Chapter - 14

Despite all her early misgivings, Yuki saw her current situation as a wake-up call to reality. She had taken things for granted, living her best rabbit life, taking it easy with hunting for experience, and assuming the rest of the world would ignore her.

Some themes in her current situation were achingly familiar: she was a monster, had an evolution tier, and could gather experience from killing things.

Fingers traced gentle circles on Yuki’s forehead, then trailed to her cheeks. Yuki wasn’t a cat, but she purred. The reaction was as instinctual as the involuntary thumping.

With eyes still closed, Yuki did her best to ignore the giggling from above. She was making plans for her survival and wouldn’t indulge in the crafty, divine hands. Mere petting wouldn’t distract her.

Yuki’s second priority was to regenerate mana faster, somehow. The low number of spells she was able to cast limited how much experience she could farm. [Wrack] was versatile and useful, but each cast took two mana points if she wanted to use it at range. The spell only lasted about twenty minutes. She only regained one mana point per day.

It just wasn’t practical.

The fingers rubbing gentle circles on Yuki’s ears and cheeks ceased their movements. Yuki pressed against Jenny’s hand. The gall of the human to stop!

Jenny giggled more, but didn’t resume the petting. Instead, her hands enveloped Yuki, taking her from the comfy lap.

“That’s enough for now, Biscuit.”

The blonde left the bed, crossed the room, and placed Yuki inside the wooden cage. She tidied her uniform, left the room locking the door behind her.

Yuki glared at Jenny’s retreating form. The new name wasn’t something she appreciated, she didn’t even know what it meant! She looked over at Jenny’s room. A large four-poster bed dominated most of the space, with a frame carved out of dark wood, with the carving and varnishing dulled and faded. The bed had well-made simple linens. Faded tapestries depicting pastoral scenes covered the room’s walls, their colors muted and washed out. A small leaded glass window let the sunlight through.

Jenny’s wardrobe stood in one corner, doors slightly ajar. Inside were several sets of dress uniforms: white smocks and orange kirtles. Besides the wardrobe, a small dressing table held a few personal items: a comb, a simple mirror, and a vase with a fresh flower. A picture of a dark-haired girl with big, expressive eyes and a beautiful smile—a gorgeous smile, really: the dimples on her cheeks were adorable.

In another corner of the room was a small unlit fireplace, a couple of well-read books, and needlework laid on the hearth.

Across from the fireplace, stood the mystery door. At first, Yuki thought it was the bathroom, but it wasn’t. Jenny often locked herself there for hours and always triple-locked the room once she left. Yuki was curious about what was inside, but had more immediate worries.

It had been three days since the kidnapping. Thankfully, Jenny — or Jennifer — wasn’t keen on making rabbit stew; the servant girl had even found a new place for her ‘pet’ rabbit to live within the confines of her room.

Yuki’s new sleeping accommodation was a large wooden cage. Jenny had covered the bottom panel with dried grass and then added a wooden water bowl. The blonde didn’t even close the cage door. Yuki was free to explore the room as much as she pleased.

Jenny’s routine was predictable. She woke before dawn, wiped herself down with a cloth and a basin of fresh water, dressed in her uniform, and prepared food and water for Yuki. After that, she left the room and only returned hours later.

“Status.”

A moment later, the white rabbit holding a crystal goblet appeared in her vision. The goblet was a fifth full; four mana points.

Yuki willed the system to hide the landing page. Aside from her daily experience pittance, none of her critical skills improved in those three days: she had no mana to cast spells or enemies to practice her thump on. She didn’t want to alert the witch-burning-humans to the fact that she was anything other than a normal rabbit. That meant no practicing her singing, dancing, or any of her other basic skills. Her only improvement had been Listen.

Listen (A): 6 » 7

A pang of longing hit Yuki in the feels. She wanted to return to the burrow. To cuddle, frolick, and play with her siblings. To roam the forest and go hunting for ever more experience. She was curious and wanted to know what would happen when she hit 1000.

She sighed.

Two more weeks, Yuki decided. She’d play the part of the pet for two weeks, then escape. That would give her time to regenerate her mana to almost full. She would need to rest even if she returned to the burrow. Might as well enjoy the pet life. There were opportunities here, as well as a chance for companionship. Jenny wasn’t like the evil Boris or the ear-pulling Bee.

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The petting might have helped her reach that decision.

Just a little.

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“It’s cursed, so say I,” whispered Petra in a voice that carried throughout the room.

Anna bent closer to the group and said with a trembling voice. “Witch, I heard’em sayin’.”

“It’s an aberration, I tell you, drinking blood to stave off the madness,” Yolanda added to the rumor mill.

Jenny held in the urge to roll her eyes. Rumors and gossip were rampant ever since the lurkers killed some poor sod out in the woods and attacked the farm. It got worse when more and more dead animals kept showing up around the burrow. She wasn’t sure what was killing small animals in the forest, but it wasn’t a curse, witch, or godsdamned aberration.

“Gods be praised!” Anna exclaimed before she leaned in closer, continuing in a stage whisper that could be heard throughout the entire kitchen; “I tell you, it ain’t natural! Them shadows slippin’ round at night; makin’ noises that oughta be from some beast.”

“Witchwork, so say I,” Petra said.

“Not just ‘em witches,” Anna whispered. “I seen ‘em, skulkin’ ‘bout in town, in dark alleys. Hooded hooligans; they be plannin’ som’n, I know it.”

“Gods save us,” Yolanda cried.

“Some out-of-towner came sniffin’ round, askin’ ‘bout them disappearances. Said they was concerned folk, but I ain’t never seen ‘em ‘round before.”

“They’ve sent for the church, so say I,” Petra said.

“No!” Anna gasped. The gesture was as fake as her attempts at being demure.

Jenny attacked her food. The faster she finished, the faster she could leave. Maybe sneak in a few minutes to pet Biscuit some more? It had become her favorite pastime for the past weeks.

Keeping the white rabbit was a spur-of-the-moment decision that Jenny didn’t regret. She wasn’t sure what breed of rabbit he was, but he was nothing like the horned ones. Those were skittish, panic-prone, and horn injury-inducing.

On the other hand, the little thing was docile; too docile for a wild animal. Sometimes, Jenny even thought he paid attention to her words, trying to understand her. She shook that thought away and blamed the trio of gossipers and their irrational fear.

The door to the servants’ kitchen opened, and Thaddeus walked in.

All conversation in the room ground to a halt.

The head butler's posture and attire were both impeccable as always. He wore a tailored suit with a few subtle modifications to fit his own sense of style; namely a crisp white shirt and a black tie. A silver pin hung from his lapel, denoting his long service to the house. He was in his late sixties.

He looked at Jenny, to the room at large, then back at Jenny once more.

“The Lord is calling for you,” he informed her.

He didn’t wait for Jenny’s answer; he gave her a curt nod, turned about, and promptly left.

Jenny sighed and pushed away her half-eaten food. Thaddeus wasn’t her favorite coworker, but he was one of the few who didn’t judge or avoid her. She got up, scraped the remnants of her meal into the scrap bin, and left the plate by the sink to clean later.

After a quick visit to the restroom to make herself presentable, she walked the corridors to the Lord’s office. She stopped by the door, took one last look at her uniform, patted her skirt, pushed the strand of hair out of her face. Jenny put on her best smile and knocked.

“You sent for me, my lord?”

“Please, come in.”

Jenny took a deep breath, fixed her smile again, opened the door.

The room was the same as always. The big wooden desk was stacked with parchment and held books piled so high as to partially obscure the man that sat behind the workspace. The sparse decoration and immense rear window caused the eye to rest on the view when not otherwise occupied. She glanced at the lord, then at the other person in the room, the lord’s son, Gregory.

Baron Baldwin of Thornfield looked up from his papers. The baron’s son turned in his chair and faced the door. Baldwin looked at Jenny with a small smile full of fondness, a father’s smile. Gregory leered at her, his gaze roaming her entire body.

Jenny’s skin crawled at the boy’s attention.

Baldwin picked up a sealed scroll from the table and offered it to Jenny.

“Here, this is for you.”

Jenny looked at the pressed wax, and her heart sped up. She had to control her hands to avoid trembling. She approached the table and took the offered scroll. Gregory leaned toward her, his nose flared, his gaze intent.

“Gregory has returned from the capital in order to attend the festival,” said the baron by way of introduction.

Jenny took a deep breath and reined in her emotions. Now wasn’t the time to open the precious letter. She still had a part to play. She turned to Gregory and curtsied.

“Thank you, young master Gregory.”

Gregory raised his chin, trying and failed to hide a self-satisfied smirk. He nodded and turned back to his father, affecting a nonchalant attitude, but Jenny saw how he kept glancing at her chest from the corner of his eye.

She turned to the lord.

“Is there anything else, my lord?”

The man opened one drawer and took a set of papers.

“I need you to deliver these orders to the guild. The harvest has been completed, and they must prepare a caravan.”

Jenny took the papers and curtsied again. She turned to leave, but the baron stopped her.

“When you’re done, you don’t need to worry about work for today and tomorrow. You’ve been working hard; enjoy the festival.”

Jenny turned to the baron and curtsied.

Gregory leered at her. “I’ll look for you later, Jenny. It’s been a while, and we should catch up.”

“It would be my pleasure, young master,” Jenny said with yet another curtsy. She managed, with much difficulty, to keep her face a pleasant mask. Only then did she turn. She fled the room and ran out from the manor and toward the guild.

First, she had to settle the caravan order; after that, she could take her time to read the letter. It had been so long, and finally, Gizelda sent another letter! That was worth all the hassle of enduring Gregory’s unwanted advances.