The problem was the rabbit.

“Squeal?!” (An apology is enough?!)

The rabbit still seemed angry.

To calm the rabbit’s anger, there was only ‘that method.’

I looked straight at Baron Constable and proposed seriously.

“If it’s before lunch, let’s dine together.”

(This is a time separator.)

The rabbit, stuffed full with meat and bloated, lay sprawled on the cushion.

As if it had never been angry, it paid no attention to the nearby squirrel and snored away.

The rabbit seemed very pleased.

‘The way to please a gluttonous rabbit is, of course… feeding it.’

I reached out and squeezed the rabbit’s belly. Yet the rabbit remained still. Was it really that pleased?

‘I just wiped its mouth and front paws… I’ll have to give it a proper bath tonight.’

I smiled happily and poked the rabbit’s cheek with my fingertip. The rabbit suddenly opened its eyes and glared at me. Oh, how cute. I wildly stroked the rabbit’s head.

“Squeak.” (Stop touching.)

Hehe. I’ll touch you anyway. I tickled the rabbit’s soft fur, and the rabbit finally lost its temper. I almost got bitten… I had to pull my hand away. What a shame.

“Chirp……”

But then, the squirrel quietly approached me. Since the sound didn’t translate, it seemed like a meaningless cry.

The squirrel cautiously came closer and rubbed its head against the back of my hand.

‘No…… Could this be?!’

Was it asking me to pet it too?! It seemed so?

I never dreamt that this timid squirrel would approach first, so I was quite surprised and stammered.

But I soon swallowed hard and reached for the squirrel. I wanted to touch its softlooking long tail. Indeed, the squirrel was also too cute…

“Squeal!!”

The moment my fingertips were about to touch the squirrel’s tail, the rabbit let out a roar of rage.

Both the squirrel and I looked at the rabbit in surprise. The rabbit’s black eyes were boiling… what a scary rabbit.

“Squeal! Squeak! Squeak!” (My mother! How dare you!)

As the rabbit’s owner claimed possession of me and flaunted its dominance, the squirrel, who was about to sneak in, squeaked and ran away in tears.

The squirrel hid snugly in the pocket of Baron Constable’s jacket on the other side, peeking out just its head to sneak a peek at us.

Baron Constable chuckled and petted the squirrel’s head with two fingers. The trembling squirrel looked very wronged.

“Squeak……” (Sob……)
The Constable Baron let out a weary laugh, then soon breathed a heavy sigh. His eyes, looking at the squirrel, were filled with worry.

“Just now, I hope you understand Amelin’s actions generously. Duchess, and the princess. Amelin… tends to feel lonely.”

…Thinking about it, the Constable Baron suddenly realized that there was no hostess. Perhaps he was widowed. Amelin was lonely, missing her deceased mother―.

“The mistress… ran away with a knight 5 years ago due to an affair… so Amelin has been living in loneliness. I’ve been trying to love her on behalf of the mistress, but…”

Not a widow? The Constable Baron’s wife ran away in the middle of the night with a knight! I should have known this important information in advance. It just made the atmosphere strange.

“Anyway, seeing the Duchess must have reminded Amelin of my mother. She just wanted to be petted a bit; she had no intention of offending the princess. Right, Amelin?”

“Yes.” (Correct.)

The squirrel, leaning in a little further, nodded its head. The rabbit only made a “keehong” sound, and did not act threateningly anymore. After all, it’s a good rabbit.

(This is a time separator.)

“Is that rumor true?”

Late at night. Two women, with their hats pulled down, were walking side by side out of a shop.

Both were fairly goodlooking at a young age, and as they were not wearing rings on their left ring fingers, they were unmarried.

The two women were looking around the vicinity, covering their mouths and whispering to each other.

“You know the abandoned cabin in the western forest? Recently, a wolf has been spotted there… according to the witnesses, it’s not a wolf but a wolf man. Could it be true?”

“Well, since I haven’t seen it myself… I don’t know if it’s true or false. But it’s strange. The wolf men live near the Duke of Salisbury. I know there’s no pack of wolf men living around here.”

“Jessie says that the wolf appearing at the cabin… might be the Duke of Salisbury.”

“What? That’s nonsense!”

“No, listen. This story has some credibility. The Duke of Salisbury visited Alphonse not long ago.”

“Yes.”

“There were sightings of the Duke of Salisbury for a few days after the visit, but then suddenly those stories stopped. There were no more people who claimed to have seen the Duke.”

“Hmm…….”

“But… as soon as the Duke was no longer seen, a wolf started appearing at the cabin…….”

A woman who paused momentarily to look around whispered in an even softer voice.

“So people are speculating… perhaps since coming to Alphonse, the Duke’s branding period began, and to avoid misfortune, he might be in hiding in the cabin… something like that…….”