I Became the Emergency Food Supply of the Bear Family - Chapter 54

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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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Chapter 54

‘If I go to the Imperial Palace of my own accord, there’s no problem.’
Even if Theodore were to break the oath, the curse wouldn’t activate.
In that case, even the hostility between Eiña and the Grizzly Family would disappear.
‘……I see.’
Ber gripped the bed sheet quietly.
It’s advantageous in many ways that I’m Eostre’s incarnation.
What will happen to me if I’m taken instead of Eiña and held in the Imperial Palace……I don’t know.
“Well, you’ll have no choice but to accept it soon. Your use of Spring Power is inevitable.”
At his matter-of-fact tone, Ber asked in return.
“What do you mean by that?”
“You must remember it too. An irresistible impulse no matter how hard you try. A desire you always felt before using your power. An instinct-like drive, drawn to those who crave power.”
Hearing those words, she remembered.
The annex she kept finding herself drawn to without realizing it. The form of a dog reflected in a window she gazed out of absently. A pitch-black dog discovered beyond the crumbling castle wall.
“Eostre’s power is so tremendous that even I cannot fully fathom it. Such immense power is crammed tightly into your small body. That is why you could not resist the impulse to use your power. Every living being has a survival instinct, after all.”
“Survival……instinct?”
“Yes. Your body suffers from a fundamental desire to release that power by using it. The fever that tormented you was the price of suppressing that desire. You must circulate that power properly within your body through the use of Spring Power. Only then will you be able to survive.”
Ber could not easily understand Pallas’s words.
“So that means……if I’m to survive, I must continue using Spring Power from now on?”
“Precisely. The reason you couldn’t humanize until eight was also because of that power. Because you used Spring Power in great quantities while treating Ribe’s curse, the power circulated and you were able to succeed in humanizing.”
So that meant, after all.
Ber’s eyes rolled slowly.
That day when she dreamed Coco’s dream. Was she able to humanize because she used Spring Power for the first time then?
“Your body has held up remarkably well, living without major side effects until now. But that too has reached its limit.”
Pallas’s gaze turned toward Theodore and Ribe.
“So I cannot keep her confined to the Northern Region any longer. She must leave the castle according to the instinct of her power. She must heal those who need Spring Power.”
Theodore and Ribe nodded heavily at Pallas’s assertion. Only after receiving affirmation from Theodore and Ribe did Pallas meet Ber’s eyes.
“It is something utterly inevitable, instinctive, and natural for you as Eostre’s incarnation.”
“…….”
Ber swallowed dryly while holding Pallas’s gaze.
I see. If I truly am Eostre’s incarnation, then I must go. Beyond the castle walls.
‘I’m fourteen this year.’
The original story begins two years from now. And in the latter half of the work, when Eiña headed to the Imperial Palace, it was around winter after she advanced to her second year at the Imperial Academy.
If the original flow doesn’t change and I’m taken instead of Eiña, that would be around winter three years from now.
‘Winter when I’m seventeen. Roughly eighteen……’
After finishing her calculations, Ber gazed at Theodore and nodded.
‘That’s enough.’
My life had already ended once.
After that, I was born again as an Arctic Rabbit. My original fate was to linger on in a narrow Imperial Palace dungeon underground, trapped in a rabbit’s body.
Theodore was the one who saved me from that.
“……Still, I’m glad I could be of help to both of you.”
At Ber’s sudden words, the faces of Theodore and Ribe turned deathly pale.
“Don’t say such things. I didn’t bring you here to treat Ribe’s condition. I……”
“I know. You are my benefactor, my lord.”
At Ber’s smile, Theodore averted his gaze, unable to meet the child’s eyes. Yet Ber continued to smile.
“I’m just happy. Since I can only survive by using my power anyway, I want to use it for those I cherish. I’m even proud that I used my power for the lady first.”
She had always been a burden to her family. But this time was different.
There was something she could do for her family. She could protect them.
Eostre’s power. If such power truly dwells within me, I might be able to accomplish far more than I ever thought possible.
“Pallas. Can the urge to heal someone be suppressed?”
“With training, it should be possible.”
“And if I fall asleep every time I heal someone, will training help with that too?”
“Of course.”
Pallas nodded and smiled with satisfaction, as if he had guessed Ber’s resolve.
“Then please train me, Pallas.”
“Ber.”
Theodore wrapped his arms around Ber’s shoulders with a worried expression. Ber looked up at Theodore and smiled.
“My lord. If I must leave the castle, I want to enroll in the Imperial Academy. I’ll train hard and develop the strength to protect myself before then.”
“…….”
“I……want to live a little longer.”
Ber gripped Theodore’s calloused hand tightly and laughed.
“With my beloved……family.”
Theodore did not answer.
He gazed at Ber quietly, then slowly reached out and stroked the small head.
Ribe, who had been watching the two, also approached Ber and drew the girl’s small form into an embrace.

***

Ber’s secret was known only to a select few among those associated with Grizzly Castle.
The Count and Countess. The young Count and the second son. Ber’s direct maid, Anna. Perdi’s magic tutor and Ber’s teacher, Pallas. The squire Alexei and formal knight Olsen of the Sled Dog Knight Order, and their commander Nuk. And Heinz, the tutor who had taught the Grizzly children.
Many people had come to know the secret, but none of them changed their attitude toward Ber.
The fact that she wasn’t seized by anxiety even after gaining certainty that she truly was Eostre’s incarnation seemed to be thanks to those around her.
She could confirm the Spring Power dwelling within her far more quickly than expected. The reason was that intensive training had begun.
The Back Garden of Grizzly Castle.
Ber’s body glowed white and dissolved. White ears popped out from beneath the brown dress’s neckline. The rabbit that slowly crawled out from the dress covering her body shook itself, and the scarf covering its face fluttered away.
Pallas knelt, quietly observing the little nose twitching as it caught the scent of fallen leaves.
“Stop.”
Pallas placed his index finger on the small nostril covered by white fur and spoke firmly.
“Suppress the instinct to smell.”
‘Is……this training too?’
Even the voice questioning in her mind sounded slightly dazed. Pallas chuckled and nodded.
“Yes. To suppress the impulses triggered by Spring Power and use your strength only when you desire, you must grow accustomed to resisting instinct.”
‘…….’
“The reason we conduct training in rabbit form is because the instincts that arise when you’re an animal are far more difficult to resist.”
So today, yet another peculiar form of training was beginning. Ber narrowed her eyes.
From the very first day of training, Pallas had forced her to use Spring Power by sacrificing his own body.
She had placed her paw on his wounds countless times, and each time, brilliant light would erase the wound without a trace. Through the brief dreams connected to Pallas that came with each healing, she had no choice but to accept it.
That she possessed Spring Power.
Pallas soon straightened his knees and stood. Then he reached his hand toward the fallen leaves piled beneath a tree.
As if magic had activated, the leaves caught the wind and swirled, scattering down onto the white rabbit’s back.
“Now. Try to endure.”
Though it was a somewhat absurd form of training, Ber did as Pallas instructed.
The scent of fallen leaves felt through the Arctic Rabbit’s nose resembled a fragrant tea. A slightly charred note lingering beyond the nutty aroma. It was an alluring scent that made her want to inhale deeply, but Ber shut her eyes tight and endured.
“Good. You’re doing well. Stay focused just as you are.”
With those words, silence fell around them. When she opened her eyes because she felt no presence, Pallas was nowhere to be seen.
‘Where did he go?’
As she stood there vacantly staring into empty air, a familiar voice suddenly came from her right.
“Snowflake!”

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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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