ITBFL | Chapter 34

Episode 34

My eyes opened.

Everything around me was pitch black.

‘Night?’

No, the darkness in front of me was because of the blanket.

As I pulled down the blanket that had covered me from head to toe, sunlight seeped into my vision.

The moonlight had already vanished, and a faint blue hue was spreading across the sky.

‘Was it a dream?’

But it felt too vivid.

‘Was it reality?’

But if it was reality…

‘There’s no way Cassium would say such kind words.’

— I want to see your face when I talk to you, and I want to answer when you call my name.

There’s no way he would say something like that.

‘And wasn’t his tone… somewhat tender?’

That made even less sense.

‘Then it must’ve been a dream. But it felt so real. But there’s no way Cassium would say something like that.’

Trapped in a loop of doubt, I finally came to a conclusion.

‘Maybe it wasn’t Cassium?’

Could it have been someone else with a voice similar to his?

Of all the thoughts I had considered, that seemed the most reasonable.

‘At the very least, it’s more reasonable than Cassium saying something like that to me.’

I slowly nodded, convincing myself.

‘Yeah, that must be it…’

Or so I wanted to think.

“……”

I fell silent and replayed last night’s events in my mind.

“…No, it was him.”

My instincts told me so. That had been Cassium.

The moment he spoke, I knew. The person last night was Cassium.

If only it had been a dream. But seeing this blanket wrapped around me, I knew last night had really happened.

— I want to see your face when I talk to you.

Well, maybe I misheard that part, considering I was nearly unconscious.

‘But if it really was Cassium…’

Then why has he remained missing all this time?

And how did he know about my illness?

“……”

Actually, I already knew of one possible answer that could explain everything.

I swept my hair back and gazed out the window into the distance.

‘If Golden Bunny… were Cassium, then it would make sense.’

Of course, that was just a theory. Golden Bunny was definitely Lily.

‘Lily really did disappear. And just like in the original story, Golden Bunny had the red markings on its ears.’

Yet, for some reason, I couldn’t completely erase a lingering doubt in the back of my mind.

Thinking that Golden Bunny might be Cassium almost made me feel guilty toward it.

But…

‘I’ll confirm it one last time.’

I just needed to check whether Golden Bunny had been home all night.

That would be a crucial puzzle piece in proving whether Cassium was Golden Bunny.

On the other hand, if Golden Bunny had never left, then my suspicions would make no sense.

That would mean the one who saved me wasn’t Golden Bunny, and Cassium wasn’t Golden Bunny either.

‘I have to check right away.’

Without hesitation, I hurried out of the knights’ headquarters at dawn.

“Yes, Sister. Yawn…”

Bryce yawned loudly as he handed me Golden Bunny.

“Beep.”

Golden Bunny, as if just waking up, blinked its sleepy eyes cutely before closing them again.

‘So cute… No, this isn’t the time for that. I need to check.’

Just as Bryce was about to head back inside, I grabbed his shoulder and turned him around.

“Bryce. Was Golden Bunny with you the whole night?”

I waited for his answer, swallowing nervously.

“No, Sister. Golden Bunny disappeared on its own.”

If that was the case…

“Sister?”

“…Huh?”

But unlike what I expected, Bryce answered with a matter-of-fact expression.

“You entrusted it to me before you left. You don’t think I’d just toss it out somewhere, do you?”

“So you were with it the whole time?”

“Sister.”

Bryce, who had been half-asleep, suddenly widened his eyes as if he had plenty to say on the matter.

“I didn’t get a wink of sleep watching that rabbit!”

“Y-You didn’t?”

“No.”

“Are you sure? Are you absolutely certain Golden Bunny didn’t disappear somewhere on its own or sneak out while you were asleep?”

“Yes, Sister. I never took my eyes off that rabbit for even a second. I told you, I didn’t sleep at all.”

Bryce pointed at the dark circles under his eyes.

Seeing that they were nearly twice as dark as usual, he was probably telling the truth.

“I see.”

I nodded. Meanwhile, Golden Bunny was dozing off in my arms.

“So Golden Bunny really isn’t him.”

“…Huh?”

“Ah, never mind. Anyway, you kept a close watch on Golden Bunny, right? Did you hold it while sleeping? Oh, wait, you didn’t sleep.”

“Right. And even if I had, I wouldn’t have held it that close. I kept some distance.”

“Why did you keep your distance?”

“Because I wanted to. Sister, I’ll be honest with you.”

“Yeah?”

“I have absolutely no desire to get close to that rabbit.”

“…Huh?”

I blinked slowly, thrown off by the sudden bombshell.

“What do you mean by that?”

“Exactly what I said.”

“No. You have to marry it.”

“…What?”

I blurted it out without thinking. I was too flustered.

“You mean… me? With this rabbit?”

The disbelief in Bryce’s voice was so blatant that it made me a little sad.

“No, I just meant I’d like you two to get along better.”

“Ah.”

“So, try to bond with Golden Bunny.”

“…I’m getting sleepy again.”

“……”

Bryce had absolutely no intention of building a close relationship with the rabbit—let alone developing any affection for it.

To him, Golden Bunnt was just… a Bunny. No, not even that. It was someone else’s rabbit that he barely cared about.

“Beep.”

Golden Bunny tugged at my collar.

“Beep.”

Golden Bunny, urging me as if to say, “Let’s go,” didn’t seem to have even the slightest interest in Bryce.

Though my doubts about the golden rabbit had been dispelled, I felt unsettled in a different way…

***

“Beep.”

Golden Bunny, resting its front paws on Lize’s shoulder, folded one of its ears while looking back.

It was a gesture of gratitude.

Bryce shrugged and entered his room, closing the door behind him.

“You don’t think I was lying, do you?”

He sank deep into the sofa and stretched out his arms.

Pipi, who had been sitting on the carpet, immediately leapt into his embrace.

“Beep.”

“Strictly speaking, I wasn’t lying. I really did stay up all night watching the rabbit. And besides…”

Bryce stroked Pipi’s fur.

“I never took my eyes off ‘the rabbit’ for even a moment. But if we’re talking about a person… well.”

“Pii.”

“Anyway, I only answered about the rabbit.”

Bryce smirked and shrugged as he recalled the events of the previous night.

As the sun dipped below the horizon…

“Hold still. If I leave just one claw untrimmed, Sister will scold me.”

“Beep!”

Golden Bunny, seemingly having spotted something outside the window, immediately dashed toward it the moment Bryce clipped the last claw.

“What’s wrong?”

Following Golden Bunny to the window, Bryce saw his sister heading somewhere.

‘Where is she going at this hour?’

Golden Bunny, staring anxiously at the sky as darkness slowly descended, seemed uneasy.

And then—before Bryce could react—the rabbit leapt straight out the window.

“Wait! Hey! Hey, Golden Bunny!”

Calling out was useless.

“Seriously?!”

His sister had specifically told him to keep a close eye on it!

“Pipi, wait here for a second.”

“Pii!”

As Bryce bolted out of the room, Pipi instantly latched onto him at lightning speed.

“I told you to wait, Pipi!”

“Piii.”

Golden Bunny and Pipi were equally stubborn. Maybe it was a common trait among extraordinary rabbits.

Bryce quickly pursued Golden Bunny.

In the distance, he saw his sister disappearing on horseback, while Golden Bunny anxiously watched, hopping in place.

Luckily, there were two horses in the annex.

Although both belonged to his sister, and he wasn’t sure if they would let him ride…

“Piii, pii.”

Before he could finish that thought, Pipi had already coaxed the horses.

One of them snorted at Bryce, signaling him to hurry up and get on.

Bryce quickly mounted and took off.

“Golden Bunny!”

“Beep…?”

“Get on!”

Golden Bunny jumped, and Bryce caught it mid-air, placing it in front of him.

And so began the chase between Bryce carrying two rabbits, and Lize.

“You’re trying to follow Sister, right?”

“Beep!”

Golden Bunny nodded furiously.

Of course, his sister would return eventually, and Golden Bunny should have known that.

Yet, it was chasing after her with such urgency—there had to be a reason.

Bryce had a strange feeling that it had something to do with her safety.

“She’s heading to the knights’ headquarters.”

Sensing he might be intruding, Bryce slowed his pace to keep some distance from Lize.

She stopped at the Erne Knights’ headquarters and went straight inside.

‘Where is she going?’

Watching her cross the hallway from below, Bryce glanced at the golden rabbit.

If anyone knew, it would be the rabbit.

“Beep…”

Golden Bunny folded its ears, deep in thought.

At that moment, the door to the room Lize had entered swung open again.

‘That’s…’

Bryce narrowed his eyes as he saw the person emerging.

‘Mars?’

Why was Mars coming out of there?

His face was twisted with frustration, and he was breathing heavily—clearly, it hadn’t been a pleasant meeting.

Not that Mars ever had any good reason to visit his sister’s knight order.

“You know that guy, don’t you, Golden Bunny?”

As Bryce turned to look at the rabbit, he froze.

Golden Bunny’s gaze was colder and more terrifying than anything he had ever seen before.