Bunny Girl Evolution (BOOK 2 COMPLETE) (STUBBED!)
113 – Agent Snowberry Returns

As soon as Elise used {Inspect}, the kitsune winked and smiled. Elise froze for a split second, then responded with a curtsey of her own before sitting down. Seeing that the other woman had no intention of making a fuss, Elise decided she’d just roll with it. Hopefully, their meeting was just a coincidence and wouldn’t cause any problems.

“You look lovely today, Eliza,” said Jeannette. “That dress suits you well.”

“Thank you,” Elise responded. “Yours is beautiful as well. I really like the embroidery.”

“Thank you! I bought it at a boutique earlier today. The dressmaker was very talented.”

“Where did you get your hair dye?” asked Erin suddenly, looking at Elise.

“Hmm?” asked Elise.

“Oh, I just noticed that your hair was dyed,” the kitsune continued, the corner of her mouth tilting in a smirk that only Elise could see. “But it's a very thorough dye. I almost didn’t notice. I’m curious where you got it, because I’d like to purchase some myself.”

Elise maintained a smile, but couldn’t help but feel annoyed.

“I got it from a friend,” she said. “I can ask them where they got it and get back to you.”

“Oh, would you? Thank you!”

“Your hair is dyed?” asked Jeannette.

“I wanted to try out a new style.”

“Oh, you’re changing your eyes too!” said Erin, leaning in. “Wow, that is a very good illusion artifact. It must have cost a fortune!”

“...Yes, it was a gift from my father.”

The gazes of the others now held a bit of suspicion. Especially Franz’s.

This isn’t good.

“Hair color and eye color, both fake…” said Franz. “It’s almost like a disguise…”

Now that all eyes were on Elise, the kitsune was openly smirking, giving Elise a look as though asking what she was going to do now. Elise wanted to curse the other woman out, but she had to maintain her cover, so instead, she did the next most reasonable thing. She started crying.

It was only a single tear, but that tear was enough to change everything. The suspicion didn’t vanish, but it was suppressed by surprise and confusion.

“Eliza?” asked Jeannette.

“S-sorry,” Elise stammered. “It’s just- I-” She paused to take a deep breath, as though gathering her composure. “Since Miss Erin has… so kindly pointed it out, yes, my hair is dyed, and yes, I’m using an illusion to hide my true eye color. But I’m not trying to deceive anyone. I’m just- It’s just- My original hair and eye color is a bit…”

She trailed off and looked down, trying to keep an eye on the others in her periphery. Count Humphrey seemed bewildered, and Jeannette looked apologetic. Franz still retained some suspicion, but it was not as intense as before, and it was laced with confusion and concern.

“I was born with albinism,” continued Elise. “My hair and eyes look odd. My brothers teased me relentlessly about it. I wanted to hide it. Keep it secret. But I suppose thanks to Miss Erin, you all know as well.”

Another tear rolled down her cheek, and Franz finally seemed to relent in his suspicion. Unfortunately, the guilt-tripping didn’t seem to have any effect on the kitsune, but it certainly did work on the count and countess.

“Yes, Erin, that was rather impertinent of you to say,” said Jeannette. “You needn’t have exposed her like that.”

“Ah, my apologies,” said Erin. “I wasn’t thinking clearly. I truly did just want to know where you got your hair dye.”

“It’s alright,” said Elise with a smile. “But I’d appreciate if you could all just forget about this and move on.”

She held her breath and wiped the tears from her face as she activated {Fey Bargaining}.

“Of course,” said Jeannette, and the others nodded in affirmation. The others beside Erin, at least. Elise felt the familiar cold sensation in her chest as the deal took hold, and Franz, Jeannette, and Humphrey’s eyes glazed over for a moment. Then, they were all back to smiling.

[ {Fey Bargaining} has leveled up! 45 -> 50 ]

“You look lovely today, Eliza,” said Jeannette. “That dress suits you well.”

“Thank you,” Elise responded. “Yours is beautiful as well. I really like the embroidery.”

“Thank you! I bought it at a boutique earlier today. The dressmaker was very talented.”

I can’t believe that worked, thought Elise.

“Well played,” said Erin’ voice in Elise’s head.

The conversation between the others quickly turned to business as Franz regaled the two eager listeners with tales of his exploits. Elise looked at Franz and smiled pleasantly as he spoke, but her true attention was focused on Erin.

“Just so you know, I was never going to harm you,” continued the kitsune. “If you hadn’t wiped their memories, I would have. The Count and Countess, at least. We would have had to find another way to deal with your man, but it would have worked out in the end.”

“‘We’?” asked Elise with {Whisper}.

“Hopefully! I came here to make friends with you after all!”

So it wasn’t a coincidence, Elise thought with an internal sigh.

“Trying to ruin someone’s disguise isn’t a very good way to try to make friends.”

“I wasn’t trying to ruin it! I was just having a bit of fun. If anything, I was helping. Your disguise is good, but as long as you rely on external means, there will be people able to see through it. I supposed that means you’re a Lesser Changeling then, since you can’t change your hair or eye color yourself yet.”

“Why did you really come here?” asked Elise.

“To make friends!”

“With me? Why?”

“Well, who wouldn’t want to be friends with an aetherborn?”

“So how did you end up meeting Lady Wagner?”

Humphrey’s voice cut through the silent conversation, forcing Elise to pay attention again.

“Oh, we’ve been corresponding through writing for a while now,” said Franz. “We only met in person recently, and I must say, she’s even more lovely than I imagined.”

“Yes, we’ve only been seeing each other in person for a little over a month now,” Elise added.

“Please play along,” she asked Franz with {Whisper}. “I don’t want to look foolish for coming all the way out here to meet someone I’ve only ever gotten letters from.”

Franz did not give any verbal acknowledgement to her request, but he played along better than she could have hoped, even making up a story of their first meeting on the spot. Elise helped keep up the charade, improvising random details to embellish the story a bit until they finished and the conversation turned back to business.

She tuned back out and thought about what to do about Erin. If she knew Elise was an aetherborn, that meant she was probably close with the Ostra higher-ups. From what she understood about how kitsunes worked, Erin was 8th tier, meaning she probably wasn’t on the same level as Freddy or Rayna or Oberon, but she might be just below them, in the same tier as Firona. Especially if she had access to what Elise believed was probably sensitive information.

Of course, there was also the possibility that she wasn’t affiliated with Ostra at all, but what were the odds of that? A monster as powerful as Erin running around with information about Elise being aetherborn who wasn’t part of Ostra? No way.

…I should probably check though.

She didn’t think it was too likely, but at the same time, she had no idea why Freddy or anyone at his level would share the fact that Elise was an aetherborn with someone as careless as Erin seemed to be. Well, Oberon probably would. But if it wasn’t Oberon, then she definitely had an ulterior motive beyond just “making friends.”

“Did Oberon send you?” Elise asked.

“The king?” asked Erin. “No, but I was going to go see him after dinner!”

“Then how did you know I was here?”

“I asked at Ostra, and someone said you were training under Oberon, so I came here and poked around a bit. I saw you at the auction last night, and then traced you back a bit and found out that you befriended the lovely countess at the spa, so I bewitched her and her husband to think I was an old friend and got invited here!”

So she is with Ostra, Elise thought.

Her story still didn’t quite make sense though. She only mentioned asking where Elise was at Ostra, not asking about her aetherborn status, which meant she already knew before she asked. Elise thought a moment longer, and then decided that subtlety was too tiring.

“How did you know I was an aetherborn?” she asked.

“It’s because-” Erin paused. “It’s a secret.”

“Why is it a secret?”

“I can’t tell you that either. But, I can promise you that I’m not here to hurt you. I’m just here to play around for a bit before I head back.”

For some reason, Elise found that statement entirely believable. She tried to examine her own mind to see if she was being influenced somehow, and while she had no skills that would help her notice, she still felt like she wasn’t being manipulated. She would ask Oberon when she got back, but for now, she decided it was best to just half-trust the kitsune. She did just seem like she was there to play around.

“Alright, but don’t try to blow my cover again,” said Elise.

The rest of the dinner went by smoothly. Erin poked Elise a bit more, but she never did anything as extreme as she did at the beginning. After learning that the count and countess had been bewitched, Elise actually tried to use the same ploy against the kitsune, but the bewitching was apparently too thorough. The count and countess had some very detailed memories of their time with Erin. Elise found that incredibly uncomfortable actually. She hoped that Erin was just exceptionally talented, or that the bewitched state was temporary, because it was a terrifying power.

The food was all delicious, and by the end, Elise’s sour mood from her disguise being nearly ruined was entirely gone. The 8th tier chef lived up to his reputation, and his food not only tasted good, but it seemed to have the power to induce calm and pleasant emotions. It wasn’t to the point where Elise felt she was being manipulated, but it did help her have a more positive outlook on her situation.

Erin was an unexpected variable, and she had almost made things go very poorly, but not only had it worked out in the end, Elise had gained five full levels in {Fey Bargaining} and learned an important lesson about how it could be used. Plus, even if they got off on the wrong foot, if Erin really did want to make friends, why should she turn away a powerful 8th tier? Especially one with such terrifying powers. She would rather not have someone like that as an enemy.

Franz and Humphrey did get into a bit more specific business talk near the end, but thankfully, it didn’t go too far. Elise had a favorable impression of the count and countess, and didn’t want them to get screwed when Franz was exposed. They made a promise to meet again the next day before the count and countess left, but Elise planned to have everything over by then, so it should be fine.

When they parted ways, Jeannette invited Elise to come visit their estate if she was ever in Rymia, which Elise gladly accepted before taking Franz’s arm and heading back toward the carriage. Erin followed along right behind them, but no one seemed to notice. It wasn’t quite as though she was invisible, but the only acknowledgement anyone made of her was to get out of her way.

When they reached the carriage, Erin stopped and waved goodbye to Elise.

“See you in a bit!” she said.

“Bye,” replied Elise before directing {Whisper} at Oberon the coachman.

“Erin is a kitsune, by the way. And she’s going to visit the castle.”

“I see,” he replied. “Sounds like fun!”

“So…” said Franz as he closed the carriage door and got in with her. “You mentioned perhaps spending a bit more time together tonight?”

“I did…” said Elise.

“My suite at my inn is quite spacious. Would you like to see it?”

“I would love to.”

“Coachman, take us to the Fairy’s Glade!”

“Yes, sir,” said Oberon.

Franz was a bit red in the face, having had a bit of alcohol at the dinner, and with Elise agreeing to go back to his inn with him, he was in an excellent mood. He talked and laughed loudly the whole way back, telling even more grandiose stories of his business deals. Elise smiled and nodded along with each one while trying to keep her foot from tapping with impatience.

Let’s just get this over with already.

The Fairy’s Glade was a nice place, though it was a level below the Wonder Inn where they had just been. It had a very nice atmosphere though, full of trees, with each individual suite being separate from the main building and surrounded by trees. Franz excitedly led her inside, and gave her the briefest possible tour of the kitchen and living room before taking her upstairs toward the bedroom.

“The mattress and pillows are made with infant thunderbird down,” he explained. “Not only are they incredibly soft, but they have some minor electrical properties that help muscles to relax while sleeping. It can also help increase sensitivity.”

Elise caught a glimpse of a set of women’s underwear peeking out from under the foot of the bed, and any doubts she had in her mind on what she was about to do vanished. She turned to him with a smile and grabbed the front of his shirt.

“Oh?” he asked.

He let her guide him over to the bed and push him down onto it.

“Just so you know, I like being in charge,” she explained. “So you’ll need to do everything I say. Or else.”

“Oho, so it’s that way,” he said eagerly. “I’ll play along.”

Elise’s smile turned genuine as she felt {Fey Bargaining} take hold and she saw the System notification.

[ {Fey Bargaining} has leveled up! 50 -> 52 ]

She summoned a sword from Astrid’s Star and pointed it at Franz. His smile turned into a confused frown as he stared at the tip of the blade.

“What are you doing?” he asked. “I said I would do what you say, but I’m not sure-”

“Shut up,” said Elise. “I have a confession to make. I’m not Eliza Wagner. In fact, Eliza Wagner never existed in the first place. My name is Snowberry– Agent Snowberry– and you, Mr. International Con Artist, are under arrest.”

Back at the castle, Sophie was enjoying one of the new books she had just bought on their shopping trip. It was a romantic tale of a young peasant woman who one day found out that she was actually the lost daughter of a duke, and ended up needing to navigate high society with the help of two handsome love interests. Nick called it “stupid” but Bianca said it was one of her favorites, and convinced him to buy it for Sophie. Sophie hadn’t known her for long, but she already liked her new sister-in-law a lot.

When she turned the final page, she closed the book and stretched out on her bed. It was past sunset, but she wasn’t quite feeling tired yet. Plus, she was waiting for Snowberry to get back from whatever training the king was having her do. Sophie felt a little annoyed that the king was taking so much of Snowberry’s time, but he had told Sophie that if they didn’t do that, then they might not be able to live together once they went to Jelor City. Plus, Snowberry never objected to it either.

She laid in bed for a few minutes longer, then her stomach grumbled, so she decided to head downstairs for a snack. She hadn’t eaten dinner that long ago, but ever since she got her new class, she felt that she had to eat more than she used to. She brought it up to Iris- Irylax- whatever she was called, and the only response she got was a shrug. Sophie wasn’t getting fat though, and the food at the castle was good, so she just lived with it.

She snuck into the kitchen and grabbed a few cookies from a pantry that one of the maids had shown her, and then decided to go exploring while she munched. After about ten minutes, she found herself near the main entrance, just in time to hear the door open. She rushed to the entryway, thinking that Snowberry was back, but rather than a rabbit, or the noble lady that Snowberry had been pretending to be, she instead saw an orange-haired woman wearing a dress in a style Sophie had never seen.

THUMP.

Sophie nearly stumbled as her heart suddenly beat so strongly it was echoed through the room, and from the middle of the entryway, the orange-haired woman’s heart did the same. Sophie locked eyes with the woman, and then at the exact same time, both their eyes changed color, Sophie’s to yellow, and the orange-haired woman’s to purple. A moment later, both pairs of eyes returned to their original color, but Sophie had seen all she needed to.

The orange-haired woman’s cores were not ordinary ones. They were denser, more convoluted, but at the same time, familiar. They were the same kind of cores that Irylax had. That Sophie had. They were the product of {Dragon Heart}.