No Entry Except for the Master - Chapter 12
“If this becomes known, not only will public opinion turn, but His Majesty the Emperor will not stay quiet.”
“Which is why we need to find out exactly where this rabbit dropped out of. Don’t tell me you forgot where we picked it up from?”
This rabbit chimera had been in the possession of the master of an illegal information guild frequently used by the Imperial Crown Prince. Whether or not the Crown Prince had been aware of the rabbit’s existence was an extremely important issue.
“What’s certain is that the guild master used this rabbit to dig up useful information.”
Teia pressed a finger down on the sly rabbit’s head, who had been playing with his hand. Beeep. The rabbit, caught off guard by Teia’s sudden mood change, squealed as its head was squished against the floor.
Acting like you don’t know anything, huh?
“You were the one spying on me at the engagement ceremony, weren’t you? You got caught and, with nowhere to run, transformed into a rabbit.”
As soon as Teia found out the rabbit could transform into a human, all his suspicions from before were cleared up.
That cautious and unfamiliar gaze he felt during the engagement ceremony had surely belonged to this rabbit, disguised in human form.
Taking advantage of its small size and the lack of suspicion animals attracted, the rabbit had snuck into not only the duchy but the Grand Duke’s estate, spying on the furniture Teia bought for his fiancée and the engagement preparations.
“You dare stab me in the back and then shamelessly crawl into the estate like this.”
I was dragged here!
The rabbit, now being treated like a shameless criminal, felt doubly wronged as the two pairs of eyes stared it down—even though they were the ones who found the rabbit hutch and brought it here in the first place.
“Beeep! Beep!”
But first, could you please take your hand off my head? The rabbit pathetically pleaded, lightly tapping Teia’s hand with its soft front paws.
“The information this rabbit gathered was passed to the Crown Prince through the guild master. So whether or not the Crown Prince knew about the rabbit, we can tie him to it if we want.”
“That’s true, but wouldn’t it be more interesting if he did know about it?”
“What?”
“If Rudy already knew about this rabbit, just imagine how nervous he must be right now. He’s already reeling because the information guild he was using secretly got smashed by me, and now suddenly I’m raising the rabbit?”
A fresh smile bloomed on Teia’s face. When Teia smiled like that, it meant danger—he was in a wicked mood. Cesar, who had wanted to cleanly report the rabbit’s existence, looked uneasy.
“Lately, Rudy has been sending letters saying he wants to visit the duchy. I’ll have to keep rejecting him.”
Bored and now with a fun, invigorating incident on his hands, Teia was thoroughly entertained.
“Still, it’s a chimera. Isn’t it dangerous? What if it suddenly goes berserk…?”
“If it goes wild, it’s still just a rabbit, right? Even imagining it, it’s not threatening at all.”
“Well, even so, you never know.”
Teia ignored Cesar’s concern, lifting the struggling rabbit into his palm and gently stroking its fur.
Just moments ago he’d been tormenting it, and now he was soothing it with soft, gentle hands. The rabbit, confused by the sudden change, obediently surrendered itself to please him.
“Who do you think made His Majesty the Emperor into a war hero?”
“Pardon? What do you—”
“Never mind. It’s just… something.”
There was a hidden story behind the Emperor’s heroism.
It was a secret that couldn’t be revealed—that the boy hero’s mistress, known only as his fiancée and etiquette teacher, had actually passed down to him all the swordsmanship and knowledge he needed.
And before she died, she entrusted all of her abilities—not even shared with the Emperor—to Teia. Only she and Teia knew this secret.
Teia not only understood the ancient rituals used to control the chimeras, but also how to use them to drive the chimeras into a frenzy. He was even confident he could defeat the mighty Emperor in a head-on confrontation.
And yet, he remained as the ruler of the duchy, entangled in childish power struggles—not because he lacked ambition, but simply because, for now, he found it fun to play this game.
