CH 98

*Rainelle’s POV

I flew around the Imperial Palace with a nervous male crow. Then I moved my head slightly and said,

"Caaw? Caaw, caw? (What do you think? It’s shiny and cool, right?)”

The male crow didn't seem to like those words very much. As if dissatisfied, it put its feathers flat on its body, looked around, and gave a reply that sounded as if it was hard to be spat out,

"---Caw. (---It's a little cool.)"

"Caaw! Caaw! (This is where I live! I love this place!)"

Saying that, I pondered for a while.

...should I show it my room? Since it has followed me all the way here…

But then I shook off that idea.

This male crow doesn't like humans, so it would be better to avoid them. Besides, this place is safe because there are wizards and Miel here.

Most of all, I couldn't treat this male crow badly because it is kind to me. Besides, looking at it from a crow's point of view, this guy is a very nice male.

...uhhhh, it’s just from a crow’s point of view! That glossy feather and smooth body line are so cool! That's a different kind of charm from Karmeut! It’s the unique charm of birds!!

I kept suppressing the way my gaze went over there.

As a zookeeper, that male crow is so handsome... Argh! Let’s not think about it like this! Let’s not!!

"Caaw? (But why don’t you like me?)

As we were sitting on the roof and looking down at the Imperial Palace, the male crow suddenly asked a question like that. My eyes opened wide and I responded,

"Caaw? (Why are you asking that?)"

"Caaw caaw, caaw. (Other females like it when I have good place and delicious food, but you say you hate it.)"

As it said that, the male crow grunted and it swelled and flattened it’s feathers to its body repeatedly. Then I replied bluntly,

"Caaw? (Then you can pair up with another female, right?)"

"Caaw. (I don’t like that.)"

To be honest, I was frankly surprised by the male crow who replied that it didn't like that.

Um, do the males reject females? Of course, there are many animals in which males choose their females, but crows don't, right?

"Caaw? Caaw? (Huh, why? Don’t you say they like what you have?)"

"Caw, caaw. Caaw, caaw.?

(Yeah, there are a lot of females who follow me because they like me. Good territory, strong strength, and capable of protecting my female. Who wouldn’t like me?)"

As it said that, the male crow stretched out its chest. With subtle flattery in its voice, the crow continued,

"Caaw, caaw? (But once we have a partner, we’ll be together for a long time, so shouldn't we be careful?)

What? Did crows have such a habit?

With that thought, I searched through my head for a bit.

I think it’s described like that in the [Wild Animals I Have Known1]. Is it the same here?2

Anyway, to sum up, a lot female has been eyeing this guy, but it didn’t take a partner yet…

…Huh? Wait a minute. But then, seeing this guy stalks me like this... Does that mean this guy really target me?

"Caaw? (Do you like me?)"

"Caaw. Caaw. (Yeah. I want to mate with you.)"

The male crow’s feathers swelled up as it answered without a single hesitation. The male crow slowly moved next to me and made a rumbling sound.

"Krr, cawr? Caaw, caaw, caaw! Caaw! (So pair up with me, okay? I'll take care of you, I'll fill you up with delicious food every day, and there's even a nice nest! I'll keep the chicks safe too! So, let's become mates)."

The male crow said the “let’s become mates”, part while inflating its collar feathers and rubbing its beak against my own, so I jumped back.

I didn't want to live at a nest and eat bugs, so I chose humans!! I hate it no matter how cool and cool a male you are! I don’t want to be partners with you!!

"Kakk!! (No!!)"

Avoiding the male crow with my beak wide open, I spread my wings and flew.

"Caaw, caaw. (I don’t want to be your partner, but I'll give you something delicious.)"

I'm sorry for refusing so harshly. I’ll just give you cookies as thanks for before.

But the male crow was persistent.

"Caaw? (Why do you refuse?)"

"Caaw. (I like it here.)"

"Caw? Caaw? Caaw? (Because there are a lot of sparkles? But this is where humans live? Do you like humans?)"

"Caaw. (I like humans.)"

“Caw? Caaw! (Why? I can do what humans do!)"

The crow as it said that seemed like a child. The effort to somehow please me was imaginary. To me, this crow was the same as a five-year-old kid who said, “I want to marry my sister when I grow up!”, so I didn't feel anything.

"Caaw? (You can't do this, can you?)"

In the end, I have no choice but to use the last resort.

I went back to my room to get the cookies. When I turned into my human figure, the male crow raised its feathers upright, seemingly startled.

"See, I can turn into a human. So I don't have to pair up with a crow. And I hate bugs! Even a nest made with twigs, straws, and feathers is more uncomfortable than here. Above all, you hate humans, but I like them."

The male crow looked like a flying ball right now. With a nervous squeak, itby the window.

...Is it because I'm a human being that I can't interpret the crow's cry, or is it just grumbling while crying?

I was thinking about a question that suddenly came to my mind whenthe male crow said with clacking beak,

"Caw?! Caw! Caaw?! (Sparkling! A sparkling fruit! You eat the eggshell, right?!"

"Huh?! How did you know?"

"Caaw, caaw. (If you’re a crow, it's a story you hear when growing up.)"

The male crow, who replied casually, landed on the window sill. Then it said while raising its collar to the full.

"Caaw. Caaw. (But I've only seen one crow that found it and ate it. That crow is also a crow that sticks with humans.)"

...is it Myrdin-nim’'s crow that this guy is referring to?

The story of the male crow was interesting, but maybe it this guy didn’t found it as a very pleasant story. It closed its beak and looked at me with a bewildered gaze.

"Caaw… (I don't understand why you can eat a Godish thing and still stick to humans...)"

"So you can give up on me. There are many females."

"Caww. (I hate that.)"

...No, what kind of bullshit attitude is this? The number one priority for animals is survival, and the second is reproduction, right? Besides, if you're a male crow, you don't need to be tied to one female, right? But why?!

"Caaw, caaw. (Since you’re a female that ate Godish thing, I want to mate with you even more.)"

"I don't want to"

"Caaw? Caaw! (Don't be like that, huh? I’m the most popular and talented male!)"

Yeah, yeah, you are.

I grabbed a cookie to change the subject. Then I offered it to the male crow.

"Here. I say I'll give you something delicious, didn’t I?"

The crow took the cookie. It tilted its head, put the cookie on the window sill, and began to peck with its beak.

"---!"

The crow appearance of staring blankly at the cookie with its black eyes wide open was very funny.

Oh, is this why Karmeut gave me cookies?

I smiled and asked,

"Isn’t it delicious?"

The crow shuddered at the words. Then it turned its head and mumbled,

"Caw, caw. (Well, a little.)"

"It's a reward for showing me places before. Of course, I really hated bugs."

The crow swallowed a piece of cookie with an uncomfortable squeak that seemed to convey that it doesn’t want to accept the deliciousness, although it still constantly pecked at the cookie.

After he had been focused on eating, the crow suddenly jerked its head up and looked around.

"Caaw, caaw! (Humans are coming, so I'm going!)"

"Huh?"

While I was still confused, the crow flew away with the remaining cookie in its beak. I was staring blankly at the male crow that was becoming a black dot in the blue sky when I sound of footsteps reached my ear.

Oh, is it Karmeut?

I was puzzled by Karmeut's behavior of returning earlier than usual, but soon I realized the reason.

The love letter! That's why he’s coming back now!!

What do I do, what do I do?! Go back to be a crow? No, no! I can't say anything when I’m a crow! Well, then should I stay like this?! How am I supposed to deal with this?! Aaah!!

Before I could figure out what to do or how to deal with it, the door opened.

Waaahhh!!

*Karmeut’s POV

"Ah, Rainelle, you are in human form."

Karmeut smiled brightly as he entered and saw Rainelle in her human form. Then he opened his mouth with uncontrollable joy,

"This is good. About this letter..."

As soon the word ‘letter’ was said, Rainelle jumped in place and then ran. Then she returned to her crow form and turned her back towards him.

"Rai, Rainelle?"

Karmeut was stunned by Rainelle’s blatant act that seemed to say “I didn't hear~ I didn't hear~”. Then he soon realized something.

Rainelle acted as a messenger between the Young Lady Gwynell and Namuel. And now that she had sent me a love letter…

"--Do you want me to write you back, Rainelle?"

At those words, Rainelle returned to her human form. Karmeut suppressed his laughter at her appearance that seemed to have answered “yes” from the way she blushed.

He was even touched.

The letter wasn't an expression of affection as a companion animal, it was a love letter.

It's so cute too.

“Okay. I’ll write you a reply right away, but can you come over here for now?”

"Why, Karmeut?"

When asked to come his way, Karmeut smiled at her act of running without a doubt.

Then by surprise, he planted a kiss on her lips.

Rainelle's face grew even redder to the extent that Karmeut could hear the surprise and embarrassment from her face. Looking pleasantly at her, Karmeut then said,

"A reward for writing me a letter."

"This, I didn’t do it for this reward."

Her act of wiggling her fingers while muttering that was very cute. Therefore, Karmeut chuckled a little and hugged Rainelle. Then he replied while rubbing his face on her shoulder,

"Yeah. I did it because I wanted to."

His mumbling and laughing was ticklish, so Rainelle twisted her waist slightly, but Karmeut just hugged her tighter.

"Are you envious of sending and receiving letters?"

"Uh, huh. A little...? I wanted to try it... ---It was difficult to write smooth sentences. I was at a loss because I didn't know how to write it."

Karmeut smiled at her small babbling behavior.

"Do you want to learn better?"

"Yeah, but..."

"Then I can introduce you to a teacher."

“Uh… I promised to learn from Aria…”

"If you explain the situation,  she will be able to understand."

When he stroked her head while saying so, Rainelle seemed to ponder for a moment. Then she nodded her head,

"Okay. I'll tell her. ...But it’s okay to go out to play, right?"

"Of course."

At that, Rainelle showed a smile of relief. She then relaxed and leaned in his arms. Satisfied with her behavior, and a little curious, Karmeut asked a question,

"But, Rainelle, you don't turn into a crow now?"

"Uh, yeah. ---Is that weird?"

"I want to know since you usually use your crow form."

At those words, Rainelle made a muffled hum sound. She then turned her head away as she looked apologetic.

"That's... I'm more comfortable as a crow. My original form is a crow. Unlike humans, it can fly freely and is lighter."

"Really? I see. Then, now?"

Rainelle's ears turned red. Then she mumbled as she turned her head another way,

"That, that..."

"Hm?"

"Because I like Karmeut... I wondered if it would be better to get used to the human form..."

Rainelle muttered so while wriggling her small fingers. The movement of the grip put a tickling sensation on Karmeut's arms.

***

Notes:

1  A book by Ernest Thompson Seton. If you’re interested, you can find the ebook here ↩

2  Actually, as far as mating goes, a pair of crows will typically stay together for life, but extra-pair copulations are not unusual, at least in some populations. ↩