“It’s almost certain that it’s a case of mental illness. But there’s no physical evidence. We’re going to secure that, right?”
“That’s right.”
She bit her lip slightly and waited for his answer. Even if he didn’t like it, he didn’t have to be disappointed or angry. This was a very important issue for the survival and status of the family. Ian, who was quietly gathering his thoughts, raised his head and opened the window. Then he took a small flute out of his pocket, put it in his mouth, and blew for a long time. The sound of the flute was so quiet that I couldn’t hear it. Ian, who had been holding the flute in his mouth for a while, took it out, put it back in his pocket, and looked out the window, stretched out his hand. Then a bird flew and landed on the back of his hand.
“…What about that bird?”
The brightly colored little bird was neither a pigeon used as a bird nor a falcon used for hunting. As I looked at him with narrowed eyes, Ian smiled and stroked the bird’s head.
“Fairy, eight-colored bird.”
“Eight-colored bird?”
It was amazing to see birds of all colors coming from all over the world. The small gestures and small wings were cute. When I looked at it, it glanced at me and then looked back inside, and even the gesture was cute.
“How can this bird…??”
“In the mountains north of the Berdian Principality, a special type of octopus bird is raised.”
“Special bloodline?”
“The King of the North who rules over the birds of the Northern Mountains, that is, the King of Birds. That’s them.”
“Is this this little bird?”
“Isn’t that incredible? But in times of emergency, they can become several times larger than a wyvern, because the blood of a giant eagle that existed in ancient times and disappeared is buried in their bloodline.”
“…Really?”
“Well, I don’t know if it’s true or not because it’s from people over there, but it’s true that it makes your body bigger. I’ve been there.”
“How amazing…”
That small body grows hundreds of times bigger. Does that make sense? I don’t think you’re making fun of me…
“But why this bird?”
“It’s not much, this bird is quite smart and can understand human language, so it is often used as a messenger. It has enough stamina and speed to easily travel a country in a day.”
The more I heard, the more I laughed at the lie-like story. Ian took off one of his rings, tied it around his octopus’ leg, and flew it out his window. The arm tint disappeared from sight in an instant. There is no way to confirm where the bird went, but Ian opened his mouth leisurely, as if he was not particularly worried.
“We will finish preparations today and begin the attack tomorrow. Let’s hear the results from the Aztain family tomorrow.”
Ian, who spoke with an indifferent expression, looked out the window and narrowed his eyes.
“Let’s take a look and see what’s inside.”
* * *
The road back to Ajstain Territory didn’t take very long. This is because in order to increase the speed of the carriage as much as possible, the horses were replaced in between. Even when he was sleeping, he didn’t stop and fell asleep in the carriage. With the coachmen taking turns driving the carriage, they covered the required distance in one and a half days. The reason he came back so quickly, even if it was difficult, was to hear the results after the knights of the Verdian family raided Piero Sangdan’s private property. When the sun set and the sunset was visible, my grandfather welcomed me back to the castle. Was he very worried? I was worried that I might have put her under pressure because of her ugly granddaughter, so I approached her slightly and a large hand stroked my head. His grandfather was grinning.
“You’ve had a lot of trouble.”
“Uhm… No. Grandfather.”
I was held in his arms, the only place where I could relax, and I rubbed my head. I closed my eyes, feeling my grandfather’s hand patting and patting my back, and then I pulled away when I heard footsteps approaching. Gandpa looked at Ian. Ian said hello lightly.
“Seems like we see each other often, Viscount Ajstain.”
“It’s not a bad thing to meet each other often and see each other face to face. It’s a good relationship.”
Yes? My grandfather smiled at me, and I smiled and nodded. My grandfather looked at my smile and then gently changed his expression.
“Something happened.”
“Yes?”
“Your expression has softened.”
“…is that so?”
Has my expression changed? I always approached my grandfather comfortably… I tapped his cheek and tilted his head to see if something had changed. Because I didn’t know my usual facial expressions, other people’s words just seemed awkward to me.
“Is it strange?”
After shaking my head calmly, I followed my grandfather’s gaze towards Ian and lifted myself up.
“Did you feel it too?”
“How could you not know?”
I narrowed my eyes at the sight of the two people looking at each other and laughing. What is so good about it? I really don’t know, but
“For now, let’s hear the details later. Laurence, go and rest for today. Let’s talk about it tomorrow.”
I returned my grandfather’s consideration with a smile as he left his seat. After making sure that the grandfather disappeared from sight, I dragged Ian with me and headed to the living room. He sat him down and made sure there was no one around. And he slowly opened his mouth.
“Does my face look weird?”
“No, it’s not strange. It’s nice to see that it’s gotten brighter. It’s just…”
Just? I swallowed my saliva as Ian continued to stutter. Well, is there anything strange? As I looked at him with serious eyes, Ian smiled and leaned back.
“I feel a little sad because it seems like he smiles too often at people other than me. I wish he would dress like that just for me, but he smiles so brightly at other people too. I’m jealous.”
“…”
Do you think I smile often? Do you laugh at everyone? I? I definitely felt like I smiled more often at trivial things than before and smiled whenever I spoke, but I never thought it would be visible to other people. But how can you make Ian laugh so much that he feels jealous? I looked around the room to see if there was a mirror, but since it was a living room, there was no mirror. I had no choice but to take a hand mirror out of my bag, look at my face, and grin. Is it different? I think it’s the same as before. I closed the hand mirror with a ‘click’ sound and looked at Ian.
“Should I stop laughing? Does it look too heavy?”
“No way. I wish you would smile like that often.”
“I, too, and Laurencia, who is smiling, look very happy.”
“Happy…”
“My smile has become brighter, like a butterfly shedding its skin. I used to smile like that before, but not this much or often. But these days, since I smile like that often, people around me seem to give me a blank expression.”
The surroundings are blank… Ian clicked her tongue.
“Men are the same as women. They are bound to be surprised when the other person suddenly changes. When the usually blunt owner smiles and speaks kindly, a fire is bound to ignite in the hearts of young knights.”
“What can I say… How amazing am I? I’m not some kind of unrivaled beauty, nor a goddess so beautiful that you’ll fall in love with her once you see her. Why are you so mesmerized?”
Is not it? He opened the mirror again, turned her face around, and smiled. She seems to have brightened up a bit gh… In the past, many people praised Ercia as a peerless beauty. Because of that, their gaze towards me was not very kind. At that time, I tried to distract her, wondering what it had to do with her twin sister being beautiful and me not being beautiful. But now… is it similar to Ercia? It felt like it had somehow become more beautiful.
“From now on, only show me that kind of smile. Or develop a more special smile.”
“What special smile?”
I glared at him through the hand mirror. Ian said, ‘Huh!’ as if it was absurd. I snorted and crossed my legs.
“You smile at other people, but you glare at me. I’m so sad that I can’t live.”
I sighed as I saw Ian covering his eyes like a truly sad person. I didn’t hate him pretending to be jealous.
“I only kiss with you.”
“What?”
I asked, and although it felt unfamiliar, I turned my head with the most shameless look on my face. I felt eyes staring at me blankly.
“It’s okay. I’m feeling jealous in some strange way. It’s good to smile often. Don’t you know that laughter brings good luck? People say people hate me because they don’t smile often, but people get jealous when I smile a lot…”
Grumbling, my lips moved on their own, without any relation to my will. I’m embarrassed by the words I said, so I’m just fluttering to cover them up. Ian looked at me blankly. I wish I could say something in response, but it’s even more embarrassing to stay still.
“Anyway, that’s not the point.”
“It’s important.”
“What?”
Ian jumped up from his seat. Before I could think, ‘Why all of a sudden?’, Ian leaned his body towards me, grabbed my chin, and lifted it up. My eyes widened at what happened so quickly. The next moment, my tongue moved to swat away the other tongue that had invaded my mouth, but in the end it couldn’t swat it away and got stuck. Ian parted his lips and grinned.
“I said you can only do this with me.”
This person…! My whole body stiffened at his completely unexpected actions. How should I react? His face seemed to be heating up. Oh, my face feels like it’s going to explode! His heart was pounding so hard that he closed his eyes and turned his head. Ian laughed out loud and sat back down in his chair, then he looked at me quietly. I feel like my heart will drop. He spoke so suddenly that I thought he might spill out words, so I kept my mouth shut and looked at him. Ian met my gaze and tilted his head.
“I’m sorry if it was so sudden and burdensome. It’s just…”
“…just?”
Ian scratched his cheek. It was a habit that came out whenever I was embarrassed or embarrassed. He laughed awkwardly.
“It’s just so cute that I didn’t even realize it.”
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Translator Note:
Hello there! This is RJR. I hope you liked it <3
If you like my work please support me with Ko-fi or Patreon. Next post will be released on March, 4.
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