CH 15

He read the letter.

[Her abilities are unstable, so she can’t control how she changes between beast and human. I’m sorry to ask you this question Lord, but did you send Lady Linsy Raniero? It’s different from what I’ve heard before. And the sibling—]

No way!

He would never send Linsy away or let her go.

The most talented of Raniero’s daughters was Linsy.

Schville was the child who had to go to Yeckhart.

She was a mutant who was born with the wrong ability.

She was a child who did nothing right, but if she went to Yeckhart, she would do her part in a clever way.

‘This is the only card that can cut the bloodline of the great wolf family.’

Because Schville’s power was to take away other people’s life force, not to heal, which was Raniero’s symbol.

If Schville goes and does her job, the wolf family’s bloodline will end. 

And Raniero, who has been working hard to get ready for an attack, will be able to defeat their old enemy Yeckhart.

So, of course, he had no reason to even think about Linsy.

He doesn’t know what Arsene Yeckhart’s disease was, but Raniero’s healing power could fix almost anything.

If Linsy goes, Arsene Yeckhart’s illness will really be healed.

And,

Linsy was a talented person who could lead Raniero well by helping her older brother, who would take over as head of the family, as long as she appeared as an eagle over the age of ten. 

‘As long as it manifests as an eagle.’

When Raniero’s children are ten years old, transformations are possible from the moment they begin to molt.

At first, it looks like a small wheat-colored bird, but as it molts and grows in size, it transforms into an eagle.

At times, ‘the people’ that never become eagles would appear. 

Judging by Linsy’s strong abilities, it wouldn’t have happened.

But send Linsy to Yeckhart?

Come to think of it, the time when Linsy disappeared and the time when Kendrick Yeckhart left the mansion in a wagon perfectly coincided. 

She disappeared two days ago.

It was also two days ago that Kendrick left.

Arthur Raniero’s face distorted with anger when he thought about it. 

Kendrick must have kidnapped Linsy.

The reason Kendrick visited was also to threaten to give up Raniero’s daughter.

Arthur Raniero, who made his decision, tore up the letter and slammed the wooden desk with his fist. 

“Call the temple right now!”

******

‘Why do my ears itch so much?’

As if someone was talking about me.

I tried to pick my ears with wings.

However, I couldn’t even touch my ears with my fluffy wings, so I scratched my cheek against the corner of the bed.

‘Ah, it’s good.’

After scratching satisfactorily, I laid down on a small bed that fit my body size.

The pink bed was a doll bed made by maids by asking the most famous toy craftsman in wolf territory.

Fortunately, it fit my body size perfectly.

On the bed, there were also small cotton blankets and pillows made by them.

I put the pillow and pulled the blanket up to my head. 

Then suddenly, I was drowsy and sleepy.

As I was closing my eyes in the rush of sleepiness, a familiar face suddenly popped into my mind.

‘How’s Adele doing?’

There was not a single thing that I regretted leaving behind in the mansion, but it was disappointing to leave Adele behind.

‘I should tell Adele I’m going to run away.’

But if I had told her the truth about this plan, she would have held me back, calling it crazy.

‘And if I had stayed in the mansion.’

Like in my previous life, I was abandoned after the first molt, and Adele must have been killed too.

No matter how much I thought about it, this side was the best for each other.

Not for my father, though.

‘Let’s really sleep now.’

Just as I was about to pull up the blanket, the bright moonlight shone on the bed.

I could see a red feather sticking out of the side of my stomach at the same time that the moon was shining.

‘Ung…?’

Did I see it wrong?

I pulled up the blanket quickly.

Then I flew to the window where the moonlight was bright, and carefully inspected the feathers on the side of my stomach.

All of them had fine wheat-colored hair, but one of them had a slight redness.

‘What happened?’

Molting begins at the age of ten.

It was the same for children of all races.

I too, without exception, started my first molt when I was ten years old in my previous life.

‘But red feathers come out this fast?’

No matter how quickly I used this ability, the timing of the first molt couldn’t change—.

I looked at my feathers in amazement.

It was red no matter how many times I looked at it.

It’s only been a day since I came to Yeckhart, and I already have cursed feathers. 

‘If I get caught, I might be abandoned.’

Yeckhart’s wolves seemed quite fond of me, but apart from that, it was difficult to spot already cursed feathers. 

At least after Arsene was healed, and they owed me.

I carefully bit a little fluff on the side of my stomach with my beak. 

And—. 

‘Iik!’

With both eyes closed, she pulled the feather out with all her might. 

Tuk. 

The red feathers were pulled out and rolled randomly on the window.

The spot where the feathers were pulled throbbed. My tears welled up.

I quickly threw my feathers out of the window and flew back to bed. 

‘It must be the wrong feather.’

There’s no way the molting has already started.

Of course. 

So this would be just a dream.

It’s just a bad dream.

I tried to sleep with my eyes closed, shaking off the worst thoughts possible.

******

‘It’s weird.’

As Mr. Hern said, I rested well for three days, but the transformation didn’t happen—.

‘I’m still in bird form.’

In the wolf mansion crowded with wolves, the human form was more comfortable than the bird form.

‘How much longer do I have to rest to get back to being human?’

I moved my body back and forth and kept looking at myself.

It didn’t seem like there was anything wrong.

Of course, the human form is not particularly uncomfortable, but—.

It was uncomfortable not to be able to communicate with the wolf clan.

“Chirp, chirp!”

At best, the only thing I can make is a small bird chirping. 

And—.

‘If I keep being like this, I can’t use my ability properly.’ 

Now my position in the wolf mansion was quite unstable.

‘In order to get married by contract, I need Raniero’s permission.’

But my father couldn’t have let me go.

Somehow they’ll try to bring me back and send Schville away.

In fact, from the wolves’ point of view, it didn’t matter whether Schville came or I came.

Because to them, I and Schville are the same Raniero with the ability to heal.

So maybe if my father continued to annoy me, he might just send me back to Raniero.

I clenched my beak.

‘Never!’

I have to stay at all costs.

Of course, as long as I came to the wolf territory voluntarily, my father wouldn’t be able to take me by force—

If the wolves decided to let me go, I had to go back to Raniero again.

The thought of it made me suddenly depressed.

At the same time, my tail drooped.

The long tail dragged on the floor.

‘I wish I could get married soon.’

So that I can really be protected in the names of wolves.

At that moment, the sound of footsteps was heard.

‘Huh?’

I raised my head.

Then I saw the maids with worried faces.

Four or five maids looked down anxiously at me.

“Lady! What’s going on?”

“The tail is drooping…”

“I think she’s out of energy. Maybe she hasn’t had any snacks?”

One of them lifted the cushion I was sitting on.

Thanks to this, I had to sit on a cushion and bear the burdensome gaze of the maids.

Why are they so interested in me?

Yeckhart’s maids were strangely interested in me.

The maids ran to my room without a break and looked at me.

Some people made a small flower crown by weaving grass flowers, and some maids embroidered a handkerchief as a gift.

Of course, I appreciate the gift—.

But then I asked Betty, who was far away, for help.

But Betty just smiled.

‘It’s too much pressure.’

The wolves’ different-colored eyes were shining as they looked at me with their sharp teeth sticking out.

“Please try this almond, and you’ll feel better.”

“Should I bring you a cup of hot chocolate?”

“Don’t you like fruit, Lady? There are piles of fruits.”

The maids who chirped like a wild bird suddenly offered me snacks.

Between them, the one that caught my eye was the almond.

“Chirp!”

As soon as I saw the almonds, my tail went up again.

I jumped up and climbed onto the table.

Then I picked up an almond on the plate and ate it in pieces.

After the sweet chocolate on the outside melted in my mouth, the nutty taste of the nuts in the chocolate almonds was amazing. 

For a moment I’ve forgotten my concerns about my situation.

I ate almonds and looked up at the maids.

All of them had their cheeks flushed red.

‘At first, I thought they were staring at me because they wanted to eat me.’ 

The wolf clan and the bird clan have been hostile for a very long time. 

The servants in the mansion wouldn’t be happy with me.

But my prediction was wrong.

All the wolves in the mansion were kind to me.

The maids in particular were more.

They always treated me with care, as if I was a small ball of cotton.

And they always brought me a mountain of sweet snacks and offered them to me.

Thanks to this, I gained weight in three days.

I looked down at my chubby belly.

But—. 

‘Chubby—?’

Come to think of it, I think Adele read me a fairy tale book about this the other day.

The story is about a lion who ate a baby bird in one bite after fattening it up.

‘Huh!’

When I remembered the story of the fairy tale book, I got goosebumps all over my body.