“Good morning, meow~!”
Accompanied by a voice so sweet it was almost eerie, Su Yuqing was forcibly dragged from her deep unconsciousness.
The next thing to invade her world was a clear and persistent tugging sensation on her neck.
It came from the Red Collar that had been tightened once again, and the… long chain of unknown origin connected to it.
Actually, Su Yuqing did know where this chain came from.
When she was very young, she had loved using this very chain to make that little kitten understand exactly who was the boss in this house…
“Hey, wake up already, meow.”
Finally, under the constant pulling of the chain, Su Yuqing was forced to open her heavy eyelids.
The harsh morning light pierced through the gaps in the curtains, making her squint her half-open eyes in discomfort.
On the balcony, the potted plants dripped with crystal-clear dew in the morning sun; everything appeared peaceful and ordinary.
As for the terrifying memories of the storm the previous night, Su Yuqing’s mind only remained at the moment Zhi Ai had gripped her throat, eventually causing her to black out from suffocation.
“The sun has already climbed quite high. You lazy Pet, how do you still dare to sleep in, meow~?”
Beside her, sitting on the edge of the sofa like someone without a care in the world, was a girl swinging her feet.
She even wore a vivid Golden Cat Ear Headband on her head.
The moment Su Yuqing regained her senses, she understood completely —
Everything that had happened to her from last night until now was absolutely not some bizarre nightmare.
It was a living, cold, and cruel reality.
The cat named Xiaozhi, whom she had raised with her own hands, had actually… crawled back from the end of hell specifically to find her.
“You…”
The moment Su Yuqing spat out one word, she was impatiently interrupted by Zhi Ai.
“Hurry up and play with me, meow.”
Her tone was light, as if she were making the most ordinary request.
“Play just like we used to. You know, you used to have quite a lot of fun back then.”
As soon as she finished speaking, Zhi Ai yanked the chain in her hand with an indifferent attitude, as if she were dragging a lifeless object.
Su Yuqing felt her neck tighten.
A massive force dragged her from the sofa cushion, which still held a trace of warmth, onto the cold, hard floor in front of the coffee table.
With a dull thud, her knees and palms hit the ground first, followed immediately by a wave of blunt pain.
Zhi Ai looked down at Su Yuqing, who was kneeling at her feet with her hands on the floor like the most humble servant.
For some reason, her tiny heart, which had been stuffed with hatred, was almost instantly filled with a distorted sense of satisfaction and pleasure.
A pure and radiant smile blossomed on her exquisite face, looking just like a child who had received a beloved toy.
Remember the reason mentioned earlier?
The reason why a cat would still choose to “hunt” even when it isn’t hungry is basically because —
Its little paws happen to be missing a handy “living toy” that it can manipulate and play with at will.
At this very moment.
The Idol Cat-Girl Zhi Ai was wearing a gorgeous and intricate Gothic Style Idol Outfit, which was naturally paired with a pair of Black High-heeled Tall Boots.
This kind of boot, with its classical design and sharp lines, inherently possessed the “Queen” aesthetic of looking down on others.
Using them to trample the dignity of a loser was, naturally, top-tier in terms of sensation and experience.
Su Yuqing was forced to experience the cold and heavy pressure of the hard soles as they sometimes stepped on her back and sometimes on her thin shoulders.
On the surface, Zhi Ai’s movements seemed casual, even carrying a certain rhythmic, dance-like quality.
She didn’t seem to have the intention of truly using her full strength.
But due to the memorable near-death experience from the previous night, Su Yuqing’s body instinctively stumbled and trembled.
Similarly, her already poor complexion turned even paler.
“Hurry up.”
In the eerie and suffocating silence, Zhi Ai spoke leisurely with her innocent yet cruel smile, issuing her first command of the day:
“Call me Master.”
Hearing this, Su Yuqing’s body stiffened.
She knelt on the ground with her head lowered, her lips pressed tightly into a pale, straight line.
Her thick eyelashes cast a dark shadow over her eyes, making it impossible to see her gaze at this moment.
Seeing that Su Yuqing did not give a satisfying response to please her within the first moment, Zhi Ai could only frown slightly.
She spoke again in a voice that sounded troubled, as if the other party had committed a great wrong:
“Oh, are you unwilling? Or is it… that your ears are a bit dysfunctional…?”
She used the tip of her boot to lightly tap the back of Su Yuqing’s hand, which was braced on the floor.
“If you still won’t say it, then I can only… make you use your tongue to personally help me lick these boots clean after they’ve just stepped on the floor~”
The sweet tone from those perfect lips rose slightly at the end, carrying undisguised mockery and threat.
“Ugh…”
An oppressed whimper, seemingly squeezed from between her teeth, finally escaped from deep within Su Yuqing’s throat.
Tears of humiliation swirled frantically in her eyes, but she forced herself to endure and not let them fall.
She took a deep breath, as if using every ounce of her strength to squeeze those two incredibly heavy words from her trembling lips:
“Mas… Master.”
Her voice was as faint as a mosquito’s buzz, carrying a very obvious sob.
However, Zhi Ai didn’t seem to care about these insignificant details.
As if she had heard the most beautiful psalm in the world, she narrowed her cat-like eyes in satisfaction, and her cute smile grew even more radiant.
“Mm~”
Zhi Ai responded happily.
She reached out with her hand, clad in a Cat Paw Glove, and rubbed the top of Su Yuqing’s head as if she were stroking a real Pet.
This interaction seemed intimate, yet every moment of contact between them was filled with the sense of possession and control.
“Good girl, good girl.”
Feeling the warmth of the palm extending from the top of her head, Su Yuqing remembered.
At this same time yesterday, she had been standing outside the window of the dance studio, admiring the latest choreography of this top-tier Idol from afar.
‘The performance tonight will surely be spectacular.’
As she watched back then, such a thought had inevitably surfaced in Su Yuqing’s heart…