Her long ears, which were sticking out on top of her head, turned towards the direction of the sound.

“What’s that sound?”

Her pert nose sniffed quickly. Her head turned upward at the same time as her pitch-black eyes.

“…Mountain?”

Behind the villa where she lived, there is an uninhabited mountain. Something was strange. Her small nose felt ominous and kept twitching.

Thump! Thump!

The sound of the mountain shaking could be heard several more times after that. She couldn’t help but feel uneasy, living in the villa right in front of the mountain.

“What should I do… Should I go?”

Unfortunately, there was no one to go with her.

A loner, Eliza. The seventh daughter of the rabbit lord who no one cared about. Those were the words used to describe her. After her mother, who was her only ally, passed away, she chose to live alone in the villa.

Giving up on the succession and living alone. It was also the only way to protect herself from her numerous brothers and sisters. Eliza had no money or relatives. All she had was a bloodline. Left alone, it was the only way she could protect herself.

Bullying was possible only if she stuck out like a sore thumb. She had long since given up on receiving love from her father.

In fact, the bullying had largely disappeared since she moved to the villa. As expected, actions speak louder than words. Her clear action of giving up her position as successor extended her lifeline.

Thump!

Eliza jumped in surprise at the sound that shook the ground. Despite the commotion, the castle was silent.

“Don’t the people living in the castle have ears?”

How could she stay still despite this commotion? Eliza shook her head. If the noise grew louder, it seemed like the villa would be affected.

“I’m just going to see what’s going on. Eliza, you’re just going to see what’s going on.”

Eliza muttered and picked up the wooden stick that was lying next to the door. It was a thin, slender branch, but for the small rabbit, it was a pretty big weapon.

She needs to bring a weapon. The rabbit opened the villa door and took her first step. Her round feet stepped on the grass.

The mountain behind the villa was like Eliza’s playground. It was the mountain she used to go to when she was bored, to get something to eat. She climbed up the rocks with light steps, jumping up and down.

Up until the middle of the mountain, it was the usual mountain she knew. However, the moment she stepped deep, her body stiffened at the debris that her feet stepped on.

‘This is… a carriage mark?’

It wasn’t just a carriage. Blood was scattered around. And the footprints that filled the ground. Eliza’s face turned blue as she became certain that it wasn’t just a simple commotion.

Rustle.

“What, what is it!”

The rabbit, frightened by even a small sound, quickly hid behind a tree. Peeking out from behind a thick pillar, she looked around carefully.

“…A tiger?”

It wasn’t an ordinary tiger, either. A pitch-black figure she had never heard of stretched out before her eyes.

“…Is it dead?”

When the tiger didn’t move at all, she became bold and poked it with the branch she was holding.

“Gasp!”

Startled by the sudden twitching, the rabbit quickly ran away, throwing away the branch.

‘It’s not dead. It’s not dead!’

If that huge predator came to its senses, she would be nothing more than a snack. Should she run down the mountain right now? What if it followed her to the villa?

The rabbit, who had been trembling, realized that it was too quiet and carefully turned its head.

“…….!”

Contrary to the thought that it would reveal its large teeth and devour him, the tiger was still lying on the ground. Was that all? Eliza slowly sniffed at the faint but painful sound.

‘Ah.’

The smell of blood that had been stinging her nose wasn’t limited to the ground. The wound on his leg was emitting a strong smell of blood.

“…Excuse me. Are you okay?”

Eliza mustered up her courage and spoke, but there was still no answer from the tiger. The irregular, raspy breathing created a small wind of dust.

“If I don’t treat it, it’s going to be a big problem…….”

Heuk. Eliza quickly shook her head at her thoughtless muttering.

It’s hard to take care of even her own body, so how could she bring a predator to treat it? It was clear that sbe was crazy.

‘What if I’m his meal in return for treating him?’

Of course, predators do not eat indiscriminately. Those blessed by God saw other animals as a community of their own, even if they were species in the food chain.

Most of them respected each other and actively interacted with each other.

“But… some of them still follow the old customs.”

She heard that some predators eat them regardless of whether they are blessed or not. When she thought about that, the teeth in front of her looked even sharper.

It would be right to just leave him like this. Her life is more important than saving someone she didn’t even know.

“…Uuuh!”

She shouldn’t have found him.

She shouldn’t have come up out of curiosity.

Eliza grumbled and slowly raised her forelegs. At that moment, smooth fingers replaced the fluffy fur.

In just a few seconds, she turned into a human with long, pink hair and pouted her lips.

“If I had known this would happen, I would have brought clothes.”

Eliza grumbled and looked around. Fortunately, the cloth that had been laid down from the wreckage of the carriage was more than enough to hide her body.

She rolled the tiger over the remaining cloth. It was as big as a house, but it was not so heavy that Eliza, who had turned into a human, could not drag it.

“Heuk, heuk! It was so heavy that I almost died.”

Eliza barely managed to drag it inside the villa and collapsed on the spot. No matter how light and nimble she was, it was very difficult to drag a tiger several times larger than her body.

Eliza turned her head, catching her breath. The tiger next to her was still not moving.

“This isn’t a wound he got from dragging it, is it?”

She sat up, feeling a sting at the new bruises that were occasionally visible through his fur. She still didn’t know why she had brought it here.

“…Bringing a predator home. I must be crazy.”

Eliza looked at the tiger with drowsy eyes.

Strangely, she couldn’t take her eyes off him. Anyway, since she brought him here, she had to treat him. She didn’t want to leave a corpse in the house.

“I should just treat him and send him away.”

Eliza got up from ber seat and searched through the cupboard. Bottles of medicine that had been used up. Even medicine that had been made not long ago. She took out a bunch of miscellaneous medicines and stared at the affected area.

What medicine would be good here? This herb? Or maybe this would be good.

Although it was only medical knowledge she had picked up here and there while living alone, she was pretty good at it.

“Ah! This will do.”

Eliza smiled and grabbed the medicine bottle that had rolled to the tiger. No, she was about to grab it.

“Who…”

“Ahk!”

The suspicious voice was heard at the same time as she struck the wooden board she was holding. The blow was so strong. She could feel a slight vibration on her wrist.

“Gasp!”

Eliza, who opened her eyes late, gaped at the sight before her eyes. The tiger, who barely opened his eyes, had been hit by a wooden board and had lost consciousness again.

“This, this time, it’s not really dead, is it…?”

Fortunately, there seemed to be no major problems except for a small bump on his head. Eliza sighed in relief as she swept her chest.

“I’ll treat it, so when you wake up, be quiet and leave quickly.”

Her heart was still pounding. It was not a good idea to invite a predator into the house. Eliza bit her lips as if pushing away her fear.

***

The man dreamed of someone touching him.

‘Is this really a dream… ..?’

His consciousness, straddling the border between reality and dream, made him hazy. He could only vaguely sense the scent of herbs brushing his sensitive nose.

Stroke.

Stroke. Stroke.

Ah, again. The unidentified cotton that regularly stroked him touched his pitch-black fur. The pain subsided as the small but warm heat traveled over his body.

The scar that had penetrated his leg no longer felt painful. The man slowly opened his eyes.

“Are you awake?”

The man’s face hardened as he made eye contact with the rabbit that was smiling brightly at him.

“This is where I live. I brought you here to treat you because you collapsed on the mountain behind this house.”

The man looked around blankly. The outdated building. Unlike the facilities that showed traces of time, the traces of meticulous cleaning were evident.

“…You?”

A pleasant low voice echoed through the room.

“Ahem. Of course I did it all. There’s no other animal here, right?”

You should be thanking me. The rabbit grumbled, saying that if he was left alone, he might have died.

“I think there’s a wound I don’t know about.”

The cute tail trembled slightly, but soon tilted its head with an indifferent expression.

“I don’t know about that either. Isn’t it a wound that you got after you fell?”

It was obvious that she was lying, but the tiger didn’t add anything. While he was absentmindedly staring, the rabbit examined the tiger’s body and soon spoke in a bright voice.

“It’s healed well. Once you can move a little, you can go back to where you were.”

“……”

The tiger didn’t say anything for a while and just stared at the bandage that wrapped the wound. He opened his mouth, staring blankly at her neat appearance after tidying her hair in the morning.

“I’m not going.”

“Yes?”

“I’m going to live here.”

Did I hear you wrong?

The unexpected words confused her.

“Um, uh, it seems like you’re mentally confused because of your head injury…….”

Eliza tried to calm him. It’s understandable that he’d wake up in an unfamiliar place and lose his mind.

She added in a soothing tone.

“I’m not telling you to leave right now. I’m not that heartless. You can leave when you can move without much trouble. Okay?”

“I’m just going to live here.”

I’m going crazy.

Eliza touched her hair. He looked like an adult, but was he still a minor? Eliza rolled key black eyes.

Otherwise, there was no way he wouldn’t have recognized even the basic situation. She absentmindedly stared at herself reflected in the eyes that sparkled like silver beads and quickly shook her head.

“Excuse me. Can’t you see me right now?”

“I can.”

“Do you know who you are?”

He shook up and down along his head. At least he wasn’t mentally ill. Eliza regained her composure and spoke.

“Okay, if your head isn’t hurt, think about it carefully.”

A soft voice, as if soothing a child, continued.

“Do you think a tiger can live in rabbit territory? That’s common sense.”

“Mhm….”

“Even if the ecosystem has collapsed, why do you think people of the same species should live together?”

At Eliza’s words, his expression briefly became troubled. Was he finally understanding?

“Anything is hard at first, right?”

“Hm?”

Eliza tilted her head at the sudden words, not knowing what to do.

“If I become the first example, wouldn’t it be easier for those who want to live together later?”

Why are you the first example?

Eliza barely swallowed the words rising to the tip of her tongue. The fact that there seemed to be no communication problems made her even more confused.

The tiger’s calm behavior also made Eliza even more angry.

Even though she was the landlord, she was being so lenient.

“You really won’t go out, right?”

If he pushed ahead without asking her opinion, she could act the same way. Eliza put down his persuasion and took action.

“If you won’t listen even after I tell you, I’ll kick you out.”

Even though she had placed the tiger in her bedroom, which was the largest in the villa, she couldn’t leave it like that because it looked cramped. Furthermore, the food she had prepared in the villa was starting to run out.

Eliza used her small body to push the tiger hard.

“Get out!”

“Are you saying that you’re pushing me out now?”

“What?”

The moment he questioned, a large paw appeared in Eliza’s sight. Before she could faint from the sharp claws rising above the paw, it lifted its chin up over her body.

“What, what is this…?”

Eliza struggled, overwhelmed by the weight pressing down on her body. She tried to push it with her front legs and tried to hit him with her hind legs, but it didn’t move.

Eliza’s face turned pale as she belatedly got scared.

I’m being eaten!

“Y-you’re heavy! Get down! Get down!”

“This is pushing.”

The tiger, who spoke calmly, rolled Eliza with his front paw. Roll to the left. Roll to the right. Eliza, who couldn’t bear the shame of her body moving the way he wanted to move, shouted.

“I know, so move this paw away! Move it away!”

After screaming loudly, she was barely able to free herself from the big paw.

Eliza, who had moved far away from the big paw as soon as she got away, glared at him. The eerie sensation still lingered on the tips of her hair. She, who couldn’t easily recover from the shock, trembled and glared at the tiger.

“I saved you from dying. Yet you don’t repay kindness but instead play the opposite way?”

Eliza said, imagining herself biting the tiger with jet large front teeth.

“Get out. Get out when I’m speaking nicely.”

“Is it because I’m a tiger that I can’t stay here?”

He furrowed his eyebrows sullenly, unlike his large body. His drooping ears, which seemed to balance his eyebrows, looked quite cute.

Eliza said, tapping the floor with her hind legs.

“Of course.”

“Then I’ll be a rabbit too.”

“What?”

“I have ears too. I also have a tail.”

He pricked up his small, round ears, which were smaller than a rabbit’s.

“Then it’s the same as you, right?”

How could it be the same? Eliza looked at him with an absurd expression.

‘Didn’t you hit your head on a rock while I was dragging you?’

At this point, it couldn’t be anything but a reasonable suspicion. Eliza was looking at the tiger with a serious expression.

“Urk…..”

The tiger suddenly frowned and groaned softly.

“What, what’s wrong?”

“I think the place you touched earlier hurts a little.”

“Where? Look.”

“Here.”

The tiger pointed to none other than the tail that had been moving well.

Is he telling me to believe this now?

“Look here. It really looks painful.”

It was a face that was shameless. As she looked into his dry eyes, her head started to throb.

“No. There are no exceptions. Get out now.”

“Didn’t you tell me to get out when I’m all better?”

“I changed my mind because I think you’d be stuck there forever.”

“That’s too harsh.”

Contrary to his answer, the tiger looked indifferent and hit the floor with its tail that had been hurting.

“Can’t you just lend me one room? It looks pretty big for a single person. I’ll pay the rent regularly.”

“……”

It was clear that this tiger lacked the common sense that everyone should have.

Eliza crossed his arms and glared at the tiger.

“Isn’t it strange that I live alone in this vast place?”

Dazed. The round eyes stared at Eliza. Instead of the expected answer, only silence swept through the living room.

“Oh, you’re asking me?”

Eliza’s face flushed at the tiger’s belated response.

“Enough!”

A voice so loud that she couldn’t control herself came out of her lips.

“Oh, I’m curious. I’m so curious. Tell me now.”

Her teeth ground out in disgust. As the rabbit’s hind legs intensified, the tiger’s mouth widened.

“Why are you alone? If what you tell me is right, I’ll go out.”

“… Are you really going out?”

The tiger nodded its head up and down. It was still uncomfortable to see him lying down like it was his own home, but this was a big step forward. Eliza looked at him, biting his lips slightly.

“That’s…”

It’s just a physiological phenomenon, but the fact that she had to explain her situation to a strange tiger made her feel ashamed.

“Soon, it’s mating season…”