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chapter 13
“Squeak.”
The rabbit gave a vague reply.
From Bryce’s point of view, he had asked with genuine curiosity, but the rabbit just tossed out a half-hearted answer as if it didn’t care.
Still, Bryce ignored the reaction and continued speaking.
“Kim Toki, I actually know another rabbit besides you.”
While he spoke, the rabbit’s gaze remained fixed only on Lize.
“That rabbit is definitely different from you. But there is something in common.”
“Squeak.”
“It has a mark on its ear, just like you.”
At those words, the rabbit stopped walking. Its eyes turned toward Bryce.
“Do you know anything? If the mark is the same, maybe you’re the same kind… or related?”
“……”
“It looked like it was lost, so I wanted to help it find its home.”
“Squeak.”
“No—honestly, I don’t really want to find it. I like being with that rabbit.”
“Squeak?”
At the rabbit’s expression, which looked like it was staring at a thug, Bryce calmly explained.
“It seems like that rabbit likes being with me too. And…”
It doesn’t feel like just a rabbit. It feels like a person turned into one.
He held that thought back. He still didn’t know what this Kim Toki really was.
Still, he had a feeling this rabbit wasn’t ordinary either. Though he didn’t know if his sister realized it.
But since his sister cared for the rabbit so much, and it didn’t seem to harm her, he had left it alone.
‘But if it ever does something that harms her…’
He didn’t just mean hurting her directly.
If she became too attached and gave things up for it, or if something related to the rabbit made her sad—
A few days ago, when the rabbit disappeared and she searched the whole forest in distress, that fear had already taken root.
“Squeak.”
“Forget it, rabbit.”
At that moment—
“Ah!”
Lize’s foot caught on a tree root, and her body tilted.
“Sister!”
“Lady Lize!”
Before Bryce could even step forward, the rabbit beside him vanished.
Where it had been, only leaves and dust scattered.
In an instant, the rabbit leapt toward the direction Lize was falling, stretching out its small body and paws.
As Lize’s body bounced in the opposite direction after hitting the rabbit—
“Lady Lize!”
Julius caught her safely.
His hands wrapped around her shoulders, and Lize looked up at him with wide, startled eyes.
“Are you alright, Lady Lize?”
The rabbit, having landed back on the ground, watched the two of them.
“Yes, thank you, Sir Julius.”
Lize blinked at him.
The rabbit squeaked from the side, but Lize continued speaking only with Julius.
Watching that, Bryce was reminded of a scene from a fairy tale he had read as a child—
The moment where the main character rescues someone, but the credit is taken by a princess from another kingdom.
“Squee…”
“Oh, Kim Toki…”
At that moment, Bryce’s wariness toward the rabbit faded—replaced instead with sympathy.
* * *
“Squee.”
The moment they entered the annex, the golden rabbit jumped out of the bag.
“Golden rabbit!”
But it didn’t seem to be in a good mood.
It had stayed quietly hidden to avoid being seen by her uncle when entering the estate, but as soon as they reached the annex, it dashed off.
Even after returning to the room, it sat on the sofa with its back turned, refusing to talk to her.
“Golden rabbit, what’s wrong?”
It clearly felt like it was sulking.
‘What happened?’
They had grown closer lately, and nothing had gone wrong in the forest, right?
‘And when we were coming down earlier, it was even talking comfortably with Bryce.’
She had been so curious what they were talking about, but she held back to avoid interrupting them and only spoke with Julius instead.
Because for their bond to grow, she thought she should step aside!
But now, with the rabbit acting so cold, it felt unfair.
No matter how many times she called, the golden rabbit only glanced at her sideways and didn’t even squeak in response.
After thinking for a while, she went to Bryce’s room.
“Bryce, the rabbit is acting strange.”
“Kim Toki?”
“It’s being cold. Did something happen earlier in the forest?”
“There was.”
Bryce answered without hesitation.
“What? What happened?”
So something really did happen?
“What was it?”
“Well… who knows?”
Just then, footsteps approached.
‘That sound…’
She could recognize it just from the careless rhythm.
“Mars? What are you doing here this late?”
“Call me brother. How many times do I have to say it? And Bryce, aren’t you going to greet your elder brother?”
“That’s not written in imperial law.”
“Stop being so stiff. Why do you apply the law to everything?”
Mars frowned.
But even just following the law already tied her too much to them—she had no intention of getting involved beyond that.
For example, the fact that she lived here and her salary went to her uncle—those were all because of the law.
“Why are you here?”
“Don’t look at me like that. Technically, this annex is my house too. Not yours.”
“I asked why you’re here.”
“Well… it’s a bit awkward to say.”
Mars cleared his throat and spoke to her.
“I’m sorry about the other day.”
She let out a hollow laugh. Sorry? From him?
“For trying to mess with your rabbit. They say you should hate the sin, not the person—but I almost ended up hating the rabbit’s sin.”
(It should be the other way around, but she didn’t bother correcting him.)
But why was he apologizing all of a sudden?
As she waited for him to leave, Mars suddenly held something out.
“Take it already. Don’t make it awkward.”
“What is it?”
“Grass.”
He walked over and shoved a basket into her hands.
Inside was a pile of green leaves.
“Give it to your rabbit, Lize. It’s not like you have enough money to buy its food.”
“……”
“See this? It’s lettuce used in high-class parties. Expensive stuff. You don’t have to thank me. I just bought it with spare money anyway.”
Muttering to himself, Mars left the annex.
She looked at the basket, then raised her eyes.
She met Bryce’s gaze.
“I don’t think Kim Toki will like this.”
“Exactly.”
Our rabbit doesn’t eat grass, idiot.
* * *
“Ah, right.”
Lize returned to her room.
Cassium, who had been sitting indifferently on the sofa, lifted his head.
“I went to ask what happened but forgot. I’ll ask tomorrow.”
Muttering to herself, she noticed him watching her and brightened as she approached.
Cassium couldn’t take his eyes off her smile. It wasn’t by choice.
“Golden rabbit, are you not angry anymore?”
Then he remembered how he had been sulking.
‘I wasn’t angry.’
There was no reason to be.
No one had done anything wrong.
He had simply been in the form of a rabbit—and when Lize fell, he didn’t have human hands to hold her.
And just by chance, there happened to be another man there—one who looked perfectly fine.
That was all.
So what was there to be angry about?
“Still upset?”
“Squeak.”
Lize reached out her hand.
No matter how many times he experienced it, he couldn’t get used to her touch.
She treated him this warmly without even knowing who he really was.
Whenever she touched him, he felt a pang of guilt, like he was deceiving her.
‘But right now…’
Cassium obediently let himself be held.
Holding him tightly in her arms, Lize lay down on the bed with a happy expression.
“Golden rabbit…”
She called him lovingly.
‘Cassium.’
He remembered the expression she used to have when she looked at him—tight-lipped, glaring coldly.
She had never once looked at him that way in this form.
‘If she knew who I was, she would hate it.’
Lize hugged him even tighter.
Feeling her warmth, he slowly blinked.
After briefly returning to his original form and then becoming a rabbit again, he had thought about what to do next.
Honestly, there had been no reason to come back here.
Once his body fully recovered, he would likely return to his original form. His injuries were already healing, so it wouldn’t take long.
He could have endured staying away from her.
He was almost fully healed, could move freely, and knew the estate well enough to find food.
But…
‘Golden rabbit, thank you.’
He wanted to see it again.
That smile she showed only to him—only when he was a rabbit.
That was why he returned to her.
For his own selfish desire.
