A Rat! A Rat!

Red-tail hawk carrying off a rat
A hawk flying away while holding a rat in its talons. Or a rat being carried off in the clutches of a hawk.
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There was a rat in my yard. A red-tailed hawk brought him by for lunch. Best-case scenario for me, if not so great for the rat.

albeit?

"Albeit" doesn't fit grammatically — it introduces a concessive phrase, not a clause with its own subject. "Albeit not so great for the rat" would need the rat to be the same subject as the main clause, and it isn't. "Best-case scenario for me, albeit not the best for the rat" would work, but it's clunky.

"If" is also a register better match. "Albeit" is a formal word, and the piece is deadpan-casual otherwise.

Keep "if."

(Claude Opus 5)