ITBFL | Chapter 30

Episode 30

The eyes of the two rabbits met.

“Beep?”

“Beep? Beep?”

Bryce, holding the rabbit nail clippers that Lize had given him, was silently observing the scene.

The rabbit, with its soft and beautiful platinum fur, was one Bryce had picked up in the bushes not long ago.

Normally, he would have just walked past a rabbit curled up like that.

‘Bryce, what are you doing? Bring that rabbit over!’

But at that moment, his sister’s scolding voice had popped into his head.

Like Pavlov’s dog, Bryce had reflexively approached the rabbit.

“Beep…”

The small rabbit, curled up to avoid the chill of early spring, had its eyes tightly shut. When its eyelids moved and its round, blue eyes met his gaze, Bryce found himself unable to ignore it.

That’s how he ended up taking care of the rabbit. But as he observed it, Bryce began to feel that this wasn’t an ordinary rabbit.

It had to be either a magical creature or a spiritual being.

For one, it understood human speech far too well.

And whenever he looked at it, his cloudy thoughts seemed to clear, leaving him feeling strangely refreshed.

Even when he was worn out from knight training, studies, or enduring his uncle’s yelling, a single look into the rabbit’s eyes or hearing its cheerful voice made it all fade away.

When the rabbit climbed onto his shoulder with its soft paws and patted him gently, it felt as if all his worries disappeared.

So it couldn’t possibly be an ordinary rabbit.

At first, Bryce hadn’t intended to grow so attached.

But as time went on, his affection deepened, to the point where he even entertained the absurd thought of the rabbit turning into a human to talk to him.

‘And now Pipi and Golden Bunny are having a conversation.’

Pipi was the name Bryce had given the rabbit. As for the name “Golden Bunny,” he wasn’t sure whether it was his sister or the knights who had come up with it.

Anyway, seeing Pipi and Golden Bunny having a conversation in “rabbit language” made Bryce feel…

‘Why are they having a conversation without me?’

Oddly enough, he felt a little jealous.

Jealous of a rabbit? Even he found it ridiculous.

But the feeling was there, undeniably.

“Pipi, come here.”

Bryce called out to Pipi, who glanced at him with its round eyes before hesitating and looking back at Golden Bunny.

“Pipi!”

Frustrated, Bryce walked over and tried to pull Golden Bunny off the sofa to separate the two.

But Golden Bunny was so strong that it clung to the sofa and wouldn’t budge.

“Huff, huff…”

Thanks to Golden Bunny, Bryce had just gotten an unnecessary workout and was now panting.

“Beep.”

Golden Bunny looked at Bryce and said something.

Though he couldn’t understand rabbit language, it seemed like Golden Bunny was making a request.

“Beep.”

Golden Bunny pointed at Pipi.

Pipi folded its ears back and nodded as if pleading for something.

It seemed they were asking for some time to talk.

“If you came to get your nails trimmed, you should just get them trimmed…”

Bryce muttered, but in the end, he let go of Golden Bunny and stepped back.

Had it only been Golden Bunny asking, he might not have relented, but Pipi’s imploring eyes were hard to resist.

Bryce, pressing his lips together, picked up a book and sat down on the bed.

Meanwhile, Pipi and Golden Bunny began their conversation.

“A rabbit…?”

Hearing a voice from behind the sofa, Cassium had no choice but to peek over.

Though the sound reached his ears as a rabbit’s “Beep,” it registered in his mind as human speech.

“…What?”

“A rabbit? Are you… a person?”

As he exchanged words with the rabbit with platinum fur, Cassium realized that this rabbit was in the same situation as him.

After barely persuading Bryce to back off, Cassium jumped off the sofa.

“Wow, you’re really a person? Amazing. So this is how it feels to see someone who’s turned into a rabbit.”

The platinum rabbit, who seemed quite talkative, began rattling off questions.

“What’s your name? Where are you from? Where are you staying? Do you live in this house?”

“One question at a time.”

Overwhelmed by the nonstop chatter, Cassium managed to get a word in.

“How long have you been a rabbit?”

“Not quite a month. What about you?”

“Two or three weeks, I think… So you haven’t returned to normal in a month? That’s… surprising. Or maybe it’s better that way.”

“Better that way?”

“Living as a rabbit isn’t so bad. It’s kind of fun.”

“How boring must your human life have been?”

“But if I have to return to my original form and go back home, that would be worse, wouldn’t it?”

Cassium looked at the platinum rabbit.

“It seems we’re in the same situation.”

But whether he could gain any meaningful information from this rabbit remained uncertain.

Judging by its tone, it seemed younger than him, and its determination to return to human form was questionable.

Still, it was worth a shot. There was no harm in talking further.

“Oh, we haven’t introduced ourselves yet. I’m Lily Selberdine.”

Selberdine? Cassium recalled hearing that the Selberdine baronial family had a daughter. Could this rabbit be her?

He remembered Lize mentioning a visit to the Selberdine household not long ago.

Cassium didn’t particularly like Baron Selberdine.

The man was envious by nature and had caused trouble in the past by spreading false rumors to undermine the duchy’s business ventures.

And now, the daughter of that family had become a rabbit?

“And you? Who are you?”

“It’s a secret.”

“What? But I already told you!”

“I never asked you to tell me.”

Lily widened her eyes and stared at Cassium in disbelief.

As she fumed, she could feel Bryce glancing over in their direction.

“Stop getting angry. I might make sure your master won’t let you speak again.”

“Then at least tell me something else. Hmm, do you know much about Bryce’s sister? What kind of person is she?”

“If I answer that, will you answer something else in return?”

“I already told you one thing, so it’s only fair for you to do the same, isn’t it? Unbelievable.”

“The information you gave me isn’t what I wanted. If you want the information you’re asking for, you need to give me what I want first.”

“…Ugh, seriously. What do you want to know?”

“Do you know who turned you into a rabbit?”

Honestly, it was a question asked without much expectation.

But then.

“I do.”

“You do?”

“Yes.”

Lily answered as if it were the most natural thing in the world.

Cassium’s golden eyes wavered for a moment. He asked again in a calm voice.

“Who is it?”

“Answer my question first. What kind of person is Bryce’s sister?”

“Why are you so curious about Lize?”

“Because she’s going to be my future sister-in-law. Of course, I’m curious.”

Cassium immediately choked at her bold statement.

“Sister-in-law?”

“Yes, when I turn back into a human, I’m going to marry Bryce.”

“…”

“Hurry up and answer.”

“She’s a knight. A fairly skilled royal knight. No, very skilled.”

“Is she kind?”

“….”

“Not kind?”

“She is kind.”

Lily stared at Cassium with skepticism.

Cassium cleared his throat again.

“She cares a lot about her younger brother.”

Cassium recalled the words Lize had spoken to him back when they were trapped in the cave after clearing out Luxcar.

‘Bryce means so much to me. Sometimes, he’s like an annoying fourteen-year-old, but I still hope he’s always happy.’

“She’s someone who loves her brother and would cherish anyone he loves just as much.”

“Well, that’s a relief.”

“Are we done now? Who is it that turned you into a rabbit?”

“That is…”

The moment Lily answered.

Cassium’s pointed ears perked up even more.

Wait, what did she just say?