Chapter 3: TMBFL

“...Pii.”

The rabbit let out a deflating little sound, as if to say, do whatever you want.

Still, it didn’t seem angry enough to truly get upset.

“Then… Golden Rabbit.”

The rabbit sighed once and, as if granting a favor, gave a small nod. Its perked ears folded slightly, like it understood.

That alone made a smile spread across my face.

It’s only natural to smile when you see something cute.

Maybe my smile relaxed it a bit more, because even as I took step after step closer, the rabbit stayed still.

The distance between us narrowed to about two hand spans.

The rabbit stared straight at me from that close range.

Its round, golden eyes shimmered—mysterious and captivating.

Was it observing me?

When I carefully reached out my hand, its gaze followed my fingertips.

My hand slowly descended toward its forehead.

I’d heard rabbits like gentle petting like this.

Even in the original story, Bryce had quite liked doing this.

“There, there… good bunny, pretty thing. Aww, there we go.”

But the moment my hand touched its forehead, the rabbit’s expression turned horrified and it smacked my hand away.

“Piiiii!”

The rabbit scrunched its face and shuddered.

“Ah—sorry. Calm down.”

“Pii—!”

It honestly sounded like it was cursing at me.

I thought it liked being petted like that…

Maybe we needed to build more of a bond first?

Then how do you build that bond?

‘How do you get closer…?’

I stared at the rabbit for a moment before lying down on the bed.

The rabbit, which had been sitting by the window, glanced over at me when I stayed quiet for a while.

If I wanted to get close, maybe I should talk to it?

Tell it a bit about myself, too.

‘Come to think of it, the rabbit probably doesn’t even know who I am yet.’

I rolled onto my stomach and met its eyes.

“Did I tell you my name, Golden Rabbit?”

“Pik.”

“Not interested, or do you already know?”

“Pii, pii.”

“Hm?”

Unusually, the rabbit made the sound twice this time.

Was that… some kind of linguistic response?

Does the second one mean yes? That it already knows me?

“Golden Rabbit, try guessing my name.
Number one, Bryce Artiella.
Number two, Strawberry Jam Artiella.
Number three, Beautiful Lize Artiella.”

“……”

“Number four, Lize Artiella.”

“Pii, pii, pii, pii.”

Just as I thought!

It really was communicating with me!

And it even knows who I am!

Without realizing it, I sprang up and looked at the rabbit. Maybe my eyes were shining too brightly, because it turned its head away like it felt burdened.

“How did you know? Have you heard about me before, Golden Rabbit?”

“……”

“Come here, bunny. Let’s talk.”

I patted the bed beside me.

But the rabbit only moved its eyes—it didn’t look like it had any intention of coming over.

“My bed’s pretty big. There’s plenty of room for you too.”

The rabbit just kept looking at me.

But it wasn’t running away or showing any dislike either…

‘Maybe it’s not that it doesn’t want to come… maybe it’s just too polite to intrude on someone else’s bed.’

Yeah. In the original story, Liri Selverdin was a kind character.

Having justified it like that, I immediately stood up.

“It’s okay. You can come.”

I walked to the window and scooped the rabbit up. Nestled in my arms, it let out a startled sniff and struggled to get down.

“Do you not like me, Golden Rabbit?”

When I made a pitiful face and appealed to its sympathy, the rabbit stopped struggling.

Hehe, got it.

But the moment I flopped onto the bed with the rabbit in my arms, it panicked and kicked off violently.

“Hey—Golden Rab—ugh!”

Its hind legs struck me square in the solar plexus, and I groaned in pain. The rabbit froze, looking flustered.

As if forgetting to get off me, it blinked down at me.

“Pii?”

That sounded like it was asking if I was okay.

“No, I’m not okay—cough!”

It was heavier than it looked—getting kicked actually hurt quite a bit.

Still, the way it looked at me in confusion was so cute that I ended up smiling anyway.

“Don’t chew on my head, okay?”

“Pii.”

“You’re really adorable.”

“Pii?”

“Aww, Golden Rabbit, did you just go ‘pii’?”

“……”

Sharp teeth were suddenly right in front of my eyes.

“I’m sorry.”

At this point, it was hard to tell whether I was taming the rabbit… or the rabbit was taming me.

Our eyes met again.

Strangely enough, every time I looked into those slightly cynical golden eyes, a certain person came to mind.

Cassium Luden Valteir.

The arrogant young duke of House Valteir, with annoyingly exceptional swordsmanship.

‘Why does that guy keep popping into my head?’

Even back in knight academy days, Cassium and I had been like oil and water.

A cynical, arrogant personality that couldn’t understand others. A coldness completely devoid of warmth.

Because of that temperament, we had clashed more times than I could count.

‘And that incident…’

I clenched my fist as I recalled something that had happened back at the academy.

That was the event that truly drove a wedge between us.

‘And on top of that, the way Cassium treated our Bryce in the original story!’

He was one of the people who constantly gave Bryce difficult missions after she joined the Erne Knights, putting her through countless trials.

It was also one of the reasons I’d worked myself to the bone to get into the Erne Knights—so I wouldn’t just sit back if he tried to bully her!

“Pii.”

The gentle, adorable rabbit pulled me back from my dark thoughts.

“Golden Rabbit… I wish that jerk Cassium was even half as much like you.”

The rabbit blinked, its mouth now cutely closed. Then it stretched out a fluffy paw and pressed it against my face.

Guess my expression had gotten a bit sour.

“Pii, piik.”

It placed both soft paws on my cheeks and stretched my face outward.

It felt like getting a facial massage…

With that strange sensation, I found myself thinking about Cassium again.

“That guy…”

Even I, who didn’t get along with him at all, had to admit his skill.

Setting aside the fact that he was one of the few aura users in the empire and that he constantly took first place in swordsmanship tournaments—

He had become a division commander of the Erne Knights—the imperial first knight order—at the youngest age ever.

To rise to that position purely through skill at barely his mid-teens… the title of “genius” that always followed him needed no further proof.

Anyway, sure, he’s talented.

It’s just my bad luck that I have to keep clashing with someone as insufferable as him in the same knight order.

Within the order, he and I each led rival divisions—the “Golden Lions” and the “Black Panthers.”

‘Joining the Erne Knights might’ve been digging my own grave.’

But even compared to expectations, we clashed so often that people around us would click their tongues.

‘Just a few days ago, too…’

A few evenings ago—at the victory banquet of the Erne Knights, hosted by Commander Denver.

“Come with me, Cassium.”

The Black Panthers always shamelessly snatched up the Golden Lions’ work.

That night had been no different, and I couldn’t hold back my anger.

“Let’s each throw a punch and forget about it!”

“Why do something you’ll regret tomorrow, Lize?”

“Are you scared of getting hit by me?”

I had been a bit drunk, sure—but I meant every word as I dragged Cassium away.

Some of the knights were worried one of us might end up dead, while others egged us on to kill each other.

And I think… we ended up trading a punch each.

I say I think because the alcohol I’d drunk so heavily had kindly put my hippocampus to sleep.

Still, judging by the very clear marks left behind, it must’ve been pretty intense.

“Look at this, bunny.”

I pulled my collar aside, exposing my shoulder. The rabbit made a startled sound.

The rabbit, which had been sitting calmly on top of me, suddenly jumped and tried to run.

“Why are you being shy with me, Golden Rabbit? Look here.”

“Pii.”

I barely managed to hold it and coax it a few times before it finally glanced over.

I pointed at the deep bruise on my shoulder.

“See this? Bad, right? That jerk Cassium—just how hard did he hit me?”

“Pii?”

The rabbit’s eyes widened.

It looked so cute blinking like that that I almost forgot what I was saying.

“We agreed to hit once each and forget it, but look—this bruise still hasn’t gone away.”

“Pii!”

The rabbit suddenly waved its fluffy paws as if in protest.

“Pii!”

“What, you’re saying it has faded? No, it hasn’t.”

Was it just my imagination, or did the rabbit look wronged?

“Golden Rabbit, look again.”

When I pulled my clothes aside more, the rabbit squeezed its eyes shut.

But after I called it a few times, it slowly approached—eyes still tightly shut.

Then it raised a paw and gently stroked my shoulder.

“Are you worried it hurts? It doesn’t hurt that much anymore.”

Cute rabbit.

And then there’s Cassium—the complete opposite, not cute at all, practically a demon!

We were supposed to forget it after hitting each other, but with marks like this left behind, that agreement was pointless.

I didn’t know how hard I’d hit him, but if his bruise was smaller than mine and disappeared faster, I’d be seriously annoyed.

My thoughts kept circling back to that day.