A squirrel will raise the baby tiger.
I realized it all far too early.
Life rarely goes the way you want it to.
***
A white rain of flower petals drifted through the streets.
The season of blossoms was passing, making way for deep, lush green.
‘Spring is leaving.’
I thought as I watched a tiny petal settle in the palm of my hand.
‘Ugh, this is so unfair!’
Another sibling had arrived for me this year. Still, I supposed I should be glad they weren’t twins this time.
The Durams squirrel clan had always prided itself on marital bliss for generations, but wasn’t this going way too far?
‘Shouldn’t people plan their families according to what their wallets can handle?!’
I vented my frustration, kicking every pebble that crossed my path.
Then, unaware of how firmly rooted it was, I kicked a massive rock.
“Aaargh!”
I sank to the ground, engulfed in pain that felt as if my claws were splitting in two.
It throbbed so fiercely that tears squeezed past my best efforts to hold them in.
“Sniff… Hic, sob. Mom….”
Forgetting all about my dignity, I sat right there and bawled.
‘You’re the pillar of our house. If not for you, your father and I could never have dreamed of such a blessed, bustling family.’
I never asked for more siblings than links of sausage, you know.
Swallowing every retort stuck in my throat, all I had managed back then was a nod.
My friends had seen this and urged me to run away from home as fast as I could.
Yet if I vanished, only my blameless little siblings would suffer.
I murmured to myself like casting a spell.
Mom was so frail now that nursing had become difficult. Even in that state, she rushed out every day to work.
Dad worked his fingers to the bone as butler for House Roland, but his earnings fell hopelessly short of feeding such a massive brood.
We needed milk for the babies right away, and tuition for the younger ones attending the academy, so today I had to head out to work once again.
After limping along for quite a while, I arrived in Rabbis Village before I knew it.
My workplace was the estate of the master of the Vittor Merchant Guild, the wealthiest resident in Rabbis.
There, dashing toward me from afar, came my precious paychecks.
I gladly wrapped my arms around the darling rabbit kits, who were not yet fully humanized.
Their long ears, not yet shrunken down, twitched and bobbed with irresistible charm.
There was only one upside to having a mountain of siblings.
People valued all those years of childcare experience, allowing me to build a name for myself as a trusted, dependable tutor.
The brother and sister bounced on their feet, their eyes sparkling.
Children seemed delighted to receive gifts, but giving them seemed to thrill them even more.
Dropping to my knees to meet the little rabbits at eye level, I looked at Toby’s tiny fist.
Whether she was drawing out the suspense on purpose or not, she only giggled, waving her bean-sized fist around.
In truth, I wasn’t anticipating it in the slightest.
Still, I was a seasoned professional.
Acting big because he was two years older, her brother Thor nudged Toby’s side with pointed looks, but she didn’t budge.
Why am I the one speaking politely here?
Patience. I needed patience.
It wouldn’t be a chewed-up, spit-out carrot like last time, would it? Surely not.
Any proper teacher needed to be well aware that gifts from small children could lean toward the terrifying.
It was comical hearing a toddler barely three years old bring up ‘ages ago,’ but I maintained my loving smile.
Thor, standing beside her, seemed to lose his patience and urged her on.
Pouting, Toby opened her tiny fist.
Inside lay what looked like a crumpled wad of white cotton fluff.
Of course.
Had she picked up a bird feather while playing somewhere?
Even so, I arranged my expression into pure delight and reached out.
I picked up the tuft and inspected it from every angle.
Though it looked soft as fluff, the individual strands were surprisingly stiff and coarse.
With no way of telling what it was, I brought it to my nose and took a sniff.
Country dialect slipped out of my mouth before I could catch myself.
Attempting to fling the tuft away, I lost my balance and landed flat on my rear.
While Toby clutched her stomach in laughter, Thor grabbed my arm with a worried look.
My hair stood on end, and a shudder racked my body.
The tuft radiated the distinct pheromones of a predator.
Thor carefully explained how they acquired the tuft and described the symptoms brought on by its pheromones.
It seemed Toby had actually wet herself.
That was how overpowering the scent was.
Had a predator of this caliber moved into the neighborhood?
They would naturally be beastfolk.
How could they drop a clump of fur like this?
Could there be a predator inside that house who hadn’t fully humanized yet?
A wave of dread washed over me, setting off a fine tremor through my limbs.
As my face burned with embarrassment, I spotted Viscount Lund, master of the Vittor Merchant Guild, heading our way.
The rabbit siblings’ father and my employer raised a brow, his eyes widening in surprise.
I scrambled to my feet and folded my hands politely in front of me.
Like a seasoned teacher, I delivered my explanation calmly.
Having heard me out, Viscount Lund burst into laughter.
Was he trying to fire me?
Why on earth?
Did he find out that I secretly buried Toby’s chewed-up carrot gift in the garden before going home last time?
Oh?!
Accept with grace, but never look too eager.
The capital was split into northern and southern districts by the Reirki River.
North of the river was primarily settled by carnivorous beastfolk families, while south of the river was largely inhabited by herbivorous clans.
This division had formed naturally, without any decree from the imperial family or anyone else.
Ancient customs and temperaments differed sharply between the two, and herbivore beastfolk had always dreaded the pheromones that carnivore families released under certain conditions.
After all, whenever the sun and moon crossed paths, beastfolk could shift into their animal forms.
Duke Kuhn Russell Blantiger.
The man hailed as the Northern King.
He was a noble among nobles, wielding the formidable power of a grand ducal house.
And his lineage was the fiercest among all predators.
Stepping blindly into a place like that would mean not even leaving bones behind.
I had to look out for my own skin.
“Where should I report?”
