<The Symbiotic Relationship of the Rabbit and the Black Panther: Midnight Snack by Yashikeum>
<Book 1>
I awoke in pitch-black darkness. Pricking up my ears, I could hear the crisp sound of feet trampling the earth.
I stretched out my foot and tapped the wall blocking my path. A rough sensation, like straw woven together, was transmitted to my sole.
‘Could it be inside a basket?’
The fact that my body was swaying even while I remained still suggested that it might indeed be the basket I had occasionally entered.
Where was I being taken? As if to answer my question, a hoarse voice I had never heard before soon filled the air.
“Just a bit further and we’ll be in the territory of the black panther.”
“Let’s handle this quickly. But tell me, how is it possible that, even after the coming-of-age ceremony, it hasn’t transformed into a human form?”
“Didn’t the priest declare it a curse bestowed by the Beast God? …It’s rather unsettling.”
I, who had kept my hearing sharp, quickly realized that they were talking about me.
Indeed, it’s quite curious. I am surely a beastman endowed with reason, yet why do I remain unable to shed the form of a baby rabbit?
Whenever my mother looked at me, she would scowl with irritation. Furrowing her delicate brows, she would say,
‘Why haven’t you transformed into a human? Your younger brother, Kyrie, has already become a proper beastman. Everyone else transforms within three years of birth, why not you?’
Her voice was loud enough to sting my ears. Occasionally, she would lose her temper and grab a switch, or sometimes I would be punished by being confined to my bedroom.
It wasn’t as if I could go out even without being punished. After all, both my mother and father were ashamed of me.
Originally, if there were no servants around, it was impossible for me to even open a door by myself.
The Rabian Family.
Our family was a distinguished noble Rabian family from the rabbit territories.
My mother was Aven Rabian, my father’s third wife, and she was upset that I, the eldest, had not yet achieved a human form.
Fortunately, my younger brother Kyrie had succeeded in becoming human less than three years after his birth. By that time, I was already five years old but still in the form of a baby rabbit.
Beastmen typically achieve human form before their third birthday, yet why?
Everyone was puzzled, and I too was frustrated not knowing the reason.
Maybe I’ll change tomorrow, maybe the day after, maybe a week from now. Mocking my vain hopes, time cruelly passed by.
Eventually, last month, even though I had turned eighteen and undergone the coming-of-age ceremony, my transformation into a human had not progressed.
Alongside my mother, whose face was filled with aversion, we went to the temple, where the priest exclaimed that this was a curse. His voice boomed loud enough to make my heart thud.
“Look here, haven’t we strayed too far from the territory boundary?”
“We need to go deep enough so there won’t be any complications later… We were ordered to ensure its death by the hands of the black panthers.”
“We can just pluck that grass over there as proof to take back. It’s a poison that grows only in the territory of the black panthers.”
As I listened to the conversation, I realized that I was being abandoned. I had had a feeling this might happen.
Ever since our visit to the temple, the way my parents looked at me had changed from annoyance to contempt. I distinctly heard them muttering that killing me would be bothersome.
“Man, we’re too deep in. Once we cross the boundary, we won’t be under the protection of our territory anymore.”
With these anxious words from the man, I felt a thud as the basket hit the ground.
“It’s fussy, isn’t it? I was planning to set it down around here anyway.”
Since they mentioned this was the territory of the black panther, it was surely the border forest that bordered the rabbit territories. A place undoubtedly teeming with black panthers.
No, please don’t leave me here. I will try to become a proper beastman.
I scratched aimlessly at the straw, but my feet couldn’t even reach the lid. My vision blurred, making it even harder to see.
“Aaaaaaah!”
“Gah!”
Suddenly, a large scream filled the air. I stopped pawing and instinctively held my breath.
Every nerve in my body tensed. If this was really the territory of the black panther, then perhaps the beastmen who had moved me had been hunted by one. Should I play dead?
Rattle, the basket then began to shake, and the lid opened. As bright light filtered in, my eyes instinctively shut.
Before I could fully comprehend what was happening, I was snatched up by the scruff and lifted into the air.
“A baby rabbit?”
A voice rang out, slow-paced and unfamiliar. It was a pleasant-sounding voice with a gentle yet deep tone.
As I cautiously opened my squinted eyes, there stood a strikingly beautiful man.
His silvery hair, like spilt threads of silver, was right before my eyes. The brilliance momentarily lowered my guard, but survival instincts kicked in, and I began to struggle.
‘Ah, a black panther!’
The black panther tribe. Although I had only imagined them, the one before me was unmistakably a black panther.
‘Aren’t red eyes unsettling?’
‘Indeed. I once saw members of the black panther tribe in the town square, and they were eerily unsettling.’
The maids used to chatter that the black panther tribe generally had red eyes.
The man had bright red eyes, and the flash between his lips was unmistakably a fang.
Since this was the territory of the black panther, it was highly likely that the man was a member of the black panther tribe.
‘Let go, let me go!’
I had been frantically waving my forepaws when suddenly, a chilling feeling made me stop. The man’s expression was dispassionately cold, giving off an overly chilling vibe.
‘I might be eaten.’
As I froze completely, he looked at me intently and then smiled, his eyes crinkling into half-moons. It almost seemed like a smile of satisfaction.
“Crying, huh?”
Is this your first time seeing tears? It was clear that I had been crying since I first regained consciousness in the basket.
I wanted to act as if it was nothing, but it felt like something was stuck in my throat.
However, the next words from the man made me stop crying abruptly.
“Cry some more.”
Oh dear, he must be crazy!
* * *
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