The Duke’s Companion

Mamela’s family, I remembered Mamela leaving the room in the evening.

‘Looking at the time, did she go out to eat?’

I frowned while chewing on the feed filled with rice.

‘The more I eat it, the less delicious it becomes.’

As I ate the food, dishearten, I forced myself… When Mamela comes, I’m sure she’ll give me a delicious snack. So let’s be patient.

This food was fed purely to fill my stomach. However, even after I ate all the food, Mamela didn’t come.

‘Is she eating slowly today?’

Staring at the door, I stretched and rolled around. However, even until I finished playing satisfactorily, there was still no sign of Mamela.

‘… Why isn’t she here?’

I stood in front of the door. Normally, Mamela and I would be sitting on the sofa while she feeds me a snack.

I fell into serious thought, ‘What happened? What if Mamela choked while eating?’

After worrying about Mamela for a while, I shook my head. In this case, it’s bad to think of unfortunate thoughts. I’m sure Mamela will be back soon, so I need to stop worrying about her.

Waiting for Mamela to come, I bit the fish doll and went over the pile of cushions. I was going to play with the fish to forget about my worries about Mamela.

But… I scratched the doll and glanced at the door. Furthermore, I watched the door while biting the fish, and then looked again when I kicked the fish.

‘It’s bothering…’

In the end, I threw the doll away and went to the door. I sat there and stared at the door without hesitation.

‘When are you coming back, Mamela?’

Did something happen?

Aryl’s tail and ears drooped helplessly. 

Then I heard footsteps running from afar. This weight and stride, it must be Mamela!

I jumped up immediately, I was so happy that I ran to the door a few steps and my eyes twinkled. Then the door opened without warning.

“Aryl!”

“Meow!“

When the door opened, two distinct sounds could be heard. I sniff the door without thinking, and then I was hit when the door swung open.

“Aryl?”

I fell flat on the floor, and Mamela looked around, probably not finding me.

“I must have heard Aryl somewhere…”

Then Mamela, who saw the floor right next to the door, found me with her eyes widened in surprise.

“Aryl, what’s wrong? Are you sick?”

“Meow…”

I cried and answered with difficulty. What was the right place to wait? But the relief I felt was greater than the pain.

‘I’m glad Mamela returned safely…’

I got up and grabbed Mamela’s hand as she approached.  What is it, something smelled sweet.

‘… Hmm? Wait a minute.’

I sniffed Mamela’s hand and sniffed her, I sniffed not only her hands but also swirled around Mamela.

There was a subtly different scent mixed with hers. It’s a scent I’ve never smelled before. Thinking hard, I remembered the source of this smell.

‘Oh, this is the smell of a human being who is Mamela’s family!’

With the scent of Mamela so thick, I could feel the strange difference between the two scents.

I remembered a time when I was in conflict over the smell of the two. It felt very similar back then, so I ended up going to the wrong place.

‘… I can’t tell the smell of Mamela, but I can feel the difference.’

I was disappointed in myself. There should be no misunderstanding like that in the future, because of this similar scent, I caused Mamela trouble…

I sniffed Mamela’s hand in silence.

Overall, the bases of the two smells seemed the same. However, unlike the smell of Mamela, which smells like soft powder, the other smell was mixed with a little coolness that felt refreshing.

A terrible curiosity sprang up again. I knew I shouldn’t do that, but I couldn’t help it. I graciously admitted it.

‘I’d love to meet him.’