I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family - Chapter 18

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 18

“I intend to accept this Arctic hare Demi-human as an adopted daughter of our household.”
A heavy silence fell over the bedroom.
Ferdi and Louis, their eyes wide and mouths agape as they stared at each other, turned their gaze to Theodore.
“I’m… sorry?”
They spoke tersely, still unable to close their mouths.
Nabom was equally stunned.
‘Adopted daughter?’
What on earth was this man saying?
Rather than sending this rabbit away to the Imperial Palace at once, he was saying he’d accept me as an adopted daughter? As an adopted daughter of the bears… the Grizzly Household?
But unlike the three children frozen in shock, Theodore and his wife remained remarkably composed.
“There is nothing so surprising about it, I think. The rabbit has sufficient qualification.”
He spoke without expression, turning to look at Nabom.
“She is the benefactor who saved the life of Louis, a member of our household.”
“…!”
The moment Theodore spoke his name aloud, Louis’s head snapped up, and he nodded repeatedly, a radiant smile spreading across his face.
“Should any wish to voice objection, raise your hand and declare it.”
Ferdi and Louis exchanged glances, then shook their heads vigorously and offered their respects simultaneously.
“None, sir!”
Theodore turned his gaze toward the bed, observing their response.
The woman—Theodore’s wife—silently shook her head as well.
Theodore nodded solemnly, then spoke in a low voice.
“There is no opposition.”
Then he began to approach Nabom slowly.
Why did she feel it? Theodore’s eyes, fixed upon her, looked almost predatory—the gleam of one who had finally grasped something long desired, suffused with satisfaction.
Nabom found herself stepping backward before she could think, her eyes drawn to the golden irises that burned brighter than usual.
How could she possibly trust him?
It would have made more sense if he meant to keep her here for life, or take her as a pet. But instead—
‘Adoption, out of nowhere…!’
And it was you who saved Louis, not me! I only rolled him in the snowfield!
At that moment, Theodore stopped before Nabom and bent forward abruptly. Her backward steps froze as his face drew suddenly close.
“Yes. It’s only natural you cannot trust.”
To you, I am nothing but a savage beast.
Theodore’s added words carried a melancholy note she couldn’t quite place.
As Nabom blinked in confusion, Theodore lowered himself onto one knee.
Like a knight pledging fealty before his lord, he gazed steadily at Nabom, then slowly extended his hand.
With such careful tenderness that Nabom scarcely registered she was being lifted—cradled in Theodore’s embrace.
Holding the small rabbit, Theodore bowed his head, closed his eyes, and opened his mouth as though conducting a sacred rite.
“I, Theodore Grizzly, swear that I shall bring no harm upon this life in my arms.”
After these solemn words, Theodore brought his forehead to rest against hers—against Nabom’s small furry head.
At once, a brilliant golden light of unknown origin rose from the floor, coiling and swelling around Theodore and Nabom.
The blinding radiance soon faded into Theodore’s own body.
Theodore slowly lifted his head and gazed into Nabom’s black eyes, as though confirming their presence. His golden irises felt, just barely, warmer than before.
Yet Nabom could not close her gaping mouth.
‘…This is.’
She knew.
She knew what the magical spectacle unfolding before her eyes meant—what that brilliant light signified.
‘An Oath-Bond has been forged.’
In Taming You, an Oath-Bond existed as a setting.
When a Demi-human swore to keep a solemn vow, dedicating their life and loyalty, they could grow stronger in exchange.
Demi-humans who swore loyalty to the Imperial family or noble houses and grew in power; the Sled Dog Knight Corps serving the Grizzly Household must also be Demi-humans who had forged such bonds to increase their strength.
But an Oath-Bond was also a double-edged sword.
The moment one broke the oath, whether intentionally or not, they would lose not only the power granted by the bond but also suffer the curse bound to it.
And now, such a perilous oath had been sworn—
‘…Why?’
Facing Nabom, who had gone stiff as a stuffed doll and could not even blink, Theodore spoke with an awkward expression.
“I should have explained sooner. You were never meant to be emergency rations from the start. You were…”
Theodore’s golden eyes moved slowly. He was choosing his words with care.
“I brought you to this castle because I wanted to save you.”
If asked whether he hoped to stake his hopes on the brilliant light held in the rabbit’s eyes—he could not have denied it.
But beyond even that—
“I did not wish for you to be dragged away by wolves as you were.”
Because I wanted to save this small life before me.
Yet Nabom could not close her triangular mouth.
Not to send her to the Imperial Palace, not to eat her as emergency rations, not to keep her as a pet.
Simply because he wanted to protect me and save me…?
‘What in the world are you saying?’
Did Theodore not know that Baek Rang had been presenting Arctic hares to the Imperial Palace? This man who was even called the Emperor’s bear doll?
Or was he perhaps mistaking her for an incarnation of Eostre, and that’s why he was adopting her?
“I hope you might trust me a little now.”
Theodore gently set Nabom down on the floor and added these final words.
‘…’
Her turbulent thoughts came to a halt at the gentle caress of her ears.
Theodore had sworn an Oath-Bond not to harm Nabom. The curse of such an oath could, at its most severe, bring death to its target.
She could not doubt Theodore in the face of such a promise. That he would forge an oath to declare his will not to harm her—it still made no sense, and yet.
“But to proceed with formal adoption, there is one condition.”
At Theodore’s words, Nabom’s ears perked up.
“While we sleep, you need only practice to meet that condition.”
Pallas.
When Theodore called out someone’s name in a low voice, a presence stirred deeper within the room.
Something was crawling out from beneath the bed, from the darkness.
With each shuffling step of its short legs, a round, fur-covered body and tail wriggled with movement. Fur mixed with brown and gray, black stripes like a tiger’s, and keen yellow eyes that seemed to pierce to the depths of one’s soul.
‘That’s…’
-Long time no see.
The moment she heard that distinctive, measured voice, Nabom knew with certainty.
‘That’s the animal I met in the dream!’
In her shock, the creature’s round form emitted light and transformed into a human shape. Clothes materialized from nowhere and wrapped around the figure, then long ash-gray hair cascaded down in a neat binding.
“I wonder if you remember me.”
The figure came to a stop before Nabom and smiled, lifting the corner of his mouth.
“Allow me to introduce you. For the next month or so, I am Pallas Manol, a Grand Mage who will teach you Humanization.”
‘…’
With the situation changing so rapidly and information flooding in, Nabom’s head began to spin.
The dream she’d had—it wasn’t a dream after all?
Adoption? An Oath-Bond? A Grand Mage? Humanization?
The world before Nabom’s eyes started to whirl.
“S-Snowflake!”
Louis lunged forward urgently and caught Nabom as she collapsed.
What is all this? Seriously.
What’s happening and how am I supposed to understand any of it?!

***

When Nabom opened her eyes again, she was lying on her own bed.
‘I must have lost consciousness.’
Stretched out across the mattress with her limbs sprawled, Nabom stared blankly at the ceiling. Even though these were events she herself had witnessed, her mind remained vacant. Surely it was because of all the astonishing things that had unfolded today.
‘…Wait a moment.’
Only after taking a moment to gather her thoughts did life return to Nabom’s eyes.
‘Isn’t this… an opportunity?’
Until now, I had only thought about escaping this castle. But Theodore had no intention of sending me to the Imperial Palace, nor of eating me.
A rabbit who had forged an Oath-Bond with the head of a count’s house boasting the Empire’s supreme military might.
Not a pet, but an adopted daughter under the protection of the household head.
Perhaps staying here was the better choice?

“But to proceed with formal adoption, there is one condition.”

To be adopted, I need to master Humanization.
The fact that they’d even assigned a teacher for it—wasn’t that proof that I had a genuine possibility of achieving it?
‘That’s right. Last time, I could even speak.’
Yes, let me give it a try. Humanization!
Nabom quickly shifted her posture and clenched her front paws, thrusting them upward into the air.
‘Hmm?’
Suddenly noticing a red smudge beneath her front paw, Nabom curled her body into a ball and examined her feet.
When she rubbed it against the blanket, red particles came away and the smudge quickly disappeared.
‘…What is this?’

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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