the man driving the carriage to take you, it’ll be much easier. It’s nearby, so the cost won’t be much either. You can go with your mother another time.”
Another lady nearby kindly added to the explanation.
The fact that it was not far lifted Neya’s spirits immediately.
‘Hyu is nearby!’
Even though this place was quite far from the cat shop, Neya didn’t know why Hyu had come near here, but for now, she was simply glad that he was not far away.
“Neya?”
Neya flinched at Shane’s call.
“Thank you!”
She made sure to properly thank the ladies and then returned to Shane.
‘Hyu is still safe.’
Since he was often seen in the nearby villages, maybe she could even meet him. Neya’s expression remained bright.
“Sweet dreams, Neya.”
Shane whispered softly as he looked at Neya sleeping, then closed the door and left the room.
“…….”
As soon as the sound of the door closing reached her ears, Neya’s eyes flew open, and she jumped up.
Pretending to be asleep was a skill Hyu had taught her. Mischievous as he was, Hyu often taught Neya little tricks like this.
There was a reason she had even pretended to be asleep before getting up.
“…….”
Neya looked toward the window near her bed.
‘They said that if I go outside, there’ll be scary people everywhere…’
Alex and the staff had warned Neya countless times. At the cat shop, young cat-children were often instilled with fear of the outside world to prevent them from running away.
Of course, it wasn’t wrong. The moment a Catsha was exposed, there would be plenty of people ready to capture them.
That’s why Neya was worried about Hyu even more.
What if someone had really captured Hyu, as Alex and Azure had warned?
‘No!’
To Neya, Hyu was her closest friend. They had grown up together since they were babies, so he was practically family. Neya’s mind was filled only with thoughts of protecting Hyu at all costs.
Originally, she planned to ask Shane to take a carriage.
But a sudden sense of anxiety made her unable to ask.
‘Shane would worry, right…?’
Maybe he wouldn’t let her go. Besides, she didn’t want to cause unnecessary worry.
She knew that even today’s outing and Shane buying her not one but two toys were all because he worried about her.
Not wanting to make Shane worry any further, Neya came up with a reckless plan.
‘I’ll be back quickly, before morning!’
She knew the direction, and if she went in her cat form, she could make it there during the night.
Since Hyu was nocturnal, it might even be easier to meet him at night. Neya’s mind was already fixed on meeting Hyu and bringing him back here.
Firm in her decision, Neya took a compass out of the nightstand drawer. She had bought it during today’s outing.
Shane had been slightly surprised when Neya suddenly chose a compass instead of her usual dolls or storybooks, but he didn’t think much of it. Around this age, kids often became obsessed with dragons or carriages, so he assumed she had simply developed a similar interest and let it go.
Neya held the compass in her mouth and transformed into a cat. She then jumped out of the window.
Though it was the second floor, Neya in her cat form landed lightly on the ground.
‘Sorry, Shane! Mom! I’ll be back soon!’
She muttered this silently and began running away from the mansion.
She ran for a long while, but there was no sign of reaching her destination.
It made sense; the “soon” the ladies had mentioned was based on taking a carriage. For little kitten Neya, no matter how fast she ran, it felt far away.
The early morning wind was cold. Unlike the cool evening breeze, it was a chill that wrapped around her entire body.
To make matters worse, it started to rain.
Raindrops settled on the bridge of her nose, and Neya hesitated.
In the dark forest, she looked up at the sky. The light drizzle gradually became heavier.
‘I didn’t expect it to rain…!’
It was already cold enough, and now rain too!
Going back was no longer an option; the distance back to the village was now shorter than returning home.
‘Why can’t I see the village?’
After running for some time, the mountain the lady had pointed to finally came into view, but the village was still nowhere to be seen.
The rain became heavier and the cold intensified.
Finally emerging from the forest, Neya returned to her human form. Even wearing clothes, she shivered from the cold and rain.
“Ugh…”
She shivered and moaned.
‘Maybe I should’ve gone with Shane… But I can’t turn back now!’
Fortunately, a road appeared once she left the forest.
She walked along it. Though it was still dark early in the morning, at some point streetlights appeared along the road, making it easier to walk forward.
After about ten minutes, she saw a cabin at the entrance of a village with its lights on.
“……!”
Neya’s expression brightened when she saw someone.
‘First, I should ask for directions!’
It would be a big problem if she had gone the wrong way. She ran to the cabin and knocked on the door firmly.
Though it was late, someone was awake, and the door opened quickly.
“Who… oh my.”
A pregnant woman appeared. Seeing Neya, she jumped in surprise.
“Out at this hour… Are you okay?”
She was startled to be knocked on at this hour, and even more so to see such a young child standing there soaking wet.
Neya asked in a trembling voice from the cold.
“Is this Togo Village…?”
“Yes. If you go a little further, it’s the village… Did you get lost?”
“No, not exactly… achoo!”
Neya sneezed, having been drenched in the rain.
“Do you want to come inside first?”
Though unsure of the situation, she couldn’t be left in the rain like that.
Neya nodded and followed the woman inside.
The cabin was very small, barely half the size of the first floor of Neya’s house. There weren’t even separate rooms except for a bathroom, making the interior quite modest. The walls were old, but the fireplace warmed Neya’s frozen cheeks.
The woman quickly fetched a towel and dried Neya’s hair.
“What on earth… this is just too much.”
She had been waiting for her husband to return from work late at night, and now this sudden event was like a lightning strike.
As she dried Neya, the woman inspected her appearance.
For an abandoned child, her clothes looked expensive. Her nails were neat, and except for being wet, her face and body were spotless.
Though she didn’t know the reason, the woman handed Neya a top from the drying rack.
“Take off these wet clothes and wear this instead.”
Her clothes were wet and cold, so Neya nodded and headed to the bathroom.
Seeing how capable she was, the woman felt slightly uneasy.
‘Could she be a noble child…?’
She looked well cared-for enough to suggest that possibility.
