Vivi’s large violet eyes blinked several times. She stared blankly at Rune, her expression caught between a smile and a frown.
In that moment, she realized something:
‘There were… two people in this world who could have saved me.”
She remembered how her front paws had become raw from scratching at the basket. Maybe she should have just waited patiently until the lid opened.
Shaking off the stray thought, Vivi dusted off her clothes and stood up. She already had enough on her plate, and Rune’s feelings were a burden she couldn’t handle.
With a sharp click, she checked her pocket watch with obvious impatience.
“…I should get going.”
“Why is your acting so terrible? You’ve been like this since the last time—are you doing it on purpose?”
Vivi’s shoulders trembled with anger as Rune criticized her earnest acting effort.
She glared at him and turned her back. Rune, who had risen with her, reached out to lightly hold the hood of her cloak.
“Wait, I haven’t given you my conclusion yet.”
“Conclusions? Conversations don’t need conclusions!”
She tried to step forward but couldn’t move an inch, her feet repeatedly lifting and landing in the same spot.
Finally, Vivi untied the ribbon of her cloak to free herself and quickly stepped back to face him. She was careful to follow the golden rule: never turn your back on a predator.
Rune, left holding the abandoned cloak, let out a defeated chuckle.
It amazed him how someone like Vivi, who hadn’t even fully gone through her human transformation and could revert back to a rabbit at any moment, could be so passionate about life.
If it had been him, he might have given up long ago, living as a lion cub in resignation.
“I’ll help you.”
With your transformation, with everything.
“Help with what?”
“With anything. If you want, you don’t have to go to the Lion Territory.”
“…”
“It’ll be much harder once you leave the Black Panther Territory.”
Vivi’s eyes widened as she realized what Rune’s offer implied. The previously empty golden irises now reflected a sincere expression. She felt ashamed that she had briefly suspected his motives.
“You know as well as I do, Ahin Grace isn’t a good person.”
Rune wasn’t exactly a saint himself, but he could proudly declare to the world that he was better than Ahin.
“He didn’t take you in with good intentions.”
He didn’t elaborate, but even the healing pheromones from storybooks wouldn’t change that fact. Vivi was smart enough to understand that Rune’s proposal would be beneficial. There had been no trade, no shared interests, and no clouding emotions between her and Ahin.
“Think carefully.”
Rune couldn’t tolerate Ahin’s raw possessiveness toward Vivi. His concerned gaze lingered on her confused golden eyes. For another beastfolk like himself, such emotions might already be dangerous, but for a rabbit like Vivi…
‘There’s no need to even say it.’
Her chances of survival were already dismal. She trembled in the presence of fangs, her eyelashes fluttering like delicate wings. Her fists, once raised like the front paws of a rabbit, were barely half the size of her hand.
But worst of all were her expressions and reactions, which came flooding back at him like a tempest. To predators like the Black Panther family, she was nothing short of an irresistible prey.
Wouldn’t it be better to deal with the lion clan, most of whom are either sensitive or lazy by nature? Of course, Rune’s personal feelings weren’t entirely absent from this seemingly trivial decision.
Still, having decided to persuade her with the truth, he parted his lips.
“Ahin Grace is crazy.”
“Hmm.”
Vivi frowned deeply and nodded.
“He’s a heinous bastard.”
“Mmm.”
A very dangerous predator. Agreeing, she waved her hand loosely at her neck.
“The chances are high that he will back down in front of Vivi.”
“Hmm?”
Vivi, who was denying it with a nasal sound, paused for a moment, as if that foul beast would ever do such a thing. In the early days, Ahin would walk into the bedroom without any qualms, even with the smell of blood still clinging to him, but she couldn’t remember the last time she smelled that cruel scent.
“The position of successor is always precarious, especially in territories ruled by powerful beasts. Just like my sister, Ahin is always at the center of incidents, and assassination attempts are commonplace.”
“……”
“Why do you think that wolf infiltrated Grace Castle and attacked you?”
“…Because I’m Ahin’s little rabbit. They probably wanted to capture me to use as bait or for another purpose.”
“You’re right. Even if Grace surrounds you with all kinds of protection, there will inevitably come a moment when you’ll have to survive on your own.”
Vivi was aware of that truth as well.
The wolf’s attack. The time Ash almost died in the shack. The chase in Endelus. Meeting his grandfather in the study, where she thought she would be safe.
Everyday life in the black panther territory was peaceful, yet each moment felt like a precarious balance.
“If Grace is forcibly keeping you, or if you have nowhere else to go, I can help you escape.”
Since Rune was a member of the Manionts family, even Ahin wouldn’t dare challenge him just because of a rabbit.
The only leash that restrained Ahin was the fact that Valence Grace had only one heir. Even if he acted recklessly, he would do so within the bounds of what could be resolved, and Ahin, surprisingly, adhered to that boundary.
“…Though I’m not sure how it will be this time.”
Rune’s golden eyes lingered on the scar on Vivi’s neck, exposed when she removed her cloak. The thin lace barely covered the scar on the nape of her neck, and it bothered him quite a bit.
“Are you going back to the black panther territory with Grace?”
“No, I’ll go first.”
“Why are you going back alone?”
“Because staying here any longer won’t do me any good.”
“…I don’t think so.”
“That’s just the surface reason. I’m sure there’s something he’s hiding, a reason why he has to send me back first.”
Vivi answered in a calm voice, raising the corner of her lips slightly.
Ahin’s secretive and evasive attitude, which she had always disliked and still did, was his own way of surviving.
Looking back, Ahin’s nights had never been peaceful. He had to keep a lamp lit all night to prepare for intruders, and there was always a sword standing beside the bed.
Even when Vivi tossed and turned, Ahin persisted in pulling her tail toward him as he slept. Perhaps it was a precaution to protect her quickly if something happened.
It was undeniable that this resembled the way she lived. Not that she wanted to understand all of Ahin’s behaviors.
“Thank you for the offer.”
Vivi let out a soft sigh as she responded quietly.
“But I’m not going to follow you… no, Rune.”
Had he told her a little earlier, she might have followed without hesitation.
“Can I ask why?”
Not expecting much, Rune draped the cloak over Vivi’s shoulders. Although it wasn’t an unexpected answer, he couldn’t help but feel a sting inside.
“If it weren’t for that black panther, I probably would’ve died in the Forest of Vigilance. Even after he saved my life, I always relied on Ahin. I couldn’t even open a door on my own. But…”
“But?”
Vivi, hesitating, pressed her lips together like a shell. She pictured Ahin enduring the pheromone attacks.
It wasn’t a recent symptom. It was likely something he had been dealing with for a long time. And although Vivi’s healing pheromones were unrefined, they had the ability to calm the attacks to some extent.
There was no way the sly and cunning black panther wouldn’t have known this. He must have realized her pheromones were of the healing type when he first noticed them. Maybe he even sensed it vaguely when they first met in the Forest of Vigilance.
Even if he hadn’t known back then, seeing how he insisted on sleeping beside her, it was likely that he was unconsciously depending on her.
‘And yet he doesn’t force me to use my healing pheromones…’
‘Don’t disappear on me again.’
The fact that Ahin didn’t revert to his true form during his pheromone attacks was probably because he feared she would run away in terror. After all, she wouldn’t be able to chase him while in pain.
Vivi brushed the dust off a slightly tilted picture frame. Dust clung to her fingertips. The frame held a view of the beautiful rabbit territory, with its blue fields stretching out.
“As Rune said, being with Ahin is hard. It’s not really about Ahin himself, but the situations that unfold are vague, scary, difficult, and unsettling.”
If she judged coldly, with the secret of humanization slowly being unraveled, it would be safer to return to the rabbit territory and start from the bottom again than to stay in the black panther’s territory.
“Besides, everyone I meet while being with him is difficult to deal with. Like Rune. It’ll only get more complicated once I fully humanize.”
Vivi clumsily tied the ribbon to secure her cloak. The thick string bunched up like a bundle of fabric rather than forming a proper ribbon.
“Still, I think Ahin needs me now. Maybe even more than I need him. …Anyway, whether it’s a black panther or a lion, they’re equally vicious.”
Though she spoke of fear, Vivi wasn’t as scared as she used to be. Like a reed that sways but doesn’t break, her violet eyes trembled slightly yet remained firm, causing Rune to chuckle softly. For the first time in his life, he was envious of Ahin, whom he had never envied before.
“Is it something like a rabbit’s gratitude?”
“Maybe. But now, I’m no longer a rabbit; I’m a person.”
“Once you become fully human, you should start by learning how to tie a ribbon.”
He reached out and fixed the messy knot of Vivi’s ribbon. People could struggle with tying ribbons too, yet Rune couldn’t help but let out a dry laugh at Vivi’s proud expression.
“Since I was a child, all I learned was how to give up, so I thought it would be easy. But this time, it’s not as easy as I thought.”
“…What do you mean?”
“You should visit the lion territory sometime. Unlike those ignorant black panthers, we don’t just let lions roam freely in the forest. Well, except in the plains; there are wild lions there.”
Isn’t that the same thing? Vivi, who had turned pale, opened and closed her mouth like a fish.
“And, by the way, you should really hide that pheromone of yours. Unless someone is as carefree as I am, it’s a skill that would attract attention….”
Bang!
Suddenly, the door burst open with such force that it seemed like it would shatter, and a man stormed into the room.
His sharp, piercing sea-colored eyes immediately fixed on the two of them. He looked at Vivi’s face, then Rune’s, and finally his gaze settled on Rune’s hands, which were tying the ribbon. A clear frown appeared on the man’s face.
With a broad frame and sharp features, even with her eyes closed, Vivi could tell he belonged to the beast tribe. She calmly hid herself behind an antique piece of furniture.
“That’s the escort knight who was following earlier.”
Rune, pointing with his finger, glanced around in confusion when Vivi seemed to vanish into thin air. She had hidden perfectly behind a frame as large as herself and was now peeking out to observe the unfamiliar man.
“An escort knight?’
Ahin had mentioned knowing him, though vaguely. Vivi’s violet eyes, trembling faintly, focused on the man.
The longer she stared, the more Vivi’s brows furrowed. The man, who had half-tied his long sea-colored hair, was a complete stranger to her.
“That eye color…”
Which family did he belong to again? The moment her eyes met his, her mind went blank. The man’s fierce eyes and broad shoulders were a striking match for the role of an escort knight.
“Don’t you recognize him?”
Rune glanced at Vivi, whose face practically had the words ‘Who are you?’ written across her forehead.
“I think I know who he is.”
“……”
Vivi squinted her eyes and shook her head vigorously. After a long silence, the man finally spoke, his lips parting slowly.
“…That damn rabbit.”
* * *
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