– Tap, tap.
“Good night, sister.”
Alice gently patted the unconscious Luna’s behind like a baby and covered her with the blanket up to her neck. As she softly swept aside Luna’s damp white bangs with her fingers, Luna let out a faint sigh.
But then it happened.
– Perk.
With a faint ripple of light as if a magical curtain was lifting, a pair of long, white rabbit ears appeared above the unconscious Luna’s head. Luna’s recognition-enhancing magic, camouflage, had worn off.
“Whoa?”
Alice’s eyes widened in surprise. Luna would never release this magic, even if it meant she would fall asleep. She had a pathological fear of revealing her identity as a beastkin.
But it was released?
Moreover.
Alice turned her head. Luna’s laptop was still glowing blue.
[Hunter Gallery]
And two clear letters remained in the search bar. Beastkin.
Alice was momentarily speechless. Her sister, Luna, was still living in the Empire.
Thus, she firmly believed that beastkin were a race despised by everyone, even on this Earth.
‘Sister, it’s okay now. This is Earth.’
No matter how much Alice tried to persuade her, that stubborn thought had never changed.
Yet.
Luna had come all the way to a pit of desire like this to search about her greatest complex, being a beastkin?
For Alice, who prided herself on being closest to her, it was an unbelievable story.
It was clear that there had been a massive change in her sister’s mindset today that couldn’t be understood by common sense. The pieces began to fit together in Alice’s mind.
The counseling session she had attended in the morning.
And her behavior afterwards, which was different from usual.
Every clue pointed to just one person.
“Brother.”
Gently stroking the cheek of the unconscious white rabbit, Alice whispered into the air. At that moment.
“Ugh….”
As a moan escaped Luna’s lips, an interesting smile appeared on Alice’s face.
“Looks like you’re not just handsome, but capable too?”
So far, she had sent a truckload of counselors to her sister from the Union Guild.
From psychological analysts to famous psychiatrists. However, all of them had fled in fear before Luna’s defense mechanisms. They said that her distress over her race was a case that couldn’t be found in this world.
Yet, with just a single counseling session, this level of progress…?
“What did they do to our innocent sister~”
Alice’s eyes sparkled with excitement.
***
[Luna] [PINNED]
[Current Status: Sleeping soundly. Heart rate and nerves that were excessively activated are returning to normal.]
[Main Stance: No lewdness allowed…]
“What’s this.”
Already asleep?
I checked Luna’s status while drying my wet hair with a towel after coming out of the shower. It was still 10 PM. A bit too early for an adult to be asleep; it seemed she was like a new rabbit in a new country.
But what’s this main stance about? Is she dreaming something like that? Or searching the Hunter Gallery in her dreams…?
Well, since she’s sleeping, there’s nothing more to check.
I lifted the pin as a matter of respecting the patient’s privacy.
Ah, by the way, I had already apologized to Jin Se-ah. I carefully expressed my apologies for using the pin on her as a test last time, explaining my reasons, and she burst out laughing.
“Ahahaha! That happened? It’s fine, it’s fine! It’s a relief that my condition is visible!”
She kept insisting it was okay, but she didn’t miss the most important part.
“So, counselor? How did my condition turn out?”
“You seemed to be resting very comfortably at home. They said you’re completely harmless.”
“Hehe. Is that so? I really am harmless.”
I finished that brief reminiscence, dried my hair, and sat down at my desk with a glass of lukewarm water. At this point, the only client I was continuously taking care of was just one.
Luna.
Let’s organize a plan for the future.
First, I’ve well planted the seed of self-esteem. Luna must have vaguely started to feel that beastkin are not at least a race that is unilaterally disliked in this world.
Now what remains is to nurture that fragile sprout that has sprouted from that seed into a solid identity as a beastkin.
What would be the most effective, outstanding, and complete method for that?
“Somehow….”
The trademark of rabbit beastkin that she tries so hard to hide: perked ears and a fluffy tail.
It must not be a forced revelation by me but rather one she willingly unveils herself. That would be the most definitive proof that she accepted her identity as a beastkin.
I was thinking up to that point when I suddenly paused.
“… Huh?”
Wait a minute.
In the end, the goal of this counseling is for her to reveal her ears…? If so….
The system window from this afternoon resurfaced in my mind.
[Suitable Response] [Satisfaction Suitability Rate 69%]
[But could you show me your ears? They looked pretty back then. (In a low voice and assertive tone)]
The options from the status window that came to me during the counseling session with Luna. It was a bit excessive and abrupt, but the status window ultimately presented the quickest shortcut to achieve the ultimate goal. The probability was a bit low, though.
You didn’t see to this point, did you?
[ (￣▽￣*)ゞ ]
As if responding to my words, a system window appeared before my eyes. Just a single emoticon, scratching the back of its head, appeared awkwardly, as if feeling shy from receiving compliments.
Suddenly, I felt a bit more trust in the situation. Even though the options were somewhat unconventional and abrupt, I had a strange conviction that they wouldn’t be leading me in the wrong direction.
After all, I would have to make continued visits to the Union on Wednesday and Friday of this week. This week itself is the royal visit period for the Union Guild.
So, if I’m going again tomorrow….
‘Want to show your ears?’
I’ll cautiously suggest it.
***
The second royal visit to the Union was much smoother than last time.
The follow-up counseling scheduled for the morning mostly didn’t last longer than 10 minutes. Clients who had resolved their mental burdens all at once during the last counseling expressed their gratitude to me with brighter faces as they left.
Clients visibly improving weren’t rigid as before, instead sharing their concerns with a much softer attitude.
Everything was going smoothly.
I took a bite of the sandwich I had brought for lunch and opened my tablet to check the afternoon’s schedule.
“Now… the remaining people are… Luna and… Alice…? Why is this person…?”
It was at the moment I was pondering this while chewing the sandwich.
– Knock, knock.
“Excuse me, counselor. I’m sorry to disturb you while you’re busy, but… do you have a moment?”
A hunter with an unfamiliar face peeked through the door, where I had been resting between scheduled counseling sessions. The person wasn’t on the reservation list, of course.
“Oh, yes, that’s fine. What’s the matter?”
“I hadn’t originally signed up, but… my colleagues said you’re really good, so… could you spare a moment…?”
That was the beginning.
‘I heard that person is quite capable.’
Like a fortune-teller gaining word of mouth, my counseling started spreading.
Hunters who had initially been skeptical and hadn’t even signed up began coming in after hearing their colleagues’ reviews. By the time lunch was over, the counseling room doorway looked like a popular restaurant.
Fortunately, Luna and Alice were scheduled for evening counseling. I couldn’t turn anyone away, so…
I looked at the long line and stuffed the rest of the sandwich into my mouth.
“Okay. Let’s get started. What’s your concern?”
It seems like I wouldn’t be getting off work on time today either.
***
At the top floor of the Union Guild, in the hunter-exclusive lounge.
A white rabbit was unusually restless, sitting on the sofa. She seemed oblivious but was keenly aware of every nerve directed at the lounge entrance.
– Creak.
Just then, the door opened. Luna reflexively whipped her head to look in that direction, and her red eyes sparkled with uncontainable anticipation. However, that expectation turned into disappointment the next moment.
“Hunter Gasper! You can head to the physical assessment room now!”
The guild staff hadn’t called her name, much to her dismay.
– Thud, thud.
Unknowingly, she began bouncing her feet beneath the sofa with a sullen expression. Honestly speaking… she looked like a girl anxiously waiting for a lover who was late for their date.
And the black rabbit sitting next to her watched this whole scene with great interest.
At that moment, Viktor’s voice came from a table where nobles were gathered.
“I heard the guild has some kind of mental counselor now. Isn’t that utterly foolish? Is it not a sign of weakness to prove one’s own frailty?”
“Indeed.”
The surrounding nobles nodded in agreement as if they had made a pact.
“Just by looking at him, he’s clearly a scammer with no background. Getting counsel from such a person is embarrassing…”
Before Viktor’s last words finished, Luna, who had been paying no attention to the surrounding noise, crinkled her fair brow sharply.
– Sssss….
The air around Luna began to grow subtly colder. Alice, sitting right beside her, sensed that change first.
It was the first time she had seen her sister express emotions towards a noble.
Just as she was about to add oil to this interesting situation by saying something to Viktor.
– Creak.
Once again, the lounge door opened.
Luna’s head jerked back to the door in surprise.
“!”
This time, it seemed like it was indeed right. The guild staff holding a tablet was standing there to inform of the counseling order.
“Alice Hunter! It’s your turn for counseling! Please prepare!”
However, the name that came from the staff’s lips was not the one she had been waiting for. Luna’s head snapped to her sister sitting next to her.
“You… did… too…?”
With a bright smile, Alice simply nodded in response.
“Yeah.”
At that answer, Luna sank back into the sofa.
And then, without anyone noticing,
– Tap, tap.
She started bouncing her feet again.
Meanwhile.
Outside the counseling office, where Yu Seon-woo wasn’t present.
The celestial horse, Jihwa-yeon, visited herself to keep her promise of coming. She was curious about what kind of expression her physician would have made upon receiving the gift she had agonized over.
However, what awaited her was a firmly closed door and, above it, a strange piece of paper.
[Today, the counseling office is closed due to the counselor’s royal visit.]
“….”
Jihwa-yeon read that line slowly, word by word, with emphasis. Soon, a short sigh escaped her cherry-like lips.
“… Ha.”
A royal visit? Leaving without any contact with the lord? If it’s my physician, shouldn’t he be waiting in this spot for my summons, ready at all times?
Surely, didn’t he say I could come to him anytime?
– Tap.
Jihwa-yeon lightly tapped the firmly closed door with the tip of her delicate satin shoe.
She turned back.
“This one occasion, I shall especially overlook.”
Like a sovereign bestowing great leniency, she muttered to herself.
However, in contrast to her majestic turn, her shoulders were slightly lowered.
Like a dejected child.
