“…?”
<Oh, my! Do you see this stupid thing?>
The yellow bird embroidered in her pajamas wriggled, and soon, a chick appeared before her.
The same baby bird pulled her pajamas and tore Pavel’s hair out, the same new spirit bound to her at Statten Palace.
Asha looked around and became furious, holding her breath.
“Oh, you’re the stupid one! Why are you talking now after being unable to talk until now?!”
<Did I know that your power would be so low? I gained strength only after you ate something proper!>
“Why did you say your power was so low that you couldn’t even talk to me because I couldn’t eat snacks?”
<…>
Perhaps speechless, the bird only rattled its beak. Asha stared at the bird with a sullen face and pursed her brows at the thought that suddenly came to mind.
“No, more than that, was a spirit able to speak?”
She didn’t remember at all. Asha swallowed her words inward. The spirit here and the spirit ceremony were more like a blessing or awakening of power to 10-year-old children than a connection with a communicative existence.
Most live normal lives forever, and very few awaken their power. Among them, very few people felt the existence of the spirit, and no one could communicate. That’s why the spirit of Princess Anastasia, who had a transparent entity in the original work, was treated so well.
<Of course, I can! What kind of spirit do you think I am!>
“I didn’t think other people could.”
<That’s because they’re stupid!>
“Ah! You mean I’m smart?”
The bird didn’t want to admit it, but after fluttering its beak several times, it stuttered and glossed over what it had said as if it were another word.
<That’s… Because this body is the grand spirit of the senses.>
“Isn’t it the bird spirit?”
‘Is something different from the original? No one… Do they not know?’
Maybe no one knew. If you couldn’t communicate with the spirits, it would be just a brilliant bird on the surface.
<Don’t attach stupid beasts to this body at random!>
“It’s not like you and birds can talk. You look like a bird.”
Asha teased it for being a bird spirit for a long time, but she change the subject only before the bird showed tears.
“Are you really the spirit of the senses? So did you see something earlier? It felt like there was a colored fog around Lise earlier… Even from the chef.”
<Did you already see the emotions of humans? That is one of the abilities of this body.>
The bird was very proud. Rather than encouraging pride, Asha decided to solve her curiosity.
“Are you only showing feelings for me? Can I see it only when I want to? Or do I always have to live in some rainbow garden? Can’t I stop it if I don’t want to see it?”
<Stop! Speak slowly. It’s all up to your discretion.>
“My discretion? What do you mean?”
<If you become proficient, you may or feel nothing to your heart’s content. You can make others feel a different world or not. Because this body is the spirit of the senses.>
“What do I need to be good at?”
<At the power of the spirit.>
“How do I become proficient?”
<That’s up to you.>
“So you don’t know what to do?”
<I don’t need to know.>
The spirit snapped his beak and answered. Asha was in agony for a moment, wanting to hang the bird upside down, then raised her head.
Anyway, there was something she did with this spirit. She made a nice snack for the first time in her life today. The cake tasted too good.
“Is it because of you that I baked the snacks well earlier?”
<This body can do anything that requires sensation. It’s not just cooking. Painting, music, the movement of the body…>
“Huh? Didn’t you drag me to the kitchen because you couldn’t do that? You told me to do it.”
<I dragged you because you wanted to do it!>
“Can’t you do it yourself?”
<No, it’s not that I can’t…! How could a great noble spirit use his hands directly in the human world? All of them exercise power through you, the human being.>
“Oh! Then was it you when I dropped the shell while breaking the egg?”
<… How can you be so harsh and peculiar in the way you talk?>
The spirit, who was talking to Asha, was half crying.
<My power is supreme, but I can’t use more than your power from the beginning! No matter how much I fly and crawl, it’s impossible!>
“Oh, so I did everything in the end, didn’t I? I’m great!”
<…>
“Then you know recipes or something? Like what and how much to put in to make it taste good.”
<…that, yes. I can do anything you make with your hands and your body. Now do you realize the great power of this great spirit?>
Asha smiled and nodded continuously.
‘All right, you’re saying it’s an all-around recipe book, right?’
“Yes, yes! All right! Now that we’ve done this. Let’s bake snacks at least ten times while we’re at the palace.
<Ten times? Only ten times?>
Asha frowned and frowned.
“Not only. I’ll be kicked out of here in about a week. Even if I bake twice daily, I must fill it for five days.”
<A week?>
“Yes. I signed a contract with a little bird like you. You can stay here only if you sign a contract with a Spirit King.”
She said that to make fun of the bird. However, the little bird’s black pea-like eyes shone unusually.
<This body is the greatest grand spirit, what are you talking about!>
“No, not you. Water, fire, ground, wind. Things like that. My grandfather signed with the Spirit King of the Wind, and my cousin signed with the Spirit King of Fire. But what about me? Because I did it with you.”
<They are idiots whose job is always to ask me for something, so what nonsense!>
“Please? What kind of request?”
The bird flapped its little beak at the words. Suddenly, it seemed to be at a loss for words.
<Woo… What will you know if you were stupid and young?>
“I don’t know, so I’m asking you to tell me.”
<Anyway, you told me that you can’t stay here because I’m a small bird, right?>
The bird bumped its beak again.
<Isn’t it this shape because you told me to turn small? It’ll be fine if it changes a lot.>
The words flashed with light. And Asha’s face turned blue at once.
“No! No, no! Hurry up and make it small! Again, small! Come on! …?”
<What?>
The light flashed, but the appearance of the bird remained the same. Instead, it seemed that the shape of the yellow bird became smaller because it was shining.
“It’s not… Are you getting bigger?”
Asha opened her eyes wide, and the bird flapped its little wings in embarrassment. The light glistened many times, but the bird did not grow.
It wasn’t until after a long time – Asha dissuaded it, saying it would become a small thing- that the bird accepted its reality.
<I’m… This humiliation… Because of you!>
“Oh, no, all of a sudden? Is it my fault all of a sudden?”
<I don’t know! Never mind!>
━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━
Early the following day, Asha barely opened her eyes, feeling tired rather than sleepy. Last night, she fussed with the bird and didn’t seem to have slept.
“Fafnir or something exudes heat…”
In addition, it was slightly hot even in winter because of the hot air. Asha got up slowly and opened the window with a groan.
Powerful enough to warm the entire palace just by signing a contract. The power of Fafnir, the Spirit of Fire, felt that the nickname Fire Dragon was somewhat lacking.
The driving force that allowed Alexei to win the position of the next Emperor over his uncles and parents. And that’s probably what all the boys and girls who participated in the last ceremony hoped for.
<Well, Fafnir. It seems that the compatibility with this contractor is good. Seeing it so excited that it can’t control its strength.>
A bird became thick and popped out of the new embroidery engraved on Asha’s pajamas.
“Can’t you tell it to calm down?”
<What can I do when an immature person acts selfishly? Let them do whatever they want until they grow up.>
“How old is Fafnir?”
<Why should I know that?>
Eventually, Asha sighed deeply. She realized in a day that she couldn’t properly converse with this spirit.
‘But there’s still something good!’
Asha smiled and opened the drawer under the table. It was a dark chocolate brownie wrapped in opaque paper.
After a meeting with the Emperor yesterday, Asha returned to the kitchen to tell Pavel, who must have been surprised. But Pavel didn’t show up if he was still looking for the cake with all his might. Asha thought momentarily and left a note, but suddenly the leftover dough caught her eye in the kitchen.
She baked a hard chocolate cake-like brownie with it and brought it.
“Haaaam*.”
*TN: onomatopoeia for yawning
When she took a bite, a thick and rusty taste with a different texture from the fondant chocolate wrapped around her tongue. Making her happy.
“Okay, okay. What’s your name?”
<Name? It’s the Great Spirit of Sense.>
“No, not that. If you put it that way, I’m just a human being, but I have the name, Asha. This is Fafnir.”
Asha pointed with her eyes at the air where she felt the warmth. The bird peeped and put the brownie in its mouth roughly.
<Don’t have one. There is no need. >
How can you raise your nose at the topic of peeping? Asha grumbled, resting her chin on the window frame and mumbling her brownie. The sun was rising, and the sky was painted pink and blue.
“All right. Then your name is Phoebe.”
<I don’t need a name!>
“Even chicks have names, but the supreme great spirit doesn’t even have a name.”
<Then give me a more noble name!>
“It’s sophisticated. Phoe-Be-.”
<Isn’t the name derived from a porcelain doll inserted to keep the pie from exploding?>
“Oh? I just realized?”
<Do you think I don’t know what you’re thinking!>
And for a moment, the argument between Asha and the bird continued again. Asha gasped and stared at the bird.
“There should be rules between us.”
<This body is not bound by trivial rules.>
Asha grabbed the bird with both hands, shook it three times to the left and three times to the right, and then rereleased it. The chick on the window frame staggered from side to side.
“There should be rules between us.”
