Why were the two of them together, and in the Boundary Forest, no less?
Vivi’s mind had gone blank. Now that what she had expected actually occurred, her head felt numb as if someone had shouted loudly into her ears.
Vivi collected herself belatedly and pushed Ash behind a large rock.
‘For now, hide.’
The rabbits still stuck out their faces from outside the bushes.
Ahin, who had his back turned to them, noticed the stupid stares stuck behind him.
When he showed signs of turning around with a flinch, Vivi and Ash flattened their bodies behind the rock.
“…How many friends did you bring?”
Ahin burst into a dejected laugh as he looked at the crowd of rabbits sticking their faces out through the bushes. Because of the distance, they all looked identical, as if copied and pasted.
Judging them to be a large family, Ahin spoke to himself while looking at the rabbits.
“Why do they all look like Vivi? They look so trivial.”
‘What?’
Vivi’s gaze turned fierce at once. Ash barely restrained her as she performed triple kicks in midair.
“Did they come to watch? It wouldn’t be a very pleasant scene.”
Ahin showed more interest in the group of rabbits that resembled Vivi than in the current situation. Aven, who was anxious and on edge, pressed him.
“…What did you mean a moment ago when you mentioned annihilation of a clan?”
‘Annihilation of a clan?’
Surprised by the unimaginable word, Vivi stuck out her head. Aven’s expression, visible over Ahin’s shoulder, was by no means good.
“My question first. I lured you here, despite the discomfort.”
“You could have done that well enough when we met at the ball,”
“Talk about something like this? Even if not for me, it wouldn’t benefit you much.”
Aven, at a loss for words, moved her lips.
‘She said she lured her out?’
Vivi, who finally grasped the full story of the incident, wetted her dry lips. Although she did not know the exact circumstances, it confirmed that, as she had suspected, Ahin and Aven were involved in the carriage attack.
Thankful for her excellent hearing, Vivi secretly glared at Ahin’s back.
‘Liar….’
It bothered her even more that, if one looked at it closely, he had not actually lied, just said he still had things to handle.
“How many times did you administer drugs to Vivi?”
Clack, after checking the pocket watch once more, Ahin asked.
“Drugs, what did you mean by that?”
“The one mixed with the sap of the Blum tree. I came here knowing everything, so don’t try to dodge and speak properly.”
“…….”
“If you answer properly, I’d also tell you what you’re curious about. Aren’t you curious about how Vivi became human?”
His languid voice stimulated Aven’s psyche as if it were sweet talk.
Ash had been worriedly watching the motionless Vivi for a while. She overlapped her forepaw on top of Ash’s forepaw.
‘It’s fine, because I am curious too.’
She had to know what had happened to her body. The two of them overlapped their forepaws and looked forward again.
“Why on earth…,”
“Don’t think of scheming, just answer.”
Aven looked around warily. It seemed Ahin had come alone, but there could have been eyes and ears somewhere. She glared unpleasantly at the suspicious group of rabbits, then murmured softly.
“…Before she was four, about three times.”
“She must have suffered severely. So you still administered it after seeing that.”
“At the time, in the herbivore territories, it was secretly prevalent as a tonic.”
“Strange, since when had a drug you’d get in Harlem become a tonic?”
She did not respond to Ahin’s sarcasm. It was more accurate to say she could not. Facing those red eyes was so fierce that it naturally made her avert her gaze.
‘Three times….’
Vivi recalled when she had suffered from a severe cold in her childhood. It might have been something easy to forget, but the pain of her body twisting remained vividly. Even the usually cold-hearted maids had crouched down and checked on her several times at that time.
“Did you also administer it to Kyrie Rabian, who was born later?”
“…….”
Aven narrowed her eyes as if examining him. Considering he mentioned Kyrie, he had indeed come after completing all his inquiries. She answered by shaking her head.
“If it’s that, you must have considered it too. Perhaps Vivi’s delayed humanization was due to the side effects of the drug.”
“…I know that all the children of other noble families, who had it administered, safely underwent humanization.”
“I’m sure. Vivi was a special case.”
Because Vivi was focused on the conversation, she did not stop the rabbits from surrounding her all at once.
Suddenly, her vision was covered by fur, and she was squashed among the rabbits.
Perhaps it was their own form of consolation for the drooping Vivi. Maybe it was a protective instinct toward a baby rabbit.
Unfortunately, since beastfolk and animals had different linguistic systems, it was impossible to understand them.
‘It’s okay because I’m not sad.’
Vivi apologized to the fluffy cotton balls and pricked up her ears again.
“I’m grateful that you abandoned Vivi in our territory. That’s why I thought I’d leave the family or whatever alone.”
“…It would have been nice if you had continued not to interfere.”
“Right, if it weren’t for the drug, I might not have wanted to kill you. After all, you are Vivi’s parent.”
Aven did not fail to understand that each of Ahin’s words, laced with a hint of laughter, was genuine. Beneath her palms, which she brought together as if composed, sweat was already soaking through.
Meanwhile, the same thought made Vivi’s back break out in goosebumps. The disposal of the Rabian family. It was the reason why Ahin had firmly torn her away and gone off to rabbit territory.
“If you, as so-called nobles, locked yourselves tightly in your mansion, killing you would be troublesome.”
Ahin, exhausted from doing something he usually did not do, rotated his stiff neck. Because compared to the panther territory, the rabbit territory had troublesome laws and regulations regarding death.
“If you hadn’t tried to take Vivi with you, you wouldn’t have had to face me here.”
Noticing the strange obsession in Ahin’s attitude, Aven steadied her breathing. Since she was Vivi’s parent, there existed the possibility that she could leave this place safely if she utilized that fact.
“I don’t think trying to take my child is such a wrongdoing.”
Recalling Vivi’s purple eyes trembling in the smoke, she quietly added.
“…Vivi did not seem to dislike it either.”
“Shameless.”
“What?”
“If Kyrie Rabian hadn’t died, you wouldn’t have even given her a glance. Right?”
Kyrie…? Unable to continue speaking, Vivi covered her mouth.
Her vision went white as she swallowed her complicated feelings. The news of her younger sibling Kyrie’s death was shocking, yet it felt like a story from a distant land.
The last image of the younger sibling, who wasn’t very close to her, was of him mocking her and poking her with his finger. It was a feeling she couldn’t quite put into words.
But she could understand one thing. The reason Aven wouldn’t let go of Vivi ultimately stemmed from Kyrie’s absence.
Not because she had become human, but out of necessity. Sitting on the ground, Vivi felt her sticky emotions slightly dissipate.
“Vulgar….”
Aven’s chastising voice trembled faintly.
“…Do not speak carelessly of a child’s death.”
“If merely mentioning Kyrie Rabian’s death is slander, then it’s okay for Vivi to end up in a black panther’s stomach?”
Ahin’s remark momentarily made Vivi and Ash feel awkward.
“Enough.”
Annoyed by the conversation circling back like a repeated refrain, Ahin drew his sword.
“I thought if I conversed with the parents of the woman who caught my heart, I might hesitate,”
He sneered. They were people who only straightened their backs, pretending to be noble, with nothing to expect from them at all.
“I guess I can kill without guilt.”
Beastfolk could at times be kinder than humans, or more cruel than beasts.
Ahin felt nauseated thinking that Vivi had lived her whole life amidst that cruelty.
He could not even imagine how she had been treated or how isolated her environment had been.
Vivi was kind and compassionate. If, by some wicked words, they coaxed her back to a similar environment, it would be better not to leave any possibility at all.
“Don’t be resentful. I will send Rabian’s head of house along with you.”
Aven, growing desperate at Ahin’s attitude, forgot her dignity and shouted.
“A, you have not answered my question yet. What do you mean by annihilation of a clan…!”
Glancing at the group of rabbits still watching, Ahin opened his mouth slowly.
“When the flames rose in the rear garden, what was Rabian’s head of house doing instead of looking for you?”
“What….”
“Vivi and you stayed in the rear garden until everyone else evacuated, so what was Rabian’s head of house doing without searching for you? After all, you were his wife and partner.”
Confused, Vivi forgot to hide and stood up, holding onto the rock. How was the fire connected to Rabian’s head of house?
“That is….”
Unable to provide any answer, Aven kept mulling over Ahin’s words.
Rabian’s head of house was originally that kind of person. After prioritizing his own safety, he only looked for Aven when he had to consider the eyes of the evacuated nobles.
But if his absence was related to the fire, the story would change.
It was as if Aven had walked right into reporting the possibility of an artificial fire to the Chief and asking to investigate the family.
Realizing she had made a clumsy mistake out of desperation, Aven’s complexion turned pale.
Ahin had already looked up at the sky, which was about to be cloaked in darkness.
“The flames in the rear garden were actually from an explosion in the document storeroom.”
The document storeroom was a place that stored important documents such as one-year budgets and import/export records of noble families in the rabbit territory.
“Considering the document storeroom burned, isn’t it suspiciously quiet on the Chief Amon’s side?”
Recalling the Chief Amon’s attitude when she testified about the fire—so calm that she only kept asking for cocoa—Aven shuddered inwardly.
She was originally an easygoing person, but you couldn’t judge everything by appearances. Aven’s fingertips, clasped together, turned pale.
Ahin continued speaking, indifferent to her anxiety.
“Setting a fire in the Chief’s residence, let alone during a heavily guarded ball, is nearly impossible. Even if you succeeded, you’d be caught at the exit.”
The blade of his sword, lowered toward the ground, increased Aven’s sense of foreboding.
“Even if it’s the rear garden, doesn’t it seem like the guards were too lax? Lax enough that your escort knight ran around wielding his sword.”
“…No way.”
“They must have turned a blind eye, whether someone set the fire or not. They probably stored all the important documents elsewhere.”
A benevolent smile that would break down anyone’s guard spread across Ahin’s lips. Aven found his contrived smile excessively disquieting.
“What does that… have to do with the fact that Rabian’s head of house didn’t look for me?”
Tilting his head slightly, Ahin measured the situation.
Aven either pretended not to know even though she knew everything, or she really did not know.
And soon, he gave up trying to gauge it. It did not matter which it was.
“I wouldn’t know.”
“What did you say?”
“However, I heard that the side holding the import and export records of commercial families like the Rabian family all got blown away.”
“Are you saying you suspect Rabian’s head of house for something so trivial?”
“Well, maybe the problem isn’t the fire itself, but what comes after. The import and export records he tried to burn remain intact, and Chief Amon will investigate the commercial families using the fire as an excuse.”
If what Ahin said was true, then what came after the fire was indeed the bigger problem. Aven bit her lip.
The import and export records of a commercial family should roughly match the yearly budget they use.
However, since Rabian’s head of house meddled in shady business, the annual budget of the Rabian family was much higher than the import and export records.
Facing Aven, whose complexion had visibly worsened, Ahin smiled brightly.
“There may be many commercial families, but doesn’t Rabian’s head of house have quite a dirty secret? I heard there’s even someone among his children who can handle fire, of all things.”
The downfall of the head of the family meant the downfall of the family. She gritted her teeth, forcing her voice out.
“It is common among the nobles of the rabbit territory to possess pheromones that handle fire. To suspect the Rabian family for just that is nonsensical conjecture.”
“–Chief Amon will be the judge of that. And you, who obtained drugs from Rabian’s head of house in the first place, have no right to call it conjecture.”
“…….”
“Weren’t the goods Kyrie Rabian was transporting also drugs? The place of import was the Endellus region.”
Aven recalled Rabian’s head of house complaining before leaving for the ball, saying that Chief Amon’s side had noticed the smuggling related to Endellus.
Her violet eyes trembled as she looked at Ahin.
Though there was no evidence, she was convinced that the man before her was the one who had provided the information to Chief Amon.
“Although Endellus is a neutral area,”
As Ahin took a step closer, Aven faltered and stepped back.
“It’s under the jurisdiction of the next successor of the lion territory, so once they start digging, it won’t be easy to escape. That person isn’t normal either.”
A blade-like evening breeze penetrated Aven’s body.
“…And Endellus is also under the subjugation of the black panther territory. So you joined hands with Chief Amon.”
“Joined hands might be an overstatement. Instead, I decided to give her you and Rabian’s head of house in exchange for information.”
“W-When you say ‘give,’ you mean….”
“Your heads.”
Instinctively, she touched her neck.
No matter how prestigious the Rabian family might be as a mid-level noble family, if they were torn apart by Chief Amon and then by bigwigs from other territories, there would be no chance of winning.
If they were questioned about the fire as well, it would be the annihilation of the family. If Chief Amon showed mercy, they could at best remain as fallen nobles.
“…If the Rabian family is annihilated, Vivi may also be in trouble.”
“That’s ridiculous, when you haven’t even listed her in the family register.”
“That was because she hadn’t undergone humanization yet…!”
Aven, who spoke recklessly, realized it was a useless excuse. Registering a birth around the time of humanization was just a custom, not a law.
“Vivi doesn’t exist in the rabbit territory. So, whether the Rabian family is annihilated or not, it has nothing to do with her.”
Red eyes gleamed like a starving beast.
Stepping backward, Aven tripped over a stone and fell on her bottom. The sight of the sword’s blade made her knees tremble.
“S-Spare me,”
As Aven’s whole body trembled, she noticed that Ahin’s gaze was directed elsewhere. She followed his gaze and narrowed her eyes.
‘A black panther…?’
A black beast prowled out from between the bushes. It was the black panther that had leapt around Vivi in the rear garden.
‘No way.’
Aven, who had been wandering around looking for Vivi, looked down.
Walking beside the black panther was not the woman she sought, but the baby rabbit she had seen for nearly twenty years.
“Wh-Why did you turn back into a rabbit…?”
Aven was not the only one surprised.
Ahin’s pupils also dilated rarely. Although he had noticed Vivi’s presence at some point, he never imagined she would have turned back into a baby rabbit.
Schwing, he sheathed his sword as Vivi approached.
With quiet steps, she came to a halt at Ahin’s feet.
“I wondered when you would come out.”
Their gazes shifted. Once again, Ahin could not read Vivi’s expression.
“I couldn’t force you out.”
Vivi narrowed her eyes. Ahin, who realized that her coquettish gaze was asking since when he had noticed, became speechless for the first time in a while.
“From about the middle.”
To be precise, it was right after he said the phrase “the woman who caught my heart.” At that time, he had sensed a surge of pheromones triggered by Vivi’s greatly shaken emotions.
After hearing Ahin’s answer, Vivi simply nodded calmly. At her static response, he displayed a rare sign of nervousness.
Ahin had lent a hand in shaking the Rabian family. He also intended to deal with Aven Rabian and the head of the Rabian family, and that thought still remained valid.
However, all of this had been carried out without informing Vivi. Again.
If only Vivi had shown some reaction, he could have responded accordingly. Yet, compared to the situation, she was strangely calm. Even her pheromones, which had been disrupted, were now properly contained, as if she had mastered her emotions.
Though she was close, she felt distant to Ahin, who knelt down on one knee.
“Shall I hold you?”
Because Vivi shook her head, his hand stopped abruptly in midair.
Vivi, who had stepped to the side, looked at Aven, who was slumped behind them. Her mother, once always lofty, had both her appearance and her inner self collapsed.
“…Vivi.”
Aven looked at the rabbit Vivi with a desperation she had never shown before.
From the moment Vivi appeared, the atmosphere of Ahin Grace, which had been so eerie, softened in an instant. Even his characteristic composure vanished under impatience.
Aven’s emaciated hand reached out to Vivi. If by any chance Vivi chose Aven, they might be able to consider a more positive approach than now.
Vivi silently took in Aven’s face, which might be the last time.
‘Let’s go.’
Then, as Vivi turned her back, she tugged on Ahin’s pant leg. Unable to guess her intentions, Ahin followed without a word.
Vivi’s series of actions were excessively quiet. It was to the point where he wondered if she had turned into a real rabbit, not just a beastfolk.
Walking in step, he realized it was a reaction of having completely let go of the thread of affection.
Would that coldness be directed at him as well? Overwhelmed by uncontrollable anxiety, Ahin called out to Vivi, who walked ahead.
“Vivi.”
She, who had been walking diligently, turned her head.
“Are you satisfied with it as it is?”
It was a question about Aven, who had collapsed in a daze.
After pausing and briefly looking back, Vivi soon extended her forepaw toward Ahin.
‘That’s enough now.’
Before she could retract the request to hold her, he quickly picked her up, then glanced sideways awkwardly.
The problem was not Ash, who followed quietly. A whole squad of rabbits, whose origin was unknown, followed in a mass behind them. At a glance, it looked like white cotton balls lined up in a row.
Thinking it would be confusing even if he assigned numbers to them, Ahin moved his steps toward where he had left Jane.
With just her face sticking out of the pouch, Vivi stared blankly ahead.
“You always return to being a rabbit at important moments.”
Ahin spoke in a calm voice, stripped of its chill.
“At least get angry and ask why I acted on my own again.”
“…….”
“I prepared excuses, you know.”
When Vivi tilted her head upward, he deliberately showed the pretty smile she liked.
“If you keep acting like that, I’ll really end up crawling at your feet.”
He was a panther, yet like a fox, he tried to appease her.
Vivi let out a soft sigh and waved her forepaw as if to say she would scold him once they returned home. For the moment, she did not want to think of anything.
Before they knew it, evening had fallen in the forest, and the path ahead looked bluish and dark. Ash, who had sharp night vision, led the way.
“Leave it be. When you wake up, it will be the Grace household.”
Those words pulled Vivi, who was mentally and physically exhausted, into a magical slumber. The moon hung over the heads of Ahin, Ash, and the rabbits, who walked through the forest path.
Vivi, blinking drowsily, looked up at the moon.
It was an evening both relieving and sorrowful, having completely cast aside the castle called Rabian.
* * *
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