TSROTRATBP Chapter 3

A faint medicinal scent tickled my nose. As I swam through hazy consciousness, I felt someone carefully turning my body with gentle hands.

They pried open my mouth and examined my front paws. As my mind gradually sharpened, an unfamiliar voice reached my ears.

"Hmm. She merely lost consciousness from shock. Her pulse is perfectly normal."

Ah. Fortunately, it seemed the touch was meant to diagnose my condition. The examination was so careful and gentle that my tense muscles relaxed.

Relieved, I kept my eyes closed and continued pretending to sleep, my eyelids too heavy to open anyway.

"Iverin, there's nothing wrong with her health, so there's no need to worry."

"Good. It would be terrible if Lord Ahin ate a diseased rabbit."

Diseased rabbit? Who are you calling diseased? As I mulled over the rude comment, I immediately recognized the voice's owner.

It was undoubtedly the black-haired man who'd driven me to fainting by going on about emergency rations and whatnot.

I wanted to leap up immediately and deliver a furious front-paw punch, but the cowardly cells in my body talked me down, so I simply continued my docile sleeping act.

"Are there any other issues? Like a rabbit beastman who briefly returned to their true form? Earlier, she seemed quite clever—appeared to understand speech."

The voice of the man called Iverin sounded again.

"Well... Currently, I sense no beastman pheromones whatsoever, and it's already been half a day since Lord Ahin brought her here. Beastmen can't remain in their true form for more than half a day after humanization. If she were a beastman, she would have returned to human form long ago."

"What about the possibility of a young beastman who hasn't undergone humanization yet?"

"That's also impossible. Humanization is a process that's nearly complete by age three, so a beastman that young couldn't display such lively behavior as this rabbit does."

Oh no. Eavesdropping unintentionally, I only then realized my mistake. I'd shown I understood speech too easily.

It had been natural at Raebien Mansion, so earlier I'd reflexively responded to Iverin's voice without thinking.

Perhaps if they knew I was a beastman, they'd let me leave this place.

'But...'

The more I considered it, the more another anxiety washed over me.

I'd heard there were many scholars in black panther territory. If they discovered I'd failed humanization despite reaching adulthood, they might hand me over as an experimental subject.

Turning pale, I chose to keep silent for now.

"For the moment, she appears to be an ordinary baby rabbit."

The physician who'd been examining me—still stubbornly pretending to sleep—asked carefully.

"Um... Does Lord Ahin truly intend to eat this rabbit?"

"No, that's merely my own assumption."

What grounds did he have for such an assumption? I couldn't tell where this man called Iverin's jokes ended and his sincerity began.

His voice had no variation in pitch whatsoever.

The more I thought about it, the less sense it made that Ahin, the black panther who owned such a lavish bedroom, had brought me here as a snack.

The physician, apparently thinking the same thing, answered somewhat dubiously.

"Ah, yes... Sir  Iverin, I've finished the examination, so I'll take my leave now."

Wait, don't leave me alone with that strange man! Despite my desperate inner cry, I heard the physician exit the bedroom.

Maintaining the sleeping act was growing difficult. However, I felt Iverin approaching my side, making it awkward to get up.

"Lady Rabbit."

A low whisper reached me along with his breath against my face.

"Your closed eyelids are twitching. If you don't wake up, you might end up on the dining table as an appetizer. Would you prefer soup or roast?"

I bolted upright and glared at him. This utterly wicked beast. From today onward, I felt certain I'd hate the black panther clan most among all beastmen.