TVCWB Chapter 05

Chapter 5 

“What are you two talking about?”

“It’s a disaster!”

“A disaster? What kind of disaster?”

“The prince said he doesn’t want to go to Eclit anymore — he wants to stay and play in our village!”

Perea’s words echoed through the small living room.
At first, Harun didn’t quite understand. But a few seconds later, he jumped so high his head nearly hit the ceiling — very much like the rabbit beastman he was.

His ears and tail trembled violently as he shook his head.
It was already nerve-wracking enough having predator beastmen in the village — but a tiger prince? That was impossible!

No one in Timi Village could handle that kind of pressure. Not even him.

Perea completely agreed with him — one hundred percent — but the problem was, their “guest” was the prince himself. And worse, they were the ones who had discovered his identity first.

“But… we’re not really in a position to say no, are we?”

Harun’s shoulders drooped at her defeated words. Both of them just stared at each other helplessly, no solution in sight.

Then—

“Are you two done yet?”

The deep voice came from right behind them. Without a sound, the silver-haired man had appeared, leaning casually against the doorframe — watching, no, glowering at them.

“I-It’s done, sir! Perea, tell him!”

“Me? Tell him what?”

“Tell him yes! You’re the one who’s going to take care of the prince!”

“When did I ever say that?!”

Perea widened her eyes in protest, while Harun glared right back.

Their long friendship of twenty-four years nearly cracked right then and there — all thanks to their uninvited guest.

Watching them bicker, the man muttered flatly, “Lovers’ quarrel?”

Exactly three seconds later, both of them shouted the same reply:

“It’s not a lovers’ quarrel!”
“It’s not a lovers’ quarrel!”

In the end, the young prince stayed in Timi Village “to rest and recover.”
And naturally, it fell to Perea to take care of both him and his bodyguard.

The villagers of Timi were all gentle, herbivorous rabbit beastmen — the kind who trembled just from standing near a predator.
So for their sake, Perea willingly took responsibility for the royal guests.

At least I’m human, she told herself. That should make things a little easier… right?

That morning, she woke up earlier than usual to prepare breakfast for three people.

The storage room held only what the villagers had given her: vegetables, fruits, and eggs.
Just looking at those sharp fangs of theirs, she was sure they preferred meat — but finding meat in a rabbit village was no simple task.

She figured they’d have to make do with breakfast and maybe she could get some meat from the next town later.

As she clumsily chopped vegetables in the kitchen, a low voice brushed her ear from behind.

“What are you doing?”

“Ahh! You scared me! P-please, at least say something when you walk in—!”

“Why would I?”

He genuinely didn’t see the point.
For someone who had trained with weapons all his life, moving silently was second nature.

Living among beastmen with sharp hearing made Perea’s dull human senses all the more obvious — she never noticed him until he was practically beside her.

“Ahem… I’m preparing breakfast. Since this village only has rabbit beastmen, there’s no meat. Please bear with eggs for now.”

“This is what you call cooking…?”

Ray’s expression twisted into an obvious grimace.
To him, what Perea was doing wasn’t cooking — it was destruction.

The carrots, potatoes, and mushrooms were all hacked into uneven chunks, and the eggs in the pan were already turning black.

Is she trying to feed me this to make me leave faster?

With a silent sigh, Ray grabbed her shoulder and pulled her aside.

“Move.”

“Eh?”

“I’ll do it.”

With that cold, commanding tone, Perea had no choice but to step back awkwardly.

She watched from the side as he took over the kitchen — and couldn’t help remembering the night before.

When he’d teased her and Harun about having a “lover’s quarrel,” he had followed up immediately with a deadly glare.
The sword at his side had made any resistance impossible, so they’d been forced to accept his decision that the prince would stay as long as he wanted.

Perea had nervously raised her hand.

“Um, I have one small request.”

“Hmm?”

He gave her a curious look — skeptical, but not outright refusing to listen.

“I think it’s best if you don’t tell the villagers that Sir Theo is a prince.”

“Why?”

“Well… he and, uh, you are already predator beastmen. If people find out he’s royalty too, everyone will panic.”

Ray thought for a moment, then nodded.

Perea had expected him to yell something like, How dare you suggest lying to royalty! — but surprisingly, he agreed without fuss.

After that, they’d exchanged a few practical rules, and thus began the royal pair’s “commoner life experience” in Timi Village.

And now here she was, cooking breakfast at dawn — only to have him scold her for it.
Perea pouted behind his back, then turned slightly, curious to see how well a man with an injured shoulder could cook.

“…Wow! You’re really good!”

She couldn’t help exclaiming, even giving his shoulder a light tap in admiration.
His knife skills were flawless — every piece of vegetable was cut with perfect precision, not even 0.1 millimeters off.

After seeing her own chaotic chopping, the sight was almost moving.
And the eggs — oh, the eggs!
Where her version had looked like charcoal, his sunny-side-up eggs glowed golden like the sun itself.

Her opinion of him shot up instantly.

Her natural curiosity took over. “When did you learn to cook? Are you good with all kinds of knives? I have lots more vegetables in storage — could you maybe prepare all of them while you’re at it?”

He clearly wasn’t used to such chatter. His brow furrowed slightly as he muttered a single word:

“No.”

The instant, flat rejection made her lips puff out again.
Still, her curiosity wasn’t satisfied.

“So, do all knights use knives that well?”

“…Knights?”

Ray’s blue eyes flashed sharply.
Now that he thought about it — this woman had called Theo “Your Highness” from the start, meaning she had recognized him as a prince.
So why was she now assuming he was a knight?

He paused mid-motion, ready to question her — but at that very moment, the sound of a child crying came from the next room.

“Oh! Sir Theo must be awake!”

Startled, Perea rushed out of the kitchen, leaving Ray behind. He clicked his tongue softly in irritation.

In the next room, Theo had woken up in a strange place and looked around in confusion.
When he didn’t see Ray, fear filled his golden eyes, and he began to cry loudly.

In the palace, he had never dared to cry this freely — not with his brothers around.
But now, with only Ray to rely on, he could finally show his feelings.

“Ray! Raaayyy!!”

He cried his guardian’s name over and over.
Finally, the small door opened — but instead of the familiar silver-haired man, a brown-haired woman with no ears or tail walked in.

Theo blinked and immediately stopped crying, realizing he was in a human’s home.

“Sir Theo? Did you sleep well?”

Her head was as smooth as ever — no ears. Her back had no tail either.
Theo stared for a moment, then lifted his small arms.

“Human, hug me!”

“Of course! Come here.”

Even his childlike demands carried the confidence of a tiger prince.
Perea smiled softly and gathered the warm, tiny body into her arms.

Theo’s golden tail swayed back and forth as he nuzzled his round nose against her shoulder.
He inhaled deeply, smiling.

“Flower smell…!”

He rubbed his face against her shoulder, completely absorbed in her sweet scent.
Considering he had been crying just moments ago, Perea was relieved to see how quickly he’d calmed down.