Chapter 11

Chapter 11

“Um, Hyung-nim. Perhaps if you throw or drop the child like you did with Helon or Aaron and she cries from the pain-”

“Are you crazy, Tenon!”

“……….”

That’s also a method, though!

The Grand Duke glared so hard at Tenon that it looked like his eyes were about to fall out.

Though it was true that Tenon, as the captain of the palace guards, had instructed the twin brothers a couple times, his method was very different from the education for normal people.

But Kirel was most worried about how his big brother had a ‘Exactly what’s so wrong with that?’ expression on his face.

“A-anyway, why don’t we wait a little longer for Haniel to grow. She definitely has emotions, for one, and she doesn’t cry all day long. But if you are really curious…..”

“I got it so shut your mouth.”

“…………..”

Rashid, who had cut Kirel off midspeech, didn’t ask any more questions.

Anyway, everyone here was the same, as they didn’t know anything about their baby sister’s development.

So even if the three of them racked their brains to remember something about their sister, they wouldn’t be able to come up with anything else.

“So you were all here.”

“Peyton.”

“…………….”

At Third Prince Peyton’s appearance the other three turned their heads to him in unison as they emerged from their chaotic thoughts.

The feudal lord of the Southern Lands and the commander of the knights, Peyton was the most prudent and self-possessed among the seven brothers. Most of his time was spent in the southern regions of the empire but the missing princess was a serious matter, and he was the first person to begin tracking down Loam’s whereabouts.

“Alright then, how are things going?”

“We’ve received reports that traces of Loam have been felt in the Thebes and Beiron regions. Though it seems that he’s moved on from there a week ago.”

“……Then that means he’s gone to the North.”

Tap, Rashid tapped the armrest as he came to this concise conclusion.

Peyton hurriedly lowered his head as the room descended into a chilling atmosphere.

“I will send magicians there, and join them…….”

“No. Don’t do that.”

“……….”

Rashid stood up and raised his hand with a small smile on his face.

There was nothing welcoming about this rare expression to his younger brothers.

Because the last time their big brother smiled, an entire country disappeared off the face of the planet.

“I’ll finish this with my own hands.”

◇ ◆ ◇

‘Is he saying that only he could be mean to the child?’

If you don’t care enough about the child then you should completely cut off your interest in her! Why did he make it so no one else could take care of the kid?

Why he is trying so hard to be a tyrant. No matter how much I tried to find a loophole, there was no easy way to take in the kid.

Just in case, I’d talked to all the nobles and knights among the lake inhabitants and asked them about the emperor, but they all said the same thing.

「Bu, but why suddenly about the emperor? If you’ve lived up until now without knowing of him, it’d be best to continue that way.」

「How terrifying is he though? He can’t be scarier than Rania, can he?」

「Lady Rania, she…she’d be a saint compared to the emperor.」

I’d heard all I needed to know if they called Rania who’d cursed them with dark magic a saint.

And thus, I cleanly swept away my plans of ‘being a caring mother’ and quickly began to execute a new plan.

I can’t calm down while I was embracing a ticking time bomb to my chest, can I?

「Come over here for a second, child.」

「Mommwy?」

「…I. told. you. I’m. not.」

No matter how many times I clearly explained to Haniel, she was busy constantly tottering after me. Seeing how she stuck close to me today, as if the world would end if she was apart from me for an instant, I firmly made up my mind.

「Sit here. Be careful so you don’t hit the ground too hard.」

「Uh huh.」

Plop.

I grabbed at my heart again as I saw her plunk herself to the ground and then look around her surroundings.

Can you please not give me a heart disease that I don’t have?

I let go of my chest and tried to put on a resolute expression.

「I’m not your mother, Haniel.」

「……Then where ish Hanwiel’s mommwy?」

「That…….」

She’s probably in heaven.

Though I’d hardened my heart to say this to her, I couldn’t bring myself to tell her that.

At my hesitating appearance, Haniel rubbed her beak against my feathers, unable to take notice of the situation. I closed my eyes.

「The point is, I’m not your mother.」

「So from now on, you can’t call me by that name.」

「Oh……Thwen if Mommwy ishn’t mwy mommwy, whaddo I call you?」

「That…….」

My mouth dried out as I looked at Haniel who was asking only the difficult questions.

If I unnecessarily told her my name and she ended up revealing it to her brother later, it was game over for me.

I wouldn’t mind so much if I’d raised the child, but at this point I wouldn’t even be able to raise the child before having to desperately look to deliver the baby swan back to its owner.

Mom was an absolute no-no, my name was even more of a no-no, then the only thing left was……

「Black Swan-nim!」

「………Bweck Wan-ning?」

「No. Black. Swan. Nim. Yes, let’s go with that.」

Though I got the feeling she wouldn’t be calling me by that name often.

I took a step towards her as she stuck out her tongue, trying to pronounce the name.

Seeing my movements, Haniel approached me with delight. Though I felt sorry for forbidding her from calling me her mother, I needed to survive first.

「Haniel, could you tell me how you ended up coming here?」

『………Hm?」

「You probably didn’t come here alone. Do you remember who brought you here?」

It was ridiculous for me to hold onto a three-year-old and ask such a question, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

No matter how much I wanted to return Haniel to her brother, I needed some kind of hint for what would happen if I did.

And since she was the female lead, she must be smart enough to understand what I was asking.

「Haniel, where were you living before you came here? Do remember where your home is?」

「…………. 」

Oh my, well look at this kid closing her mouth on me.

She quickly grasped the mood of the conversation, as expected of the female protagonist.

If Haniel was the protagonist I was the supporting character leveled to the max.

And I had prepared a secret weapon for this sort of situation.

「Well then, take your time to think about it as you eat this.」

「Whas thish?……Mmm!」

Her already large eyes grew even bigger.

Ohnomnom, this was definitely something that would shock a three-year-old’s taste buds.

「Ish, ish gwood!』

「Of course. No doubt it’s delicious.」

Since you’re a swan, even your nose will twitch by itself whenever you see this now.

When I placed some more dried fish in front of her, Haniel gobbled it up with relish.

Though it was a poor snack beneath the status of a princess, that was far from the case for a swan.

And I knew this all so well because…… I had been the same.

‘Ah, man, I’m drooling, seriously.’

I was also in the swan form right now, so of course I’d also be itching to have some.

The fish that I’d never even look at as a human being roused my appetite as a swan.

But wasn’t I a zookeeper in my past life?

Feeding just one baby swan should be a piece of cake for me.

「P, pwease gib me mwar! Hwaniel wans to eat mwar!」

「Alright, then let’s try again, where were you living before you came here?」

「Pawace!」

The speed at which she adjusted was frightening, as the baby swan cutely chirped out the answer.

But was it okay for the protagonist to succumb this quickly?

I felt my conscience was pricked but I still had a lot to figure out.

「Okay so our Haniel lived in the palace. But how did you end up coming out? Are you usually allowed outside?」

「Woam Oppa held me tightly and carried me out!」

Lwike thish! Lwike thish!

Haniel demonstrated by wrapping her wings around her body while continuing to chew on the dried fish in her mouth. The white round creature was so sweet I felt like I was looking at the sweetest of cotton candy that would melt away in your mouth.

「Re, really? Who’s Loam oppa?」

「I lwike Woam oppa. He can mwake fwowers and sparkwy thingsh come from his hwands! And when he hweld me I even got wingsh lwike thish!」

「…………Uhh.」

Roughly guessing, seems like this brother is a magician.

Not surprising.

It made sense for there to be a brother like that since she had as many as seven of them.

It’d be utter chaos if all seven of them were war maniacs.

And if he was really a full-fledged magician, it made sense that he could have turned Haniel into a swan just for fun.

“………..”

And more than anything, it looked like the baby princess was very fond of this older brother of hers. Children can’t fake the kind of joyful expression she had on right now as she spoke of him.

「It’s exciting when Woam Oppa cwomes! He tells me stowies and pways wiff me!」

「Then what about your other brothers?」

「..…Hnnnng. 」

「Ah, no, that’s okay. I don’t need to know about the others!」

I hurriedly shook my head as I saw the tears pooling in her glistening eyes.

Only when I fed her some more dried fish did her tears stop.

‘At any rate, those bastards.’

What had they done that the kid would start to cry as soon as I asked about them.

I muttered to myself as I split the dried fish into small pieces and gave them to Haniel.

I thought it was a relief that there was at least one brother who seemed to take care of her.

「But where did Loam Oppa go? Why did you come to the lake alone?」

「Uh huh. Sho…….」

Gulp, after stretching her neck as she swallowed the dried fish, Haniel looked at me with her large eyes and spoke.

「Woam Oppa asked me where I wanted to gwo an I shaid I want to go to where Mommwy ish!」

「Your mother?」

「Mmhm. He shaid that if I gwo to the Wake Wand thwen Mommwy will be there. Bwut…….」

Awe you weally nwot mwy Mommwy?

I swallowed my spit as the dejected baby swan lowered her head.

Wait, no, why are you crying while eating again.

Though the child was adorable no matter what she did, I quickly tried to calm her down before she actually began to cry.

「I, I’m not your mother but I’ll look for Loam with you. Okay?」

「Woam Oppa?」

「Mmhm. Haniel, you like Loam Oppa. Right?」

「………」

Though she still looked gloomy, she didn’t express disapproval.

She mumbled in a small voice as if all her energy was drained out of her.

「Mm…… Woam Oppa shaid he’d buy a tasty cwake but. He twold me to wait here pwatienwy while he wen and gwot the cake but. Hnng. 」

「Wh, where was ‘here’?」

「I dunno. Hwaniel did a gwood job waiting, bwut oppa didn’t cwome so I gwot sho scwared I fowwowed the bwack birds and cwame to Wake Wand. 」

「What, how irresponsible!」

What are you doing just leaving the kid in the middle of nowhere!