Chapter 3

“You really are such an adorable kitty.”

“Meow.”

“Oh? You’re showing me your belly? How unusual.”

Getting someone as proud as me to strike such a pose was terrifying in its own way. Ophelia was a rather frightening girl, after all. But today, she seemed paler than usual, so I had decided to indulge her with a little special treatment. That was all.

Alexandra would never let herself be tamed by anyone. I would decide where I belonged, and no one else.

“Big Sister, hurry up and open the door!”

Just when I had finally drifted into a pleasant doze, an unpleasantly shrill voice and the irritating sound of someone banging on the door echoed throughout the room. The ever-kindhearted Ophelia stopped petting me and hurried over to answer it.

“What is it, Helena?”

“Don’t play dumb! That’s not the point!”

The moment she appeared, Helena began shouting at Ophelia and barged into the room without hesitation. The instant that woman showed her face, the atmosphere in the room turned foul.

In Helena’s hand was a piece of fabric that looked like it had once been a dress, now torn to shreds. She hurled it at Ophelia, her face twisted with indignation.

“This was one of my favorite dresses, and that stupid cat over there shredded it with its claws!”

Day after day, this woman never learned her lesson. She always found something to complain about before snatching away Ophelia’s belongings. Ophelia already owned only the bare minimum of dresses and jewelry, yet apparently, that still wasn’t enough to satisfy Helena.

“I’m sure you ordered your stupid cat to do it, Big Sister! What a despicable, underhanded trick!”

“Wait a moment, Helena. There’s no way Kitty would do something like that—”

“My maid saw it with her own eyes! And there’s fur on the dress, too, so don’t even think about trying to talk your way out of this!”

This woman was simply jealous of her beautiful older sister. She couldn’t stand the thought of anyone realizing that, so she bullied Ophelia and schemed to keep her from appearing in the public eye.

And her own mother was no different.

If she had been a stepmother, there might still have been some hope. But there were pitiful parents in this world who simply couldn’t bring themselves to love the very children they had carried and given birth to.

Ophelia was despised by her own parents. All because she hadn’t grown up to match their ideal image of what a daughter should be—a reason so ridiculous it wasn’t even worth laughing at.