Of All Things, I Became a Crow: Chapter #27
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
*3rd person POV
Karmeut jumped out of his seat when he heard those words.
"She was nowhere to be seen? You must be saying that
she was hiding in the closet."
"Tha, that... I waited outside the door after
leaving the food as you instructed, then I opened the door slightly to see if
the crow is eating..."
Karmeut knew the rest even before the servant continued
her words. The chair fell over loudly, but Karmeut didn't have any spare
thought to care about the chair.
Almost running, Karmeut headed to his room, opened the
door, and shouted.
"Rainelle!"
...the violet-colored gaze that had been wary him of and
only peeked from the top of the closet had disappeared.
Unable to believe that, Karmeut shouted as he frantically
searched through the room.
"Rainelle, Rainelle! I'm not asking you to come to
my call, so just stick your head out! Please! Where are you? Rainelle!"
However, the black bird was nowhere to be found.
Karmeut clenched his fist and slammed the wall as if he
was taking it out on a certain person as he saw black feathers scattered on the
floor.
"Luwellin------!"
While yelling out the name of his brother, who he fought
against for the throne, his golden eyes flashed fiercely.
It was a gaze full of aggravation that seemed as if it
can tear Luwellin apart if he was in front of him.
***
*Rainelle's POV
Throb, throb
I slowly opened my eyes. I felt pain as if I had been
beaten hard all over my body.
"---!"
It
hurts---!!
I only moved slightly, but I opened my beak and groaned
in the intense pain that flashed in my body. I blinked hard to clear my blurred
vision and looked over at my body carefully.
...my body was in a bad state. No joke. The pretty and
evenly arranged feathers were messy, and my left wing was bent in a strange
direction.
When I look at it with my eyes, I feel that my left wing
was hurting so much that my eyes were tearing up.
Oh,
it hurts---
I struggled to move, but when I moved my legs even
slightly, my wings shook and it hurts so much that my tears fell, so I gave up
moving and shrank my neck.
Why,
why did this happen?
I just woke up, so I shook my head a few times to clear
my hazy mind. Even with that small shaking, my wings whined and complained from
the pain.
I desperately thought of why this happened as I closed my
beak and endured the pain.
...after
Karmeut left, a servant came into the room. Since I started avoiding Karmeut,
the food has been delivered by a servant, not by Karmeut.
...because
I didn't touch any of the food until Karmeut left, wouldn't he have thought it
would be better for him to go out than to sit still and watch me while being
distressed?
After checking that the servant had left the room after
leaving food... I sat down to eat.
Then,
there were suddenly strange people in the room. The palace had far more unknown
faces than those that I knew, but I swear it was the first time I heard that
they were going to capture me. Even Karmeut didn't force me to be here.
Whether
it was my nature from when I was human or it was the crow's instinct, I knew
that it was not good to be caught!
I was struggling to get out of the room because I had
such a strong feeling.
I had wanted to escape through a window or a gap in the
door, but these intruders, who had expected that, closed them tightly. I
frantically flew around to avoid thrown shiny objects that seemed to have been
imbued with magic.
And,
and... I don't know what I bumped into at that time, but there was a flash in
front of my eyes, and then a hand that took my breath away for a moment. That
was the last thing that I remembered.
I felt my blood become cold when I thought of it...
When I realized that I had been caught by someone other
than Karmeut, I curled until my beak was close to my chest.
Why,
why? I'm just a crow? Is it Luwellin? Did those people kidnap me under
Luwellin's order? What the hell? Why? Did he think that I'm Karmeut's weak
point? Or is it because I scratched his nose?
...it'll
hurt his pride, but that's not enough reason to hold me like this!
I looked at my
left wing, holding back my desire to scream. The wing that was turned in the
wrong direction and the feathers that got messed up were so painful that tears
were about to come out again.
No,
no. I shouldn't cry. Crying doesn't change the situation.
After holding back my tears by blinking my eyes hard, I
carefully raised my head and examined my surrounding.
Is
it because I was caught while I'm in my crow form? I'm inside a cage.
There was even a perch in the gleaming golden cage, but I
was not in a condition to be able to sit balanced on a perch.
Beyond
the cage is...
It seemed like I was in a room, but it was absolutely not
Karmeut's room.
I was making such a fuss about Karmeut's room being
luxurious, but I realized that his room wasn't even that extravagant.
The bedposts in this room were made of gold, ivory, and
precious stones, so they were very shiny, while the quilt on the bed looked
luxurious and fluffy, although I don't know if it was silk or something else.
As for the furniture, ornaments, and ceramics, they would
hurt my mouth to say them. This room was luxurious and gorgeous. I can explain
it in those words, but... how should I say this? This room feels rather
frivolous because all the fancy things are gathered in one place?
The most accurate words may be that the owner of this
room was saying, "I have a lot of money! I want to brag about it!!"
with a strong feeling...
Looking at the setting of this room, I was convinced that
I had been captured by Luwellin.
...who
else could use such a fancy room in the Imperial Palace except for the Imperial
Family? Of course the current emperor, who had no connection with me, won’t
hold me captive like this.
There was no one around, so I shrank my neck and trembled
slightly. I leaned my head against the cage because I felt exhausted just by
looking around. I kept getting sleepy and my eyes then closed.
It was when I just closed my eyes as I felt heat rising
slowly from the injury of my broken wing to the rest of my body.
There was the sound of footsteps. My body trembled
slightly at the presence of people approaching, but I did not open my eyes.
...what
kind of thing will they do to me if they found out that I'm awake? And I don't
even have the energy to move anyway.
"Tsk,"
I can hear a soft tongue clicking, and then there was a
dull sound of a slap.
"You stupid bastards! I told you to be careful when
catching it!!"
"I, I'm sorry."
"Healer! What are you doing? Why are you not
treating it right away?!"
"As you ordered, Your Highness, Prince
Luwellin."
...As
expected, it's Lewellin. But why? Did he see something through the video
crystal ball after all?
My heart was pounding like it was going to explode from
the tension, but not a single of my feathers was moving.
The cage door opened and I felt a hand lifting me, but my
body had no strength and just drooped.
Even
though I may appear like a chick, I was a keeper of tigers that are at the top
of the food chain. Do you think I'm the kind of girl who only knows how to make
a fuss? As soon as the healer treated my wings, I'll take the opportunity to
run away.
However, I soon realized that my thoughts were an
underestimation of Luwellin. Suddenly, there was pressure on my injured wing,
so I opened my eyes and screamed.
"Kkaaakk! (Hurts! It hurts!!)"
When I opened my eyes to see the bastard who grabbed my
wings, the damn bastard opened his mouth with a mean curve of his eyes.
"Your new owner is here. Shouldn't you at least give
a greeting?"
--What's
this madman talking about? If I had been a human, I would slap him on the cheek
for saying something ridiculous.
Taking a closer
look at the person who said that nonsense, I quickly realized that this bastard
was Luwellin himself.
I tried to move my head in a frenzied manner to rip off
the flesh of his hand, but the bastard was faster.
He quickly grabbed my head and pressed it to the floor. A
banging sound can immediately be heard.
"What are you doing? Hurry up and cure it."
"...yes, yes."
A feeling of warmth spread through my injured wing. There
was the faint sound of the wing returning to its original shape. I was grinding
my beak and flinched while waiting for the moment when I can escape somehow,
but the bastard's voice can be heard again.
"Stop."
"Yes? But if it's going to be healed, there's
still..."
"When I think about it----- it's obvious that it'll
fly away when it has been healed, right? So, that's enough for now."
...this
crazy bastard? Hey, you punk! How can you break my wing and only heal it halfway?!
What if it doesn't get healed right?!
Luwellin's action naturally brought out swear words from
me, but the only thing that came out from me was the sound of cawing. As soon
as the warmth faded away, I was grabbed on the neck and lifted.
As I flapped my wings and grasped Luwellin's hem with my
claws at the choking sensation, I could see that Luwellin's yellowish-brown
eyes were gleaming strangely.
"I honestly wanted to twist its neck and bury it for
scratching my nose..."
Luwellin slowly bit his lower lip. Seeing that, my
feathers rose as I felt chills.
"If you turn into a human and stay by my side, I'll
make it a no-go. No, I'll give you my favor. You'll be favored by the next
emperor. It's an honor that another unlucky bird can't enjoy."
...that's
a hell of thinking, man. You're looking at me with the gaze of 'If you turn
into a human, I will do this and that', but will I ever turn into a human for
you?
I snorted and shut my eyes tight.
"You------!"
*thwack!*
I heard the sound first. It was the rattling of the metal
cage. Only then did I realize that I had been thrown into the cage and that my
back felt painful. Even with my eyes closed, I could only see white as I
groaned.
Agh,
you son of a--! Birds' bones break easily because their bones are hollow---!!
What if I break another bone by your throwing, you brainless bastard!!
"Are you defying me, you crow?! Your master is that
defective bastard Karmeut, huh?! If you don't turn into a human, I'll tear him
apart in front of you! So you'd better change your mind!"
I barely opened my eyes while enduring the pain.
Luwellin, who was yelling, seemed pathetic and insignificant, so I snorted.
...so
you saw me take a human form through the crystal ball. But hearing you saying
that Karmeut is defective, I don't think you've seen Karmeut turn into a wolf.
Then I guess you installed the video crystal balls just recently.
This made sure of it. Luwellin was still unaware of the
important fact that Karmeut had awakened, and this motherfucker's concern was
my human form.
Maybe it was a pretty good thing, but those yellowish-brown
eyes were shining very disgustingly, like a crawling insect.
Wow,
look at that greasy gaze. Should I turn into a human and get rid of those eyes?
I thought he won't kill me until I turned into a human.
At some point, he'll turn around and try to kill me, but until then, I'll be
safe.
...then
I'll hold on. How can I just be obedient to him?
To be honest, being obedient was the best way to save
oneself. It was better than dying.
--But when I looked into that bastard's eyes, I could
feel that he thought of me as just a toy, so I thought I wanted to play a game
with him. Whether this bastard win or I win.
Wow,
it's been a while since I felt this way. - yeah, you bastard. Are you trying to
pick a fight with me? Try it if you can!! Let's see whether you win or I win,
you bastard!
As I shook my head and turned to him, I could hear
Luwellin's loud voice, but something bothered me.
...suddenly,
Karmeut came to my mind.
Is
it because my body hurts so bad that I can't help but think of his gentle touch
and soft voice?
I knew that affection and trust were clearly different,
but in this situation, I slowly began to want Karmeut to come.
...what
a shameless thought. I've been avoiding him because I can't trust him.
Putting that in mind, I worked my brain the hardest ever
since I became a crow.
...I
need to get out of here. No matter what--!
I'm trying to hold back the pain by clenching my beak.
I pondered on how to get out of the hands of that crazy
bastard. I know that my wing hasn't healed completely and that it was hard to
escape with bird's feet, but...
They
said that even if the sky falls on you, there is a hole from which you can
escape (there is a way out of every bad situation)! So I'm going to get out of
here alive, for sure...!
However, I was at a loss no matter how much I thought
about it. One of my wings was broken, my body hurts so much that I feel like
I'm going to scream every time I move, and the most frustrating thing was that
ferocious little dog... no, it was that one who could transform into a wolf.
No matter how hard I tried to run at the fastest speed I
could with my feet, I was not sure that I would be able to run away from a
wolf's... no, human's steps.
I staggered and barely got myself up. I didn't like the
situation. As I thought about how to escape, that bastard Luwellin came up to
me while grinding his teeth, so I puffed up my feathers.
---I'm
sure that bastard will kick me. Ugh, that would really hurt. If I'm kicked, I
think at least one of my bones will break or I'll get a bone disease.
It was when I was seriously thinking about whether I
should transform into a human to save my life or not,
*boom!*
--- I'm not lying, I honestly thought that there was a
real bomb explosion.
Startled, I turned
my head towards where the sound came from. Luwellin must have been the same as
me, being surprised at the sudden sound, because he also turned his head in
that same direction.
***
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