The Symbiotic Relationship Between The Rabbit And The Black Panther [EN]: Chapter 19

Rabbit and Black Panther Symbiosis 19

Frustrated, I poked my head out of Ahin’s pocket. I was almost used to being carried around in his pocket.

I looked up at his even more striking beauty today, then glared at Evelyn, who was following behind. I still hadn’t shaken off the anger from earlier.

“Ahin, the rabbit is glaring at me with sharp eyes.”

“Bibi, glare at me too.”

I just wished this duo would be quiet. Annoyed, I turned my gaze forward. Taking a deep breath, I finally took in the scenery.

‘There’s a separate ballroom.’

I thought I had explored every corner during our garden stroll, but the path we were currently walking on was unfamiliar. Although the situation was absurd, I was also curious about the ball, as it was my first time.

‘If Ahin comes with me, who will be Valence’s partner?’

Lost in thought, I suddenly wondered about Valence. Was it because she was the head of the family that she didn’t need a partner?

Come to think of it, I hadn’t seen Ahin’s father even once since arriving here. Reaching a less than pleasant conclusion, I clutched Ahin’s jacket with a heavy heart.

“Bibi?”

In the territory of beasts, it wouldn’t be strange for anyone to die at any time. I felt sorry for presuming to understand his unspoken pain.

Of course, Ahin tilted his head, not understanding my feelings.

“What’s wrong?”

“Perhaps she is urging you to hurry.”

Evelyn, please be quiet. I pointed at him with my front paw, filled with reproach, and he stroked his chin in agreement.

“You’ve even learned how to command. I’m deeply moved.”

Ah. If I continued to deal with him, I felt like I would get a headache from the stress. As I put my front paw back in and became quiet, Evelyn glanced at me and began to speak.

“Ahin, may I ask why you chose the rabbit as your partner?”

For once, a normal question came out of his mouth. I was also curious about the reason, so I perked up my ears.

Among the beastmen who had all undergone humanization, why specifically choose a rabbit as a partner? It seemed even Evelyn had difficulty understanding that part.

“If I have a partner, I don’t have to dance.”

It was a clear answer, but in the end, it was no different from claiming he would slack off using the rabbit as an excuse.

Both Evelyn and I realized this at the same time and gave him a dumbfounded look. It was almost the first time we agreed on something.

* * *

Eventually, we arrived in front of a magnificent iron gate that was hard to describe. The gate, covered in red velvet, was so imposing that I doubted even a beastman’s strength could open it.

Unlike the rabbit territory, which was rich in crops, the black panther territory was full of wealth and riches. Seeing this gate, I realized it anew.

“We greet the next head of the family.”

The knights who recognized Ahin opened the gate without even going through the identification process.

As the interior was revealed, I saw a splendid chandelier and countless beastmen.

As I stared blankly at the scene, a faint scent brushed past my nose, and I froze.

‘Hey, did you know? The young master of the Gleta family has caught the eye of our fourth young lady.’

‘What? Where?’

‘Where else but at the Lord’s birthday banquet last month.’

Based on the maids’ conversations that always followed the ball, this place was not only a place for socializing but also a place to find a partner.

That’s why they were not only wearing splendid attire but also subtly releasing pheromones. Pheromones could create a kind of sexual attraction.

Therefore, the current scent was nothing more than an aggregate of the pheromones subtly released by the beastmen. No sooner had I realized this than the area near my heart began to tighten, just like last time.

“In the next leader’s pocket….”

“Is it a doll?”

“No, it seems to be a living rabbit….”

The commotion grew louder with each step Ahin took. I felt like I was receiving the most attention I had ever received in my life, inside the ballroom.

Because of Ahin’s status, it wasn’t overt, but I could feel most eyes were on me in his pocket.

In fact, the situation had been twisted since the gatekeeper announced the entrance of Ahin Grace and the rabbit. Why on earth? He could have just said Ahin’s name. Why did he have to say it?

I didn’t even need to look to know Ahin had ordered it. Compared to me, who was only sighing, he walked leisurely, cheerfully saying, “Bibi, is this your first time seeing the tiger clan?” as if he were giving me a tour of the beasts.

‘That jerk….’

Swallowing my bitter words, I only peeked my eyes and ears out of his pocket. The ballroom was full of beastmen who looked like predators to anyone.

The bigger problem was that since entering this place, I had been feeling strangely nauseous. But it wasn’t so bad that I couldn’t stand it.

Everyone else didn’t seem to react to the pheromones, so was it just me who was weird?

“Agatha.”

While lost in various thoughts, I heard a languid yet welcome voice.

‘Valence.’

She, wearing a blue dress, cut through the layers of people. I carefully looked around, but I still couldn’t see the beastman presumed to be Ahin’s father.

Facing Valence, who had her silver hair up, I suddenly looked back and forth between her and Ahin. It was the first time seeing them together, but when I compared them, their atmospheres seemed subtly different.

“I heard you almost had a big accident. I was away on business and only returned this morning, so I’m only seeing you now.”

‘Thank you for your concern.’

Unable to reply, I took my front paw out of his pocket as a sign of response. Then, she slowly approached and touched her finger to it.

“Mother, you’re too close.”

A low voice rang out from above as the distance became quite close.

“I don’t like touching you either, Ahin. How could you let a wolf commit suicide? Your handling of things is not good.”

“The place that allowed the wolf’s intrusion was also your mansion, Mother.”

To others, they were smiling brightly, but the conversation that passed between the two beastmen was far from friendly. I even felt an invisible electric current sparking.

‘Are they… not on good terms?’

Looking back and forth, I gave up trying to understand their inner thoughts.

From the start, Valence didn’t seem to mind Ahin bringing me to the ball. Or perhaps she was used to this level of eccentricity because of Ahin’s personality. It seemed closer to the latter.

“Agatha.”

Choosing to ignore him, Valence flicked Ahin’s shoulder with her fan and curved her eyes. Somehow, it overlapped with the smile Ahin always wore.

“I have personally hung the head of the wolf who chased you in front of the main gate. It will be a warning.”

‘Pardon?’

Unlike her gentle expression, the content was brutally violent. Her openly raised voice caused the surrounding beastmen to stir.

Soon, I even heard murmurs like, “The thing hanging in the cage… was the head of the wolf clan,” proving it was true.

‘The main gate… the head of a wolf on the main gate?’

Hanging something like that at the entrance of a noble family’s mansion? Imagining the severed head hanging, my face turned pale.

Moreover, because she described it as the wolf who chased me, the beastmen’s gazes focused on me. In a way, it was like a warning that messing with this rabbit wouldn’t be fun.

The commotion became strangely intense. Standing at the center of the horrified gazes, I endlessly struggled between gratitude and fear.

* * *

The night of the banquet deepened. Even after that, many eyes lingered, but the nobles didn’t dare approach Ahin.

Was it because he twirled around to the melody as if he were waltzing with me? Or was it because he piled a lot of hay on the banquet plate?

Just looking at those two things, I could predict that the nobles were deliberately avoiding him. If I were them, I would feel that there was nothing good to get involved with and would stay as far away as possible.

‘He’s the real deal.’

To carry out such eccentric behavior even at a ball where nobles were watching. The spinning wasn’t dancing but perhaps Ahin’s mind.

I, with my chin resting on the edge of his pocket, took a thin breath. Ahin’s behavior was a problem, but since earlier, a strange anxiety had been smoldering from the tips of my toes.

I felt nauseous like before, but it wasn’t as suffocating. Still, since my condition wasn’t good, I thought it would be better to return to the bedroom.

‘Left front paw in case of emergency.’

‘Right is good for Ahin.’

The fact that I had decided on a signal with Ahin in my complicated mind came to mind. It would be better to get out of here.

The moment I wiggled my front paw to call him, a monotonous voice was heard.

“The tiger clan mostly has blue eyes. The hyena clan has black eyes. Understand the power structure.”

Looking up, Ahin had the same ceremonial smile as usual. He nodded his chin to where two beastmen were chatting.

Blue eyes and black eyes. Looking closely, I felt that the hyena beastman was taking a rather submissive stance.

“The tiger territory is a place where weapons thrive. On the other hand, the hyena territory, which is nearby, is far behind in minerals and smelting, so naturally, a hierarchical relationship is formed between the territories.”

It was the first time I was encountering this fact, so I leaned out and watched them. The further away from the rabbit territory, the more lacking the information was.

“In particular, hyena beastmen are easy to distinguish externally. They generally have dark skin.”

Indeed, the hyena beastmen, with their black eyes and skin, were the easiest to identify among the beastmen in the banquet hall.

He, who was located on the outskirts, also told me the characteristics of several other clans. As I shifted my gaze according to his explanation and observed, I wondered why he was pointing out these facts.

‘Why?’

The suppressed suspicion raised its head. As time passed, Ahin was treating me as more than just a baby rabbit.

‘Why to me?’

There was no part that would help me even if I taught me this information. As I quietly looked up at him, red eyes that had been slowly wandering inside the hall reached me.

Ahin, whose clear smile had disappeared, sometimes had an emotionless face. An expression that was even harder to read than when he was smiling.

Facing that turbid face, I felt a tension as if a sharp blade was aimed at my neck.

“Bibi.”

My body flinched at the voice that broke the silence. At the same time, the suffocating tension collapsed. Ahin, who had already erased his insensitive expression, tapped my nose.

“What if the pocket tears because it’s too heavy?”

‘…I’m going to bite you.’

That wicked black panther, I will definitely bite you. Just as I was about to open my mouth with a new resolution, a presence arose.

“Lord Grace, it’s been a while.”

In front of me was a beautiful beastman with long hair the same color as her vermilion eyes. She was a very brave young lady who spoke to Ahin even in the strange atmosphere of avoiding him. Perhaps thinking the same, the pupils of the nobles standing far away trembled.

“To bring a pet as a partner, you’re still a charming person.”

As her red lips opened, her fangs sparkled.

Instinctively cowering, I only peeked my eyes out of his pocket and watched her. I thought it wasn’t charm but a screwball behavior, but after all, words depend on how you package them.

“It would be nice if you could visit our fox territory sometime. I feel bitter every time you refuse.”

“I’m worried I’ll become food for the fox if I go.”

“It would be even better if you became mine.”

She spoke in a subtle tone and scanned Ahin with a slipping gaze.

“I refuse.”

Words that were hard to understand from the perspective of a herbivorous beastman came and went. Moreover, as the conversation continued, a thick pheromone flowed out of her.

A dense kind with sexual meaning. As I inadvertently inhaled it, my head throbbed for a moment. I swallowed my breath and quickly blocked my nose with my front paw.

“I’ll look forward to the next time.”

The conversation didn’t last very long. As she finished her greetings and moved away, Ahin slowly explained.

“That was the fox clan. Since polygamy is common in their territory, she already has five husbands.”

‘F-Five people?’

Five husbands, amazing. Shocked, I stared at her receding figure for a long time.

As I watched her until she completely disappeared into the crowd, I felt suffocated again.

Even this time, the pain was so great that my body bent on its own. Struggling, I desperately raised my right front paw.

“What’s wrong?”

Ahin, who faced the signal, took me out of his pocket and asked. As I struggled on his palm, I urgently pointed to the floor. Let me down, please.

“…Bibi?”

Unexpectedly, Ahin quickly noticed my intention and bent down to lower me. Finally, my four feet touched the ground. As soon as the hard sensation touched my feet, I started running like crazy.

“Bibi!”

Ahin’s cry was heard from behind.

“Oh my!”

“What’s going on?”

The surprised nobles lifted their feet in confusion, but there was no time to look back. Crossing the hall in an instant, I ran to the open door that was right in front of me.

Fortunately, the connected hallway had the lamp lights on, so I could secure my vision. Forcibly suppressing the nausea, I ran down the hallway without rest.

‘Could it be….’

Could it be, could it be. Impossible hypotheses kept dominating my mind.

Thud, I entered any door that was barely open and collapsed to the floor. The pheromones were raging as if they were pounding all over my body, just like last time.

It wasn’t this bad even at the start of the banquet, but it must have been after I came into contact with the pheromones deliberately released by the fox beastman.

Unable to endure the extreme pain, I writhed and struggled. The intensity of the pain was even worse than last time.

‘Ugh.’

Tears welled up in my eyes. Crouched down and panting, I blinked several times as my vision blurred. Blink, blink, white hair was cast over my split vision.

All the energy in my body was drained, and I just blinked while lying on my side. White hair was scattered haphazardly on the cold marble floor. As I stared blankly at it, I gradually felt the pain subside.

‘White….’

My mother and Kyrie also had hair of that color. I couldn’t help but envy them when they neatly combed or braided it.

It was so clear that it seemed to shine even in the lamp light, and as I looked at it, I unconsciously reached out my front paw. Then, again, a hand of someone I didn’t know filled my vision.

Moreover, the soft touch of the hair that touched my front paw was so vivid. The moment I realized that fact, all my thought circuits stopped.

‘Hand…? Touch…?’

Why did that unknown hand feel like mine? Why?

After being frozen for several seconds, I got up and grabbed the white hair. Then, below, I saw human-specific limbs and torso that should never be there.

As I groped and stroked my body, I felt goosebumps due to the curves and sensations that were transmitted.

‘No, no. Let’s get a grip.’

A human body, it’s really an impossible thing. I almost fainted, but I kept shaking my head and looked around the room.

The lamp was on, but there were only a few pieces of furniture, perhaps because it was not in use. My wandering gaze stayed on the mirror standing in the corner.

As I hurriedly got up, my legs suddenly gave way, and I collapsed. I felt a stinging pain in my bent bones. Instinctively stroking my legs, I looked down at my hand with trembling pupils.

‘H-Hand!’

There were as many as five fingers. It was a sight I had never dreamed of.

In the end, I crawled across the room. I couldn’t walk on two legs right now. I had been running on all fours all my life.

Gathering all my strength, I barely reached the mirror, and a woman I had never seen before was there. She looked about eighteen, Ahin’s age.

Staring blankly, I slyly reached out my front paw towards the mirror. Then, the woman in the mirror also stretched out her arm according to my movement. The same action caused a momentary feeling of dread.

‘Ack!’

Reflexively slapping the mirror, the woman also widened her eyes with a frightened face. My front paw throbbed because I hit the hard surface.

‘…A human,’

The lips under the round nose trembled. Sitting down and staring, I soon faced the unbelievable reality.

‘I’ve become a human.’

The purple eyes of the woman in the mirror trembled finely.

* * *