Cat Princess and Human Knight

As if his thoughts had been read, Duke Snowclaw looked away, still emphasizing what he was saying.

"That's not what I meant."

Marquis of the Blanket, the cow cat known for its wisdom in the rocky hills, stood up and said resolutely.

"Defeated is shameful, but compared to the despicable act of surrendering, we are still glorious."

Behind the graystone castle lies our homeland. I can die here, for the people, friends, relatives, and children behind us.

Duke Snowclaw turned his head away, the white-pawed black cat's face flushed with a hint of embarrassment and anger.

"I told you, I have no intention of surrendering!"

Marquis Velvet nodded and said.

"That would be best."

Before us lies a pack of hungry beasts. I can hardly imagine how they will ravage our land and our people. My honor does not allow me to cower here, to surrender here.

My old friend, my good ally, whether you've ever thought about surrendering or not, I have to tell you, no.

We may die here, but our family honor cannot be tarnished.

Among the 108 feudal nobles of the Seven-Tailed Fox Council, you and I are neither the wisest nor the most powerful, but our sense of honor should not be cheaper than theirs.

The Marquis of Velvet's words gradually calmed the Duke of Snowclaw down.

The Seven-Tailed Council comprises seven royal families and 108 noble fiefdoms. They form the cornerstone of the cat race's feudal society and are not easily shaken.

As the most noble of the fiefdoms, the Duke of Snowclaw and the Marquis of Velvet Carpet cannot be insulted.

They may die on the battlefield, but if they do something that dishonors the dignity of the nobility, it will inevitably bring a huge stain on their family.

That would be a fatal thing, and could even lead to the family being expelled from the Seven-Tailed Council and replaced by another fiefdom noble.

Marquis Velvet pointed out the key point, but Duke Snowclaw was unwilling to give up. Although he was no longer young, he did not want to die.

"Duke Snowclaw said in a deep voice."

"Is there really no other way? Are we just going to die here?"

We can only wait for those filthy clan cats to trample over our corpses, kill our fathers and brothers, humiliate our wives and children, and steal our gold, silver, and grain.

I'm not reconciled! I'm not reconciled!

It's all that short-legged cat's fault, the last one, Munchkin, she's a jinx!

I knew it all along! I knew she would bring us a huge mess!

Without her, the nomadic cats wouldn't come to the Rocky Hills. I shouldn't have worried so much; I should have chased her away long ago!

Seeing the Duke of Snowclaw lose his temper and reveal his outwardly fierce but inwardly weak nature, the Marquis of Velvet Carpet couldn't help but sigh.

He had never seen the Duke of Snowclaw so distraught. Perhaps it was because the Duke of Snowclaw had never been so disheveled in his life, and only now did he reveal his true weakness.

Some people look down on it, as if they haven't really seen through this cat all these years, but it doesn't seem wrong. In the face of such a huge change, how many cats can remain calm and composed even if Mount Tai collapses before them?

Just as the two cats fell silent and felt disappointed in each other, a warning bell suddenly rang outside. The two cats got up at the same time and went out the door.

---

"Upon reaching the city wall, Duke Snowclaw asked."

"What happened?"

The cat knight who remained stepped forward and bowed.

"Your Grace, the enemy is gathering outside the city. I wonder if they intend to attack."

Duke Snowclaw was startled and leaned against the city wall to look out. He saw enemy soldiers standing just an arrow's length away, seemingly doing something.

The Marquis of the velvet carpet behind him stepped forward, as if he had seen something.

"Your Highness, look who that is..."

---

Lady Mistshadow was forced to the front lines by the clan cats wielding swords and spears; half of her face was still swollen.

Her once graceful figure was now covered in scars and completely naked, one hand protecting her upper body and the other protecting her lower body. Both of her paws had their claws pulled out, and she staggered with each step due to the pain.

Ner'zhul, standing at the front, looked at the once-charming Devon Rex cat with emotionless eyes and said coldly.

"Go and persuade your lover. If he surrenders now, we can consider sparing his territory and property."

Ms. Fog Shadow gritted her teeth and lowered her head. In the past few days, she had suffered torment that even a mother cat could not imagine.

Her heart was dead, but before she died, there was one more thing she had to do: tell the Duke of Snowclaw in the city what she had accidentally discovered yesterday.

Staggering into the range of the city wall's arrows, Lady Mist Shadow raised her head.

---

Duke Snowclaw on the city wall confirmed it several times before he dared to be certain that the naked cat covered in wounds in front of the battle was his lover and intelligence chief, whom he had sent to the oasis settlement.

"No!!! Mist Shadow, what did they do to you!"

Lady Mistshadow looked up at Duke Snowclaw, whose eyes were brimming with tears, her lips twitched, and she shouted with all her might.

"Look at me! Listen to me! Snowclaw! Do you remember the first time we met? Do you remember?!"

Duke Snowclaw's claws were trembling.

"Of course I remember! I'll never forget that day!"

Only Duke Snowclaw and Lady Mist Shadow knew what had happened that day. Duke Snowclaw, who was out hunting, accidentally shot Lady Mist Shadow in the grass while aiming his arrow at a rabbit.

Because of this blood-stained fate, Duke Snowclaw won Lady Fogshadow's heart during his repeated visits to her in the sick.

Lady Mist Shadow's lips curled up, and all the pain in her body seemed to disappear at this moment. She looked firmly at the city wall and shouted.

"Let me see your heroic figure one more time, my tomcat! Don't cry! End my suffering like a real man!"

The Marquis of Ironwood at Eagle's Beak Pass has marched south! Reinforcements will arrive soon! Hold on! Long live the Crushing Hills!

Lady Mistshadow shouted incessantly at the front lines. Ner'zhul nodded to Blackhand beside him, and the Warchief personally stepped forward and grabbed Lady Mistshadow.

Grab by the scruff of her neck by a strong Siberian Forest Cat, the battered Devon Rex cat's limbs drooped limply, but she still cried out loudly.

Duke Snowclaw on the city wall had already drawn his bow and aimed, his vision blurred by tears, his arms trembling, but he still did not have the courage to shoot.

The mist-shadow lady, held aloft in humiliation, let out a final scream.

"Snowclaw! Don't make me look down on you!"

"Aaaaaaaahhhhh!"

The arrow pierced Lady Mist's throat, ending her suffering. Black Hand slipped away unscathed.

Duke Snowclaw on the city wall had bloodshot eyes. He snapped his beloved bow, and the bowstring lashed his cheek, but he felt no pain.

Wiping the bloodstains from his cheeks to his forehead, Duke Snowclaw howled and swore like a wounded beast atop the city walls.

"Nomadic cats, I will fight you to the death!"

Below the city, Chief Blackhand coldly watched Lady Mistshadow's twitching corpse, raising his axe to chop off her head.

Suddenly, a strong hand gripped his wrist, and Grom appeared before him, speaking coldly.

"The remains of warriors must not be desecrated."

"You mean this stupid mother cat we used?"

"Yes, she was brave, she did her best, she deserves our respect, and we should leave her with a whole body."

Black Hand didn't deny it, just snorted and put down his axe.

Grom looked at the smile that never left Lady Mist's face, even in death, and shook his head.

Until her death, this brave woman was unaware that she was merely a pawn in the nomadic cat pack's plan to encircle and ambush reinforcements.

Grom looked back at the Snowclaw Duke, who was howling madly on the city wall, and felt that the plan seemed to have succeeded.

Although Ner'zhul is a despicable fellow, Grom, who despises him, will choose to tolerate him as long as his schemes are useful to the nomadic cats.