In the past, I wandered the streets and witnessed two cats fighting each other.
They may have been mere strays, but they moved like seasoned warriors in an arena—wary of their opponent, never letting their guard down. They circled each other, measuring the distance between them, raising their front paws and tails to create an air of intimidation.
The sight intrigued me greatly.
To be honest, it was too entertaining to simply pass by as if I hadn’t seen anything.
Where else could I witness such a spectacle—two adorable cats, who would appear harmless no matter where they were, swinging their claws at each other’s vital points without hesitation, each trying to trample the other?
In the past, I found such fights to be the most fascinating things—so long as they had nothing to do with me.
But at this moment, I realized how arrogant I had been…
It was an interesting spectacle only from my perspective—a human, a third party. But for the cats, the ones truly involved, this was no mere display. For them, it was a brutal battle, a clash of bl0od and flesh.
Maybe—just maybe—I was never meant to watch a fight like that as mere entertainment. After all, I now found myself caught in the middle of women radiating murderous intent that made the hostility between stray cats seem trivial.
Was this my karma coming back to haunt me? What had I done in the past to deserve this?
“…Love.”
At Bianca’s words, Aria’s face stiffened as if she had suffered a serious shock. Her eyes darkened slightly, sending a chill down my spine.
Yet, her expression was still one of the better ones.
The princess and Ariel, on the other hand, wore looks so intense that even calling them a spectacle wouldn’t do them justice.
“…Oh, Bianca del Castana. If what you say is true, that’s quite the interesting story. Honestly, I have a strong urge to hear the details of what exactly happened with Cain that night.”
As she spoke, my heart clenched at the sight of the princess.
Her sharp eyes weren’t fixed on Bianca—they were locked onto me. Just moments ago, she had been so happy to see me again after a long time, practically glowing with excitement. Yet now, I had a terrible feeling that a second match with Bianca was about to begin.
“…Love? Did Cain say he would love you forever?”
Ariel’s reaction was even more chilling than the princess’s.
In all my memories, I had never seen her look at someone with such a terrifying expression.
Ariel was always easygoing and relaxed, treating everyone with a smile.
Even when she clashed with the princess earlier, her tone had been sharp, but her expression had remained calm, as usual. But now, something about Bianca’s words had clearly gotten under her skin.
“Hah. Anything you say about Cain and me now just sounds pathetic. It hasn’t been long since he and I first made love, and that is an unchanging fact. Ah, but since I’ve shared some history with you over the past year, I’m willing to show a little mercy. Right, how about the position of a concubine? Is that acceptable to you, too, Cain?”
Bianca spoke with an infuriatingly smug expression, proudly making statements I couldn’t tell whether she was seeking my approval for or simply declaring outright.
Watching her, I instinctively shut my eyes. No matter how I looked at it, her words were like a match thrown onto a powder keg.
“…Cain, I see now that you are quite the playboy. First kiss with Sarah Cernard, then your first time with Bianca del Castana? Ha, who’s your next target? Care to explain who you’ve set your sights on next?”
“…..”
The princess questioned me with a dangerously amused look, her eyes burning with intensity. And yet, why had Sarah’s name suddenly come up out of nowhere?
“…Hah. First time? Bianca, are you claiming to be Cain’s first?”
Ariel, who had been listening quietly, suddenly spoke, her words thick with disdain.
“How arrogant. After suffering defeat after defeat, you cower in a corner like a beaten dog, barking only with words. It’s almost endearing, the way you naively believe yourself to be his first. But don’t you think it would be troublesome for Cain if you went around spouting such presumptuous nonsense about concubines and all?”
“…Ariel Thiers, have you finished talking?”
Bianca, one of the most sharp-tongued women in the empire, wasn’t about to let that remark slide. And just like that, my room quickly turned into a battlefield, completely drowning out any of Ariel’s earlier calls for peace.
“…..”
At the very least, Aria didn’t join in the chaos. She sat quietly beside me, which, for once, gave me a small sense of comfort.
“…Let’s go, Aria.”
“Yes, Young Lord.”
Fortunately, the three women were so caught up in their heated argument—each claiming to be the most important in my life—that they didn’t even notice Aria and me slipping out of the room.
No matter how I looked at it, saying my relationships with the women around me were terrible felt like an understatement.
I never expected them to get along harmoniously, laughing and chatting like best friends, but wasn’t this a bit too much?
‘Cain von Estel, you b*stard. What kind of life did you lead in the past to make these women act like this?’
No, even if Bianca was the way she was, why were the princess and Ariel behaving like this? Did it mean that Cain von Estel of some other past was truly the worst kind of man—someone who couldn’t be satisfied with just one woman and had flirted with every single one he met?
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