There was an incident where a maid, who worked in the Duke’s Mansion, sneaked into the Duke’s bedroom thinking she wouldn’t be noticed, but was discovered.
At that time, the maid screamed and fainted on the spot.
The Duke’s Mansion paid her a substantial hush money and had her sign a confidentiality agreement before letting her go, but after that incident, the Duke became even more immobile in his room.
He didn’t even want to call someone to fix the curtains, so he left them as they were.
He lived with the blackout curtains drawn, except for one side.
Anyway, whether there was light or not, it didn’t matter to the Duke who had lost his sight along with the curse.
“…Honestly?”
“Don’t think about lying now.”
“…”
“What are you thinking?”
Carol cautiously spoke at the Duke’s urging.
“Shouldn’t we…comb the fur?”
The fluffy fur looked clean, but the parts that couldn’t be reached by hand seemed to be a bit clumped because they couldn’t be combed properly.
“Fur?”
“Yes.”
“I didn’t expect you to point that out.”
“It’s the part that bothers me the most.”
Because it seemed very uncomfortable when the fur got tangled.
“…Aren’t you scared of me?”
“What I’ve learned from living in poverty is that it’s not the scary-looking people who are scary, but the people who can’t understand words.”
Even if they wore human skin, she knew a few people who had a worse personality than a demon.
When Carol spoke in a bitter voice, the Duke did not answer as if he was lost in thought.
Carol put the quiche back on a new plate, and instead of handing it to him, she put it on the table between the bed and the door.
“Now you don’t have to eat in bed, do you?”
At her words, there was a dull thud.
When he got up from the bed, she could see him more clearly. A giant height of about 7 feet (approximately 210cm), overall silver but the tail part was closer to a darker gray.
The tail was still motionless as if it was anxious, and the ears that were pricked up seemed to be moving using other sharp senses in replace of sight.
“Hm-.”
Carol went back to the door, picked up the plate, and put a mouthful of quiche in her mouth. The savory cheese and soft eggs, and the refreshing tomato bursting in between.
“You eat too.”
“I’m eating now?”
“So…together.”
“Huh?”
“I don’t have a nasty hobby of eating at the table alone and making the lady eat on the floor.”
Another quick progress. At the Duke’s suggestion, Carol quickly picked up the plate and ran.
Thud, thud, thud, thud.
Carol quickly sat across from him in case he changed his mind. Eating on the cold floor was actually a bit of a struggle. Her buttocks and waist were sore.
“Should I bring some warm water?”
“I’m fine…”
He was covered in fur and was in a cozy bed, so he might not know. Carol coughed and cast an awkward act.
“Oh, it’s a little cold because I was sitting on the floor.”
“…”
Is it because of calling people?
Before the Duke refused, Carol added to her words.
“I know where the kitchen is.”
“Permission granted.”
It was awkward, but it was an act that was enough to pass for the Duke. It was a quick progress.
****
Carol tried to calm herself down. There was no reason to be excited.
The reason why Carol faced the Duke was because various luck followed her.
‘I’m not special.’
To Edward Winternox, the existence of Caroline Langston was a person who was not so shocking even if discovered, surprised, or disappeared.
When you fall, you don’t want to see the people you knew when you were at the highest place.
In the novel, his fiancée, Margaret Chesworth, wouldn’t be able to meet the Duke for at least over two months, but it only took her 3 weeks.
“Chirp-.”
She sighed, but instead of sighing, she made a chirping sound because she hadn’t turned into a person yet.
Surely when she came to this world, she made the first resolution. She won’t get involved with the Duke. Because it’s overwhelming to take care of her life, let’s avoid it as much as possible.
Anyway, in the usual way, a commoner, she, who is in the northern outskirts, will not meet the Duke.
‘If it doesn’t go according to the original…that should be fine.’
But Carol gathered her heart.
She knew and entered the Duke’s Mansion, so she just needed to keep her mind straight.
Carol, who was looking out the window, unconsciously tapped the window glass. It was a habit she developed while living as a sparrow.
The sparrow, which was almost round due to the fur, was reflected in the window.
The sparrow liked it. But liking a sparrow and becoming a sparrow were two completely different stories.
When her parents passed away, she had to make a living, but she couldn’t transform into a human during the day and was eaten up by distress.
Then Carol met him.
‘Oh my.’
A careful touch, unlike the giant nails.
Edward Winternox, whom she vowed never to get involved with.
****
The time was not long after her parents passed away.
The weather was annoyingly sunny, as if asking when the heavy snow had fallen.
While other places were on the border of transitioning from a sunny summer to autumn, it was irrelevant to Cardiff.
Cardiff, which had a very short summer, was still cold.
Her parents were victims of an unusual snowfall in Cardiff, she heard the news that it would be difficult to even find the body buried in the snow, but she couldn’t give up.
[Since the weather has gotten a little better, can’t we search more?]
But reality was still cold.
[But the snow isn’t melting enough.]
[I heard that several bodies were found…]
[We’ll take care of it ourselves. It would be better for you to go away and not interfere with the work.]
So Carol had to give up even finding her parents’ bodies.
As much as unusual snow fell in the summer, the early autumn was cold but the sun was bright.
In Cardiff, even this weather was rare, so people often went out more than usual, and it was a time when the north was more lively.
Everyone was happy, and she often burst into tears, feeling like she was the only one who was unhappy.
‘No… If I collapse here too…’
Although the sunny weather was annoying, Carol had no time to rest. After her parents passed away, she had to work as it came.
Thanks to that, she was able to maintain her livelihood somehow.
But maybe because she started working suddenly before she could properly sort out her feelings?
The change came suddenly.
Around the time spring came, from some point, she couldn’t transform into a human even at night.
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t turn into a human.
Just like when she first came to this world, she couldn’t transform at all.
Since she couldn’t go to work, she naturally got fired from her job.
[Sister, we’ll do well…]
The younger siblings were more distressed by the fact that they couldn’t work because they were young, rather than blaming Carol.
So Carol was stuck in the house, not moving for over half a year.
Only she was stagnant.
Time became poison, not medicine, making Carol even weaker.
Although their family endured with the help of the Dean family and the Elias family, that too soon reached its limit.
“Chirp…”
Why can’t she transform into a human?
Everything was hateful. It seemed like all the misfortunes were coming to her alone.
“Sister?”
“Chirp- Chirp.”
“But you have to eat. Kevin said I must check that sister is eating.”
The younger siblings, who got help from the surroundings and brought rice or barley, forced a few grains to eat, but her stomach was full of anger, and she often vomited.
“Chirp…”
Seeing her siblings taking care of her, she felt so pathetic. She hated her powerless self.
She didn’t know what she was thinking. Carol bit the ring that was locking the window with her beak and slowly pulled it up. It was larger than she thought, so she struggled for a long time.
Thud.
Thump.
But soon the window opened.
Carol took advantage of the absence of her siblings and escaped from the house. With each flap of her wings, she felt the cold wind.
She folded all other thoughts and flew in the sky, flapping her wings.
At first, the wing flapping was awkward, but soon she learned how to fly naturally.
She wanted to run away anywhere. To a higher place. She flew as her instincts led her.
‘I shouldn’t run away like this…’
She knew well that if she ran away, she would have to return, and it would be more difficult when returning.
But soon Carol stopped thinking and flew in the sky.
Thud.
Thump.
But soon, a few drops of rain began to fall from the cloudy clouds, and Carol, who hadn’t eaten properly for several days, had a limit to how much she could fly.
It was so hard that she wanted to rest for a while on a window that came into her eyes nearby.
Chirp!
Her feathers were wet and she seemed to have to stay here for a while… Her body temperature was cooling rapidly. Thinking that she was going to die in vain, she was worried about her siblings late. The siblings who acted more mature than her even though they were still young.
‘I’m a fake family…’
But to them, she would be a real family. Even though it was clear that they would be sadder than her, they were trying hard for her who had lost her energy.
She had to go back.
She didn’t come out to die.
She heard a loud noise inside the window. She thought she should do something rather than dying here quietly.
She pecked the window as hard as she could with her beak.
Thud, thud.
Even if she hit it hard with a small beak, it was similar to the force of a raindrop hitting the window.
‘Please…’
Thud.
She hit the window as hard as she could with her wings. Her body was shaking. Her vision was blurring. She felt dizzy thinking that she would lose consciousness soon.
But just before her eyes closed, as if by a miracle, the window opened.
Creak.
“What?”
“Chirp…”
Carol spoke desperately and then lost consciousness. The last memory was something fluffy carefully holding her up.
