Home/I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family/ch33

Chapter 33

Soon, the rabbit transformed into a small child and burrowed into Rib's arms.

"...Mother."

Uttering that single word with such longing, tears streamed down the child's eyes.

The child was crying with a smiling face.

Unable to grasp the situation, Rib reached her hand toward the child's white face. Only after wiping away the tears with her fingertips did Rib realize—

The curse within her had vanished.

---

Na-bom awoke.

A ceiling of beige—familiar yet unfamiliar—spread before her eyes.

But Na-bom didn't sit up; she closed her eyes again.

What was that dream she'd just had?

The Grizzly family and their youngest daughter, who had died, appeared. Even the name of the youngest daughter—which she'd never heard or asked about—came up.

Koko, she said.

A dream so vivid it felt real, so sad it made even her—not a member of the family—feel her heart ache.

If that dream was truly what the Grizzly family had experienced—their past—

So there was a reason he saved me.

"I brought you to this castle because I wanted to save you."

Theodor, who had appeared suddenly and saved her from the wolves.

He had a reason he couldn't turn away from Na-bom.

A young Arctic hare believed to possess the power of Eostre. A young bear cub believed to grow stronger if eaten. Innocent lives that died because of unsubstantiated rumors mistaken for truth.

Theodor couldn't turn away from her, caught by the wolves for reasons similar to his daughter's.

She was grateful to have been saved. If not for Theodor, she'd have been offered to the Imperial Court and thrown into a terrible underground cell by now.

But at the same time, she felt sorry. Because—

I can never replace Koko.

The moment that obvious thought came to her—for some reason—

One side of her chest seemed to ache.

"Hey, rabbit."

Just then, a gruff yet playful voice came.

"Are you awake?"

It was Lady Pallas. Na-bom quickly sat up, greeted him, and said:

"La-Lady Pallas, I had a strange dream! Did you perhaps show it to me...?"

As she asked hurriedly, she suddenly felt a sense of wrongness. Na-bom blinked and looked again at what had just passed through her vision.

What reflected in Na-bom's eyes was a human arm—white fingers. After opening and closing her hand several times, Na-bom finally seemed to realize, her mouth opening and closing.

"Huh...? I-I humanized."

Her limbs were shorter than expected. Whenever she looked between Pallas and her own body, her long white hair swayed. She was wearing a flowing dress that hadn't been there before. The sensation of fabric against her bare skin.

Na-bom sprang up. Unable to contain her joy, she began bouncing on the bed.

"I humanized!"

"Yes."

Her expression was beyond delighted—Pallas, arms crossed, let out a soft laugh.

Even as she bounced, Na-bom kept looking at her own body.

Whether Pallas had dressed her or not, she was wearing a dress. The sight of the bright yellow skirt hem fluttering with each jump was amusing just to watch.

Running around as a rabbit and stepping on snow felt wonderful, but she still preferred having a human body. She'd already accomplished something she couldn't even have imagined in her past life—bouncing on a bed!

Unable to contain her joy, Na-bom giggled. Laughing and jumping high, someone's face suddenly passed through the corner of her vision.

Rib stood at the doorway, watching her. Only then did Na-bom realize this wasn't her own room.

Th-the Countess's bed!

Na-bom paled and quickly stopped jumping. As the creaking noise died down, Rib spoke:

"Congratulations on humanizing."

With a smile that held no hint of anger—only warmth—she offered her congratulations. But for some reason, Rib's golden eyes looked as if they might spill tears at any moment.

Na-bom found herself apologizing.

"I-I'm sorry for jumping on your bed, Countess..."

But before she could finish her apology, Rib pulled Na-bom into a tight embrace. Her face buried in Rib's chest, Na-bom struggled for a moment—but the voice that followed made her stop.

"Congratulations. Congratulations."

With a trembling voice, Rib patted her small back as if encouraging her.

"And thank you."

With those inexplicable words of gratitude, Rib's hand stroked her back.

"Did this child cure my curse?"

That morning, when Pallas came to check on her condition, Rib was already awake.

Cradling a naked, long-haired girl in her arms, Rib had looked straight into Pallas's eyes and asked.

When Pallas nodded silently in affirmation, Rib's hand gripping the bedsheet tightened.

Only the power of spring could cure her curse. That meant this child was...

Rib, voice cracking, reproached Pallas.

"Why didn't you stop her? The power of spring is an unknown ability we cannot comprehend. If she'd used such power carelessly—"

"Rib. Don't you think I know more about Eostre than you do?"

"......"

"Don't make light of the Empire's great sage."

Despite his persuasive words, Rib continued to glare at Pallas—truly as if she wanted to kill him.

Truly, husband and wife are alike.

Surely, when Theodor wakes from hibernation, he'll glare at me the same way.

He couldn't suppress his curiosity about the incarnation, and there was a hypothesis he wanted to confirm—so he'd gone ahead and done it.

More troublesome than I expected.

Pallas let out a deep sigh and opened his mouth again:

"Though it's still only conjecture, the power of spring won't have any adverse effects on her."

"...Pardon?"

"Look at her now. Her humanization is perfect, isn't it?"

"That's because this child worked hard."

Rib cut off Pallas, who was about to take credit for the training he'd assigned.

Not being wrong, Pallas fell silent with a deeply displeased expression.

"Clothes."

"Hm?"

"Please make her clothes, Lady Pallas."

Stroking the child's shoulder—half-hidden by the blanket and her waist-length white hair—Rib made the request with dignity.

"Magic is not omnipotent. I have no talent for making things like a little girl's clothes."

"Then bring them here."

"...Are you trying to use the great sage as an errand boy right now?"

Narrowing his eyes in disbelief at Rib, she met his gaze with eyes that held no warmth whatsoever.

Pallas let out a deep sigh and muttered fine, fine as he turned around.

"You can bring them from Koko's room."

"......"

At those added words, Pallas turned back to look at Rib.

The small girl cradled in her arms. Her white hair was eerily similar to Rib's.

Insolent creatures.

Despite being such a tiny life, she didn't even know how to grovel before a great sage.

But the one who'd fallen for that was none other than himself—so he could never win.

It's all your fault, Dorothy.

With a bitter smile, Pallas vanished.

Koko's clothes fit the child astonishingly well.

They were dresses made for when she'd humanize around age six.

Theodor had said the child was eight this year—but whether due to species differences or poor nutrition, her frame was so small it was pitiful.

But at the same time, seeing her giggling and bouncing on the bed—she couldn't bear it.

It felt as if her child, who had died before ever humanizing, had returned.

Rib pulled the girl into her arms.

The first words that came out were I'm sorry. The curse was a fitting punishment for herself, who had failed to protect her daughter. That this small child had cured it made her feel guilty.

But once she started saying thank you, she couldn't stop.

The child wouldn't know how much comfort she had brought her.

If the curse hadn't disappeared, she surely wouldn't have been able to speak to or embrace the child.

At the warm touch, Na-bom instinctively burrowed into Rib's arms.

"I should be the one thanking you for congratulating me, Countess!"

At the innocent child's voice, Rib laughed out loud.

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