About the time I was picked up and adopted by Tallulah

Orson, who revealed that he had gone out to eat with Black, was bitten by Kal'tsit in dissatisfaction. After that, under Kal'tsit's aggressive questioning, Orson swore to the doctor that he really just had a meal with Black and got the "right to pat his head at will", and did nothing else.

"Something like patting the head, even if it's me... No, it's nothing."

Kal'tsit complained somewhat unhappily, but halfway through her words her face turned red and she fell silent.

I am the guardian of the Terra continent. I throw myself into someone's arms, rub against him, have my hair touched, my ears twitch, my hands curled up and "meow" - there is no way I can do this kind of behavior!

"Kelsey?"

"Meow!?"

"You made a really cute sound~ I saw you suddenly stood there in a daze, so—Awoooooo!?"

Orson was just calling out to Kal'tsit, who was suddenly standing there in a daze (imagining herself being rubbed), out of concern. As a result, the latter suddenly made a feline sound and then bit him without saying a word.

——What kind of primitive hunting play is this...

The young lady at the counter kept a smile on her face, while in her heart she was furiously complaining about the actions of the "stupid couple" in front of her.

--------

Finally returning to the hotel room, Kal'tsit walked into the bathroom with a complicated expression and took off her clothes. When she saw the swimsuit inside, Kal'tsit's face turned slightly red again.

She planned to take a shower to calm her mind.

wow——

Warm water flowed down from the top of her head, brushing against her skin while washing away the sweat and fatigue on Kal'tsit's body.

"What on earth did I do today..."

Kal'tsit reviewed her day's schedule and found that apart from signing the contract absent-mindedly, she then inexplicably ran over to Orson and put on a maid outfit, and then her feminine power was exploded.

Outrageous, too outrageous.

Why am I always unable to express what I want to say frankly when facing Orson?

Kal'tsit thought with some regret, and then she realized that it was not only when she was facing Orson that she was unable to be frank, but she had simply never been "frank" before, no matter who she was facing.

However, when facing other people, Kal'tsit does not care about her true inner thoughts, or she believes that keeping a distance from others in communication is the communication model that meets her expectations.

Only when facing Orson did Kal'tsit urgently want to express her inner desires directly, but even so, she still couldn't do this seemingly simple thing.

I have been wearing this disguise for too long... so long that I can no longer remember its origin, so long that I can't even take it off easily again.

Every hardship and torture experienced on this land makes this seemingly weak cat become tougher... and more cruel.

Before Orson came to Rhodes Island, the most common way the operators on Rhodes Island called Kal'tsit was "machine".

Those operators didn't dare to get close to Kal'tsit, except for a few veterans like Kal'tsit and Warfarin. Most operators would just keep a distance and give a stiff nod of greeting if they happened to meet Kal'tsit.

In their eyes, Kal'tsit was nothing more than a machine. After all, no one had ever seen her express an emotion. No matter what crisis Rhodes Island, or indeed, Tower of Babel, faced, no matter what disadvantage it fell into, whether it was mourning the loss of an Operator or celebrating a festival—Kal'tsit always had that utterly cold, blank expression, as if she wasn't paying attention to anything.

Only machines will not break down, but human hearts...will break down, it's just a matter of time.

Kal'tsit was well aware of how the operators viewed her, but she happily accepted the title. To her, it made perfect sense for her to risk her own life to maintain the Rhodes Island that the Doctor had entrusted to her.

The former doctor also liked to joke, and her smile was like the sun, which could quickly infect the people around her.

With the exile at the Tower of Babel, the repeated impossible escape battles, and the deaths of operators who once shared the same aspirations... 'The Doctor' no longer smiled.

Kal'tsit didn't know whether she had lost the ability to smile, or whether she felt that a "sinner" like her had no right to smile at all.

The Doctor did not respond, even though Kal'tsit told her countless times that the operators who died were not killed by her, or that it was because of the Doctor's command that the Tower of Babel could continue to this day - but the Doctor still did not smile.

...Don't dwell on the tragedies that were bound to happen in the past. I am here now, and Rhodes Island is still moving forward.

Kal'tsit ran her hands through her hair, shaking the water droplets aside.

With Orson's arrival, everything changed. Whether it was the future of Rhodes Island or the burden he bore that threatened to completely crush him—everything had changed.

Kal'tsit was initially unsure whether this change was good or bad, but now this green cat head feels pretty good.

The operators no longer keep a subtle distance from themselves, and the title of "machine" is gradually replaced by "Dr. Kal'tsit".

The stiff greeting of "Hello... hello" was replaced by "Dr. Kal'tsit! Didn't you let M3 bite Orson today?"

Many people lamented that Kal'tsit's facial expression has become much kinder recently. Although Kal'tsit herself feels that there is no change, she is too lazy to refute or correct it.

"...Hmm, I feel like I've been thinking about a lot of useless things."

Kal'tsit shook her ears and opened the waterproof bag containing toiletries.

——After washing, find an excuse to lie on the bed and pretend to be asleep. Later, if there is a chance, just take the opportunity to touch that idiot.

Kal'tsit thought so as she took out a bottle of liquid from her waterproof bag. It was said to be a shampoo recommended by Warfarin that had a scent that could capture men. She poured it on her head.

"...?"

Kelsey sniffed hard.

——Although it does have a slight fragrance, why does it feel a little off...?

Before Kal'tsit could find an answer to her confusion, she suddenly felt a burst of heat spreading from inside her body to her brain.

Is it the water temperature...? No, that's not right. The water temperature hasn't changed at all. And... ha... my heartbeat is getting faster and faster... my body... is feeling... light?

Kal'tsit's cheeks were abnormally flushed. She turned off the faucet and reached out to hold the bottle of "shampoo".

"—"

Kal'tsit blinked. The small bottle was not shampoo at all, but catnip solution that she had confiscated before.

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17. Dried Apricot Lynx, embarrassing online

"Well……"

In the outermost single room of the hotel near the seaside, Orson was sitting on the bed looking out the window, but he was not enjoying the scenery. Instead, he was worried about something. One could tell at a glance that he was fidgeting.

When we returned to the hotel, Kal'tsit said she wanted to take a shower first, but now almost 20 minutes have passed, which is a bit too long for a "shower".

"Um, Kelsey?"

"—"

Although Orson tried to ask the other person's name, there was still only the sound of running water in the bathroom. Orson didn't even know if the other person could hear his voice.

Now I can't open the bathroom door to ask, so I can only wait like this in uneasiness...

"click"

Just as Orson was thinking about what to do, the sound of the shower in the bathroom suddenly disappeared, and the frosted glass bathroom door was pushed open.

"Are you okay, Kelsey? What took you so long?"

Orson quickly nailed his head firmly outside the window to eliminate the possibility of misunderstanding at the root.

"Nothing, compared to those—Orson, turn back."

Kal'tsit's voice was very calm, no different from usual.

"I know—Wuwaa!? Kaikai Kal'tsit!?"

Orson, who was allowed to do so, turned around without any preparation. He thought that Kal'tsit's words meant that she had already put on the costume.

But the fact is - the moment Orson turned around, he saw the pure white body that looked like a work of art in his field of vision.

Kal'tsit was not wearing anything, even the light green swimsuit she had worn before was gone. She just stood in the room. The only thing that could be called "covered" was her short dark green hair that was still wet and hanging down.

"I-I didn't mean to do that!"

Orson quickly covered his eyes with his hands, but even so, the scene he saw just now was still deeply imprinted in his mind.

Kal'tsit, without any covering, blushed immensely, her limbs swaying slightly, as if she was trying her best to overcome her shame, or as if she was 'drunk'.

—Wait, 'drunk'?

Orson's nose had just smelled a faintly familiar scent. Originally, Orson couldn't figure out what it was, but when he thought that Kal'tsit might be 'drunk', Orson finally remembered that this scent was the 'catnip solution' that had poked most of the cat's nest when he was in Rhodes Island.

"Kelsey...did you accidentally touch catnip? Calm down quickly, I'll help you clean it up - uh, try to close your eyes -"

"Don't worry about me, Orson."

Kal'tsit opened her pale pink lips, and although her voice was a little trembling due to shyness or the influence of catnip, she was still extremely calm.

"I did accidentally touch some catnip, but most of it was washed away by the current. I may have been affected by it at this moment, as manifested by a flushed face, a rapid heartbeat, and weakness in my limbs—but my consciousness hasn't been completely plundered by ancient instincts."

Kal'tsit spoke calmly and steadily. She certainly didn't look like she was affected by catnip. She was even able to analyze her physical condition in a very methodical manner.

"More than that, Orson—open your eyes and look at me."

But Kal'tsit was still a little "abnormal" after all. She made an invitation to Orson in a requesting tone, which she would never say out loud in normal times.

"No, I think it's better to close my eyes..."

"Look at me, Orson, will you?"

Kal'tsit's tone was still an irresistible request, and Orson, who was asked twice in a row, could only bite the bullet and move his hand away and lift his eyelids to open them.

"—"

Compared to the quick glimpse he had just gotten in a panic, this time Orson actually saw the body of the lynx in front of him.

Her skin was fair, even fairer than she had imagined, and even slightly pale. Only the part above her shoulders seemed slightly darker, perhaps due to today's sunlight.

Thin. Because Kal'tsit always wore a white medical uniform, Orson had never noticed that Kal'tsit's body was so thin. He didn't even know how such a slender body could control the seal of Mon3tr.

Without the protection of the protective suit, Kal'tsit, who was honest and unconcealed in front of him, even felt helpless and vulnerable.

Then, on the smooth, white and thin skin, black crystal fragments were scattered on the skin, extremely abrupt and glaring.

Perhaps for a normal person, the moment they see these mineral disease crystals, they will lose all desire for this lynx? From a female perspective, Kal'tsit is not plump and "AOTU", and even looks a little thin and barren.

On this basis, the eye-catching black colors are like loudspeakers, constantly broadcasting the message that "this woman is infected, and the degree of infection is not low."

Normally, Kal'tsit is very elegant, mysterious, and intriguing. However, now that she has let down her guard, she might not be "amazed" by ordinary people.

But Orson is different.

The screen window beside the bed was gently opened by the "sea breeze", and through the gaps in the flying window, the cold and hypocritical silver moonlight sprinkled on Kal'tsit in the room.

At this moment, Orson realized something for the first time, something he had never noticed before -

The woman in front of me, named 'Kal'tsit', is very beautiful, really very beautiful.

"Now...we are in Xiosta."

There was still a blush on Kal'tsit's cheeks, but even so, she still honestly entrusted everything to Orson, and spoke softly.

"This isn't Rhodes Island, so the relationship between you and me is no longer doctor and patient. It's something much purer—a more primal, fundamental connection."

"Kelsey...you should calm down."

Orson also blushed a little. He wanted to look away, but Kal'tsit reached out and gently stroked his cheek.

The two looked at each other, and Orson could even hear the sound of water droplets from Kal'tsit's hair hitting the floor.

"I'm very calm—no, I should say, I'm really not calm. At this moment, I'm not even trying to control my thoughts."

Kal'tsit smiled. For the operators, "Kal'tsit's smile" was rarer than "Kal'tsit's free gift", but for Orson, he had seen the Lynx's smile several times today.

"For me, I've been [calm] for a long time, too long. And the time of 'not calm' like this is fleeting for me."

Kal'tsit's breathing gradually became heavier, and the catnip that remained on her body and had not been washed off was still exerting its residual heat.

"During our previous conversation on the seashore, I finally realized it, Orson. I haven't been watching over this land. I don't know what I want to protect, I just repeat my cycle like a machine. But now, I understand that what I want to protect is not the continuation of Terra, but - a more concrete existence, Orson."

Kal'tsit gently moved closer to Orson. She first rubbed Orson's face with the tip of her nose, then leaned forward and gently pressed her body against Orson's.

Boom!

Orson, who had lost his balance, was "pushed" onto the bed by Kal'tsit, or it might be that Orson took the initiative to lie back - in short, amid the sound of waves and tides outside the window, the bodies of Chimera and Lynx were pressed together.

Orson could even smell the fragrance of the shower gel that the other person had just applied on his body, but compared to the sense of smell, the sense of touch brought by the skin all over the body was more impressive.

Kal'tsit's body was extremely slender and delicate, and it didn't look like what a "Guardian of History" should have.

"I... Orson, at this moment... I am no longer Lord Kazdel."

Kal'tsit exhaled hot breath from her mouth, her eyes gradually became blurred, and she could only keep her focus fixed on the boy in front of her.

"I am no longer a mentor at the Ursus Laboratory..."

Kal'tsit reached out and gently placed her hand on Orson's cheek, her fingers constantly stroking Orson like a cat kneading milk.