After going through several identity confirmation procedures, the place we entered was an ivory temple where a priest was located.
I rolled my eyes, showing only my face in my pocket. The murals painted everywhere and the flames burning over the torch created a sacred atmosphere.
“Welcome, Lord Grace.”
A priest with a long beard hanging over his gray and white priest’s uniform bowed in silence.
The moment I saw him from afar, I couldn’t think properly. My heart began to pound. The bad memories of the past continued to rush through my mind.
“This is a terrible curse!”
It was a loud voice that made my ears hurt.
What if that priest said the same thing, then what if Ahin and Evelyn heard it. The anxiety that had been forcibly suppressed inside me continued rising.
“Wait here for a moment.”
Ahin took me out from his pocket and put me down on the floor. I looked at him with anxious eyes, then he demanded with a slow voice.
“Answer it.”
I nodded. When I forced my head to move, Ahin smiled and walked toward the priest.
I looked at his back with trembling eyes. His back, dressed in a black suit, seemed too distant today.
“Long time no see. Has it been three years?”
“It’s the first time since the reception ceremony. It’s an honor to have Lord Grace personally visited.”
The longer the priest, Ahin, and Evelyn exchanged greetings, the more I felt sick. Although it was somewhat far away, two words could be inferred when I closely observed the mouth shapes.
A rabbit.
Shapeshifter.
At the same time as I breathed in, the unpleasant nausea I had once felt swept through me. In my tangled mind, the priest’s voice echoed again.
“This is a terrible curse!”
I choked up. I really hear such things from that priest again.
“Poor thing, I see a young lamb forsaken by the God of Beast!”
When I came to my senses, I was running frantically.
Something rushed under their feet, and the surprised priests stepped aside. I dodged the shaking legs in embarrassment, and I applied more recoil to my feet. The blurry vision quickly changed.
“Unfortunately, there’s no way.”
Ah, the black panther told me to wait calmly. I broke my promise, and this time I might be eaten. With such ridiculous thoughts, my feet continued to move against my will.
“There’s no precedent like this.”
Stop it. I felt like the anxiety that had been eating me up so far was rising to the surface.
‘Didn’t the priest say that it was a curse from God of Beast? How unpleasant.’
After running for a while, I arrived in front of a large stone statue. The towering stone statue symbolized God of Beast, a deity worshiped by beasts, intertwined with several animal shapes.
As I stared at him blankly, my tears flowed down. God of Beast, why couldn’t I turn into a human? Am I really cursed?
Unanswered questions kept popping up. Now, due to my blurred vision, the stone statue was not properly visible. My heart was so stuffy that I felt a throbbing pain.
‘ … Why me?’
Why? It was a process that everyone went through when they were very young before everyone became aware of it, but why was I the only one who couldn’t?
My younger brother, who was three years younger than me, has already become a human for a long time. The same was with other half-brothers.
It was infinitely resentful, but even the object of resentment wasn’t clear. As I bawled, I felt my whole body’s strength was drained.
I was about to let go, but suddenly a large hand stretched out and picked me up. Silver hair, which I had become accustomed to, fell over my sight.
“Hey.”
It was an overly low voice. Ahin took a deep breath, he didn’t have the usual smile or expressionless expression, but rather an angry face.
“You, I’m a little annoyed this time.”
His silver hair soared as he ruffled his hair wildly.
Feeling frustrated because I couldn’t say anything, I just struggled to get out of his hands. It wasn’t my will to run away either. I hate the priest.
“Why are you crying?”
Wouldn’t you cry in this situation? I really hate it. Let go. Eventually, I set up my claws and scratched Ahin’s hand. The hand holding me showed no sign of loosening despite scratches becoming visible.
A moment later, Ahin asked in a slightly softened voice.
“Do you hate temples?”
Without delaying the answer, I nodded my head aggressively. I hate it so much. I hate temples, and I hate the priests more. As I nodded my head, I glared at Ahin with my eyes wet with tears. And today I didn’t like it either.
“Lord Ahin!”
Evelyn’s flushed voice echoed from behind. His neat black hair was sticking up here and there, perhaps because he ran around.
Approaching hastily, he found me held by Ahin’s hand and looked relieved. After taking a deep breath, Evelyn soon placed his hand on his waist with his usual expressionless face.
“Ms. Rabbit, you’re not an ordinary runner. I didn’t expect you would try to run away from the temple.”
Even in this circumstance, his nonsense wasn’t omitted. I was running and even cried so much that I didn’t even have the strength to glare at him. After looking at me, Ahin turned his eyes toward Evelyn.
“The rabbit loathes the temples.”
I didn’t remember making such an extreme expression. Speechless, I glared at Ahin. The gap was very excessive.
“Oh, I didn’t know that. Ms. Rabbit must be an atheist.”
“In the first place, wouldn’t it be strange if rabbits have a religion?”
“Don’t rabbits pray sometimes too?”
“Oh, that’s quite interesting?”
No matter who listened, it was a strange conversation. Evelyn touched his chin as if he was agonizing, then he suggested.
“Then let’s go back to the mansion.”
Was it that simple? Stunned, I opened my mouth slightly. Ahin looked down at me and smiled like usual.
“Okay, let’s go back.”
Going back. The ending was too easy and disappointing compared to how desperately I ran away because I didn’t want to meet the priest.
“Ms. Rabbit.”
Evelyn had stood close to me, enough so I could hear him. He raised his hand and carefully organized his long hair.
“This Evelyn is a civil servant, not a military officer. Therefore, I would like you to refrain from running suddenly.”
“Evelyn, don’t talk too close”.
“I respect Lord Ahin coldness.”
“Shut up.”
“Yes, Sir.”
Evelyn, who barely zipped his mouth, took the lead.
I suddenly felt drowsy as I alternated my gaze between the two men who walked to the carriage. The idea of going back somehow made me feel relaxed.
***
‘This place is ….’
When I opened my eyes, it was dark outside the window. Maybe I fell asleep in the carriage on the way back. Tossing and turning on the white bed, my eyes lit up.
Perhaps because I cried so much while sitting on the floor of the temple, my eyelids were heavy and gloomy. I felt tired even though I feel like I slept well.
I looked around the cozy bedroom, which was different from the temple’s cold air. Then I pretended to sleep.
It was a quiet night, but there was a problem. It was because Ahin, in his robe, was staring at me with his hand supporting his chin.
‘No way ….’
At first glance, his stiff expression must have reproached my escape from the temple. When I suddenly got scared, I closed my eyes automatically.
Moreover, although we face each other every night, his muscular upper body exposed through the gown was quite burdensome. It was already difficult to look at his beautiful face, but it was more difficult to look at his disheveled appearance.
After all, I was a healthy adult who had already held a coming-of-age ceremony. That defenseless black panther seemed to be completely unaware how dangerous this Vivi could be.
“Hey.”
I heard a call that offended my nerves, but I had no intention of opening my closed eyes. If you think I would have been caught with that amount of provocation, you were making a big mistake.
“Crybaby.”
Shit. I was so annoyed that I raised myself and punched Ahin’s hand with my front foot.
After simply blocking my blow, he suddenly pushed my head. I would break my neck if I do something wrong. So stop it, you thoughtless beast.
‘Ouch!’
In the midst of this situation, I hurriedly slept when I saw his red eyes, which were the black panther’s special features. There was a ridiculous sound of the breeze.
“You know.”
After a brief moment of silence, a chill rose in my back. Ahin’s fingers slowly stroked my back. It was a gesture that didn’t contain any threat, but I felt an unknown chills.
“Did you know?”
Like a siren song, his voice could have enchanted many people.
I didn’t know, I didn’t know what it was, I didn’t want to know forever. As I continued these thoughts, a cold hand touched my back again.
“The beasts are possessive, whatever it may be.”
Slowly, his fingers rubbed my back repeatedly. It was slow but steady speed. He used to stroke my back in this way, but I felt particularly reluctant today.
“Sometimes, if the desire is too excessive, the beast destroys the thing they possess.”
Even though he was also a beast, he spoke calmly as if he was talking about someone else. On the other hand, I was overwhelmed with goosebumps, enough to make me jump and get up. I didn’t think what Ahin said now was other people’s stories.
‘Goodness!’
You weren’t trying to put me in your mouth again, were you? Contrary to my concerns, fortunately nothing happened.
However, I didn’t let go of the tension, and my hearing was on high alert. After a few seconds of silence, his low voice could be heard again.
“I picked you up.”
“That’s why you were able to live.”
“That means you belong to me. Right?”
As I listened to the questions that followed as if to confirm, my mouth dried up.
It was a subtle warning, that he might destroy me rather than let me run away. Somehow, I have a feeling that it would be good to run away from this mansion as soon as possible, or was I mistaken?
Comments (0)