The Symbiotic Relationship Between The Rabbit And The Black Panther [EN]: Chapter 10

Returning to Ahin’s bedroom, I wore a determined face.

There’s something here. At this point, it was definitely not something to simply overlook. Not just with Ahin, but even his mother.

‘I smell pheromones.’

‘I sensed a very subtle pheromone from you just now.’

I had heard that beasts have much more developed senses than herbivore-type beastkins. If they suddenly told me they smelled pheromones from me, it might not be a delusion.

Pheromones appear after humanization progresses, but there are always exceptions. Considering I’m still in a baby rabbit form despite being a beastkin, I shouldn’t judge based on typical cases.

‘Even so…’

However, I had no idea how to achieve humanization.

The maids of the household often said while checking on me that I would suddenly become human at some point.

‘Lady Bibi, you’ll just transform with a poof!’

How does that make sense? They say you turn into a human after a fever lasting several hours, but I’ve never seen it or experienced it myself, so it’s just a vague imagination.

Gazing blankly at the air, the past flashed before my eyes like a panorama.

‘It’s utterly shameful. The scandal following me because of you…!’

‘Sister, just give up now. I’ll catch a good rabbit later and put it in our cage with you.’

‘Just do it roughly; Lady Bibi can’t even tell anyway. Can she even speak?’

Humanization. For eighteen long years, the one wish I had repeated with longing and disappointment was ignited once more.

I closed my eyes tightly and focused my mind to feel the pheromones within my body.

And nothing happened.

* * *

Ahin, who had entered the bedroom earlier than usual today, didn’t even change his clothes and immediately placed me on the bed.

Then, he lay down on his stomach and faced me intently. An awkward silence passed for a moment.

“Hey.”

‘Why!’

Why are you staring so intently?

As usual, I only voiced my complaints inwardly and carefully moved my butt backward. His beautiful face was too close, making me uncomfortable.

As soon as I did, he grabbed the back of my neck, immobilizing me, and slowly opened his lips.

“Today, the moron… no, the wolf clan attacked again.”

In that instant, I was dizzy from the fangs right in front of me and squeezed my eyes shut.

“So, I got hurt.”

‘Hurt?’

I wondered if it was a big wound like before, so I opened my eyes slightly.

However, unlike that day, there were no particular bloodstains on the navy blue uniform decorated with silver epaulettes [ornamental shoulder pieces]. Moreover, I didn’t smell any blood either.

Puzzled, I examined him, and Ahin, tilting his head slightly, pointed to his left cheek.

“Here.”

I frowned, staring blankly at his snow-white cheek. It was a scratch that would disappear in a day or two, hardly even a wound.

To talk about something like this as if he had suffered a grand injury… I scoffed in disbelief, and he blinked his red eyes.

“Aren’t you going to heal me?”

‘Why would I?’

Moreover, how could a baby rabbit heal a wound? I waved my forepaws, ridiculing his absurd request.

“Not going to?”

‘Not going to.’

As I continued to ignore him, the smile disappeared from Ahin’s face. Soon after, he got up and snatched the back of my neck, lifting me into the air.

“A rabbit that can’t heal is useless. Ah-”

This crazy beast! Ahin bent his head as if he was really going to eat me.

‘Mommy!’

As the fangs flickered right below me, I panicked and struggled with all my might.

It felt like my hind legs would go into his mouth. Ahin, who had brought my body close to his lips, curved his eyes.

“Do you feel like healing me now?”

Of course. As soon as I quickly nodded, he put me back on the bed. Ahin, leaning down again, offered his cheek.

How am I supposed to heal this? As I stared at the red mark in embarrassment, Ahin’s eyebrows furrowed as if displeased. It was nothing short of a silent urging.

‘I’ll heal it, I’ll try to heal it!’

Shaking my head, I looked back and forth between my forepaws and the red mark.

To try to swallow this Bibi in one bite, I wanted to blow my forepaw to make another scratch.

‘This is awkward.’

How am I supposed to satisfy this crazy guy’s request? No matter how much I thought about it, there was no way for a four-legged baby rabbit to apply medicine.

As I was lost in thought, Ahin’s eyebrows twitched again, so I quickly went over and licked the wound slightly.

Of course, the wound wouldn’t be healed, but this was the best I could do in my current form.

He made a blank expression for a moment at the sudden action and straightened his head.

“Is this healing?”

Then what exactly do you want from me? Do you really want to get hit with my forepaw?

As I stared in bewilderment, Ahin’s face gradually became subtle. It felt like we were misunderstanding each other.

Soon, he straightened up from his prone position and let out a dissatisfied breath.

“Well…”

The red eyes that slowly moved were fixed on me. After staring at me for a moment, Ahin smiled crookedly and stroked the scratched area.

“This isn’t bad either.”

He muttered incomprehensible words, got up, and walked towards the bathroom.

He suddenly told me to heal the wound, and now he doesn’t need me anymore. With a dumbfounded face, I kicked the arrogant black panther’s back.

‘Despicable beast!’

If I didn’t do even this petty revenge, I felt like I would get sick.

* * *

Ever since that day in the rose garden, Ahin’s mother always had tea time at the time I went for a garden stroll.

Thanks to that, the strange tea time with her, not the garden stroll, became one of my daily routines.

“The weather is nice.”

‘It is.’

I closed my eyes slightly, feeling the gentle breeze. The sky was clear without a single cloud, and the scent of roses scattered in the wind created a peaceful atmosphere.

At first, Ahin’s mother, who was the head of the family and had fangs, was very uncomfortable, but as the meetings continued, it wasn’t a difficult time.

Even if I just chewed on the hay she offered, she praised me, saying things like, ‘You’re amazing,’ ‘You’re wonderful,’ and so on.

Moreover, thanks to her often speaking to herself, I was able to gather quite a lot of information.

For example, Ahin had his coming-of-age ceremony this year. I was always busy averting my gaze from his fangs, but when I thought about it, he had a subtle appearance somewhere between a boy and a young man.

As I was lost in thought, looking at the air, I continued to hear a gentle voice.

“How cute, the way your mouth is moving is very cute.”

“Baby, put out your forepaws.”

“Try to eat this.”

Thanks to her efforts, I was getting plump day by day.

Ahin, who knew about the existence of tea time, even turned my body over and spouted nonsense, calling me a pig rabbit.

Ahin’s mother introduced herself as Valence Grace and ordered me to call her Valence-nim [a respectful title in this context]. Of course, even though I couldn’t speak.

‘Grace?’

I had a strange sense of déjà vu with the name Grace, but if she was a noble of the powerful black panther territory, there was a high possibility that I had heard it somewhere.

“Try eating this too.”

Valence-nim’s expression became subtle for a moment as she watched me eat the chef’s masterpiece, handmade hay.

She immediately reached out and suddenly turned my body upside down.

“…Baby.”

Her voice was lower than usual, so I flinched and looked at her. Valence-nim, who was stroking the area around my neck with her finger, opened her mouth again.

“After holding your breath for a moment, try to press the blood vessels in your body.”

Hold my breath and press my blood vessels?

I didn’t know the meaning, but her expression was so stern that I stopped breathing as instructed. As I quietly concentrated, I felt a strange energy swirling within my body.

‘What, what is this?’

It was a strange feeling I had never experienced before. Was she telling me to suppress this energy? Recalling the ambiguous words, I just gave strength to the point where blood rushed to my face.

After a moment, I heard her voice, which had become somewhat more lenient.

“You’re clever. You’ve managed it well.”

The outstretched index finger gently stroked my head. Receiving the praising touch, I pondered the energy I had felt in my body just now.