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Recently, a certain incident has caused an uproar throughout the whole continent.
It seems to be a phenomenon that happens all over the world these days. Nobody knows the source, whether why or how it happens. It seems to happen at random, ailing someone before they recover and nothing else happens.
Priests and mages have been ordered to check over the conditions of those affected, and they do not manage to find anything malicious nor any hint of the source of the ailment. However, constant and close check ups manage to find that there is no major negative damage to the body. This reassurance that their bodies do not get affected negatively after their ailment ends is all they need to calm the citizens down.
The royal family and the lords of each territory have done their best to spread the good news to the citizens, in order to alleviate their worries. They are also working together with the temples, so that any citizens who are worried may receive a free check up from the priests to make sure that they are truly okay, the mystery ailment temporary effect notwithstanding.
The partnership program with the temples itself is a program recommended by Rock Henituse to the Crown Prince, who saw benefit in doing so—both for his citizens’ sake and his own reputation; like hitting two birds with one stone—and proceeded with the program. Although his position as the next in line for the throne is already secured, what with his efforts during the war and the belated acknowledgement from the current King, Alver Crossman is nothing but ambitious. After all, what better way to improve your reputation among your people than being a good leader for your people?
Anyway, he digresses. The point is that the ailment brings close to zero negative effect on the people experiencing it.
The mystery over the source of this ailment remains, of course. It is the talk of the town, rumors and conspiracy theories popping out in each corner of the Western Continent.
As they are helping Crown Prince Alver in managing state affairs, Rock and Cale Henituse, the beloved twins of the Henituse Duchy, are also in the know regarding this particular phenomenon. In fact, they are one of the few people that Crown Prince Alver has trusted to gather more information regarding this harmless oddity that seems to come out of nowhere, which is how Rock managed to give the idea of “free health checkup” in the first place.
However, the investigation done by them, with the help of the Henituse twins’ allies such as the dragons, the elves, and even the World Tree, more or less delivers the same result.
After thorough investigation, it is more or less confirmed that the phenomenon itself isn’t dangerous. It’s just… odd, and out of nowhere, too. With no real cause of it found, the twins naturally turn towards the possible culprit who can do this kind of bullshit without having any negative repercussions on the victims’ bodies or minds.
The Gods.
Only a divine being could possibly do this kind of thing, and considering there is no negative effect or any demonic aura, it’s definitely not the work of a demon. That’s why, a God—or multiple Gods, if some of them decided to be trolls together for whatever reason—is the only possible culprit. The reason, of course, is unclear.
Why does a God, or multiple Gods, suddenly decide to do this kind of thing? Why do they decide to do this, only to affect the victims for a short period of time, before the ailment disappears completely with no repercussions?
Nobody knows. It doesn’t make any sense.
But if anyone were to ask the Henituse Twins about their opinions, they would say that it’s obviously because the Gods are bastards. There is no need to understand their motives, because they are bastards.
“Fucking bastard, the lot of them,” case in point, Cale Henituse says exactly just that. His foot thumps on the floor below him, the red haired man bouncing his foot in irritation as he sits. “Who the hell decided that doing this kind of thing is funny? And it’s so random, too!” He spreads his arms to gesture towards the whole room, meeting the eyes of the people inside it with a ferocity that would have scared his enemies.
It is just Cale’s luck, however, that the ones residing within that room right now are his family and friends, ranging from his own twin brother Rock, the three children, Choi Han, Eruhaben-nim, Lady Rosalyn, and fucking Ron.
Ron, who smiles at him like he’s a little kid, all gentle and grandpa like. But no, Cale knows better now. Cale totally knows better now! His brown eyes clearly display the mirth within them, and the shitty old man doesn’t even really try to hide his sadistic amusement that much anymore, not ever since Cale finds out that he’s not just a normal servant.
Of course, it’s been clear for everyone here that despite that little fact, Cale is not afraid of Ron. Oh, Rock is sometimes still nervous around Ron, no matter how Cale knows that Ron absolutely adores his twin brother (as he should, truly). Anyway, he digresses. The fact is that Cale is not afraid of Ron. His little sadistic streak and his capability to kill people without them noticing are nothing for him. He’s still the Ron who changed his nappies while he was a little kid. That old man survived months of wiping Cale’s butt clean, he can survive Cale being bratty forever.
That is why!
That is why, Cale proceeds to call Ron out on his behavior, complete with another thump of his foot on the floor, with no fear for his life whatsoever.
“Ron! Stop laughing!”
Ron, the old bastard, actually laughs in response. It’s just a little chuckle, though it makes Rock shiver beside him which seems to please Ron even further. Sadistic old man. “Hoho. I was not laughing until you mentioned it, young master Cale. Please do not accuse this old man of anything. You made this Ron very sad.”
Cale scrunches his lips, visibly cringing at the lie spouted by his old servant. “Stop that,” he says, grumbling. “I can see you laughing with your eyes! You think I wouldn’t know?!”
“Hoho.”
“Pfft,” a small scoff leaves the lips of the mage in the room, and Cale swivels his body to face the source.
“Lady Rosalyn.”
“Ah, forgive me, young master Cale,” Rosalyn puffs out another chuckle, covering her mouth with an elegant hand. Mirth is also present in her eyes, though there’s none of the sadistic streak he can see from Ron’s sometimes. Hers is just pure fondness, one that Cale accepts as graciously as he possibly can, which is usually with the awkwardness of a newborn duck. “I can’t help it, when you’re being so cute.”
“?!” Case in point, Cale flinches in surprise at the honest admission, the red haired man stiffening on his seat. Pink blooms on his cheeks and neck, the young nobleman finding it hard to look at Rosalyn when she’s so earnest. It’s clear that she doesn’t have any bad intentions in her words, after all; years of listening to nobles speak bullshit have taught both Cale and Rock on how to perceive and figure out sincerity.
…Still, being called cute is a bit…
“It’s probably because of the ears, nya~”
Hong chooses that moment to speak up, meowing cheekily towards him from where he’s perched on the table. Beside him, Ohn snickers and bites on her cookie, her tail seldom moving from side to side.
“It’s definitely because of the ears, nya,” she supports her brother, yellow feline eyes squinting a bit as she snickers again, as fearlessly as the day they decided to ‘pay for their meals’ and stick with Cale and his brother.
As if in response to the Cat children’s words, the ears on top of his head twitch slightly, bobbing up and down in accordance to his emotions.
The sight brings a surprised peal of laughter from both Rosalyn and the Cat Children, though the former at least tries to cover her mouth with her hands once more, apologizing in between her breathless laughter.
Of course, it doesn’t diminish the shame that Cale is feeling at the moment… His ears droop as he covers his face with his hands, the red blush having taken over his whole face and neck.
As if to drive the embarrassment deeper into his gut, the last child of the family speaks up as well, his childish voice ringing loud and clear within the closed room.
“Cale, your face and neck are so red! Are you sick? Is it because of the transformation?”
“...” Cale’s only answer is a muffled scream.
“Probably,” Rock answers for him, when Cale is unable to answer with words. “I remember reports that people sometimes exhibit similar behavior to the animal they get traits of.”
Yes.
Animals.
This is the current problem spreading throughout the whole Western Continent, and possibly spreading to the Eastern Continent as well, considering the information Rock received from his information guild.
People, for reasons unknown, have suddenly gained extra appendages. Similar yet not the same as when Beastmen change into their beast form, as they do not turn into an animal exactly, but rather… obtain certain characteristics.
For example, a few weeks ago, Ron was the one who gained this ailment. He ended up having a pair of grey fox ears and a tail to match with it. Cale and Rock had a good laugh about it for a few minutes before Ron decided it would be fun to be a menace, like a real fox. The old man teased them and made Rock actually run away and leave Cale to Ron’s tender mercy, the traitor . It was unbelievable how fast the old servant adapted to having extra appendages. He even used his tail to help him do his chores?!?!! At least the children were amused and left in awe over how adaptable their Grandpa Ron was, even though Cale and Rock suffered a bit from the pranks Ron cooked up. It only took a few days before the fox's ears and tail suddenly disappeared, and Ron was declared as ‘cured’. His desire to be a menace also died down, though no one but Ron himself would know if those pranks were all because of his fox-likeness or it was just him being a sadist and messing with them all. The dangerous fox traits fit him way too much.
After that, things in the estate more or less calmed down, until suddenly, it is Rock and Cale’s turn to receive this ‘ailment’.
To tell you the truth, it’s not that bad.
It doesn’t cause any of them pain, which is important for Rock who absolutely hates pain (ironic, really, considering how often he ran headfirst into trouble for the sake of his people. Cale wanted to hit Rock’s stupid stubborn head whenever that happened).
Some animals’ appendages might make it harder for some people, like the maid in Henituse estate who suddenly woke up with an orca’s tail. The first two days were spent relearning balance with an extra heavy thing hanging from her back. She also needed to take some dip in the water once in a while, since her orca tail would feel comfortable when it was too dry.
There was also another servant, in charge of the stables, who had to be reinstated elsewhere temporarily because his sudden transformation into a dog hybrid made his nose too sensitive and his sense of smell too strong to be anywhere near horse dung. However, overall it is still manageable.
It doesn’t really change them fundamentally, as their personality still sticks to what it was originally. The only changes might come from ‘animal instincts’ associated with their transformation, however all of them are temporary and often fleeting.
That is why, none of Cale’s family members or friends are particularly worried, at the moment. The changes occurring to both Cale and Rock are more akin to a cute incident than a real, worrying ailment.
Therefore it is fair to say that the one who is most aggrieved is the one affected by the ailment in the first place. Not because it hurts, because it doesn’t. Not because it’s worrying, because he’s not worried about it at all.
It’s more embarrassing than anything, really.
Because… the animal appendages that appeared on Cale’s body belong to one that Cale did not expect.
It has been mentioned before that Ron ended up with fox ears and tail when he contracted the Hybrid Transformation ailment. His annoying fox-like shenanigans aside, the old man actually still looked cool when he was sporting those fox ears and tail.
Cale never really thought deeply about what animal he’d get whenever the Hybrid Transformation ailment hit. Sure, he knows it will hit him eventually, considering how even the Crown Prince isn’t exempt from it, but he never really thought too much about it, you know?
He simply figured it’d be something fluffy and slightly cool, no biggie.
Well.
He was correct in the “fluffy” part.
Fluffy long ears, and a fluffy little tuft of tail on his butt.
…Cale Henituse, hit with Hybrid Transformation ailment, has obtained rabbit traits as his own.
The fur is still red, following the color of his hair. His ears do not flop on top of his head, but they are certainly bouncy enough to droop or stand on attention depending on his emotions.
His tail is not as visible compared to other people’s animal parts, which is quite a blessing. However, the way it sometimes twitches like a ball of fluff also doesn’t help the “cute” allegations, which is terrible for him.
Terrible, because he’s seen the way Lady Rosalyn’s eyes widen slightly before they start to sparkle, the half-hidden cooing noises that are usually reserved for something particularly cute. Which Cale is not, most definitely, at least usually. The him right now is quite probably a bit cute, if even Lady Rosalyn’s poker face is a bit shaken.
Even Choi Han takes one look at his twitching tail and proceeds to nod sagely, the shitty fucker. He’s acting like it makes a whole lot of sense for Cale to be a bunny, which for some reason, pisses him the fuck off.
Especially because even his own twin brother is not a bunny!!!!
Whirling around to look towards his brother, Cale is aghast to find the hint of a smile on his brother’s lips. For Rock, who tends to look the same whenever he’s happy or sad because of his resting poker face, that hint of a smile is enough of an indication of his laughter.
Unbelievable. His own brother, laughing at him!!!
“Rock!” Cale yells, though the way his tone tilts at the end ends up sounding as if he’s whining. Cale doesn’t give a shit; everyone in this room is family to him at this point, and most of them have already seen both him and Rock playing the role of two ridiculous drunkards. A bit of whining between brothers is none of Cale’s concern.
Being called cute and being laughed at by his own brother because of the former, is much more important.
Most of the time, seeing Rock smiling and laughing is everything for Cale. After all, his brother has the emotional expression capacity of a rock, which means that he barely shows anything through his expression, even since he was very young.
The only ones who could bring forth Rock’s various expressions used to be his own family, and occasionally Ron, whom Rock is affectionately afraid of even until now. Whether it was their mother’s affection that made Rock shy and clingy at the same time, or their father’s awkwardness that sometimes brought out Rock’s hidden teasing streak. Or it could be Cale himself, who pulled on his arms and demanded his brother train or play with him like the spoiled little brat he was. And every single time, despite his grumblings and his unwillingness to move unless necessary, Rock would always humor him.
Anyway, he digresses. The point is that Cale grows up with the extensive knowledge of Rock’s every single expression, from the widest of smiles (when he sees profit) to the barest twitch of facial muscle (when he’s holding in a curse). Every single one of his brother’s expressions is precious for him, because Rock barely changes his.
Though, now that Cale is on the receiving end of his laughter, Cale finds it hard for him to think happy thoughts about his brother laughing.
Because he’s laughing at him!
“Rock, stop laughing,” Cale threatens, his stupid foot and his stupid temporary rabbit instinct stomping on the floor once more. “I might look like a bunny right now, but I still can stab you with my fork!”
The children gasp at the same time as Rock schools his expression back to stoicity.
“Gasp! Cute Cale,” now why does Raon call him cute , too?! “You can’t stab Rock! He’ll get hurt and die!”
“Gasp, no stabbing, nya,” Hong joins in, his tail standing tall. “Fork is for eating, not stabbing, nya.”
“Gaaaasp,” Ohn supplies. He knows that girl is just messing with him at this point; she looks unbothered, even when Cale shakes his hand holding the fork threateningly.
“Indeed, young master Cale, it is not safe to stab with a fork,” Ron joins in with too much syrupy sweetness in his tone, and Cale just about knows he’s not going to like the next sentence. Smiling with his eyes crinkling upwards, Ron continues, “If you want to stab someone, oftentimes a sharp, but small blade, is more efficient. Just a single stab to the neck and they’ll go down like poor little deers. Hoho.”
“Gaaasp,” the Cat children gasp theatrically once more, while Raon simply blinks nonchalantly at the description of swift murder. Rock really has raised murder happy kids, and he has the gall to look scared.
Cale rolls his eyes as he wiggles slightly on his seat, fond despite everything. “I hate you all,” he says by principle, his nose twitching a bit right afterward. The whole group’s expression turns all mushy after that, except for Rock who is doing the personification of a still statue, which is disgusting, and Cale vows not to look up what it means for bunnies who wiggle their butts and twitch their noses. It might make him want to plan for an early funeral, if he does so.
“Sure,” it is Rock who answers his declaration, though the wag of the tail behind him doesn’t really help his attempt in looking stoic and serious.
Once upon a time, Cale would be the Absolute Expert in Rock Facial Muscles Dictionary. He’d be the one to point out Rock’s emotions to other people who are not aware of Rock’s sensibilities, particularly the fellow young nobles who tend to avoid Cale while trying to gain favor from his brother.
However, this time around, there is no need for a translator. That is because the Animal Transformation ailment that hit Rock made him particularly susceptible to being unsubtle.
Case in point, his wagging tail.
Different from Cale who has the misfortune of gaining some physical traits of a bunny, Rock has lucked out by gaining the appendages and traits from that of a wolf.
The red wolf ears sit atop of his head, occasionally twitching whenever he listens to a noise from outside of the room. When he opens his mouth, people can peek at the canines he magically gained overnight. Ones that the children ‘ooh’ and ‘aah’d at the first time they saw them. His nails grew, too, though Ron was quick to help him cut them to an appropriate length once Rock accidentally nicked his own skin with his claws. Hand it to Rock to accidentally hurt himself with his own body parts. At this point he is almost sure Raon will wrap Rock with bubble magic to keep him safe from himself.
Rock’s “oops, I accidentally cut myself” shenanigan aside, Cale is more disgruntled over the fact that only Rock gained the traits of a wolf.
They’re twins! Why can’t Cale also be a wolf? If anything, Cale is definitely the scarier twin between them both! The young nobles are more scared of Cale than they are of Rock, even though the ones who crossed the line have learned that they can’t underestimate his twin brother, but still.
Cale should’ve been the wolf!
Rock can be the bunny between them! Or, or a squirrel, or something! Or maybe a raccoon would still make sense, since Rock likes to steal from the people he doesn’t like! He’s even teaching the children to loot the enemies’ dry! It makes sense!
If Cale had become the wolf instead of a bunny, he can already imagine how majestic he would look. Rock and him basically have the same base look and coloring. Rock is just slimmer and paler than him because he’s an idiot who can’t take care of himself or his body figure. Cale, meanwhile, is muscular. He has a slight tan from the times he spent outside training with his short sword together with the Vice Captain and occasionally, Choi Han. He has shorter hair and he doesn’t look like he’s going to keel over with the slightest gust of wind.
When you line up all of the facts like that, doesn’t it make sense for him to become the wolf instead of his brother?
However, the Gods seem to think it’s funny to make Cale obtain the traits of a bunny instead, and it is with this incident that Cale decides that the next time his brother wants to burn a temple down, Cale will not be the damage control. Not even the pleading look from the sparkly Crown Prince can convince him to do damage control anymore. Let his brother run free and fuck the Gods up however he wants.
“I hate you the most, brother,” Cale says just to spite him, pouting. Somewhere along the way, Ohn has managed to jump from the table into Cale’s arms, his finger automatically rubbing underneath Ohn’s chin to make her purr.
Rock, ever familiar with Cale’s mini tantrums and saying words he doesn’t mean, simply huffs. “You’re just mad I’m not a bunny as well.”
“No, I’m not,” he says, just to be contradictory. Ohn has started to climb his chest towards his shoulder. Cale lets her be.
“You’re totally upset because of that, nya,” Hong chips in from where he is now playing with Raon’s tail, the black dragon indulgently moving his tail back and forth while Hong tries to tap it with his paw.
Meanwhile, Raon blinks, his brain processing the information just like how a man might yodel while doing a somersault at the same time. “You’re right, Rock does fit to be a bunny!” He says, nodding sagely as if he’s had a very wise epiphany.
Almost immediately, the people in the room—-who until just now were simply content to watch the conversation unfold—-proceed to finally erupt in various noises.
“Pfft.” Choi Han covers his mouth as soon as a laugh almost escapes him, muffling it with his gloved hand.
“Ahem.” Eruhaben coughs to his fist, glancing away from the twins lest he finds himself tempted to laugh once more.
“Haha!” It is Rosalyn who has no qualms when it comes to laughing, her voice light and her tone cheerful. It says a lot about her when she doesn’t even blink at the sight of Rock’s betrayed stare. If she doesn’t even flinch at Cale’s intimidating theatrics, Rock’s frail look really won’t intimidate her at all.
Clearly enjoying the situation, Ron opts not to say anything, though his close eyed smile tells Rock everything he needs to know about Ron’s opinion.
A bunny really does suit you more, young master.
“...No, why are you all suddenly ganging up on me like this?” Rock mutters without much heat, picking up a cookie. “A wolf suits me just fine. It’s Cale who should be something else.”
“No, no, we should switch,” Cale nudges Rock’s side with his knuckle. Ohn, now on top of his head, meows a bit as she ends up being swayed together with Cale’s body movement. Her paws grip onto the sides of Cale’s head, careful not to use her claws. “You should be the bunny, I should be the wolf!”
“But Cale is a cute bunny!” Raon says unhelpfully, bringing forth another quiet chortle from Eruhaben, Choi Han and Rosalyn. Cale proceeds to send them another glare, though it’s not successful in deterring their amusement. Cale loves Raon very much, as if he is his own son or nephew, but right now his words aren’t helping him any. “And weak human as a bunny would be cute, too!”
Hong nods to agree with Raon’s words, with Rosalyn joining in from her seat. “That’s true, and it fits the both of them, nya.”
Like hell— “I fit being a wolf more,” Cale huffs, crossing his arms and totally not sulking right now. “I hang out with the Wolf children more than Rock does.”
“Oh,” Rock makes a small noise, as if remembering that simple fact.
“Lark and the other Wolves will be happy, nya,” Ohn comments from on top of Cale’s head, one of her paws pushing the bunny ear down to create a cute picture. Rosalyn closes her mouth with her palms at the sight, her eyes sparkling. Then, adding more comments towards Rock, Ohn supplies, “They’ll surround you to no end, Rock.”
“On second thought, perhaps switching with Cale isn’t so bad,” Rock quips at the threat over his social battery, “though Lark is a good boy so it should be okay?”
“Excited wolves,” Eruhaben comments, smirking.
“Excited wolf pups,” Ron supplies, his smile delivering a thousand words.
Rock, predictably, starts to sweat. “Cale,” he says, giving him the puppy dog eyes. It’s obvious that he wants Cale to accompany him in order to keep the Wolf children not too excited, but Cale isn’t feeling that charitable today.
…And besides, the sight of Wolf Rock being surrounded by excited Wolf pups must be interesting to watch. Especially if they want to know what kind of Wolf instincts that Rock has gotten.
They might even invite him to join the pack temporarily. Not only will the attention not be on Cale and his cute features, it would also be so funny.
Just as he starts to snicker, Ohn sighs from on top of his head, exasperated yet also fond at the same time. “At least it will be interesting,” she mutters right next to his bunny ears, the smart little girl she is.
“Let’s go to the training field, brother,” Cale stands up, taking Rock’s hand in his. “Lark and the others are training there right now.”
“Can we do that later…?”
“Absolutely not,” Cale says, his smile blinding. “They’d love to see their new Wolf older brother!” At the mention of an older brother, the other children also perk up, Hong jumping into Rock’s arms and Raon flapping his wings to fly nearby. See? They also want to watch the show.
“No, wait,” Rock says, sweating, “Cale, I’m sorry for calling you cute, you’re the most handsome and most charming, please help me—” Rock rambles on as Cale pulls him toward the training grounds, his friends and family members following along with smiles on their faces.
This ailment from the Gods are bullshit, but at least he gets to have his fun.
But he is still not a cute bunny. Mark his words!