TSROTRATBP Chapter 23

Shaking my head, I gnawed my lips anxiously.

This proved the fingers I'd seen that dawn weren't an illusion. But I'd definitely returned to rabbit form when I opened my eyes.

'Then could I have temporarily become human now too?'

'Why? How?'

'Why?'

Questions I couldn't answer logically filled my head.

I hadn't experienced beastman fever in the first place, only felt inexplicable pain—the very circumstance of becoming human defied explanation.

Lost in thought, I widened my eyes at a presence felt outside. I'd been so flustered I'd even forgotten to close the door.

'What if it's Ahin?'

Would he recognize me? What do I do, what should I do? My hand gripping the cloth clenched tight. The rushing anxiety made even my vision feel white.

"Come out."

At last, thud—the sound of the door closing and footsteps reached me.

"I know you're in here."

My mouth went bone-dry at the voice echoing through the quiet room. It wasn't Ahin. An unfamiliar but vaguely heard voice.

"There's quite a commotion outside looking for you."

Rune Maniuntz—definitely the lion beastman at odds with Ahin. Though I couldn't confirm his face hidden by the table's edge, I felt his footsteps drawing closer. Unable to make a sound, I held my breath and strained my hearing.

"Let's talk... what the hell!"

As Rune suddenly shouted in surprise, I covered my mouth in alarm.

"Who, no, why are you under the table...?"

Rune, who'd been bending down, froze mid-motion. Our gazes met in midair. Staring blankly, his ears soon turned bright red as he stumbled backward.

"And your clothing, what in the..."

Following suit in wariness, I realized his reaction stemmed from my clumsily wrapped cloth and shrank back. A sense of crisis surged—alone with a lion in an enclosed space. I wasn't familiar enough with walking to escape.

'Should I, should I crawl?'

Or push the lion and roll away? Whatever I imagined, I'd be caught within two steps.

Soon Rune's feet, which had been flailing through empty space, stopped.

Approaching the table again, he bent down and faced me. His extended hand grabbed a fistful of long white hair.

Bringing it to his nose, after a brief moment he raised his half-lowered eyes. My still-unfamiliar appearance reflected in his calm golden eyes.

Silence that felt like dozens of minutes passed in seconds. Rune, wearing a faint smile, stated with certainty:

"So you weren't just a rabbit, but a beastman after all."

To make such a judgment from scent alone. Chilling goosebumps rose along my spine.

I'd been shaking my head instinctively, feeling I shouldn't be discovered, when I stopped. Come to think of it, couldn't I speak human language now?

'...But how?'

Unable to actually produce words, I just opened and closed my mouth repeatedly. Attempting to make sound—ah, ah—repeating throat vibrations, Rune's golden eyes deepened.

"Can't you speak?"

'I've never done it before.'

Could you speak immediately after humanization, you predator? Unable to refute, I concentrated on producing voice.

After rolling my tongue considerably, it felt like decent sound might emerge. Surprisingly, Rune waited obediently for an answer. Practicing several words like recitation, I swallowed dryly.

"I,"

A terribly unfamiliar voice flowed out. Gaining courage from pronunciation more accurate than expected, I parted my lips again.

"I'm not a rabbit beastman."

Having spoken my first words, self-loathing rather than emotion flooded in.

Ah, why did I say that? My very first words were self-denial.

My lip trembled with shame enough to bring tears. The sole consolation was pronunciation reasonably clear, if slow.

"What nonsense."

Rune laughed in disbelief.

"You're positively vibrating with that black panther's pheromones."

A voice certain, not speculating. As his head tilted, pale pink hair swayed along.

"No."

Deny first, think later. Unable to gauge what expression I was making, I turned my head to block his gaze.

But Rune didn't easily abandon pursuit and spoke again.

"Then how do you explain violet eyes?"

"I'm... mixed blood."

"You're a rabbit beastman."

"I said no."

A strange argument unfolded. What pheromones was he even talking about? Both Ahin and these predators claimed scents my sense of smell couldn't detect.

'...Did Ahin rub it on me?'

Hadn't he said something about removing lion scent or whatnot? Secretly bringing my hand to my nose, Rune's brow furrowed overtly.

Flinching in fear, I surreptitiously tugged the handful of hair still held in his hand. Releasing it obediently, Rune opened his mouth just as commotion arose outside.

Crash. The door opened, familiar silver hair rippling in lamplight.

Light seeping from the corridor brightly illuminated the room's interior.

Ahin, who'd frozen gripping the doorknob, crossed his arms and leaned obliquely against the door. His head tilted languidly. A gaze like observation itself.

'Ahin.'

Staring in bewilderment, worry suddenly flooded in—what if Ahin recognized me? Just as I shrank back using Rune as a shield, Ahin's lips parted.

"Iverin, sword."

The toneless voice flowing out shattered the cold stillness. Currently in tailcoat attire, his waist lacked the longsword usually hanging there.

Iverin, subtly avoiding the hand extended toward him, shook his head.

"Absolutely not. ...He is the lion clan sovereign's son."

"I'll think after cutting him down."

"Too late."

"I'll only cut twice."

"Not even once."

Who was this lion clan sovereign's son again? Both Ahin's behavior in immediately demanding a sword and Iverin's statement were problematic.

My trembling pupils settled on Rune's pink head turned away facing the door.

'This guy?'

It was instantaneous. Moving before I could react, Ahin drew the sword from a nearby knight's waist.

"Lord Maniuntz, enjoying yourself?"

The flashing blade aimed at Rune.

"Lord Grace?"

"Attempting to steal what's mine in this place."

His possessive statement and crescent-curved red eyes were quite chilling.

Attempting to steal—at the nonsensical words, Rune, who'd frozen in bewilderment, looked back at me. His golden eyes simultaneously widened enormously.

"No, what, wait,"

As if flustered, he stammered repeatedly. He even waved his hands.

"Attempted kidnapping alone is a serious crime."

Ahin's cold voice echoed through the interior again. Perhaps to mediate the increasingly brutal atmosphere, Iverin entered the room. Thud. His extended finger pointed at the cloth I'd wrapped around myself.

"Lord Maniuntz, regrettably, Miss Rabbit is not one to be kidnapped so easily with a single cloth."

"...Kidnapping, what."

Unable to erase his confused expression, Rune immediately picked me up. Grabbed by the scruff in an instant, our gazes met in midair. Through my struggling vision, a familiar ball of fluff wavered.

'I, I, I'm back!'

When? How? Flustered, I looked between both front paws alternately.

No wonder these predators had seemed excessively large since earlier.

These are front paws, right? Just in case, I stretched both legs, and Rune blinked incredulously. He also hadn't noticed my transformation into a rabbit before looking back.

"What kind of trick is this? Just a moment ago..."

'Wait, no!'

As predictable words began flowing from Rune's mouth, I launched my body in alarm and smacked his lips shut. Caught off guard, Rune made a pained groan—"Ugh."

"What are you do—mmph,"

His words couldn't continue. I did my utmost with a single determination to seal Rune's mouth.

He dodged the sudden aerial battle with whoosh whoosh sounds and laughed absurdly.

'Be quiet!'

For now, what just happened stays secret. Shooting him such a look, I growled threateningly. Though his status as a lion made such behavior problematic, if the fact I'd transformed into human was discovered, my life might be immediately endangered.

"Vivi, hit him once more."

Ahin, who'd approached close, raised the well-honed sword near Rune's neck. Red eyes curved gently. His brightly smiling face looked terrifyingly demonic, and I, who'd been swinging my feet, froze stiff.

"For the sovereign's son to commit theft in another territory."

Tsk. Ahin clicked his tongue and snatched me from Rune's hand. Unable to even defend himself, Rune opened and closed his mouth while looking up at me held by Ahin.

"To, to kidnap Miss Rabbit?"

"How could such a thing...!"

As murmuring noise came from outside, Rune and I simultaneously turned our heads. Employees who'd gathered were whispering and sending contemptuous looks.

Setting aside Iverin with crossed arms, even Meimi had grimly hardened her expression while fiddling beneath her apron. Undoubtedly where she'd hidden a dagger.

Branded in an instant as an attempted rabbit kidnapper, Rune seemed rather pitiful. Observing him repeatedly scrubbing his face wearily, I quietly chose to look away.

Rune had protested his innocence dozens of times—'the cloth had fallen from the table, and he had merely coincidentally discovered the rabbit and intended to return it to the ballroom'—before finally escaping Valens's interrogation an hour later.

"They're all insane."

His complexion had deteriorated noticeably in a single day as he crossed the darkening garden. An aggrieved cast settled over his unfocused eyes.

He hadn't expected the family head herself to get involved over a mere rabbit.

Of course, the atmosphere had been as magnanimous as casual conversation, but Valens's intermittent remarks and behavior clearly showed she cherished the rabbit.

Rune paused briefly and rubbed his still-tingling lips. For a baby rabbit, she'd packed quite a kick.

'I could've split my lip.'

He tilted his head slightly, disheveling the curls resting near his ears. Mulling over the recent incident, he recalled the overwhelming black panther scent that had assaulted his nose.

The rabbit had been thoroughly drenched in pheromone scent, as if someone were displaying possessiveness. At first, he'd wondered if that arrogant black panther had fallen in love, but the actual treatment of the rabbit was nothing more than that of a pet.

Moreover, the rabbit who'd shifted between human form and original shape seemed to want to hide that fact, judging by her behavior.

'Could it be... House Grace doesn't know the rabbit is a beastman?'