"Good morning~"
Early in the morning, Hyacine sat at the table eating breakfast. When she saw Hong Guoguo walking out of her room looking bleary-eyed, she greeted her.
"Good morning... yawn~"
Hong Guoguo immediately replied upon hearing Hyacine's voice, though she looked like she might fall asleep again at any second.
Seeing her like this, Hyacine thought of the Dried Small Fish currently sitting in her System Inventory, and she felt a sudden urge to act. However, since there were other people around, she temporarily set the idea aside and spoke to Hong Guoguo instead:
"Guoguo, come have some breakfast. Come to my room afterward; I have something I want to talk to you about."
"Oh, okay."
The innocent Hong Guoguo agreed without the slightest hesitation, completely unaware that she was about to face a trap specifically designed for a little kitten like her.
--- Breakfast Transition Line ---
After finishing her breakfast, Hyacine returned to her room. Seeing that Hong Guoguo would still be a while, she pulled out a bag of Dried Small Fish.
"I wonder if these 'Anti-Cat' dried fish will work on a cat-girl from an isekai."
As she spoke, Hyacine tore open the packaging and began to snack on them leisurely. A short while later, there was a knock at the door.
"Sister Hyacine, it's me."
"Come in."
With a click, the door opened.
"Sister Hyacine, did you need me for..."
Just as she entered, Hong Guoguo began to ask with a look of confusion. But before she could finish her sentence, her little nose twitched. She froze on the spot, her gaze locking onto the bag of dried fish in Hyacine's hand.
Looks like the Anti-Cat effect is working!
Seeing Hong Guoguo staring fixedly at the snacks, a slight arc curled at the corner of Hyacine's mouth.
"Hmm? Guoguo, do you want some?" Hyacine asked with feigned confusion.
Hong Guoguo didn't speak; she simply nodded repeatedly.
"Here, you can have this bag. I have plenty more."
Hyacine placed the dried fish into Hong Guoguo's hands. At that, Hong Guoguo could no longer suppress the instinctive desire surging within her body. She grabbed a piece of dried fish and stuffed it into her mouth.
In that instant, Hyacine saw "the light" in Hong Guoguo's eyes.
"Delicious! So delicious! How can something be this tasty!"
Hong Guoguo savored the flavor, narrowing her eyes in pure bliss. Watching this, Hyacine chuckled softly and silently closed the door.
Whether it was because the food was too good to resist or the dried fish had coaxed out her true form, the moment Hong Guoguo started eating, she instantly reverted to the state she was in the previous night.
Long silver-white hair appeared along with matching silver-white cat ears and a tail. Because of the stimulation from the snacks, her cat ears were twitching slightly, and her tail was swaying back and forth in small increments. It was incredibly cute.
Fluffy ears... I really want to touch them...
Seeing that she was still lost in her snacks and completely oblivious to her transformation, Hyacine couldn't resist reaching out to pat her head, grazing the cat ears in the process. She truly had no resistance against anything fluffy and cute.
Hong Guoguo still didn't react. She only felt someone stroking her head, but that wasn't as important as the dried fish in front of her. Besides, she was used to being patted on the head by her elders back home.
And so, by the time Hong Guoguo finished the bag, nearly ten minutes had passed—and Hyacine had spent nearly ten minutes petting the cat.
"So good!"
Seeing the bag was empty, Hong Guoguo licked her fingers and shouted with lingering excitement. She then turned to Hyacine and asked eagerly:
"Sister Hyacine! This snack is really amazing! Is there more? Is there more?"
"There is. Do you want another bag?"
"Yes, yes!"
Seeing her longing for the fish and noting that she still hadn't realized she was exposed, Hyacine pulled out another bag.
"Have one more. But after this, no more for now. Eating too many snacks isn't good for you."
"Okay!"
Hong Guoguo happily accepted the bag and began eating joyfully again. During this time, Hyacine tried to touch Hong Guoguo's tail, but the moment the tail sensed the contact, it immediately dodged away.
Seeing this, Hyacine stopped teasing the flexible appendage.
It seems that compared to Cipher, Hong Guoguo's ears aren't that sensitive, but her tail is much more so. Hyacine noted mentally.
"Mmm... I just ate breakfast, and now I'm a bit full," Hong Guoguo murmured, rubbing her small stomach. She then looked up at Hyacine and asked curiously:
"Sister Hyacine, why were you petting my head the whole time I was eating?"
"Because you're very cute, Guoguo."
Hyacine replied with a smile, then gently pinched one of the cat ears. Hong Guoguo merely frowned slightly and said with a hint of dissatisfaction:
"Sister Hyacine, can you please not pinch my ear?"
But before Hyacine could respond, Hong Guoguo finally sensed something was wrong.
"...Wait? Ear?"
She looked down at the color of her hair, and then... her eyes widened in disbelief. It was silver-white.
"How did my disguise magic fail?!"
Finally figured it out?
Seeing Hong Guoguo's look of utter shock, Hyacine let out a soft laugh.
"While you were eating the dried fish, you suddenly turned into this. I was quite surprised myself at the time."
"Sister Hyacine... can you leave me alone for a bit?"
After realizing her identity had been exposed, Hong Guoguo found it hard to accept the reality for a moment. She had known that if she stayed by Hyacine's side, this form would be revealed sooner or later. After all, Hyacine had once partially broken her disguise magic before, causing a small section of her hair to turn silver-white.
However, after observing her, she felt that Hyacine was a good person. Even the Pegasus called Little Ica... didn't seem to be a mechanical horse. So even if she was exposed, it probably wouldn't be a problem, which was why she hadn't looked for a chance to run away.
But Hong Guoguo had imagined exposing herself while fighting for Hyacine, or perhaps being revealed while receiving treatment for a heavy injury. She had never imagined... that she would expose herself just by eating snacks!
This was just... too embarrassing...
Thus, the little white cat covered her cat ears with her hands and huddled in a corner of the room to brood in isolation.
"...Then I'll head over to the clinic first. Once you've sorted out your thoughts, come join me."
Seeing Hong Guoguo like this, Hyacine gave a helpless shrug. After leaving those words for her, she walked out of the room, closing the door behind her.