Bang.
There wasn’t even time to close the door carefully.
‘Where should I go?’
As the Duke said, his mansion was vast, with dozens of rooms.
What if I carelessly enter any room and a servant comes in the middle?
I could hide my body, but then only my clothes would be left.
‘If someone finds my clothes, I’ll become a person who flaps around the Duke’s mansion naked.’
I couldn’t even say, ‘Actually, I’m a sparrow beastman.’
Thud thud thud.
Thud thud thud.
Which room can I safely hide in for a day?
“Ugh…”
It would have been nice if I could transform into a beastman at will.
Regret was only for a moment. Carol ran desperately.
Clatter, clatter.
The rooms in the corners were all locked, and if I entered an open room, it’d be dust-free as if someone was coming and going during the day.
Now there was no time to worry.
It was when Carol started to run into any room.
A hot hand grabbed Carol’s wrist and stopped her.
“Huh?”
Without even being able to check who the person holding her hand was, she was led straight into the room.
Bang.
“This is the room I ended up using, so the servants won’t be able to come in all day.”
“…Louis?”
Why are you here?
Why is Louis, my childhood friend, in the Duke’s Mansion?
“It’s been a while.”
“Why are you…here?”
Before she could thank him for his help, she was about to ask why he was here.
Poof!
Carol’s dress fell to the floor.
Rustle.
And then a small bird came out from between the clothes.
“It’s been a while.”
Louis whispered kindly to the small bird.
Louis bowed his head familiarly and reached out his hand.
Carol hesitated for a moment before stepping onto his palm.
‘Why is he here?’
His face suddenly came close.
“Were you surprised that I came?”
At the question that seemed to read her thoughts, Carol was startled.
And then, without a moment to block it, she felt a warm breath on her head.
Flap!
Surprised by the sudden action, she jumped on his palm.
“You’re cute when you’re surprised.”
Louis, watching her right in front of him, desperately held back his laughter.
“Chirp- Chirp!”
Carol, who ended up jumping on his palm, embarrassed, pecked at his palm with her beak.
Louis Dean.
He is the child of Baron Dean, the lord of a small territory next to Cardiff.
The Dean family is a baronial family, but it was a weak family to the point where the title was meaningless, and Louis was a second son who couldn’t even inherit such a family.
‘Now he’s a minor noble in Warden.’
With hair that was almost black, and shining golden eyes beneath it.
Now he has become a minor noble as an adopted child of a metropolitan noble, but he was still Carol’s only childhood friend.
“It hurts quite a bit.”
‘Should hurt quite a bit!’
Contrary to saying it hurts, he was busy teasing Carol with a smile all over his face instead of stopping her.
She was upset because it didn’t seem to hurt.
“Chirp!”
After puffing up her feathers and threatening him, Louis noticed that Carol was angry and lowered his eyebrows to look pitiful.
“But isn’t it too much to be angry when I saved you?”
“Chirp-!”
She was upset because she couldn’t say a word and changed into a bird. Her siblings could communicate even when they became beastmen, but Carol couldn’t communicate because she couldn’t fully control her transformation.
“What would you have done without me?”
Louis sat at the end of the bed and chided Carol with a voice mixed with laughter.
If she had transformed into a bird in the hallway, she would have…Just imagining it made her dizzy. Carol quickly shook her head and tried hard to shake off what hadn’t happened.
Out of frustration, she pecked at Louis’s nose, who had come close and was looking for praise.
“It really hurt this time.”
Louis muttered, quickly pulling his head back.
Chirp!
She expressed her anger with her whole body by stomping her thin legs on his palm, meaning that it didn’t hurt earlier.
“Ah.”
Louis narrowed his eyes as if he had noticed something.
“Did you miss me that much?”
Louis grinned, interpreting Carol’s anger expressed with her whole body in a completely different way.
She seemed naive in the past, but she felt like she had absorbed strange water after living in the capital for a long time.
Shook, shook.
Carol shook her head in a big way. No matter how big a sparrow’s movement is, it’s just there.
“Kidding. Are you very angry?”
Instead of answering, Carol jumped off his palm. She flapped her wings and sat on the pillow at the end of the bed, turning her head.
Even though he knew that an adult who couldn’t handle a small bird would look ridiculous, Louis didn’t care and pleaded with Carol, propping his chin.
“I was worried because you weren’t in good shape the last time I saw you.”
“…”
“Don’t be angry. Okay?”
Carol was weak to Louis.
Now he is much bigger than her, and his slender frame has become as strong as any knight through training, but the Louis Carol remembers was always a boy smaller than her.
A boy with brown hair and shining golden eyes underneath.
Carol, who had turned her body and buried her head in the pillow, sneaked a glance. Louis, who had read the gaze of reconciliation, lay precariously at the end of the pillow.
‘Why is he lying down so pitifully in the corner?’
Since there was no way to express this with her body, Carol quietly took up most of the pillow.
“…Are you okay now?”
Louis asked in a tender voice. The last time he saw her, she was still unable to recover from her parents’ death.
The voice full of worry touched Carol deeply.
It seemed awkward to transform into a bird as soon as they met after a long time. She thought he was acting unusually because he could only talk to himself.
A beat later, she understood Louis’s behavior.
Nodding.
He touched Carol’s cheek with his finger. This time, Carol didn’t peck at his finger with her beak.
‘I’m sleepy…’
Running around all night, a deep fatigue pressed down on Carol’s small wings.
‘No matter who comes in, Louis will somehow handle it.’
Knowing her situation, she felt relieved with Louis. Her eyes slowly began to close.
‘What could be the reason for it being much earlier than I thought?’
Whether she miscalculated the timing, even after thinking again, it wasn’t.
It was definitely after the founding ceremony.
Margaret Chessworth visited the Duke’s Mansion much earlier than Carol expected.
The inside of the Duke’s Mansion would be quiet as any other day.
However, the peace that the old, unchanging tranquility had maintained had already collapsed.
After she arrived, the quietness was the calmness that was met when walking into the eye of the storm, something she, at least, must not forget.
“You can sleep.”
I’ll contact Dylan and Kevin.
Louis whispered tenderly. With those words, Carol fell into a deep sleep.
****
Early in the morning, before the servants went to work, the doctor visited the Duke’s room again.
“This is the first time I’ve seen such a quick recovery.”
The doctor admired the Duke’s condition, which was markedly different from usual.
“Is that so?”
“Indeed, it seems that mental state greatly affects the body.”
“I see.”
“But compared to before, you’re not fully recovered yet. There’s still some residual heat, so you need to rest.”
“I’ll keep that in mind.”
At the Duke’s words, the doctor, Julian, left the room after the examination.
Mrs. Wells, who had tidied up the bathroom and came out, locked the door after seeing off the doctor.
There were a few times when a servant with a mischievous dream pretended to make a mistake and tried to enter the Duke’s room.
Most attempts ended in failure, but after that, Mrs. Wells locked the door more thoroughly.
During the time when the servants were allowed to enter, she strictly controlled the door.
“Duke, the lessons for a few days…”
“Do not take a break.”
The Duke cut off Mrs. Wells’ words firmly.
“Then let’s do that.”
She heard the doctor’s advice to rest, but the master of this castle was the Duke. The master’s words were the most important and absolute. She had no intention of pouring cold water on his rare enthusiasm.
To drive out the smell of herbs, Mrs. Wells opened the window wide.
Cool air rushed into the room like a wave. The Duke was usually very sensitive when he was sick, but not today.
‘Is it fortunate or unfortunate.’
Mrs. Wells clicked her tongue quietly to herself. She shouldn’t have been the only one to know about such a serious matter.
“Duke.”
“Oh. It seems you have something serious to say to me, Jessica.”
The Duke only called her by name when he was not in a good mood, so she could tell that he was uncomfortable even before she brought up the matter.
Mrs. Wells sighed heavily.
The collar of her deep navy dress, which was tight up to her neck, felt stuffy.
“A guest came early yesterday morning and I guided them to the guest room. I should have told you in advance…”
“Ah. I see. Who was it? They must have come through the snow.”
He probably thought of them as someone from the Council of Elders. If Mrs. Wells had heard the story from someone else, she would have guessed the same. They were the only ones who would come to the Winter Castle.
“Lady Chesworth came to visit.”
At Mrs. Wells’ words, the Duke froze.
