TSROTRATBP Chapter 22

Chin resting on the pocket's edge, I drew a thin breath. Ahin's behavior was problematic, yes, but strange unease had been creeping up from my toes since earlier.

My stomach churned like before, yet it didn't feel quite as suffocating. Still, since my condition wasn't good, wouldn't it be better to return to the bedroom?

'Left front paw for emergencies.'

'Right when I want Ahin.'

The fact that we'd established signals floated through my complicated mind. I should definitely leave this place.

The moment I wiggled my front paw to summon him, a flat voice reached me.

"Tiger clan mostly possess blue eyes. Hyena clan have black eyes. Observe the power structure."

Looking up, Ahin wore his usual ceremonial smile. Where his chin gestured, two beastmen were conversing.

Blue eyes and black eyes. Examining them closely, the hyena beastman seemed to adopt quite a submissive posture.

"Tiger territory is where weaponry flourishes. In contrast, adjacent hyena territory falls far behind in minerals and smelting techniques, so naturally a hierarchical relationship formed between territories."

Since this was new information, I stuck my head out and watched them. The farther from rabbit territory, the sparser the information inevitably became.

"Hyena beastmen are especially easy to distinguish externally. They generally possess darkish skin."

Indeed, the hyena beastmen with their black eyes and skin were the easiest clan to identify among the ballroom's beastmen.

Positioned at the periphery, he also informed me of several other clans' characteristics. As I shifted my gaze and observed according to his explanations, I grew puzzled about why he'd bother pointing out these facts.

'Why?'

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

'Why me?'

Teaching me such information wouldn't benefit him in the slightest. As I watched him quietly, holding my breath, the red eyes slowly roaming the hall's interior met mine.

With his clear smile erased, Ahin occasionally became expressionless. A face harder to read than when he smiled.

Facing that turbid expression felt like a sharp blade aimed at my throat, tension flooding in.

"Vivi."

My body flinched at the voice that broke the stillness. Simultaneously, the suffocating tension dissolved. Having already wiped away his blank expression, Ahin tapped my nose.

"What if the pocket tears because you're too heavy?"

'...I'll bite you.'

This infuriating black panther—I'll definitely bite him. The moment I opened my mouth after making this new vow, a presence stirred.

"Lord Grace, it's been a while."

Before us stood a beautiful beastman with scarlet eyes and hair of the same color flowing long. An exceptionally brave young lady who'd spoken despite the peculiar atmosphere of avoiding Ahin. The distant nobles' pupils wavered, perhaps thinking the same.

"To bring a pet as your partner—you remain a charming individual, as always."

Her red lips parted, revealing a flash of fangs.

I shrank instinctively, peeking out only my eyes from the pocket to watch her. Rather than charm, didn't it seem more like unhinged behavior? But indeed, phrasing was everything.

"I do wish you'd visit our fox territory at least once. You refuse every time, which pains me."

"I suspect I'd become prey for foxes if I went."

"I'd be even more pleased if you became mine."

She spoke in a suggestive tone, her sliding gaze sweeping over Ahin.

"I'll decline."

Words impossible for an herbivore beastman to understand passed between them. Moreover, as the conversation continued, thick pheromones flowed from her.

The dense kind containing sexual meaning. Inadvertently inhaling it, my head throbbed sharply for a moment. Holding my breath, I quickly blocked my nose with my front paw.

"Until next time, then."

The conversation didn't continue long. As she departed after the greeting, Ahin explained slowly.

"That was fox clan. Polyandry is common in their territory, so she already has five husbands."

'Fi-five?'

Five husbands—impressive. Shocked, I stared long at her departing back.

As I watched until she completely disappeared into the crowd, I felt my breath catching again.

This time, the pain was severe enough to make my body curl involuntarily. Writhing, I desperately raised my right front paw.

"What's wrong?"

Ahin, receiving the signal, lifted me from his pocket and asked. Struggling in his palm, I frantically pointed at the floor. Put me down, please.

"...Vivi?"

Grasping my intent faster than expected, Ahin bent down and lowered me. Finally, all four paws touched ground. The moment I felt the hard surface beneath my feet, I began running frantically.

"Vivi!"

Ahin's shout came from behind.

"Goodness!"

"What's happening?"

Startled nobles lifted their feet in confusion, but I had no time to look back. Crossing the hall in an instant, I dashed through the first open door I saw.

Fortunately, lamps lit the connected corridor, allowing me to secure visibility. Forcibly suppressing my churning stomach, I ran the corridor without rest.

'Could it be...'

Could it, could it. An impossible hypothesis kept dominating my thoughts.

Thud. I entered any open door I could find and collapsed to the floor. Pheromones were rampaging through my body as before.

It hadn't been this severe at the banquet's start—it must have been after encountering the fox beastman's deliberately released pheromones.

Unable to endure the unbearable pain, I rolled about writhing. The intensity was worse than last time.

'Ugh.'

Tears threatened to pool. Curled up and gasping for breath, I blinked repeatedly as even my vision blurred. Blink, blink. Through my fractured sight, white hair cascaded down.

All strength drained from my body, I simply lay on my side blinking. White hair scattered carelessly across the cold marble floor. Staring blankly at it, I felt the pain gradually fading.

'White...'

Mother and Kyri also possessed hair of that color. When neatly brushed or beautifully braided, I'd felt rather envious.

Shining particularly vividly even in lamplight, I absentmindedly reached out a front paw while gazing at it. Then once again, a hand of unknown ownership filled my vision.

Even the soft texture of the hair touching my front paw felt far too vivid. Realizing this, all thought processes halted.

'A hand...? Texture...?'

Why did that masterless hand feel like mine? Why?

Frozen for several seconds, I bolted upright and grabbed the white hair. Below appeared arms, legs, and a torso with human characteristics that absolutely shouldn't exist.

Groping my body, goosebumps rose from the curves and sensations conveyed.

'No, it can't be. Pull yourself together.'

A human body—that's genuinely impossible. Nearly fainting, I shook my head repeatedly and looked around the room.

The lamp was lit, but as if unused, only a few pieces of furniture were present. My wandering gaze settled on a mirror standing in the corner.

Rising hastily, my legs suddenly gave out and I collapsed. Pain flashed through my bent bones. Reflexively touching my leg, I looked down at my hand with trembling pupils.

'A, a hand!'

Five whole fingers. A scene I couldn't have imagined even in dreams.

In the end, I crawled across the room on all fours. I wasn't in any condition to walk on two legs immediately. I'd run on all fours my entire life, after all.

Using all my strength to finally reach it, the mirror contained a woman I'd never seen before. An appearance that looked exactly eighteen—around Ahin's age.

Staring in bewilderment, I cautiously extended a front paw toward the mirror. The woman in the mirror also reached out her arm following the movement. The identical action sent a chilling sensation rushing through me.

'Ah!'

Reflexively smacking the mirror, the woman also widened her eyes with a frightened expression. My front paw throbbed from hitting the hard surface.

'...A human.'

The lips positioned below the round nose trembled. Sitting collapsed while staring, I soon faced the unbelievable reality.

'I became human.'

The woman's violet eyes in the mirror shook finely.

Rabbit clan's characteristic pale violet eyes and white hair identical to Mother's. It was difficult to deny this was me.

The hair even flowed down nearly sweeping the floor, as if proving I hadn't cut it for years. Looking down at the white hair long enough to coil around my legs, I bit my lip.

'How did this happen?'

Beastmen possess human form at birth, but transform into their animal form within days.

Then, after enduring a period of beastman fever, they finally undergo complete humanization. The better the bloodline among nobles, the earlier humanization occurs and the shorter the fever period.

Therefore, with humanization extremely delayed and having never experienced beastman fever, I had no way to explain this situation.

Ah... Repeatedly touching my cheeks, I realized I currently wore not a single thread.

Not only that, but unlike when I was a rabbit, my body trembled from direct exposure to cold air. Feeling the shameful state, I hugged both arms.

'That one.'

My wandering gaze reached a table beside the mirror. Crawling over, I immediately pulled down cloth resembling a tablecloth covering the table. Wrapping my body in the large cloth, a faint sense of stability finally arrived.

Moving again, I calmly crawled under the table. Crouching there, thump, thump—my heartbeat sounded loud enough to reach outside.

'Calm down. I need to stay calm.'

Vivi, you're not such a weak beastman. I told myself this, but unable to settle easily, I slid my hand down my cheek.

I'd desired humanization so desperately, yet I never expected it to arrive so suddenly. Rather than joy at becoming human, I worried about immediate problems first.

'...What if Ahin sees this?'

I knew he didn't consider me an ordinary rabbit, but what he did consider me remained unknown. Wouldn't he immediately draw his sword, claiming I'd deceived him? The sinister smiling faces of Ahin and Iverin naturally flashed through my mind.

'Lord Ahin, how about rabbit beastman stew?'

'Not bad. Let's have it for tomorrow's breakfast.'

'I'll instruct the head chef immediately.'

'No—!'

Having thought something terrible, I pounded the ground with my fist. Pain shot through from the marble floor. It was a laughably unfunny imagination, yet perfectly plausible coming from those ruthless black panthers.

'From the beginning... Right, let's think from the beginning.'