Suspiciously Suspicious (2)

“Oh, so you weren’t customers of our shop but Cat’s guests… This is quite embarrassing…”

As soon as the woman realized Ethan and I had come at Cat’s request, she cautiously ushered us inside.

The werewolf woman, who had hurriedly grabbed the barely-clothing-like object from my hands with her face slightly flushed, led us in.

‘Seeing how the divine power disappeared when she took it, she must indeed be Cat’s grandmother…’

…Her appearance was quite different from what I had imagined.

Since Cat had described her as a “big bad wolf,” I expected someone who resembled a wolf more than a human. If there were a 10-step scale for beastfolk appearances, I thought she’d be at least an 8.

But the woman before me looked more human than wolf-like. On that same scale, she’d be around a 4 or 5.

She had ears on her head and fur on her face, but her facial structure wasn’t particularly altered, and most importantly, her body shape was much closer to a human’s than an animal’s.

She wore a dress so tight it clearly outlined her figure – how could anyone look at this and think “wolf”?

Even someone who’d never seen a werewolf before wouldn’t mistake this woman for a “wolf.”

‘Is Cat too young to understand that werewolves are a type of wolf?’

One thing was certain – educationally speaking, her figure wasn’t exactly wholesome. It was the kind of appearance that might… might give someone strange fetishes if they kept looking.

As another woman, I didn’t feel that way myself, but um…

“…Ed.”

“Hmm?”

“Stop staring at her so blatantly.”

“…Suddenly?”

It wasn’t out of jealousy – I was worried Ethan might develop some strange sexual preferences.

I’m not particularly racist, but having the future heir of the Blackwood ducal family be a beastfolk hybrid would be problematic.

And Cat’s grandmother was, after all, a married woman. Either way, it wasn’t good for Ethan to show too much interest.

“I see. Cat said she’s been waiting for her grandmother to come home…”

“Yes. That… Cat’s grandmother.”

“It’s Catherine Millie. You can call me Cathy.”

“Okay…”

Catherine Millie, who introduced herself as such, wagged her tail carefully behind the chair with a troubled expression.

“I’m not sure what to do in this situation. Honestly, I want to return to Cat immediately, but as you can see, I’m in this state now.”

“Does that mean… you don’t plan to tell Cat you’re a werewolf?”

“I thought I might tell her someday when she’s older. I didn’t want her to realize we’re different species while she’s still so young – she might think she’s not really my granddaughter and go astray.”

“…So you’re saying you’re not blood-related?”

“As you can see. I’m a hybrid between human and werewolf, but I still have many noticeable traits, right? Have you ever seen Cat with ears like these, or a tail, or furry gray hands?”

“…No, I’ve never seen anything like that on Cat.”

As soon as we learned Catherine Millie wasn’t blood-related to Cat, she calmly explained how their relationship came to be.

“Three years ago, the merchant caravan led by Cat’s parents was attacked by wild wolves. It happened to be a full moon that night, so I rushed to rescue them, but Cat’s parents’ injuries were beyond treatment. Cat was only three years old when I found her in the carriage.”

“……”

“That’s why I haven’t told Cat I’m a werewolf. Not only would it reveal I’m not her biological grandmother, but seeing me as a werewolf might trigger trauma from that incident three years ago.

So during full moons, I’d deliberately come up to the shop. But this time, I suddenly reverted to my original form without knowing why and had to rush here.”

“I thought so. You said you leave home once a month, so I suspected as much.”

“Then when you told Cat her grandmother had been kidnapped, was that just to buy time?”

“Yes. Normally after a full moon, I’d return within a day or two at most. So I thought I’d be back soon this time too and told her that.”

She never imagined she’d still be in this state. Catherine Millie let out a shallow sigh with a self-deprecating smile.

“But there’s one thing I’m curious about.”

“Yes?”

“From what you just said, Cat saw real wolves when she was little, right? But you don’t look much like a wolf at all now…”

“Now that you mention it, that’s true. Your current form is closer to human than wolf, so it doesn’t quite match Cat’s description of a ‘big bad wolf’…”

“That’s because I’m only halfway back now. Right after transforming, I look almost identical to a wild wolf, and it takes about a night to gradually return. This time the process is taking much longer, which is the problem.”

…Well, if a woman looking like this entered the house, even a child like Cat would think “a strange woman came in” rather than “a wolf came in.”

“Do you know why you suddenly transformed into wolf form?”

“Not really. That night, I was checking the time on the Star Palace clock tower through the window while thinking it was time to put Cat to bed.”

“…Can you see the Star Palace clock tower from here?”

“Our kind are half-wolf, so we have good night vision. Oh, now that I think about it, I think I saw some kind of flash of light from the Star Palace direction at that moment too.”

“A flash of light?”

“Yes. It seemed to come from the Star Palace’s backyard. Thinking back, I might have transformed into a wolf after being hit by that light…”

The night before last? Star Palace backyard?

If it’s about what happened at the Star Palace that night, wasn’t it that “noble gathering”?

The day when I fought Machart in the Star Palace backyard, defeated him, and finished with an execution.

And to prove Machart was using dark magic related to demons, I used the divine power called “Mirror of Truth.”

To reveal hidden forms and show true appearances, exposing Machart’s ugly face to the world…

‘……Huh?’

Wait, then could that “flash of light” Catherine Millie saw be… could it be…?

-Clatter!

“I’m so sorry!!!”

“L-Lilith?!”

“Wh-what’s wrong all of a sudden, Miss Lilith?!”

At that moment, the mystery of why Catherine Millie had turned into a wolf despite it not being a full moon was completely solved.

…Ultimately, it was my fault.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

“Ah, so that flash of light was the Saintess’s divine power called ‘Mirror of Truth’…”

“I’m so sorry, Catherine Millie! I never imagined the Mirror of Truth would reach this far and ended up interfering with your relationship with your granddaughter!”

“It’s alright, please stand up, Miss Lilith. Or should I call you Saintess Lilith?”

“…Just call me Lilith. The fact that I’m the Saintess isn’t publicly known yet…”

“Ah, I see. The current known Saintess is someone named Celista, right?”

Catherine Millie, with her generous heart, forgave my mistake more calmly than I expected.

Though it was entirely my fault, I ended up revealing my identity as the Saintess in the heat of the moment, but she promised to keep that secret too.

Meanwhile, I was too ashamed to meet her eyes, knowing my actions had nearly ruined Cat and Catherine Millie’s relationship.

‘Really… I’m so glad I decided to help find her…’

I almost caused trouble with my mistake without realizing it and nearly made her leave for the Witch’s Forest. Next time I use the Mirror of Truth, I should angle it 45 degrees downward or something…

“W-we’ll explain everything properly to Cat. Since Catherine Millie can’t return right now, we’ll make sure Cat understands so she’ll be ready whenever you can come back…”

“No, I can’t trouble the Saintess like that.”

“It’s no trouble, I want to correct my mistake…”

“Thanks to you, I’ve made up my mind. I would have had to tell Cat the truth someday anyway. So I should start telling her the truth now.”

“……Huh?”

Catherine Millie stood up with a determined expression and asked me cautiously:

“But confessing something I’ve hidden for three years alone is a bit scary. Would you come with me, Lilith?”

At least it seems we won’t need to conduct a search operation for Cat’s grandmother under the Blackwood family name.