Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Lady Melloe.”

A goose at the edge of the lake bowed her head. As expected of an etiquette teacher, her overwhelming dignity belied her old age and thin frame.

「I did not expect Your Ladyship to visit this old one. I thought the Duchess wasn’t very fond of me. 」

“There is no such thing.”

Though that was the exact reason I didn’t visit her earlier, I didn’t let go of my elegant smile. I needed to gain Lady Melloe’s hard-to-earn approval.

「In fact, I thought Your Ladyship would come looking for me, since Selene had brought me a baby swan to me yesterday saying it was under the Duchess’s orders.」

“No, why would I come for such a reason?”

「… 」

Can you please not look at me like that.

I forced myself to smile and looked her in the eyes. Though I felt like Lady Melloe’s stern gray eyes could read my thoughts, they quickly returned to being indifferent.

「Well. I presume it isn’t very good for you to coddle the child, visiting me like this, just because she is young.」

“…Yes. I’m sure Lady Melloe will take good care of the child.”

「Of course. I’ve spent much of my time and energy into building this establishment. If anyone wants me to stop teaching they’ll have to go as far as to pluck my beak off.」

She proudly gestured towards the grassy area next to the lake.

Though it was only an empty stretch of wetland, it had all the necessary conditions for the rearing and education for the children growing up at the lake.

「For now, I am thinking of starting her on basic etiquette.」

“Etiquette? But she’s still too young to learn such things.”

「No. Age doesn’t matter when one is trying to become a gentleman or a lady. Fortunately, the child seems to have an unexpected sense of dignity and class to her.」

“Of course she would.”

Lady Melloe looked at me curiously as I murmured in agreement, and I let out a breath to calm myself.

“W-well…I’m not very sure of anything, but I can tell you that she’s quite the wonderful child.”

「Her lineage itself is on another level, I am sure of it. She is most probably of noble blood, and it’s most likely that she was the only one to survive after she and her parents were turned into animals. I could tell at first glance. 」

“…”

Pfft.

I could hear her scorn for Rania from her obstinate scoff. I could see that was one thing I could agree with.

「In any case, as she is a child of such status it is all the more essential to set up a proper structured education for her instruction so that she will become a lady of outstanding achievements in the future.」

“But-”

「Do not worry. I’ve even invited a new instructor for the first year students. 」

“Ahh…”

You really do all kinds of things, don’t you.

I didn’t know how to respond to her words, so I gave a slight nod and tried to look impressed.

Looks like she finally recruited someone to her side, but if it’s someone Lady Melloe approved of, it’s obvious how prim and precise they’d be.

「I promise, Your Ladyship will be pleased with them. They aren’t in currently, but I will tell them to go say hello sometime.」

“Yes, thank you, well, that, I…”

I’m already tired of all the birds I know, you see.

I awkwardly thanked her and braced myself.

But Lady Melloe was someone who dominated the social circle, and nothing could escape her eyes.

「However, if Your Ladyship hasn’t come to see that child, then may I ask why have you visited me? Was there some other business on the Duchess’s mind?」

“Ah…I actually had something to ask you, Lady Melloe.”

「To me? 」

She tidied up her feathers with a look of surprise. It was a natural reaction, since I’d come looking for her after avoiding her all this time.

「But the only information I could offer Your Ladyship is about the mannerisms of the Rohan Empire’s noble families…」

“…That’s why.”

*Smile.*

A graceful, quiet smile.

She lowered her upper body in the most elegant manner possible.

“That’s why I came to the most-qualified person for the job.”

◇ ◆ ◇

It wasn’t until about an hour or so that our conversation ended.

As I checked the facts one by one, I only felt the corners of my mouth rise.

“…So that’s what happened.”

「Yes? What do you mean.」

“It’s nothing. Thanks to Lady Melloe I’ve learned some very useful information..”

I thanked her with all my heart.

As I slightly bent my knees in thanks while speaking, perhaps Lady Melloe approved of my actions, as she looked at me with a pleased expression.

Or at least what I mean is that she’d look like that if she was in human form.

“Please do not overwork yourself, Lady Melloe. What if you fall ill.”

「We must protect ourselves even if we are in the bodies of animals. If we give up just because of a curse and turn to eating all day long then that is when we really become wild beasts.」

“…Oh my.”

Will you stop poking at my sore spot?

It felt like she was talking about me, but it could just be that I was hearing things wrongly.

Now’s not the time for that anyway.

Quickly turning to me, she opened her beak once more.

「But is Your Ladyship really going to leave like that after coming all the way here?」

“Yes? Then…”

「Why not take a tour around the school before Your Ladyship departs. The first year students’ spirits will also be lifted when they hear that the Duchess has come for a visit. 」

“Haha, but there’s really no need for that.”

While casually looking around the marsh, I soon saw someone and swallowed my spit.

“Ah…”

「It seems that they are still in class.」

Lady Melloe followed my line of sight and nodded at the scene.

Around ten small animals were diligently following their teacher, pruning their feathers, but the only one that came into my eyes was the one and only Haniel curled up in a corner all by herself.

“…Why, why is she far away from everyone, and alone.”

「There is nothing to worry about. Once she gets tired of lying down in the grass, she’ll have no choice but to adapt to the situation.」

“…Erk.”

Excuse me! Would those words come out if this was your child?

My heart had only felt a little priced before but now my stomach began to ache even though I’d never given birth before.

“Ah…”

I locked eyes with Haniel, who lay weakly drooping in the field of reeds. I felt as if a jolt of electricity had run down to my fingertips.

But like last time, she didn’t respond to me in my human form. My chest ached seeing the child who annoyingly followed me around crying, ‘Mwommy, Mwommy’ was now looking at me as if she couldn’t recognize who I was.

「…Hnngh.」

Trembling with fear, Haniel buried her head into the ground again after looking around.

It looked like her fist-sized body would just about roll into the lake with a plop.

But despite how flustered I must have looked, Lady Melloe seemed aloof to it all.

「If you have a problem with my method of discipline and would like to make a suggestion…」

“No. It’s nothing!”

I vigorously shook my head and straightened my clenched fingers.

I turned towards Lady Melloe with a bright smile plastered on my face.

“I believe in you and entrust her to you until the very end.”

◇ ◆ ◇

*Chatter.*

The children quacked loudly in the forest as they played under the bright moon.

Surveying them stiffly, Lady Melloe tapped the ground. The children stopped playing immediately.

「You must do it with more certainty! If someone comes, you must lower your bodies as much as possible! Who is walking so loudly right now?」

「Hnngh.」

「There’s no use in crying! Crying in front of hunters will only call death! So cease your useless crying immediately!」

There wasn’t a hint of mercy in Lady Melloe’s ringing voice.

A terrified Haniel hiccupped and struggled to close her mouth, but her cries only echoed out into the woods.

「Heuk…heuk!」

「Y-Your Ladyship! Please calm down!」

「That heartless, soulless grannie! If you stabbed that old woman not even a drop of blood would come out!」

Hidden in the thicket, I munched ferociously on some weeds, but that wasn’t enough to allay my anger.

She really is determined to scold her, isn’t she!

This isn’t even the army, how could you be so spiteful to such young kids?

Fire burned in my observing eyes.

「How could she be like that. It’s because she acts like that that she became Rania’s target!」

「T-the same could be said for Your Ladyship…」

「Ugh, Haniel!」

Because her neck was long, Haniel’s sorrowful cries echoed even farther through the woods.

She tried to keep her mouth closed out of fear of being heard, but she only became sadder.

「My goodness Your Ladyship. How many hours have we been like this for?」

「…」

「You even skipped dinner. Should I prepare something for you?」

「No. Do you think I can swallow food in this state?」

That poor Haniel couldn’t even drink one mouthful of water!

The tip of my nose soured and I couldn’t breathe for a moment.

I was going to enjoy a bath in the lake after I successfully got information from Lady Melloe and warmly sent her away, but by the time I came to my senses I was already sneakily watching Haniel.

With an ‘I knew you were going to do this’ face, Selene then found and sat down with me while clicking her tongue.

「Please try to understand. Lady Melloe has always been quite strict」

「You call that strict? This is a lake, not Sparta?!」

「…But she is still learning some very important things. To survive in the wild alone, it’s a good thing to learn as much as you possibly can.」

「Who’s alone?」

Do you know how many brothers she has?

And among them, do you know who the eldest brother is?

Selene faltered, seeing me stare at her like I was going to twist her tightly clamped beak. But in actuality, I knew better than anyone that Selene was at no fault.

‘…It would’ve been nice if I could have raised her. I could have taught her everything step by step.’

More tension filled my heavily restrained beak.

As if my intentions showed through my tense expression, Selene spoke again.

「If you’re going to be like that, you should have just taken her in yourself, Your Ladyship. You wouldn’t even be raising her, you’d just be looking after her until her brother was found. It wouldn’t even take that long, though it’s a little annoying at the moment…」

「It’s not for that reason」

「…Huh? Aren’t you sending her away because it’s too troublesome?」

Selene tilted her head in confusion. She looked as if to ask if there was anything more to it.

No, it’s not like that because it’s me.

「If I raise her, my attachment to her will linger for the rest of my life.」

「…Your Ladyship.」

「And though it would be a simple gesture of kindness on my part, the baby white swan would be thinking about it so much she wouldn’t be able to do anything. When I’m coming, when she can see me, she’ll probably only be able to think about that.」

Just like how I used to do.