The moisture rising from the hot water made the surrounding air humid.
“…I’m sorry.”
Perhaps feeling sorry for not being able to help in the garden, Meimi, who was drying me with a warm cloth, rarely started a conversation.
“Lord Rune Manionts is a high-ranking person who represents us in negotiations with the Lion clan every time.”
Thus, Rune Manionts, a lion beastman, was someone neither servants nor knights could lightly obstruct.
Negotiations with such a figure implied that Ahin’s family undoubtedly held considerable authority even in the territory of the black panthers.
“It would be wise to refrain from taking walks on the days he visits.”
Lion beastman, Rune Manionts, negotiations. Reflecting on the day’s events, I carefully listened to everything Meimi told me.
After an unusually long bath, I returned to the bedroom, and as time passed, I grew increasingly anxious.
Ahin would arrive soon, and no matter how I thought about it, it seemed unlikely he would just overlook the incident in the garden. Especially since he had been displeased by the scent of lions right up until we parted.
‘I need to hide.’
If I couldn’t run, I had to at least hide. But most hiding places seemed all too obvious.
As I looked around restlessly, a sense of injustice washed over me. I couldn’t discern the scent of a lion no matter how hard I concentrated.
The lion I encountered in the garden outright said I smelled of black panthers, and Ahin frowned, muttering about the scent of lions. It seemed that predators had far superior senses compared to herbivorous beastmen like me.
‘Not here either.’
Regrettably, under the bed or behind the sofa seemed too obvious as hiding spots.
Running around the room, I suddenly perked up my ears.
Outside, I heard the sound of the guards’ armor clashing. Clearly, Ahin had appeared, and they were saluting him.
Soon, with a creak and a thud, an ominous sound of a door opening and closing echoed. I listened intently to the footsteps while crouching tensely, wondering why I had to hide.
‘Who does he think he is.’
Moreover, it wasn’t as if I had intentionally rubbed the scent of a lion on me. The idea that I shouldn’t worry resonated in my head, but sadly, I could only minimize my presence and heighten my hearing.
“Ugh.”
Suddenly, I heard Ahin’s pain-filled groan. Instinctively, I looked up, alarmed by the disturbing noise.
‘Could it be…!’
If he had been attacked by a wolf beastman and injured like before.
It wasn’t just that. There was a thudding sound, as if something had collapsed.
I couldn’t just stand by any longer. Hurrying out from under the desk, I was confronted with a scene I didn’t want to believe.
‘I was fooled.’
My face contorted in distress as I immediately grasped the situation. Contrary to my imagination, Ahin sat casually on the sofa, and Everine, standing next to him, was trying to suppress his laughter. The noise of something falling seemed to have just been the sound of Ahin sitting down on the sofa.
Ahin, barely containing his laughter, slowly extended his hand.
“Why come out when you were hiding? Come here.”
“To think you rushed out to save Master Ahin, I’m touched. Miss Rabbit truly possesses a noble character.”
I really hate these black panthers. In a flash, my eyes turned fierce. Ahin, quietly enduring my reproachful gaze, slightly tilted his head.
“Everine, I think I just fell for that glare.”
“Indeed. Miss Rabbit, please continue to glare at Master Ahin.”
“I feel like eating it up now.”
“I’ll give the orders to the chef immediately.”
Everine, you! Unable to contain my anger, I charged at Everine and started biting at his trouser leg. He then pretended to be scared, acting poorly, and his demeaning performance was utterly despicable.
“Still smells like a lion?”
While I wrestled with Everine’s trouser leg, I suddenly found myself lifted into the air.
“Didn’t you take a bath?”
Ahin’s brow furrowed as he lifted me by the scruff.
‘No, I did.’
Meimi had cleaned me well with the cloth. As I shook my head to deny it, his expression visibly hardened.
What does the scent of a lion mean exactly? As I trembled with fear, Everine, perhaps to break the tense atmosphere, started to speak.
“By the way, Master Ahin. It’s been a month since Miss Rabbit arrived at the mansion. Wouldn’t it be appropriate to bestow another name by now?”
Everine looked at me with a somewhat complex expression. It seemed he was recalling our encounters during my usual walks. When Meimi and I went to the garden, the guards would say,
‘Miss Rabbit is passing by, strengthen the guard.’
‘Miss Rabbit is passing…’
‘Miss Rabbit…’
They buzzed and made a fuss. I’m not sure exactly how the rumors had spread, but living with Ahin, they treated me almost as if I were someone of great importance.
In truth, I had just become accustomed to it, though I knew better than anyone how strange the situation was. Wasn’t it strange that it wasn’t strange?
“A name?”
Ahin, glancing between me and Everine, asked back in a dry tone. Before I knew it, he was flipping me over on the sofa. He seemed quite displeased with the mysterious lion scent.
“A name, huh…”
‘Let go, I’m getting dizzy!’
Flipped onto my back, I struggled desperately, but couldn’t stop myself from being turned over. Ahin, who had been tickling my neck with his index finger, suddenly pinched my cheek.
“It’s okay. You’ll have a proper name anyway.”
It was a meaningful statement. As I stiffened and stared at him, Ahin met my eyes and smiled faintly. His curved red eyes lacked the usual emotion.
“Right?”
I, opening and closing my mouth, nodded bewilderingly. I wanted to ask how he could be so certain, but the impossibility of asking left me frustratingly speechless.
* * *
Everine had also left after organizing some documents, and as the night deepened, sleep heavily poured over me.
Yet, Ahin did not lie down in bed but spread a large paper on the carpet. Watching his unexpected actions, he picked me up without warning, wearing a mischievous smile.
‘Really annoying.’
Caught by the scruff, I glared with my eyes wide open. The daytime lion beastman had grabbed me carelessly as well; it seemed all these predators were rudely alike. As I glared with bulging eyes, he poked my cheek.
“I told you, when you glare, it makes me want to eat you.”
“……”
“Not joking.”
With his ominous words, the fangs visible between Ahin’s lips gleamed. Pale-faced, I decided to just stay quiet. Not because I was scared, I’d argue, but because I was sleepy.
Soon, the object Ahin had brought from the desk was a bottle of black ink.
Ink, why? As a sinister premonition arose, Ahin began to smear it on my front paw. Although I struggled in anger, eventually the ink soaked my paw.
‘What are you doing… Ow,’
Due to my violent resistance, ink splattered on Ahin’s fine face. I was momentarily flustered, but he showed no particular reaction and simply placed me on the paper spread out on the floor.
“Now.”
It was an action so cryptic that I could only look up at him with questioning eyes. Ahin, noticing my gaze, tapped the paper with his finger.
“Write it, your name.”
Faced with this unexpected request, I froze.
Questions that had long dominated my mind resurfaced.
What exactly did he consider me to be, to speak such words? Surely, it was too much to think of me as a mere rabbit, and yet it was awkward to consider myself a beastman. I was full of curiosity but couldn’t ask or receive any answers.
Perhaps reading my hesitation, Ahin slowly stroked my back. An inscrutable smile played on his lips as a calm voice flowed from him.
“They say attaching a name to an animal endears it to you.”
“……”
“Knowing your name might let you live a bit longer, right?”
Oh, it was a statement dreadfully ominous. Trembling, my lower lip quivered, and I eventually began to cautiously stamp my front paw on the paper.
V,
Tap, tap, tap. With each step, I left black paw prints on the white paper. Even to myself, the prints looked exceedingly small.
Vivi.
Having completed the name Vivi, I sprawled out on the paper as if I had accomplished a monumental task.
‘Phew.’
I hadn’t expected that writing down a name would consume so much physical and mental energy. In truth, the tension was primarily due to the menacing gaze I felt from behind.
After catching my breath and turning back, the usual smirk was absent from Ahin’s expression, which only heightened my sense of unease.
Had I done something wrong? Or perhaps the name Vivi carried a strange or negative connotation in the territory of the black panthers.
As I continued to feel apprehensive, Ahin, who had been quietly observing the paper, extended his hand. It was an indication for me to climb onto his palm.
The ink from my paw would stain his hand. After ending my hesitation and climbing on, Ahin met my eyes directly.
An odd silence ensued. Unlike me, who avoided his gaze, Ahin watched me with tranquil eyes like a calm lake, then finally spoke.
“Vivi.”
It was a name I hadn’t heard from another’s lips in a very long time. Ever since a certain point, no one from the Rabian family had called me by that name.
Furthermore, hearing my name spoken in such an enchantingly deep voice stirred an odd feeling in me. Before I could dwell on it, Ahin suddenly brought his lips to my neck.
‘Wha, what!’
I thrashed my legs in shock. While I had grown somewhat accustomed to his sudden nosing, this time I distinctly felt the firm press of his teeth against my neck.
It wasn’t painful but was excessively threatening. As I struggled fiercely, Ahin briefly pulled away and frowned.
“Stay still, I’m going to erase the scent of the lion.”
He drew me close again and lightly bit my neck with his teeth. At the same time, I encountered a strange scent I had never smelled before.
Could it be pheromones emanating from this black panther? But such conjecture couldn’t continue. Suddenly inhaling that scent, my mind became as hazy as if I had drunk alcohol.
‘…I can’t breathe.’
The pheromones stored within me were oddly stirring.
* * *
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