Chapter 05

“Nom.”

Nabom opened her tiny triangular mouth wide and bit down on the leaf Ferdi offered.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The dandelion leaf disappeared into her small mouth in an instant.

After finally getting a proper meal for the first time in a while, Nabom’s face trembled with delight.

‘This is so delicious!’

Her eyes completely overtaken by hunger, Nabom searched for her next target and swallowed a dandelion, flower and all, straight from the soil.

With her face buried in the flowerbed, she chewed away at the greens.

The two brothers watched her with fascinated expressions.

Every time the rabbit moved her mouth, the fur covering her face fluttered softly. Her upright ears twitched as well.

“If you eat like that, your face is going to get dirty.”

As if making an excuse, Ferdi carefully brushed the dirt off her cheeks and nose with his fingertips.

“Hey, that’s unfair, Brother!”

Louis immediately reached out too, but Nabom was so engrossed in eating that she didn’t even glance his way.

Looking around anxiously, Louis yanked a dandelion out of the ground by its roots.

“Rabbit! Snow Rabbit!”

Holding two or three dandelions in his hand, he approached her.

Only then did Nabom look his way.

She sniffed the flowers on his palm with her tiny nose.

Nom.

She took one flower and began eating it.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Completely absorbed in chewing the leaves in her mouth, Nabom didn’t react at all when Louis and Ferdi touched her chin and cheeks or scratched the fluffy fur on her ears and belly.

“She really eats well, doesn’t she, Snowflake?”

“I told you, not Snowflake. Snow Rabbit.”

“Right. Snow Rabbit.”

“Anyway, she needs to eat a lot.”

As he held out another dandelion, Louis added cheerfully,

“Right now she’s not even enough for a single bite for His Grace!”

Nabom’s chewing stopped instantly.

But the savory scent held right in front of her nose was irresistible.

Her mouth opened again.

Nom.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The green leaves disappeared into her mouth once more.

*

The sled raced swiftly across the snow.

Clunk!

Even though it jolted violently, the two passengers riding it maintained their balance effortlessly.

Theodore Grizzly and his aide, Demirun.

“Indeed, the ride quality still needs improvement.”

While smoothing back his disheveled hair, Demirun suddenly frowned.

“What if we added a roof?”

The blizzard slammed relentlessly into their faces.

Without shielding their eyes, they could barely keep them open.

Yet the man sitting beside him—their lord—seemed entirely unaffected.

Neither the rough ride nor the snowstorm bothered him in the slightest.

“Truly, Your Grace’s bravery is—”

Fweeeet!

Screeeech.

At Theodore’s whistle, the sled came to an immediate halt.

“—remarkable.”

Demirun barely managed to stay upright by grabbing the railing.

Theodore calmly stepped off the sled and reached toward the dogs.

All four dogs competed to shove their heads beneath his hand.

Though his palm barely brushed them, each dog stuck out its tongue and panted happily.

The Grizzly family’s loyal hounds looked delighted as always.

“I’ll be back shortly.”

Whether they understood him or not, the dogs’ eyes remained fixed on Theodore’s retreating figure.

“Did you bring me along just to help gather supplies?”

Demirun hurried after him.

Late November.

Only about a month remained before hibernation.

The more food they stockpiled, the better.

“Come to think of it, we still haven’t obtained everyone’s favorite thing.”

But Demirun never finished his sentence.

Theodore had suddenly changed direction.

“Your Grace? This is the Arctic Wolves’ territory.”

Demirun stopped walking.

Theodore merely nodded.

“No, you can’t just nod like it’s nothing…”

The Arctic Wolves.

The territory of the White Wolf clan, House Blashin.

Relations between the Arctic and the North were delicately tense. Members of either side rarely stepped into the other’s domain.

And if someone happened to encounter—

Or recognize the ruler of the North—

“Run.”

Theodore spoke a single word while glancing back.

Demirun immediately resumed walking and saluted.

Soon the two arrived at a clearing.

Or rather, what had become a clearing.

“This is…”

Despite the blanket of snow, deep gouges scarred the ground.

Several fir trees that had once formed a grove lay toppled over, their inner wood exposed.

One of them even bore a clear imprint resembling the shape of an animal’s back.

“Don’t tell me…”

Demirun turned pale.

“Did you have a fight with the White Wolf here?”

Theodore’s expression remained unchanged.

Silently surveying the area, he spotted something and strode forward.

Following his gaze, Demirun’s jaw dropped.

“Your Grace, did you do this?”

A massive pit yawned before them.

Calling it a hole hardly did it justice.

It was practically a trap.

Large enough to swallow over a dozen wolves.

Yet Theodore quietly shook his head.

Demirun narrowed his eyes.

“Stop lying. If you didn’t make it, who else could build something like this?”

Ignoring him completely, Theodore walked over to a fallen fir tree.

“Come on, be honest. Why did you set up this trap? Did you have some grudge against the White Wolf—”

Again, Demirun couldn’t finish speaking.

Theodore suddenly wrapped both arms around a tree bearing the animal-shaped imprint.

Then he exerted force.

CRAAACK!

Before Demirun could stop him, the tree was ripped out by the roots.

Without even transforming into his beast form.

Demirun could only stare in disbelief.

Meanwhile, Theodore carried the tree over to the pit.

BOOM!

He slammed it into the ground with terrifying strength.

The trunk split neatly in half.

Theodore tossed one half into the pit, then stacked the other on top.

Afterward, he shoved snow and dirt into the remaining gaps.

A mound quickly formed.

He stomped it down repeatedly.

“Your Grace, what exactly are you—”

“Run.”

Theodore looked at him.

Demirun immediately understood.

Letting out a long sigh, he stepped forward and began helping.

“Yes, yes. Understood. I saw nothing. I was never here. I certainly didn’t help conceal Your Grace’s trap…”

He grumbled as he worked.

Then—

Theodore’s eyes sharpened.

Both men sensed it simultaneously and darted behind the trees surrounding the clearing.

Time passed.

Through the raging snowstorm, several figures emerged.

White wolves.

The White Wolf clan.

The wolves turned their heads, sniffing the air as though searching for something.

But the pit had been restored almost perfectly.

The footprints had been erased.

The blizzard masked every scent.

The wolves found nothing.

Three large wolves suddenly began growling at three others.

It sounded like they were blaming them for something.

Unfortunately, the words were impossible to understand.

Humans couldn’t understand the speech of transformed beastfolk.

At this distance, transforming would allow them to eavesdrop.

Demirun looked toward Theodore.

Theodore quietly shook his head.

‘Makes sense. Bears are too big.’

Even in this blizzard, they would be spotted immediately.

Eventually the three dominant wolves left.

The others limped after them.

“Your Grace, at this rate we’re going to turn into snowmen. Shouldn’t we head back—”

“Send a letter to Lord Pallas.”

Theodore finally spoke.

“Yes. What should it say?”

“As soon as he reads it…”

Theodore turned away from the clearing and started walking.

“Tell him to come to Grizzly Castle.”

Demirun saluted toward his lord’s retreating back.

Before following, he glanced one last time at the clearing.

His gaze settled on the tree Theodore had touched earlier.

There was a small indentation where Theodore’s hand had rested.

He had been gripping it hard enough to crush it.

While staring at the wolves.

Demirun’s expression darkened.

‘…So that’s what it was.’

That snowflake-like white rabbit.

The White Wolves must have threatened her.

Was House Blashin still clinging to that ancient legend?

A tiny creature threatened by predators.

Just like the precious child his lord had once lost.

Now Demirun understood why Theodore had chosen a new emergency ration.

As they retraced their path, Theodore suddenly veered away.

“Your Grace?”

At that moment Theodore’s body distorted.

A gigantic brown bear appeared.

His clothes fell to the ground in tatters.

“You forgot to take your clothes off beforehand again.”

Shaking his head helplessly, Demirun stripped off his own clothes.

“So that’s why you brought me along.”

With a grin, he transformed as well.

A massive black bear with a white crescent on its chest followed after the giant brown bear.

*

Nabom was still lost in bliss, chewing dandelions under the relentless assault of Louis and Ferdi’s feeding campaign.

Suddenly, her ears shot upright.

“It’s His Grace’s presence.”

“His Grace must be back!”

The two boys immediately ran out of the greenhouse.

Nabom’s body trembled.

There was no mistake.

This scent was exactly the same as the brown bear she had encountered in the forest.

When Anna carried her outside, the head of House Grizzly was standing there in his bear form.

And beside him stood a huge black bear.

The overwhelming scent of predators nearly made Nabom faint.

“Your Grace, welcome back!”

“Thank you for your hard work, Your Grace!”

The boys saluted with military precision.

My guess was right.

A family where rank was absolute.

A household that treated even children like soldiers.

That was House Grizzly of the North.

‘If only the original novel had described them in more detail…’

Maybe she would have found some clue for escaping.

As Nabom’s ears drooped in disappointment, the two boys whispered while giggling.

“Playing knight is so fun, isn’t it, Brother?”

“Shh. Knights don’t chat like this.”

Unfortunately, Nabom didn’t hear them.

Then both boys suddenly gasped.

“Wow!”

“No way!”

Behind the two bears, the sled was piled high with something.

“Salmon!”

“And there’s so much of it!”

Fresh salmon formed a mountain atop the sled.

Louis and Ferdi burst into laughter and shouted together.

“A feast! A feast!”

“Yep. The special meal we always eat before hibernation.”

At Ferdi’s words, Nabom’s head whipped around.

Wait.

Did he just say—

Hibernation?