The Symbiotic Relationship Between The Rabbit And The Black Panther [EN]: Chapter 32

The Symbiotic Relationship Between a Rabbit and a Black Panther 4 (32/75)

What to do. Sitting politely on the sofa in the study, I looked at the groaning old gentleman with concern.

According to Mayme, the old gentleman was Lilian Payant, Ahin’s grandfather.

Unfortunately, Ahin was out of the mansion on an outside schedule. And I’ve upset this man’s feelings and made him sick.

On the one hand, I felt wronged, and on the other hand, I was worried that it might be too much for his aging body.

I guess I’d faint if Ash was reading a book one day.

Imagining that far, I got up restlessly and touched the back of his hand.

‘Grandfather, wake up.’

Soon, the eyes under the white eyebrows narrowed. A very displeased light settled over the red eyes, unique to the Black Panther clan.

“It’s the end of the world, not only am I being cared for, but it’s a rabbit that understands me.”

Realizing that he had no goodwill towards me, I quietly stepped back.

“…What on earth are you? You’re really suspicious.”

There was no way to explain. He blinked his wrinkled eyelids and turned his gaze to Mayme.

“You explain instead.”

“…Ahin-nim’s,”

“If you don’t tell the truth, your head will fall off.”

As if choosing her words carefully, Mayme slowly opened and closed her mouth.

“He told me you were emergency rations.”

“Yes, I knew he wouldn’t announce it properly with his personality.”

“……”

“Thanks to that guy, my life is getting shorter day by day. What do you think this ominous thing is and are serving it?”

“That’s…”

As Mayme couldn’t answer properly, a sigh mixed with lamentation floated in the air.

“Oh my, when the owner is missing a screw, even the confidants follow suit. I knew it from that guy Rudd Evlin.”

I, who was at the center of the criticism, kept looking around. He straightened his body, which had been buried in the sofa, with his hand on his forehead. Each movement was imbued with long experience and authority.

“There’s a very unpleasant smell mixed with Ahin’s scent, but most demi-humans wouldn’t have noticed it. Are you a demi-human?”

“No, I’ve always been a baby rabbit.”

“…It’s hard to see you as a demi-human from your appearance. Are you the rabbit that danced the waltz with Ahin?”

Waltz…? As I pondered the incomprehensible words, I soon remembered the fact that I had been spinning around dizzyingly with Ahin at the ball.

As I nodded slightly, the grandfather’s complexion turned even paler.

“There’s nothing else to do, so you’re bringing in such a suspicious creature…!”

At that moment, due to his agitated voice, Ash, who had been kicked out of the study, was heard scratching at the door, groaning.

It’s noisy! The grandfather’s red eyes, who shouted again, glared sharply.

“He’s a guy who doesn’t know when or how he’ll be, but he’s thinking of leaving descendants. He’s really lawless!”

The coarse voice made my eardrums ring. Before I could even grasp the meaning of the words, he turned to Mayme.

“Where is Ahin? Bring him here right now.”

“He is at the Grand Temple with the head of the family to attend the temple festival. He is scheduled to return before dinner.”

“It’s the temple festival today. It’s good because there are plenty of priests. Call the servant and get the carriage ready.”

“I’m sorry, but where are you going?”

“I’m going to the temple with this rabbit.”

In an instant, Mayme’s pupils vibrated thinly. Before I could even be surprised, I was grabbed by the scruff of my neck and lifted up.

“If I show it to even a mid-level priest, I’ll be able to find out its identity. My grandson would have been playing around with it, saying it’s amazing without even needing to see it.”

The grandfather’s unstoppable momentum made my toes curl up.

‘No way.’

A temple, I gathered my front paws earnestly while being held in the air.

“Huh, gee.”

The grandfather, who took a breath, immediately began to prepare to go outside.

Since the temple judges whether a creature is a demi-human or whether it is good or evil, he was definitely planning to show me to the priest, just like Ahin did at first.

‘Mayme!’

I looked back at Mayme, kicking my feet. Her stoic face was unusually tinged with embarrassment.

It seemed even more difficult to stop her because she was a member of the Grace family, not another clan. If she, a mere maid, intervened wrongly, her head might fall off.

As I decided to run away on my own, my face turned pale. What the servant brought behind the grandfather was none other than a small basket made of straw.

‘Just a little further and it’s the Black Panther’s territory.’

‘Let’s get rid of it quickly.’

The voices I never wanted to recall echoed in my ears. A distant nightmare came to mind and I twisted my whole body.

‘I hate it.’

I hate it, I hate it! I shook my body, clenching my teeth, but it was not enough to escape from his strong hands.

“Put it in.”

The moment I was moved from the grandfather’s hand, I bit the servant’s finger tightly.

Please let me go, just pretend you dropped me on the floor.

As I chewed with my front teeth, a hint of hesitation appeared in the servant’s eyes. The longer the hesitation, the more the servant’s hand holding me trembled slightly.

“What are you doing, hurry up!”

“Lilian-nim.”

Thud, at that moment, Mayme prostrated herself on the floor so that her forehead touched the floor.

“Although it is an impolite request, please wait only until Ahin-nim returns.”

A cold silence lingered in the large study where only me, the grandfather, the servant, and Mayme were present.

‘Mayme….’

Looking down at her round, bent back, my heart ached. Sadly, if I could have said even one word, Mayme wouldn’t have had to take such a posture. The tears I had been holding back finally fell.

“You…!”

The grandfather’s eyes, which had been looking down with a dumbfounded look, widened. It was because pheromones were flowing out of me, who was emotionally agitated.

“What is this!”

At the same time, the pheromones he pulled up began to cover my body. And then, a distant blackout.

* * *

My stomach ached as if someone was squeezing my internal organs. Mayme, who had fallen to the floor, came into my dizzy vision.

Cough, cough, after repeating a dull cough, I crawled clumsily to her side.

‘She’s asleep.’

Fortunately, she was only in a deep sleep when I looked at her up close.

After confirming Mayme’s breathing, which was rising and falling in various colors, I rubbed my legs. It’s cold. The coldness of the marble floor was very cold.

My blank gaze reached Ahin’s grandfather, who was sprawled on the sofa. Snoring, he was also falling into a deep sleep, and the servant who had fallen on the opposite side was also muttering in his sleep.

‘To turn into a human here….’

When I unknowingly used pheromones, it was clear that the grandfather, who noticed it, also pulled up pheromones to defend himself.

Although he didn’t use it directly on me, I ended up being affected and turned into a human.

However, the fact that everyone fell asleep like this meant that my pheromones suppressed his pheromones.

‘Could it be that my pheromones are stronger than grandfather’s….’

A chilling cold swept over me and I wrapped my arms around myself. Fortunately, perhaps because I had poured Ahin’s pheromones into my body before, the pheromones in my body did not fluctuate greatly.

“Ash, please stay still.”

As I was checking my pheromones, I suddenly held my breath. I heard the voice of a guard knight whispering to Ash outside the study.

“Please understand, now that Lilian-nim has sent you out, you can’t go in.”

Looking around, I hurriedly approached the servant.

“Hmph.”

After struggling to lift him up, I snatched his jacket and crammed my body into it as if I was crumpling it up. However, my bare skin was still barely visible between the feathers.

‘…Sorry.’

Approaching the servant again, I untied the belt and pulled it tightly.

‘Is it done?’

When I tightened the belt around my waist, it turned into clothes that looked a little more like clothes.

Anxiously groping my body, I went to Mayme’s side and sat down with my legs bent. Her forehead was red because she had hit the floor so hard earlier.

“Mayme, wake up.”

I whispered softly and slightly lifted her closed eyelids.

“…Mayme?”

Even if I lifted the other eyelid, only the whites of her eyes responded. Perhaps because she was deeply invaded by pheromones, she showed no signs of waking up at all.

‘Please wake up…!’

Even if I lifted both eyelids at the same time, Mayme remained silent.

What should I do about this? Feeling helpless, I anxiously looked back at the entrance to the study.

If I leave that door, what should I say to the guard knight I see right away? Maybe he’ll understand if I explain it step by step.

I’m the rabbit-nim who greeted you in the morning, and I’m actually a demi-human. And the people here are the ones I put to sleep. Then, if I cover it up with a smile….

‘A spear will be aimed at my neck right away.’

With Ahin and even Valence away, the mansion would be turned upside down.

As I habitually curled up and continued to imagine, I glanced at the grandfather. What kind of dagger-like words will I hear if I run into him in this state?

There was nothing wrong with what he said. I’m already turning nineteen, and I’m probably the only demi-human on the continent who hasn’t undergone humanization [reaching full human form] at this age.

It was unusual for the people in the mansion, who looked at me suspiciously, to treat me kindly as Rabbit-nim. Before coming to the Grace family, the grandfather’s behavior was a common reaction.

Well, it may have been a semi-compulsory favor due to Ahin. Still, seeing how sad I am, I can feel that I have been treated quite well for the past few months.

If Ahin and Evlin hadn’t bared their fangs, it would have been peaceful days… well, not really.

Black panthers and lions, foxes and wolves.

‘It was a difficult… and fierce day.’

I smacked my lips and looked around the study. If I use pheromones again, I can go back to being a rabbit, but I don’t want to do that now that I’ve become a human with difficulty.

The top priority is to hide without being caught until Ahin returns.

Staggering, I got up and moved towards the terrace. As I stepped out onto the open terrace, the sunlight stung my face.

‘It’s the third floor, what am I going to do out here?’

Wouldn’t it be better to hide under the bookshelf in the study?

I vaguely looked at the railing and hurriedly lowered my body. It was because I realized that it was impossible to hide under the bookshelf too late.

Crawling like a turtle, I looked down. Since the study terrace was open in a direction where there were few people, the only people passing by were the occasional gardener and employee.

‘…What should I do.’

If I stay in the study like this and the grandfather wakes up, who knows what kind of trouble will happen….

As I looked down with only my eyes showing, my eyes suddenly widened. It was because I met the eyes of a man I knew well.

“Go…!”

“To…!”

Oops.

The man and I, who blocked our mouths at the same time, looked around cautiously, surveying the deserted area.

It was a reunion with the demi-human who looked like a gorilla who helped me in Endelus.

* * *

The wheel caught on a stone and vibrated greatly.

Wrapped in straw, I sat with my knees together and looked up. The lid of the cart opened slightly as light leaked in.

“Rabbit, please bear with it even if it’s stuffy.”

Lil’s unusually clear eyes were cast through the gap.

“I’m okay.”

I can handle it. I waved my hand with determined eyes. Nevertheless, he looked down at me worriedly and quickly closed the lid.

“Lil, I’m off work now. Jane seems to be in a particularly bad mood, so go and check on her.”

“Of course, please take care of yourself.”

“Okay, let’s do well in the future.”

Lil, who greeted someone, pushed the cart vigorously.

He continued to talk to himself whenever there was no one around, in case I was scared.

As I listened to the story, I wiped my eyes, feeling a sense of sadness. It was because Lil had a heartbreaking story that was hard to hear without tears.

He wanted to get a job at a rabbit farm, so he went to a job placement agency, but he was sent to a drug trafficking business because of his appearance. He was working as a low-level henchman and couldn’t quit easily.

Then, he got a chance and became an employee of the Grace family…. He supported Mayme as a rabbit’s assistant, but it was a happy and sad ending that he was assigned to the stable without a word.

I knew that he had come to the Grace family with me, but Ahin never mentioned him, whether intentionally or not, so I was hearing the details for the first time.

“Now, stick your head out. No one wants to go where Jane is.”

I removed the pile of straw and stuck my face out, tilting the cart lid.

“Who is Jane?”

“She is Ahin-nim’s black horse. She has a very fierce personality and doesn’t easily allow access because she has something similar to cleanliness. She hates the smell of people.”

“She resembles her owner.”

“There is such a tendency… Oh my gosh, what a slip of the tongue!”

Lil, who was startled, blocked his mouth with a hand as big as a pot lid. Pretending not to hear, I turned my gaze forward.

Behind the refined fence, a glossy black horse raised its chin and sent an arrogant look.

‘Indeed.’

Look at the look that says her own private stable is natural. Her fur, which seemed to have undergone all sorts of care, even had a sheen, and she had a precious jewel on her neck at first glance.

‘Why are you glaring?’

Feeling the need to suppress her, I tilted my chin. Thanks to dealing with Ash, the horse, a herbivore, was no match for this Bibi-nim [a respectful title, like ‘Miss’].

“Oh my….”

While I was in the middle of a staring contest, Lil, who picked me up and took me out of the cart, looked embarrassed. It seemed to be because of the legs that were clearly exposed under the servant’s jacket.

“I’ll go get you some clothes, so wait here for a moment. Jane won’t cross the fence, so as long as you don’t get close, you’ll be fine. Never go near her, you’ll get seriously hurt if you get kicked in the back.”

“I’ll wait quietly. Or should I go back to the cart?”

“Yes, that would be better… No, I’ll be back soon.”

Lil, who couldn’t bear to look at me, looked at the sky and begged.

Even after I said I understood, Lil ran off towards the stable, fidgeting.

As I watched his retreating back, I tidied up the hair that tickled my knees.

‘…I wonder what happened to the study.’

Did Mayme wake up? Did grandfather notice that I used pheromones?

All sorts of worries flooded in. It was fortunate that I ran into Lil, otherwise I would have either gone back to being a rabbit or still been wandering around the study.

I let out a small breath of relief.

Lil said he would tell me when Ahin returned.

If I waited here, I could meet him without running into anyone.

Standing alone, I turned my gaze and looked back at Jane. The way she smirked leisurely reminded me of Ahin, and I wanted to slap her butt.

“What, what are you looking at,”

“…Are you doing this to me?”

I took a step back after uttering those provocative words.

Jane, it turned out, had dumped the stable keeper as soon as Lil was assigned to the stables. The previous keeper had been working there for quite some time.

She must have liked him quite a bit. Just like Ahin has a black panther, Lil, being a horse demi-human, would be able to communicate with horses to some extent.

‘Then, if I’m a rabbit demi-human…’

I might end up with a legion of rabbits someday.

I imagined a rabbit army for a moment, then shook my head in horror, touching both cheeks. Jane lightly jumped over the fence with a whoosh.

I froze in place, my legs trembling.

She said she would never cross the fence. That she wouldn’t approach anyone who smelled bad.

Could it be because I’m not human, but a rabbit? I wondered, patting myself down, but I was still in human form.

Is it because I only turn into a human occasionally that I’m not treated like one?

Unlike me, who was retreating, Jane marched straight ahead relentlessly, getting closer and closer.

Jane, who had approached within a step, flared her nostrils. I could feel her breath from her nose, which was plastered to the side of my head.

‘Should I run?’

I stood at attention, glancing sideways at the stable.

If I ran to the stable like this, would she chase me? What to do, when my wobbly steps would be no match for a flea?

Dozens of thoughts flashed through my mind in an instant.

While I was preoccupied with my escape plan, Jane suddenly thrust her head forward and flicked my cheek. I was pushed back and covered my cheek with a shocked expression.

‘She slapped my cheek!’

Jane, who had followed, flicked my cheek again.

‘Twice!’

Despite slapping me out of nowhere, Jane tilted her head, looking rather puzzled.

Then, she began to sniff and thrust her nose at me incessantly. I stood there, frozen like a stone.

“Oh my god, it’s a rabbit!”

As soon as I saw Lil running over, my legs gave way and I collapsed.

I could never admit that it was because his face, distorted by the wind, was scarier than Jane approaching.

* * *

The clothes Lil brought were stable keeper’s work clothes, consisting of a simple top, overalls, and deep boots.

Because of the simple design, I could put them on without much effort, although I had to fold the sleeves four times.

I was tidying up my clothes in Jane’s sheltered abode when I felt something damp on the back of my head. It was Jane, constantly sniffing me with her characteristic arrogant gaze.

“G-go away.”

I pushed away the clingy thing, touching the back of my head. I was about to faint at first, but after an hour of this, I had gotten somewhat used to it.

“Goril, no, Lil. Come and sit here.”

Jane’s stable was cozier and cleaner than most bedrooms. I sat on the pile of straw and gestured to Lil, who was staring blankly.

“Well… it’s quite strange. I heard that stable keepers who are seen every day get attacked if she’s in a bad mood….”

“My guess is that it’s probably because of Ahin’s pheromones. He always puts his scent on me.”

I patted the spot next to me, telling Lil to sit down, but Jane quickly took the spot and lay down. Even snorting.

‘Are you Lil?’

At this point, it felt like a tantrum. I carefully reached out my hand, and Jane offered her black head without resistance.

“Ahin’s scent….”

Lil, who had been watching with a complicated look, plopped down on the straw pile on the other side.

“I don’t really know either. Can’t you feel it, Lil?”

“Hmm, I’m not particularly good at smelling, either.”

Lil was also a herbivore demi-human, so he probably couldn’t smell pheromones well. Smell. I suddenly sniffed my wrist and asked.

“Then how did you know I was a baby rabbit, Lil?”

Surely, Lil seemed to recognize me as soon as he saw me in the abandoned building.

“Well… both in the abandoned building and when Ahin-nim and rabbit you were being taken to the physician, I was half-doubtful. How did you end up like that…”

Lil trailed off, unable to easily ask about my state of going back and forth between rabbit and human.

“I’m just a slightly strange demi-human.”

How should I explain this? I leaned against Jane, who kept sticking to me, and pulled my knees together.

“So I was abandoned,”

“No, what terrible people would do that to rabbit you!”

Hil’s nostrils flared as he got excited. I avoided his gaze and continued my explanation vaguely.

“So I was abandoned and then picked up by Ahin. I don’t know if I’m lucky or unlucky yet.”

What to do. My heart was pounding because it was the first time I was telling my story like this.

As I explained the days that were like a war with beasts, Lil listened intently and teared up.

“Lil, are you crying?”

“I’m crying because I think about how much rabbit you must have suffered….”

Whether he had a great ability to empathize. Contrary to his appearance, which seemed like he could break rocks, he had a delicate and kind nature like glass.

“Then are you planning to return to your original territory someday?”

‘Return to my territory?’

I fidgeted with my hands and buried myself deeper in Jane’s arms. I could feel the horse’s body temperature through my back.

‘Returning is…’

I was so busy trying to turn into a human that I hadn’t even thought about it. Suddenly, I remembered what the physician I met in Endelus said.

‘Beasts have ferocity deep inside. They constantly fight and pursue the top.’

‘The level of conflict is different from ours. They are cruel and their heads are full of greed.’

The capybara demi-human seemed to be chatting casually, but it was more like subtle advice disguised as chatter.

Could it mean that herbivore demi-humans are not suitable for living in beast territory?

Her eyes, anxiously watching Ahin’s bite marks on my neck, flickered.

“Someday….”

I closed my eyes and muttered in a small voice.

As long as Ahin had impure intentions mixed in with the reason he was with me, I had no intention of just putting up with him as he wielded me.

If I could handle pheromones as hypothesized and achieve complete humanization.

Maybe I would become independent in a safe herbivore territory.

When that time comes, will Ahin let me go, or rather, my abilities, willingly?

“Someday….”

Knowing that there was an end to seeing Ahin buried in the blanket when I slept and when I woke up made my stomach churn.

I shook my head quickly, lost in thought.

Beneath the clear, curved eyelids were dull red eyes, and on the back of the beautiful hands was a black panther with rough palms holding a sword.

He was a cruel man who would put a rabbit in a pot and boil it if he didn’t like it.

“I’ll have to go back someday.”

Even that felt like a distant future that I couldn’t grasp. I stretched out my arm and shook my fist instead of my forefoot.

“Hey, Lil is also a herbivore demi-human. Aren’t you afraid of beasts?”

Lil was so sad that he wiped the tears and snot running down his hairy hand. I was embarrassed and handed him the servant’s jacket that I had taken off.

“Rabbit is so considerate….”

Thank you, Lil repeatedly blew his nose on the jacket with a tear-stained face. I scratched the back of my neck, feeling a little sorry for the servant who was asleep in the study.

“I was born and raised in Endelus. I’ve seen various races since I was a baby, so I’m not that afraid. It’s just instinct that fangs are unsettling, and anyway, they’re just demi-humans like us.”

I nodded, agreeing with him. In the first place, the fear of eating itself was something I felt because I was in the body of a rabbit.

“I….”

But where would the instincts of a coward go? When I thought of a beast demi-human with a particularly large physique, I had an impulse to faint for a moment.

“I’m still scared.”

“I understand. What I said is about ordinary beast demi-humans, but the lives of those in power will be very different. Especially for rabbit you, this place is….”

Lil, who seemed to be overwhelmed with emotion again, stroked my head with tears like hailstones.

“It must have been quite difficult. With that tiny body….”

Tiny. I was dizzy as my head was turned, but I managed to open my mouth with difficulty.

“Excuse me, Lil. Even so, I’m a human now, so the title of rabbit is a bit….”

“It’s not allowed.”

“……?”

“Anyway, it’s not allowed. I can’t call you by your name.”

…Why not? I was dumbfounded and opened my eyes narrowly. Perhaps my sharp expression was disappointing, Lil burst into tears even more.

“I, now that I think about it, I like rabbit.”

I was flustered and waved my hands, continuing to say anything.

“Anyone can see that I’m a rabbit… Jane?”

Momentarily feeling a strange presence behind me, I turned to look at Jane. Jane, who had been quiet, began to breathe in alarm.

Due to the suddenly eerie atmosphere, Lil and I, whose hairs stood on end, held hands.

‘There’s something there.’

Beneath the straw pile across from us, something very dangerous was watching us.

“Rabbit, hide, hide behind me.”

Jane started to rampage as she got excited, and something unknown was confronting us on the other side, so it was an imminent situation. I mustered up a sliver of courage and spread my arms to block Lil.

“No. If anything happens, I’ll use pheromones…!”

“Kyaa!”

Lil’s scream shook my eardrums. In the blink of an eye, a beast flew out like lightning from behind the straw pile.

* * *

Ahin, who jumped off the horse, ran in the direction the hawk was flying. The mansion was as calm as usual, as if nothing had happened.

Swoosh – Soon, the hawk, tilting its wings diagonally, perched on the terrace railing.

‘Study.’

Ahin, who didn’t even think of going through the entrance, crossed the terrace with a few strides.

Bibi’s scent was not felt inside the study. As he crossed between the bookshelves, he discovered three fallen figures.

Stopping and catching his breath, Ahin frowned. Lilian, Mayme, and the servant were fast asleep, covered with blankets up to their necks.

“……?”

Most of all, what was most unsettling was his grandfather, Lilian’s appearance.

His white hair, which he always wore braided down, was tied in cute pigtails just for today.

‘…What is that.’

Ahin’s beautiful face crumpled like a crumpled piece of paper. He bent down and tapped Mayme’s cheek, thinking that he never wanted to see him get up.

“Mayme.”

Despite being a skilled warrior sensitive to movement, she couldn’t open her eyes easily.

“Mayme, wake up.”

Even after shaking her several times, she lifted her eyelids after a long time and touched her temples. Evlin’s clothes flickered in her dim vision.

Mayme, who blinked drowsily, jumped up as soon as she recognized Ahin.

“Ahin-nim, Rabbit-nim!”

“Explain what happened first.”

“Ah….”

After washing her face, she explained everything from Lilian discovering Bibi to falling asleep without her knowing.

After hearing the whole story, Ahin looked back at the scattered basket. He thought that the basket was not in good condition in some places, but it was the trace of Bibi’s anger and sorrow.

Ahin lightly kicked the basket and opened the study door halfway.

“Ah, Ahin-nim? Already?”

The eyes of the two security guards guarding the entrance widened. That’s because the entrance had never been opened since Lilian entered.

“Who has been in and out of the study?”

“Yes? Ah…. Lilian-nim prohibited entry, so no one has entered since then.”

“Ash is.”

“I was with you until an hour ago, but suddenly ran off somewhere,”

Ahin, who didn’t listen to the end of the sentence, closed the door again. He turned around and lifted Lilian’s blanket, then lifted the servant’s blanket.

Compared to the neatly equipped bow tie and vest, the sloppy attire with the jacket thrown somewhere.

Then, Ahin heard a sound of grinding teeth as his gaze reached the servant’s sloppy pants.

The servant’s attire seemed to be missing a few items. Ahin, who sensed that a thief had been there, swept back his messy bangs.

“…Mayme.”

There was a low probability that the thief was with Rune this time. He was also dragged to the Lion Territory to attend the temple festival.

“Give me your orders.”

“Secretly find a woman.”

“A woman, you mean….”

A woman in this situation. Mayme, who received an incomprehensible order, had a question about the rabbit’s whereabouts up to her throat.

“With long white hair down to her knees and purple eyes. She probably hasn’t left the mansion.”

“…….”

“She’s not very big, so open all the closets and drawers.”

Mayme, who gradually began to understand what Ahin’s order meant, touched her hair. The fingertips that swept the red bob behind her ears were pale.

Ahin, who opened the study warehouse, added quietly.

“There’s a high probability that Ash is with her.”

“…Are you telling me to find Rabbit-nim?”

Her voice trembled unlike her usual self. He lifted the blackout curtains and opened a huge drawer, but instead of agreeing, he smiled suspiciously.

“If she tries to run away, pretend to be sick. She’ll stop on her own without you having to hold her.”

The storm raged over Mayme’s red eyes as her speculation turned into certainty.

Ahin, who approached the window, looked up at the sky. The hawk, spreading its wings, sent a signal by creating a shadow on the ground.

Mayme, who looked out the window one after another, had a dumbfounded look. Several black panthers living in the forest of the border, which the hawk had called in, were gathering.

“The garden will be searched by them, so you take care of the annex.”

“…Understood.”

Mayme, who couldn’t even ask any questions, bowed deeply.

On a sunny afternoon, Ahin, who became the seeker in a game of hide-and-seek, suddenly stopped walking.

Walking towards the sofa, he looked down at Lilian. He had no idea about Bibi’s feelings when she was about to be put in the basket, and his peaceful face made him angry.

The terrible pigtail hairstyle was probably Bibi’s own little revenge. Ahin, who stretched out his arm, grabbed Lilian’s hands and brought them to his chin.

He made it look like he was making a flower 받침 [flower pedestal] and put on a twisted smile.

He didn’t care what the security guards who found this would feel, or whether Lilian would faint again after seeing himself in the mirror.

* * *