Chapter 3

The moment Josy heard that, disgust and fear flashed through her eyes. She abandoned any plan of staying on my lap, terrified that I might actually have someone come at her with a stick.

She leaped obediently into the cage and nudged the door shut herself.

I laughed coldly on the inside. Scared already? Once those feral toms were all rounded up, there would be plenty more where that came from.

"Put her in the storage shed. I'm tired and want to sleep, and I can't have the meowing keeping me up."

With that, I yawned and returned to my bedroom. I shut the doors behind me, leaving only myself and Ember, the personal maid I had brought from my family home.

Ember looked worried. "My lady, finding 50 toms isn't impossible. But that cat was Ms. Linton's kind gesture after all. If you send her off to be bred, won't that..."

I smiled faintly.

"Breeding her and getting a few more litters of kittens only shows how much I value the cat. I just want more of them. Isn't that right? Besides, the poor thing is already in heat. Imagine how miserable she'd be if we didn't let her mate."

…

Early the next morning, Edmund came over. He was carrying Josy's cage and scolded me the moment he walked in, "This cat has a perfectly gentle temperament. Why did you lock her up? She spent the whole night in a freezing cage. How could you be so heartless?"

As he spoke, his eyes swept over me, studying me carefully. I immediately pushed back my hair, revealing a large patch of white hidden beneath the black, and put on my most pitiful expression.

"You think you're the only one who cares? I care so much it's turning my hair white. But I'm allergic to cat fur, so I can't sleep with her. Locking her up was the only option I had."

The sight of my white hair put Edmund at ease. He set the cage back down in my room and said, "I'll find the best doctor to prescribe you something for the allergy. And from now on, don't lock her up. You'll hurt Jocelyn's feelings."

Once no one else was around, Ember peeled away the patch of white false hair for me and asked curiously.

"My lady, first, you've been hiding iron plates under your clothes, and now, you're wearing fake white hair. What exactly are you planning?"

I smiled and tapped her on the nose. "Don't ask so many questions. But tell me, do you know how to do makeup? The older I look, the better."

I already knew that Jocelyn intended to kill me, and there was no way I was going to sit around and wait for it to happen.

After being reborn, I had someone custom-make thin iron plates that I could wear inside my clothing to stop the cat's claws from reaching my skin.

My face, neck, and hands were all coated in a special skin-toned layer that sat tight against the surface like a second skin. Even if the cat touched my hand, it would only be touching the coating, not me.

Before long, the doctor Edmund had called for me arrived, took my pulse, and left with a deep frown.

That night, Edmund actually came to sleep in my room. He let Josy out of her cage as well, and she immediately ran over to rub her head affectionately against my ankle.

Behind those eyes, though, was nothing but greed. She never stopped trying to drain my life force for even a second.

Edmund smiled at me warmly and said, "Relax, Leah. You're pregnant, after all. I won't ask you to serve me tonight. It's just that you don't actually have a cat allergy. You shouldn't lie to me like that.

"But I'll let it slide this time. Tonight, I'll stay right here and watch you sleep with the cat myself."

Josy's cat eyes were locked on me as well, her little mouth curling into what looked almost like a cold smirk.

When Edmund saw that I was not moving, he smiled pleasantly and said, "Leah, why haven't you taken off your outer robe to sleep? You can't be comfortable like that."