[Music Recommendation: "Usui Takumi" theme (Kaichou wa Maid-sama OST)-available in Youtube or Spotify] ~ Please listen to it in a loop while you read this part to experience the utmost beauty of this chapter ~

Despite our anxiousness, the others remained unfazed - Kaiden, Crystal, Callan, and Verrill. Wondering why, I remained seated and calmly observed the bird. It shouldn't attack us unless we provoke it, right? So we should be safe if we remain calm, right?

Kaiden stood up and smiled, stretching his right arm across, as if inviting the bird to land on his arm.

'Is that even safe? What if the raven's claws scratch him?'

To my surprise, the raven landed on Kaiden's arm as if it was the most natural thing to do.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

It cawed again, as if trying to communicate to Kaiden. It even tilted its head and rubbed it on Kaiden's hands while he tried to pet it.

'Wait a minute… is that raven his pet? For real? A raven of all the birds available as a pet? And of all the animals that can be a pet? Raven's are migratory birds and very hard to tame. Is this even allowed by the law? Well, they are the Ma family so it shouldn't be hard to get a permit but still. Just wow!'

Staring at the raven, I could tell that it must have cost a fortune with its unique dark purple feather. Or was it painted? No, it's too shiny and silky for that.

"I-Is that your pet?" I asked Kaiden, still amazed with what I was seeing at that moment. A raven, acting so friendly, and cozy, and sweet towards his owner.

"Yeah. His name is Raven and he's been with me since I was ten," Kaiden answered me with a sweet smile on his face. He seemed to love his raven so much.

"Pft! Ha-ha-ha-ha! You named your pet raven, 'Raven'? For real?" I burst out laughing. I suddenly remembered the "Town of Beginnings" in Armageddon. The creator of that game and Kaiden would definitely get along when it comes to naming things.

"See? I told you its a stupid name," Crystal complained, shaking her head in disapproval. "Don't listen to him Senara. That raven is named 'Corax' okay? It's the name I gave it—a proper name not some name that doesn't cost an ounce of thought."

Clicking her tongue, Crystal stood up and went near Raven slash Corax. Callan and Verrill went near, too, and pet the bird. Feeling curious, I also walked closer, dragging Hora with me.

Caw! Caw! Caw!

It cawed when Crystal got near, as if greeting her.

"This stupid bird. I told you, call me 'Your Majesty', not caw!" she complained to the poor bird. It's not the raven's fault it can't speak. "Now go on, call me your majesty."

"It's too long. He won't be able to say that yet," Kaiden argued.

"Hm? Raven can talk?"

"Yes. He can speak one to two syllables now."

He looked so proud saying that which I found amusing. I never thought Kaiden had a soft spot for pets.

Intrigued by a talking raven, Hora finally snapped out of her anxiousness and approached the Raven—I decided to call him Raven for now since it's easier to remember.

"Hello Corax!" Hora energetically greeted the bird. "Can you say 'Annyeong'. Go on, say it. Annyeong!"

Oh my goodness! Hora's addiction to Kpop just revealed itself. She's so cute when she speaks in their language. Yes, Hora's been a fan of Kdramas (Korean dramas), Kpop idols, and anything related. They started to become popular in our country around 2008 and were still gaining popularity now, and even more so in the future.

"Annyeong?" Raven said.

"WOAAAH!" we all marvelled upon hearing it, and clapped our hands.

"Great job, Raven!"

"You ungrateful bird!" Crystal shot daggers in her eyes towards the poor bird. "I've been teaching you many times and you don't say what I want you to say. But when a new girl comes in, you copy what she says immediately! Hmf! I'm not giving you food for a month!"

"Ha-ha-ha-ha!"

"Ugh. Don't listen to her, Raven," Kaiden gently patted the cute bird.

"Another one!" Hora exclaimed. "This time, say 'Wae', okie? Wae."

"Huh? What does that mean?" Callan raised his eyebrows.

"Oh. She has a habit of saying cute words when she's very happy. Wae means why," I explained to him.

Callan's eyes were stuck wide open and Verrill laughed hard.

"That's so cute!" Verrill blurted out. Then, he patted Hora's head, much to her surprise—no, not just her, 'much to OUR surprise' would be the better term.

Hora's eyes widened and she stared at Verrill, looking at him straight in the eye with a shocked expression.

'Oh no. Don't do that, Hora. You might scare him away. But would you look at that? Do I smell something in the air here? OMG! I can use this as reference! And most of all, I can finally get back on Hora for all the times she teased me with Kaiden! Ha-ha-ha-ha!'

"Ah! I'm sorry!" Verrill apologized when he realized what he just did. "I don't know why I—I'm really sorry." His face flushed red.

Hora remained frozen and just nodded her head. But I could see the light blush on her cheeks. She couldn't fool me even if she tried to hide it.

Callan's face drew disgust all over. He shrugged and turned his back after, inching closer to Crystal instead, who at that time was pouting. Was she still upset about Raven not following her order?

Hmmm… She was usually the first one to take pictures on moments like this though. Maybe the bird did anger her too much. At least Callan was there to calm her down. He pinched her cheeks and stretched it wide, trying to make her smile.

"Aww! Stop it, Callan!" Crystal irritatingly said and gave him a whack.

Meanwhile, Kaiden was on his own world with Raven. Lucky bird.

'Ahhh… How I wish I'm the bird instead. Then maybe, I can have Kaiden's undivided attention. Wait, what?! Senara! What are you thinking? Friends, remember?'

Sighing deeply, I felt a slight sting in my heart.

'This is bad. I'm becoming greedy. If this continues, I'll keep on… falling.'

But looking at Kaiden, I didn't see any sign of him being aware of romantic relationships or even crushes.

'At least I don't have to worry about him falling in love with someone else, right? Ugh. Who am I kidding? Just look at Verrill. He, too, didn't look like he's interested in love and whatnot. But what happened? He seems to be unconsciously liking Hora. And they just met this morning! Anything can happen in just a snap.'

"What's wrong, Senara?"

"Huh?" I turned my head and it was Kaiden, asking me that.

'Oh no. What should I say?'