Lia's first thought was that the bed felt different.
Less fur under her. More…
Fabric?
She squinted through the morning haze. Her limbs felt strange—longer. Her back ached. Her neck, too. She lifted a hand to rub her eyes.
And froze.
Her paw was gone.
In its place… was a slender, pale, human hand.
She blinked down at herself.
Arms. Legs. Fingers. Ten toes. Skin.
No fur. No tail.
Still blinking in confusion, she pulled the blanket down a little.
Naked.
Fully, gloriously, inconveniently naked.
Wait. Wait. Wait.
I have boobs.
Why do I have boobs?!
Before she could process further, a shriek pierced the air—loud enough to rattle her newly regrown ears.
Virelle.
She had just sat up in bed, eyes wide in horror, staring directly at her.
"Wha—who—what—WHY—" Virelle scrambled backward, pulling the blanket halfway up the wall, looking half-possessed. "Who are you?! Why are you in my bed? NAKED?!"
Lia blinked, panicked.
"Wait, Virelle—it's me! It's Lia!"
Virelle's eye twitched.
"…Lia?"
"Yes! Don't scream! I can explain!"
"YOU'RE NAKED!"
"Okay, I can't explain that part yet, but—"
At that moment, the door slammed open with the force of a royal edict.
"Why are you yelling like someone got—"
Princess Serenthia froze in the doorway.
Took one look.
Saw a naked silver-haired girl sprawled across Virelle's bed.
And screamed louder than both of them combined.
"ARE YOU KIDDING ME?!"
"It's not what it looks like!" Virelle yelped, burying her face in the pillow.
"Did someone sneak in?! Is she an assassin?! Is this a secret girlfriend?!"
"I am Lia!" Lia shouted, completely red in the face now. "I swear!"
Serenthia stared.
"You—You're the cat?!"
"Yes!"
Virelle blinked at Lia again.
"…You're the cat."
"I'VE BEEN THE CAT!"
Ten minutes later
The three of them sat in a semicircle around the fireplace in Virelle's room.
Virelle was still clutching a blanket like a lifeline.
Serenthia paced back and forth like a general trying to decode battle reports.
And Lia—now hastily dressed in a borrowed nightgown that hung slightly too long and smelled faintly of rosewater—sat in the center, legs tucked under her, hair still drying from the hasty towel-scrub.
She looked completely human.
And completely miserable.
"So," Serenthia said, still pacing, "you're telling me… you're the cat. The one that's been living here. Sleeping in Virelle's bed. Eating roast chicken. Scratching maids. Purring like a lunatic."
"Yes," Lia said firmly.
"And now you're a girl."
"Yes!"
"Who is naked."
"I WAS BORN NAKED INTO THIS FORM, OKAY?!"
Virelle buried her face again. "I can't believe my cat turned out to be a girl."
"I can't believe your cat turned out to be hot," Serenthia muttered.
"Don't say that!"
Lia raised both hands, still blushing. "Look! I didn't choose this, okay? I was sleeping and then boom—boobs! I didn't even ask for a chest!"
Virelle groaned. "This is a nightmare. This is an actual fever dream."
"It's not a dream!" Lia said quickly. "I'm really human! I mean—I was a cat—but before that I was—"
She paused.
Tried to speak.
"I was a hum—h-hu…"
Her throat locked.
The words refused to come out.
She tried again.
"Hu… ma…"
Her tongue froze.
Her lungs tightened. Her vision swam.
She clutched her throat in panic, coughing.
Serenthia rushed forward. "What's wrong?!"
"I—" Lia gasped. "I was trying to say I was… I was…"
Again. Nothing.
Pain bloomed in her temples.
No. No no no. Why can't I say it? Why—?!
She tried to form the sentence in her mind, to speak it silently.
I was a human in another life. My name was Choi Da-eun.
Her tongue still wouldn't move.
Even thinking it hurt.
She gasped again, hunched over, breath shallow.
"I—I don't know," she whispered finally. "I can't say it."
Virelle looked at her sharply. "Can't say what?"
"Something… important," Lia mumbled. "Something about who I was. Who I really am."
Virelle's eyes narrowed. "Is it a curse."
Serenthia sat down beside her. "You think it's preventing her from explaining?"
"Yes." Virelle frowned. "Something bound her soul to that cat's body. It's still inside her—even like this."
The room fell silent.
Then Serenthia sighed deeply and put a hand on her head. "Well, now you're a human. Wonderful. What next? Will the maid turn out to be a dragon?"
Lia smiled weakly. "Only if she breathes fire when you don't pay her."
Later That Day
The three of them sat in Virelle's study, a fire crackling gently in the hearth.
Lia sat with her legs tucked under her on the couch, swaddled in one of Virelle's oversized cloaks. Her silver hair was brushed into a braid, her face still flushed from the morning's chaos.
"I've definitely changed the story," Lia thought quietly. "The Duke knows the truth. Virelle survived. Serenthia's alive. This was never part of the novel…"
She glanced at Virelle, who was sipping tea beside her.
Virelle caught her gaze and smiled.
A real, warm smile.
"…I really did it," Lia whispered. "I changed the future."
Outside, the moon began to rise again.