Chapter 1
A world of pure white stretched in every direction.
White snow blanketing the rooftops. Tall drifts of piled-up snow. White powder swirling through the wind.
Snow, snow, snow. Everywhere was snow.
Even her own body had been dyed white.
A fluffy chest covered in fur. Paws wrapped in thick, white fur. The soft fur around her nose trembling in the cold breeze.
Fur, fur, fur. Everywhere was fur.
I definitely died, didn’t I?
Yoon Nabom. Female. Died at the age of fifteen.
After ending her short life and opening her eyes again, she had become an Arctic hare.
It was an astonishing situation—one that should have left anyone speechless—but Nabom accepted her new life as a rabbit more easily than expected.
Being able to move without someone pushing a wheelchair from behind is truly…
Ahh!
The sensation of walking on two legs for the first time. Even now, just remembering it sent a thrill through her.
One thing Nabom especially loved was stepping on the snow piled high outside her home.
Crunch, crunch, crunch, crunch.
While she was happily enjoying the addictive sound and sensation, she overheard a conversation that revealed exactly where she was.
“Think the next sacrifice will be from next door?”
“Probably. The only six-year-old who still hasn’t transformed into a human is Rina’s daughter.”
“I’m terrified. Why does it have to be our neighbors? It’s creepy.”
This was the world of a novel.
More specifically, it was the world of a romance-fantasy novel featuring beastfolk called The Tamed One Was a Fox.
At first, Nabom thought she had simply become the pet rabbit of a young couple.
Of course, it had seemed strange when they constantly called her “my daughter, my daughter,” and whenever she reacted as though she understood their words, they would mutter things like:
“As expected, my daughter is smart. She’ll transform soon.”
Those people… they were my mom and dad.
She had been reincarnated as one of the pitiful extra rabbits who didn’t even have a name in the story.
How did she know about a nameless extra?
Well, the explanation was simple.
In the Alvero Empire, where The Tamed One Was a Fox took place, there was a myth.
The myth of Eostre, Goddess of Spring.
One day, an incarnation of Eostre appeared, possessing overwhelming healing powers. She cured the illnesses of the people and healed wounded soldiers.
As a result, the Empire completely repelled the invasions of neighboring nations and ultimately became the dominant power on the continent.
It was a kind of founding myth.
The ones who fanatically believed in that ancient legend were the Baekrang Clan—Arctic wolf beastfolk.
Rabbits were naturally symbols of life and rebirth.
And a small animal capable of surviving in freezing regions?
That made it even more likely, in their eyes, to possess the power of spring.
The Baekrang believed that Eostre’s next incarnation would be born as an Arctic hare.
And in order to absorb Eostre’s powerful strength…
They ate Arctic hares.
Specifically, young female rabbits who had not yet transformed into humans.
The only reason Arctic hares had avoided destruction until now was because sacrifices had continually been offered.
The rabbit clan would offer eight-year-old females who had failed to transform.
And Nabom had never transformed.
Which meant her fate was sealed.
She was one of the countless rabbits sacrificed in The Tamed One Was a Fox.
But her attachment to life was stronger than anyone could have imagined.
Locked inside a small cage, Nabom stared out the window and clenched her tiny hand—
No, her paw.
It’s okay. It was fine when I checked a week ago.
Everything would go according to plan.
“Stop thinking nonsense and stay still.”
A cold voice came from beside her.
“You were born defective. You should at least repay the kindness of being fed and raised all this time, shouldn’t you?”
Nabom deliberately ignored her mother’s sarcasm.
Until now, she had appeared to be an ordinary rabbit—one without a soul, one incapable of transforming.
That was the unspoken condition for becoming a sacrifice.
The sacrifice had to be ordinary.
Only then would everyone lower their guard.
Both rabbits and wolves alike.
The clan didn’t know it, but she understood human speech.
For a time, that had even been her mother’s hope.
But in the end, she never transformed.
And because she had given birth to a defective child, her parents had been ostracized by the clan ever since.
How ridiculous.
If their survival depended on sacrifices, shouldn’t they at least treat the sacrifices with gratitude?
…It’s the same in this life too.
The thought suddenly crossed her mind, and her shoulders drooped.
In her previous life.
And in this one.
In the end…
She had been a burden to her family.
But tomorrow, that would all be over.
The next morning.
In the neutral territory between the domains of the two clans, wolves and rabbits met in human form.
“We offer this sacrifice.”
Her mother knelt in the snow, setting down the wooden cage that held Nabom before bowing her head.
“Please protect us through the blood of this young life.”
There wasn’t even the slightest tremor in her mother’s voice as she recited the ritual words.
After bowing once more toward the wolves, she turned sharply away.
Crunch. Crunch.
The footsteps of her mother and the villagers gradually faded into the distance.
She had promised herself she wouldn’t look back.
Yet her head turned on its own.
…
As expected.
Her mother never looked back.
Not even once.
At that moment, one of the wolf beastfolk lifted the cage.
Nabom flinched.
Her body trembled uncontrollably.
The yellow eyes staring at her through the bars made her heart plummet.
No. It’s okay.
The Tamed One Was a Fox had been one of Nabom’s favorite novels.
She already knew the wolves wouldn’t eat her here.
Even so, she was terrified.
It was probably instinctive fear.
“Is the rabbit fine?”
“Yes, Captain!”
“Let’s move.”
The wolves began walking.
Leaving the neutral territory behind, they entered Baekrang land.
Soon, a place that was incredibly familiar appeared before her eyes.
This time, her heart raced for an entirely different reason.
Mom.
The sacrifice had been delivered safely.
The wolves had returned to their territory.
The Baekrang could no longer hold the rabbit clan responsible for anything that happened on their own land.
I’ve repaid my debt.
The moment the last wolf crossed the boundary she knew so well—
CRAAACK!
The ground suddenly shook.
Then it collapsed.
“Aaaah!”
“W-What is this?!”
It was a trap she had spent two years preparing after realizing she had been reincarnated.
Almost no beastfolk or animals ventured into the territory ruled by the Arctic wolves.
Besides, this path was rarely used—even the Baekrang only passed through it when collecting sacrifices.
She had dug an enormous pit here.
Then she layered hay over the top and carefully concealed it beneath snow.
According to her tests, the ground only collapsed after a small rabbit hopped across it for about five minutes.
Meaning:
Entering was easy.
Leaving was not.
“Ah!”
Startled by the falling snow, the wolf carrying the cage dropped it.
Nabom didn’t miss her chance.
She kicked the section with the lock as hard as she could.
CRACK!
The weakened cage broke apart, and the door swung open.
For years she had pretended to be an ordinary rabbit while secretly gnawing at the bars near the lock with her front teeth.
“Stay still— GAH!”
Hyaaah!
She stomped directly onto the man’s face—practically crushing his eye.
“The rabbit is escaping!”
“Catch it, you idiots!”
Arms reached out from every direction.
Nabom used her tiny body to scramble from arm to shoulder, shoulder to head.
Realizing they were at a disadvantage, the beastfolk began transforming into wolves.
Their glowing white bodies twisted and shrank.
Hurry, hurry!
There wasn’t much time.
The moment they all completed their transformations, she was dead.
Nabom leaped forward.
Using the head of a half-transformed wolf as a stepping stone, she launched herself.
The instant her front paws landed outside the trap—
—You damned rabbit!
A vicious voice roared.
Then a dull pain exploded in her hind leg.
Squeee!
Agony blackened her vision.
But gritting her teeth, she clung to a protruding bundle of hay and dragged herself forward.
Desperately moving her paws, she crawled free of the pit.
Getting out was one thing.
But—
My leg won’t move.
She collapsed onto the ground.
Blood dripped steadily from her right hind leg.
…My foot.
Tears quickly welled in her dark eyes.
Even as a rabbit, she had finally possessed a healthy body.
A body that could walk.
She shook her head vigorously.
I’m not hurt. Not at all. Really, not at all.
Hypnotizing herself, she planted her front paws against the snow.
Her legs trembled violently.
To make matters worse, snow was pouring down from the sky.
It quickly piled atop her fur-covered body.
The snow felt unbearably heavy.
I can’t move…!
Perhaps because she hadn’t been allowed to eat properly during the week she’d been trapped in the cage.
Shivering.
Barely crawling.
Unable to withstand the weight of the snow accumulating on her fur—
Thud.
Nabom collapsed helplessly onto the ground.
As though mocking her, laughter echoed nearby.
“Hehehe…”
“Put it back in the cage.”
The wolf holding the cage hesitated despite his captain’s order.
“Captain… uh, hehe, you know…”
He ran his tongue across his teeth.
Drool dripped from his mouth as he spoke.
“What if we just eat it ourselves? There’s barely any meat on it, but why does it look so delicious?”
“Hey, quit talking nonsense and put it in the cage. If we don’t deliver it by tomorrow, we’ll—”
The captain was scolding him in a low voice when he suddenly froze.
…?
A strange sensation swept over Nabom.
It felt as though the surroundings had suddenly gone dark.
Slowly, she lifted her head.
It wasn’t her imagination.
A shadow truly had fallen over her.
“Crazy…! Since when was it there?!”
“Damn it!”
The wolves cursed and growled.
Something had appeared.
A beast even more terrifying than wolves.
An enormous predator covered from head to toe in thick brown fur.
A brown bear.
The bear stood silently in front of Nabom.
And quietly gazed into the little rabbit’s eyes.
