TSROTRATBP Chapter 21

Invitations went out to herbivore beastmen as well, but most of them inevitably declined. Even among fellow beastmen, there was an instinctive discomfort around predators.

So naturally, herbivore beastmen tended to keep close among themselves, and predator beastmen among themselves, and so their own separate circles took shape, naturally.

Being a herbivore beastman myself, even hearing words like "lion" or "bear" sent a shiver crawling over me.

"Occasionally, hyena clan nobles attend as well."

This, this doesn't seem right.

The more I listened to his explanation, the clearer it became that tonight's ball was absolutely not the kind of place I belonged. I quickly slipped free of Ulpes's grip and darted about the bed, attempting an escape. Entirely unaware of what was going through my mind, Ulpes clapped his hands together, well pleased.

"Such joyful movements! It seems Miss Rabbit is looking forward to attending the ball with great anticipation!"

That's not it!

Just as I was in the middle of scouting an escape route, a noise erupted outside and the bedroom door opened. Recognizing the familiar voice, I stopped my scrambling at once and dropped where I stood. Clomp, clomp—footsteps sounded, thoroughly unnerving.

"My greetings, Lord Iverin."

"Where is Miss Rabbit?"

"She was just now happily bounding across the bed—M—Miss Rabbit?!"

Startled by my collapsed state, Ulpes let out a shriek loud enough to shake the rafters. Iverin's calm, level voice sounded out, seeming to settle him down.

"These days, whenever I appear, she dislikes dealing with me and always plays dead like this. Miss Rabbit, this Iverin is deeply saddened. And here I even volunteered myself as escort."

Right on cue, the moment he entered, some remark designed precisely to grate on my nerves came pricking at my ears.

Escort, my foot. Lying flat with all four legs stretched out, I quietly prayed for Iverin to leave, my mouth twitching in silent protest.

Contrary to that hope, a presence drew closer beside me—soft, unhurried steps—and then a truly dreadful voice brushed past my ear.

"Miss Rabbit, if you don't get up, I'll just escort you myself, then—with my mouth. Go on, hop right in. Ahh—"

With Iverin's mouth genuinely open before me, his fangs flashed right in front of my face. A sight ghastly enough to drain the color from anyone's face on the spot.

Th—th—!

Unable to bear it any longer, I shot up and delivered a swift kick to his cheek with a hind leg. Flump—knocked back by the impact, he sat down beside the bed and performed a shocked expression.

"How could you carry out such cruel violence."

Being in his formal coat as he was, the way he pressed a hand to his cheek looked almost refined. But showing no mercy whatsoever, I sank my teeth straight into his sleeve and held on.

"That speed, that grip strength—Miss Rabbit truly must have the blood of a fighter running through her veins."

Shut up!

The way he said such things with a perfectly blank expression was infuriating just to witness. Ahin had swallowed my forepaw whole just two days ago, and now this—master and subordinate, cut from the exact same cloth.

Yeah, I really can't stand black panthers.

Stifled, I poked my head out of Ahin's pocket. At this point I was almost used to being toted around in a pocket.

I'd been looking up at his face—unusually striking today, somehow—when I caught Iverin trailing behind us, and shot him a glare. The anger from a minute ago still hadn't cooled.

"My lord, Miss Rabbit is glaring at me with quite a sharp edge."

"Vivi, glare at me too."

I wished this combo duo would just shut their mouths for two seconds. Irritation flaring, I wrenched my gaze forward instead. A slow breath in, and only then did the scenery finally register.

So there's a separate ballroom.

I'd thought I'd covered most of the estate during our garden walks, but the path we were on now was still unfamiliar. Absurd as the current situation was, I'd never been to a ball before, and some small part of me was curious.

If Ahin's bringing me as his partner, then who's Lady Valens's partner?

Drifting in thought, I found myself wondering about her. Maybe as head of the house, she simply didn't need one.

Come to think of it, I hadn't seen Ahin's father even once since arriving here. Landing on a conclusion I didn't much like, I pressed a paw to Ahin's jacket, my face pinched with pity.

"Vivi?"

The territory of a predator was the kind of place where anyone could die at any moment and no one would think it strange. I felt a pang of pointless guilt, as if I'd carelessly pried into some private grief.

Naturally, none of this reached him, and Ahin's head tilted to one side.

"What's wrong?"

"Perhaps she's urging you to walk faster," Iverin offered.

Iverin. Be quiet. I aimed a reproachful look at him with my front paws, and he stroked his chin thoughtfully, as if conceding the point.

"To think you've even learned to give commands. It's a moving development."

Ugh. Any more of this and my skull's going to start throbbing from pure stress. I tucked my paws back in and settled down, and Iverin, glancing my way, took the opening to speak.

"My lord, might I ask why you selected Miss Rabbit as your partner?"

Well, will you look at that—an actual normal question, out of that mouth. I was curious myself, so I listened in too.

Among all the beastmen who'd properly completed their humanization, choosing a rabbit as his partner was, even for Iverin, apparently difficult to make sense of.

"If you've got a partner, no one minds if you skip the dancing."

A clear enough answer, but really it just meant using the rabbit as cover to slack off.

Iverin and I arrived at the same realization at the same moment and traded a look of pure exasperation. It might have been the first time we'd ever agreed on anything.

We eventually reached a set of iron gates too grand to properly describe. The doors, draped in red velvet, looked like they might not open even for a beastman's strength.

I'd heard the rabbit territory was rich in crops while the black panther territory was rich in wealth and treasure, but seeing this gate firsthand made it hit home all over again.

"We pay our respects to the future head of the house."

The knights, recognizing Ahin on sight, threw the doors open at once, skipping the formal identity check entirely.

As the interior came into view, I saw a dazzling chandelier and more beastmen than I could count.

I was staring blankly at the scene when a faint scent brushed past my nose, and my whole body went stiff.

'Did you hear? Hey, did you hear? The Gletta boy and our fourth young miss have been sneaking looks at each other.'

'What? Where?'

'Where else. That celebration for the head of house's birthday, last month.'

Judging from the conversations the maids always had after a ball, this place doubled as more than just a social gathering—it was a place to find a match.

So that explained the lavish getups—and, on top of that, the pheromones they were quietly leaking. Pheromones could function as a kind of sexual allure, after all.

Which meant the scent filling the room right now was nothing but a collective haze of countless beastmen leaking their pheromones. The moment I understood that, the same tightness from before started clamping down around my heart.

"In the future sovereign's pocket…"

"Is that a doll?"

"No—it looks like… a live rabbit."

The murmuring grew louder with every step Ahin took. Inside that ballroom, I think I was getting more attention than I had at any other point in my entire life.

Because of who Ahin was, no one was outright staring, but I could feel that most of the eyes in the room were aimed at me, tucked inside his pocket.

The whole situation had gone thoroughly sideways from the moment the gatekeeper announced "Lord Ahin Grace and Miss Rabbit" as our entrance. Why, in the world. They could've just shouted Ahin's name—but no, they had to—

I didn't even need to look to know whose idea that had been. While I let out sigh after heavy sigh, he strolled along with that bright, guileless look on his face, saying, "Vivi, this is your first time meeting the tiger clan, isn't it?" as if he were personally giving me a tour of predator territory.

This damn burnt wreck of a person…

Swallowing the sharp remark rising in my throat, I let just my eyes and ears peek out from the pocket. The ballroom was filled, as far as I could tell, entirely with beastmen who were unmistakably predators.

The bigger problem was that from the moment I'd stepped inside, my stomach had started churning in the strangest way. Not so bad that I couldn't stand it, but still.

No one else seemed to be reacting to the pheromones at all. Was it just me?

"My dear."

While I was lost in these thoughts, a languid but genuinely welcoming voice reached me.

Lady Valens.

She crossed through the layered crowd in a blue dress. I glanced carefully around, but there was still no sign of the beastman I assumed was Ahin's father.

Looking at Lady Valens with her silver hair pinned up, I found myself glancing back and forth between her and Ahin. It was the first time I'd seen the two of them together, and now that I was comparing them side by side, something about their air felt subtly different.

"I heard you nearly met with disaster. I've only just returned from a trip this morning, so this is the first chance I've had to see you."

Thank you for worrying about me.

Unable to answer, I pulled a paw out of the pocket in reply. She approached slowly and lined her fingers up against it.

"Mother. Too close."

A low voice sounded from above as the distance between them narrowed.

"I'm none too pleased to be near you either, Ahin. How is it you let a wolf take his own life? Sloppy handling."

"The place that permitted the wolf's intrusion in the first place was also your estate, Mother."

To anyone else watching, they looked like they were smiling pleasantly, but the exchange whispered between the two of them was nowhere near warm. I could practically feel invisible sparks crackling between them.

They don't… get along very well?

I glanced rapidly back and forth between them before finally giving up any attempt to make sense of what was really going on between them.

To begin with, Lady Valens didn't seem the least bit bothered that Ahin had brought me to the ball at all. Either that, or given Ahin's general disposition, this level of eccentricity was simply normal for her. The latter seemed more likely.

"My dear."

Having apparently decided to let the matter drop, Lady Valens gave Ahin's shoulder a light tap with her fan, her eyes curving into a gentle arc. Somehow it reminded me of the smile Ahin always wore.

"The wolf that chased you—I had his head hung personally at the front gate. That should serve as some manner of warning, I think."

What?

Her expression was mild, but the content was anything but. Her voice carried openly enough that the nearby beastmen began to stir.

Soon a murmur confirmed it—"So that thing hanging on the iron gate… was a wolf clan's head"—I heard it drift through the crowd.

At the front gate. She hung it at the front gate?

Someone had actually hung something like that at the entrance of a noble house? Picturing the shape of a severed head strung up there, my face drained of color at once.

Worse still, since she'd described it as the wolf that had chased me, the beastmen's attention now focused squarely on me. Looking at it another way, it worked as a kind of warning, too—touch this rabbit and you won't like what happens.

The murmuring grew, strangely, thicker. Standing at the center of all those startled looks, I felt torn endlessly between gratitude and dread.

The night of the ball ripened. Even so, plenty of eyes still lingered on us, and none of the nobles dared approach anywhere near Ahin.

Was it because we were genuinely spinning around to the melody as though dancing a waltz? Or was it the plate piled high with hay that had been set out for the ball?

Either of those two things alone would have been enough to explain why the nobles were deliberately keeping their distance. Even I, in their position, would have wanted to keep as far away from this mess as possible.

This one's the real thing.

To pull off something like this even among the nobility, even in a ballroom full of watching eyes. Maybe the thing spinning in circles wasn't the dance—maybe it was the inside of Ahin's head.