TVCWB Chapter 03

Chapter 3 

The blade in the man’s left hand shone with a cold blue light.
That thing was just at my throat!

Perea shivered again and hurried to follow him. She couldn’t let that brute scratch her furniture with that huge sword.

“Perea, what’s going on? I heard a loud noise…”

Harun, who had been about to return to the living room, froze as a huge shadow loomed in front of him.
The deadly aura radiating from the man made Harun’s long rabbit ears flatten completely against his head.

“Where is the prince?”

Once again, the man raised his sword first instead of simply asking, making Perea gasp in horror.

Seriously—this guy really is a snow leopard beastman! Why does he always start with threats? Do beastmen like him not understand normal conversation?!

Before he could do anything dangerous, Perea quickly pointed out where the prince was.
“He’s over there, on the sofa. And you do know His Highness needs complete rest, right?”

Her tone made it clear: So don’t go waving that sword around for no reason!

The man finally lowered his weapon after seeing that the prince was indeed peacefully asleep, just as she said.
The boy looked calm, his breathing even.

Relieved that the prince wasn’t gravely injured, the man finally turned his attention to himself—and realized that Perea hadn’t lied.
Before he’d lost consciousness, he had thought his wounds were fatal, that he might never wake up again.
But now, he could breathe and move just fine. His left shoulder—the one used for wielding a sword—moved more easily than expected.

So she really wasn’t lying about being a veterinarian.

That was his last thought before—thud!—he suddenly collapsed to the ground.
Even though his injuries were treated, the fever spreading from his wounds had overheated his whole body.

“Waaah!”
“Eek!”

Both Perea and Harun screamed as the man—built like a wall—crashed to the floor.
If he’d fallen a few seconds earlier, that sword might have seriously hurt them.

“Oh, honestly…”

Perea sighed heavily. How was she supposed to handle such an uncooperative patient?

Harun, still trembling, flicked his rabbit ears nervously.
“Well… once he wakes up properly, he’ll head back to the capital, right?”

“Of course. If the royal family finds out the prince was in an accident, it’ll be chaos.”

“Hmm… though, judging by that man, he seems like the type who’ll leave as soon as he can.”

Harun was the first to move the sword far out of reach, then helped lift the man’s arm over his shoulder. Of course, he couldn’t carry him alone—Perea had to help too.

Together they struggled, grunting and puffing, until they managed to lay the man back on the bed.

Then—from the living room—came a low growl.

“The prince is awake!”

“What?! Oh no, I’m covered in blood!”

“Go change your clothes—quick! I’ll handle things until you’re ready.”

Perea nodded and rushed into her room.
Her once-white doctor’s coat was completely stained dark red after treating the prince and the man.

It was her favorite coat, made of fine fabric—but clearly, this was its final day.

With a sigh, she changed into a simple dress and threw a clean white coat over it. At least now she looked somewhat like a proper veterinarian again.

After one last check in the mirror, Perea stepped back into the living room—only to hear Harun’s panicked voice.

“P-Perea!”

She ran toward him—then froze.

Prince Theo, with his honey-blonde hair and innocent face, was holding Harun’s long rabbit ears firmly in his tiny hands.

The prince’s grip was surprisingly strong—so much that Harun’s face had gone from pale to blue.
But since this mischievous child was none other than the royal prince, a tiger beastman, Harun couldn’t dare to stop him. He could only make a pitiful face.

“Prince Theo!”

Perea hurried forward and gently took Theo’s small hand.
The boy blinked, tilting his head when he heard his name spoken by a stranger.

“You know Theo?”

“Of course! Everyone knows the brave and wonderful Prince Theo!”

“I’m wonderful?”

Theo’s cheeks turned pink, and a big, sweet smile spread across his face.
That honey-like grin nearly melted both Perea and Harun on the spot—until they remembered that Harun’s ears were still in danger.

Perea approached with her best gentle smile—a secret weapon known to work well on rabbit beastmen.

“Now, Your Highness, how about letting go of those ears first, and then we can talk calmly?”

“Hm? You’re weird. You don’t have ears on your head.”

Theo frowned, puzzled. Everyone he knew—his parents, siblings, attendants—had animal ears on their heads. But this woman’s head was bare, almost strange-looking, as if she were missing something.

His innocent confusion was so adorable that Perea couldn’t help but smile even brighter.

“That’s because I’m not a beastman, Your Highness. I’m a human.”

“Human…?”

“Yes! Humans don’t have animal blood, so we don’t have ears or tails.”

To prove it, Perea spun around once, showing she had no tail either. Theo’s eyes sparkled.

A creature without ears or a tail—amazing!

He immediately released Harun’s ears and hopped down from the sofa, running over to Perea.
Then he started examining her curiously, tugging gently at her dress and patting the fabric. He even jumped in place a few times.

His behavior was identical to that of feline beastmen when they encountered something new and interesting.

While the rabbit beastmen might have been confused by this, Perea—who had studied animal behavior—understood it perfectly.

She crouched down to his eye level and held out her hand.

“It’s strange—you smell like flowers.”

Theo sniffed her extended finger for a long while before making that comment.
Beastmen each had their own unique scent by race, but Perea only smelled faintly of soap, which must have seemed floral to him.

Perea laughed softly, and Harun—watching the two of them—also began to relax.

Finally, the prince gazed straight into her eyes. Perea met his gaze calmly, and after a long moment, he smiled—a small, satisfied smile.

I did it!

Perea clenched her fist in silent triumph. She had passed Prince Theo’s “test.”

Just as she guessed, Theo dropped his guard completely and started holding her hand, dragging her around to explore the house. He was curious about what a “human home” looked like.

“It’s so small! Like Theo’s fingernail!”

Of course, it wasn’t that small—but she got the message.
Her pride as the owner of one of the nicer homes in the village vanished instantly.

While she was still feeling deflated, Theo blinked and asked,
“But… where’s Ray?”

“Ray…?”

“Yeah! Ray’s white. He protects Theo!”

Theo waved his tiny arms in the air, pretending to swing a sword.

From that, it was obvious who he meant—the white-haired man lying unconscious in the next room.

So his name is Ray… and he really is the prince’s bodyguard, Perea thought.

She smiled kindly. “Oh, Sir Ray is resting right now.”

Honestly, she wanted to call him that guy, not Sir Ray—but since he was a royal knight, she decided to stay polite.

“Resting? Sleeping?”

“Yes, yes. He’s sleeping soundly.”

Theo mimed sleep by pressing his hands to his cheeks and closing his eyes.
The sight was so adorable and pure that Perea felt as if a little angel had descended into her house.

But Harun quickly brought her back to reality by poking her in the side. His eyes said: Ask him what happened!

Understanding his meaning, Perea crouched down in front of Theo again.

“Your Highness—”

“Theo.”

“Huh?”

“Not ‘Your Highness.’ Theo.”

His tiny cherry-like lips pouted as he corrected her.