If You're Being Held Hostage, Wiggle the Carrot! - Chapter 56
“My Lord.”
Liam, unable to erase his awkward expression, called Ivan with a longing voice in front of the master’s room. Originally, he would have gone into the bedroom and called, but he couldn’t enter recklessly due to the master’s instructions not to come up until called.
However, he couldn’t ignore it any longer. It had already been three days since Ivan and Ruby had barricaded themselves in the room. He could no longer keep making excuses to the aides and the staff, so he called out in a more urgent voice, and the door opened.
“Come in.”
Ivan’s voice seemed hoarse and low, as if he had just woken up. As soon as Ivan granted permission, Liam quickly entered and closed the door.
“Miss…”
Liam wondered if Ruby had safely gone through her heat cycle. He had been about to hurriedly ask about her well-being when he noticed the pink bundle in Ivan’s arms.
“Could it be…?”
“I never imagined her animal form would be this small.”
Ivan chuckled softly, looking down at Ruby in his arms. His laughter seemed genuinely happy, making Liam unable to look away.
“Has she not woken up yet?”
“Perhaps she needs another day of sleep? It’s hard enough for me, don’t you think it’s even harder for this little rabbit?”
“You can’t compare her to the master,” Liam replied reflexively, but he felt a twinge of discomfort at Ivan’s words.
She was the one in heat, so why was his master tired too?
“Ha, I’m hungry. Bring some food. A lot of it.”
“…Yes, I’ll arrange it right away.”
“Just in case, bring something for this rabbit to eat too.”
“Of course.”
Liam still had questions, but he did as he was ordered.
After he left, Ivan leaned back on the sofa in the parlor.
Thinking about the tasks that piled up during the heat cycle, he idly played with her twitching pink ears. He smiled as he watched her flail her front paws around, like she was running in her sleep.The more he looked, the more he couldn’t tear his gaze away from Ruby’s adorable form.
He spent some time idly fiddling with her ears, then her front paws, then her back paws.
“Come to think of it, when was the last time I relaxed like this?”
During his tenure as a viscount, he had mostly devoted himself to work and training. After inheriting the duchy, his days were busier than ever. This unplanned break felt somewhat refreshing to him.
Rub, rub.
Stroking the soft pink fur, the pink rabbit suddenly leaped up.
“Oh, are you awake?”
Ruby woke up, realized she was lying on Ivan’s stomach, and scrambled down to the floor.
“The bedroom door is closed.”
Upon hearing his words, Ruby immediately changed direction and headed into the dressing room. Ivan, lying lazily on the sofa, watched her with a chuckle.
Even though her mind was almost gone during her heat cycle, she seemed to remember everything now. Ivan was curious to see how Ruby would react when she came back.
* * *
“…Indeed, the carrots from the wolves’ territory are the best, second only to ours.”
Ruby, who had been eating in silence for a while, awkwardly spoke up. Ivan, who had been waiting for her to speak, snapped at the mention of carrots.
“Those damn carrots. I don’t know if you’ll die without them.”
“Oh, my, how casually you talk about life and death.”
“Even when your mind is a mess during your heat cycle, you still manage to look for carrots…”
“It’s our tribe’s tradition. When going through the heat cycle, we carry a large carrot with us.”
“…How big can a carrot be?”
Ivan, still misunderstanding the purpose of the carrot, took offense at the size comment. He cut the steak roughly, showing his discomfort. Of course, he did it silently. From the outside, he seemed to elegantly follow dining etiquette, despite his apparent displeasure.
“The carrots grown in our village are quite different in size compared to the ones here.”
Ruby responded to his comment with a serious expression. While the carrots from the Negro family’s territory were small in size, they had a rich flavor. However, the carrots in her territory were large and had a refreshing taste.
Though they had distinct charms, as a rabbit folk representing her territory, she couldn’t easily back down when it came to the territory’s carrots.
“Even so, the size of the carrot doesn’t make much difference. How different can it be depending on the territory?”
“No, it’s not like that. The carrots in our territory are roughly this size.”
Eating salad, Ruby put down her fork and indicated the approximate size with her hand. Ivan, silently observing her explanation, tilted his head curiously.
Somehow it seemed similar to his. No, it even looked a bit larger? No wonder she mistook it for a carrot when they first met in the mountains. If the size is similar, it’s not unreasonable for her to be confused.
Ivan, who had been hurt by her remark that it seemed like a carrot, surprisingly found her words flattering this time.
