The Symbiotic Relationship Between The Rabbit And The Black Panther [EN]: Chapter 74

The Symbiotic Relationship Between a Rabbit and a Black Panther (74/75)

The lavish wedding, unprecedented in its extravagance, held in the spring, kept the black panther territory buzzing for months.

As the gossips’ interest gradually waned, the seasons changed twice, painting Grace Manor with autumn foliage.

Late in the afternoon, as I nonchalantly strolled down the hallway, I suddenly ducked behind a corner, cautiously peeking out.

‘Is anyone there?’

With most of the staff occupied with cleaning the exterior walls of the manor, the hallway was deserted.

Carefully surveying the area, I looked down at the black panthers nuzzling my legs. I had barely managed to separate Mayme and Alan under the guise of needing rest, but Ash and Bara had already followed me.

“Did you really have to follow me?”

Ash saluted smartly, not knowing why, while Bara snorted primly.

Their eyes were fixed on the jerky bag in my hand.

Oops. Realizing I was unconsciously holding it, I hastily stuffed the jerky bag into my embroidered crossbody bag.

It was a special bag Mayme had given me for jerky, knowing I had been enjoying it lately.

“…I’m just feeling strangely peckish.”

Perhaps it was because it was the season of fattening harvests. Muttering to myself, I returned to my original purpose and knocked gently on the infirmary door.

“Come in.”

As soon as permission was granted, Ash darted in like the wind.

Puzzled by his behavior, I heard a cheerful greeting from a middle-aged woman inside.

“Oh, it’s Ash. But I don’t have any treats for you today, what a shame!”

“Oh my, Rona. You were giving Ash treats too?”

“V, Vivi!”

Rona, my personal physician, paled and stumbled backward.

Not long ago, I had caught the gardener secretly feeding Ash treats as well.

My eyes narrowed with betrayal as I placed my hands on my hips. At this rate, all the effort I put into nutritional balance would be for naught.

“Ash, after getting all those treats, you still pretend to be hungry and follow me to every lunch? No overeating!”

No sooner had the scolding been issued than Ash slunk behind Bara. Krrr, Bara readily stepped forward, ready to be a shield.

“Bara, you too…!”

What am I going to do with this pair of black panthers? Calming my seething emotions, I took a deep breath and turned to Rona.

My priority was the errand that brought me to the physician before anyone else noticed.

“…Rona, I won’t press you, so come out from behind the curtain.”

“I, I apologize….”

Rona, looking terrified, parted the curtains and scurried out.

‘That’s the most timid black panther I’ve ever seen.’

I heard she was talented enough to secure a private infirmary within Grace Manor with her delicate skills… But so far, she just seemed like a physician who was in the habit of hiding behind curtains.

Did Valence perhaps intentionally assign me a physician who was similar to me in some ways? After a moment of contemplation, I made sure the door was completely closed before settling into the patient chair.

Only then did Rona rush over and sit down in front of me.

“Why didn’t you call me to your bedroom or office? Why did you come all the way here yourself?”

“I came secretly because I thought it would cause a commotion if I called for you, Rona.”

Looking around to see if anyone was listening, I lowered my voice as much as possible and whispered.

“As you know, I get scrutinized even for just coughing once….”

Rona nodded awkwardly, understanding immediately. She seemed to recall my grandfather’s horrified reaction when I coughed a few times after choking on my saliva, and he called for the medical staff.

“I’m studying medicine, but I’m still lacking in many ways. I need Rona’s advice.”

“Of course. Is there anything that’s bothering you?”

“Well, lately….”

After hesitating for a moment, I thought about the strange symptoms I had been experiencing recently, which seemed trivial yet odd.

The constant drowsiness, the mood swings that felt like a rollercoaster.

Then, out of nowhere, my heart would start racing, and above all, I couldn’t resist the cravings for meat and sugary drinks, which I didn’t usually crave.

It felt similar to the symptoms before and after menstruation.

As I listed the various symptoms, Rona’s expression gradually became more subtle.

‘Could it be.’

Suddenly, I also came up with a hypothesis and received Rona’s examination with an ambiguous look.

‘Could it be….’

Rona’s examination continued for quite some time even after I lay down on the bed. She moved busily with an unusually serious look in her eyes.

Just when I thought the time was getting quite long, she clapped her hands together with a flushed face.

“Congratulations on your pregnancy, Vivi!”

Pregnancy. The word that turned my speculation into certainty echoed in my ears.

* * *

Leaving Rona’s infirmary, I paced the hallway, unable to calm down.

‘How…?’

Ahin was taking medication to prevent pregnancy until we had a definite plan for children. But already four weeks along?

‘When on earth?’

With a blank face, I retraced the past, and after a long while, I covered my mouth.

The day when I drank several glasses of fruit wine in the bedroom out of curiosity when the sun was high in the sky.

The day when Ahin came back to the bedroom after morning training, and I checked to see if he had a nosebleed after seeing his training clothes.

‘Vivi, what’s with all the drinking from midday….’

That day, as soon as I kissed him without warning, Ahin smiled disarmingly…!

That must have been the day I threw him onto the floor because he looked unusually pretty. Of course, my memories after that were cut off.

Thanks to that, I couldn’t shake off the reputation of being a drunken perverted rabbit for several days.

Only then did all the pieces fall into place, and I ran my hands down both cheeks.

“How… how could it happen with just that one time….”

As I muttered like a lost soul, I met the eyes of Ash and Bara, who were trailing behind me.

Black panthers… As I watched them tilting their heads, I realized something I had forgotten. I had been living among black panther beastmen for so long that I had forgotten.

‘I… I was a rabbit.’

I was a purebred rabbit beastman, a descendant of the Lavian lineage.

Since ancient times, rabbit beastmen, with their high population density, had been regarded as symbols of fertility. Other races would even visit the temples in rabbit territories to pray for easy childbirth.

In fact, when I lived in the Lavian household, I had countless half-siblings.

‘The conditions were perfect.’

Oh my goodness, oh my goodness.

I was about to jump up and down in excitement, but I soon regained my composure and stood still. One way or another, I needed to be careful about my actions from now on.

I stroked my belly with a trembling hand, but there were no noticeable changes yet.

However, the fact that a life was growing inside me made me feel strangely emotional. Even though it shouldn’t be possible, I felt as if I could feel a heartbeat.

I smiled faintly as I kept my hand on my belly.

The trace of me and Ahin, a new family.

It had come a little earlier than planned. The shock and surprise had passed, and only indescribable joy remained.

‘Rona, please keep this a secret for now.’

‘Yes? Why would you…?’

‘I want to tell him myself.’

How should I tell Ahin? It would be a waste of my nickname, “Romantic Rabbit,” to just say it casually.

As I pondered, I couldn’t contain my overwhelming emotions and muttered.

“He’ll be so happy, right?”

“Yeah, I will.”

At the same time as the unexpected non sequitur [a statement that does not logically follow], someone wrapped their arms around me from behind. The owner of the arms that encircled my waist and shoulders was Ahin.

“Vivi, your ears are red.”

Still not immune to this kind of approach, I covered my ears with both hands.

“I, I was just surprised.”

“What’s this unfamiliar pouch?”

He didn’t loosen his arms that were holding me captive as he fiddled with the navy jerky bag near my waist. The breath on my ear was too close.

“It’s not a pouch, it’s a bag.”

“I see. Anyway, where did you leave Mayme and Alan? And why are you dancing around alone in the hallway?”

Was I doing that? Feeling embarrassed, I fidgeted with my hands, but soon turned around with a brightened face.

“Ahin, you know what…!”

About to say it without any preparation in my excitement, I clamped my mouth shut. Then, shaking off Ahin, who was looking down at me with a puzzled expression, I took a step back.

“Vivi, you have to finish what you’re saying. Are you trying to drive me crazy with curiosity?”

Ahin, not missing even that small clue, tilted his head.

“I was already cr… no, anyway, don’t move from there.”

“-Why?”

He stopped reaching out his arm and slowly put his hands behind his back.

Seeing him listening obediently for once, it was clear that he was expecting my next move. The subtly upturned corners of his mouth proved it.

A mischievous black panther.

I glared at him with narrowed eyes and exchanged glances with Ash and Bara. Slowly, we began to distance ourselves from Ahin.

Running away would be worrisome in case I fell. I glanced down at my belly and pointed at Ahin, who was standing blankly.

“Stay right there.”

Ahin, who was about to move, stopped abruptly with an uncomprehending look. Meanwhile, I quickly moved my feet and created a distance.

As I reached the end of the hallway, Ahin, who had once again disobeyed, moved his long legs.

“Vivi, where are you trying to go…….”

“I said stay there; the moment you move, I won’t spank your butt or anything ever again.”

“Isn’t it time to stop with such trite threats?”

Stutter. The shameless black panther stopped again in an awkward pose.

Having easily secured an escape route, I left Ahin standing bewildered and exited the hallway.

Thinking of dozens of ways to tell him about the baby in my belly in a memorable way.

* * *

Just after lunch, Ahin settled into the drawing room, sinking deep into a velvet chair.

‘Ahin, you know what…!’

Just yesterday, he roughly guessed what Vivi, with her bright face, had been about to say.

She was said to be busily going in and out of the greenhouse since early this morning. She also seemed to be meticulously making a patchwork bouquet of all sorts of colors.

‘…Was today some kind of anniversary?’

The problem, however, was that no matter how much he retraced the day, there was nothing worth commemorating enough to make a bouquet.

Unable to grasp the situation, Ahin’s sigh betrayed his anxiety.

It wasn’t the day they first met, nor was it his birthday, nor was it the day they reunited. After coming up with various examples, he soon made a judgment.

Was it a surprise event from the romanticist [a person who is romantic or idealistic]?

Ahin, who only had the role of being touched with wide eyes, wet his lower lip with his tongue. It seemed like the guess was correct, but he felt vaguely uneasy, as if he had missed something important.

“Ahin, what are you thinking so hard about? Is there something you’re worried about?”

Awakened from his thoughts by the voice calling him, Ahin lifted his gaze, which had been lowered.

“Why are you here, Kyung?”

“I’m hurt. Aren’t you the one who told me to visit the manor every day, Ahin?”

“That’s a story from when we were young.”

Evelyn’s father, Cedric Evelyn.

Ahin, staring at him, who was no different from Evelyn except for the wrinkles and beard that came with age, parted his lips.

“More than that, it seems like the amount of gifts you’ve been sending to Vivi has increased excessively lately. It’s almost once a week.”

“Isn’t she a distinguished guest of the black panther territory? I’m just sorry that I can only serve her with small tokens.”

Cedric Evelyn glanced at Ahin, pretending to wipe away tears.

At eighteen, Ahin, who was on the border between a boy and a young man, had a cold thorn that he couldn’t hide.

And now, he had grown into a perfect adult and monarch who hid even the most trivial thorns behind an indifferent gaze. The radiant smile he habitually wore sometimes even gave the illusion that it contained goodwill.

Even though Ahin had become more solid in this way, Evelyn’s whisper that he only flattered in front of the rabbit occupied Cedric Evelyn’s mind.

“So, you’re going to switch to Vivi as soon as the wedding is over?”

“I’m hurt if you say that. Although my heart is with Vivi, my body is always by Ahin’s side like this.”

In the end, it was no different from meaning that he would line up behind Vivi.

Wasn’t that son just like that father? The intention to easily ride on the coattails of power by riding on the rabbit’s back was obvious.

“Cedric Evelyn, you’ve certainly educated your son well.”

“I’m embarrassed, Ahin.”

Evelyn, who had been listening to the conversation from behind Ahin, suddenly stuck his face out.

“That’s not a compliment, shut your mouth.”

“Yes.”

Ignoring the Evelyn father and son, who had a talent for turning his stomach, Ahin looked around the spacious drawing room.

Valence and Lillian, the Evelyn father and son, and Queen, who had been forcibly brought in in human form, were in the drawing room with the intention of having the family gather after a long time.

Lillian, who had been chatting with Valence, gave a furious voice as soon as she met Ahin’s eyes.

“Why didn’t you call our rabbit to a gathering of the clan after so long?”

“That’s right, Ahin. How heartbroken will our rabbit be?”

Even Evelyn joined in and was about to leave immediately to call Vivi. Ahin, gesturing to calm them down, brought up the main point.

“I was going to say something about that rabbit of ours anyway.”

As soon as Vivi came up as the topic, all eyes were focused on Ahin.

“She’s been a little strange lately.”

At the same time as that claim, the eyes of everyone in the drawing room changed strangely. Evelyn decided to take the lead and whispered softly.

“I don’t think it’s reasonable for Ahin to express that someone else is strange.”

Thud, and he fainted quietly after being hit by the pheromones of the ruling class that Ahin had released. He still showed no mercy when it came to Vivi.

Queen sighed in relief that she had kept her mouth shut.

“Vivi hides quite a lot, so.”

Ahin crossed his legs languidly and placed his hand on his knee.

“Has anyone else noticed anything strange lately?”

Normally, he would have thought it was Ahin’s fuss and passed it over, but Valence and Queen, who had suddenly been struck by something, moved their lips.

Valence remembered the strange incident that had occurred a few days ago, on the day Vivi ran away to his room.

When she slept in rabbit form, Vivi, who commanded the entire bed and rolled around.

That Vivi, who didn’t stop struggling even after kicking the cheek of the leader of the black panther territory.

It was a big change that she fell asleep with her hands neatly placed on her stomach as if she were a different person. As time passed, she didn’t swing her arms threateningly, or kick her feet and kick the blanket.

If he pointed out her sleeping habits, Vivi would be embarrassed. He remembered that night, which he felt uneasy about just passing over.

“……Her sleeping habits have improved beyond recognition.”

Lillian looked back and forth between Valence and Ahin with a puzzled expression.

“Was there a problem with our rabbit’s sleeping habits?”

“It was a chronic disease.”

“It was a chronic disease.”

Ahin, who answered almost at the same time as Valence, frowned due to the unexpected fact.

He hadn’t realized it because he hugged Vivi every day, but when he looked back, it seemed like it had been quite a while since he had tasted the exhilarating kick.

‘Can that sleeping habit be fixed in an instant?’

Since she sometimes slept quietly, Valence’s concern could be a temporary phenomenon.

Tap tap, Ahin tapped the table with his finger and turned to Queen this time. It was because he had noticed her opening and closing her mouth for a moment.

“Queen, speak.”

Queen, who thought she had a knack for reading the room, didn’t open her mouth rashly.

It was because the beginning was clearly nothing special.

As usual, Evelyn praised Vivi, saying that the rabbit was an excellent ruler, and Queen added that she was a damn rabbit at that time.

It was truly an unusual thing that Vivi, who had to stomp her feet and tell them not to make fun of her, shed tears like beads.

It was only a week ago that Queen and Evelyn, who felt guilty, froze like stone statues and followed Vivi’s tail.

If she revealed this secret here, wouldn’t all her wing feathers be plucked out by the monstrous Grace clan?

Evelyn, who was an accomplice, was currently unconscious, so it was impossible to ask for help.

After thinking carefully for a few seconds, Queen slowly opened her lips.

“Her mood swings… have gotten quite severe.”

“Mood swings? In what way?”

Flap, Queen refused to say anything more and instantly turned into a hawk.

Although suspicious, Ahin, who had combined various testimonies for the time being, stroked his chin. An unshakeable sense of unease wrapped around his toes.

The first time he recognized Vivi’s change was in her eating habits.

The beginning was Vivi’s appearance of getting up in the middle of the night and looking for steak.

‘Ahin, I want to eat steak so badly…. No, I have to eat it.’

‘At this hour?’

He thought it was sleep talking, but she was about to run to the kitchen for real.

He persuaded her not to get indigestion and compromised with a meatball salad, but it was enough to feel strange that she had noticeably started enjoying meat since then.

First of all, she was a herbivorous beastman, and she had been eating a vegetarian diet for several years.

The chef judged that the meat intake had not increased enough to worry about her health, but it was a kind of concern that Ahin, whose specialty was being fussy, had.

‘I guess I can’t do it.’

Ahin couldn’t just pass it over, even though he knew Vivi’s reaction would be to slap him on the mouth and tell him to stop being so normal.

Suddenly her eating habits changed, her sleeping habits, which she hadn’t been able to change for years, improved, and Vivi, who had a relatively calm personality, had severe mood swings.

It was easy to miss, it could be a small and temporary change, but it bothered him that it was happening simultaneously.

“Mother, how many days are left until Vivi’s regular checkup?”

“It’s in fifteen days.”

“It’s late. I think I should call the doctor tonight….”

Thud, the drawing room door opened without warning, cutting off the conversation.

Alan, who had rushed in breathlessly, bowed his head, realizing his mistake.

“I, I apologize!”

Why was Alan, who should always be by Vivi’s side as an aide, here? A sense of unease bloomed, and Ahin waited for Alan’s report to follow.

Alan, who was panting and catching his breath, delivered the shocking news.

“V, Vivi has collapsed.”

“What?”

Ahin, who jumped up from his seat, felt his vision darken.

As expected. Trivial feelings of unease always came back as a threatening reality like a tidal wave.

* * *

Rona, the doctor who was treating Vivi in the infirmary, looked back.

It seemed that the news had already been delivered, and several footsteps were approaching at a rapid pace.

Bang, Ahin opened the infirmary door and was immediately faced with black butts. Ash, Bara, Shu, and Bion, who had occupied the front of the bed where Vivi was lying.

“Vivi!”

He approached without delay, and his heart sank. It was because Vivi, who was holding a bouquet of flowers tightly in both hands and closing her eyes, was reminiscent of the dead.

Even for a herbivorous beastman, her small stature and the transparent skin and hair color that seemed to disappear somewhere added to the sense of unease.

“Our rabbit fainted, what is all this!”

Thud, Ahin’s fading reason found its place again due to Lillian and Valence, who burst through the door.

Rona, who was receiving the attention of high-ranking people, bowed her head in a hurry.

“I greet the clan leader!”

“Greetings are enough; please explain quickly.”

Rona’s face turned pale, frightened by the fierce atmosphere.

Mayme, who found the ends of her lips trembling, thought that a quick explanation was out of the question and took a step forward.

“She suddenly collapsed while in the greenhouse and was moved here. And….”

She trailed off and glanced at Rona as if urging her. This was the doctor’s area beyond this.

Rona, who had managed to pull herself together, stammered and continued.

“I, it’s just a mild case of anemia, so you don’t need to worry too much. As you know, it’s a common symptom in early pregnancy… If she just rests, she’ll wake up soon.”

As soon as her statement ended, a chilling silence fell as if cold water had been poured on them.

The faces of everyone except Mayme, who had been tipped off by Vivi in advance, were dyed with shock.

In the silent chaos, the first to break the silence was Lillian’s rough voice.

“…Say that again.”

“It’s just a mild case of anemia, so you can rest assured.”

“No, the next words.”

“A common symptom in early pregnancy… Oh my?”

Rona, who had been answering with a puzzled expression, slowly covered her mouth.

‘Oh my, what should I do!’

Looking at the reaction, she hadn’t announced the fact of her pregnancy yet.

With realization, the hand that blocked her mouth convulsed finely. She didn’t have the confidence to handle the upcoming chaos with the body of a mere doctor.

“Water, give me some water.”

Ahin, who suddenly looked for water as if he was thirsty, bumped into a pillar and bounced out. Thud, he fell backward, hitting his face on the closed door that followed.

Despite the unusual mistake, no one pointed it out. If Ahin hadn’t stumbled as the representative, they might have been the ones sitting on the floor.

“Are you okay?”

Mayme, who was the only one who maintained her composure in the infirmary, approached Ahin, who was sitting down. The item she took out from behind her apron was a pure white handkerchief.

“Ahin, you have a wound on your forehead.”

“Ah….”

“You’re also having a nosebleed.”

Thud, thud. The drops of blood that fell down deeply stained the gray uniform. The disheveled silver hair clearly proved his feelings.

“Pregnancy.”

So that’s why Bibi was sticking out her belly and hanging around me last night.

Ahin swept back the hair covering his forehead and muttered.

“…I’m pregnant?”

“No, Bibi is the one who is pregnant. Ahin, you need to treat your forehead and nose.”

As the spaced-out Ahin received the handkerchief, Lillian screamed, forgetting all decorum.

It was a shriek that served as the fuse for the fuss and commotion that would begin.

* * *

Cedric Evleene, who quietly left the infirmary, pondered the scene he had just witnessed.

Seeing the sight of a rabbit ruling over the Grace family, which he had only heard about, was quite a spectacle.

The spectacle began when Bibi, the center of the commotion, slowly opened her eyelids and woke up.

“How much will that delicate thing suffer in the future… How will she endure nearly ten months of hardship with those frail, twig-like wrists?”

As soon as Lillian saw the blurry purple eyes, she burst into tears like a waterfall.

She chuckled at the fact that she was going to have a great-grandchild, but then wiped away tears of worry for Bibi several times. Her crying and laughing face felt bizarre.

Moreover, Valence seemed to barely maintain his composure, but upon closer inspection, that wasn’t really the case.

He was just repeating the word “My baby…” while gently stroking one of Bibi’s hands.

“Grandfather, why are you crying….”

Bibi, who was sitting on the bed and also making a tearful face, flinched. It was because she found Ahin, whose forehead and nose were covered in blood.

“Ah, Ahin. Why is your face covered in blood?”

As soon as her name came out of her small lips, Ahin hugged Bibi tightly. In reality, she was completely hidden in Ahin’s arms.

‘What else does that weirdo have besides his face….’ Bibi muttered seriously as she healed Ahin’s face, but Cedric Evleene was the only one who cared about those words.

Finally, Cedric Evleene chuckled as he recalled Bibi’s shoulder, which was getting wet with Ahin’s tears.

The Ahin he knew was someone who wouldn’t even flinch when hit by an arrow or had a rib broken during the war.

“I’m living long enough to see this.”

“This is nothing to be surprised about.”

Evleene, who followed him, calmly spoke about the reality of the Grace family.

“Anyway, it’s no different from a celebration in our Black Leopard territory, so I must return to the mansion and prepare a proper congratulatory gift.”

“Farewell, Father.”

“…Farewell? Are you saying you won’t see your father off as he leaves?”

“Bibi will be looking for me soon. She cherishes this Evleene very much. Then, I’ll see you next time.”

With a dry greeting, his footsteps returning to the infirmary were unusually hurried. Cedric Evleene, left alone, blankly stared at the back of his youngest son as he walked away.

“Huh, really. To think that guy could laugh so carelessly… That’s something.”

In the end, he returned home without being seen off due to the commotion, and he trudged along. He thought that a new power dynamic would arrive when the baby was born soon.

And Bibi did not look for Evleene even after receiving everyone’s congratulations and falling asleep with Ash.

* * *

A snowy field where a biting, skin-tearing wind raged.

Evleene, who didn’t know why he had to be in such a high-altitude area despite there being a flat road, took refuge behind a rock.

He warmed his chapped hands with his breath and gestured to the knights standing awkwardly.

“Everyone, hide over here. Ahin told you to get out of the way and disappear, didn’t he? Come on, quickly.”

Brandishing swords would only be an obstacle to Ahin.

“Evleene, even so….”

“Kieeeek!”

Just as the large knights huddled together, an unrealistic scream shook the snowy field.

Evleene stared at the monster standing in the middle of the snowy field with a horrified look.

Each time the gray creature stepped, the earth shook with a thud. It was a Chimera, famous as a three-headed monster [a mythical creature with parts from different animals], at least three or four times bigger than Ahin.

Lion, goat, and dragon. Evleene looked at the three heads in turn and pondered deeply.

He was returning home after leaving for another territory. Why did Ahin bother to climb a snow-covered mountain instead of taking a convenient route?

Even though he clearly knew that this snowy mountain was the habitat of the Chimera.

Evleene was able to deduce the answer the moment Ahin’s sword cut off the dragon’s head out of the three heads.

The lion’s head of the Chimera was good for male virility. The goat’s head was good for the rejuvenation of the elderly. And the dragon’s head was highly effective in restoring the energy of pregnant women. Especially the freshly caught Chimera.

Eventually, the Chimera’s lifeless body tilted toward the snow floor. The spreading blood slowly dyed the snowfield dark blue.

“To think he could defeat a Chimera that a hundred knights couldn’t even touch in just a few moves, he truly is my lord.”

Evleene, who had jumped out at the speed of light as if he had been hiding, placed his hand on his chest. Thanks to this, the knights ended up hiding behind the rocks, abandoning their master.

“Weren’t you going to switch to Bibi?”

Swish, Ahin, who sheathed his sword, dragged the dragon’s head across the snowy field.

Evleene glanced at Ahin’s robe, which was not stained with a single drop of blood even after defeating the Chimera. The monster might not be the Chimera, but the black leopard in front of him.

“That can’t be, the only person who can make me kneel is only the monster, no, only Ahin.”

“I clearly heard you say that you would kneel to Bibi as much as she wanted. Do you have multiple knees?”

“Yes.”

Ahin, ignoring the sycophant [a person who tries to win favor from wealthy or influential people by flattering them] with multiple knees, handed the dragon’s head, which was as big as his torso, to the knights.

Evleene muttered as he looked at the monster’s head, which several men were struggling to hold.

“Um, Ahin.”

“What.”

“No matter how good the Chimera is for restoring the energy of pregnant women, will Bibi really eat that?”

It was more likely that she would faint rather than eat it.

Ah. Ahin’s beautiful brow furrowed because he belatedly realized the biggest problem.

Why didn’t he realize something that he could have easily figured out until he had killed the Chimera? It was truly a mystery.

After pondering for a while, Ahin turned to Evleene with a rather foolish face.

“-Evleene, what should I do?”

What do you mean, what should you do, you crazy bastard.

Evleene barely swallowed the vulgar curse that tickled his throat.

Evleene stared blankly at the snowy field, turning his back on Ahin and the knights who had begun to discuss the dragon’s head.

It had been a month since the commotion in the infirmary. All of Ahin’s thought circuits started with Bibi and ended with Bibi.

In other words, it meant that he had thrown away his usually relaxed demeanor and was acting like a terminal patient with rabbit disease.

* * *

A warm winter, the midday sunlight brightly illuminated Ahin’s office. The sound of a quill pen scratching filled the quiet office.

Bibi, who was dozing off while leaning against his firm chest, opened her eyes with a sparkle.

Tick, tock.

The hour hand of the desk clock pointed exactly at one o’clock, and her lips opened. It was finally time to get away from Ahin.

“It’s one o’clock as promised. I’m leaving now.”

“That can’t be, it’s still twelve o’clock?”

Ahin, who trapped Bibi, who was trying to escape from his arms, with his left arm, pulled the desk clock. Clatter, the forcibly turned hour hand pointed to twelve o’clock again.

Bibi looked up at him with a dumbfounded look, even though he was shamelessly committing fraud.

“What’s the point of holding me while you work?”

“I get anxious if I can’t see you, so I can’t focus on my work. And I took over half of your work, so you can stay with me this much, right?”

“That’s why I said I’d finish it.”

“Did you forget the doctor’s warning that overdoing it is forbidden?”

Bibi shut her mouth tightly, getting caught up in Ahin’s eloquence the more she retorted.

It had already been more than two weeks since she had sent out all the aides and employees and had been taking a nap in Ahin’s arms for about two hours.

Nevertheless, it was absurd that the efficiency of her work had actually increased.

Another amazing thing was that Ahin had started to feel nauseous, while Bibi, who was pregnant, was fine.

Seeing him occasionally cover his mouth with a pale face… he really was a beast that was hard to define.

She couldn’t push away Ahin, who was watching her to see if she would leave the office.

Bibi buried her head in Ahin’s chest with a touch of annoyance.

“…Just one hour.”

“Okay.”

Only then did the stiff corners of Ahin’s mouth curl up gently. He lightly kissed Bibi’s cheek and picked up his quill pen again.

The presence of Bibi, rustling in his arms on a lazy afternoon, brought an amazing sense of stability.

What was he thinking in the past when he thought he should cut down the baby rabbit when it turned into a human?

How dare someone like me be with Bibi….

Ahin, who was seized by a chilling feeling, looked down at Bibi, who had bumped her head against his chest while dozing off.

“Ouch….”

“Does it hurt?”

Ahin, who reacted sensitively, gently rubbed her temples. It was all because of his unnecessarily hard body.

Why are herbivore beastmen so weak compared to carnivore beastmen, who can easily bend even spoons?

In the past, he was very pleased with Bibi’s delicate skin, which easily left marks, but now, all those things felt like anxiety factors.

Ahin, who suddenly became uncontrollably anxious, asked in a low voice.

“Bibi, why were you born like this? Did you have to be a rabbit?”

“No, why are you suddenly bringing up my birth? I’m leaving if you’re going to be like this.”

“Don’t hurt my delicate heart with such threats.”

What on earth is this crazy beast trying to say?

Bibi, who was completely awake, slapped Ahin’s mouth. It was to end the conversation that had gone far off the normal track.

Fortunately, Ahin, who had regained his focus, hugged Bibi tightly.

“If you were a weasel or a raccoon, you would have been stronger than you are now.”

Bibi sighed, barely guessing what the crazy person was trying to say.

She was carrying the child of a beastman in the body of an herbivore beastman, so she was clearly worried about a potentially difficult birth.

‘My healing pheromones won’t let that happen,’ she thought, but Bibi swallowed the retort that there was no need to worry unnecessarily. She pulled Ahin’s hand and placed it on her stomach.

“You know. Will it be a rabbit or a black leopard?”

It was an obvious attempt to change the subject, but Ahin, who fell for it, stroked Bibi’s stomach as if drawing a circle. It was as careful as when he touched the bridge of Bibi’s nose when she was a baby rabbit.

“Well. I’ll give you the world, whichever it is.”

Bibi didn’t expect such a grand answer, and she opened and closed her mouth.

It was difficult to dismiss it as a joke because of the twisted smile on Ahin’s lips. Wiping away the cold sweat, she stammered and added.

“J, just saying you’ll protect me is enough… I think.”

“Is that so?”

Ahin’s hand, which had moved from her stomach, stroked a strand of Bibi’s hair. Soon, he smiled languidly and kissed her white hair.

“Then I’ll protect you.”

“……”

“Just like you did for me.”

Despite it being nothing special, Bibi’s heart rate quickened, and she stared up at Ahin. The sunlight streaming through the window caught on his long eyelashes.

As the silence grew longer, the cozy air became sultry.

Soon, the two people’s lips met naturally.

Ahin slowly stroked Bibi’s thighs as she sat on his lap. It was a gentle touch, as if he were touching fluff, compared to the way he devoured her.

Their lips parted when Bibi’s breath became rapid.

Ahin, who was looking down at her as she shyly avoided his gaze as if she couldn’t take it anymore, curved his eyes roundly.

Her eyes were red in contrast to her white skin, her purple eyes were shaking, and her lips were pursed primly.

All of that made Ahin’s insides boil and turn upside down every day. He didn’t know how she could be so lovable even when she was angry or annoyed.

His lower abdomen throbbed, and he swept back his fallen silver hair for no reason. It was an act to suppress the urge to create congestion all over his body, considering the rabbit who would run away in horror.

Bibi, who turned away from his eyes filled with possessiveness and lust, glanced at the desk clock.

The minute hand, which had been set to twelve o’clock, had already gone around once and was pointing to one o’clock.

“Oh my gosh, it’s already one o’clock? I’m really leaving now. Mayme will be waiting.”

“I’ll go with you….”

“Ahin, work.”

Bibi, who was ruthlessly pushed out, quickly ran out of the office.

She couldn’t match Ahin’s increasingly intense obsession one by one as the days went by.

“Ha….”

Ahin, left alone, soon let out a groan and buried his face in his hands.

He couldn’t stop Bibi’s secret hobby today either.

A month ago, Nera, the prenatal care teacher, recommended Bibi to take up a healthy hobby that would help with prenatal care.

‘She mustn’t get hurt.’

Ahin, who got up restlessly, stood right next to the window. The training hall where Bibi would be was in a position where he could see it at a glance.

Art, music, reading, embroidery, transcription, etc. Among the overflowing safe hobbies, the hobby Bibi chose was none other than archery.

* * *

“Spread your legs a little more and straighten your back.”

Following Mayme’s instructions, I straightened my posture and pulled the bowstring.

Choosing archery as a hobby was purely a choice beyond my will. It was almost instinctive.

I had never thought about touching a weapon even once, but the moment I saw the bow that the knight was carrying, I felt a strong urge to hold it.

I stared at the target in the center of the training hall and hurriedly lowered the bow.

“Mayme, there’s a child in the bushes!”

“Yes? That can’t be….”

Mayme, who had been denying it, quickly hardened her expression. It was because she had witnessed the rustling movement.

“Please step back.”

She took out a dagger just in case and approached the bushes while suppressing her presence.

Just as the distance from the bushes was very close, a pink mass suddenly rose. Mayme, who had identified the child, relaxed her tension and put the dagger behind her apron.

“It’s Aint Manients.”

“Manients, you mean….”

“He is the direct descendant and first son of Leona Manients.”

Was this the child who had suggested that they should consider pursuing an engagement between the heirs?

I put down the bow and carefully approached the child and lowered my body. He was a small child, at most three years old.

‘Tsk, tsk. I heard that Ezran’s great-grandson has undergone humanization. Seeing that he’s bringing him along when he comes as an envoy this time, he’s clearly planning to show him off!’

I vaguely remembered my grandfather complaining that Ezran would be visiting the Grace mansion.

Indeed. As if proving that he was from the Manients family, the child had light pink hair and golden eyes.

The unique points were that he didn’t have the curly hair that was the symbol of the Manients family, and that his eyes seemed strangely unfocused even though he was a young child.

His detached expression, as if he were talking about the futility of life, was a bonus.

“Why are you here alone? Where did Ezran go?”

I belatedly realized that I was speaking too casually, but the child, who didn’t care, chattered.

“Ezran and Lillian got lost. While playing hide-and-seek with me.”

“Grandfathers…?”

“I don’t want to, but they keep bothering me to play, ugh.”

‘They’re not the ones who got lost, you’re the one who got lost.’ I managed to understand his lisping pronunciation and held out my hand. I could picture the grandfathers desperately looking for the child.

“Don’t you have a guard?”

“They’re it.”

“…Then shall we go find your grandfathers together?”

“No, you have purple eyes. I don’t do that with rabbits. I don’t associate with them.”

I felt a little depressed by the child’s inexplicable animosity, and I drooped my eyes.

“Why…?”

“The rabbit that my uncle raises has a bad temper. It’s very mean.”

“Uncle?”

“Rune Manients. Do you know him?”

The moment I was about to answer, Ezran’s desperate voice was heard in the distance.

“Aint, my dear! Come out quickly!”

“It’s grandpa.”

The child, who had become noticeably brighter, began to move awkwardly. Even though he said that, he seemed to be scared of being alone in an unfamiliar place.

I couldn’t even touch him and watched anxiously, and the child, who was walking diligently, turned to me as if he were pretending.

“You have four pheromones in your belly.”

“What?”

I barely opened my lips, seized by a fear as if I had heard a scary story.

“How do you know that? N, no way.”

The child, who pouted his lips, vigorously moved his feet again in the direction where Ezran’s voice was heard.

‘Does one person have four pheromones, or are there multiple children to be born?’

It was hard to believe, but the child’s status and lineage were too strong to dismiss it as a child’s absurd claim. There was a high possibility that it was a unique pheromone ability.

“No way….”

My mind went blank, and I staggered as my legs suddenly lost strength.

When I regained my senses with the support of Mayme, who quickly approached, the child’s back was already far away like a dot.

And the following year, I gave birth to twins like a lie. Twins who simultaneously possessed healing pheromones and dominant pheromones.

* * *

Rumble, rumble. A fierce blizzard shook the windows as if to break them. The brightly shining sun had long since disappeared.

Ahin, who had pulled a chair in front of the bed and settled down, looked down at the sleeping Bibi.

This morning, Bibi, unable to resist Shua and Bion’s nagging, made a snowman, and as soon as it was afternoon, she started coughing.

Achoo, achoo. After repeating a dry cough a few times, she quickly developed a fever.

In the end, she was lying down and groaning, and it was only just now that she had finally fallen asleep. Even her miraculous healing pheromones didn’t have much power against the body aches.

Ahin, who was watching with concern, belatedly discovered a large hill on the blanket that Bibi was covering.

As soon as he lifted the blanket, Ash, who had been hiding, was revealed.

“Ash, come down when I tell you nicely.”

Ash, who was not intimidated by the threats of his former master, growled lowly.

Well, it would be better to warm Bibi’s body. Ahin, who had given up on shaking off the leech early on, straightened the blanket again.

He took a sigh of relief and thought of the twins who would be sleeping in the next room. He had forgotten the goodnight kisses that he shared every night while nursing Bibi.

It had already been three years since the twins were born. In that short period of time, the twins had conquered the Grace mansion with bodies that couldn’t even walk properly.

They ruled Ahin with their forepaws, monopolized Valence’s affection, and turned Lillian, who was stingy with expressions of affection, into a lover who only sang about love.

Even Evleene and Quinn would make cooing sounds, but when Ahin appeared, they would pretend not to and repeat their serious faces.

They were like this even as animals, but it was obvious that it would be even worse after they underwent humanization.

‘Ugh,’ Ahin frowned as he was awakened from his thoughts by Bibi’s tossing and turning.

“Why are you sick.”

Just as he was patting Bibi as if to soothe her, Evleene’s urgent cry from outside the door grated on his nerves.

“Ahin, I think you need to come out.”

He had warned them not to even make a sound because Bibi was asleep. Ahin, who quietly opened the door, pointed his sword at Evleene’s neck and said in the shape of his mouth.

“Where should I start cutting?”

Evleene, who felt the threat to his life, desperately pointed to the next room and moved his lips.

Baby, beastman fever, start.

Ahin, who understood the meaning with just the combination of three words, widened his eyes.

He anxiously looked back and forth between Bibi, who was asleep under the influence of medicine, and the next room, and gestured to Mayme, who was already on standby.

“Report to me immediately if Bibi wakes up.”

Ahin, leaving Mayme, who bowed, turned to Ash on the bed.

“Take good care of her.”

As soon as he gave the order, Ash replied with a bark. It was unknown whether he understood.

Ahin moved to the next room as if running, forgetting to straighten his clothes.

Beastman fever. The fever that started without warning meant that the children’s humanization was imminent.

* * *

Unlike humans, beastmen have a process that they must go through.

They have the appearance of humans at birth, but soon change into animal form.

If they are rabbit beastmen, they become baby rabbits, and if they are black leopard beastmen, they become baby black leopards.

After that, they go through beastman fever and gain a complete human appearance, and their true form also transforms from a baby rabbit to an adult beast. That was the standard procedure.

Ahin paced back and forth in front of the two children who had begun the process of transforming into complete humans.

On the bed, the baby rabbit and the baby black leopard lying in their respective cradles made colorful moaning sounds. Even though they were twins, it was unusual for them to go through beastman fever at the same time.

The only fortunate fact was that the twins were three years old this year, so their humanization was not that late.

“I just received a report that our rabbit had finally fallen asleep, but what is all this in the middle of the night!”

Lillian and Valence, who had heard the news, entered in disheveled appearances. Outside the window, Quinn was pecking at the window with her beak, making a fuss.

Valence, who had only put on a shawl in a hurry, carefully looked into the cradle.

“It would have been nice if they had experienced it when the weather was warmer. Why now….”

The body, like glutinous rice cake, repeatedly rose and fell with each breath. In particular, the firstborn and daughter, the baby rabbit, overlapped with Bibi, who had been in a life-threatening situation in the distant past.

Valence, who had become anxious for no reason, glanced at the door and asked Ahin.

“How is the baby, is Bibi okay?”

“Her fever hasn’t completely gone down, so I plan to check on her while going back and forth.”

It was a process that all beastmen go through, so why was he so anxious?

Valence and Ahin, who had the same feelings for the first time in a long time, exchanged glances. It seemed like it would be a longer night than usual.

* * *

As dawn broke, the sky took on a bluish hue.

At the time when Valence’s head, who had been holding on well, finally tilted slightly, Ahin, the only one who survived, stared at the cradle with bloodshot eyes. He did not take his eyes off it and asked the attending physician who was on standby.

“How is Bibi.”

“She is still sleeping. Fortunately, her fever has gone down, so all that remains is to rest.”

Ahin, who took a sigh of relief, suddenly clenched his fist so hard that blood rushed to it. Light began to shine from the cradle with the baby rabbit in it.

“Ahin, sir…?”

Evelyn, jolted awake, blinked rapidly and sat up straight.

Finally. Following Ahin’s subtle nod, the attending physician carefully draped a navy blue blanket over the baby.

Ahin and Evelyn, hesitant to approach too quickly, tried to calm their racing hearts, which pounded as if they’d just finished a marathon. Their pulses quickened.

*Whoosh*, as if announcing her arrival, a brilliant light suddenly burst forth. Within the radiant glow, tiny hands, feet, and wisps of hair materialized intermittently.

Before long, the light faded, revealing a little girl with a distinctly human appearance.

“Congratulations on her humanization, little one.”

The attending physician, moving swiftly, wrapped the baby, whose fine hairs stood on end from the chill, snugly in the blanket.

Ahin and Evelyn remained frozen, unable to react for a moment.

Ahin’s silver hair, Bibi’s purple eyes, and a gentle demeanor so like Bibi’s were imprinted in Ahin’s mind as if in a painting. Even her exceptionally translucent skin mirrored Bibi’s perfectly.

“…Evelyn.”

His gaze was utterly captivated by her wide, round eyes. After a long silence, he managed to speak, his voice trembling as if he were possessed.

“When you’re this happy, you get the urge to smash a wall. Am I even thinking straight?”

“I seem to be in my right mind, and yet, I also feel an inexplicable desire to demolish a wall.”

It was unlikely that two people teetering on the edge of sanity could accurately assess each other’s mental state.

The girl, who had been staring blankly at the two pathetic figures standing like statues, finally moved her lips.

“Appa [Dad]?”

Ahin, feeling a wave of dizziness at the clumsy endearment, rubbed his temples. She was so incredibly precious that he wanted to gouge his own eyes out.

“Evelyn, did you hear that? From now on, my name is Appa.”

“I’m recording this.”

The child, unfazed by their commotion, clutched the blanket and stood up unsteadily. Her walking and speaking abilities were surprisingly well-developed for someone who had just undergone humanization.

The child, succeeding in standing upright despite her wobbling, suddenly declared with a serious expression.

“You know, there was something I wanted to say when I was a bunny. But I couldn’t because I couldn’t talk.”

“Yes, tell me, daughter.”

Ahin nodded eagerly, facing the child who was already asserting her opinions so clearly after her humanization. Whose daughter was she to be so clever?

Emboldened, the child stomped her feet and voiced her dissatisfaction.

“I don’t have a name yet.”

“…Ah, right. That’s right.”

Ahin belatedly remembered a significant oversight.

In fact, the twins hadn’t been named yet, even after undergoing humanization. Discussions about names arose every month, but they always failed to reach a consensus and were abandoned.

The elders’ interference, insisting that the twins were a cause for celebration for the Grace family and that everything had to be done with utmost care, also contributed to the delay.

They had barely narrowed it down to two candidates, but the truth was that they underwent humanization while still being called Baby.

“Th-”

Ahin trailed off awkwardly, biting his lip.

Zenia Grace and Anri Grace.

He couldn’t unilaterally decide on one of the two candidates without consulting Bibi.

While he searched for the right words, the child took the initiative.

“I thought about it every day while eating hay, and I like Zenia.”

“…What?”

“I’ll go with Zenia.”

Evelyn, seeing Ahin’s crooked smile, rubbed his eyes.

Her appearance was just like Bibi’s when she was young, yet he couldn’t help but see Ahin in her. Denying reality, he whispered so that the child, now Zenia, couldn’t hear.

“…I dare say, this is the first time I’ve seen such an extraordinary baby who names herself.”

“Me too.”

The two, still rooted to their spots, stared blankly at Zenia.

Meanwhile, Zenia, tottering slightly, shook the cradle without warning. It was the cradle where the second of the twins, the baby black panther son, lay.

“Why is he so slow? Hey, Izer. Wake up quickly, Appa and Evelyn are waiting.”

Zenia, calling the second child Izer so naturally, shook the cradle diligently.

It seemed Zenia favored Izer Grace among the second child’s name options, Kanda Grace and Izer Grace.

Ahin, feeling a mix of emotions he couldn’t quite describe, spoke with difficulty.

“Evelyn, it seems like the second child’s name has been decided as well.”

“Personally, I was also leaning towards Izer. And it’s Evelyn, not Evelyn.”

Zenia, moving busily and unable to stop shaking the cradle, arrived at the left side of the bed.

Her small feet stopped in front of the black panthers, who were watching her with their chins resting on the bed.

“Shu, Bion.”

Shu and Bion were in a state of slight confusion.

After the baby rabbit that their owner Bibi cherished disappeared, a small Bibi appeared in its place. The scent was also quite similar to Bibi.

Seeing Ahin and Evelyn, who were Bibi’s servants, unable to move, they knew she was powerful, but they weren’t sure whether to submit immediately.

It was also difficult to ask for advice because Bara, who always provided wise counsel, was currently attending to Bibi.

Shu, with a relatively strong competitive spirit, raised his chin and swaggered.

*What are you going to do if you look at me? Bibi is the only one stronger than us, even if you stare.*

Seeing the movement implying that meaning, Bion also roared, following his sister.

“Uh?”

Zenia, facing the cheeky black beasts, raised an eyebrow. Her purple eyes reflected disdain and arrogance.

“Sit.”

*Thud*, Shu and Bion’s rear ends, against their will, hit the floor.

“Get up.”

Again, their rear ends, defying their intentions, popped up.

Sit, get up. Sit, get up.

Shu and Bion repeated the act of sitting and standing according to the command. The two black panthers groaned and stubbornly resisted, but the more they did, the less their bodies obeyed.

Ahin, who had been quietly observing the surreal scene, let out a hollow laugh.

‘Dominance pheromone.’

There was no doubt that the power Zenia was using was Ahin’s dominance pheromone.

A mere three-year-old child, as soon as she underwent humanization, instinctively recognized her power and was perfectly controlling her pheromones.

And with a very arrogant and relaxed look.

“It’s just like seeing you when you were young, Ahin.”

“How could she resemble him so much… Ahin, you used to control this grandpa in that way.”

Valence and Lillian, who had woken up in the meantime, blankly watched Zenia’s behavior.

Ahin, hearing the two people’s testimonies, finally understood the source of this unsettling feeling.

Before his eyes, Bibi, who had secretly prayed every night, even with her belly round, saying, “God, please make the child resemble me. Never Ahin,” flickered.

She resembled Bibi in appearance, but her inner core was a carbon copy of Ahin. He could almost hear Bibi’s screams echoing in his ears.

Sit, get up, lie down.

The added command echoed in the bedroom where the frozen adults stood.

* * *

Before long, a warm spring enveloped the Grace mansion.

After the twins underwent humanization, Ahin’s office was always crowded with visitors.

Not only the twins but also Lillian, Valence, and even Quinn, who had been reborn as an excellent childcare helper.

Their gathering place was always Ahin’s office. It wasn’t because Ahin liked it, but because they shouldn’t go to Bibi’s office and disturb her.

The second child, Izer, who turned six this year, was sitting on the sofa and touching Quinn’s blue hair. The fine hair slipped through his small fingers.

“Uncle, it’s so pretty.”

Izer, who said shyly, slipped out a hand mirror. In the hand mirror, Quinn had very cute pigtails that did not match his sharp eyes at all.

The hairstyle created by the small fingertips was extremely heinous.

“Keuk.”

Quinn, who reacted sensitively even to the slightest sound, turned his head sharply.

As expected, Ahin, who had his face buried in his office desk, was trembling with the quill pen in his hand. It was terrible when he suffered that incident last night, but he couldn’t be happier that someone else was suffering instead of him.

He barely managed to suppress the laughter that was about to burst out and said calmly.

“You did much better than when you tied Dad’s hair yesterday? Uncle Quinn must be very happy.”

Izer, who was deceived by the sweet talk, looked up at Quinn with expectant eyes.

Quinn, who was feeling the urge to untie his hair right away, flinched. He couldn’t dare to reject Izer’s red eyes, which were as clear as a lake.

Izer looked like Ahin’s childhood, except for the white hair that resembled Bibi.

And Ahin in his childhood had a kind appearance that was no different from an angel if he just kept his mouth shut.

‘Even so….’

Quinn, who thought that he could never accept this hairstyle, felt a stinging murderous intent piercing his back.

It was Ahin’s eyes that he would plow his strawberry field [threaten him severely] if he said anything harsh.

Quinn, defeated by the two fathers’ intense gaze, lowered his head deeply. The blue hair tied above his ears swayed.

“…This is the first time I’ve had such pretty hair.”

“Really?”

Izer’s expression brightened as if spring flowers were in full bloom, and he clasped his hands tightly. The next step was the ribbon.

Zenia, who was watching the pathetic sight, suddenly noticed the luxurious envelopes piled up like a mountain on one side of Evelyn’s desk.

“Love letters?”

Ah, Evelyn, who forgot to burn them, hurriedly stuffed the pile of letters into the drawer.

Even though the twins were only six years old, love letters were pouring in. Since they were still young, the starting point was engagement proposals, but in reality, they were almost no different from love letters.

*I’ll kill you later.* Ahin glared at Evelyn and smiled brightly at Zenia.

He was sweating on his back, wondering if the child would show any interest in the engagement offers.

“It’s nothing, Zenia.”

He tried to divert Zenia’s attention by calling her by her nickname in an affectionate voice.

“It’s nothing, but why are you hiding it like that?”

Zenia, moving busily, opened Evelyn’s drawer again. Evelyn, who couldn’t even dare to stop her, just shook his head.

“It’s my secret diary.”

“Let’s see… What secret diary, it’s love letters.”

Zenia, who read the neat handwriting, soon lost interest and put the love letters back in their place.

“I don’t really like it, engagement or anything like that.”

“Yeah, Dad doesn’t think so either.”

“That’s right. I heard last time that you have to meet a lot of men.”

*Meet a lot of what?*

Ahin’s face, which had been smiling brightly, collapsed terribly in an instant.

The murderous aura that slowly emanated filled the silent office. Ahin, Quinn, and Evelyn, whose faces turned black, spoke almost simultaneously.

“What the hell is wrong with that crazy bastard,”

“Who is talking such nonsense,”

“I’ll throw him in the dungeon,”

“Ahin, sir, Quinn, sir, Evelyn, sir.”

The aide, quickly covering Zenia’s ears with his hands, sent a signal with his eyes. Fortunately, Izer’s ears were also blocked by another aide’s hand nearby.

However, Izer, who had heard Zenia’s words accurately, was teary-eyed.

“Sister, what is that… You said you would live with me forever?”

“Yes, Zenia. You decided to live with Dad and Izer forever.”

“Dad, Izer. Originally, a rabbit’s heart changes from time to time. So, I think it would be good for each of us to go our own way.”

*Who the hell taught her that?* Ahin, Quinn, and Evelyn shuddered in despair as Zenia continued to speak.

It was obvious that Lillian would have screamed and searched for the suspect if she had been there.

Ahin, barely swallowing the vulgar curse that had risen to his throat, chose his words carefully.

“What… What strange friend would say such nonsense?”

As if there was a reward for constantly trying to refine his language, a soft voice mixed with laughter flowed out.

The aides turned their eyes away from Ahin, whose eyes were not smiling at all. They could easily predict the end of the strange friend.

Zenia rummaged through Evelyn’s desk, which had many interesting things, and said nonchalantly.

“Hmm. Are you going to scold me if I tell you who it is?”

“Of course not. Have you ever seen Dad scold anyone?”

Ahin, who had been thoroughly acting as a kind, loving, and cute dad only in front of the twins, confidently boasted.

“Well, anyway, it’s someone Dad can’t scold even if he knows.”

Zenia, who found a beast repellent in Evelyn’s drawer, suddenly raised her head.

*Chee-* Evelyn, who was hit head-on by the beast repellent, coughed and slumped down.

“My mother said so.”

Ahin, who finally understood, felt a sense of impending doom.

The only person Zenia addressed with the honorific title of mother was Bibi Grace.

The identity of the strange friend could only be Bibi Grace.

* * *

I have a bad feeling.

I, who was signing documents, raised my head sharply. An animalistic sense of danger, sharp as a blade, pierced my body.

As soon as I looked up, I met Ash’s eyes, wide with mischief. He was stealing the fruit basket on the side table.

*Thud*, Ash, sprinting like an arrow, fled beyond the office door in an instant. I, watching the door slam shut, trembled at the strange chill.

“…Alan, lock all the windows. Right now.”

“Is it because of the pollen? That’s why I told you to move the office to a higher floor. Why do you insist on the first floor?”

Alan, who had become quite close in the past few years, continued to nag. Of course, his hands were diligently pulling the window latches.

Strangely, the anxiety didn’t dissipate, and I rubbed the goosebumps on my arms. All the nerves in my body were screaming at me to run.

I hadn’t felt this in years.

It was as if I had returned to the time when I first came to this mansion, when I was constantly on high alert.

‘It’s dangerous.’

I didn’t know the reason yet, but I decided to get out of here first, so I jumped up and grabbed the doorknob.

“Alan, you asked why I insisted on the first floor for the office, right?”

“Yes? Ah, right.”

Alan, who had locked all the windows and was even drawing the curtains, turned around in bewilderment.

“It’s because the first floor is the easiest to escape from, no matter what problem arises.”

I answered seriously and forcefully opened the door. And I froze. Because the guest was already right in front of me.

“Bibi, let’s talk.”

Ahin’s eyes, gently curved, seemed particularly harmless today.

Nevertheless, I felt a fear that made my whole body tremble and slowly closed the door. It was not a harmless smile at all, but the most dangerous smile in the world.

“Why are you closing the door again? Uh, why are you locking it again?”

Alan’s absurd voice stabbed my back. I wiped the cold sweat that had flowed down in the meantime with the back of my hand and muttered.

“There’s something, there’s something….”

“It’s not something, but Ahin was standing… No, why are you suddenly opening the well-locked window, Bibi!”

I took out the hidden ladder and climbed over the window without hesitation.

It didn’t take even a minute to barely set foot on the flower bed and start running.

The only way to survive a fanged beast was to escape.

* * *

I, who suddenly had to play tag in the middle of the day, ran and ran until my heart burst. Ahin, who easily caught up with me, asked in a voice that didn’t betray his exertion.

“Bibi, why are you running away?”

“Because you’re chasing me!”

“I’m following you because you’re running away. Are you going to keep running?”

I, realizing the absurdity of our situation, suddenly stopped. There was no point in running anymore; it would only waste my energy.

I grabbed Ahin’s wrist and entered the library in the annex that was close by. Fortunately, the library, filled with old books and far from the main building, was empty.

I took a breath and looked back at Ahin with determination.

“Ha, what do you want to talk about?”

“You wouldn’t have run away if it were a simple question. Do you feel guilty?”

If it’s about confidence, I, Bibi, am the best, so there was no way I would feel guilty.

However, having known Ahin for a long time, whenever he wore that particular expression, it was always when I had done something wrong.

My feet had instinctively carried me away to avoid persistent questioning.

“What, why are you doing this?”

“…. ”

“Maybe I did something wrong… did I?”

I clenched my fist tightly, trying to calm my mind and face the truth. That small courage vanished as Ahin locked the library entrance with a *click*.

“Playboy bunny.”

Ahin’s red eyes shone fiercely.

*Step, step*. The more Ahin approached, the more I retreated, but the distance was shrinking.

I was confused by the word “playboy,” which I hadn’t heard in years.

I covered my mouth and rolled my eyes, pondering why I was being accused like this.

Did I accidentally voice my thoughts? Did I say something inappropriate while enjoying wine with the nobles the day before yesterday? I considered all sorts of possibilities and began to confess incoherently.

“The hair of the Riat family’s escort knight, whom I saw at the tea party with the noble ladies the day before yesterday, was silver like Ahin’s… I just thought it was beautiful for a moment. There’s really nothing else!”

“You thought another man was beautiful?”

“…Isn’t that why you’re doing this?”

“Yeah. One more sin has been added.”

I had walked right into the fire. I realized I had guessed wrong, and my face paled.

If that wasn’t the reason, I couldn’t understand why Ahin was acting this way at all.

“Ah…!”

I, constantly retreating, leaned back as my body bumped against something.

“Bibi!”

The scene of him reaching out his hand as his expression changed played out in slow motion.

In an instant, Ahin, grabbing my waist, twisted his body so that his back would face the floor. *Thud*, I didn’t fall on the floor but onto a soft velvet sofa.

It happened so suddenly that I, trapped in Ahin’s arms and only blinking, hurriedly tried to sit up.

“Ahin, are you okay? Are you hurt?”

I touched him to check for even a scratch, but he was perfectly fine. Nevertheless, Ahin remained lying down, covering his eyes with his arms.

“Look, Bibi is just after my body like this.”

“What, what am I after?”

Did this beast hit his head hard today? I felt like I had truly become a perverted bunny, so I quickly removed my hands from Ahin’s body.

I, with my hands raised, narrowed my eyes after a moment.

“…You’re just trying to tease me and falsely accuse me.”

Unlike his usual behavior, where he would quickly agree and chuckle, Ahin didn’t move.

Instead, he unexpectedly pulled me back into his arms. I bumped my nose into his solid chest and groaned softly.

“Ouch….”

“Why are you saying that?”

There was no playfulness in Ahin’s voice, which was barely a whisper. Eventually, I gave up on escaping his embrace and tilted my head slightly to breathe easier.

“What are you talking about?”

“That it’s good to meet a lot of men. Why did you say that?”

*When did I say that?* As I racked my brains, a memory flashed through my mind.

Before I could even make an excuse, Ahin’s next words burst out.

“Am I not enough?”

It was a low, heavy question that wasn’t trembling but sounded as if he might cry soon.

“That’s absolutely not true!”

I pushed away the arms that were holding me and hurriedly got up, grabbing Ahin’s cheeks with both hands.

I intended to fix his face, but he blinked blankly as his cheeks were squashed in my hands because I used too much force.

“You know, Zenia likes pretty people, even if I don’t know who she resembles.”

“That someone must be some playboy.”

“Don’t, don’t talk back. Anyway. The young master of the Istina family visited the mansion a few days ago. At that time, she suddenly said she wanted to get engaged because she didn’t want to break up with that child… I just made up an excuse.”

I later coaxed her in a different way, but Zenia didn’t even listen to the excuse, as if she was already deeply impressed.

“Instead, Zenia cleanly gave up. She’s still a baby in our eyes, so what’s the point of engagement, right?”

“…….”

“Ahin?”

Even with gentle coaxing, Ahin remained silent. The way he turned his head away without looking at me was just like the twins.

“I’m leaving if you don’t answer.”

I looked down with narrowed eyes and pretended to move while wriggling my body.

“Are you really leaving?”

The moment I was about to get off Ahin’s body, an unknown force pulled me back. This familiar energy was definitely the dominance pheromone.

“Ack!”

I fell back onto his chest, struggling with my arms, but I kept slipping and ended up groping Ahin.

“Beast bunny.”

As a low laugh tickled my ears, my vision quickly turned upside down.

Ahin, who had already taken his place above me, folded his eyes as refreshingly as the summer sun. His lowered gaze, meeting my eyes, was filled with dangerous heat. The touching bodies were so close that it was difficult to bear.

“Could I ever not forgive you?”

He murmured meaningfully as he began to leave marks all over my body.

“Here, this is the study…!”

“Since when have I cared about the location?”

I bit my lower lip, speechless at his brazen attitude. This was a space for reading, and the slight guilt I felt was rendered utterly pointless by his words.

“You knew all along since I locked the door anyway.”

Every gesture, even the way he tilted his chin towards the door, was both arrogant and sensual.

“…Annoying beast.”

“I know, relax your waist.”

The hand that moved slowly patted around my waist soothingly. Starting with him, my vision flickered black and then bright repeatedly.

Due to the suffocating, repeated kisses, a cry of ecstasy finally burst out.

How many times would Ahin make me promise never to say such things again?

In my flickering consciousness, I counted the futile number several times. Around the tenth time Ahin extracted the same promise, I nearly fainted and fell sound asleep.

* * *

One afternoon in spring when flowers were in full bloom, Zenia found herself in a difficult situation while enjoying a stroll in the garden.

She had somehow managed to climb a tree following the nimble Schu and Bion, but now she was actually afraid to climb down.

If it were Izer, he would have transformed into his true form and easily descended. For the first time, Zenia envied the black panther and awkwardly pursed her lips.

Of all places, it was a secluded spot with no employees around. It was a desperate situation where she had to wait until the security knights made their rounds.

Schu and Bion also seemed quite embarrassed, circling around the tree and making distressed noises.

They were perfect in terms of martial prowess, but the fact that they couldn’t communicate verbally was somewhat inconvenient.

“That tree is my spot.”

Zenia, her eyes widening at the voice from below, cautiously peeked out.

‘…A lion? Or a cow?’

A handsome man with pink curly hair and languid golden eyes was staring up at her.

Frowning, Zenia looked down at Schu and Bion, who were showing a strange reaction.

These kids, who would normally threaten and establish dominance upon encountering a strange beast, were nudging his pants with their front paws as if they were acquainted with the man, let alone threatening him.

Slightly relieved, Zenia asked with a curious voice.

“Do you know Schu and Bion?”

“I met them once before.”

“Have you been to our mansion before? That’s strange, I’ve never seen you. What’s your name?”

“Rune.”

“Rune? That’s an unusual name.”

Rune, not bothering to correct her, extended his arm towards Zenia. The branch the child was sitting on looked precarious, as if it would break at any moment.

“Jump down, I’ll catch you.”

“How can I trust you… Ah!”

Snap, the branch broke without warning, and the small body fell downwards.

Zenia slightly opened her furrowed eyes when she didn’t feel the impending pain. The man’s face, much more beautiful than when viewed from afar, was right in front of her.

“Rune, you’re as pretty as my dad when I see you up close.”

“That doesn’t sound like a particularly pleasant compliment.”

Rune chuckled and carefully placed Zenia on the ground.

Zenia brushed off the black riding pants with leaves on them and smoothed her hair. The hairstyle that Mayme had meticulously braided was now a mess.

“Oh, my hair is tangled.”

“Sounds like you want me to braid it again.”

Rune nodded readily and spread his jacket on a flat rock nearby.

Zenia naturally sat on the rock and glanced at Rune, who was tidying up her disheveled sleeves. Despite his neat attire and aristocratic air, he was someone familiar with serving others.

“But why are you speaking so casually? Do you know who I am?”

“…I don’t. Is that not allowed?”

“No, I’ll make an exception since you saved me.”

“I’m honored.”

The more she looked, the more the man’s demeanor seemed too carefree for a nobleman. Moreover, his skill in braiding hair was even more delicate than Yuan, Ahin’s exclusive attendant.

Zenia finally realized why she had never seen the man before and clapped her hands.

“You’re an attendant. You came with the delegation from the Lion Territory that arrived just now, right?”

“That’s right. I didn’t really want to come, but they pushed me to go on a trip. They said they didn’t like seeing me so down.”

Rune recalled the nagging he had heard right up until he arrived at the Grace mansion. From his fussy young nephew who had come with him.

‘Come to think of it, this child is about the same age.’

Rune, finally remembering his nephew who would be looking for him and throwing a tantrum, looked down at Zenia. Zenia, who had been tilting her head and staring at him, spoke abruptly as soon as their eyes met.

“You seem upset. Why do you keep forcing yourself to smile?”

The hand that had been diligently smoothing the silver hair paused for a moment. After a brief pause, Rune began to braid the hair again.

“Sorry, was it that obvious?”

“Yeah. What’s wrong? I’ll help if I can, as a reward for saving me. Even though I fell from a tree, I’m very capable.”

Rune, genuinely amused this time, shook his shoulders slightly. Just like her parent, she was already quite eloquent at such a young age.

“Hey, Rune. I’m telling you to talk instead of laughing. You won’t get another chance.”

Despite the urging, Rune chuckled for a while before braiding the hair neatly and saying casually.

“My pet rabbit died recently.”

Zenia, momentarily flustered, looked back at Rune with a surprised expression.

Of course, he was talking about an animal, but even so, the death of a rabbit was a topic that a rabbit beastkin [a human with rabbit-like features and abilities] couldn’t be indifferent to.

Rune, meeting the child’s clear eyes, quickly added.

“It wasn’t an accident, it died of old age. It passed away peacefully. But I sometimes regret….”

Rune himself didn’t know why he was listing such heavy topics in front of this young child.

Perhaps it was because there was no one in the Manients family who fully sympathized with his feelings. Everyone mourned the rabbit’s death, but no one seemed to feel as great a sense of loss as Rune did.

He rubbed his chest, which felt empty.

“Why do you regret it? Did you treat it badly?”

“Others say I treated it more than well enough, but I don’t really know. Only regrets remain.”

Zenia, staring intently at Rune, who was giving a lengthy explanation, looked forward again.

Thinking about Schu and Bion, who might not be around when she grew up, she felt like she was about to cry.

“Hey, Rune.”

“Yeah?”

“Someone told me something because I was sad every day because of Schu and Bion. They said that even if you do your best, you can’t help but have regrets.”

“……”

“Even people who live for a hundred years have regrets, and animals have even shorter time with us, right?”

A calm voice, unlike that of a child, flowed out.

“So, you have no choice but to grieve as much as you want and live with it in your memories. So, Rune, don’t force yourself to smile and cry a lot.”

It was a story her mother had told her when Zenia had a dream about Schu and Bion dying and cried her eyes out.

It was like telling a fairy tale, but Zenia remembered her mother’s tearful expression. Even the way her walnut-shaped wrinkled chin twitched.

‘How can I, how can I send Ash away? I can’t do it….’

Zenia’s eyes flickered to the scene of her father carrying away her mother, who was burying her face in the pillow and sobbing.

“Was it comforting?”

“Yeah, more than I thought.”

Before she knew it, a pretty braided hairstyle was completed at Rune’s fingertips. Zenia, who had stepped down from the rock, patted Rune’s somewhat stiff legs.

“I’m glad. Then I’ll be going now, my dad will cry if my walk is too late. Schu, Bion, let’s go.”

Schu and Bion, who had been waiting patiently, stood on either side as if to guard her.

Zenia, who was moving towards the main building, turned her body slightly. She wanted to see the face of the man with the beautiful dead fish eyes one more time before parting.

“You look a lot alike.”

Rune, muttering incomprehensible words, slowly waved his hand. Every movement was as languid as a summer afternoon nap.

“Tell Bibi thank you.”

“Okay. I’ll tell her, so take care of yourself.”

“-Okay.”

He chuckled again at the old-fashioned tone.

Zenia, who had been waving back and turned around, suddenly stopped moving. A belated sense of unease grabbed her.

‘…Tell Bibi?’

I don’t think I said that the person who told me was my mother.

Does he know who I am?

How dare an attendant call my mother by her name?

When Zenia, caught up in all sorts of questions, turned her head again, the area in front of the tree was already empty.

* * *

‘…A corpse?’

Zenia, who had been walking with Schu and Bion after parting with Rune, stopped. It was because she had found a boy collapsed in the center of the garden.

“Schu, Bion. You guys stay there.”

Approaching cautiously, Zenia slightly lifted the lips of the unconscious boy. Sure enough, the fangs, the symbol of a beast, were revealed.

‘He’s not dead. Did he faint?’

Her mother had repeatedly told her not to associate with pretty beasts. Especially since the more charming a beast looked, the more likely they were to be bad news.

After hesitating, Zenia turned her gaze to the boy, who had finally regained consciousness. Judging from his blinking golden eyes, he seemed to be a lion beastkin.

‘Is he also part of the delegation from the Lion Territory?’

Before long, Zenia found traces of Rune on the boy’s face. Except for his excessively beautiful appearance, his pink hair was exactly the same.

The only difference was that Rune had messy curly hair, while this boy had calm hair.

Before she knew it, Zenia was steadily captivated by the boy’s face.

“Where am I….”

The boy, who had just woken up, looked around with dazed eyes. Zenia, who was squatting down to match his eye level, stared intently at the boy.

“Who are you?”

“Me?”

“Are you related to Rune?”

The boy, who had barely managed to sit up, faced Zenia.

“Rune? Who’s that… Ah.”

The boy, who had frowned for a moment, soon returned to a gentle expression as if nothing had happened.

“My uncle.”

“Uncle? Hey, are you a noble?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Then Rune must be a noble too. No wonder it seemed strange that he was acquainted with my mother.”

Zenia, finally resolving her question, clenched her fist tightly.

That guy, he told me he was an attendant. How dare he deceive this Zenia-nim [a respectful title, similar to ‘Lady’ or ‘Lord’].

Zenia, grinding her teeth, came to her senses at the sudden smell of blood. The boy’s hands were covered in wounds here and there.

“Come to think of it, why are you collapsed here in this state?”

“That’s….”

“It would be better for you to tell the truth instead of making excuses. Because I’m the second strongest rabbit in this mansion.”

The boy’s pupils trembled slightly at Zenia’s threat.

Of course, of course. Schu and Bion, who had reacted to the word rabbit, swaggered.

The boy, scanning the two black panthers who were cackling like thugs, soon lowered his eyes pitifully.

“I was… abandoned by my uncle. He said I was annoying.”

“Rune abandoned you?”

The clear eyes became clouded as if they were about to shed tears at any moment.

“I didn’t think Rune was such a bad person. He even lied to me.”

Zenia, feeling a bit of sympathy for his pitiful appearance, lowered her eyes as well.

‘He’s a little pitiful.’

Should I heal him with my healing pheromones and take him to the mansion? But then Ahin, who hated lion beastkins regardless of the alliance, bothered her.

‘Why does Dad hate lion beastkins so much?’

Zenia, with her arms crossed, fell into deep thought.

What on earth had happened in the past? Whenever Bibi went on a trip to the Lion Territory, Ahin would feign illness and even pretend to be sick. Even muttering nonsense about a cheating rabbit.

‘Hmm….’

Zenia, judging that it would all end as long as she had the permission of the real power, Bibi, held out her hand to the boy.

“Then I’ll pick you up.”

“You’ll… pick me up?”

“You said you were abandoned.”

The boy stared at Zenia’s hand with a somewhat bewildered expression.

Even though there was a request—disguised as an order—from his mother to win the favor of the rabbit with healing pheromones….

He had intended to seduce Zenia Grace, who was weak to beautiful people, with his face, but he had never expected such a humiliating development of being picked up.

Unfortunately, the rabbit who resembled Ahin Grace had lost her mind.

As the boy’s hesitation grew longer, Zenia, her patience running out, twitched her eyebrows.

“Hurry up and take my hand. This Zenia-nim is seducing you right now. Why, are you too proud to be picked up because you’re a noble?”

“No, no. I like it. I like being unsightly.”

The boy, shaking his head hastily, took Zenia’s hand.

It was then that they heard something collapsing with a thud.

Startled, the two turned to the direction of the sound.

“Noona [term of endearment used by a younger male to address an older female]… what, what are you saying?”

There was Izer, sitting on the ground with tears welling up in his eyes, and Queen, blocking her beak with her wings.

Chuck, Izer, who had turned pale, pointed at the boy.

“Don’t pick up lions. He’s suspicious. I just saw him! He was making a very evil expression!”

“What?”

Zenia immediately checked the boy, but there was nothing but innocence on the boy’s face, let alone evil. It was clear that Izer was lying through his teeth.

“Izer, you’re lying again. I’m going to tell Dad.”

Zenia, annoyed, turned her back on Izer and Queen, who were interfering with her love life.

At the same time, Izer’s eyes widened as he met the boy’s gaze.

Don’t, interfere, get lost.

Izer, accurately interpreting the boy’s lip movements, covered his mouth with both hands. He had to let everyone know the truth about that vicious lion as soon as possible.

* * *

“Ash, not that way. That’s the direction of Queen’s strawberry field. Don’t go near it, or you’ll get scolded by Queen.”

Ash, not paying attention to the stern warning, moved his feet stealthily. He must have been enjoying Queen’s reaction to quietly despairing after seeing the ruined strawberry field.

‘Anyway, they’re enemies.’

I, who had been strolling in the garden, suddenly raised my head and gazed at the sky.

The time of dog and wolf [twilight, when it’s difficult to distinguish between a dog and a wolf].

The sky was dyed with a reddish light where sunset and night intersected.

Ahin didn’t pay attention, saying it was the time when canines were mentioned, but I had always strangely liked this time.

Even when I couldn’t roam freely as a child, I would always look up at the window at this time.

So much so that if a Lavian family employee drew the curtains, I would feel regretful and linger around.

Looking at the sunset was a habit that continued even after I underwent humanization, graduated from the academy, got married, and had twins.

‘Why?’

I, who had come to think about the habit that had continued since childhood for the first time, stopped abruptly.

An unknown sense of unease grabbed my feet.

Can I like a specific time this much for no reason? While I wondered if I was taking something trivial too seriously, I was overcome with the feeling that I was forgetting something very important.

‘Why…?’

Was it because the days of my childhood were actually too lonely and difficult, so I deliberately forgot them?

The wind that blew from the side made my roughly loosened hair flutter.

‘You shouldn’t touch baby rabbits carelessly.’

I, who had been tucking the hair that was blocking my vision behind my ears, froze in that position.

‘Because they’re weaker than us.’

Red eyes and a soft voice against the sunset-lit window. It was definitely a word I had recalled once before.

Why had I dismissed this voice as a trivial dream until now?

As I paced anxiously, something suddenly pulled at my skirt.

“Hero, hero.”

Startled, I looked down. It was Lil’s children, who were four and five years old, respectively.

“Why are you just looking at the sky? Is there a beast in the sky?”

“Ah… I was just thinking for a moment.”

“What are you thinking about?”

“Um, just thinking about the old days?”

I, who had awkwardly made excuses, bent down and put my hands on the children’s shoulders.

Lil, who had rushed over in a hurry, scolded the two children while watching my reaction.

“Kids, I told you not to call Bibi-nim like that. She’s a very high-ranking person.”

“Why? Valence-nim also called Bibi-nim a hero. He said she saved the black panther territory in crisis!”

“That’s… true, but use the correct title,”

“Lil, what does it matter? There’s no one here.”

I waved my hand, answering nonchalantly.

“Lil, treat me comfortably in private like before.”

“Even so….”

“Oh, here we go again. Are you going to be like this between us?”

“Oh dear.”

He, who had smiled awkwardly, crouched his huge body and met my gaze. I missed the days when Ash and Jane and I would gather in the stable and chat.

“It’s still amazing to think that Lil married a black panther beastkin. And a knight.”

“The entire continent was in an uproar after the announcement of the marriage between you, the rabbit, and the clan leader. Since then, marriages between beastkin and herbivore beastkin have become quite common among the territory people.”

“Still, he’s a horse beastkin. Wasn’t it difficult to get close to him?”

“In the beginning, she mistook me for a gorilla beastkin, so it was relatively easy to talk. When I showed her my true form, she grabbed the back of my neck.”

Ah, I see…. I, who had recalled Lil’s white horse form, which was no longer surprising, turned to the right. Lil’s children were fidgeting, as if they wanted to say something.

“Hero, Hero-.”

“I went to the market today, and I found something amazing there!”

“Something amazing, what could that be?”

As I pretended to be curious, the child, standing on tiptoe, whispered very seriously.

“This is a secret, but there’s a beast who’s prettier than Ahin-nim.”

“Oh, come on.”

I scoffed and shook my head. This Bibi-nim guarantees that there’s no beast in the world prettier than Ahin.

“Uh-uh, it’s true! The merchant even told me the name! The name is Edith, uhm, Edith… what was it?”

“…Are you perhaps trying to say Edith-nim?”

“Wow, that’s right. Look at this!”

The child took out a portrait that he had carefully kept in his arms. It was a portrait of Edith-nim, which was still talked about among the territory people.

I, who had received it, carefully examined the portrait of Edith-nim, which I had already seen.

‘What….’

It was just an ordinary piece of paper, but today I felt like I was facing Edith-nim, who was alive and breathing.

As I stared at his neatly raised mouth, my childhood was drawn before my eyes without warning.

‘Bibi, if you wander around as you please, I’ll never take you out again.’

Despite being a distant childhood, a strong memory struck my head.

Was I about four years old?

That day was the first day my mother took me out. To a mansion much grander than the Lavian mansion.

The noble ladies gathered in the drawing room were busy sharing news.

The conversation about me, a baby rabbit, was also brief, and interest never returned to me.

One hour, two hours, three hours. As the conversation grew longer, my body became stiff enough to make my hind legs tingle.

I, who had been waiting at my mother’s feet, discovered a gap in the door that had been slightly opened by a noble lady entering.

It was an attractive source of interest that appeared while I was getting tired of looking at the drawing room.

Wouldn’t it be okay to go out for a while and come back? After having an easygoing thought, I looked at my mother’s expression and slipped out through the gap in the door.

As soon as I came out into the hallway and felt a sense of liberation, I heard an ominous noise from behind me. The drawing room door had completely closed.

‘Bibi, if you wander around as you please, I’ll never take you out again.’

No. Desperate, I knocked on the door, but there was no sign of it opening.

‘What happened after that…?’

I, who had grabbed my head, glanced at the sky to grab the fragments of memory that had barely surfaced. The more I looked at the sky full of sunset light, the more the scenes were drawn sparsely, as if I were quickly turning the pages of a picture book.

‘Are you crying?’

‘Why are you crying?’

A beautiful man to the point of doubting my eyesight and a pretty boy of my age. And red eyes.

‘…He abandoned me and left. I even opened the door for him for the first time in my life.’

‘Are you sad?’

‘A little.’

I, who had been hiding behind the door in my childhood, felt a little sorry for the boy’s gloomy muttering.

That beast had opened the door for me so that I wouldn’t get scolded by my mother, so shouldn’t I at least say goodbye properly?

When I plucked up the courage and peeked out, the shadows of the two people stretched long in the hallway tinged with red light.

‘Let’s go now, Mom will be waiting.’

The back of the boy being led by the adult was fading away. Strangely, I felt a sense of regret.

Are you leaving already?

Wait for me.

My situation, unable to even utter those few words, felt so pathetic that it brought tears to my eyes.

Then, as if by a lie, the boy turned his head, his face sparkling purely in the sunset. It was the first time in my memory that I had received such a kind smile from someone else.

And the words he mouthed while waving his hand….

“…Let’s definitely meet again later.”

Having blurted out the traces of my memories, I bit my lip hard enough to draw blood. My hands, clutching Edith’s portrait, began to tremble.

Yes, let’s definitely meet again.

The moment I waved my front paw, making a promise in my heart, flashed through my mind.

“Brave Warrior, are you crying? Is it because the portrait is prettier than Ahin?”

“Don’t cry, we were wrong. Let’s just say Ahin is the prettiest in the world….”

The children’s sobbing voices awakened my fading consciousness.

“Ah…. No, I’m not crying….”

Flustered, I wiped my eyes with the back of my hand, but it was a meaningless gesture. Tears welled up and overflowed, soaking the portrait.

“Rabbit, why are you suddenly crying… *sniff*.”

Lill, who was patting my back with a trembling hand, suddenly covered her mouth. Her tender nature, which made her burst into tears whenever someone else cried, was still the same.

“Lill, do you know where Ahin is?”

I returned the portrait to the child and quickly stood up.

“Why are you suddenly asking about the Commander….”

Lill, wiping her tears with her sleeve, looked up at me blankly.

“I want to see Ahin. No, I have to see him.”

“Well, he went out with me a little while ago, so I think he’s either in his office or at the training grounds now.”

“Thank you.”

“Oh, Rabbit! You’ll fall!”

Leaving Lill’s call behind, I headed straight for the training grounds.

The hand clutching the hem of my dress turned white.

As I ran without stopping, a pointless conversation I had with Ahin in the past flashed through my mind.

‘What?’

‘It’s just that, for some reason, I feel like I met a black panther beastkin [a person with both human and panther features] before meeting Ahin.’

‘Wasn’t I the first black panther beastkin you met?’

‘Maybe?’

I laughed playfully, trying to tease him. Ahin, who smiled in response, asked gently.

‘What’s the name or description of the black panther beastkin you met first?’

‘Well, I don’t really remember that far back….’

‘Think hard, even a small clue is enough to find something.’

I almost fell for the whispering that tickled my ear, but I took a step back warily.

‘W-What are you going to do if you find out?’

The gentle smile that had been on Ahin’s face rapidly disappeared.

‘I’ll get rid of him.’

‘Oh my….’

The sight of me trembling, saying I couldn’t even joke with the crazy black panther, flickered before my eyes.

The first black panther beastkin I met.

‘Maybe, maybe….’

It seemed like too much of a leap, but my eyes were already brimming with faint hope.

‘I even opened the door for him for the first time in my life.’

No matter how I thought about it, there was only one child in the world who would say something strange like that about opening the door for someone.

‘Please.’

Why did the spacious mansion feel so resentful today?

As I ran like crazy, I suddenly lost my footing. My arms and legs scraped against the ground, but I didn’t even have time to use healing pheromones.

Not even realizing that I had fallen, I jumped up and immediately ran. The closer I got to the training grounds, the faster I stepped.

‘Please be there.’

I want to see you, right now.

I had to meet you and confirm it.

Before I knew it, the training grounds that Ahin mainly used were right in front of me.

In the distance, the silhouette I had seen this morning began to fill my vision. Whether my hair was a mess or not, I swallowed the lump in my throat as I ran.

The man, who was stretching his shoulders as if he had just arrived at the training grounds, turned his head towards me.

“…Bibi?”

My steps gradually slowed down.

Finally, I stopped in my tracks and stared blankly at the hair fluttering in the wind. I even felt like time had stopped.

The familiar silver hair was dyed red by the sunset, just like on a certain day in the past.

‘Hello.’

The boy’s hair, swaying in the breeze, was a dazzling silver.

“Bibi!”

Ahin’s eyes widened as he noticed me staggering. He hurriedly caught me, holding my waist that was about to give way.

“What’s wrong, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,”

Ahin, who had been speaking, suddenly hid me behind his back. Judging by the way he was reaching for his sword hilt, he seemed to think I was being chased by something.

No, that’s not it.

I shook my head and tried to get out from behind Ahin, but he stubbornly hid me, and I ended up burying my face in his broad back.

Thud, a pain that felt like my forehead was splitting in two struck me. This guy’s back didn’t seem to be getting any softer even after all this time.

“I’m not being chased!”

Despite my desperate cry, Ahin only turned around after making sure there were no signs of anyone nearby.

“If that’s not it, then why are your arms and legs like this.”

He scrutinized me, giving me a look I had never seen before.

‘Why are my arms and legs…?’

I belatedly realized that I had fallen when I saw my scraped arms and legs. The scratches on the ground were now stinging.

After roughly examining the wounds, I quickly grabbed Ahin’s sleeve.

“It’s nothing. Ahin, more than that, there’s something I want to ask,”

“Let’s take care of the wounds first. Okay?”

His attention was completely focused on the scratches.

“Bibi.”

“Okay….”

Judging that it would be impossible to have a conversation like this, I used healing pheromones. The wounds disappeared without a trace, like a sandcastle collapsing in the waves.

After confirming that there were no wounds on my body, Ahin let out a sigh of relief and met my gaze. His sharp red eyes finally regained their color.

“What happened? We promised not to run like a rabbit anymore, didn’t we?”

He frowned and reached out to squeeze my cheeks. He seemed to be reminded of my past self, who had run away so much that her front paws were worn out.

“I wanted to see Ahin quickly.”

“You wanted to see me?”

“Yes.”

I grabbed his wrist and fidgeted like a restless person.

“You ran all the way here, even falling, to see me?”

“That’s right.”

“You ran all the way here, even falling, to see me,”

“Stop it already. How many times are you going to ask?”

“…It’s more thrilling than I imagined. Don’t lie.”

Ahin, muttering that there was no way a wild rabbit who valued her own safety the most would do that, subtly distanced himself from me.

Meeting his suspicious gaze, I stamped my foot in disbelief.

“I’m not lying.”

“Then there must be something you want. …Shall I kneel?”

“That’s just your wishful thinking.”

“You caught me.”

He chuckled and grabbed my waist, lifting me up into the air. My feet, dangling off the ground, swung back and forth.

Suddenly looking down at Ahin, I licked my lips for no reason. As soon as I faced him, anxiety washed over me.

What if the boy from my childhood wasn’t Ahin?

I would be building up expectations only to be disappointed, playing both sides of the game all by myself.

I moistened my dry lips with my tongue and cautiously opened my mouth.

“There’s something I want to ask.”

My voice, which sounded too stiff even to my own ears, came out.

“Did you… did you ever go to the Rabbit Territory with an adult when you were little?”

Ahin blinked in surprise at the unexpected question.

“Maybe? Why are you suddenly asking that?”

“Answer me.”

I fidgeted as I spoke, urging him. Sweat soaked into my tightly clenched fist.

“I probably went a few times with my father when I was very young.”

“Around when? How old were you?”

Ahin, suspiciously examining me, who was unusually nervous, continued.

“Probably around four or five years old. My father was close to Chief Amon. But why are you suddenly talking about the Rabbit Territory,”

He stopped talking abruptly, and his expression gradually hardened. It was the face that often showed, the one that was hard to read.

Ahin, who carefully lowered me to the ground, habitually stroked his lower lip as if he were retracing something. It was as if he had realized why I had asked this question.

In the silence, seconds that felt like hours passed.

The face of the boy waving and smiling was only vaguely remembered, like a picture blurred in water.

‘Hello.’

Only the shape of his lips, whispering shyly, was clear.

The more I savored the word hello, the more my past self, who had uttered the word hello in an inappropriate situation, overlapped with it.

Even when I first became human in front of Ahin in Endelus.

Even when we suddenly reunited on the bed after a long separation.

The greeting I had given Ahin with a listless smile, hello, lingered in my mind.

It might be a common greeting, but for me, wasn’t it a special word that I had unconsciously held in a corner of my heart?

“…Ha.”

Ahin, who had been staring down at me, soon made a sound like air escaping.

“So that’s why my father bought me a rabbit doll.”

It was you.

In an instant, as I became certain, my legs gave way and I collapsed onto the grass. My eyes filled with tears to the point where my vision blurred.

Now I understood the identity of the déjà vu I had often felt when seeing Iser. It was because he had the same appearance as Ahin on that day.

“What is this…. How, how could this be….”

How could I be so late in realizing our past encounter?

Tears burst out at this important and touching moment, and I pounded the ground sadly. In response, he knelt down and gently brushed my eyes with his finger.

“If what I’m thinking is right, please raise your hind paw.”

This senseless beast. Where do I have a hind paw right now?

Even as I thought that, I couldn’t give a proper answer because I was crying so much, so I wiggled my feet.

Ahin, who noticed my desperate movement, covered his mouth with the back of his hand and turned his head sharply to the other side. As a matter of course, his shoulders trembled slightly.

“Don’t laugh. Are you laughing right now?”

Feeling even more wronged, I threw grass at Ahin. The fluttering green grass landed on his silver hair and epaulettes.

What good is it to have a fateful encounter in childhood? It was just a beautiful past that was completely useless against a lunatic.

“Why didn’t you recognize me right away?”

Swallowing the lump in my throat, I grabbed Ahin’s collar with both hands and only vented my resentment.

“How could you forget me? From the first time you picked me up, *sniff*, you tried to put me in your mouth….”

And you always made outrageous remarks about turning me into rabbit stew!

Ahin, who was grabbed by the collar, was shaken back and forth as I shook him.

Eventually, he grabbed me, who was wailing, and lifted me up. His lips lightly touched my wet eyelids and then fell away.

“I’m sorry, I must have been crazy.”

You were always crazy, but you pretended not to be.

Ahin, who was wiping my tears with his sleeve, said grimly as he held me in his arms.

“I should have just kidnapped you back then.”

“…What?”

“I thought about it for a moment, whether to just take you.”

It wasn’t even worth answering.

As I quietly hugged him, I suddenly felt an unknown chill and trembled. Despite this being a touching moment, Ahin’s atmosphere was strangely odd.

“……?”

As I struggled to get out of his arms, Ahin hugged me even tighter.

“Ahin, let me see your face for a moment.”

“No, I can’t control my expression right now.”

“Why, what’s wrong with your expression?”

“It’s not very pretty.”

The voice that answered was colder than the frost on a winter day.

Startled, I parted my lips slightly. While someone was crying from being moved, Ahin was burning with anger at an unknown target.

He was clearly regretting not taking me away from the Rabian family back then.

I didn’t even know where to start to correct our mismatched emotional states. I let out a deep sigh and simply buried my forehead in Ahin’s arms.

What did it matter if our feelings about the past were different? I was just grateful that the beast, who usually urged me to cry even more when I cried, was patting my back.

The steady touch brought an indescribable sense of stability. Feeling a little drowsy, I said in a quiet voice.

“Hey, Ahin. Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Yeah, anything.”

“You told me back then, let’s meet again. I’m curious about the reason you said that,”

“Mother!”

Crash, my words were cut off by a sudden commotion.

Iser, who had rushed to our side without warning, knelt down solemnly. Tears streamed down his chubby cheeks.

We, who had returned from the memories of our childhood to adults, hurriedly bent down.

“Iser?”

“Respected Mother, please stop Nuya… please stop Nuya.”

Shu and Bion, who had followed, prostrated themselves, not knowing why.

Queen, who had flown in with them, was desperately complaining, but there was no way to understand her.

Ahin, who was rarely flustered, picked up Iser, who was wailing like the protagonist of a tragic story.

“Stop Zena? What does that mean?”

“Yes, Iser. Don’t cry and tell me in detail.”

I, whose tears had completely disappeared, coaxed Iser, whose crying face resembled mine so much.

Iser, who had finally caught his breath, pursed his red lips.

“Nuya… Nuya picked up a lion in the back garden.”

“That’s right, he was lying in the back garden. Sadly, he said he was abandoned by his uncle.”

Zena’s voice, which I didn’t know when had come from below, echoed.

At the same time, our gazes moved past Zena and stopped on the boy standing side by side. He was a beastkin with the appearance of a prince who had jumped out of a fairy tale.

“I’m thinking of getting engaged to this lion. Isn’t he pretty?”

“No. Dad is prettier, and of course, you can’t get engaged.”

Ahin refused outright without even listening to the end. He had only heard about Zena’s selection of fiancés, so he was in a state of shock at witnessing it in person.

On the other hand, I wasn’t that surprised because I had encountered it so often.

“Zena.”

I knelt down to match Zena’s gaze and whispered quietly.

“Didn’t you promise Mom that you would postpone the engagement for a while?”

“I did, because the more men you meet, the better.”

“But why….”

I trailed off and turned my gaze to the boy standing neatly. The boy, who happened to meet my gaze, responded with a smile.

‘That kid?’

Aint Manients, a direct descendant of Leona Manients.

‘I don’t do anything with rabbits. Anything.’

He was definitely the talented boy who had said that he could feel four pheromones from my stomach in the past.

He seemed to have come as a member of the lion territory delegation that had just arrived today.

‘He said he wouldn’t associate with rabbits.’

What wind had blown through him in the meantime? I examined Aint, who had grown into Zena’s ideal type, and felt a little embarrassed.

Because the name Aint Manients had always been present in the marriage proposals that Leona, who coveted healing pheromones, periodically sent.

The fact that Zena had brought Aint here like this was more likely to be a cleverly orchestrated inevitability than a chance encounter.

For example, Aint had intentionally collapsed in front of Zena.

“So, Mother. He says it’s okay to meet a lot of them.”

I turned to Zena, who had awakened from her thoughts at the rambling whisper.

“Men. He says it’s okay to meet a lot of them and come back when I’m tired of them.”

“Come… what?”

“Since you were having trouble rejecting the marriage proposals one by one. Hmm, aren’t these conditions good enough? He’s a bit weak for a lion, though.”

“…Weak? Do you even know who this child is?”

“Oh, I forgot to ask his name. What’s your name?”

Zena, widening her eyes, shook the hand she was holding tightly. Aint, who smiled sweetly, responded in a soft voice.

“Call me whatever you want. You picked me up.”

“Is that okay?”

“Yeah, you said I’m yours.”

“He says so. Isn’t he very docile? I guess he doesn’t have any opinions.”

He doesn’t have any opinions, my foot. He’s just pretending to be docile.

Judging from Ahin alone, the most terrifying beast in the world was the one who smiled harmlessly.

I blinked my wide eyes in disbelief. It was impossible to forcibly separate their tightly clasped hands.

“Dad, Dad! Are you okay?”

On the other hand, Iser was shaking Ahin’s pants, wailing sadly. Ahin, who seemed to be mentally confused, was covering his eyes with his hands.

He was muttering something with a pale face, which seemed to mean to take away the hands that were tightly clasped together. I didn’t particularly want to know more than that.

‘It looks like Ahin will take care of everything.’

Sensing a commotion, I quietly left the scene while everyone’s attention was focused on Ahin.

The moment I secretly distanced myself, as expected, loud voices began to be exchanged.

“Absolutely not. Zena, you’re only six years old.”

“Dad said I was all grown up yesterday, a general rabbit. Are you saying one thing and doing another like Evlin now? I hate Dad!”

“You hate Dad…?”

The employees forgot what they were doing and watched Ahin and Zena’s argument. The scene of that crazy beast being unable to resist Zena was amazing no matter how many times they saw it.

Thud, a messenger bird that had flown in from the sky dropped a letter.

I checked the short letter and smiled faintly.

「To my dear Bibi.

I hope that Aint, whom I sent earlier, has pleased Bibi and Zena Grace. I will formally visit you soon to discuss the engagement.

– Leona Manients」

As expected. Before long, there might be arguments among Ahin, Grandfather, and Valence about attacking the Lion Territory.

‘Oops.’

Come to think of it, I didn’t hear Ahin’s answer to the question of why he said let’s meet again.

I turned around for a moment and covered my ears with a disgusted look.

“Eek, Lion you! Get away from our Nuya quickly…!”

“Iser, don’t push my lion. He’s a weak child, you know?”

Rather than getting caught up in the commotion, it was better to postpone my curiosity.

Because I could hear the answer later.

Thud, at the same time as I took another step, I made eye contact with Ash and ended up smiling sheepishly.

“What do you have on your face?”

I thought he wasn’t visible during the walk, but it seemed he had ended up stealing strawberries from Queen’s strawberry field.

“Ash, shall we have a cozy dinner together tonight?”

Ash, who recognized the word dinner like a ghost, came running.

“Oh my, Iser. Let go of my leg and talk!”

“Nuya, please don’t do this. If you keep doing this, I’ll tell Grandmother everything.”

“You’re so cunning, you always look for Mother and Grandmother when you’re at a disadvantage? You’re already learning the taste of power even though you’re so small.”

Leaving the mess behind, we walked out of the garden amicably.

Before I knew it, night had fallen, and the lamplight brightly illuminated the path back to the mansion.

The Grace mansion was, and would continue to be, noisy today and in the future.