Chapter 25
“Perea smells nice again today!”
Theo giggled as he whispered into Perea’s ear. The sudden comment about her “smell” made her eyes go wide in surprise.
“M-my smell?!”
“Mm-hm! A good smell!”
“Oh, I see. For a moment, I thought you meant a bad smell.”
“Nooo! Perea always smells good!”
Theo shook his head so hard that his rabbit ears flopped wildly — yet they stayed perfectly in place. It seemed Hayu really did excellent work.
Perea couldn’t exactly tell what kind of scent he meant, but she guessed it must be something only predator beastmen could sense.
She remembered reading in veterinary studies that some beastman races had senses far more sensitive than humans. So maybe Theo could pick up on some special scent she didn’t even notice — it was probably just a tiger beastman thing.
Then another thought came to her. ‘If Ray’s a leopard beastman, kind of like a tiger, can he smell it too? The scent Theo keeps saying he likes every day?’
Theo purred softly, rubbing his cheek against her neck.
Moments like this always felt like she was taking care of a cat — warm, soft, and comforting. After hugging him tightly for a while, Perea set him back in his chair.
She wanted to clean up the bottles scattered around from her medicine work before the curious little prince could touch anything dangerous.
But of course, that only made Theo more curious.
With his big ears twitching, he hopped off the chair and clung to her leg.
“Perea, what’s this?”
“Oh! That’s medicine for you, Lord Theo.”
“Medicine? Like the stuff you take when you’re sick?”
“That’s right. You’re so smart!”
Perea gently ruffled his golden hair. He liked the praise but frowned at the idea that the medicine was for him. His face couldn’t decide between smiling or sulking.
Even without words, it was clear how conflicted he felt — so Perea and Hayu both laughed.
“This is just for emergencies, in case you get sick on the way to Eclit,” Perea explained kindly. “You don’t have to take it now.”
“Oh, o-okay! But Theo’s the Rabbit Hero now, so Theo can take medicine too!”
Even though he was visibly relieved that he didn’t have to take any right away, Theo puffed his chest proudly. His little act of bravado was so cute that Perea just smiled and played along.
“Yes, yes, our brave Rabbit Hero! Then could you help me a little?”
Theo’s round eyes sparkled. “Can the mighty Rabbit Hero help Perea?”
“Well, you might hurt yourself if you touch the wrong thing… but how about closing these bottle caps for me?”
Instead of forbidding him from touching anything — which would only make him more curious — she gave him a simple task to focus on.
She placed a few bottles of stomach medicine in front of him along with their labeled caps.
“I-I can read this! It says ‘stomach medicine!’”
“Wow, that’s right!”
Theo grinned, then asked innocently, “But… what’s stomach medicine?”
Maybe it was the rabbit ears, but he looked even cuter than usual. Just as Perea’s face was melting into a smile, Harun came running in carrying a bundle of clothes.
“Sis! Are these the right ones?”
A bunch of colorful fabrics dangled from his arms — it looked like he’d brought every pair of pants in the house.
Hayu quickly sorted through them, separating what she needed from what she didn’t with lightning speed.
In the end, three pairs of pants remained: white, blue, and yellow.
“Okay, Lord Theo, you can change into one of these.”
“Mm… Perea!”
The boy raised his arms, clearly expecting her help.
Used to his behavior, Perea smiled and lifted him up, carrying him behind a screen to change. She’d already helped him change from his pajamas that morning, after all.
Children his age usually started dressing themselves, but Theo was the imperial prince of Amur — he’d been raised as someone precious and never had to do those things alone. So she didn’t think of it as childish.
“But you know,” he began as she helped him, “Chuchu said he can dress by himself!”
“Chuchu?”
Chuchu was the young rabbit beastman who played with Theo the most in Timi Village. They dug up carrots, caught bugs, and shared meals — and had surprisingly deep conversations for their age.
They often talked about “independence” — how beastman children should grow up to do things by themselves. It was the kind of topic that would make adults laugh, but to them, it was serious business.
‘Chuchu’s been dressing himself for days now!’ he’d bragged to Theo, puffing out his chest.
Theo had noticed the seams on Chuchu’s clothes were twisted, but he hadn’t realized it was because the boy kept putting them on backwards. Still, Theo had thought it was amazing — and decided he’d start dressing himself too.
But with the sudden trip to Lium Forest, that resolution had completely slipped his mind… until now.
“So Theo’s going to start dressing himself too!”
“By yourself?”
“Mm-hm! If Chuchu can do it, Theo can too!”
He clenched his tiny fists, full of determination. Perea bit her lip to hold back a laugh and cheered him on.
It was a little sad that they’d be leaving for Eclit soon — he wouldn’t get to show Chuchu his progress.
“But, Lord Theo,” she said gently, “since this is your first time wearing these pumpkin pants, may I help just a little?”
“Mm! Okay!”
Ten seconds earlier, he’d been all about doing it himself — now he accepted her help without hesitation.
Perea didn’t mind at all. Honestly, the little prince was so adorable that anything he said was fine by her.
Meanwhile, Ray — who had fled from Perea’s “eye-kiss attack” — had been cornered by the village chief and dragged to the barn.
The man, silent the entire walk there, still hadn’t spoken a word after arriving.
The village chief, used to dealing with cheerful and talkative rabbit beastmen, found this cold, expressionless leopard knight difficult. It had been weeks since they first met, but Ray still acted like it was day one.
“Ahem, well…”
Even though he’d done nothing wrong, the chief struggled to start speaking. After several nervous coughs, he finally managed.
Ray, on the other hand, remained perfectly still — his face as blank as ever. The chief couldn’t tell if that was impressive or terrifying.
“Here. Please use this.”
With a sigh of surrender, the chief placed a set of wagon keys in Ray’s hand.
For the first time, the man’s calm face showed a hint of surprise.
“What’s this?”
“It’s a carriage — to take you to Eclit. It didn’t seem right for someone of your status to travel in a cargo wagon. It’s not large, but it’s a fine model.”
The chief scratched his messy hair awkwardly. He’d used more than half the village’s budget to buy that carriage, but somehow he doubted Ray would ever thank him for it.
He wasn’t looking for praise exactly, but… still, a little appreciation would’ve been nice.
As the chief’s silent disappointment grew, Ray — contrary to what his face showed — actually felt deeply moved.
They’d gone so far to disguise Theo’s identity, prepare a carriage, and help them leave safely.
All the rabbit beastmen in Timi Village had done everything they could to help.
In his life, Ray had only ever received jealousy, hatred, and scorn from others — things he always repaid in kind. But this… this pure kindness? He had no idea how to respond to it.
Watching the chief’s increasingly uneasy face, Ray silently debated what he should say.
The problem was, his expressionless face made him look more annoyed than grateful.
