Of All
Things, I Became a Crow: Special Side Story #7
Translators: Nyx and Ririi Rain
*Rainelle’s POV
I was awakened slowly by a
gentle caress on my cheek. It was a soothing touch that told me that I could
sleep more, but I can’t do that. There was no doubt that I was sleepy, but I
have to roll the egg.
"Sorry, did I wake
you up?"
[Umnh, no. I have to get
up.]
Shaking my head slightly,
I blinked my eyes forcefully. Then I saw Karmeut closing in to my face.
I shook my head with a
small smile at his gaze that examined me.
[I'm fine, Karmeut. I was
just dozing off for a while.]
"Are you just
sleepy?"
[Uh-huh. The doctor came
and checked my condition before. I'm okay. Really.]
I gently brought my beak
to his cheek. Then, as if he had been waiting, Karmeut hugged me.
“At times like this, I
have to help…”
[I am reassured when Karmeut
is by my side.]
It was just as I said. It
was no exaggeration to say that Karmeut was now handling all of his work in my
garden.
Even if I pushed his back,
saying that it was okay for him to go to the office and work comfortably, his
stubbornness could not be broken.
No, on the contrary, it could
be said that I was the one who was shaken by the sight of Karmeut almost begging
me to let him do this much. I couldn't bear to stop him.
He took care of his work
during the day and slept next to me at night in the form of a wolf.
It was inevitable to feel
sorry, grateful, and reassured for his behavior.
[It's about time to roll
the egg.]
I rolled the egg in my hold,
whispering in a sweet voice to ease his worries about waking me up.
"Aren't you tired?
You have to keep rolling egg, so you have to worry about it constantly."
[Still, it is necessary. This
little one will be born healthy by receiving the warmth evenly.]
I'd be lying if I said I
wasn't bothered and tired, but it was something I had to do. For the sake of
the child.
While rolling the egg, I stopped.
...............huh?
"What's wrong, Rainelle?"
[No, it just feels a
little different than usual...]
Don’t tell me something is wrong?
Startled, I rose from my
nest. Karmeut also hurriedly approached the egg, perhaps aware of the
seriousness.
The egg appeared to be
fine on the outside. However, the feeling I felt at the tip of my beak was
distinctly different from usual.
It stared at the egg,
wondering if there might be some kind of problem.
It was a kind of stiff and
small movement, but the egg swayed weakly from side to side.
[Ah, the egg!]
I was startled and jumped
on the spot. As a result, the created wind scattered the feathers I had piled
for warmth in all directions, but that wasn't the point right now.
The egg! It moved!!
"Calm down, Rainelle."
I was barely able to come
to my senses at the voice.
[Ka, Karmeut, Al, Al
moves.]
"......okay. It
moves.”
Feeling surprised, I put
my wings on my rapidly beating chest and took a light, deep breath. Then I
quickly changed into my human form.
If this is because the time to hatch is
imminent, the child is likely to regard the first thing it sees as its mother.
When I went to Camut's
side and hugged him almost like I was hanging on his arm, a firm hug enveloped
me.
What if what I've done so far is wrong? Did I
roll the egg properly? Or maybe I should have buried my egg in the ground like
an alligator? If I treat the egg wrong, I, I...
"It will be
fine."
I was awakened from my
thoughts by a muttering voice and a patting on my back.
"It's our child.
It'll be fine."
I could see his trembling
eyes that still seemed strong.
"It'll be fine, Rainelle.
It'll be fine."
Ah, Karmeut is nervous too.
I was feeling that anxiety
too. Our child was the first for everything. I was worried about whether our
child would be able to break out of that small world, and I wondered if I had
done well so far.
There was a faint sound of
rustling and scratching from the inside of the egg. The birds, who were usually
chaotic, were also staring at the egg in silence.
The movement of the egg,
which had been shaking from side to side, got bigger and bigger. At the moment
I was worried that the egg might fall over, it suddenly fell to the other side.
Then it started rolling
around the inside of the nest.
“……Will, will it be okay?”
"It's okay...... It's
okay. Let's watch a little longer."
Karmeut blurted out the
words as if he was not sure himself. As I held his arm tight while suppressing
my nervousness, I felt something.
“......Rainelle?”
“・・・・・・ It will
be fine, Karmeut.”
The tension in my body,
which had accumulated, was relieved now. I could feel a look of doubt from the
side, but I was able to laugh.
Inside that egg is my child. The child, now
grown enough to escape the protection of the eggshell, is moving to come out of
the cramped little world.
I felt that.
“Our child says the egg is
cramped. So let’s wait…
It was something the child
had to do. All we could do was wait for the child to come out of the egg.
Karmeut did not answer. He
was just hugging me from behind. His arms were strong, so I leaned comfortably
on him and waited for the child to be born from the egg.
***
I've heard somewhere that
breaking out of the egg is like breaking out of a small world.
It was a metaphor for how
difficult itwas. And I realized that while watching my child hatching.
"...We’re not helping?"
"We can't do that, Karmeut.
It's up to the child."
I held onto the impatient
Karmeut's arm and stopped him. It was understandable that he was so nervous now.
About two hours had passed
since the egg started moving. When the movement of the egg stopped in the
middle, Karmeut was startled and tried to run to the egg, but I desperately
stopped him.
Saying “It's okay. The
child is having a hard time right now, so taking a break is necessary,” Karmeut
calmed down quickly. Then he said he was sorry and hugged me tight.
"It is okay."
Actually, I'm also
anxious. Even if I can feel the child's presence, I'm also anxious.
Waiting for the child was
all we had to do, believing that this was for the best. As painful as it was,
this was what we were supposed to do.
It was then.
The shallow cracks in the
egg, which can be seen here and there, became thicker with the sound of “Crack”.
Then, with a popping sound, a hole appeared.
*Bakbakbak*
The sound of scratching from
inside the egg got louder. Then a faint, incomprehensible cry came through the
small gap in the egg.
"Come on."
I whispered softly to the
child.
"Because Mom and Dad
are waiting for you."
Karmeut hugged me and
whispered that softly. Perhaps hearing that, the movement of the egg, which had
been swaying vigorously from side to side, stopped abruptly.
Then, with a popping
sound, the egg shell began to crumble. It looked like gold dust flying.
"Kkiing...!!"
With a small whimper-like
cry, the eggshell completely crumbled.
“Kii, khiing, kiing……!!”
And inside, a small golden
object was wriggling.
It was really small, soft,
and round.
The tip of the child's
snout was sharp and hard, like a bird's, as if it was a necessary part for
breaking eggshell.
When the child scratched
the tip of the snout with its front foot, it simply fell off like taking off
something. Then what appeared was a small, moist, black nose.
"Kiingkiingkiing......"
The child was crawling
under the eggshell, wriggling. It raised its head and blinked slowly, although
he was quite shaky from holding up its neck.
The child's eyes were the
color of vivid violets. Our child, who looked like a little puppy with golden
fur, was whimpering and crying at us with eyes open and head held up.
"You worked hard,
sweetheart."
Such a child was so
admirable. Feeling proud, I approached it and held out my hands. Then, as if it
had waited, the child crawled over and put its head on the palm of my hand.
I could see very small
black wings on the back of the child.
The child whined as it
mumbled with its little mouth. Carefully lifting the child up
and holding it in my arms, the child then proceeded to bury
his head in my arms.
This small, soft, and
delicate child broke out of that large egg. I was puzzled that such a small
child came out of such a large egg, but I was just proud of it.
"Karmeut."
I turned to call him.
"Karmeut, our
child."
He stood there blankly.
Blinking in disbelief, he came towards me with stiff, awkward movements, like
an unoiled robot.
Karmeut's golden eyes
turned to the child in my arms. I smiled at his blank stare and spoke,
"Look. It
is our child. It is really small, isn't it?"
"Really, really
small."
"Hold the child,
Karmeut."
"M, me?"
"Uh-huh."
I handed him the child in
my arms. Karmeut carefully received the child, his fingertips trembling.
As the child whimpered at
the sudden movement to express its displeasure, Karmeut shrank his shoulders.
However, as soon as the child, who was twitching its small nose, dug into his
arms in a comfortable manner, Karmeut's mouth twitched.
"Our, child..."
Moisture welled up in his
eyes as he blankly muttered those words, and soon water droplets began to drip.
"Karmeut..."
I was surprised by that
appearance, so I wiped his cheek with my hand. Then he sobbed quietly while
carefully hugging the child.
"Thank you, Rainelle.
Thank you very much."
Karmeut rubbed his face
with the palm of his hand while continue to shed tears. Feeling my palms
getting wetter, I quietly hugged him.
Our child broke through the
small world and came out to this world.
***
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