ITMBWFL 12

chapter 12

At the same time his uncle shouted, Mars—who had just been kicked behind the knee by the rabbit—let out a groan and dropped to his knees.

“I didn’t kneel to you, Lize!”

Mars quickly got back up and shouted at me.

But I had no time to care about what he was saying.

“Golden Rabbit!”

At my call, the rabbit sprang toward me.

My uncle clicked his tongue in irritation and reached out for it, but failed.

The rabbit lightly dodged him and landed safely in front of me.

“Golden Rabbit.”

“Pii.”

Seeing that it was safe made my chest swell with relief.

“Lize! What on earth is this rabbit?! The way you’re acting, you clearly know it!”

Unable to hold back his anger, my uncle strode toward me.

“You and your brother are completely useless to this family—”

“Grrr.”

I quickly hid the golden rabbit behind me as it bared its teeth.

“Why did you come to the annex?”

“Is that what matters right now? This worthless rabbit—”

“Then why are you so worked up over that ‘worthless’ rabbit?”

My uncle trembled, reached out once more to grab it, failed again, and then snorted as he turned away.

“I heard you collapsed and thought you might be dead, so I came!”

He spoke as if he was worried about me, but he was holding documents in his hand. That must have been his real reason.

“What’s that paper in your hand?”

“Forget it. I’m not in the mood. I’ll call you again later.”

My uncle and Mars glared once more at the rabbit before leaving the reception room. As soon as they left, I slammed the door shut.

‘Why did he come?’

What was in those documents?

‘Well, it’s probably about money. I recently got a reward for my achievements.’

According to imperial law, the salary of family members belongs to the family, not the individual.

That meant all the money I earned as a knight went straight into my uncle’s pocket.

He was probably here to discuss how to handle that money.

‘Once Bryce grows up, I’m definitely leaving this family.’

Bryce was still a minor, so he couldn’t escape our uncle, his legal guardian.

But once he became an adult, we would leave.

It was also necessary to prevent the misfortunes he suffered in the original story.

‘Anyway…’

I crouched down and met the golden rabbit’s eyes.

“Pii.”

The rabbit quietly looked at me and spoke.

It must understand everything now—how I’m treated in this house.

“Golden Rabbit, there are people in this world who will hate you like this.”

“Pii.”

“But luckily, there are also many people worth loving.”

The rabbit seemed around Bryce’s age—still young. I felt bad that it had already seen something so ugly.

So I wanted to say something hopeful.

“You’ll meet people like that too. People you can love.”

Including our Bryce.

The rabbit, who had been watching me, slowly held out its fluffy front paws.

I reached out and gently held them.

The soft, warm feeling made my heart soften too. It felt healing.

I even thought—maybe this is what true healing power feels like.

A smile naturally formed on my lips.

I picked up the soft, slightly heavy rabbit and hugged it.

“Pii…!”

“Anyway, I’m glad you’re safe.”

The rabbit always got flustered when I hugged it, but this time it didn’t push me away as I rubbed my cheek against it.

“Let’s eat meat, Golden Rabbit.”

The rabbit, which had looked worried just like me, suddenly brightened.

That night.

In the darkness, a man rubbed the spot behind his knee where the rabbit had kicked him.

‘I won’t let this go…’

In front of Mars were several paintings he had secretly taken from his father’s study.

But because of the rabbit, he had been caught.

He had hidden them in the annex warehouse to secretly sell them for money, but while chasing the rabbit, he got exposed.

“This is all because of Lize.”

She was just someone freeloading off the family, yet she acted proud because she became a royal knight.

Among the Erne Knights, there were those who had awakened aura—but Lize hadn’t.

So her skills must be nothing special.

And yet, she got lucky in war and earned achievements—and even became a squad leader!

‘That position should have been mine.’

He could have gone to war himself.

But he missed it because he had to attend a friend’s wedding, so Lize went instead.

While he was tied down by unavoidable circumstances, Lize shamelessly took the credit and rose in status.

Mars clenched his teeth as he recalled Lize protecting the rabbit.

‘I won’t let this go.’

“I really could’ve come alone.”

On the way back after clearing out the remnants of Luxka in Bezen Forest.

The golden rabbit responded indifferently.

“Pii.”

Since the leader of Luxka had been defeated, the immediate danger was gone—but the remaining creatures still had to be cleaned up.

Without their leader, they were weak, so it wasn’t difficult.

“Sis, don’t just talk to the rabbit. Talk to me too.”

Bryce, who had been quietly following behind, finally spoke.

I immediately turned around with a bright expression.

“Bryce, you want to talk to me?”

I thought he didn’t want to talk since he was going through puberty.

“I never said I didn’t.”

“Your sword skills improved a lot. I was surprised.”

“It’s nothing.”

He answered casually, but the corner of his lips twitched slightly.

Since the monsters weren’t very strong, I had brought Bryce along for training.

“You’re not fully recovered yet, so I should work harder.”

“How reliable.”

“Pii.”

While I was talking with Bryce, the rabbit tugged at the hem of my pants.

“Hm? What is it, Golden Rabbit?”

“Pii, pii.”

It seemed to be saying something, so I listened again.

“Sis, you were talking to me.”

Bryce tugged my clothes.

“Oh, what were we saying?”

“Pii.”

As soon as I turned back to Bryce, the rabbit called me again.

“Oh, Golden Rabbit—oh, you got dirt on your fur. Let me clean it…”

“Sis, I got dirt on me too.”

“Pii.”

Whenever I listened to one, the other called me.

“Uh—wait a second, Golden Rabbit.”

“My name is Bryce.”

“Oh—sorry, Bryce. Just a moment…”

I was starting to feel overwhelmed when—

“Lady Lize?”

A familiar voice came from behind.

I turned around to see a tall man with shining silver hair smiling gently.

“Julius!”

It was Julius, a priest from the temple.

We had studied together in the imperial history course, and he also knew about my illness.

Thanks to his treatment, I could endure every full moon.

“What are you doing here, Lady Lize?”

“I was dealing with some monsters.”

“As expected of you. Very admirable.”

I shrugged proudly and glanced at Bryce.

See that? Your sister is amazing.

“What are you doing here, Julius?”

“I…”

He opened his bag—it was full of rare herbs.

“Wow, did you gather all of these yourself?”

“Yes. I followed places where I could feel divine power.”

That was impressive talent.

As we walked down toward the village, we naturally started chatting together.

“I’m planning to make more effective medicine with these.”

“You’re the admirable one.”

“Oh, not at all. How have you been feeling lately?”

Julius leaned closer and whispered.

“How were your symptoms during the last full moon?”

“Not good. But…”

I glanced at Bryce and the rabbit behind us, then whispered back.

“I think I found a way.”

The next full moon was approaching.

The pain had been getting worse each time.

But now—I didn’t just have to endure it.

Because I met the golden rabbit.

“Hey, Kim Togi.”

Behind Lize and Julius, who were chatting happily, Bryce walked beside the rabbit.

“….”

“Isn’t that your name?”

“Smack.”

“The knights from the Erne Order said so…”

Bryce trailed off.

The rabbit looked oddly fierce.

At first, he thought it was because of him.

But looking closely, the rabbit’s gaze was fixed ahead—on Lize and Julius.

“What, are you jealous?”

“Hmph.”

The rabbit snorted as if that was ridiculous.

But its burning stare said otherwise.

“They look good together.”

The moment Bryce said that, the rabbit glared at him even more fiercely.

“Definitely jealous.”

“Pii.”

“Why does my sister like you so much? You’re not even cute.”

“Pii!”

“Stop pretending to be cute.”

“Grr!”

“But there’s something strange about you.”

Bryce crossed his arms and looked at the rabbit.

“No matter how I look at it, you’re a male rabbit… so why does my sister think you’re female?”