A faint smell of chemicals brushed against the tip of my nose. Amidst the dim consciousness I was swimming through, I felt someone carefully turn my body over.
They forced my mouth open and manipulated my front paws as well. As my senses sharpened, an unfamiliar voice rang in my ears.
“Hmm. It seems it was just in shock, the pulse is perfectly normal.”
Ah. It appeared that the touch was meant to diagnose my condition. The hands were so careful and gentle that my tense muscles relaxed.
Relieved, I kept pretending to be asleep due to the heaviness of my eyelids.
“Lord Everine, there are no health issues, so there is no need to worry.”
“That’s a relief. It would be troublesome if Master Ahin were to eat a sick rabbit.”
Who are they calling a sick rabbit? As I mulled over the rude remark, I soon identified the owner of the voice.
It was undoubtedly the black-haired man who had knocked me out, babbling about emergency rations.
I wanted to jump up and deliver a furious front paw punch, but the cowardly cells inside me advised restraint, so I simply continued to feign sleep.
“Any other issues? Perhaps the rabbit briefly reverted to its beast form. It seemed quite clever, understanding speech earlier.”
Once again, the voice of the man called Everine was heard.
“Well… Currently, I don’t detect any therianthropic pheromones, and it has been half a day since Master Ahin brought it here. A therianthrope wouldn’t be able to stay in their beast form for more than half a day after humanization. If it were a therianthrope, there would be plenty of time left to return to human form.”
“What about the possibility of it being a young therianthrope who has not yet undergone humanization?”
“That’s also unlikely. Humanization usually completes by the age of three, and a therianthrope as young as that wouldn’t be as active as this rabbit.”
Alas, I had inadvertently eavesdropped on the conversation and realized my mistake. I had shown ease in understanding speech.
At the Rabian mansion, this was natural, and I had instinctively responded to Everine’s voice earlier without much thought.
I wondered if revealing my therianthrope nature would get me expelled from this place.
‘But….’
As I continued to ponder, a new wave of anxiety surged through me.
I had heard that the territory of the black panthers was full of scholars, and if they discovered that I, despite having undergone the rite of passage, had failed to humanize, they might turn me over as an experiment subject.
Pale with thought, I opted to remain silent for now.
“For now, it seems like an ordinary baby rabbit.”
The physician, having made one last check while I feigned sleep, cautiously asked.
“Um… Did Master Ahin really bring this rabbit intending to eat it?”
“No, that was merely my assumption.”
What basis did he have for his assumption? It was difficult to discern whether the words of this man named Everine were jest or earnest.
His voice was always monotonous anyway.
The more I thought about it, the less it made sense that Ahin, the owner of this lavish bedroom and a black panther, had brought me here as a snack.
Seemingly sharing my thoughts, the physician answered somewhat reluctantly.
“Ah, yes—. Lord Everine, I have finished the consultation, so I will take my leave now.”
Wait, don’t leave me alone with this strange man! Despite my desperate silent scream, the sound of the physician exiting the bedroom echoed.
Pretending to sleep was becoming increasingly difficult. However, I felt Everine approaching beside me, his presence keeping me from rising.
“Rabbit.”
A low whisper came with his breath to my side face.
“Your eyelids are twitching. If you don’t wake up, you might end up on the dinner table as an appetizer. Would soup be better, or perhaps grilled?”
I sat up abruptly, glaring at him. This heinous beast. It seemed I might grow to hate the black panther tribe among the therianthropes from today onwards.
* * *
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