“Lady Lize.”
Julius lightly tapped the back of my hand.
Only then did I realize he had called my name several times.
The look in his eyes as he watched me turned slightly worried. He reached out and pressed the back of his hand against my forehead.
“You have a bit of a fever. I don’t think you’ve fully recovered your strength since falling into the water.”
“I should’ve rested more, but I haven’t really had the time. Still, it’s not like I’m seriously sick or anything.”
Just as I was about to glance at the hand resting on my forehead, it was suddenly swatted away.
The golden rabbit had smacked it aside with its fluffy paw.
Then it firmly planted itself right between Julius and me.
The way it looked almost seemed like it was jealous from not getting enough attention, and I couldn’t help but smile.
Since his hand had already been knocked away, Julius stretched lazily and asked,
“Lady Lize.”
“Yes?”
“Do you have any other worries?”
“Do I look like I have a lot on my mind?”
“I just have a feeling you do.”
“Is that some kind of priestly intuition?”
“That too. But also, your thoughts seem to have been elsewhere all day.”
Did I really look that distracted?
“Then, Lady Lize, why don’t you go get your dark mana measured first? I’ll keep waiting here.”
“Alright. I’ll be back.”
Originally, Julius had assumed the abnormalities in my condition had nothing to do with dark magic.
But recently, there had been several incidents involving dark magic, and my symptoms were gradually worsening, so we decided to leave open other possibilities as well.
“Golden Rabbit, I’ll be right back. Stay still and behave for a little while.”
“Ppii.”
The golden rabbit folded one ear.
Honestly, I’d expected it to insist on following me, so the reaction was a little surprising.
‘Well, the golden rabbit is actually a person. And at the very least, over fifteen years old. It doesn’t necessarily have to follow me everywhere.’
Right. Come to think of it, the golden rabbit was a person.
Which meant that a person could suddenly turn into a rabbit one day.
Were the golden rabbit’s family searching for it right now?
Actually, when I first brought the rabbit home, I wondered whether I should return it once its injuries healed a little.
But I hadn’t done that because, in the original story, Lily had a very bad relationship with Baron Selverdin—her father.
Whenever things didn’t go well for him, Baron Selverdin would constantly take his anger out on Lily.
Not only verbal abuse, but there were even days he resorted to physical violence.
Because of that, Lily had always longed to become independent and dreamed of a place filled with warm affection.
That was why, instead of taking the golden rabbit home, I was the one caring for it.
‘But if the golden rabbit isn’t Lily…’
Why was I thinking things like this again?
“Golden Rabbit!”
I called out from the doorway.
“I’m leaving, okay?”
“Ppii.”
The rabbit folded its ears twice, almost like it was nodding.
It definitely wasn’t seeing me off in a cheerful or affectionate way.
I lingered there like someone reluctant to leave, and only after Julius called, “Lady Lize?” did I finally close the door.
As I walked toward the measurement room, I sank into thought.
‘Why do I keep…’
“Ppii.”
…thinking of Casium whenever I see that indifferent gaze?
‘No way. It can’t be. But what if…’
That strange suspicion surfaced again.
Of course, the premise of it all was that Casium had disappeared.
‘But officially, he’s still said to be out on a mission.’
Was that really true?
Even when I asked Commander Denver again, he never outright said Casium had disappeared.
But his reaction hadn’t exactly been reassuring either.
Was it really true? Did something actually happen?
Well, even if by some tiny chance something had happened, that bastard would probably survive anywhere through sheer rotten luck.
‘Seriously, his luck is ridiculous. But still…’
If something really did happen, shouldn’t I be the one to look for him?
‘I mean, it’s not like I’m worried about him or anything. But we’re in the same knight order, and as the division commander of the Golden Lion—which outranks the Black Panther—I guess I should take care of the commander of the neighboring division.’
Right?
Even to me, that sounded reasonable.
So my concern for Casium was, to some extent, completely justified.
‘First, I should try finding out where he is.’
Pretending not to notice how thoughts of the golden rabbit kept interrupting my thoughts about Casium, I quickened my pace.
“Would this ribbon look better, or that ribbon?”
“Ppii.”
Casium snatched all the ribbons away from Julius’s hands.
Having all the ribbons stolen in an instant, Julius burst into laughter.
“Now I understand why Lady Lize treasures you so much.”
“Ppii.”
Julius watched Casium with interest for a moment before humming thoughtfully.
“You know that I’m aware you’re not an ordinary rabbit, don’t you?”
Even at Julius’s question, Casium didn’t react much.
He had already expected this man to notice.
Even if he didn’t look it, Julius was one of the men with the strongest holy power in the empire.
The moment he touched him, he must have realized Casium wasn’t an ordinary rabbit and that dark magic energy was flowing through him.
‘And knowing that, he still tried to put ribbons on me.’
Casium glared coldly at Julius.
But instead of backing away from the fierce stare, Julius scooted even closer.
Casium thought the man was unbelievably shameless.
“Who turned you into this? More importantly, who are you?”
Julius observed the rabbit’s firm arm muscles and golden eyes.
“I’m not particularly interested in the knight order, but I do pay attention to Erne from time to time.”
“Ppii.”
“Because that’s where Lady Lize is.”
“Ppii? Bippi-bi—”
When Casium stiffened in disbelief, Julius laughed again.
“I’m very interested in Lady Lize, you see.”
“Ppi……”
“Well, Lady Lize is the kind of person anyone would be captivated by, isn’t she?”
“……”
Casium was about to reply, Well, obviously, but shut his mouth.
For some reason, he didn’t want to admit it in front of this Julius bastard.
“But there’s apparently someone Lady Lize talks about all the time. His name was… Sir Casium of House Valteir, I think?”
“Ppii.”
Julius looked as though he might continue—or might not.
Casium smacked Julius’s arm once with his fluffy paw, urging him to go on.
“Ppii.”
“Are you curious what she said about him?”
“Ppii.”
“She said he’s annoying.”
“……”
“When she came to the temple, I’d say nearly eighty percent of the stories she told involved being provoked by him.”
He couldn’t tell whether that was a good thing or a bad thing.
“Anyway, she always seemed so stimulated by that man that all she ever thought about was the knight order…”
Casium watched Julius with slight wariness.
But why was this guy talking about Lize in the first place?
“Recently, though, she said she hasn’t seen him around.”
“……”
“So if you admire Lady Lize, perhaps now is your chance. The man who kept occupying her attention is gone.”
“Ppii.”
“Right now, you might be able to win Lady Lize’s heart.”
Casium’s expression hardened as he abruptly stood up.
Julius laughed again, as though this were endlessly amusing.
So this bastard was planning to seduce Lize now that he had the opportunity?
“I don’t want to marry you like that.”
He knew Lize’s heart wasn’t his.
Where her heart chose to go wasn’t something he could control.
But that didn’t mean he had to tolerate other men openly flirting with her.
“Ppii……”
Casium looked down at his round fluffy-paw fists.
A few days ago, when he had briefly returned to human form, he had clearly felt it.
The day he would completely return wasn’t far off.
‘Once I return completely, a guy like him won’t even…’
At that moment, Julius laughed again.
Casium’s brow furrowed deeply. He had no idea what was supposedly so funny.
“Anyway, Sir Valteir.”
Casium, who had merely been glaring silently at Julius, suddenly flinched.
…What had he just called him?
Looking directly at Casium, Julius asked,
“How about making a deal with me?”
His voice was just as lighthearted as before, but his eyes were cold.
