I Raised the Fallen Lop-Eared Rabbit into a Yandere 6

Chapter 6: Loss of Control

“Oysters! Oysters! Fresh oysters!”

Before the sun was up, the market was already bustling.

Soot and steam carried the splendor of the Dezhou continent to every corner the sun could reach. However, the lower classes of this land were struggling on the edge of subsistence.

The fragrant, roasted aroma of chestnuts floated in the air. A lady in a lace dress covered her nose and mouth with a handkerchief, hurrying past a stall displaying wheels of cheese and pickled herring. Meanwhile, a ragged child laborer squatted on the steps, staring intently at a steaming meat pie.

The crisscrossing alleyways were piled with fish guts and horse manure. Dirty water flowed down moss-covered slopes to the city wall, slowly soaking a homeless man’s straw mat.

He slept fitfully. The stench of sweat mixed with the smell of blood, attracting a swarm of flies. A gentleman passing by frowned slightly and quickened his pace. Even the servant following behind him wore a look of disgust.

Adele circled the market three times before finally finding the legendary black pawnshop.

She looked up at the fresh sheep’s head hanging from the door beam and instantly broke out in goosebumps.

The sheep’s head was still steaming, its slightly open eyes staring right at her…

It was utterly bizarre.

Adele took a deep breath, stepped over the slimy puddles of tissue fluid, and walked inside with trepidation.

A dim kerosene lamp illuminated mountains of account books. The musty room was filled with the smell of cheap perfume.

The pawnshop owner sat at a counter that was a head taller than her customers. She didn’t look up at the sound of footsteps, not until Adele slapped a gleaming gold insignia onto the table.

It was the original Adele’s family insignia, encapsulating the glorious epic of a family. Every detail had to be approved by the College of Arms and the certification office.

Only a noble could possess one.

The pure gold insignia shone with a blinding light in the dim space. The outer ring was encrusted with top-grade demantoid garnets, their rich emerald-green hue exuding luxury. The fire of the gems was exceptionally brilliant from any angle.

The air stagnated for a few seconds before the pawnshop owner raised her head. Grabbing a magnifying glass, she sized Adele up from head to toe.

Sleek, well-kept long hair, a tailored suit of clothes, freshly polished leather boots, and an air of nobility that radiated from within.

Completely different from the petty thieves who lurked in the underbelly of society.

“Alright, I suppose this insignia is indeed yours.” A smile finally squeezed its way onto the owner’s face as she probed, “But why would you want to sell such a fine item?”

Even if a family had fallen into decline and times had changed, it was rare for a noble to pawn an insignia that symbolized their honor.

Adele understood that the person before her was still suspicious of her identity, but she had already thought of a countermeasure.

“Is this sort of thing really that great?”

Adele gave no reason, her tone exactly like that of a spoiled brat. As she spoke, she pulled two more insignias from her pocket.

With that, she only had one last insignia left in her pocket.

Adele didn’t understand why the original Adele, with the time it took to grab these insignias, hadn’t just taken gold bars or jewels instead.

But she had no time to ponder it. Lina was in urgent need of money.

The pawnshop owner’s eyes widened. She scrambled down from the counter and ultimately traded seven bags of gold coins for the three insignias.

Adele weighed the money bags in her hand, her worries undiminished.

In her original world, she was an equestrian coach. Besides being able to teach Lina how to ride and help her improve her physical condition, she was far from being able to teach her about military and political affairs.

On the continent of Dezhou, education was a luxury. The money she got from the insignias could probably only hire one private tutor.

Adele walked onto the street, preoccupied with her worries. Just as she was fretting, a disheveled and untidily dressed woman suddenly went berserk and charged toward her, knocking her to the ground in the blink of an eye.

In a dizzying spin, Adele felt someone shove a book into her arms.

By the time she came to her senses, the woman was gone, leaving only a glaring, bloody footprint on the stone pavement.

Who was that?

She looked at the book in her hand.

And what does this mean?

***

The manor was in an uproar.

“Miss Lina, I’m afraid these things can’t be thrown away.”

The maids stood with their hands on their hips, forming a circle around the hired movers and Lina.

Two baskets of ritual items and several boxes of religious books were open for all to see.

“Mr. Herte will not allow it. You should take them back. Don’t make things difficult for us.”

Lina hung her head, her hands tightly gripping the hem of her clothes. Her thin shoulders trembled slightly under the malicious gazes.

The people in the manor didn’t truly treat her as a young miss.

Everyone knew she was just a sacrificial offering.

A strict class hierarchy needs power to be maintained. From a country down to a family, Lina had no power. So what if she was the young miss? As long as Herte didn’t stand up for her, she was nothing.

A sacrificial offering was lower than even a servant.

Everyone knew this full well.

Lina’s face turned pale. Although she had cleverly used Adele to deal with one person before, facing so many dissenting voices at once, she was momentarily speechless.

“I… I…”

Her words were cut off.

“I say, Miss Lina, are you done yet? When Mr. Herte comes back and asks about this, it will be really difficult for us to explain.”

“But…” Lina wanted to say more, but the maid spoke again.

“I hear that for those who are to be sacrificed, there are many steps to complete before being burned to death. Since you are to sacrifice yourself, I advise you to study hard. It’s a small matter to bring trouble upon yourself by making a mistake, but for a lowly body to incur heavenly punishment—that is the unforgivable sin!”

The words were like a resounding slap. The immense humiliation sent Lina’s head spinning. She trembled all over, unable to utter another word of rebuttal, wishing she could just disappear into the ground.

Grievance and shame welled up in her heart. She stood there helplessly, as if she might faint at any moment.

“How insolent!”

A sharp female voice came from behind the crowd.

The onlookers first fell silent, then automatically parted to form a path.

Leather boots clicked rhythmically on the stone slabs, each step like a silent judgment.

Adele stopped in front of the maid who had just humiliated Lina.

“My lady…” The maid knew her status was noble. Seeing her displeased expression, her arrogance vanished in an instant. She stammered, “I… I was wrong…”

“Do you know what kind of person I hate the most?”

Adele’s brow furrowed, the frost on her face cold enough to kill.

Those who cannot distinguish right from wrong, who aid the wicked.

“I…”

“Pack your things, then get back to the labor bureau and learn some proper manners.”

The maid’s face turned ashen. The onlookers were as silent as cicadas in winter, afraid of drawing the fire onto themselves.

Adele had dismissed a person with just a few words. Making an example of one to warn the others was a necessary move.

She walked to Lina’s side, swept a cold gaze over the crowd, and said in an icy voice, “From today on, I do not wish to see anyone offend Miss Lina again—”

“She is my student.”

To offend her is to offend me.

With the precedent set right before them, everyone present lowered their heads. Not a single person dared to look directly at Lina again.

“Hurry up and throw out those improper things for me. The previous instructors were truly a bunch of unpresentable, half-baked amateurs…”

Adele’s face was full of contempt, her performance of arrogance and pickiness flawless. It also served as a legitimate excuse for clearing out the Sacred Cult’s paraphernalia.

The little rabbit ball herself had a face drained of all color, filled only with shock.

Someone stood up for her!?

It’s Teacher.

It’s Teacher again.

Lina looked up at Adele and secretly pinched her thigh, carefully confirming that what had just happened was not a hallucination.

Catching the gaze of the person beside her, Adele turned her head. Although her face was still taut with a layer of frost, her eyes had softened.

“Come inside with me. It’s time for the evening lesson.”

She turned and walked away without another word, not noticing the light in Lina’s eyes suddenly vanish.

Because the comments were scrolling—

【Isn’t this too much of a coincidence? The moment the female lead is offended, she appears.】

【I feel like this was also designed by the instructor to further capture the little rabbit’s heart.】

【Agreed. I saw the look in that rabbit ball’s eyes change.】

【Tonight is a full moon. Rabbits will forget everything that happens tonight. Believe it or not, that instructor will definitely show her true colors.】

***

The corridor was quiet. Lina followed behind Adele with her head down, step for step. She was so immersed in the comments she’d just read that she didn’t notice the person in front of her had stopped.

“Oof…”

Lina bumped right into Adele’s back. She smelled the faint fragrance on her teacher—the top note slightly cool, the base note very gentle. But before she could savor it, her legs went weak and she knelt on the floor.

“I was wrong!”

Kneeling, apologizing, asking for punishment—all in one smooth motion.

The words of concern Adele had been about to say all got stuck in her throat. She couldn’t describe her current mood.

The scene of Lina being humiliated just now kept replaying in her mind. The young woman’s moist, red-rimmed eyes, her helpless expression, were so familiar, so familiar that it felt like she had seen them somewhere before…

So familiar that just the hazy memory of it made her feel incredibly agitated.

She had been a step too late today, and Lina had been bullied. What if she had been even later? What else would the little rabbit ball have had to endure?

She didn’t dare to think about it any further.

Now, looking at the person kneeling at her feet, a thick wave of anxiety washed over her.

There was no time.

In two months, she had to be completely transformed, otherwise…

An indescribable unease screamed from the depths of her soul. Adele felt as if she were suspended ten thousand meters in the air by a single fishing line. One wrong move, and both she and Lina would be smashed to pieces.

Why was she feeling such intense unease?

This had already surpassed a transmigrator’s concern for a character.

Adele turned her head away, unwilling and unable to bear seeing Lina’s stress response again. She took two deep breaths before she managed to calm down.

“The floor is cold. Get up quickly.”

As she spoke, she was about to help Lina up, but her wrist was suddenly grabbed by a pair of small hands.

“Teacher, I shouldn’t have knelt casually. I was wrong.”

Lina held her right hand, her wet eyes full of ingratiation. “Please hit me.”

“Lina, I don’t like hitting you at all, do you understand? When I hit you, I feel pain too. I’m not a masochist, nor do I have violent tendencies.” Adele followed the force of her pull and squatted down. “I have no filthy thoughts about you. I only hope that one day you will have the ability to protect yourself…”

Lina didn’t respond, just stared at her blankly.

“…The things that happened in the past were not your fault. The things they taught you were all wrong. You have to correct them one by one. Even if you can’t change your muscle memory in a short time, it’s okay… My, my heart aches for you…”

Adele had many more heartfelt words she wanted to impress upon Lina, but when their eyes met, the tears that streamed from Lina’s eyes made her throat tighten, and a dense sourness immediately welled up in her chest.

She could no longer lecture.

She just wanted to hug her.

“Can I hug you?” Adele opened her arms. “If you don’t like it, you can refuse me.”

Lina hesitated for a few moments, then took the initiative to crawl two steps closer on her knees. “I will be obedient. I won’t refuse you…”

Hearing her answer, Adele nearly choked to death. She silently pulled Lina into her arms, secretly telling herself not to be too hasty.

The first moment Lina fell into her embrace, she lifted her up from the floor.

“If anyone bullies you again in the future, you have to tell me.”

A faint “Mm” came from her chest. The little rabbit was incredibly well-behaved, nestled in her arms.

Adele held her tightly, her clenched fists making no improper movements. They say a hug can resolve the pain that words cannot soothe. She wanted to give it a try.

Whether it worked or not, she had to try.

Lina was still growing, and her current height barely surpassed Adele’s shoulder. She was also very thin. The absolute size difference made her feel enveloped when she was hugged.

Very warm.

Adele’s embrace was like a trap she had to jump into. No matter how sincere Adele was, Lina couldn’t bring herself to trust her immediately.

Lina had no right to refuse either.

If Adele was happy and willing to be good to her, her life would be better. If Adele was unhappy and unwilling to be good to her, then she would have to suffer again.

Her entire being was now tied to Adele alone. How could she dare to cause trouble?

She could only ingratiate herself.

【I love a size difference! Complete suppression is the best!】

【Actually, I think the heartwarming route is pretty good too.】

【NO!!!!!!!】

【I don’t like it either!】

Lina closed her eyes, no longer looking at the filthy comments.

She kept waiting for Adele to make a move.

Obediently waiting to be bullied.

But time proved Adele’s innocence. She did nothing.

Lina gradually relaxed her tense body and carefully pressed herself closer to Adele.

She smelled her teacher’s fragrance for the second time.

It wasn’t the metallic dampness of the classroom, the mustiness of the dark room, or the stench of smoke on Herte.

Nor could any perfume replicate this scent.

The white wolf clan originally lived on the glaciers of the North Island. The coldness in the top note brought to mind a night of the aurora, the white wolf leader standing on the island’s mountain, watching an impending frigid storm, unmoving.

And the long, gentle base note was like a person returning from a long journey through wind and frost, facing their beloved wife, shaking off a coat of snow, and pulling the first rose of early spring from their pocket.

The cold fragrance lingered around her. Lina couldn’t help but take a deep breath.

That was her teacher’s scent.

So fragrant.

Adele smelled so good.

At the same time, outside the window, a silver moon slowly hid its cold light, turning a lustrous golden yellow.

Like amber, or even more like honey.

On the night of the full moon, order collapsed. The night was filled with madmen in the grip of desire.

Some killed, some set fires.

Some reveled in debauchery, some repented frantically.

Some seized the day for pleasure, some were already standing on rooftops.

Lina also grew drowsy. She gripped Adele’s shirt and murmured—

Teacher, I beg you, dote on me more…

【Ahhhhhh!】

【Finally! Am I finally going to get to the good stuff!?】

【I’m a VIP, I want more updates!】

【I’d like to see this instructor’s true colors!】