The full moon had waned, but its lunar magic still clung to Usagi like a stubborn mist. Her body felt strangely out of sync. Her bunny form, which she had always commanded with ease, felt less like a part of her and more like a separate, stubborn entity. She found herself unable to fully retract her small, white cottontail, and her ears, normally tucked away, drooped slightly beneath her hair like delicate flowers.
Lyraen was watching her from the corner of the sitting room, a small smile playing on his lips. "You've been like this all morning," he said, his voice laced with amusement. "It's rather endearing."
Usagi sighed, crossing her arms over her chest. "It's not endearing, it's embarrassing. I feel like a rabbit with a faulty switch." She swatted his hand away as he reached towards her head. "Can you not touch my bunny ears?"
He feigned a look of mock disappointment, then lowered his hand to her back. "If not your ears then here is fine, right?" Lyraen's hand closed gently around the fluffy tuft of her tail.
Usagi yelped, a sound halfway between a squeak and a laugh, and spun around. Her face was flushed. "No, the ears are okay!" she finally blurted, her hands flying up to cup her own floppy ears. Lyraen chuckled, his golden eyes crinkling at the corners. The sound was a low, warm vibration that made her heart settle. This was their new life: a mix of royal splendor and quiet, intimate moments of play.
Just as the blissful moment returned, a sharp knock echoed through the chamber, making both of them jump. A servant, his face a picture of nervous solemnity, stepped inside.
"Forgive the interruption, Your Highness," the servant said, bowing low. "But Princess luna of the North Star has arrived and wishes to see you."
The playful light in Lyraen's eyes vanished, replaced by an icy coldness that Usagi had never seen before. His shoulders tensed, and his posture stiffened, every inch of him becoming the rigid, unapproachable prince she had glimpsed on the night of the ball.
"I'm busy," he answered, his voice a low, final growl that brooked no argument.
The servant flinched, bowed again, and quickly retreated, the door clicking shut behind him. The sudden silence was heavy and thick with a tension that was entirely new. Usagi looked up at Lyraen, her ears still slightly droopy, her earlier embarrassment replaced with a sudden, sinking dread. She had never heard him speak like that before, so cold and dismissive.
Lyraen turned back to her, and the sternness in his gaze softened immediately. He walked over to her, his hand gently stroking the base of her ear. "Don't worry," he murmured, sensing her unspoken question. "She's nothing. Just a political relic from an old alliance."
But Usagi couldn't shake the feeling that the unexpected arrival of a wolf princess was more than just a passing annoyance. It was the first real shadow to fall over their new dawn.