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Chapter 5
“What is it? What are you two discussing?”
“It’s a disaster!”
“A disaster? What kind of disaster?”
Pera’s panicked voice rang through the narrow sitting room. Harun, who at first blinked in confusion, suddenly jumped so high that his head nearly brushed the ceiling.
Of course, he was a rabbit beastman through and through. His ears and tail quivered as he shook his head wildly.
It was bad enough dealing with an ordinary predator beastman—but a tiger, and a prince at that? The village could never handle it. None of them could.
And though Pera agreed with him a hundred times over, there was one problem: the one making the demand was the prince himself. Worse, she and Harun had been the ones to recognize him first.
“But we’re not really in a position to say no, are we…?”
At her words, Harun’s face fell in gloom. They were still blinking dumbly at each other, unable to reach a clear answer, when a voice cut in.
“Is it taking that long?”
Without a sound, the silver-haired man was suddenly leaning against the doorway, staring—no, glaring—straight at them.
“It’s—it’s settled, sir! Pera, tell him!”
“Me? Tell him what?”
“What else! Tell him it’s fine! You’ll be looking after the prince anyway, won’t you?”
When did I ever agree to that?! Pera’s eyes flew wide as she shot a glare at Harun. Harun glared right back, refusing to back down.
A single unexpected intruder, and twenty-four years of friendship cracked in an instant.
The man, watching their silent battle of glares, murmured dryly:
“Lovers’ quarrel?”
Exactly three seconds later, they both snapped in unison:
“It’s not a lovers’ quarrel!”
“It’s not a lovers’ quarrel!”
In the end, the little prince stayed in Timi Village under the excuse of “convalescence.” Naturally, it fell to Pera to look after both the child and his bodyguard knight.
The villagers—gentle herbivore beastmen—could barely stand to be in the same room with predator beastmen.
So for their sake as much as her own, Pera accepted the burden willingly. After all, she was only a human. Perhaps, she told herself, that made her a little more suited to deal with them.
That morning, she rose earlier than usual to prepare breakfast for three. The storeroom held nothing but vegetables, fruit, and eggs—gifts from the villagers.
Judging from those sharp carnivore teeth, surely they would want meat… but meat was hard to come by in a rabbit village. She’d just have to improvise.
So she set about chopping clumsily, when a low voice brushed her ear from behind.
“What exactly are you doing?”
“Ah! Y-you startled me! You should announce yourself when you come in—!”
“Should I?”
The man had lived his whole life with a sword at his side; moving silently was second nature. Among beast with sharper hearing than humans, his stealth wasn’t unusual. To him, it was Pera’s dull senses that were strange.
“I’m preparing breakfast. Since this village only has rabbit beaskfast, there’s no meat around. So please make do with eggs this morning.”
“…You call this preparing food?”
Ray’s expression twisted openly with disdain. To his eyes, Pera’s efforts were less “cooking” and more “butchery.”
Carrots, potatoes, mushrooms—each hacked into uneven, grotesque chunks. The eggs in the pan were moments away from turning into charcoal stones.
It looked more like she was telling him to get lost than offering him a meal.
With a sigh, Ray placed a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back.
“Move.”
“…Excuse me?”
“I’ll do it.”
There was no defying a snow leopard man with that kind of glare. Flustered, Pera stepped aside and watched awkwardly.
As he worked, her mind drifted back to the previous night.
Ray who had teased them about having a “lovers’ quarrel,” had swiftly pressed down on them with icy authority. One hand on his sword—half as tall as Pera herself—made his point all too clear.
They had no choice but to accept the arrangement. Pera, mustering courage, had raised her hand with a timid proposal.
“Th-then… I do have one request.”
“Hm?”
“Please don’t tell the villagers that young Teo is a prince.”
“And why not?”
“It’s bad enough that you’re both predator beastfolk. If they also learn he’s a prince, it will throw the whole village into chaos.”
Ray had studied her a moment, then—unexpectedly—nodded in agreement.
No outrage. No threats. No “How dare you suggest deceiving the crown prince?” Just a curt nod. That had been enough.
And so, with a few more rules exchanged, the grand “royal commoner experience” in Timi Village had begun.
Which brought her here, chopping vegetables. Or at least, trying to. Yet instead of gratitude, Ray had immediately dismissed her with scorn.
She puffed her lips out behind his back, deciding she’d at least watch how a wounded man handled cooking.
And then—
“Wow… you’re really good at that!”
Her hands clapped his injured shoulder without thinking. His knife moved with surgical precision, each slice of vegetable perfectly even, not a millimeter off.
To someone used to Pera’s chaotic chopping, the sight was almost artistic.
And his eggs! Not blackened lumps but golden, shining disks that looked as bright as the sun.
She couldn’t help herself—her eyes sparkled.
“When did you start cooking? Are you just good with knives in general? Actually, I have more vegetables in the storeroom—do you think you could slice them all while you’re at it?”
Her barrage of curiosity made Ray’s head ache.
With undisguised annoyance, he gave the shortest answer possible:
“No.”
Not a second’s hesitation. Pera’s lips jutted out once more, but her curiosity burned on.
“Do knights all handle knives this well?”
“…Knights?”
His eyes flashed an icy blue. Yesterday, she had called Teo “Your Highness” without fail—but to him, she only ever said “you.” She’d recognized the prince immediately, so surely she must also know who he was? Or… perhaps not?
He stilled his hand, about to ask, when—
A child’s cry echoed from afar.
“Oh! Teo must be awake!”
Startled, Pera darted out of the kitchen, leaving Ray with a sharp click of his tongue.
In the unfamiliar room, little Teo blinked around in panic. His lips trembled, and then—
“Ray, Rayeee!!”
He wailed with all his might. In the palace, under the watchful eyes of his brothers, he had never dared to cry so openly. But here, with Ray at his side, he could pour his heart out.
“Ray, Rayeee!!”
How many times had he screamed that name, when at last the door opened?
But it wasn’t silver hair he saw. It was the brown-haired human woman with no ears and no tail.
Teo froze. Right—this was a human’s house. He stopped crying.
“Teo? Did you sleep well?”
Again, her head was bare. No ears. Her backside, too, was tail-less. Strange. And yet…
The boy raised his arms.
“Human, hold me!”
“Yes, yes. Of course.”
Even a tiger cub carried the dignity of a prince. Pera chuckled softly and hugged his small, warm body close.
In her arms, Teo’s golden tail swished, and his little nose twitched. The sweet floral scent clinging to Pera made him smile unconsciously.
“Flowers… you smell like flowers!”
And then, unabashed, he pressed his face against her shoulder, rubbing and breathing in her scent.
Considering how he had been sobbing only moments ago, he calmed down remarkably fast. Pera let out a relieved sigh.
