Of All Things, I Became a
Crow: Chapter #08
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
*3rd person POV
"Then I'll carry it out as you say. By any chance,
do you need anything else?"
Karmeut shook his head. If Galenos could use it to dig a
trap, it would not matter.
Not much harm will be done to the Windster family to
announce his survival, and above all, he (Galenos) is not the kind of person he
(Karmeut) deserves. It was too early to trust him (Galenos) completely under
the current circumstances, but... this level of job can be entrusted to him
(Galenos) without worries.
"No, I'd appreciate it if you just take care of
that. -I'm sorry I can't repay your loyalty right now. I will reward you in the
future so that you won't be disappointed."
"Please don't say that, Your Highness. Somehing like
this is nothing if it’s for my liege."
"I'm sorry I called you during training. --You can
go back and rest."
"Yes."
Karmeut watched Galenos until the door was closed, then
he exhaled. He calmed his mind by stroking Rainelle's beak, who was sitting on
his shoulder.
The moment he returned to the Imperial Palace, this
comfort will be over. Until the moment he bit his brother's neck and killed him.
*Rainelle’s POV
Listening from the side, it seemed that Karmeut was going
to make a life-and-death decision with Luwellin, another imperial family member
who was fighting for the throne with him.
...
from the looks of it, this person named Luwellin is quite stupid, but he
awakened before Karmeut, and therefore, he's competing for the right to
succession?
As I ate the yummy cookies, I recalled the conversation I
just heard.
I
think I'll be bold...
When
I listened, it seemed that Karmeut is trying to reverse the situation. If I
enter the Imperial Palace, will I watch a real-time drama about power struggle?
Oh,
ohohohoh-- That sounds interesting.
I pecked a large piece of cookie with my beak and then
swallowed it. This time I was grateful that I was not a human.
Let's
say, if I'm a human, I think Karmemut would've sweated a bit while giving a
reasonable explanation about my existence.
And
since Karmeut brought me, a woman, here, then we can be a good match, or even a
hostage. And my life and purity were in danger. Oh, my.
--Thinking
of a deep relationship with Karmueut, this is just me drinking kimchi soup
before he even thought of giving me a rice cake1...
No,
but the other person can do it without thinking like that. I'm not delusional!
It's like that when you read novels, y'know!!
Trying to rationalize myself, I wandered around as I
wanted.
As the prince's favorite pet, I could fly anywhere.
I was able to fly around in the well-maintained garden,
or sit on a branch and leisurely tidy up my feathers. Still, I didn't forget to
fly back quickly when Karmeut called. The most important thing to me right now was
to be loved!
"Rainelle"
Oh!
He's calling me. Why did you call me?
I flapped my wings eagerly and flew to Karmeut, then I
sat on his arm.
--After
becoming a bird, it felt like my thinking became as simple as a bird's----.
Nope! I'm still smart (?) like a human!! My brain haven't become a bird's ...By
the way, arent crows intelligent animals?!
I puffed up my feathers as I felt something poking my
chest.
...but
why did you call me this time?
When I tilted my head full of questions, Karmeut grabbed
my body.
Huh?
You want to hug me? You're going to pat my back so I can sleep? Then I like it.
...but it wasn't long before I realized that my thoughts
were a mere illusions.
When the cage door was closed with a click, I could only
realize that I had been quietly held in Karmeut's hand before and now was kept
in a cage.
"Caw! Caaw, caw! Caaaw?! Cawww! (Hey! I trusted you,
but you put me in a cage?! What kind of lightning strike is this!!)"
I moved my wings vigorously with a betrayed feeling.
Ugh,
it's suffocating! The cage is not small, but it's stuffy! It's suffocating!!
Why did you suddenly put me in a cage?! Look, when I get out, I'm going to peck
your hand!!
I was terrified that I will be returned to the forest,
which counted as a betrayal to me. As I puffed my feathers and cried out, Karmeut
awkwardly murmured and scratched my cheek with his index finger,
"I'm sorry, but you have to be patient until we get
to the capital."
Capital?
Capital?! If that's the case, you can just release me! I won't leave you even
if you let me go anyway! Did you think I would make everything
I do to be loved into nothing?!
For a moment, I was choked up, but after thinking about
it a little bit, Karmeut's action can be understood.
This was because the animals could not tolerate sudden
changes in the environment and could run wild, and zookeepers would even
administer anesthetics if necessary, then carry them in a cage for the moving.
Yeah,
I can understand, but... still, it's too much to put me it in a cage without
telling me! I'll punish you when I get out!
After determining that I would punish Karmeut by pecking
his hand when I'm out of the cage, I took a look at the cage.
I don't know if it's real gold or painted gold, but the
golden cage was bigger than I thought. The water bowl and feed bowl looked like
porcelains, and there were plenty of water and cookies. I'm suddenly locked up,
but food came in well!!
"Your Highness, I'll take care of the cage."
A servant next to me lifted my cage.
Aah?!
The floor is shaking!
"--No, I'll take care of it myself."
But Karmeut stopped her immediately.
Eh?
You're going to take me yourself? My eyes stilled at his unexpected conduct.
No
matter how cute I am -at least I think so-, I don't think it's appropiate for a
prince to carry a cage on his own...
Right?
Moving a cage isn't something nobles or royalty would do.
Perhaps Karmeut did not know what was in my and the servant's
heart, because he took the cage away from the servant. I flapped my wings in
the rattling cage and gripped the perch.
Oh,
come on! Be gentle!
The floor is shaking.
Uh,
I'm dizzy... Ugh!
Right now, it was as if I'm experiencing seasickness and
an earthquake. My eyes quivered.
I wondered if he was unaware of my situation, or if he
didn't have the time to pay attention -- either way, I was angry -- it felt
like the cage was constantly shaking and my eyes were spinning. It was only
after the cage was carefully placed in a space, which was presumed to be a
carriage, that I finally came to my senses.
Ugh---.
Uh, I was so dizzy. Oh…I felt like the world was rolling...
"Rainelle -- are you all right?"
The cage door opened, and I'm barely rejunevated with his
hand gently stroking my beak.
'Are
you okay'? 'Are you okay'?! I'm not okay at all! I thought I was going to die
of dizziness!
I opened my beak and bit his finger.
Oh,
why am I a crow?! Even if I do it like this, it doesn't hurt at all because I
don't have teeth!
I was biting his finger out of anger when I heard a small laugh.
My body became blatantly relaxed by the touch of his
thumb gently stroking my neck while he showed a small smile, perhaps he was not
in pain at all.
Wow...
Seriously, being petted is awesome.
I wondered if I should forgive him with this.
...Yes!
I have no backbone! But what can I do with such a wonderful petting?! It feels
like my whole body is melting!
If I were a cat, I would have purred. When I made a
pleased sound under Karmeut's hand, my body was lifted.
The next moment, I was seated on his lap.
"I'm sorry to keep you in a cage all of a sudden.
--But I didn't want to go back to the Imperial Palace without you."
I turned my head to look at Karmeut who gently stroked my
back with his hand.
...He somehow had a lonely look, so I couldn't say
anything. ...Oh, I can't talk because I'm a crow.
"What are you really? Are you a hybrid? Or a
polymorph dragon? If not, are you a rare bird that hasn't been revealed by
humans?"
I could feel it instinctively: Ah, this is the true Wolfric Iveld de Karmeut. He's telling me
about his feelings that he can't say to anyone.
I'm an animal that can't speak and can only hear, so he
was letting out what was in his heart.
"I don't know why you helped me, how you understood
my plight, how you found Crobanlock and gave it to me, but..."
Karmeut's hand grabbed my body. I wasn't surprised
because he didn't grab me hard. As if wrapping me gently, Karmeut's face and
golden eyes came closer.
"--you're my lucky bird, I even wondered if God sent
you, though I never thought I would cling to God."
I felt a light touch on my beak. My head went blank at
the sight of Karmeut's face right in front of him along with the smell of his
body.
Uh,
uh, uh, uh, this, uh, kiss, kiss! You kissed me, didn't you?! Kiss? Kiss?! Oh?
Huh? Huh?!
The golden eyes bent gently. Karmeut's lips felt soft. He
stroked my head with a terribly handsome smile.
"Don't leave me. Stay with me. If you really are my
lucky bird... if you think of me favorably... help me, just like you did in the
forest."
He’s
like a child. Yes, he’s like a child.
Did someone lose a child? It was like a kid was about to
cry after losing his mother. It felt like the kid was holding the hem of your
clothes when asked.
Maybe that wasn’t the right illustration...but that
feeling kept coming to me.
Is this the other side of the character Karmeut? Or is
this his true self? His less mature self when he hadn't become an emperor? He
was desperate, like a child. Even though it doesn't fit him... Strangely, I
could understand.
If I were a human, would I be able to see this?
No, it wouldn't have been possible. For some reason, I
felt proud that every corner of my heart was filled with elation.
On the other hand, I couldn't say that I would help
because I'm not a human being.
--but
I know how to convey the meaning without having to say it!
I raised my head and put my beak on his lips. I could
feel my face burning.
Thank
God...! Because my face can't blush because I'm a crow!
Um,
by the way, it's really soft. I'm so sorry to touch it with my hard beak......?
But Karmeut didn't seem to think so. His round golden
eyes bent gently and he kissed my head.
Unlike on my beak, the clearer and warmer contact brought
a shameful feeling more than before, which caused my feathers to puff up.
Seeing me like this, Karmeut just smiled and stroked my
back tenderly.
I could hear the small rattle of the carriage moving, but
all my nerves were focused on Karmeut's smile and gentle hand.
***
*3rd person POV
A luxurious carriage pulled by four horses entered the
capital of the Wolfric Empire. While caressing Rainelle's feathers, Karmeut saw
the well-organized roads, lively atmosphere, and the magnificent Imperial
Palace in the distance. It was just as expected of the capital of an empire.
Rainelle, oddly enough, didn't refuse to enter the cage
except for the first day.
As if it understood that it had to be like this, when
Karmeut opened the door of the cage, it often walked in on its own and sat
comfortably on the perch or dozed off.
Karmeut was worried that it would fly away if it was
taken out of the cage when they were camping or staying in a town, but
surprisingly, I didn't do so.
Even if it fly, it wouldn't fly far, and it was
surprising for other people who saw the bird hovering around Karmeut and
quickly sitting on his shoulder or arm when it was called.
It could have flown away as many times as it wanted, but
it unexpectedly came to Karmeut as soon as it was called, which gave him a
satisfied feeling.
It took them five days to get to the capital. If they go
there using magic, they can arrive quickly, but there were Luwellin and his
followers there. For Karmeut, it was an option that was best to be ignored, as
it would be risky if there were tricks done to his group when they were moving
through space.
"Rainelle."
It replied by cawing, and its violet eyes were shining.
Karmeut showed a small smile at the crow's action.
"You must remain to be quiet when we entered the
harbor, okay? Otherwise, you might get hurt."
It was half meant to scare the crow, but he was half
sincere. He knew that Rainelle wasn't an ominous bird, but a lovely and lucky
bird, but other people didn't know that.
In addition, since all kinds of rare animals and plants
are kept in the Imperial Palace, it was possible for Rainelle to be mistaken as
to have accidentally snuck in and therefore would get beaten by people, or
Rainelle might get caught by carnivore animals.
Maybe his sincere words worked, because Rainelle's body
stiffened a little and it nodded hard. The sight inadvertently made Karmeut
laugh.
‘Ah,
really, you can understand words so well and act so cute’,
thought Karmeut.
He opened his mouth to speak to a servant.
"Put the cage in my room. If you treat it like a
mere wild animal, you know the consequences."
It was threatening to say something like that to a woman
who had never had even a small weapon in her hand. Since she was a servant, she
knew very well that those words meant something much grimmer than death, so her
face turned pale. But she soon regained her composure and acknowledge his
words.
After answering, she moved the cage which contained the
crow with a careful movement.
The crow in the cage showed anxiousness in its purple
eyes, but it did not struggle or cawing, which was in line with Karmeut's words
that told it to be quiet.
No, to be precise, it seemed to be a little frightened.
Karmeut felt sorry for it and thought, 'I'll
comfort you properly after work.'
An unwelcome voice came to Karmeut's ears as he said that
in his mind.
***
Notes:
1 Korean idiom: Someone doesn’t even think about giving you a rice cake, but you already have drunk Kimchi soup. If you eat a rice cake too quickly, you may choke. To prevent this, you should drink some water, or in this case, Kimchi broth. It would be equivalent to the English expression ‘to count one’s chickens before they hatch’, which means to assume success before it is actually achieved. ↩
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