Chapter 61 Decorum

Chapter 61: Propriety

Imuir strained his ears to catch the sounds outside.

The chopping knife thudding against the cutting board, though muffled by the door, still sent shivers down his spine.

Imuir struggled to move, inching his way toward the windowsill.

...He would die if he stayed here!

...He couldn't die here.

The duke wasn't used to being in a cat's body, his steps were wobbly, and coupled with the weakness of his body, he couldn't even straighten his upper body. He could only inch his way to the side.

He inched his way to the edge of the bed, his wound tore open again. The half-meter drop from the bed to the ground felt like a chasm; jumping from this height risked tearing his abdominal wound. Imuir took a deep breath and leaned forward anyway.

Better to risk it than face the perverted doctor's torture.

But at this moment, the door creaked open, revealing the doctor's slender figure.

"Meow!"

A sharp, panicked meow escaped him. Imuir's fur bristled. Startled, he tumbled off the edge of the bed, about to land on his abdomen—

He was caught.

Bai Yu, tall and long-legged, walked to the bedside in two steps. He caught the falling furball in his palm, cushioned the fall, and then picked up Imuir.

The doctor's expression was cold, though his palm felt warm and dry. Imuir trembled in his grasp, frozen in fear.

"Whew—" Bai Yu let out a relieved sigh, holding the kitten's bottom, and placed the shivering kitten back on the bed. He poked its little head and frowned: "Other cats stay put after surgery, but you're all over the place. What are you doing?"

In Bai Yu's experience, no cat had ever crawled around after debridement.

His tone was firm, almost stern. Imuir was afraid and instinctively fell backward, plunging into the quilt.

66 floated beside: "Pfft—"

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

Bai Yu's gaze swept over the white ball's abdomen. There was slight bleeding, but no broken stitches, so he shifted his gaze, pushed his glasses, and said disdainfully: "Isn't it what your system requires?"

He had never seen such a silly cat.

Imuir struggled slightly, revealing his head from the quilt, and saw the doctor in front of him with a cold and solemn expression, his gaze vaguely falling somewhere. With difficulty, turning with the Elizabethan collar, he finally saw where the doctor was staring.

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

Imuir had just crawled to the edge of the bed, his abdomen pressed against the quilt, and it rubbed on.

"..."

Imuir closed his eyes, feeling a bit desperate.

A stray cat of unknown origin had soiled the black-hearted doctor's quilt. He could imagine what would happen next, but he could do nothing but shrink into the quilt as much as possible, reducing his presence.

But Bai Yu didn't care about these. The bed was the original owner's bed, and he was going to change it anyway. He simply asked: "System, what time is it now?"

He picked up the kitten in the mid-morning, when the warm winter sun of Illyria was shining brightly. But now, after all the commotion, it was mostly dark outside.

The system chimed in, "It's past eight, Su Zhu."

Bai Yu nodded and said, "Then he can have something to eat."

He turned and left the room.

The wooden door clicked shut, and the bedroom fell silent again.

Imuir curled up into a ball under the blanket and quietly opened his eyes.

For now, it seemed safe.

Cats are nocturnal creatures, naturally drawn to dark environments. Bai Yu hadn't turned on the lights, and now the boundless darkness enveloped the room, giving Imuir a rare sense of security. He didn't want to think about what the doctor was up to—whether preparing another injection or something else. He just curled up, trying to soothe the pain from his wound.

Besides the pain from his wound, another sensation overwhelmed him, making him very uncomfortable.

...So hungry.

The newspaper reported that the duke had fallen off a cliff three days ago, and Imuir hadn't eaten in three full days.

He had swallowed several mouthfuls of water in the Horton River, so dehydration wasn't an issue, but the lack of food had slowed his bodily functions. If he didn't replenish his energy soon, even if the doctor did nothing, he would still die.

But as a cat, how could he possibly ask the doctor for food?

From the doctor's actions, it seemed he didn't intend to kill Imuir right away. At least, he had placed Imuir on the bed and provided him with a blanket.

Imuir wasn't entirely sure what the doctor's intentions were—whether he wanted a long-term experimental subject or just a plaything to amuse himself with. But in either case, the doctor might provide the basic sustenance needed to keep him alive.

...Hopefully, he would.

Imuir lowered his gaze. In his current state, he didn't even have the energy to muster hatred. If the doctor refused to give him food, death was the only outcome. Just as he was about to drift off to sleep again, the doctor pushed open the door.

Imuir opened his eyes in disbelief. He caught the scent of food.

There was a faint, damp, salty aroma in the air, reminiscent of fish.

Imuir wagged his fluffy tail, curling it into a small question mark, and thought in a dazed and incredulous manner: "Is this for me?"

The doctor had a dining room at home; he didn't need to eat in the bedroom. Moreover, this bowl of fish hadn't been cooked, with no salt or any seasoning like ginger or scallions added. It probably wasn't prepared for the doctor himself.

But would the black-hearted doctor really prepare dinner for him?

The fish was finely chopped into a soft, mushy paste, and the goat's milk was fresh and clean, with a sweet, milky fragrance.

Imuir propped up half of his body with his paws, his lake-blue eyes fixed on the doctor.

Bai Yu poured the goat's milk into a bowl and placed it in the corner by the bed. Then he set the soft, mushy fish on a plate. Post-surgery kittens shouldn't eat too much, so he only poured a little.

After finishing these tasks, Bai Yu sat down by the bed.

He gently picked up the kitten and checked the wound. Imuir closed his eyes in shame, but for the sake of the food in the corner, he had to expose his belly and let the doctor examine him.

To this day, Imuir still didn't know what the doctor had done to his wound. He only remembered the sting of the needle piercing his skin and the sharp pain of alcohol touching the wound. He feared what the doctor might do next, but his will to survive forced him to play along, acting obedient and submissive.

Be good, be good, and you'll get food.

Bai Yu looked at the kitten, who was trembling but not struggling, and raised an eyebrow slightly, praising: "So well-behaved."

Although it seemed not very intelligent, it was at least quite friendly.

Bai Yu placed the ball next to the food box.

In the past, if anyone dared to make Duke Imuir eat in such an undignified manner in a corner, Duke Imuir would have knocked their teeth out. But under Bai Yu's care, he had no choice and even eagerly started eating.

Duke Imuir had always had a refined diet and had never eaten such coarse food. But as the fish paste entered his mouth and slid down his esophagus, filling his empty stomach, Duke Imuir actually let out a comfortable purr.

Bai Yu couldn't help but laugh.

His laughter made Imuir's tail puff up, and the ball nervously stood up, with a bit of white paste still clinging to its lips. It froze in place, feeling somewhat at a loss.

Imuir knew that his current way of eating was far from elegant, lacking the proper etiquette, and the doctor had witnessed it all, even with a hint of mockery in his eyes.

"Damn it," he thought bitterly as he buried his head in the food, "When I get back, when I get back, I'll make the doctor pay for this!"

There was only a little bit of fish paste and goat milk, and the platinum ball licked it clean in just a few licks. Imuir's lake-blue eyes narrowed, his paws tucked under him, staring intently at Bai Yu.

How could he ask for more to get the doctor to give him a bit more?

But Bai Yu had already ruthlessly taken away the tray.

He picked up the kitten with one hand and placed the ball back into the blanket, ignoring Imuir's struggles, acting like a tyrant quelling a rebellion: "No more eating, the rest will have to wait until tomorrow."

Bai Yu left with the food.

"Meow—"

Imuir instinctively called out to stop him, then was startled by his own weak voice. He listlessly curled up in the blanket, suddenly extending a furry paw and slapping himself.

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

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

Imuir was startled again and guiltily used his paw to adjust the collar, straightening it.

He didn't want the doctor to find the collar askew tomorrow and think he wasn't obedient enough, thus deducting his lunch.

It was quite late now, and in the underdeveloped city-state of Illyria, lighting fixtures and electrical facilities were still expensive. Most people didn't engage in activities at night but went to bed early.

Imuir looked out the window, where a crescent moon hung high in the sky. Judging by the time, it was already quite late.

The doctor should have gone to rest by now, at least he wouldn't come to torment him again tonight. Imuir let out a long sigh of relief, thinking, "This chaotic 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.

So, not even twenty minutes later, Bai Yu appeared in the bedroom again.

He first turned on the light and observed the ball's condition: the fur was fluffy, naturally hanging down, not puffed up, nor shivering, seemingly not in a state of stress.

Thus, Bai Yu calmly walked into the bedroom.

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

Bai Yu had just picked up the cat, held and petted it, and the ball had eaten in front of him, even behaving quite obediently. From Bai Yu's knowledge, this was a sign that the patient was beginning to establish a friendship with the doctor, gradually letting down their guard and starting to trust the doctor.

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

The kitten had just gotten familiar with the bedroom environment, and placing it elsewhere might cause stress again, which was not ideal. Moreover, the nighttime temperature in Illyria was chilly, and the other rooms lacked beds, so sleeping there would make one sick. Thus, Bai Yu almost didn't hesitate and decided on the sleeping arrangement.

He brought new sheets and pillowcases, replaced the blood-stained parts, remade the bed, fluffed the pillows, and prepared a sleeping spot.

Imuir: "?"

He huddled in the corner of the bed, almost grinding his teeth.

As the co-lord of Illyria and a duke of the kingdom, was he really going to share a bed with a stranger?

Imuir repeatedly told himself, "When in someone else's house, you have to play by their rules," but before he could fully brace himself, Bai Yu did something that made Imuir's fur bristle.

The doctor took off his clothes.

No human would think twice about changing clothes in front of a cat, and Bai Yu was no exception. He took out his pajamas and naturally removed his shirt, revealing his smooth back.

To be honest, the doctor had an impressive figure.

His skin was pale, his demeanor cold and noble, and his muscles were just right—neither too skinny nor too muscular, perfectly proportioned. From the back, he had broad shoulders and a narrow waist, with smooth, flowing lines from his shoulders down to his waist, forming a perfect curve. Even his shoulder blades and the small of his back were beautifully shaped.

Even the lines where his loose pants met his waist were attractive.

"..."

In all these years, no one had dared to bare their back in front of the duke before. But even someone as unromantic as Imuir knew how much the ladies of Illyria would admire such a physique.

His lake-blue eyes lingered on the shoulder blades, drifted down to the small of his back, and then wandered up to the ceiling.

The duke turned away, muttering to himself, "In broad daylight, such indecency, such impropriety... Meow!"

He let out a sharp meow.

Bai Yu grabbed the kitten with one hand, pulled him over, and firmly tucked him under the covers.

The doctor's upper body was bare, but his expression remained stern and serious. He poked the kitten's head and said sternly, "Don't go near the edge of the bed. If you fall, I won't be able to rescue you while I'm asleep. Understand?"