Chapter 20

Chapter 20

“Lady Melloe . ”

A goose at the edge of the lake bowed her head . As expected of an etiquette teacher, her overwhelming dignity belied her old age and thin frame .

「I did not expect Your Ladyship to visit this old one . I thought the Duchess wasn’t very fond of me . 」

“There is no such thing . ”

Though that was the exact reason I didn’t visit her earlier, I didn’t let go of my elegant smile . I needed to gain Lady Melloe’s hard-to-earn approval .

「In fact, I thought Your Ladyship would come looking for me, since Selene had brought me a baby swan to me yesterday saying it was under the Duchess’s orders . 」

“No, why would I come for such a reason?”

「… 」

Can you please not look at me like that .

I forced myself to smile and looked her in the eyes . Though I felt like Lady Melloe’s stern gray eyes could read my thoughts, they quickly returned to being indifferent .

「Well . I presume it isn’t very good for you to coddle the child, visiting me like this, just because she is young . 」

“…Yes . I’m sure Lady Melloe will take good care of the child . ”

「Of course . I’ve spent much of my time and energy into building this establishment . If anyone wants me to stop teaching they’ll have to go as far as to pluck my beak off . 」

She proudly gestured towards the grassy area next to the lake .

Though it was only an empty stretch of wetland, it had all the necessary conditions for the rearing and education for the children growing up at the lake .

「For now, I am thinking of starting her on basic etiquette . 」

“Etiquette? But she’s still too young to learn such things . ”

「No . Age doesn’t matter when one is trying to become a gentleman or a lady . Fortunately, the child seems to have an unexpected sense of dignity and class to her . 」

“Of course she would . ”

Lady Melloe looked at me curiously as I murmured in agreement, and I let out a breath to calm myself .

“W-well…I’m not very sure of anything, but I can tell you that she’s quite the wonderful child . ”

「Her lineage itself is on another level, I am sure of it . She is most probably of noble blood, and it’s most likely that she was the only one to survive after she and her parents were turned into animals . I could tell at first glance . 」

“…”

Pfft .

I could hear her scorn for Rania from her obstinate scoff . I could see that was one thing I could agree with .

「In any case, as she is a child of such status it is all the more essential to set up a proper structured education for her instruction so that she will become a lady of outstanding achievements in the future . 」

“But-”

「Do not worry . I’ve even invited a new instructor for the first year students . 」

“Ahh…”

You really do all kinds of things, don’t you .

I didn’t know how to respond to her words, so I gave a slight nod and tried to look impressed .

Looks like she finally recruited someone to her side, but if it’s someone Lady Melloe approved of, it’s obvious how prim and precise they’d be .

「I promise, Your Ladyship will be pleased with them . They aren’t in currently, but I will tell them to go say hello sometime . 」

“Yes, thank you, well, that, I…”

I’m already tired of all the birds I know, you see .

I awkwardly thanked her and braced myself .

But Lady Melloe was someone who dominated the social circle, and nothing could escape her eyes .

「However, if Your Ladyship hasn’t come to see that child, then may I ask why have you visited me? Was there some other business on the Duchess’s mind?」

“Ah…I actually had something to ask you, Lady Melloe . ”

「To me? 」

She tidied up her feathers with a look of surprise . It was a natural reaction, since I’d come looking for her after avoiding her all this time .

「But the only information I could offer Your Ladyship is about the mannerisms of the Rohan Empire’s noble families…」

“…That’s why . ”

*Smile . *

A graceful, quiet smile .

She lowered her upper body in the most elegant manner possible .

“That’s why I came to the most-qualified person for the job . ”

◇ ◆ ◇

It wasn’t until about an hour or so that our conversation ended .

As I checked the facts one by one, I only felt the corners of my mouth rise .

“…So that’s what happened . ”

「Yes? What do you mean . 」

“It’s nothing . Thanks to Lady Melloe I’ve learned some very useful information . . ”

I thanked her with all my heart .

As I slightly bent my knees in thanks while speaking, perhaps Lady Melloe approved of my actions, as she looked at me with a pleased expression .

Or at least what I mean is that she’d look like that if she was in human form .

“Please do not overwork yourself, Lady Melloe . What if you fall ill . ”

「We must protect ourselves even if we are in the bodies of animals . If we give up just because of a curse and turn to eating all day long then that is when we really become wild beasts . 」

“…Oh my . ”

Will you stop poking at my sore spot?

It felt like she was talking about me, but it could just be that I was hearing things wrongly .

Now’s not the time for that anyway .

Quickly turning to me, she opened her beak once more .

「But is Your Ladyship really going to leave like that after coming all the way here?」

“Yes? Then…”

「Why not take a tour around the school before Your Ladyship departs . The first year students’ spirits will also be lifted when they hear that the Duchess has come for a visit . 」

“Haha, but there’s really no need for that . ”

While casually looking around the marsh, I soon saw someone and swallowed my spit .

“Ah…”

「It seems that they are still in class . 」

Lady Melloe followed my line of sight and nodded at the scene .

Around ten small animals were diligently following their teacher, pruning their feathers, but the only one that came into my eyes was the one and only Haniel curled up in a corner all by herself .

“…Why, why is she far away from everyone, and alone . ”

「There is nothing to worry about . Once she gets tired of lying down in the grass, she’ll have no choice but to adapt to the situation . 」

“…Erk . ”

Excuse me! Would those words come out if this was your child?

My heart had only felt a little priced before but now my stomach began to ache even though I’d never given birth before .

“Ah…”

I locked eyes with Haniel, who lay weakly drooping in the field of reeds . I felt as if a jolt of electricity had run down to my fingertips .

But like last time, she didn’t respond to me in my human form . My chest ached seeing the child who annoyingly followed me around crying, ‘Mwommy, Mwommy’ was now looking at me as if she couldn’t recognize who I was .

「…Hnngh . 」

Trembling with fear, Haniel buried her head into the ground again after looking around .

It looked like her fist-sized body would just about roll into the lake with a plop .

But despite how flustered I must have looked, Lady Melloe seemed aloof to it all .

「If you have a problem with my method of discipline and would like to make a suggestion…」

“No . It’s nothing!”

I vigorously shook my head and straightened my clenched fingers .

I turned towards Lady Melloe with a bright smile plastered on my face .

“I believe in you and entrust her to you until the very end . ”

◇ ◆ ◇

*Chatter . *

The children quacked loudly in the forest as they played under the bright moon .

Surveying them stiffly, Lady Melloe tapped the ground . The children stopped playing immediately .

「You must do it with more certainty! If someone comes, you must lower your bodies as much as possible! Who is walking so loudly right now?」

「Hnngh . 」

「There’s no use in crying! Crying in front of hunters will only call death! So cease your useless crying immediately!」

There wasn’t a hint of mercy in Lady Melloe’s ringing voice .

A terrified Haniel hiccupped and struggled to close her mouth, but her cries only echoed out into the woods .

「Heuk…heuk!」

「Y-Your Ladyship! Please calm down!」

「That heartless, soulless grannie! If you stabbed that old woman not even a drop of blood would come out!」

Hidden in the thicket, I munched ferociously on some weeds, but that wasn’t enough to allay my anger .

She really is determined to scold her, isn’t she!

This isn’t even the army, how could you be so spiteful to such young kids?

Fire burned in my observing eyes .

「How could she be like that . It’s because she acts like that that she became Rania’s target!」

「T-the same could be said for Your Ladyship…」

「Ugh, Haniel!」

Because her neck was long, Haniel’s sorrowful cries echoed even farther through the woods .

She tried to keep her mouth closed out of fear of being heard, but she only became sadder .

「My goodness Your Ladyship . How many hours have we been like this for?」

「…」

「You even skipped dinner . Should I prepare something for you?」

「No . Do you think I can swallow food in this state?」

That poor Haniel couldn’t even drink one mouthful of water!

The tip of my nose soured and I couldn’t breathe for a moment .

I was going to enjoy a bath in the lake after I successfully got information from Lady Melloe and warmly sent her away, but by the time I came to my senses I was already sneakily watching Haniel .

With an ‘I knew you were going to do this’ face, Selene then found and sat down with me while clicking her tongue .

「Please try to understand . Lady Melloe has always been quite strict」

「You call that strict? This is a lake, not Sparta?!」

「…But she is still learning some very important things . To survive in the wild alone, it’s a good thing to learn as much as you possibly can . 」

「Who’s alone?」

Do you know how many brothers she has?

And among them, do you know who the eldest brother is?

Selene faltered, seeing me stare at her like I was going to twist her tightly clamped beak . But in actuality, I knew better than anyone that Selene was at no fault .

‘…It would’ve been nice if I could have raised her . I could have taught her everything step by step . ’

More tension filled my heavily restrained beak .

As if my intentions showed through my tense expression, Selene spoke again .

「If you’re going to be like that, you should have just taken her in yourself, Your Ladyship . You wouldn’t even be raising her, you’d just be looking after her until her brother was found . It wouldn’t even take that long, though it’s a little annoying at the moment…」

「It’s not for that reason」

「…Huh? Aren’t you sending her away because it’s too troublesome?」

Selene tilted her head in confusion . She looked as if to ask if there was anything more to it .

No, it’s not like that because it’s me .

「If I raise her, my attachment to her will linger for the rest of my life . 」

「…Your Ladyship . 」

「And though it would be a simple gesture of kindness on my part, the baby white swan would be thinking about it so much she wouldn’t be able to do anything . When I’m coming, when she can see me, she’ll probably only be able to think about that . 」

Just like how I used to do .