Chapter 7
Inside the house, Perea had just finished cleaning up the clinic after treating Ray’s wounds.
Next to her, Ray buttoned up his shirt.
Since his original clothes had been completely torn in the accident, he was now wearing Harun’s spare clothes.
But the size difference between the two men was enormous — on Ray, the shirt looked ridiculously small, stretched tightly across his broad shoulders.
Still, he showed no sign of discomfort or complaint.
The room was quiet as they each went about their tasks — until the sound of small footsteps echoed down the hall.
Tap tap tap.
Theo came marching in with determined steps, his long golden tail swaying through the air as if sniffing out something interesting.
“Ray!”
“Hm?”
When Ray immediately replied, the boy lifted his little arms high and began chattering rapidly. His tiny mouth moved nonstop, full of excitement.
“You know what? Outside, the rabbit beastmen smell soooo tasty! I started drooooling!”
“Is that so?”
Ray answered casually and reached down to wipe the drool off the child’s chin.
Theo’s cherry-colored lips were completely wet; he had drooled so much that even while Ray wiped him, he kept licking the corners of his mouth to clean the rest.
“W-wait a second!”
Perea’s eyes widened.
Did he just say the other villagers smelled delicious — and Ray didn’t even react?!
Horrified, she rushed between them.
Theo only smiled innocently, his lips glistening as he grinned at her.
“Perea, how many rabbit beastmen live here?”
“Uh… Your High— I mean, Theo? Why do you ask?”
Perea tried to keep her tone light, smiling awkwardly, but her lips were twitching nervously.
Seeing her strange smile, Theo cupped his hands around his mouth as if to whisper a secret.
“I’m gonna sneak a bite.”
“Absolutely not!”
Perea shrieked.
Her voice echoed through the room — and beside her, she heard a faint pfft.
That wasn’t the sound of air. That was Ray laughing.
He’s laughing?! The prince just said he wants to eat rabbit beastmen, and you’re laughing?!
Perea glared furiously at the snow leopard. Her face burned hot with anger.
She didn’t care if he was a predator — today, she was ready to risk everything.
She glared at him for a long time before Ray’s smirk disappeared. His face turned serious again as he calmly corrected Theo.
“Theo, stealing a rabbit beastman’s carrots isn’t right.”
“Hmm? But I was just gonna secretly take one?”
“Taking it secretly makes it worse. You should ask properly if you want something.”
“Ohhh! I get it now!”
Theo clapped his little hands together, proud of his “big discovery.”
Perea, who had been mentally preparing to throw herself in front of the boy to protect the villagers, just blinked blankly.
“…Carrots?”
“Mm. I like carrots,” Ray said flatly.
“Carrots! Carrots!” Theo chimed in, hopping up and down, imitating a rabbit with his hands over his head.
The sight was undeniably cute — but Perea was too exhausted to even praise him.
She was still trying to process the idea that the “delicious smell” he mentioned had only been carrots.
Ray, clearly amused, let out another quiet breath of laughter and explained,
“When he was little, he read a picture book about a rabbit hero with a carrot sword. He’s liked carrots ever since.”
“Uh-huh! Theo likes carrots! And rabbit beastmen too!”
Theo tilted his head side to side with a sweet smile that melted hearts.
Perea finally sighed in relief — until she remembered something.
“Then why did you pull Harun’s ears that day? You said you liked rabbits!”
“Hmm… dunno. My hand just moved.”
Apparently, when he’d first woken up, his predator instincts had kicked in automatically.
The world of beastmen… Perea massaged her temples. The more I learn, the more confusing it gets.
Still, it was a relief that he drooled over carrots, not villagers.
She had a storage room full of carrots — she could feed him all he wanted.
At least, that was her plan.
“I like meat better, though,” Ray said suddenly.
And just like that, her grand plan was ruined in ten seconds.
He mentioned casually that eating meat would help his wounds heal faster — subtly pressuring her.
Perea had already planned to go to the next village to buy some ham, but now that he was asking so directly, it somehow felt irritating to give in.
Yet she couldn’t refuse.
He was a royal guard — and she was just an ordinary human.
One wrong word, and her small clinic could be shut down in an instant.
Suppressing a sigh, she opened the clinic door and forced a polite smile.
“Would you like to come with me to buy meat from the next village?”
“Mm-hmm!!” Theo’s eyes sparkled.
“Hmph.” Ray only grunted.
The prince’s eager excitement and the knight’s reluctant sigh made Perea wonder which of them was really the superior one.
Knock knock.
Village chief Hadan rushed outside, startled by the noise.
His two youngest children, Hanoon (age 13) and Hami (age 15), clung to his waist, their big eyes full of curiosity.
They stared wide-eyed at the visitors in front of their house.
“His tail’s so long!”
“His ears are round!”
“And he’s yellow!”
Their reactions were identical to those of the other rabbit children earlier.
Theo let out a playful growl — “Rawr!” — and the two young rabbits (and even Chief Hadan himself) flinched.
Perea hurried to stand between them.
She and Harun had agreed the previous night to tell everyone that Theo was a leopard beastman, not a tiger.
But Hadan was sharp-eyed; she couldn’t relax just yet.
“Sir Ray, could you take Theo outside for a bit? I’d like to talk to the village chief in private.”
Ray nodded slightly, then took Theo by the hand and headed toward the front yard.
The curious young rabbits, Hanoon and Hami, followed right behind them.
Chief Hadan warned them several times not to cause trouble before finally turning to Perea.
“So… those two are the ones from the accident last night?”
“Yes. That’s Sir Theo and Sir Ray.”
“They’re nobles, aren’t they?”
He went straight to the point.
Perea hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded.
At her confirmation, Hadan groaned softly.
“Oh heavens… Not only are they predator beastmen, but nobles too?! How are we supposed to keep people like that satisfied in such a tiny village?”
He looked pale.
He was worried that something might go wrong — that they’d offend the guests and the whole village would suffer for it.
It had happened before: another nearby village had displeased a noble and been completely scattered as punishment.
Hadan trembled, terrified that Timi Village might meet the same fate.
The tall man with icy blue eyes outside looked like he could cut someone down at any moment.
Still, Perea smiled brightly and reassured him.
“We can’t just throw out injured guests, can we? I’ll take full responsibility for their care.”
She conveniently ignored the fact that she’d once tried to send them away the very morning after the accident.
The chief, being a rabbit beastman himself, knew he couldn’t handle predators directly.
He looked both relieved and guilty as he thanked her.
“Actually, Chief,” Perea added, “may I borrow a cart? Our guest wants some meat, and I’ll need to go to the next village.”
“M-meat?!”
Chief Hadan’s nose twitched in alarm.
He shot a quick glance toward Ray, who stood by the fence. The man’s height easily surpassed that of Hadan’s son Harun by two whole hands.
And to think — this enormous man had been severely injured just yesterday! Yet here he was, walking around as if nothing had happened.
So that’s what meat does for you, the chief thought grimly. He understood it logically — but emotionally, his face was all wrinkles and discomfort.
For a lifetime herbivore like him, the eating habits of predators were an alien concept.
Seeing his expression, Perea decided it would be best to avoid having the guests meet too many adults in the village.
If even the chief looked that uneasy, the others would probably panic.
“Is there anything you need from the next village, Chief? I can pick it up for you while I’m there.”
“Hmm… In that case, maybe some cabbage seedlings? It’s about time I taught the kids how to plant them.”
“Of course! I’ll bring some back.”
Her cheerful response finally brought a small smile to Hadan’s face.
He hurried off to the stable and returned with a small handcart.
It was old and worn, clearly patched up in several places — but it had served the village faithfully for over ten years as their only means of transport.
As he handed her the keys, the chief began his usual stream of warnings and advice — the same ones he always repeated every time someone took the cart.
