Imuel turned his ear to listen to the commotion outside.

The chopping knife struck the cutting board again and again. Even though it was muffled by the door, the sound of tearing fibers was still blood-curdling.

Imuel struggled to move his body, trying to crawl towards the windowsill.

'...I will die. If I stay here, I will die!'

'...I cannot die here.'

The Duke was not used to a cat's body; his steps staggered from side to side. Coupled with his weak and sore body, it couldn't even support Imuel to straighten his upper half, so he could only edge sideways bit by bit.

He slowly moved to the edge of the bed, his wound splitting open again. The less than half a meter height between the bed and the floor seemed like an insurmountable chasm. Jumping down from this distance would highly likely tear his abdominal wound. Imuel took a deep breath and still leaned his body forward—

Compared to being tortured by a perverted doctor, at least there was a chance of survival outside.

But at this moment, the door was opened.

The wooden door creaked, and the doctor's slender figure appeared outside.

"Meow!"

A short, mournful meow sounded. Imuel's fur stood on end. Startled, he rolled twice and fell off the edge of the bed. Just as he was about to smash onto the ground belly-first—

He was caught.

Bai Yu was tall with long legs, and reached the bed in two steps. He opened his palm to catch the falling furball, slightly buffering the impact downwards, and then picked Imuel up.

The doctor's expression was cold, but his palm was dry and warm. Imuel shivered and paused in his palm, not daring to move.

"Phew—" Bai Yu let out a sigh of relief. Supporting the furball's little bottom, he placed the shivering little creature back onto the bed. He poked its little head and frowned, "Other kittens are obedient after surgery, but you're the only one running around. What are you fussing about?"

In Bai Yu's experience, he had never seen a cat crawling all over the place after wound debridement.

His tone was slightly stern. Imuel felt fear and involuntarily fell backwards, then planted headfirst into the blanket.

System 55 floated nearby: "Pfft—"

It poked the host: "This cat you picked up is so silly."

Bai Yu's gaze swept over the white furball's abdomen. There was slight bleeding, but the stitches hadn't burst. So he looked away, pushed up his glasses, and said with disdain, "Isn't it because of what your System demanded."

He had never seen such a silly cat either.

Imuel struggled slightly and poked his head out of the blanket. At a glance, he saw the cold and solemn expression of the doctor in front of him, whose gaze fell vaguely on a certain spot. He turned with difficulty while wearing the Elizabethan collar and finally saw what the doctor was looking at.

It was the blanket, smeared with a long strip of blood.

When Imuel had crawled to the edge of the bed just now, he had moved with his abdomen pressed against the blanket, smearing it.

"..."

Imuel closed his eyes, feeling a bit desperate.

A stray cat of unknown origin had dirtied the black-hearted doctor's blanket. He could imagine what he would suffer next, but besides shrinking himself into the blanket as much as possible to reduce his presence, he could do nothing.

But Bai Yu didn't care about this. The bedding belonged to the original owner, and he was going to change it anyway. He merely asked, "System, what time is it?"

It was mid-morning when he picked up the kitten, and Illyria's winter sun was warm. But after all the fuss, it was already mostly dark outside the window.

System: "It's past eight o'clock, Host."

Bai Yu nodded: "Then he can eat something now."

He turned and left the room.

The wooden door closed, and the bedroom quieted down again.

Imuel, huddled in the blanket, quietly opened his eyes.

It seemed safe for the time being.

Cats are nocturnal animals and naturally prefer dark environments. Bai Yu hadn't turned on the lights, and as the boundless darkness enveloped him, Imuel gained a rare sense of security. He didn't want to think about what the doctor went to do—preparing another injection or something else. He just curled up and lay down to alleviate the pain from his wound.

Besides the pain of the wound, another sensation surrounded him, making him very uncomfortable.

'...So hungry.'

The newspapers reported that the Duke fell off the cliff three days ago, and Imuel hadn't eaten for three full days.

He had choked on several mouthfuls of water in the Houghton River, so he wasn't lacking water, but the lack of food made his bodily functions sluggish. If he couldn't replenish his energy in time, even if the doctor did nothing, he would still die.

But as a cat, how was he supposed to beg the doctor for food?

Judging from the doctor's actions, he didn't seem to want Imuel dead right away. At the very least, he had carried Imuel onto the bed and given him a blanket.

Imuel wasn't entirely sure of the doctor's intentions—whether he wanted a long-term experimental subject or lacked a plaything to relieve boredom. But either way, the doctor would probably provide him with the basic food needed to sustain his life.

'...Hopefully, he will.'

Imuel lowered his eyes. With his current stamina, he didn't even have the energy to be resentful. If the doctor was unwilling to give him food, there was only a dead end. And just as he was about to fall asleep again, the doctor pushed open the door.

Imuel's eyes widened in disbelief; he smelled food.

There was a slight damp, fishy saltiness in the air, like fish meat.

Imuel wagged his fluffy tail, curling it into a small question mark, and thought groggily and incredulously, 'Is it for me?'

The doctor's house had a dining room, so he didn't need to eat in the bedroom. Moreover, this bowl of fish hadn't been cooked, nor had it been seasoned with salt or any spices like scallions and ginger. It probably wasn't prepared for the doctor himself.

But, the black-hearted doctor specially prepared dinner for him?

The fish meat was minced softly into a loose paste, and the goat's milk was fresh and clean, carrying a sweet, milky fragrance.

Imuel propped up half of his body with his paws, his lake-blue eyes staring fixedly at the doctor.

Bai Yu poured the goat's milk into a bowl and placed it in the corner under the bed. Then, he placed the soft, mashed fish onto a plate. A kitten couldn't eat too much after surgery and needed its food intake controlled, so he only poured a little bit.

After doing all this, Bai Yu sat down on the edge of the bed.

He gently picked up the kitten to check the condition of the wound. Imuel felt so ashamed that his eyes were squeezed tightly shut, but for the bite of food in the corner, he had to expose his abdomen and let the doctor observe.

Even now, Imuel still didn't know what the doctor had done to his wound. He only remembered the stinging pain of the needle piercing his skin and the agonizing pain of alcohol applied to the wound. He feared the doctor's next move, but his will to survive forced him to pretend to be well-behaved and docile.

Be a bit more well-behaved, only by being well-behaved would he have food to eat.

Bai Yu looked at the kitten that was clearly trembling non-stop but not struggling. He slightly raised his brow and praised, "So good."

Although its IQ didn't seem high, at least it was relatively affectionate towards people.

Bai Yu placed the furball next to the food bowl.

If it were in the past, if anyone dared to make Imuel crouch in a corner like this and eat without any dignity, Imuel would definitely knock their teeth out. But under Bai Yu's hands, he had no choice, and even impatiently began to eat.

Duke Imuel's diet was exquisite; he had never eaten such coarse food. But when the fish paste entered his mouth and went down his esophagus, his empty stomach finally had something in it, and Imuel actually let out a comfortable purr.

Bai Yu couldn't help but chuckle.

His laughter made Imuel's tail puff up. The furball stood up nervously, with a bit of the white paste still sticking to his lips. He froze in place, slightly at a loss.

Imuel knew that his current way of dining must be very inelegant, lacking proper etiquette. And the doctor had actually taken all of this in, even with a hint of teasing in his eyes.

'Damn it,' he buried his head to eat, thinking resentfully, 'When I go back, when I go back, I will make the doctor pay the price he deserves!'

There was only a tiny bit of minced fish and goat's milk. The platinum furball licked it clean in a few bites. Imuel narrowed his lake-blue eyes, tucked his paws under his body, and stared fixedly at Bai Yu.

How should he beg so that the doctor would give him a little more?

But Bai Yu had already heartlessly taken the tray away.

He picked up the kitten with one hand and put the furball back into the blanket. Ignoring Imuel's struggles, he was as brutal as a tyrant suppressing a rebellion: "You can't eat anymore. We'll talk about the rest tomorrow."

Bai Yu left with the food.

"Mew—"

Imuel subconsciously voiced out to make him stay, but was then startled by his own weak voice. He listlessly shrank into the blanket, suddenly extended a furry paw, and gave himself a slap on the face.

Damn it, how could I make such a disgusting sound.

But he didn't hit his face. The Elizabethan collar was still firmly around his neck, and he only hit the edge of the cardboard.

Imuel was startled again, and feeling guilty, he used his paw to adjust the collar back into place.

He didn't want the doctor to come tomorrow and find the collar crooked, thinking he wasn't obedient enough, and deduct his lunch because of it.

It was already quite late now. In an underdeveloped city-state like Illyria, lighting fixtures and electrical facilities were still expensive. Most people were inactive at night and went to bed early instead.

Imuel raised his eyes to look out the window. A crescent moon hung high in the sky. Looking at the time, it was getting late.

The doctor should have gone to rest as well. At the very least, he wouldn't come to torment him anymore tonight. Imuel let out a long sigh of relief and thought to himself, 'This chaotic and tumultuous day is finally over.'

But the Duke had clearly overlooked one fact—this was the doctor's bedroom, and he was still lying on the doctor's bed, even covered with the doctor's blanket.

Therefore, barely twenty minutes later, Bai Yu appeared in the bedroom once again.

He first turned on the light and observed the furball's condition: its fur was fluffy and fell naturally. It wasn't bristling, nor was it shrinking and trembling. It didn't seem to be in a state of stress.

So Bai Yu calmly walked into the bedroom.

Generally speaking, if a cat is willing to eat, its stress wouldn't be too severe and might have even subsided.

Bai Yu had just picked the cat up, held it, and rubbed it. The furball still ate in front of him and behaved very obediently. According to Bai Yu's knowledge, this was a sign of the patient initially establishing a friendship with the doctor, gradually letting down their guard, and beginning to trust the doctor.

Therefore, he judged that he could sleep in the same room with the kitten tonight.

The kitten had just familiarized itself with the bedroom environment. Putting it somewhere else might cause it to stress again, which was inappropriate. Moreover, the nighttime temperature in Illyria was chilly, and the other rooms had no beds, so sleeping there would cause one to fall ill. Thus, Bai Yu settled his sleeping arrangements with almost no hesitation.

He brought a new bedsheet and duvet cover, replaced all the bloodstained parts, laid out the blanket anew, and then adjusted his pillow, making room to sleep.

Imuel: "?"

He shrank in the corner of the bed, almost grinding his teeth to pieces.

As the esteemed co-ruler of Illyria, titled the Grand Duke of the Kingdom, he was going to share a bed with a strange man?

Imuel repeatedly told himself, 'People under the eaves have to bow their heads; people under the eaves have to bow their heads.' However, before he could mentally prepare himself, Bai Yu made another move that caused Imuel's fur to stand on end all over.

The doctor took off his clothes.

No human would think they needed to avoid a kitten when changing clothes, and Bai Yu was no exception. He took out his pajamas, then naturally took off his shirt, revealing his smooth, flawless back.

In all fairness, the doctor had a lot of capital.

His skin was very white, and his temperament was aloof and noble. His muscle mass was just right, stuck perfectly between slender and muscular. He had a very well-proportioned figure. From the back, he had standard broad shoulders and a narrow waist. The lines of his shoulders and neck transitioned smoothly downwards, cinching at the waist to form a perfect curve. Even the shapes of his shoulder blades and lumbar dimples were beautiful.

Even the edge of his loose sweatpants, the connecting lines from the waist downwards, were very beautiful.

"..."

For so many years, no one had ever dared to bare their back in front of the Duke. But even someone as unromantic as Imuel knew how much this body would please the ladies of Illyria.

Those lake-blue eyes landed on the shoulder blades, then drifted downwards to the lumbar dimples, and finally drifted towards the ceiling.

The Duke turned his back and mumbled to himself, thinking, 'In broad daylight, under the bright sky, offending public morals, completely lacking decorum... Meow!'

He let out a mournful meow.

Bai Yu controlled the kitten with one hand, dragged him entirely over, and unquestioningly pressed him into the blanket.

The doctor wore no clothes on his upper half, but his expression remained serious and stern. He reached out to poke the cat's head and said seriously, "Don't run to the edge of the bed. If you fall off, I won't be able to fish you back up while I'm asleep. Do you understand?"