Late at night, in Sophia’s room, I woke up at my usual working hour.

  Stretching, I leaped off the bed.

  As I walked, I immediately noticed Sophia lying on the floor, a bright smile on her face.

  'Is she having a good dream or something?'

  I had expected her to be asleep at her study table after I banned her from sleeping on the bed.

  Now, seeing her like this made me feel a little guilty.

  'It’s winter. Is she not cold?'

  I walked toward her and transformed from my cat form into a human. Lifting her gently, I pced her onto the bed and pulled the bnket over her.

  For a moment, I watched her grinning in her sleep.

  'Does she always look like this?'

  She seemed… different. Curious, I checked her status window.

  "What?!"

  I couldn’t help but be shocked by the changes.

  Sophia Kovalevska (Sophia Grace)

  Level: 1Tamed Beast (1)Mana Capacity: 10Occupation: The only daughter of the Kovalevska Household (Maurya Empire)

  Strength: 1Intelligence: 1Agility: 1Dexterity: 1Vitality: 1

  Skills: Mana Essence

  First, her stats—all at 1, with 10 Mana Capacity.

  They were the same as mine when I first arrived in this world.

  'Her level also reset to 1.'

  I had no idea how this happened, and right now, I had no way to investigate. The best thing I could do was ask Cal to check on Sophia.

  As I continued scanning her status window, something else caught my attention.

  "Wait… since when did she have a skill?"

  I immediately focused on it, showing the details.

  Then, something stood out.

  "This is a high-tier skill."

  If the status window’s judgment on tier was correct, it was on the same level as my Transmogrify Essence and Veil of the Abyss.

  'Can high-tier skills just appear out of nowhere in this world?'

  No.

  From my observations, most people only had low- to mid-tier skills, with a few exceptions, such as Valeslina and Cal, who had Upper Mid-Tier skills.

  'Something must have happened to her while I was asleep.'

  The thought unsettled me—I hadn’t realized how much could happen while I slept.

  "Well, what’s done is done."

  At the very least, Sophia now had a skill on par with Veil of the Abyss. That alone was something to anticipate.

  'I hope it could be used for defense.'

  Right now, I have no proper defensive abilities. If she could fill that gap, it would be incredibly useful.

  I also noticed the added name: Sophia Grace.

  For a while, I had assumed that the brackets indicated a race, but after seeing Sophia’s name, I wasn’t so sure anymore.

  It was a name I recognized—one that felt deeply familiar.

  For some reason, just looking at it stirred something in me. Emotions I wasn’t ready to face.

  I took a deep breath and shifted back into my cat form.

  I needed a distraction.

  "Alright, time for some experiments."

  I gnced at the window, then back at Sophia.

  'I guess I’ll do my experiment here.'

  Leaving her alone right now makes me uneasy.

  ***

  After using my Abyss-attribute skill multiple times, I began to understand the different ways I could manipute it. It was like learning basic guitar chords—you only needed a few to py multiple songs with different variations.

  But there was something I had been curious about.

  Moving toward the window, I jumped onto the study table.

  At the top, I activated Veil of the Abyss, but only around my paws.

  There was something odd about this skill’s description in the status window.

  'It’s categorized as an aura skill. Even its description calls it an ‘Aura of the Abyss.’'

  But after using it so many times, my instincts told me it wasn’t just an aura.

  "To begin with, how can an aura share senses?"

  I wasn’t entirely sure what it was, but it was definitely more than a simple aura. Given how unreliable my status window had been in the past, I was willing to bet it wasn’t giving me the right description.

  'Or maybe… it just doesn’t expin everything.'

  For now, I would call it a Veil instead of an Aura, as the name originally suggested.

  "Okay, next test."

  I focused on the Veil, thinning it out as much as possible.

  Once it became so thin that even I struggled to control it, I looked around for a test subject.

  On the window frame, I spotted a rge, ant-like insect with a horn crawling along the edge.

  "Bugs in this world always look so menacing."

  I grazed the Veil across the insect to observe its reaction.

  Nothing.

  "Good."

  Previously, whenever I touched an animal with my Veil, it would stop moving instantly. I had even tested it on a bird mid-flight—its wings stopped fpping, and it dropped straight to the ground. Worse, even after I removed the Veil, they remained motionless until they eventually died.

  For me, that was a problem. If I ever used this ability on a rge scale, I could disrupt the ecosystem.

  'At least now I have a way to control it.'

  With this result, I confirmed that I could lower the Veil’s concentration—enough to use it as my extension without interfering with my surroundings.

  Suddenly, a thought crossed my mind.

  "If I make my Veil thin enough, can I render it invisible even to those who can sense it?"

  I would ask Cal to help test that ter.

  Turning my attention back to the ant, I let the thin Veil enter its body.

  Immediately, the ant began moving in a chaotic manner. Then, it suddenly lifted its head… and tore it off.

  'Got it. The suicidal attack still works, even with a thinner veil.'

  Then, an idea struck me.

  Still facing the window, I let my Veil extend across the Kovalevska Mansion, reaching one of the maids’ rooms.

  I let the Veil briefly touch the maid inside.

  Focusing, I watched her closely using the Veil.

  Suddenly, a window appeared.

  Sania

  Level: 36Mana Capacity: 14Occupation: Maid of the Kovalevska Household

  Strength: 55Intelligence: 12Agility: 23Dexterity: 60Vitality: 30

  Skills: None

  'So it works.'

  Normally, I had to focus on someone I could physically see to read their status window. But since the Veil extended my senses, I thought it might work remotely.

  It did.

  'This will be incredibly useful.'

  Now, I could spy on people without them knowing—especially those I shouldn’t mess with.

  From my previous observation, there are a few I consider exceptions in this world—those with monstrous levels or skills so absurdly overpowered.

  Even with my high-tier skills, I knew I wasn't invincible.

  "That concludes tonight’s experiment."

  ***

  Leisurely, I gazed outside the window.

  The Kovalevska Mansion’s garden was beautiful. The polished fountain gleamed under the moonlight, and the imposing gate stood tall in the distance. At its center was an emblem—a mouth with fangs bared open.

  Sophia once told me it was the Kovalevska family crest.

  "Isn't it just a cat's mouth?"

  The more I look at it, the more it resembles a cat’s mouth.

  After some time, drowsiness crept back in.

  I walked to the bed and curled up on Sophia’s stomach.

  Watching her face closely, I muttered to myself.

  "They don’t resemble each other at all."

  Yet, despite everything, I couldn’t shake the feeling.

  I had been burying this suspicion for a while, telling myself it was foolish to assume.

  But after seeing her name…

  There was no running away from it anymore.

  "It's been a while, Graze—my one and only child."