My surroundings were dark when I opened my eyes. My ears perked up as I heard footsteps on the ground.
I stretched out my foot and tapped the wall in front of me. My foot sole gave off a rough woven straw sensation.
âNo way, am I in a basket?â
Seeing my body shook even while I remained still, it seemed I was in the basket that I occasionally used when I went out.
Where are they taking me? A husky voice that I had never heard before immediately rang as if to answer my question.
âIf we go a little further, weâll be in the Black Pantherâs territory.â
âLetâs deal with it quickly. By the way, how can she didnât shift into a human even after her coming-of-age ceremony?â
âThe priest said it was a curse given by Sooshin (God of Beast)â it must be uncomfortable.â
I quickly found out that they were talking about me.
Thatâs right. Itâs very fascinating. Even though I was definitely a shapeshifter, why canât I get rid of the baby rabbitâs appearance?
Whenever my mother saw me, she always showed her irritated face. With her fine eyebrow frowned, âWhy have you not turned into a human being yet? Your younger brother, Kylie, has already become a full-fledged shapeshifter. Everyone shifts within three years of birth, and why are you!â
She yelled, loud enough to sting my ears. If she couldnât control her rage, she would pick up a whip. Sometimes, she would punish me by not allowing me to go out of the bedroom.
I couldnât go out without being punished. In the first place, it was impossible to even open the door on my own without a maid.
Not only my mother, my father was also ashamed of me.
The Levian household.
Our family was a well-known aristocrat in rabbit territory. My mother was Yvonne Levian, the third wife of my father. She was upset because I, the eldest, couldnât shift into human.
Fortunately, my younger brother Kylie succeeded in shifting into a human less than three years after birth. At that time, I was already five years old, but I was still in the form of a baby rabbit. Normally, shapeshifters achieve their human form before their third birthday, so why couldnât I?
Everyone was wondering. No one knew the reason why and became frustrated.
She will be able to shift tomorrow, she will be able to shift the next day, she will be able to shift in a week. As if it laughed at the vain expectations, time flew by real quick.
Eventually, I turned 18 and held a coming-of-age ceremony last month, and I still couldnât be able to shift into human.
When I reluctantly went to the temple with my mother, the priest shouted that I was cursed. His voice was so loud that my heart had started to pound.
âHey, isnât this too far from the territorial border?â
âWe have to bring it deep into the forestâthe command was her to die in the hands of black panthers.â
âYou can cut that grass over there and take it back as a proof. Itâs a poisonous plant that grows only in the black pantherâs territory.â
Listening to the conversation, I immediately realized that I was abandoned. I had a feeling that I would be.
After visiting the temple, the way my parents looked at me was no longer irritation and had changed to contempt. I also heard a clear murmur that killing me was unsettling.
âItâs too deep. If we cross the border, we will no longer be protected by the territory.â
I felt the basket touch the ground with the anxious manâs urging.
âI was going to put it down here anyway.â
Clearly this was a forest that bordered the rabbitâs territory with the black pantherâs. Itâs obviously a place packed with black panthers.
No. Please donât leave me in a place like this. Iâll try to be a decent shapeshifter.
I scratched the straw endlessly, but my feet didnât even touch the lid. Even my visions become blurred by tears.
âArgh!â
âUgh!â
Suddenly, I heard loud screams. My paws stopped scratching the straw, I reflexively held my breath.
The nerves all over my body were on edge. If this was really the black pantherâs territory, the shapeshifters who were moving me might have been hunted by the black panther. Should I pretend to be dead?
The basket soon began to shake and the lid opened. When the bright light suddenly leaked in, my eyes closed automatically.
Before I knew it, I was caught in the nape of my neck and lifted into the air.
âA baby rabbit?â
Somehow, a slow voice rang out. It was a pleasant voice with a clear, low-pitched tone.
When I opened my frowned eyes gently, there was a surprisingly pretty man in front of me.
He had silver hair that seemed to have poured out silver threads. After adjusting to the brightness, I began to struggle in order to live.
âB-black panther!â
The Black Panther clan. Although it has only been drawn in my imagination, the tooth in front of me must be the black pantherâs.
âDidnât the red eyes make you feel uncomfortable?â
âThatâs true. I saw the black panther clan in the city last time, and it was creepy for no reason.â
The maids said that the black panther clan generally had red eyes.
The man has clear red eyes, moreover, it was definitely fangs that were shining between his lips.
In the first place, this was the black pantherâs territory, so there was a high possibility that he belonged to the black panther clan.
âLet go, let me go!â
I was desperately kicking my front feet, but stopped moving when I felt a chilly mood. The expression of the uninterested man gave off an overly cold feeling.
âI might get captured and eaten.â
Looking at me as I was frozen, he soon smiled with his eyes folded into a half moon shape. Somehow it looked like a satisfied smile.
âAre you crying?â
Was this your first time seeing someone cry? I had probably been crying since the first time I came into my senses in the basket.
I wanted to pretend like nothing was wrong, but I felt stuffy as if something was stuck in my throat.
However, in his next words, I couldnât help but had to stop crying.
âCry more.â
Oh my gosh, he must be crazy!
***
Afterwards, the man stuffed me into his pocket like a lump and walked away.
In the meantime, I fainted because of his rough handling.
When I came to my senses, I was in a dazzling bedroom that I had never seen even in the Levian mansion.
â âWhere am I?â
I was running around desperately on soft bedding. I had to escape from here. But I didnât have the courage to jump out of bed.
Before I passed out, I saw something I shouldnât have seen.
A scene where a head rolls onto the ground. On the other hand, the man held a sword covered with bright red blood.
It was obvious he had killed the two shapeshifters who were moving me.
The Levian familyâs maids said the black panthers in the next territory were impatient and vicious.
I should have died on the spot, why did he bring me here instead?
Iâve been racking my small head, only to reach a terrible conclusion. The appearance of a baby rabbit was not even an emergency food, but an emergency snack.
âNo!â
I bawled and struck the bed with my front feet.
No, never. It was not even my home, I didnât want to be eaten in a strange place like this.
âI have to escape right now.â
With my eyes wide open, I began to bounce on my hind legs. Even if I would have broken a bone, I had to jump off.
â âHere I go!â
Iâm jumping, Iâm really going to jump!
I leaped with a bold and determined look, but a hand caught me halfway.
Please donât tell me itâs the black panther I saw in the forest earlier. As I shifted my gaze, a man with black hair was looking at me with concern.
âIt could have been a disaster. How dare you act so reckless.â
Fortunately or unfortunately, the owner of the hand who caught me was not the rude black panther from before.
The strange thing was, contrary to his neat impression and tone, his expressions and voices were rather dull.
As soon as the tension was relieved by the strange irony, I swallowed a weary sigh again.
I canât let down my guard. Whenever this man talks, his fangs make my fur stand out.
In addition, it was true that most of the black panthers had red eyes, and his eyes were also red.
âLord Ahin, really, throwing this little rabbit on the bed. Anyway, itâs my first time seeing you. Where are you from?â
There was no way I could answer the question. Iâm from rabbit territory, rabbit territory! Unfortunately, my inner cry could not reach the man.
âI see. So you couldnât talkâ!â
That was not something to be surprised about. You didnât have a conscience, did you? Let me go! I cursed bitterly inside, but the man seemed to have no intention of putting me down.
âThe floor would be safer than the bed.â
Soon after, he walked to the sofa, he picked up a cushion that looked fluffy and placed it on the floor.
âAs long as Ms. Rabbit is here, you shouldnât get hurt recklessly. Because youâre Lord Ahinâs possession now.â
He carefully put me down on the cushion and explained carefully.
âPlease explain it in detail.â
Ms. Rabbit? Whatâs up with the weird title? And whatâs possession? I tapped the cushion with my front foot frustratedly.
Perhaps he managed to understand, but the man just stroked my hair with his index finger.
âAlso, you have to maintain cleanliness.â
Cleanliness? I looked up at him with a puzzled gaze.
Still, some information has been obtained from the manâs words and actions so far.
It seemed the man in front of me was the servant of the black panther who put me in his pocket, and the name who was repeatedly called by the servant, Ahin, was his masterâs name.
âTell me more.â
The more information, the better.
He patted my head with a friendly touch, then my eyes caught the man parting his lips.
âSince Lord Ahin brought Ms. Rabbit into his bedroom, I think youâre probably special!â
âSpecial?â
âPerhaps as an emergency food.â
âThatâs really a sensible thing to say. I gasped again and passed out.