“Hmm…”
This is difficult.
“Sigh, Geumtokki, first…”
I took hold of Geumtokki’s front paws. Holding the tiny fluffy paws felt oddly healing.
First, to clear my mind a little…
“Let’s trim your nails.”
“Ppii?”
Come to think of it, I realized I had never once trimmed Geumtokki’s nails before.
“Eek, when did they get this long?”
As if embarrassed, Geumtokki quickly yanked his paw away.
But the nails had grown pretty long, too long to just ignore.
‘Am I actually supposed to trim them?’
“Wait a second, Geumtokki.”
After hesitating for a moment, I got off the bed and walked toward the bookshelf.
Then I pulled out a book titled Raising a Pet Rabbit.
Geumtokki had originally been a human, but since he was in rabbit form now, I thought it might still be useful, so I had bought and read it before.
‘There was definitely something about nails in here… ah, here it is.’
I reread the passage.
[Wild rabbits naturally wear down their nails while digging in the dirt, so they do not need trimming.
However, pet rabbits should have their nails trimmed once every month or two.]
“Right, that’s what it said.”
Our rabbit was a house rabbit, so it was time to trim them.
It wasn’t like he dug around in dirt regularly, either.
After carefully reading the rest of the explanation, I silently opened the bottom drawer of the cabinet.
Then I cautiously took out the rabbit nail clippers I had bought beforehand.
“Alright, Geumtokki.”
I turned around with a determined expression.
“Come here.”
“Ppii?”
Fear flickered across Geumtokki’s face.
I slowly crept toward him.
At some point, Geumtokki had uncurled his round little body and started backing away.
“Geumtokki, do you hate coming to me?”
I deliberately made a pitiful expression.
At that, his retreat slowed slightly.
‘Now!’
I lunged toward him.
Geumtokki bounced up with a boing, but thanks to my perfect timing, he landed neatly in my arms.
“Ppi, ppii!”
“Geumtokki, aww, let’s just stay like this for a little while, okay?”
“…Ppii?”
Since I didn’t do anything and simply held him quietly, Geumtokki soon stopped struggling too.
“Hmm-hmm~”
I hummed to reassure him.
“…Ppii?”
But Geumtokki suddenly looked like a rabbit who had just witnessed something horrifying, so I stopped.
Still smiling, I walked over and sat down on the sofa.
Then—swish!—I covered Geumtokki’s eyes with the blanket draped over the couch.
“Ppi, pii?!”
“It’ll be over quickly, Geumtokki.”
I held one of his front paws and brushed aside the fluffy fur so the nail was clearly visible.
‘They really are long.’
He could snag them on something and get hurt, so I had no choice but to trim them.
Snip.
One nail was cut.
“Ppiiii—!”
It honestly sounded like Geumtokki was cursing at me.
But the book had clearly said this.
[Of course, during the process, the rabbit may curse at you.
Even so, trimming their nails properly is the duty of every owner.]
“Aww, you’re enduring it so well, Geumtokki!”
Still, one by one, I managed to finish trimming the front paws.
Now for the back paws…
“PPIIIIIII!!”
The moment I tried to grab a hind paw, Geumtokki thrashed wildly and escaped from my arms.
“Geumtokki, we only have a little left!”
“Ppi!”
Geumtokki violently shook his head.
Hmm, then…
“How about having Bryce trim them?”
I still hadn’t completely shaken off my suspicions about Geumtokki’s identity, but work was work.
In other words, I needed to keep pushing him and Bryce together.
Geumtokki clearly hated that idea too, but after I pleaded repeatedly, he eventually folded one ear in reluctant agreement.
“I’ll go call Bryce—no, let’s go to Bryce!”
I quickly scooped up Geumtokki and ran to Bryce’s room.
Crunch.
The sound of nails being bitten echoed through the room.
Mars sat buried in the sofa, chewing his nails for the past thirty minutes already.
‘Sir Pollus is hereby suspended from knighthood duties for one month.’
Sir Pollus had been in charge of defense during the match, but because he used a real sword during the game, he received severe disciplinary action.
‘Lize isn’t going to report me too, right?’
Only Lize and he had been there, but if she carelessly let something slip…
A low-ranking knight order like this would immediately suspend someone for several months.
‘It took forever to finally bribe someone into recommending me for the Imperial Knights.’
So causing trouble at a time like this was terrible.
As Mars replayed the events of the match in his mind, his thoughts drifted to what happened after Lize fell.
‘More importantly, who the hell was that man?’
Right after Lize fell off the cliff…
Mars had been punched by a tall man who appeared out of nowhere—a punch stronger than any he had ever taken in his life.
‘Was he one of Erne’s knights participating in the match?’
The man moved so fast that Mars hadn’t even seen his face, despite him not wearing a mask.
Anyway, what Mars did know was this…
The moment he collapsed with a gasp, the man immediately jumped down after Lize.
Without a second of hesitation.
‘When the match ended, Lize was the only one whose clothes were wet.’
Wait.
‘Then another knight interfered without permission?’
Did she think she couldn’t win alone and secretly get someone else to help her?
Mars’s eyes flashed.
The thought that this was an opportunity quickly filled his head.
“Ah, noona. Why am I trimming this rabbit’s nails?”
“Bryce, I trimmed your nails when you were little too.”
In front of Bryce’s room, Lize and Bryce had been arguing for quite a while.
“That’s completely different.”
“Why do you think your sister did it for you? Because you couldn’t do it yourself. Wouldn’t this rabbit be the same?”
“No, noona, ah…”
After resisting with his entire body, Bryce eventually accepted Geumtokki from Lize.
Geumtokki already wore the face of someone who had achieved enlightenment.
“Then let’s do it in your room, not mine.”
“We already came all the way here, so why bother?”
“There’s no reason it has to be my room. Why would rabbit nail trimming specifically happen in my room…”
“Our Bryce couldn’t possibly have a reason for wanting rabbit nails to fall only in noona’s room. Are you hiding something in there?”
“What? N-no, that’s not it. I just don’t like people entering my room.”
“Bryce, now you won’t even let your sister into your room anymore…”
Lize covered her mouth and made a sad expression.
Bryce repeatedly sputtered, “No, noona, that’s not it, really,” before finally squeezing his eyes shut and nodding.
“Fine.”
“Then bring him back once you’re done.”
“Noona? You’re leaving? Noona?!”
Ignoring Bryce’s cries, Lize had already disappeared down the hallway.
“Ah, this is troublesome.”
Bryce sighed as he looked down at Geumtokki.
Geumtokki also let out a huffing “Pehng,” as if he wasn’t pleased either.
“Will this really be okay…”
After agonizing for a while, Bryce finally opened the door.
Cassium, who had been dangling from him like he was hanging on, immediately jumped down the moment the door opened.
Lize trimming the front paw nails was one thing somehow…
But the hind paws were impossible.
Because trimming the hind paws would inevitably expose certain important areas…
He had protected his dignity all this time; he couldn’t allow such a catastrophe just because of nail trimming…
‘Looks like I have no choice but to entrust my feet to this brat.’
Cassium shook his head and hopped onto the sofa.
But then—
“Pii…?”
Cassium’s ears perked up.
That sound hadn’t come from him.
“…?”
Startled, he stood up with his front paws on the back of the sofa and looked behind it.
There, crouched down with platinum-colored fur and blue eyes, was a tiny rabbit staring up at him while covering its own mouth.
