Slow Prison Life

“KYAaaaaa………….So CUUUUUUUUUUUUUTE……………!”

Rachel frantically turned down the volume after her surprise, but it was impossible for her to hold back the shout of joy that inevitably leaked out. Nor could she stop a smile from unconsciously leaking out.
Standing right before her was a light gray striped cat.
That"s right, a cat.
It had somehow made its way into the royal palace"s dungeon and was now sitting in front of Rachel.

“Nya~”

The long-haired cat that had easily entered the dungeon let out a small cry before starting to groom itself with its paw. It had become magnificently lost, yet it was able to relax inside a dungeon as if it lived here.
Rachel loves cuddly animals most of all. Dogs are nice, but she certainly didn"t dislike cats. And it can"t be helped that she finds bunnies and wolves adorable as well. For some reason carnivorous beasts that people always tell you are dangerous to avoid always end up acting meekly in front of Rachel, and they let her cuddle up to them as much as she wants.

Nevertheless this is the first time she"s seen a cat since her slow life in prison began.

“Hey………is it okay for me to pet you a little………..”

The cat noticed Rachel reaching out to it and met her halfway……….
Even while licking his back the cat didn"t dislike having its head softly pet.
Even when Rachel slowly scooped it up and held it close to her chest, the most it did was let out a yawn. When she hugged it close and began combing its hair, the cat"s eyes narrowed, and a small purr echoed.

“So friendly………Mm~, such a good girl~”

“Nya~n”

Rachel was in daze trying to fill up her cat meter. Who knows when she"d get an opportunity like this again if she were to miss out now.

However at this time, she had no idea this would prove to be a tremendous blunder.

“That"s right Mister Cat, would you like some corned beef?”

“Nya!”

While carrying a happily singing away cat in one hand and preparing a can of food in the other, Rachel suddenly heard the dry sound of something dropping to the floor.

“Hm?”

When Rachel turned around, she saw Haley who had just come back from his walk drop a pinecone he had picked up from somewhere on the floor. Haley was standing next to the dropped item too stunned to pick it up.

“Haley?”

While walking around an area he didn"t normally pa.s.s by, Haley found some strangely shaped fruit. It didn"t look like he"d be able to eat them, but there was some novelty to these weird new fruit.

“Let"s take some with, and then give them to Master.”

Haley climbed up the tree and picked some fruit. He didn"t bring his basket with him today, so he wasn"t able to grab much. Still, he knocked down as many as he could hold, and picking them up off the ground when he was done, he quickly made his way back to Rachel"s room.

Rachel was carrying a "hairball" in her arms. That guy was called a "cat" when they were back in Rachel"s mansion.
Now Rachel was cuddling up to such a cat.
It was right there in Haley"s spother chest.
And now Rachel was trying to feed that cat.
And it was eating canned food that even Haley wasn"t allowed to have.

“Haley?”

Puzzled by Haley"s frozen state, Rachel called out. Her voice got Haley started again, and he began moving around with jerky movements as if his body was fully listening to him.

“Oo…………Ooki…………..”

Haley picked up his basket and with trembling hands, started filling it with his personal items.

His favorite toy that he and Rachel always played together with.
A scarf with a lovely pattern on it Rachel had given him.
A sweet and solid apple from his lunch box.
A piece of something that"d broken off of something that he liked because of how sparkly and glittery it was.
A couple of sharp pebbles that the blonde idiot had stepped and hurt himself on.

Haley put the basket filled with his favorite treasures onto his shoulders and then turned to Rachel.

“……………Ooki………..Ookiki”

And then he gave her a small bow before starting to climb up one of the wooden boxes to go outside.

“………..Ah!? Just, Just wait a moment Haley!? Wrong, you"re wrong!”

“Ookiki!”

Haley angrily wiped away the tears that had started to acc.u.mulate in his eyes as Rachel set down a confused cat to rush over to him. But when she forcibly picked him up into her arms, Haley finally started to violently sob.

“Ooki, Ookii!!”

“Sorry, you were shocked!? You"re wrong, I"d never throw Haley away!”

“Ookii!!”

“Please, believe me! I"m not cheating on you! It just happened, just happened!”

Rachel was desperately trying to soothe Haley who thought he had been abandoned.

“Nyah!”

And then the cat who had not yet received its food raised a cry from behind her still sitting next to the can of food.
But Rachel wasn"t in a position to open the can right now.

“Ah…….Mister Cat, could you wait just a bit!? It"s a little difficult right now!”

“Ookkiiii!”

“That"s why Haley……..”

But the cat was thinking.

The human, even though I"m calling for her, she"s playing with that funny white guy instead of preparing me my snack………….

“Roww!”

“Wa, even Mister Cat!?”

Rachel already had her hands full trying to take care of Haley, and now the cat was getting angry at being made to wait and throwing a fit.
While stamping the round can of corned beef with its paw, the cat had lifted up its back and started hissing to try and get immediately fed.
With that being said, if Rachel were to put Haley down to open the can of food, this time he would truly believe he had been abandoned and end up leaving.

“Just………oh, which one to soothe first………”

Rachel was being overwhelmed by the gazes of the two animals and didn"t know what to do. She is a city kid who is surprisingly weak to pressure from anything not a person.
But while she was fl.u.s.tered, the situation got worse.

“Ooki!”

Haley had been acting angry at the cold-hearted Rachel, but suddenly he started yelling at the cat who was acting all self-important to his master.

“Roww!”

Already frustrated because no snacks were coming out, the cat raised its head and growled back at this white b.a.s.t.a.r.d taking up the human"s arms.

“KII!”

“ROWW!”

“Both of you wait!?”

The face of that person who only ever shows up when he"s not needed crossed Rachel"s mind as she tried to keep these two apart before things got out of hand.

“Seriously, why isn"t that idiot coming now!? Even though he"s able to hold a conversation with Haley, what"s he doing when he could actually be of help for once!?”

In Rachel"s whole life, has there ever been a time where she"s wished Elliott was here before?
Meanwhile she was sandwiched between a cat that has already popped its claws and Haley who pulled out a miniature bottle of wine from somewhere and holding it like a club……….in front of these two"s seething anger, the n.o.blewoman let out an extremely rare scream.

When Elliott arrived in the dungeon looking for his little brother"s missing pet, he found the prisoner lying down on the rug on the floor looking completely exhausted.
A monkey was snoozing away with its back lying on her chest and its arms desperately wrapped around her neck while the cat Elliott was looking for was curled up on her thigh.
Elliott tilted his head seeing this scene that was hard to understand…….and then started yelling at Rachel when he remembered why he had come to this place to begin with.

“So you"re the one who arbitrarily took the cat without permission Rachel! With his cute cat gone, Raymond was……..”

“Slow!!”

Rachel responded to the shouting with a scream of her own. Even though he was the prince.

“………….worried………….eh?”

Elliott forcefully swallowed what he was going to say as this rarely anger Rachel continued to viciously denounce him.

“Really, why are you here only now!? You really are useless you know that!? It"s already over!”

“Eh? It"s over………what is?”

“Not what! When you"re only redeeming quality is being able to talk with animals on the same level as you, what were you doing when you were needed during a real emergency!?”

Elliott furrowed his brow when he heard Rachel"s unreasonable complaint.

“Haah!? You, what are you saying! My only redeeming feature is my face, the face!”

Somebody who doesn"t notice they"re on the same level as a monkey while saying something only somebody on the same level as a monkey would say.

“Your Highness, you shouldn"t be saying that yourself!”

“Is that so.”

While Wolanski was chiding Elliott, Rachel continued.

“Do you know how grave the situation was!? Ooh, I couldn"t understand what Haley or Mister Cat were saying…….you can"t arbitrate a fight unless you have the same level of intelligence as the partic.i.p.ants, so try and be alert for when you"re needed! You"re always here when you aren"t needed after all!”

“Oi wait Rachel, are you telling me to be an interpreter for a monkey and a cat!?”

“What else are you good for!?”

“Eh? No, that is………maybe something………I"m capable of………..I could………..”

“What is "maybe something" supposed to be!? I don"t expect much from you, so do your best at the things you"re actually capable of! All right? Then take care from now on!”

“Ummm? That……..sorry I guess……….”

When Elliott returned above ground with the recovered cat, he hesitated for a moment before asking Wolanski a question.

“Hey Wolanski………this cat and Rachel"s monkey"s fight isn"t my responsibility right?”

“Why would it be?”

After getting a confirmation from his close friend, Elliott started to get his confidence back and let his emotions leak out.

“Mm, that"s right! That"s right, I"m not at fault here! The cat, monkey, and I can"t be so easily disciplined!”

That"s not the problem here.

Rachel may have acted disrespectfully back there, but it"s not Elliott"s duty to arbitrate on her behalf, and why should he rush there when Rachel needs help anyway, not that it matters at this point.
Elliott wrote off the previous incident just like that, but there was one part of the previous discussion that did interest him which was why he asked Wolanski another question.

“……….Hey, Wolanski.”

“Huh, what is it?”

“If I really could do what Rachel described, perhaps I would end up ruling the animal kingdom?”

“Your Highness. Before trying to rule the animal kingdom, perhaps you could put in a little effort to ruling the human kingdom instead?”