In the end, Ahin took the trouble of bathing and changing clothes in another bedroom.
Standing in front of the bedroom door, now in just his shirt, he stared intently at the two guards.
The two knights, having just completed their salute, stood with their backs straight, staring straight ahead. They barely managed to maintain a neutral expression, but under their armor, cold sweat was trickling down their backs.
‘Ahin’s gaze…’
‘Surely not, surely not, surely not.’
Desperate cries echoed in their minds.
Not long ago, Ahin had brought in a stable hand and gestured for the knights to keep their mouths shut. Based on the stable hand’s purple eyes, they vaguely suspected he was the same as the rabbit, which made them visibly tense every time they encountered Ahin.
After all, knowing something they weren’t supposed to know could be dangerous. Throughout history, those who became privy to their superior’s secrets rarely kept their heads safe.
“Hey, you.”
“Yes, sir!”
The knight who had responded with a loud, clear voice immediately looked embarrassed. Ahin, seemingly unfazed, extended his wrist.
“How is it?”
The guard’s gaze followed Ahin’s loose movement.
“Yes, …Yes?”
“Do you smell something?”
“Pardon?”
Ahin, still holding out his wrist, furrowed his brow.
“Is ‘yes’ the only thing you can say?”
“I-I apologize.”
Smell? The guard, catching on, sniffed the air.
“If I may say so, there’s a scent of perfume…”
“That’s enough.”
Only then did Ahin’s eyes curve into a satisfied crescent shape.
Leisurely stepping into the bedroom, he suddenly slammed the door shut. The room was filled with Vivi’s pheromones, an intensity that usually only occurred when emotions ran high.
“…Vivi?”
Resisting the pheromones seeping into his body, Ahin looked around the empty bedroom. Vivi, who should have been on the cushion, was nowhere to be seen.
As he stepped onto the terrace, he saw Quinn sprawled out, intoxicated by Vivi’s pheromones.
“Where are you?”
Even behind the terrace curtains, where Vivi often hid, she was not there.
Ahin began searching the places where Vivi had hidden before, checking under the desk and the bathroom, but both were empty. Entering the dressing room, he slid the hangers to one side. Even after pushing all the hangers aside, checking under the table, and the bottom shelf of the bookshelf, there was still no sign of Vivi.
“Could she have gone outside?”
For a moment, Ahin’s mind went blank as he reached for the door handle but then paused.
Given that the pheromones hadn’t dispersed and were still strong, she couldn’t have left the bedroom. Scanning the large room, he walked towards the only place Vivi had never hidden before.
Ahin lay down on the floor, low enough that his ear nearly touched it, and peeked under the bed. His silver hair fell slightly out of place as he tilted his head.
“Found you.”
His red eyes curved beautifully like the night sky.
“This game of hide-and-seek was a bit tougher; you even managed to hide your presence.”
Vivi, who had been crouching under the bed, slowly lifted her head. The smile vanished from Ahin’s face as he saw her face, soaked with tears.
“Were you crying?”
Vivi quickly buried her face again, rubbing her eyes repeatedly. However, the tears, like little droplets, kept welling up with no sign of stopping.
“Come out.”
Ahin reached out under the narrow space, but his arm couldn’t quite reach Vivi. Instead, she shrank back, pulling herself further away from his fingertips, creating an awkward distance between them.
“What’s wrong?”
Ahin, peering under the bed, raised an eyebrow. Vivi’s emotions were causing her pheromones to swirl and spread like a vortex.
There was a risk that their pheromones might clash.
As soon as Ahin suppressed his pheromones deep within himself, Vivi’s pheromones, like a hyena targeting its prey, washed over him.
Now defenseless, he quietly parted his lips.
“Vivi-.”
Ahin, coaxing her by softly calling her name, reached under the bed again. But Vivi, flinching, retreated further into the darkness.
Swallowing the urge to flip the bed over, Ahin rubbed his face with frustration.
In the past, encountering Vivi’s pheromones released by her tears would usually uplift his spirits. Yet now, seeing her retreating further away was strangely irritating.
The sight of her trying to stifle her sobs with her little paws oddly tightened something in his chest.
Normally, she would have rushed out at the sight of his fangs, standing at attention. Her unfamiliar reaction now was proof that her emotions carried a different weight this time.
“…What’s wrong?”
Of course, Vivi couldn’t respond.
Ahin felt increasingly frustrated at being unable to read her emotions, thoughts, or even her expressions.
Desperately, he wiggled his fingers, still stretched out under the bed.
“Won’t you come out?”
His unintended pleading tone caused Vivi’s body to tremble slightly.
With her paws still covering her eyes, Vivi, unable to stop her tears, only shook her head. To hide her messy face and overflowing emotions, she burrowed even deeper.
‘Is it too much?’
Watching every small movement of hers, Ahin sighed softly.
Should he force her out, or would it be better to leave her as she was?
Logic dictated that he should pull her out, but his frozen hand refused to follow reason. In an uncharacteristic moment of hesitation, he blinked.
‘The rabbit will rely on you, but she won’t trust you.’
He had a vague idea. Vivi had hidden under the bed because she didn’t want to show her vulnerable side to him.
When he thought about it, Vivi, despite her small, fragile body that seemed like it could be blown away by a breeze, always tried not to show any weakness.
She had likely grown up in an environment where she had to stand on her own, with no one to indulge her. Ahin, recognizing a similarity between them, felt a strange sense of connection.
The sight of the tiny rabbit holding on with all her might, appearing weak yet not feeling weak, struck him deeply.
Silently watching her, he laid down on his side, using his arm as a pillow. He then extended his free arm under the bed, opening his palm.
Tap-tap, the sound of him lightly tapping the floor with the back of his hand echoed.
“If you feel like coming out, you can come up here.”
Vivi’s ears twitched in response to his low-toned suggestion, flicking back and forth.
“I’ll wait.”
Murmuring, Ahin felt his eyelids grow heavy. Having suppressed his own pheromones, he was now helplessly soaked in Vivi’s.
The fact that he had succumbed to someone else’s pheromones, let alone a rabbit’s, twice now was both absurd and oddly refreshing. Ahin let out a hollow laugh as he lazily opened his eyes.
“Lying on the floor isn’t as bad as I thought.”
As Ahin resisted the encroaching sleep, a faint redness appeared in his eyes.
The quiet dawn arrived. As he fought against falling asleep, it seemed that Vivi’s pheromones, now that her emotions had somewhat calmed, began to dissipate.
Vivi, who had been hiding in the darkness for a long time, timidly lifted her head. Ahin, pretending not to notice, subtly closed his eyes.
The slight rustling of movement made his nerves tingle with anticipation.
Finally, the soft touch of a small paw reached the tip of Ahin’s index finger. It was a small, round fluff, so insignificant in size.
Ahin, who had missed the right moment to get up, focused on the warmth at his fingertips. Her paws were damp, a sign of how much she had cried.
For a moment, a dull ache settled in his chest, but he continued to feign sleep.
Why had she been crying? Had something unfair happened to her, given that she couldn’t speak? Or had she had a nightmare? A tangle of questions swirled in his mind.
Suppressing the urge to jump up and demand answers, Ahin steadied his breathing.
The feeling of her paw rubbing against his fingertips only tested his patience further. He feared that if he asked anything, she might flee again, so the question lingering on his tongue faded away.
It had always been like this, hadn’t it? Her body was so small, like a mere speck of dust, that he often let things slide without pressing for answers, afraid she might actually break.
As he felt the warmth against his skin, Ahin finally felt a wave of relief wash over him.
This situation had repeated itself so many times now. Despite finding the vanishing Vivi bothersome, he always ended up searching for her.
It was like that fairy tale where a girl chases a suspicious clock rabbit into a tunnel she can never return from. Before he knew it, Ahin’s feet were following the rabbit’s trail.
He had spouted nonsense about how this place was where the weak died, yet here he was, anxious over the mere fact that Vivi had hidden under the bed.
Ahin’s rationality was gradually fraying. Although he had managed to push back some of Vivi’s pheromones, his head still felt heavy, as if caught in a fever.
Soon, a shadow fell over his face. Vivi, having calmed her troubled heart, pressed her paw firmly against Ahin’s furrowed brow.
‘Are you asleep?’
Whether he was truly asleep or not, Ahin, drowsily shifting, rubbed his cheek against the arm supporting his head.
As she gazed at his tousled silver hair, Vivi felt an inexplicable heaviness in her chest.
No one had ever sought her out until the moment she was about to be abandoned. So why did he always find her so effortlessly, no matter where she hid?
‘…Why.’
It only made her want to rely on him more. As tears welled up again, Vivi swallowed hard to keep them down.
By now, the overcast sky had begun to drizzle. The moisture in the air pulled Vivi deeper into her thoughts.
‘Vivi’s parents might be worse people than I imagined.’
Shaking her head to dispel the intrusive thoughts, Vivi glanced back toward the terrace.
The sound of the rain grew louder.
Ahin, still pretending to sleep, cracked his eyes open slightly as Vivi moved somewhere.
Vivi quickly darted to the terrace and smacked Quinn, who was fast asleep. Quinn, lost in his slumber, merely licked his lips and shifted his body.
‘Quinn, wake up!’
You’ll catch a cold if you get wet. Vivi, sternly commanding, struck Quinn again. Startled by the sudden assault, Quinn groggily raised himself.
‘As much as I can’t stand you…’
Vivi, realizing that without Quinn, she wouldn’t have faced such a harsh truth or escaped from the prison so seamlessly, cast a lingering gaze at him. Quinn, regaining his composure, returned the look with his usual arrogant glare.
Ahin, who had been watching the baby rabbit and the bird exchanging glances as if they were comrades and rivals, quickly closed his eyes as Vivi, having left the terrace, moved diligently to another spot.
The second destination was a blanket draped over the sofa. Vivi stared up at it blankly before grabbing the blanket and struggling to pull it down.
With a grunt, her whiskers quivered as she strained. However, rather than pulling the blanket down, she ended up tangled in it like candy wrapping. Ahin, struggling to hold back his laughter, clenched his teeth.
The tussle went on for quite a while. In the end, after failing to retrieve the blanket, Vivi returned to stand before Ahin.
‘He must be cold.’
Should I wake him up or not…
Considering that it was her pheromones that had affected him, waking him would require her to be as forceful as she was with Quinn, but she feared the consequences. Damaging that sculpture-like face would be close to a crime.
As Vivi paced around nervously, she suddenly and carefully pried open Ahin’s lips with her paw. The moment she saw his fangs, she quickly closed his lips and hesitantly placed a paw on her forehead.
‘Again.’
After taking a deep breath and widening her eyes, Vivi opened his lips once more.
While this strange behavior continued, Ahin was on the verge of madness from the tickling sensation on his lips.
‘Vivi… Please…’
In all his life, he never thought he’d receive a checkup from a rabbit. A faint wrinkle formed on his brow.
Unaware of his inner turmoil, Vivi focused intently on the fangs in front of her.
Though part of her wanted to faint, she realized they weren’t as frightening as they used to be.
Was his true nature the ruthless figure she saw in the underground prison, or was it this relaxed one lying on the floor, waiting for her?
After neatly closing his lips, Vivi draped herself over Ahin’s neck, where his collar left it exposed.
As time passed, the air grew heavier with a drowsy warmth.
They say keeping the neck warm prevents colds. As Vivi, on the verge of dozing off, spread herself wider to protect Ahin’s neck, she reflected.
He was always scary, difficult, and enigmatic…
But when she vanished, Ahin was the only one who ever sought her out. That simple fact was enough to crumble the sturdy walls of her cowardice.
Over her fear, a new emotion began to emerge—delicate, like fragile glass. Instinctively sensing that it wasn’t something she should embrace, Vivi tried to suppress the budding feeling.
It was a night where emotions weighed heavily, more so than usual.
* * *
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