The Symbiotic Relationship Between The Rabbit And The Black Panther [EN]: Chapter 13

It was an unusually heavily guarded day at the mansion. The knights’ gazes, already fierce, were even sharper, and the employees seemed more rigid than usual.

Ahin left the bedroom earlier than usual, and Valence also informed me that pheromone practice would be impossible today due to his schedule.

Moreover, Meimi suggested a walk towards the small pond in the back garden, rather than the rose garden near the main gate, which she usually recommended. It couldn’t hurt, so I was enjoying the fresh air while crossing the lawn.

‘Is something going on?’

The atmosphere is perfectly peaceful, though. No sooner had I thought that than the nearby guard, with whom I made eye contact, froze.

‘…Huh?’

As I stared in bewilderment, my body suddenly floated into the air. It was a careful lift, but with a strange touch that seemed to avoid me. I wondered if Meimi was holding me, but when I turned around, a beastman I had never seen before was looking down at me.

‘Who is this?’

He was the first man I had seen since coming to this mansion. His navy blue clothes and appearance were too luxurious for him to be an employee.

As I looked up at his light pink hair and golden eyes, I wondered if he might be a herbivore beastman.

Ox beastmen generally have such beautiful golden eyes, after all.

Once I got that far in my thoughts, I felt a strange sense of familiarity.

‘But why?’

Why is a herbivore beastman in a mansion full of black panthers? But then again, it was difficult to explain my own existence roaming around this garden.

‘Is he a visitor?’

With a secretly delighted face, I craned my neck. As my curiosity grew, the man who was staring at me suddenly blocked his nose.

“…The black panther scent is overwhelming.”

‘He’s not a herbivore beastman.’

Only then did I snap to my senses and hurriedly look around. The guard knights, who had approached within a certain radius, wore troubled expressions, unable to stop his actions or disregard them. It seemed they couldn’t restrain the man rashly.

‘Why?’

Could he be someone of high status in this mansion, someone I haven’t encountered yet? However, the man’s eyes were not the red eyes typical of black panthers, but a golden color as if gold had been inlaid.

Turning my head again to look at Meimi, she was frowning slightly, just like the guard knights.

‘Me, Meimi!’

I looked back and forth between the man and Meimi, my face pale. Just now, what shone between his lips was definitely a sharp fang.

‘Who is this guy, a beast?’

Since we were in a relationship where we shared daily life, Meimi immediately noticed the silent question and nodded. A beast. Facing her affirmation, my mind went blank.

‘Just where did you come from, you beast.’

Automatically stiffening, I looked up at the man with fearful eyes. His face, which had been so beautiful, now looked like a demon.

Moreover, the man didn’t stop at picking me up, but brought his nose to my neck. I could feel his light breath as if he was searching.

‘What,’

As the unfamiliar breath continued to touch me, warning signals went off in my head. It was a different feeling from when Ahin touched me, a feeling that made all the hairs on my body stand on end.

‘This beast!’

Please. I desperately looked at Meimi and struggled, but it was just a pathetic flailing.

‘Meimi-!’

Meimi’s complexion worsened as our eyes met. After that terrifying moment, the man’s beautiful brow furrowed openly.

“…Why is the black panther’s scent so strong?”

How would I know that? More than that, get rid of those terrible fangs right now! Horrified, I pushed the man’s cheek with my hind legs.

Eventually, when I was about to foam at the mouth, Meimi, unable to watch any longer, opened her mouth.

“Lord Manients, I am sorry, but,”

“Put him down.”

For the first time, I felt grateful for that low, deep voice. Turning my head hastily, Ahin was standing there in a more elegant uniform than usual.

Why did I feel so relieved? Struggling, I reached out my front paws towards Ahin.

“Unexpected. I didn’t know the Grace family raised rabbits.”

“Come here.”

Ignoring the man’s words neatly, Ahin bent down and gestured to me. Fortunately, the man put me down on the floor without much resistance.

‘Ahin!’

Running in one breath, I quickly hid behind Ahin’s pants and kicked my hind legs at the man. It was a timid threat. However, the man didn’t care about my threat and put his hands in his pockets.

“Since when did you develop this hobby?”

‘What’s their relationship?’

At the following words, I looked back and forth between the two beasts with a slightly surprised expression. They seemed to be about the same age, but there was definitely an unpleasant feeling in his voice.

Moreover, if he was using such language to Ahin, that meant he was of similar status to him. However, Ahin, who did not answer that question, picked me up and made a very serious face.

“You’re stained with dirty lion scent.”

‘Li, lion?’

There couldn’t be a more shocking statement. My shaking eyes turned to the man standing behind me. His golden eyes seemed to be the golden eyes unique to lions, not the oxen I had expected. Why are even lions coming and going in a black panther’s mansion?

‘Not here.’

Not here, really. This mansion was definitely not a place where a herbivore beastman could be.

Terrified, I shook my head and clung to Ahin’s fingers. Then his expression became strange. His red eyes, which had been indifferent, even seemed happy for a moment.

“Do you want to go to the lion?”

What nonsense is this? Turning pale, I expressed my intention by drawing an X with my front paws. Before long, Ahin nodded lightly as if he understood.

“Ah, you want to be the lion’s prey?”

He’s been hanging out with Ivelin too much; he’s become so full of nonsense. Speechless, I opened my mouth, and Ahin bent down as if he was really going to put me down.

‘No, no!’

I wanted to shout, but not being able to speak was so frustrating. As if it were a lifeline, I grabbed Ahin’s hand and clung to it, and a smile spread across his neat face. It was a suspicious smile.

“If you want to live, cling on more.”

At the following words, I let go of the finger I was holding with my front paw and sighed. Due to the sudden appearance of the lion, I had forgotten that Ahin was a black panther with a screw loose.

“Aren’t you clinging?”

As if he was sorry that I wasn’t clinging anymore, the laughter disappeared from Ahin’s red eyes. His slightly lowered eyes even looked a little sad, if you exaggerated it.

Would you want to cling on if you were me? As I hesitated and stepped back, the lion’s shoe touched my body. Involuntarily bumping my butt, I hurriedly looked up.

The lion, who had been looking at me unpleasantly, soon curled up his lips mischievously. The seemingly indifferent and boring smile reminded me of the lion’s unique laziness.

“It seems the rabbit likes the dirty lion more than Lord Grace.”

“…That can’t be.”

Ahin, who had hardened his expression menacingly, approached without hesitation. In the tense situation, even the surrounding guard knights froze even more.

Contrary to my worries, he stopped right in front of me and lightly picked me up by the scruff of my neck. Ahin, whom I checked up close, did not have an angry expression, but,

‘……?’

I didn’t know whether to call it serious or to call it sad. It was a face that was hard to judge.

“Philanderer.”

After uttering a reproachful word, Ahin put me in his pocket.

“Just in case, double marriages are prohibited in the black panther territory.”

I don’t know why he’s announcing such a thing as if it’s a serious matter. Before I could figure out his intentions, he turned his steps towards the mansion.

Struggling, I crawled out of my pocket and barely clung to Ahin’s shoulder. Just then, the lion, who was stretching behind me, muttered.

“……Anyway, still a crazy bastard.”

Hearing it clearly, I nodded my head without realizing it and agreed.

That’s right, I don’t really know what he’s thinking. I think it’s a very accurate expression.

* * *

After taking the baby rabbit to the bedroom, Ahin returned to his office and brought his hand to his shirt collar. As he loosened the cravat that was choking his neck, he felt an unfamiliar scent near his fingers, which made him even more uncomfortable.

Rune Manients. That annoying lion had deliberately put his pheromone scent on the rabbit. Rune had been clashing with Ahin over everything since long ago, so it was clear that he had noticed Ahin’s scent on the rabbit and was playing a prank.

‘This has become annoying.’

Sitting at his desk, he opened the documents.

Recently, the wolf clan had been sticking their noses in more and more.

Valence, the leader of the black panther clan, who thought it wouldn’t be bad to prepare for a possible war, sent a letter of alliance to the leader of the lion clan.

As expected, the leader of the lion clan immediately sent a positive reply. Since they had always considered wolves as eyesores, the progress was bound to be fast.

Therefore, Ahin, who was in charge of this alliance, had a full schedule from morning.

Moreover, he was in a bad mood because he didn’t get along well with Rune Manients, the son of the lion clan leader who came to every negotiation. To make matters worse, he even wanted to grind him to dust because he got involved with his rabbit.

“Lord Ahin.”

Ivelin, who had entered the office, came closer and stood.

A thin document was handed to Ahin, who was tapping the desk with his fingers.

“This is the investigation data you requested. We investigated all the former nobles of the rabbit territory, but there were no members or descendants who disappeared from the noble families. In addition, we investigated merchants with good bloodlines, but no one disappeared based on the date Lord Ahin brought the rabbit.”

The document listed the personal information of nobles and merchants in the rabbit territory. Ahin, who roughly flipped through the pile of papers back and forth, burst into a hollow laugh.

“It’s a really suspicious rabbit.”

His attitude didn’t seem disappointed even though he hadn’t found any special information. Ivelin, who had observed his soft reaction, carefully opened her mouth.

“This is just my opinion… Isn’t it possible that the rabbit is not a beastman, but a different race?”

“A different race?”

“Yes. At first, I thought he was a beastman who went back and forth between his true form and human form, but it’s already been a month and he’s still in rabbit form.”

“Well, his appearance hasn’t grown at all. He’s just gotten a little fatter sideways.”

“Thanks to Lord Valence, he’s gotten plump. How about rabbit skewers now?”

Thanks to the fact that the rabbit had pleased Valence for some reason, he was eating a lot of high-quality hay and snacks procured from various places, and he was getting fatter day by day. Ahin, who imagined a chubby rabbit similar to a cotton ball rolling around on the bed, rested his chin.

‘He wasn’t a noble.’

That’s unlikely. Most of the noble titles on the continent are occupied by beastmen with good bloodlines and pheromones. In this situation, it was somewhat questionable that he had a strange pheromone but was not a noble.

Ivelin hadn’t felt it directly yet, but the scent that occasionally leaked from the rabbit was definitely a unique pheromone of beastmen. The scent became stronger when he cried or when his emotions became intense.

‘Clearly that ability is….’

Ahin, who had lowered his red eyes halfway, unconsciously brought his hand to the scar on his back that he had sealed. In particular, the scent that the rabbit emitted when he was in a deep sleep was too subtle to be the pheromone of a herbivore beastman.

Valence, who had reached a high level, immediately noticed it and paid attention to the rabbit. The better the bloodline of a beast, the more sensitive it is to pheromones and other scents.

Besides, if it went as expected, the rabbit’s ability was the kind that all the beastmen on the continent would covet.

“Lord Ahin.”

A determined voice echoed through the office. Ahin, who raised his gaze, looked at her questioningly, and Ivelin clenched her fist with a very serious face.

“I will directly interrogate the rabbit to find out his identity.”

“If you do that, he might really hate you.”

“I see.”

Recently, Ivelin’s biggest interest was definitely the rabbit. It seemed that the rough reaction that came back every time she teased him was quite enjoyable. Thus,

‘Rabbit. Please don’t go to the dining room during meal times if possible. You might end up on the table.’

‘Rabbit. How could you spill the hay bowl I prepared for you!’

‘The chef says that the best way to cook a rabbit is to roast it whole.’

Due to such atrocities, the rabbit now shuddered whenever Ivelin appeared.

Moreover, not long ago, he was carrying around a book called 「Everything About Herbivore Animal Cuisine」, and the rabbit, who saw him, became enraged and tore it to shreds.

Ahin knew for the first time then that a baby rabbit could do such a rough thing.

Ahin’s red eyes, recalling the angry paw movements, turned to Ivelin.

“Ivelin, you’re quite twisted.”

Now the rabbit snorts whenever he sees Ivelin, so he must have already become an object of hatred. He sent a glance with that meaning, and Ivelin felt wronged for some reason.

“I don’t want to hear such an evaluation from my lord.”

“Say it again.”

“Lord Ahin is the source of everything and the light to me. Besides,”

“Shut.”

“Yes.”

Satisfied with the silence that came in an instant, Ahin buried himself deeply in the chair.

Looking up at the air, he suddenly recalled the moment when he first picked up the baby rabbit. Two beastmen in black clothes, the kind that anyone who wasn’t honest would wear, were carrying a basket.

‘It’s the first time I’ve been ordered to abandon my child to a beast.’

‘Well, there are rumors that he’s an illegitimate child.’

‘We have to take it deep enough so there are no problems later.’

‘They ordered us to make sure he dies at the hands of the black panthers.’

To let him die at the hands of the black panthers means that he’s a discarded card anyway. Recalling the conversation they had, Ahin licked his lips without realizing it.

Ivelin, who saw him, was nervous inside. Her superior with that face always did bad things.

“Lord?”

Ahin, who had woken up from his thoughts, moved his gaze from the air to Ivelin. Then the corners of his lips twisted mischievously.

“Ivelin, if anyone shows up looking for that rabbit.”

“Yes.”

Ahin, who stretched out his hand, tapped the map on the desk. The place where his fingertips were located was the forest on the border connecting the rabbit territory and the black panther territory.

“Kill them.”

* * *