1.4

Eh, we should've been starting this chapter with more dog food, but Raum has something important to say.

Also, Furan Shi was still sleeping, nestled in his makeshift burrow of pillows and blankets on his share of Cornylius' bed. That is, 8:2 in favor of the bunnyboy.

The python was lying on his stomach beside the sleeping bunny. As per Aleister's rule for his house arrest, he isn't allowed wifi connection, but here he was. He wasn't not allowed to use his phone, anyways, and his stupid uncle wasn't aware flip phones could also access the internet nowadays.

That's how he found out about the orphanage hehe. Stupid uncle too predictable with his wifi password changing. Aleister thought he was being sneaky enough to put "one" as a password every monday, "two" for tuesdays, "three" for wednesdays, and so on. When he began that not-so-tricky technique, Camilius had been fine. But he stumbled a bit when he learned every sunday the password wasn't "seven", but "zero".

Eh, that had been a quick guess, either way.

Raum quietly watched the python, curious about what he's up to. Usually Raum couldn't care less, as a hormonal teen like Camilius would watch random things such as "G*ndam" or "Times the S*mps*ns predicted the future pt. 1"... and there'd be "Times the S*mps*ns predicted the future pt. 2".

The worst this kid had looked up were like these:

• "why do snake normies always get the prey and not me, a majestic python?"

• "how to improve scales for better dating prospects"

• "why can't reptilian demihumans breed with non-reptiles?"

• "how to overcome shedding anxiety on dates"

• "how do i even get a date?"

• "what to wear to impress them prey"

• "how to deal with loneliness as a snake demihuman incel"

Harmless and simple, but completely missing the point why no one ever confesses to him. Oh, there was one.

"I swear I will burn your whole nest down, you sicko." -when he punched someone in the arcade once after flaunting the wealth of his nest and that someone beat him to the claw machine.

Anyways, that's not why he's on the internet. He has some friends, but they're really not like, friends friends. Camilius was pretty aware they only stuck to him for his status as the scary Fontaine young master after getting punched by him, now trying to lick his boots. It naturally goes that Camilius never hung out with them.

So imagine their surprise when Camilius shot a "what did u guys mean by eating bunny meat?" in their chat group. They all scrambled to answer, some holding in their laughter, some their piss.

Bootlicker #1 replied: "plump meat, yummy yummy"

Bootlicker #2: "why? U found one boss?"

Bootlicker #3: "they still tight, boss?"

…Who knows where kids nowadays get their weird lingo from, eh?

Camilius furrowed his brows at the third bootlicker's question. "The fuck did he mean 'tight'?" Raum wanted to furrow its brows, too, but couldn't. Well, because bird.

The python quietly looked at the bunnyboy beside him, where he got his answer somehow, and typed, "I think so?"

Jinx was tightly snuggled in the blankets, how could that not be tight enough, no?

Bootlicker #3: "score! u have a good one boss kekekekekkeekeekkkk"

Bootlicker #1: "not doubting boss, but do you know how to eat one properly..?"

Bootlicker #2: "lololol there's a proper way to that?? lmaooo kkk"

Bootlicker #1: "of course! boss, if u follow the proper way, ur bunny meat would taste the best!"

Camilius wasn't even asking how to eat one, just curious about the phrase "eating a bunny". He could've never thought these psychos really do practice that sick deed. He looked over to his master again, and with some more sympathy welling in his heart, he carefully scooted closer and cocooned Jinx more by wrapping his arms around the blankets that surrounded him.

He could never eat another intelligent being! Just thinking about it makes his scales crawl!

And then he went back to his friends, about to leave the chat group, when the first bootlicker sent a video link. The thumbnail wasn't what he was expecting. No blood, no cooking utensils or appliances, no face of agony or snotty tears.

His thumb hovered above it.

"Mm.."

His thumb withdrew and instead went to the back of the flip phone's lid to close it when he heard the bunnyboy's soft groan from inside the fluff cocoon. He wasn't one to really hug anyone, but since Jinx started sleeping here, he'd always imagined how soft the bunnyboy would be in his arms.

There's only some blankets between him and his fantasy at this point, and soon he'll be able to get this bunnyboy's complete trust. He'll get his hug and his calculus soon.

For now, he'll settle for this.

Actually, there were three rules the rabbit had established.

They can share a nest, but Camilius can't eat him (even Jinx knows what eating bunnies mean? what??).

This master-pet thing would only last for a month, during which Camilius can't brag about it to anyone please take this seriously..

Rewards like hugs and pets would only be when Camilius was seriously hurt or he'd genuinely impressed Jinx or when he got something nice for him.

A weird set of rules Camilius surely would never break but alright. He had agreed after adding his own rule:

They can touch each other's tails.

They never knew what it meant to touch someone's tail, like the rest of the main house. Aleister was human, obviously, but even then he had no interest with another demihuman until Snow. Anton was a weird case with zero social experience outside of the compound, but he never even was fond of physical touching in the first place until Camilius had repeatedly harassed his personal space. And Snow… ah, poor Snow. He never knew what touching the tail meant.

To some demihumans, it was nothing serious. It was an old, silly tradition between married couples, but said couples grew old and wrinkly, and then said couples died. Friends touch each other's tails nowadays as a joke, even though the elders would click their tongues at them.

So, Camilius and Jinx never had a problem with the fourth rule.

Now, even though snakes had evolved into demihumans, they still have some slight problems with thermoregulation, regardless of scale colour. Jinx was warm, adding to it the many many blankets and pillows around him, so Camilius could naturally cuddle him like so.

Furan Shi later woke up with an extra layer of blanket around him. But no, it wasn't a blanket. "Camilius..?"

His weak, groggy voice made the python perk up, shifting up a bit so he could peer over the bunnyboy's face, which was still a little puffed from his sleep.

Their eyes met, one a pair of brilliant reds and the other murky cinnamon. Bedazzled by the face of an unfamiliar man before him, Furan Shi swooped in to peck at his nose.

「 "OOC warning." 」

「 "Whh..?" 」

Jinx's eyes cleared. "Cornylius..?"

「 "Are you sure that's OOC?" 」

「 "... I'll get him next time." 」

Camilius wasn't sure how to react to this version of Jinx. Big, round cinnamon irises, shining against the smooth, dark tone of his skin, looking up at him with such wonder. He subconsciously leaned in to return the light kiss onto the bunnyboy's button nose.

"Morning.." he awkwardly whispered, and only then did he become aware again of his hand placements. Even his tail had subconsciously hugged the bunnyboy at some point. "I.. didn't break any rules, right..?"

Jinx, furrowing his brows, slowly shook his head. "Eh.. good.. morning.."

Before any more words could be spoken between them — heck, Jinx hadn't even finished his morning greeting — the door burst open and in march the dreaded matriarch of the house. Aleister had a smile on his face as he ignored the way his two youngsters were innocently entangled on the bed and approached them, his greetings right towards the bunnyboy in the cocoon.

"Morning, Jiji," he greeted, the nickname naturally falling out of his mouth as he'd heard that name countless times from Snow. As Jinx finally looked at him, he brandished a small, rectangular box to him.

Furan Shi had barely taken it when Aleister was already skipping out through the door. He rushed his 'thanks', earning a plain thumbs up gesture from the other. When he looked down, he realized it was a new phone.

「 "Fuck, it's Gapple???" 」

「 "Host, looks like Aleister can still be your Santa daddy in some ways..?" 」

Ignoring the bird, Jinx wiggled out of the blankets first to open the box. Camilius from the side watched on in amusement. Jinx even knows how to operate a phone? Oh, wow..

"Wah… it really is Gapple!!!"

But seeing the look of genuine surprise and happiness on his small face made Camilius' heart melt, and Furan Shi wasn't even using any skill. Any active skill, at least. He was truly in awe at how people could get excited for such a cheap brand when there's something better like Sumsang out there to drool at.

「 "Isn't *pple more expensive than S*ms*ng, though?" 」

「 "Not in this world, host. Again, your censoring feels wrong somehow." 」

"Master.." Camilius interjected from the side as he instinctively placed his chin atop the other's shoulder from behind. "I can buy you something better.."

Furan Shi could've ignored that, but when Camilius says he can buy him something better, he can trust his words were true. He's not Fontaine's young master for nothing. So he slowly tilted his head. "Like what..?"

'Like Sumsang?'

"Want a Sumsang phone? Ah, and a laptop, too.."

'Fuck..!'

"Does master know how to use a laptop..?"

By the bedazzled look upon his small face, Camilius was satisfied he almost smirked. But the bunnyboy leaned in again to kiss him on the cheek, this time under his right eye that left him stunned. Even if Jinx had crawled out of bed, Camilius was left sitting there, frozen, hand slowly coming up to touch his cheek.

Ah, he should buy that laptop as soon as he was out of house arrest.

——————————

「 "Host, I swear you didn't need to peck his cheek, too." 」

The awkward, cuddly morning transitioned to a more awkward, cuddly afternoon that Furan Shi didn't have time to enter his low tide phase after being high for so long.

If that's even a thing.

With the new phone, like any other teenager, he was glued to it hotly. Camilius was grooming his hair behind him, including his lop ears.

「 "Huh, the contents of this world's internet is basically the same as my original world." 」Furan, ignoring Raum's protests for a while now, finally responded to it.

The brush scratched a particular satisfying spot near the back of his head that made him let out a soft sigh.

That random visit from Aleister just to give him this phone never once occurred in Furan's mind as a possibility. He had always thought that man was only attentive to Snow, but the way he'd awkwardly shuffled into the room, handed him the phone and the thumbs up, was enough for a groggy bunnyboy to learn about Aleister's real demeanor.

Well, moving on.. that had been weird, but welcome nonetheless.

His wallpaper was him and Camilius squeezing himself into the rectangular frame, courtesy of the python moving faster than his instincts to react to it, swiping his thumb against the screen to open the camera and click the virtual shutter.

So, his wallpaper was of him with wide-set eyes, lips parted slightly, and Camilius squishing his cheek against his. The python had to insist on that one shot to be his wallpaper.

Observing Jinx for a while now made Camilius realize that he seemed more adept at using technology despite him coming from a neglectful orphanage. As astonishing as his abilities to do trigonometry.

Problem was, Jinx was using it too much, and it hasn't been in his possession for a full day yet! The petty python decided to randomly pull the phone off the bunny's hands and raised it high above his head.

"Wha- hey..!" Jinx immediately turned to him and tried to take the phone back, only for Camilius to move it farther away.

"Master, you know using your phone too much can ruin your eyes?" the pet replied while his free hand was pushing the bunny gently by the chest. The latter further whined in protest.

"'Ruin' my ass, give that back..!"

Again, the bunny tried taking it back, but Camilius was keeping him at an arm's length. Jinx's eyes darted back to the phone, fingers twitching with the urge to just pounce on his naughty pet and grab it. "B-but I'm your master..!" he cried instead.

Camilius, shaking his head, tossed the phone behind him, landing right on a pillow.

"You are coming with me."

Furan Shi wasn't given any warning when he was pulled out of bed — yes, they never left the bed thanks to his recurring phone addiction. He didn't whine anymore and quietly walked with the python.

「 "Raum, why do I feel like I still have to do something in this world?" 」

The system agent's avatar wasn't around him anymore, but it's still watching him, looking and translating data along the way.

「 "Collect more data..?" 」Raum answered with its own unsure tone. 「 "You must know as a host that you're here to experience the world. This reality."

"Unlike the others, you should be more flexible. No need to go down a specific path. So unless the world tosses a mission out your way, you are rather safe to do anything you wish." 」

「 "Eh, but an aimless story is a bit boring, isn't it?" 」Furan Shi turned a corner with Camilius, and then walked down the grand stairs after a few more steps.

「 "Oh..!" 」Raum sounded like it just remembered something. 「 "there's actually an update to your story frame." 」

Jinx stopped walking for a while, taken aback by how Raum had spoken. His head turned to where the bird could possibly be if it was down here. 「 "What update? Positive or negative?" 」

Meanwhile, Camilius was caught by surprise when his master suddenly halted only to stare at his grandmother's large portrait on the wall above the fireplace in the parlor room.

「 "Depends how you'll… take it..?" 」

「 "Well..?" 」

「 "The tag 'slice of life' was removed." 」

Raum braced itself for the host's tirades or mean comments of Raum being incompetent as a newbie system after it delivered the news, but they never came. Ah, Furan Shi wasn't the kind of person to complain. Right. If anything, he'd be the one who would apologize when someone wronged him.

And right then, "oh, cool," was all Furan Shi had said to his news.

Slice of life getting removed meant no more light-themed facade. And since this story involves mafia, it would soon get bloody. So what? As if Furan Shi hadn't been hacked limb by limb before, no? The only sad news about this was the fact that he would never get involved because he's more affiliated to Camilius, not entirely to the main house.

Sadly, he won't see any other man's blood flowing out of their torso aside from Camilius'.

"I'm glad you think my grandmother's cool," Camilius replied, snapping Jinx back to reality. The bunnyboy stared back up at him with furrowed brows, until he remembered that he was supposed to be conversing with Camilius all this time that he perked up with a grin.

"Y-yeah..!" he cheered, hoping it was enough to convince both himself and the python. Camilius only chuckled, thinking his master was only being shy.

So, he continued his family lore once more moving forward. Furan Shi, so he won't miss any details, had Raum record it as he talked to him. Oh, but for the record, the elders of the Fontaine family do look so young even at the age of eighty. Like that grandmother with the soft wavy updo was only Camilius' mother.

Or by a far stretch, his sister that's merely fifteen years older.

「 "As I was saying, host, no one's safe anymore. Not even you. The chance of dying or getting a traumatic injury is now at 40%." 」

Furan Shi thoughtfully nodded along as the system agent relayed its news. Of course, the python leading the way thought Jinx was so immersed in his story that he couldn't help but smirk so triumphantly.

「 "So, what do I do in this world, then..?" 」

Ah, it's so hard to keep up (and write lol) two conversations at the same time. Raum had only one word to him before it let Furan Shi to listen again to Camilius. An answer to his rather half-baked question he struggled to juggle with Camilius' attention.

「 "Live." 」

Camilius was dragging him further away from the main house, even further away from the greenhouse beside it. Though that single word, "live," wasn't meant to threaten him, his sensitive guts told him otherwise.

"Camilius, where are we going..?"

The python gazed back at him with a small nod. "We'll be meeting my other family. Heh, maybe you'd prefer them than that stupid.. u-uncle."

Even he was forced to call him 'uncle' to the very end.

Furan Shi chose to converse more with his system agent as he mechanically followed the python, like he was the pet between the two of them. Well, just so Raum wouldn't scare him anymore. No way he'd let this bird go on its merry way and watch him overthink.

So, it was a given that he drove the topic back to the original point.

「 "When you said no more 'slice of life', what did you mean? What happened..?" 」

He could hear Raum's sigh overlapping with Camilius' words as the young lad somehow began to relay the story of his childhood life under the care of his aunt that lives near the main house. Furan Shi only gave perfunctory nods and smiles along the way, which went unnoticed by the immersed python.

「 "Snow suddenly had this 'inspiration' to become stronger.. which you already know.. so I won't spoil the biggest ripple yet." 」

And Raum responded no more, forcing Furan Shi to focus on the path. The main house could still be seen far behind them, but most of its parts were obscured, if not entirely blocked, by the foliage of trees and the thick glass dome top of the greenhouse. Thirty-two square kilometers is no joke, even if they won't be necessarily scaling it whole just to get to the so-called Fontaine territory.

Every element along the way took on less of the usual dramatic baroque signature style Furan Shi had gotten used to in the boring old main house and were slowly transitioning to a more familiar Victorian-esque style. The overall landscape of this part of the compound was depressing.

Somehow, the big houses with the pointy roofs sat beyond a tall hedge fence that stretch left and right until its onlookers wouldn't know where it ended on each side. Or rather, the hedge fence seemed to fend off outsiders by intimidating them before they could even think to stare at the roofs beyond it. At the center was a stone arch stretched overhead with the symbol of a white python embedded onto it.

Right. Everything was depressing to Furan Shi who was new. Back in his original world, he had always fantasized a more gothic villa, or just a gothic house to live in with a hot vampire daddy. Who knew it's this anticlimactic to come face-to-face with it in real life?

He quietly turned to Camilius, who was sporting at least a livelier outfit of a simple blue shirt and some short trousers. Thank heavens he lives in the main house.

The python led him right under the arc and then to the main building of the compound there. Furan Shi could somehow feel some tingles in his guts, perhaps nervousness that he only had Camilius to protect him. He'd seen how ruthless the snake demihumans were during the last knife battle, and he didn't want to end up on the opposite side of their wrath.

Camilius gracefully opened one of the large doors and let Jinx in first, only closing it behind them when he, too, had entered. He was about to fetch someone when he felt small hands grabbing at his thick tail.

It was Jinx, who was looking ahead, visibly nervous. He let the bunnyboy wrap his tail around him to feel safe.

"Whose house is this..?"

As Jinx asked, however, another voice was quicker to answer.

"Camilius, dearie..~!" The two looked over to their right to spot a lady in her glamorous black cocktail dress with a long, ruffled chiffon trail behind her.

「 "Female white python demihuman. Strong, maybe thirty or so years old.. Pretty pretty~ goth mama to two kids.. 」

Furan Shi wished he could modify his appraising skill to be more useful.

Anywho, red eyes, white hair — this time in an elegant updo similar to the portrait of Camilius' grandma from earlier — pale skin and some smooth scales scattered across demurely exposed skin. It checks out. This may be the aunt Camilius had been talking about.

「 Fixed condition applied: canceled all debuffs of host Jinx(Furan Shi) during mood=high tide. 」

How convenient.

The pale lady moved as gracefully as Camilius when the young man was in the mood to be mysterious — hips subtly swaying along with her tail, as though she was flaunting her serpentine ancestry to intimidate her audience, and she knew just which muscle and body part to emphasize for it. One foot in front of the other, and then she was in front of them after a couple of soundless steps across the spacious foyer.

She giggled upon seeing Jinx, and even that sounded so melodic, if not bordering on sultry. "This must be the black bunny from last Sunday, hm?" As she spoke, she raised a hand carefully to pat Jinx on the head. The bunnyboy flinched, perhaps intimidated, but nonetheless took it quietly.

「 "Is this a significant character? I forgot lol" 」

「 "Yes? No? Maybe so?." 」

Useless Raum.

Camilius introduced his aunt first, who went by the name Juliana. And when he introduced Jinx, his aunt smirked. "Is he the key to defeating the Selvans once and for all~?"

"I think so," Camilius agreed without a trace of fucking hesitance, wrapping his tail a little tighter around the poor bunnyboy to pull him closer. "This is my new master, Jiji."

Borh Julianna and Jinx were dumbfounded, the former's smile freezing upon her beautiful face.

"Your what now..?"

Her shell-shocked face told them they should be explaining themselves, so after they were seated in the parlor room and served tea with biscuits, Camilius relayed his little plan to become Jinx's pet for a month. Julianna was listening intently, both bewildered and disbelieved that her nephew was unbending when it came to this little plan.

In the end, she had no choice but to express her support, even if done tepidly, else she could either offend Camilius or sour his mood. Everyone knew what a sour Camilius looked like, and they sometimes wished they'd never known.

And then they were served a new batch of tea! Furan Shi, who was a bunnyboy, enjoyed sipping on it so much, even without the extra sugar or milk or honey. It was all he could get, but fortunately his tongue tastes a lot differently than when he was still fully human in his original world.

Right. He's a bunny now.

His legs were swaying as he enjoyed his cup, his toes barely reaching the floor from the chair he's seated in. Julianna and Camilius chatted at the side, while Jinx was listening half-heartedly. Sadly, Julianna was currently the only person to meet in the house. Camilius' cousins were at school, and oh, maybe Camilius would be going there, too, once his stab wound heals a little more this week.

Unlike the Selvans, the Fontaine White Snake clan were more of a matriarchy, with female snakes more powerful and commanding over their male counterparts. That was why they were both surprised and frustrated when Alodia passed the mantle to not only a human and a runt from the Selvan Black Wolf clan, but to a weak male, no less! She should've given it to Camilius ah. Even if her nephew was male, she trusts his abilities and his dangerous aura! And impressing her takes a lot of time and effort!

Alodia's last words were even more unhelpful! What did she mean she's going to catch his husband in another state? Bah, come back here and take care of everything! Camilius still needs you, too!

Anyways, with that out of the way, Furan Shi could see Julianna wasn't as intimidating as she'd seemed at first. It was all but a facade to gatekeep their surname (maybe?) or to keep arrogant outsiders from tarnishing their reputation. Nevertheless, she's a strong character per se. A tall, slender woman with an equally sturdy tail that was disciplined to remain coiled around a back leg of her chair, so much like Camilius who was currently passed out on the table.

…

Eh?

"Camilius really lowers his guard around you, hm~?"

Aunt Julianna had a wry smile on her face, and for a second Furan Shi could theorize she was the one who poisoned her own nephew.

"Why..?" Why did you do this to your own nephew?

But before he could get his answer, Aunt Julianna slumped back in her seat, too. Furan Shi dumbly gawked at the two pythons, not knowing what else to do but that.

It hadn't even registered in his mind that the two were drugged.

「 "Raum..?" 」

The crow appeared on the table. "Yes, Jiji?"

"Ugh, shut up." Now there's no one to hear him, he could finally talk to the bird system with his voice. "What happened?"

"As you can see—" Raum hopped towards Camilius' teacup— "they're drugged."

Furan Shi slowly blinked. "And I'm not..?" He even gazed down at his own body as if that could help.

"Do you want to be..?"

"N-no.. no thank you."

 Jinx stood up so quickly that he jumped when he heard his own chair knocked over down to the floor. The crash also alerted a butler that had been standing in the hallway outside.

"Oh no," breathed Furan Shi, "wha- what do I do..?"

Raum calmly craned its neck and pecked into the nearest filled teacup with its beak. And when the crow's head resurfaced to taste the bit of tea in its mouth, it concluded, "they'll just be sleeping for a while. No need to worry too much."

So its host waited, not knowing what else to do. He watched over the two limp pythons sleep, the tea turned cold, and generally just gawked. The butler outside also never came.

"Should I be seeking some help or..?"

The situation was awkward after some time had passed. It was dumb of him to not run for help, but then again Raum had confirmed they're only sleeping so..

"Raum," he whispered again, "turn off the CCTV for five minutes hehe..~"

"Wh- alright."

The surveillance cameras at two corners of the ceiling slowly craned down as they were turned off. Even the hidden camera in the porcelain cat at the side shut down.

Unsurprisingly, Jinx had an idea seeing two powerful people be vulnerable before him. Instead of investigating the situation, find out who drugged the tea, he planned on manipulating their limbs to do funny poses for him.

After all, Raum can watch his back for him. Aunt Julianna's hand would go to the cream at the side, the other just laying limp so she'd smack her face with the cream when she wakes up hehe. And then Camilius would be lying on the floor like a dog.. hehe.

Nice.

However, Raum wasn't in on this mischievous thing he's planning. It didn't even warn Furan Shi when the people who made the butler unconscious had slipped into the room.

Both men had blue masks plastered to their faces, one holding a rope and the other the handkerchief doused with something that would render their target asleep. They crept closer. And closer, synchronized to each other like they were twins.

The second man, as he neared the bunnyboy's back, wasted no time and quickly pushed the handkerchief against Jinx's mouth and nose, the other hand pushing his head forward from the back to keep him in place.

Furan Shi had just been distracted, so he started squirming around in a futile effort to free himself. "Mm.. mmm!! Mm!!!"

But soon enough, his squirming grew weaker, along with the panicked sounds he was making, until his eyes slowly closed. The bunnyboy turned limp in the man's arms.

The two men looked at each other in triumph. And just then, the surveillance cameras turned back to life.

"I kinda wanna mess with the young master," one of them said, and it didn't matter which one because they look identical with the masks on. The second one nodded curtly as he hiked the unconscious bunnyboy onto his shoulder.

"Do it quickly."

As the second one started carrying Jinx out of the parlor room, the other produced a marker from the inner pocket of his jacket and approached the sleeping Camilius. He drew a silly, swirling mustache on his face, a monocle, as well as a mole under said monocle.

And before he followed the man with the bunnyboy, he gazed right towards the nearest camera and did a suave, two-finger salute.

"See ya, pasta suckas~!"

The surveillance cameras faithfully recorded everything that happened.