Upon returning to Ahin’s bedroom, I had a grave expression on my face.
There was something. At this point, it couldn’t just be overlooked. Not Ahin, and not even his mother.
‘There’s a scent of pheromones.’
‘I just sensed a very faint pheromone from you.’
I had heard that predators have much more developed senses than herbivorous beastmen. If they suddenly mentioned smelling pheromones on me, it might not have been a mistake.
Pheromones usually appear after humanization, but there are always exceptions. Considering I still had the form of a baby rabbit despite being a beastman, it was not wise to judge by common standards.
‘Even so….’
But I had no idea how to reach humanization.
The servants of the family often looked at me and said that at some point, I would suddenly become human.
‘Lady Vivi, you’ll transform with a pop!’
As if. People said that after a few hours of fever, one would transform into a human, but having neither seen nor experienced it myself, it was nothing more than a vague imagination.
Staring blankly into space, the past flashed before me like a panorama.
‘It’s utterly shameful. The scandals following me because of you…!’
‘Sister, just give up. I’ll catch a fat rabbit for us later and add it to our stew.’
‘Just leave it be, after all, Lady Vivi can’t even tell anyone. Can she even speak?’
Humanization. The single wish I had harbored and despaired over for eighteen long years was ignited once again.
I closed my eyes tightly, concentrating my mind to feel the pheromones within my body.
And nothing happened.
* * *
Ahin, who had entered his bedroom unusually early today, lifted me onto the bed without even changing his clothes.
Then he too lay down and faced me closely. An awkward silence passed for a moment.
“…Hey.”
‘What!’
Why are you staring like that?
I silently grumbled as usual and cautiously moved my hips backward. His beautiful face was too close, making me uncomfortable.
But before I knew it, he grabbed my neck, restraining my movement, and slowly opened his lips.
“Today, those idiots… no, the wolf clan attacked again.”
I flinched at the sight of his fangs so close and shut my eyes tightly.
“So, I got hurt.”
‘Hurt?’
Worried it might be a severe wound like before, I slightly opened my eyes.
But unlike that day, his navy blue uniform adorned with a silver shoulder strap bore no bloodstains. Furthermore, there was no scent of blood.
Glancing curiously, Ahin tilted his head and pointed to his left cheek.
“Here.”
As I stared at the white cheek, I frowned. It was a scratch so trivial it hardly seemed worth calling a wound, likely to disappear in a day or two.
To speak of it as if it were some grievous injury seemed absurd. As I scoffed, he blinked his red eyes.
“Won’t you treat it?”
‘Why should I?’
How could a mere baby rabbit treat a wound? Mocking his ridiculous request, I waved my paws.
“You won’t treat it?”
‘Won’t treat it.’
Continuing to ignore him, the amusement vanished from Ahin’s expression. Soon after, he lifted me into the air by the scruff of my neck.
“A rabbit that can’t even treat a wound is useless. Ah-“
This mad predator! Ahin really seemed about to eat me, tilting his head and opening his mouth wide.
‘Mommy!’
As the fangs glittered alarmingly close below, I wriggled in panic.
It seemed as though my hind legs would end up in his mouth at any moment. Ahin, bringing my body close to his lips, rounded his eyes.
“Feeling a bit more inclined to treat it now?”
Of course. As I quickly nodded, he put me back on the bed. Leaning forward again, Ahin presented his cheek to me.
How was I supposed to treat it? As I looked at the red mark bewilderedly, Ahin’s eyebrows furrowed in displeasure, clearly urging me without words.
‘I’ll fix it, I’ll try to fix it!’
Nodding my head with a fluster, I alternated my gaze between my front paws and the red mark.
To think he tried to swallow me whole, I was tempted to swipe at him with my paw and add another scratch to his wound.
‘This is troublesome.’
How could I satisfy this lunatic’s request? Despite my pondering, my rabbit form with four legs wasn’t exactly equipped to apply any medicine.
Caught in my thoughts, I hurriedly approached and lightly licked the wound as I noticed Ahin’s eyebrows twitching again.
Of course, such an action wouldn’t heal the wound, but given my current form, this was the best I could do.
Caught off guard by my sudden move, he straightened his head with a blank expression.
“Is this supposed to be treatment?”
What exactly does he want from me? Does he really want to be hit with my paw?
As I looked at him perplexedly, Ahin’s face grew increasingly ambiguous. It felt as though we were somehow miscommunicating.
Straightening up from his prone position, he exhaled a breath of dissatisfaction.
“Well…”
His red eyes slowly fixed on me. After staring at me for a moment, Ahin smirked awkwardly and fiddled with the scratched area.
“This isn’t too bad, I guess.”
After dropping those mysterious words, he stood up and walked towards the bathroom.
After insisting I heal his wound, he now seemed to have no further need for me. With a dumbfounded expression, I mentally kicked the insolent black panther’s retreating figure.
‘Despicable beast!’
Somehow, even a petty revenge like this felt necessary to prevent me from boiling over with frustration.
* * *
Since the day we met in the rose garden, Ahin’s mother had always timed her tea time to coincide with my garden walks.
Thanks to her, what used to be my garden walks had now turned into peculiar tea times with her, becoming part of my daily routine.
“The weather is nice.”
‘Indeed.’
I closed my eyes gently, facing the gentle breeze. The sky was cloudless and sunny, and the scent of roses dispersed by the wind created a peaceful atmosphere.
Initially, Ahin’s mother, a head of the household with fangs to boot, made me quite uneasy, but our meetings became less difficult over time.
Even merely nibbling on the hay she offered elicited her praises, such as how magnificent and splendid I was.
Moreover, her mutterings, not quite to herself, allowed me to gather quite a bit of information.
For instance, that Ahin had undergone his coming-of-age ceremony this year. Though I had always been too preoccupied with avoiding his fangs, upon reflection, he did possess a mysterious charm somewhere between a boy and a young man.
Lost in thought, her soothing voice continued to reach me.
“How adorable, the way your mouth moves is incredibly cute.”
“Child, stretch out your front paws.”
“Try eating this.”
Thanks to her, I was noticeably plumper day by day.
Aware of these tea times, Ahin even flipped me over once, blasphemously calling me a ‘fat rabbit’.
Ahin’s mother introduced herself as Valence Grace and instructed me to refer to her as Madam Valence, despite knowing well that I couldn’t speak.
‘Grace?’
The name Grace sparked a vague sense of déjà vu, but as a noble of the esteemed black panther territory, it was likely I had heard it somewhere.
“Try eating this too.”
Observing me eat the chef’s masterpiece, homemade hay, Madam Valence’s expression momentarily became complex.
She suddenly reached out and flipped me over.
“…Child.”
Her voice, much softer than usual, made me glance up at her. She gently touched the area near my neck and spoke again.
“Try holding your breath for a moment, then imagine pressing down on the vessels within your body.”
Hold my breath and press down on my vessels?
Though I didn’t understand, her stern expression made me follow her instructions and hold my breath. Concentrating quietly, I felt a strange energy stirring within me.
‘What, what is this?’
It was a sensation I had never encountered before. Was this meant to suppress this energy? Mulling over her cryptic advice, I exerted force as if to flush my face with blood.
After a short while, her voice softened.
“You’re quite clever. Well done.”
Her outstretched index finger gently stroked my head. Receiving her affectionate touch, I pondered over the strange energy I had just felt inside.
* * *
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