Since it was made from his own fur, there was no way he couldn’t recognize it.
Beni reflexively twitched his lips but couldn’t say anything.
He wanted to ask for it back right now…… but that would be the same as admitting he was that rabbit. After pondering for a moment, Beni said carefully,
“……I’ve seen that rabbit working hard to make that doll!”
“Really?”
Ruan, raising one eyebrow, examined the white doll that was much smaller than his palm. Beni also swallowed dryly and stared intently at his doll in the Demon King’s hand.
The clump of fur attached as rabbit ears looked so precarious it seemed like it would fall off with the slightest touch. Moreover, the yellow button was on the verge of crumbling and falling off since the plant stem had completely dried up. From the rabbit’s view it had seemed decent enough, but looking at it properly, the doll’s condition was worse than he’d thought.
Beni suddenly wondered if the Demon King would believe his words that the rabbit had worked hard to make it.
Still, the most important thing right now was for that rabbit doll to safely return to him.
“Your Majesty…… did you bring it because you needed that doll?”
When the Demon King didn’t answer for a while, Beni grew anxious. No matter how he thought about it, there was no reason Ruan should have that doll. He was the Demon King, and he could certainly have plenty of dolls of better quality than that one.
“That doll, you see, the rabbit was really working hard to make it…… or so it seemed……”
“Hmm.”
“Since it was made by plucking its own fur, wouldn’t the rabbit be a bit sad if it disappeared……?”
Even without the Demon King answering, Beni fidgeted restlessly and began earnestly speaking on behalf of the rabbit who’d lost its doll. Ruan, who’d been listening quietly, spoke gently just as Beni’s voice gradually grew quieter.
“You must be very close with the rabbit.”
“W-well, I suppose so……!”
Ruan, who’d been watching Beni with his chin propped up, looked down at the hand holding the doll. He’d relaxed his grip as much as possible so the doll wouldn’t get damaged.
“If the rabbit cherishes it that much, it would be better to return it, wouldn’t it, Beni?”
His best efforts seemed to have worked. Beni nodded several times.
“I’ll return the doll to the rab……”
“Since you happen to be close with that rabbit, please pass along a message for me. I’ll return the doll, so tell it to come to my bedroom at night.”
“……To the rabbit?”
Did the Demon King generally think rabbits could understand words? Maybe the Demon King’s rabbit could, but it was impossible for an ordinary rabbit.
“Would a rabbit understand demon speech? I’ll just directly……”
“If it has enough intelligence to make a doll, it should understand.”
Somehow it felt like the Demon King kept deliberately cutting him off.
“Besides, if it’s very good and does lots of good deeds, it should understand well enough.”
“……”
Since those were his own words, Beni couldn’t bring himself to say that rabbit was actually stupid. Beni reluctantly answered, “Yeeess…… I’ll tell it……”
……To come in person, would that really be okay? Beni’s yellow eyes wavered unsteadily.
* * *
In the early dawn hours when most residents of the Demon King’s Castle were asleep, a white rabbit looked up at the door to the Demon King’s bedroom with trembling eyes.
He’d made it to the front of the bedroom, but now that he was actually about to meet the Demon King, he was too nervous.
‘He really…… just called me to return the doll, right?’
The white rabbit who’d been worrying firmly resolved that it would be fine and immediately approached the door. Then—thump—he kicked the bedroom door with his hind legs. Despite his thoroughly intimidated appearance, it was a resounding hind leg kick.
It was the moment the rabbit was about to kick the door once more in case he hadn’t been heard the first time. The door handle moved and the door began to open. The rabbit, thoroughly tense, stared upward.
The Demon King’s figure was gradually revealed and red eyes pierced downward. The rabbit still couldn’t believe he was actually standing boldly in front of the Demon King.
Gulp.
The rabbit crouched down as much as possible. The rabbit reflected in the Demon King’s eyes looked just like a cotton ball. The way his two perked-up ears trembled was both pitiful and adorable.
“Hello.”
Ruan’s lips curved calmly into an arc as he greeted him quietly.
“You must be the rabbit that Beni said is very good and does lots of good deeds.”
Every time Ruan spoke, the rabbit’s ears twitched and his head bobbed. Since he was praising him, he seemed pleased, so the Demon King opened the door wider and stepped back.
“I went to your home yesterday and ended up taking your doll. I’m sorry, I’ll return it to you, so would you like to come in for a moment?”
The rabbit hesitated, glancing inside before looking back up at Ruan. Still seemingly scared to enter, the rabbit wavered for quite a while in front of the entrance. Ruan didn’t rush the rabbit and waited quietly.
Finally the rabbit moved his feet. Hop, hop—without taking his eyes off Ruan, the rabbit gradually entered the bedroom. Having completely crossed the threshold, the rabbit finally turned his head and looked around.
At the back view that looked like two marshmallows stacked on top of each other, Ruan covered his mouth with one hand.
Ah, the rabbit had finally entered the bedroom of his own accord.
Though he still seemed wary, compared to before when he’d startle in shock and run away just from spotting him from afar, this was remarkable progress.
He wanted to immediately pull him into an embrace, kiss his fluffy face, lick him all over, bite and suck on his paws, but he had to hold back.
How much had he endured for the rabbit to come of his own ‘will’—he couldn’t break the trust that had just begun to build by failing to contain a momentary desire.
When the rabbit who’d finished looking around the bedroom turned around sharply, Ruan removed the hand covering his mouth and put on a calm face as if nothing was wrong.
“Just a moment, I’ll bring you the doll.”
Ruan closed the door just slightly and walked toward the bed. The door was left open just enough of a gap for the rabbit to slip right out. Realizing he could escape if needed, the rabbit gained more confidence in his actions than before.
Rather than waiting still, he hopped along after the Demon King—hop hop hop. The Demon King, who’d stopped at the nightstand beside the bed, opened a drawer and took something out. The white fur ball’s yellow eyes sparkled as he looked up at the doll that would soon return to his possession.
Ruan slowly bent his knees so the rabbit wouldn’t be startled. The closer the doll came, the more the rabbit’s head tilted side to side. Somehow the shape was different from what he knew.
But the scent that wafted faintly carried his own body scent. The doll finally came before the puzzled rabbit’s eyes.
The rabbit’s mouth opened—”Heh.”
“I think I damaged it when I touched it, so I fixed it up a bit. I’m sorry, rabbit.”
His doll held gently in Ruan’s large hand now had a sparkling yellow brooch where there’d only been one eye before, making it a proper pair of eyes. Not only that, but the saggy clump of fur had taken on a clearer shape than before.
The rabbit’s eyelids trembled, and his pink nose twitched. Suddenly the rabbit stood up on his hind legs and stretched his short, chubby front paws upward, waving them in the air.
Realizing this was a gesture asking to be given the doll, Ruan carefully placed the doll—plop—into the rabbit’s arms.
As soon as the doll entered his arms, the rabbit immediately hugged it tight with both front paws and licked it with his tongue. This soft sensation touching his tongue, soaked with his body scent from being stored in his fur clump for 3 months—it was perfectly his doll.
Since he’d always hugged it when sleeping, even though it had only been a few days, it felt like he was seeing it after a long time. The rabbit, filled with joy, ground his teeth softly—gnash gnash—and hugged the doll even more tightly. Before, part of the doll’s body might have come undone, but thanks to the Demon King bundling it well, aside from being slightly squished, it was fine.
The rabbit looked at the doll with sparkling eyes before carefully setting it down on the floor. Then he stood up on his hind legs again and gently placed both his front paws on the Demon King’s palm.
At this completely unexpected action, Ruan’s fingers that had been in the air twitched. The rabbit was startled too and his body shrank slightly, but he didn’t lower the paws he’d placed there.
His round yellow eyes looked at the Demon King once and then at the palm once—after a moment, the rabbit, as if making a big resolution, stuck out his small tongue and began licking the skin.
‘Without being told to, the rabbit, Beni is licking my hand first.’
The Demon King unconsciously tried to place his hand over the area near his heart but stopped. This time, with Marcel’s help, he’d set the recording orb so his heartbeat wouldn’t be recorded anymore.
When a rabbit licks, it can be for various reasons—showing affection, marking territory, relieving stress, and so on. Any of these reasons would be a reward to Ruan. If he had to pick a more preferred reason though, it would be marking territory.
