THE WISDOM OF CATS IS INFINITELY SUPERIOR

"Foolish human." Peri huffed, "What can you do for us? It's what WE can do for YOU."

But Dan had heard such sales pitches before, and his headache had completely lifted such that he was feeling amiable, "What can you do for me, little cat?"

Peri's fur stood at the indignation, he rose to its four paws and lifted his tail to full height, "I assure you, human, there is nothing LITTLE about me."

It was amazing how one's perspective of life would change once the hangover passed. Dan suddenly found the entire situation he was in rather amusing.

He chuckled, "How intimidating. Please refrain from stressing me out. You've heard the healer, my blood pressure is already in a bad way, I'm afraid a weak human like me would not be able to survive your wrath."

So here he was, the refugee boy, who became a slave of a rebel general, who became the Prime Minister of the Three Kingdoms, who became the People's Hero, who became a foreign diplomat, who became a fugitive from his own Kingdom, and now here he was, in the middle of the most mysterious and powerful Lycan pack in the continent (and possibly the world),being bullied by four overlarge albeit magical cats.

He would never had imagined such a day. Granted, there were times in his darkest past when he could not even imagine surviving another day, and such thoughts came to him with a surprising sense of relief, but he still managed to open his eyes and get up the next morning. And even when his future had looked bright and clear, he had not ever imagined such a situation. There was a time when his King had looked at him with bright eyes and called him a true friend and treated him as a brother. During that time, Dan had pledged in his heart to serve his king brother devotedly for the rest of his life.

"Be my Prime Minister, Old Friend." His King said, even though Dan was a much younger man than his majesty and his former slave.

Perhaps it was age that made his King grow paranoid. Perhaps as Dan's power and influence grew, he began to deviate a little from his King's purposes.

Nothing terribly off tangent, and always in keeping with the KPI, but his King could not have not noticed how the new fiscal policies would protect the commoners as much as it did the crown.

Dan was prepared to explain how a content and prosperous majority of commoners would result in a prevailing loyalty to the crown, but his King had never once questioned him.

Dan had taken the King's silence as implicit understanding or at least a nod of trust in their friendship, but he had long realized that his King was merely closing an eye to these details because Dan was still too useful. The King was not approving Dan's work for the betterment of the people, he was only tolerating it.

Since Dan had retired from his Prime Minister appointment , many of these policies have been altered, and the people's benefits had been significantly reduced over the years for the sake of the Kingdom's higher purposes. Dan himself was often on diplomatic trips, but no matter how much time passes and what progress he observed around him while traveling abroad, he always returned to the same Three Kingdoms.

Three Kingdoms, with three magnificent cities, surrounded by an ever constant poverty.

The main roads were paved with colored stones and kept lit from evening till morning, but only within the crown city. In the other cities, they had proper hard roads, which turned out to be not quite as good for the horses that were still the main transportation within the city walls.

The other roads were a hodgepodge of materials and workmanship. There were some roads where it felt like the builders had simply poured tarmac over the existing dirt streets, and some roads where the cobble stones were really broken pieces of concrete. Those were the better roads.

Along the outskirts of the city, there was nothing sadder than the sight of unfinished construction being repurposed by the poor - and these were quite a regular sight. For example, the second hospital wing. Until today, still a concrete skeleton, but already housing small tents of sick patients camping in "queue" for an opportunity to gain medical attention.

Never mind a healer personally coming up to your room to see to your headache, sometimes for these people, even something as little as an aspirin to temporarily dull their suffering was at times out of reach.

Of course by then, Dan had gained enough personal wealth to finish some of these incomplete projects on his own, but by this time, Dan had also understood that he was no longer in his King's trust. He had also seen first-hand how his King regularly tested the loyalty of those working for him by destroying what was precious to them.

So Dan was forced to pretend he couldn't care less about the abandoned building projects, the squalors that sprang up, or anything really. Now, Dan regretted it a bit. He could not take his great wealth out of the country, not without raising suspicion. He should have just finished the hospital wing, the children's home, the subsidized housing, the new market square the fire took down… even if his King decided to test him, he would only have confiscated one or two of the properties. In fact, now in hindsight, Dan realized that if he had pretended to be particular proud of one particular building, for example the library Dan had dreamed to build near the Merchant's school, his King might have targeted that and left the other buildings well alone. Dan was a fool! He had not wanted to aggravate the malevolence he was sensed from his King and foolishly tried to toe the line. That was a futile effort and did nothing for the people or himself.

It was for these same reasons, he never took a wife or lover, never considered starting a family as a possibility. Dan was well over 30. When he was a younger man, he had once thought to ask for the hand of one of his King's daughter, she was the pretty princess (in young Dan's opinion) and she often smiled at him - even from afar. Once she dropped her handkerchief in front of him and he helped her pick it up.

But he was also well aware of the slave bands burned in his arms. She had never seen them because he would always be fully suited on any occasion where a princess might attend. In those meetings, they had never spoken more than civil greetings either. Dan had hoped though. Perhaps once he had settled the Three Kingdom affairs and saw to it that her father's position was secured and their nation was on the road to recovery from the war it was born from, perhaps his King, her father, would recognize Dan's loyalty and contribution and offer Dan the opportunity to court her.

But that never happened. On the year that their Three Kingdoms celebrated their first official year of peace and unity, the King announced his daughter's hand in marriage to the prince of the neighboring state.

"You understand, don't you, Old Friend?" His King asked when they ended the evening with drinks in his private office. It was as usual, just the two of them, "I needed to make the decision as a King, not as a father."

Dan only nodded, "You chose wisely, my King. This union will bring us great prosperity."

"You aren't curious at all whom I would have chosen as her father?" His king asked.

Dan feigned his surprise (although he suddenly had a very good inkling of where this conversation was headed), "Was there someone on your mind, my King?"

His King laughed, "You didn't even notice? Her affections were wasted on you!"

Dan laughed too, "I'm sure my king jests."

When his King's laughter quietened, he asked, "Would you say I'm a bad father, Old Friend?"

"I never had a father." Dan answered simply, "So I wouldn't understand things like family. But I know you are a good king. There are many fathers in a kingdom, but only one king."

Because that much was true as far as Dan was concerned.

And after that Dan decided that things like family wouldn't apply to someone like him who never had one.

That was fine too. He would be lying to say he wasn't disappointed. As a young romantic, he was very much so, but as he grew older, he realized that a family would only be a sacrifice he would eventually have to make to prove his loyalty to his King. It was for the best that he was alone.

So here he was alone, still without family, and in all likelihood dead and without a penny to his name by the end of this mission. Well, he wasn't completely alone. He was currently in a room being insulted by cats. Perhaps that was the missing piece in his wild fantasy future - living alone in a small studio apartment in Gate City, regular day job, small red car, and one or two cats to rule over him.

"Hn." Dan smirked at the idea, he should adopt a cat and name him My King. Dan was the Hope of the Common Man, so it was never quite as apparent to him as it was right now how disillusioned he had become.

"Wipe that smirk off your face, Human." Peri told him sternly.

Once upon a time, he was a man who believed in his King and wanted to use his life to make a difference in this world. Now, he was just a man on the run, for nothing he did wrong, except perhaps being too good at his job.

"My name is Dan. Dan Lion." Dan told the cats firmly. He folded his arms to show he meant business. He did not run halfway around the continent to come here to be a doormat for a small gang of domesticated felines.

"I know." Peri answered primly, "I heard you the first time."

And then Peri seemed to realize he had crossed the line. It narrowed its eyes at Dan, "You're very petty. I see now. Fine. I will call you Dan Lion, but in return, you are to refer to me respectfully as Sir."

The cat had to be joking! But it was not. Dan managed to school his features, "Yes, Sir."

It struck Dan suddenly that this was actually rather amusing.

"Should I refer to all of you as Sirs from now on?" Dan asked mildly.

"Yes." Peri sniffed, "Yes, I believe that would be the most appropriate."

"Well then, Sir. I beg your pardon, but I believe it would be an excellent time for a spot of morning tea." Dan said to the orange cat on his lap.

Peony was kind enough to get up, "Good idea, Huma- I mean, Dan Lion. I'll have mine with milk, please."

Dan was not expecting the cats to want tea too.