No Entry Except for the Master - Chapter 46

“Here they are. But why is this outfit here?”

Teia approached to retrieve the cufflinks and saw the servant staring at a small scrap of fabric in shock. He followed the servant’s gaze to a tiny piece of clothing: the party outfit and brooch he had personally put on the rabbit earlier that day.

He glanced between the cufflinks in his hand and the discarded clothes beside them. He clenched his teeth. He could easily infer what that little head of hers had been trying to do.

“Louis, go tell Cesar to search every room and find the rabbit immediately.”

“Pardon? Right now? The party is about to begin…”

“Exactly. So find her quickly.”

Teia clenched and unclenched his fists over and over. An unpleasant sense of foreboding was creeping up from his toes.

In the end, they couldn’t find the rabbit before the party began. Louis urged him to go ahead and attend, promising they’d keep searching—but Teia ignored him.

The fact that they hadn’t found her even after searching this thoroughly meant she had either hidden herself deliberately or run away.

“Mobilize the soldiers.”

“To do that, we’ll have to recall the soldiers we stationed to watch the Crown Prince’s faction. We don’t have any other available forces.”

“Then recall them and do it.”

Cesar was stunned and asked Teia again, but Teia didn’t change his command.

To Cesar, this especially emotional version of Teia felt unfamiliar. Instinctively, Teia was trying his best not to show it. But Cesar, who had been by his side long enough to know him well, could clearly see the surge of emotion roiling like waves beneath his calm exterior.

“Your Grace, we’ve detected suspicious activity.”

But before Cesar could recall the troops, a report came from one of the soldiers stationed near the Crown Prince’s nobles. They had identified suspicious figures in the midst of a deal—and one of them was chasing a small creature, perhaps a stray cat or a rat.

Teia’s eyes gleamed.

In the end, Teia managed to reclaim the rabbit just in time. Though the once-healthy rabbit returned battered and injured, unconscious in his arms.

While the doctor tended to her injuries, Teia stood by her side, receiving Cesar’s report.

“It was confirmed that the substance he carried was a d**g with hallucinogenic and aphrodisiac effects. Their goal was to ruin the party and disgrace Your Grace.”

“How childish. I can’t even play along with a gift like that.”

Teia chuckled lightly. Cesar stiffened. Though Teia’s mouth was smiling, his eyes weren’t smiling at all.

Teia folded his arms and tapped his elbow with his fingers, lost in thought.

“What’s the condition of my pet rabbit?”

“She has a fractured foreleg and slightly stretched ligaments in her hind leg. We’ve splinted the fracture and wrapped it in bandages, but she should refrain from movement until fully healed.”

Teia remained silent until the physician left the room. Once he was alone with Cesar, he gently stroked the bandaged leg of the rabbit with his fingertip before finally speaking.

“Kill them both. Especially the one caught at the pond—cut off his arms and ankles and leave him until he dies.”

“I will carry out your command.”

Cesar headed to the underground prison to take care of the matter swiftly. He planned to extract a bit more information through torture and false hope, but the moment the rabbit’s condition was diagnosed, the fate of those two had already been sealed.

Left alone in the room, Teia carefully touched the rabbit’s injured foot. Even with the slightest contact, the unconscious rabbit groaned in pain.

“Lily, this is already the second time.”

Whether she escaped on her own or someone took her, this was the second time Teia had feared he might lose her. Teia retraced the days one by one, searching for the moment he had made a mistake.

Squeak?

A faint cry rang out. Woken by the pain in her foot being squeezed too hard, the rabbit blinked, dazed, as she looked around. Teia put on a gentle mask and silently watched her until she spotted him.

“……”

The moment she saw Teia, the rabbit recoiled and struggled to pull her trapped leg away. The sight irritated him, and he gripped her harder. The rabbit’s scream rang sharply through the room.

“You should’ve stayed within the lines I gave you. Hmm? So disappointing.”

Seated at the edge of the bed, Teia tugged on the cord that held the curtains back. With a soft swish, the drapes closed, plunging the bed into darkness.

In that pitch-black space, Teia’s eyes shimmered with an eerie color. He leaned down and rubbed his cheek against the rabbit’s small body. Though it seemed like an affectionate gesture, Lily shivered. The pain crawling up from her foot was intensifying.