In the forest at the boundary of the rabbit territory, on a shoulder of the road not far from where Vivi’s carriage was, Aven straightened her back as she sat in a carriage used only when moving discreetly.
‘…It smelled stale.’
Even though the damp wooden smell of the old carriage did not suit her rank, she did not feel bad.
Now Aven, who only had to wait for Vivi to return to her embrace, smiled with satisfaction. Her plan had flowed more smoothly than anything else.
‘I came to tell you about the sponsor fire incident, nothing else.’
The testimony delivered to Chief Amon had been only vague circumstances, but even so, Vivi could not help but arouse suspicion. Since she had no status, of course she would be regarded as a suspicious figure in the mansion.
At first, Ahin Grace, whom she had found only bothersome, turned out to be quite a good card.
As long as he shielded her, no matter how suspicious Vivi was, there was no need to consider the possibility that she would be framed for treason.
If they drove someone associated with Ahin Grace into treason, it would be no different from making enemies with the Black Panther territory. From the standpoint of the Rabbit territory, which wished to maintain friendly relations, there was a high possibility that rather than driving without solid proof, they would choose to quietly cover up the fire itself.
In reality, simply tying Vivi’s feet to the mansion had been the most they had done, and Aven had heard from Sejak’s report that they had treated her almost like a distinguished guest. The nonsensical rumors related to dancers or lions had probably been deliberately inflated.
And Ahin Grace, who had not been pleased even with that, had forcibly sent Vivi off to the Black Panther territory today.
Once you crossed the territory boundary, the continental rule stated that no one could interfere regardless of the clan. It was obvious that it aimed to hide things before any more gossip arose.
According to the report, Vivi, who had to move quietly, had moved with a small number of people, and Ahin Grace, who at least had to keep an eye on Chief Amon, had remained at the mansion.
Each of his actions created the best conditions for Aven.
Although she could not even dream of touching the carriage Ahin Grace rode, there was at least some chance with the carriage he had left behind.
From the start, attacking a Grace family carriage itself was recklessly daring, but if Vivi crossed over into the Black Panther territory, it would be irreversibly too late forever.
Hence now, with Ahin Grace absent, this was the first and last opportunity. Had she not hired people by spending a year’s worth of bills provided by the family for his sake?
‘The remaining problem was….’
How Ahin Grace would react after losing Vivi. In other words, what kind of relationship the two of them had.
‘Hmm.’
Since she had turned into a beastfolk, it was difficult to consider her a mere pet….
Aven, who had sprawled her body on the chair, recalled Vivi. She had a quite fine set of features and even gave off a mysterious, transparent feeling.
If a picked-up baby rabbit turned into a person of such appearance, what was the probability that one would fall in love?
It was a sweetly fairy-tale-like story, but the fact that the other party was Ahin Grace was a variable.
He had been a man so free from scandals that there were rumors he could not perform. But nobles chatted this and that, while behind the scenes, they sent marriage proposals by the day. It would not have been strange if engagement news popped up any time soon.
Moreover, while it was not a rule, the Grace family had always kept only one mate. Valence Grace, who had lost her husband early on, had never brought in another husband.
Would such a family accept Vivi, who had neither status nor anything else?
Though she was a herbivore beastfolk, reading pheromones immediately had been remarkable, but by the Grace family’s standards, it was nothing more than a worthless ability.
‘…Still, she didn’t look like just a playmate.’
The chilling killing intent that Ahin had shown at the ballroom crossed Aven’s mind. Thinking of his vivid red eyes, she soon shook her head.
Even if it was love, was it not a feeling that would soon fade? In the end, it would be nothing more than a relationship that would surely be broken later.
There was the wall of the clan, and even a fundamental repulsion between herbivores and carnivores. On top of that, the gap in their statuses was too great.
For now, even if they chased Vivi, just placing her on the Rabian family register would settle the matter. No matter how great he was, he could not just casually take away a noble lady of another territory.
“Madam Aven!”
Bang, as the subordinate who had opened the door without permission rushed in, Aven’s brow creased unpleasantly.
“How insolent, what do you think you’re doing?”
“You must leave immediately… Urk!”
With a shudder, the subordinate rolled his eyes back and collapsed to the floor with foam at his mouth. Aven, who looked down at his convulsing figure in astonishment, raised her head.
Outside the carriage door stood a tall man. Aven, feeling as though she had seen an illusion that appeared at one’s dying moment, pressed at her eye area.
‘Ho, how….’
With her regained sight, the person she saw possessed brilliant silver hair and was someone Aven should never encounter in this place—Ahin Grace.
“Come out.”
Ahin’s eyes narrowed refreshingly as he found the person he sought.
“If you refuse, should I come in?”
Having a private meeting inside the carriage was something she absolutely did not want. Aven, whose back felt chilly, grabbed the hem of her skirt and stepped down.
She, who stood at a distance, murmured in a warning tone with a composed voice.
“…No matter if you are Lord Grace, threatening nobles of another territory could not be taken lightly.”
Aven, who had spoken with the minimum courtesy, looked around urgently.
All the subordinates she had stationed lay collapsed, and this was a sparsely populated boundary forest. Moreover, it was a place far away from the territorial guards. It was a predicament with no escape route.
“You, who had induced the attack on the Grace family’s carriage, were fine with it?”
“Attack? I knew nothing of it.”
“Then I would also pretend ignorance about attacking your carriage.”
“…Do you not see the fallen coachman and subordinates? Stop playing word games.”
“The more you played word games, the less time you had left to live.”
It was no different from meaning that he would deal with Aven right here. After steadying her breathing, she took a step backward.
“Did you think you could get away so easily after killing… harming a noble lady?”
“She would soon no longer be a noble lady anyway. Because the Rabian family would be annihilated.”
“…What?”
“They would be annihilated. Since most of the children who could succeed the head and the next chief had committed crimes.”
“What…! Nonsense,”
Rustle. At that moment, a rabbit that suddenly jumped out of the bushes abruptly cut off their conversation.
Because it was the Rabbit territory, they must have released rabbits into the boundary forest as well, but Ahin, who almost burst into laughter inexplicably, turned his body slightly. Recently, his laughter had become so frequent that just seeing the typical blank rabbit expression made the corners of his mouth twitch.
Aven looked at Ahin, who suddenly trembled, with suspicion. She could not easily tell if it was trembling due to anger or mocking her situation.
“Go.”
“…….”
“Not going?”
Ahin spoke coldly toward the white rabbit that looked around.
“I said go.”
Unfortunately, rabbits other than Vivi did not understand his meaning, so it did not heed Ahin’s words at all.
What was more, the sluggishly hopping rabbit sat down with its bottom on the tip of Ahin’s shoe. Perhaps its bottom felt cold in the chilly weather.
He could not dare to shake off the puffball that resembled Vivi with his foot. Ahin, who watched the yawning, nodding rabbit quietly, turned to face Aven again.
“Continue.”
It was absurd for her, but Ahin, who should have been flustered, remained calm.
Aven, who repeatedly spat out that he was a madman in her mind, suppressed her raging emotions. Although his tall stature and the sword at his waist were intimidating, the sight of a rabbit perched on the toe of his shoe somewhat trivialized his appearance, which might have been for the better.
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