Chapter 21: 21

*Karmeut's POV

Rainelle thought for a moment and slowly opened her mouth. She then glanced at the man in front of her, who smiled softly and nodded his head. Perhaps getting some courage from his actions, she continued talking while fiddling her hands and facing Karmeut.

"At that time, your blond hair and eyes were shining so beautifully in the green forest, so I helped you."

Karmeut's cheeks were slightly heated when he saw Rainelle's smiling eyes. And his heart began to beat uncontrollably when he heard unexpected words in an unexpected situation.

Really, it's so lethal.

If you say that with that expression, and in this situation, it's bound to strike my heart.

He wanted to do something, but there was a faint idea that she could run away in surprise, but that thought soon disappeared. Watching the large purple eyes tremble, the golden wolf, who was fascinated by the black bird, kissed her white forehead gently.

 

*Rainelle's POV

Heat rushed to my face at Karmeut's action which suddenly closed in on me and kissed my forehead.

Wawawawah! Something soft touched my forehead! Bird! Crow! Turn into a crow and run away!

Feeling my body getting lighter with a 'whoosh' sound, I fled onto the branches of a tree. I felt a little sorry for the golden eyes that were with deep regret, but I'm not resistant to this yet!

If you come to me like that, I'm going to die out of embarrassment!

I exhaled a long breath to calm my pounding heart. --but I'm glad I got through that question safely! I was flustered when he suddenly asked me why I saved him!

I looked at Karmeut, who was looking up at me. My heart fluttered because it felt so wonderful to see him smiling softly while gently bending his eyes as if he felt regretful but also wanted to do that again.

...but I'm glad I didn't tell the truth and got over it uneventfully. If I say, "I helped you because I didn't want to eat bugs in the forest where there were no people,' it's obvious that his goodwill towards me will be shattered, right?

My body was that of a crow, but my real identity was human. I became a zookeeper because I liked animals, but If I was asked to live in the forest without seeing any people while having to worry about survival every moment, I don't think I can live like that. That was why I was elated when I saw Karmeut.

I'm not completely lying though.

His gold hair was shining so brightly that he stood out in the forest!

Thanks to that, I was able to meet Karmeut.

The first prince of the Wolfric Empire, the future emperor, was still smiling. It was a defenseless, joyful smile, but the question from before made me embarrassed in many ways. The part that bothered me the most was, 'will I be able to say what I would say when I became a human?'

Isn't that right? Karmeut even suspected me to be a hybrid or a dragon, but I'm a real crow. ---Am I a crow? At least, it doesn't look like a dragon will mess around after eating Crobalock, so I'm sure that I'm not one! As for hybrid? Even if I say that I'm a hybrid, doesn't it look like I'm too interested in human culture?

Even when he told me to stay in my form crow, I really wanted to say, "You're afraid that Luwellin would snatch me and threaten me or force me to do this and that, right?"

But I just couldn't say it because I was afraid that if I said that, there would be a reaction like, "You're a crow, how can you be so quick on human psychology?"

Yes!! I haven't degenerated yet! I'm still human inside!!

I rolled my eyes while shouting 'I'm still human!' to myself.

By the way, have I said anything about Marquis Wilhelm? He was a very nice middle-aged man. When you're looking at the things that were just in the gameplay, he just seems like an extra who passed by.

---Ugh, there are a lot of middle-aged people in the game that I can't really pick him out.

The thought of the game made me sigh. To be honest, how can I tell Karmeut: 'This place is actually from a game that I played, and you're one of the target characters'?

If he finds out that he's a character in the game...

And how uncomfortable would it be to think that the game was targeted at women?

I was considerate of Karmeut in my own way.

Of course! Sometimes it's better to bury the truth, right?

I nodded at what I thought was reasonable.

Anyway, I didn't lie completely, so it'll be fine!! By the way, is this how Karmeut is increasing the number of people on his side?

After the talk with Marquis Wilhelm, I had a hunch that Karmeut would be busy for a while. From what I heard, Marquis Wilhelm seemed to be an important pillar of Luwellin's side, but now since such a figure was no more, isn't this the time when Karmeut should make a serious move?

Since he's the future emperor, I don't think he'll be able to pass up this opportunity.

That means... That means that it would be difficult to see Karmeut for a while.

Phew. Okay, of course Karmeut won't care, but imagine a crow -a symbol of death, plague, and bad luck-, sitting on the shoulder of the First Prince. What would other nobles think?

Ummm... I'm a little sad, but I think I'll have to stay away for a while for Karmeut. I have to stop the future from being twisted from my existence next to him. Karmeut should be the emperor.

Thinking like that, I remembered what happened earlier: when I turned into my human form, and when we walked hand in hand. His hand was rough because of the calluses, but it was warm. I was fine to feel the warm hands with my whole body when I was a crow, but when I became a human, just holding hands with him made my heart tremble.

My heart was beating wildly and my palms were full of sweat, but I can't let go. I just held his hand tight as if I don't want this to end...

And the way he smiles with his eyes bent as if he's really happy made him look so handsome and cool that while I was mesmerized, my forehead was ki-, ki-, ki-,

kissed...

Aaaaaaaaaah!! I'm so embarrassed! I'm not going to be around Karmeut for a while!! It's for real!!

***

*3rd person POV

As Rainelle expected, Karmeut became very busy after Marquis Wilhelm's visit. When the marquis visited Karmeut, Luwellin ran wild, but he soon erased it from his mind as he mumbled: "he's just a kind of guy who didn't even carry out a sneak attack properly". For Wilhelm, it was a great relief.

Of course, the other nobles of Luwellin's faction sent assassins, but Wilhelm managed to fend them off. In order to show that he was loyal to Karmeut, he also lowered himself and began to take on various tasks voluntarily.

Luwellin might think that the fact that Marquis Wilhelm was leaving his side was no big deal, but it was no different than the disappearance of a large pillar in Luwellin's faction.

As a result, the nobles who declared neutrality secretly came to Karmeut and began to show their intentions to share the same will as Karmeut. Therefore, the first prince had no choice but to be busy.

It was a good situation, but the face of the first prince looked very dark. He let out a sigh and massaged his temples. Galenos opened his mouth unconsciously.

"...what are you worried about?"

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"-Sir Windster."

"Please excuse my rudeness. It is my duty to protect you, Your Highness..."

"No. It's worth asking such a question. Does my face look that dark?"

Galenos nodded his head slightly and said "Yes". The dark expression his (Galenos) master’s face, who he (Galenos) had sworn his allegiance to, meant that something was wrong. As the sword who should be protecting him (Karmeut), he (Galenos) had to know what was the problem so that even a small threat could be eliminated in advance, so Galenos' eyes grew serious.

...But strange words that were different from what he (Galenos) expected came from Karmeut's mouth.

"...Rainelle isn't following me."

"...pardon?"

"The crow that I raise. Before, she would immediately come over and act cute when I called her, but now she's not. She often comes when I'm in the room, when I try to take her with me, she runs away like a ghost."

Karmeut muttered and let out a long sigh. Galenos didn't know what to say, but the corners of his lips trembled.

Whether he knew Galenos' reaction or not, Karmeut looked at the document in his hand with a troubled look and sighed deeply once again.

 

*Rainelle's POV

I breathed out a sigh of relief when I saw that Karmeut had closed the door and made sure that he was really gone.

Phew, he's gone. He's gone.

I stretched my wings comfortably.

I’m a little sorry for the sad expression on his face, but this is for Karmeut's sake... yes, yes, so we have to put up with this, right?

It's not that I'm not sad too.

Thinking like that, he opened his beak and closed it. If I was in human form, I could have pouted my lips.

Haah, the crow's form is comfortable, but it's inconvenient...

I thought that as I tidied my feathers with my beak.

...if Kamut is to become emperor, seems like it's best for me not to leave the room even if I feel stuffy.

Think about it. The figure of a prince with an unlucky crow on his shoulder.

...It's like a horse kicked my chest even when I said it myself, but it's going to look negative!! Let me wipe my tears first...

Sigh, it's my fate to possess an ominous animal that's enough to compete with the black cat.

I carefully cleaned my feathers. I clamped a feather with my beak and chewed it softly to get rid of dust or dirt.

Hahh! It's so refreshing!!

I shook my body to shake off the dust and stretched out in a good mood.

Ah! It's the servant! Are you here to clean up?

I don't think there's much to clean, but you work really hard.

An idea flashed in my head as I watched the servant start cleaning with neat gestures,

Wait, come to think of it, even if I can't change everyone's perception of crows right now, I can still try to look good to the people I meet!!

Oh, why didn't I think of this before?! Why don't I let them see that crow is not unlucky, but smart and cute? Why was I so depressed?! All right, now that the servant is here, I need to put it into action right now!!

 

*3rd person POV

The servant, who was in charge of the first prince's room, was doing the cleaning. She spread the blanket and get rid of the wrinkles, dusting, and wiping the furniture until they were all clean. After having confirmed that there was enough wood piled up next to the furnace, she began to carefully wipe the ceramics with a dry cloth.

It was the next moment when a large black bird sat on a cage on one side with a flapping sound. A large crow was sitting on a gold cage. When the crow, who was wearing a necklace made of gold and sapphire around her neck, came into view, the servant slightly stiffened.

That ominous bird is the prince's most cherished bird, thought the servant.

Everyone in the palace where the first prince resides knew that the prince had warned her (the servant) that if she neglected that crow, she would have to pay the price with her body.

She was a maid who knew that the prince had rarely said anything close to such threats, so she stiffened while thinking, 'What if I upset the crow?'

She earnestly prayed for the crow to sit on the chandelier like before without paying attention to her, but sadly, the crow seemed interested in the servant.

"Ah!!"

The servant's pupils shook. Before, she had put fresh flowers that were wrapped in paper which she received from the gardener on the table. And now, the crow happened to land there.

The servant swallowed her saliva. As if betraying the servant's inner heart which hoped for the crow not to touch the flowers, the crow picked up a blue rose with its black and hard beak, and then it began to trim the thorns neatly.

Carefully, the crow clamped the stem of the blue rose with its beak and flapped its wings joyfully. Then, the crow's purple eyes that resembled violets turned towards the servant.

The crow spread its wings and flew toward the servant, who doesn't know what to do.

"Hiiih-------!!"

A crow, a messenger of death, flew towards me. What should I do? Should I run away? But since it's the prince's bird, it shouldn't be treated recklessly----!!

The servant's eyes were twirling.

Any servant working in the Imperial Palace had to control their facial expression and pretend not to hear or see anything.

The Imperial Palace was a severe enough place to survive, and she managed to adapt well in such a place.

But it's a different matter when an ominous bird that follows death and eats corpses is flying toward me.

Is this a sign of death? To let me know I'm gonna die soon? Should I swing the duster to chase it away? No, then the prince might slice my neck with a single swing of his sword...!!

In her confusion, the crow whizzed over the head of the servant who was stiff and whose pupils shook as if they experienced an earthquake. Then, something fell.

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