Chapter 77

*Miel’s POV

Miel looked at Rainelle. Miel frowned at the human figure in front of him as Rainelle was somehow unable to concentrate and was restless.

“—Rainelle-nim. Did something happen?”

“—Uh, huh?! Does it look like that?”

Miel nodded his head while swallowing down the words: “anyone would think so”. Then Rainelle’s expression grew perplexed. She moved her eyes around and wiggled her fingers.

“…if it’s hard to say, you don’t have to tell me. I’m just worried…”

“Thank you for your concern, Marquis Miel. No, since you’ve been given the surname ‘Albion’, I should call you Marquis Albion.”

“If Rainelle-nim is comfortable with it, you can just call me Miel.”

Miel clenched his teeth at the sight of her embarrassed smile.

…Is it still too soon?

He felt faintly frustrated at the thought, but he quickly pulled himself together.

No, she didn’t expect it to be like this.

She is a crow, which does not use the term status, but the time she spent with His Majesty the Emperor is incomparable to that of me.

I heard from Myrdin-nim that she had rescued His Majesty the Emperor and had been with him ever since.

Recalling that fact, Miel hurriedly opened his mouth,

“Of course, it is only when Rainelle-nim wants it. …Ah, Rainelle-nim”

“…?”

“I couldn’t show you before, but… would you like to see the intermediate-level spirits?”

The purple eyes twinkled at the words ‘intermediate spirit’.

“—you mean the intermediate-level spirits of the four major elements?”

“That’s right. It’s difficult to call a high-level spirit indoors in many ways. Please understand.”

“All right.”

Her eyes were glowing with curiosity and anticipation. Seeing that, Miel narrowed his eyes in a smile.

It was a pure and beautiful smile that he had never shown to other nobles, servants, or commoners during his time as a slave.

Although it’s because of the spirits, it’s good to make her happy with my own abilities. It feels really good.

With that in mind, Miel spoke with a smile in his voice,

“I can summon any number of spirits. But wouldn’t you be thirsty or hungry in the middle?”

“…Oh, that’s right. Then I’ll have the maids bring tea and refreshments.”

Rainelle called the maid in high spirits, smiling as if excited at the thought of seeing the intermediate-level spirits. With a pleased smile on his face, Miel spoke again,

“Rainelle-nim, aren’t you originally a crow? —So how about spending time with the spirits in your original form rather than in human form?”

Rainelle thought for a moment at those words. Then she mumbled as she looked into Miel’s eyes,

“…but I’m feeling sorry for Marquis Albion…”

“It’s fine as long as Rainelle-nim is comfortable.”

At that, Rainelle looked up in contemplation. She pondered until the maids brought the tea and refreshments. She seemed to have made up her mind when Miel summoned the intermediate-level spirits.

A black bird flew up with a low, shrill cry. Then, as if to warm up, she hovered over Miel’s head and then landed on the chair opposite him.

Now Miel could see Rainelle’s crow form properly.

It was a black, shiny, large crow. The golden necklace with blue jewel around her neck stood out so much.

The black bird, who clacked her beak as she blinked her clear eyes, was tilting her head.

The crow, who had been looking at him, spread her wings and flew. She flew near the intermediate-level wind spirit that was summoned by Miel.

The intermediate-level wind spirit, which resembled a Wyvern, felt Miel’s intention. It raised itself and flew to the crow.

The crow, who was flapping her wings in a good mood, started flying around the room with the wind spirit excitedly.

Miel couldn’t read facial expressions like when she was a human, but he could feel that

Rainelle was really enjoying it now. No matter how he couldn’t read a bird’s facial expression, how can he not know how excited she was until she fly around with an intermediate-level spirit like that?

Seeing her preoccupied with flying around, Miel sent the other three spirits back. Seeing Rainelle enjoying flying with the wind spirit, he would call the others again later.

He raised his head and looked at the crow and the intermediate-level spirit. As if they were playing pranks on each other, they got closer and then moved away from each other several times. It seemed like they were getting along. They could fly, so there was something to share.

Miel was relieved that at least Rainelle was satisfied with her time with his spirits. Miel tilted his teacup.

***

*3rd person POV

Even after Miel returned, Rainelle’s situation did not improve much. That was how serious(?) Rainelle’s condition was. Even after meeting Karmeut or Miel, nothing changed. Most of the time She spent her time staring blankly into the air most of the time.

It was so worrying that Sepia came and asked if she was okay while in tears, but Rainelle showed no signs of getting any better.

“…Is that so?”

“Yes. So I am sorry Marquis Namuel, can you take a look at her?”

Hearing that, Namuel nodded his head as he put on his glasses. It may not have been his field, but the peculiarity of a crow that ate Crobanlock was something that the Marquis could make him move.

Above all else, isn’t she the most precious person of His Majesty, who had also sought him for this matter directly?

And so, Namuel and Karmeut began to move to the room where Rainelle was.

“…Rainelle?”

There was no answer. Usually, she would answer with a brief cry or she would have turned into a human figure.

Due to the different reaction, Karmeut let out a long sigh. Namuel headed towards Rainelle, who was sitting under the sun.

“Rainelle-nim. Nice to see you It’s been a while.”

Again, no answer came. Her beak was slightly open and her wings were slightly drooping while her eyes were looking only at the air.

Namuel sighed briefly at the sight of the crow, who clearly spaced out. Then, enduring the rudeness, he reached out and tapped her beak.

“…Kkaak?!”

Namuel was silent for a moment at Rainelle’s behavior of flying into the air while flapping her wings in panic. It may not have been intended, but the sudden flapping of her wings blew a strong wind onto his face.

“—Caaw?”

It seemed that she had calmed down a little. Rainelle tilted her head as she sat back on the perch.

“I came here because the Emperor said that Rainelle-nim is acting differently from usual. …May I check your condition for a moment?”

Rainelle nodded slowly, expressing doubt. In the sense of her permission, Namuel carefully reached out his hand and began to examine her physical condition.

He spread out her wings, looked at her pupils, and opened her beak to examine her mouth closely. Namuel furrowed his brows.

“…What’s wrong? Is there something wrong with Rainelle’s body?”

“No, Your Majesty. Rainelle-nim is in excellent health. There is nothing to worry about.”

“…Then what’s wrong with Rainelle?”

“I think it would be better to ask.”

At those words, the Emperor put on a displeased expression.

‘Rainelle didn’t even tell me why she was like this. …Will she tells Namuel? If she does, that’s a problem.’

Thinking like that, Karmeut looked at Namuel and Rainelle.

“Rainelle-nim. Can you tell me why?”

The crow’s purple eyes landed on him. She opened her beak. The bird closed and opened her beak repeatedly, then she shook her head.

“…Caaw.”

When the crow turned her back to Namuel, the wizard had no choice but to let out a long sigh.

“…what happened to Rainelle-nim?”

“…she’s been like that since she went to the tea party.”

“Then the cause must be one of the people who participated in the tea party.”

“According to Sir Windster, it was an ordinary tea party with no major problems.”

“…”

The wizard could not say any more at the Emperor’s words. His mouth only opened again after a long while.

“…Then it seems that the only way is to wait until Rainelle-nim feels better. It seems like she’s worried about something.”

“…is that so?”

“Yes, and in this matter, I think Your Majesty is more suitable than me.”

Namuel’s eyes curved softly as he whispered,

“Isn’t Your Majesty the closest to her than anyone else?”

The corners of Karmeut’s lips rose.

“-Right.”

“Then I’ll leave you two alone. I have to look at the research data I received from Myrdin-nim.”

“I’m sorry for troubling you.”

“No. Of course I would have done what I should do.”

Namuel replied with a smile and turned his gaze to Rainelle. Upon receiving that gaze, the crow slightly waved one of her wings. The wizard then bowed his head to excuse himself.

When Namuel left the room, Karmeut looked at his lovely crow. Again, the crow was absentminded. Suppressing his nervousness, Karmeut turned into a wolf.

A gigantic golden wolf appeared in Karmeut’s spot. The wolf, while wagging his hairy and shaggy tail, approached the perch and sat down.

The wolf licked the corners of his mouth while setting his eyes on the crow that still had her beak slightly open. Then the wolf stood up with his front paws up. He some closer and licked the crow’s black, smooth beak.

“—Kaakk?!”

Because of that, the crow fell on the wolf’s head. The wolf’s mouth seemed to form a smile and he tilted his head at the action of the crow, which fluttered her wings for a while.

*whump*

The crow fell into the wolf’s arms and rolled with him. Perhaps it was because her beak was suddenly licked while she was out of it, the crow could hardly fly and only waved her wings around.

The wolf stuck out his tongue and licked the area around the crow’s belly as if to calm her down. The crow trembled and then began thrashing around with her feet.

As if telling her to stop, the wolf covered the crow with his tail like a blanket. The crow continued to toss around.

“Caaaw!!”

Her attempt to escape was unsuccessful because of the luxuriant fur, so she bit his tail with her beak unsatisfactorily.

The wolf wrinkled his eyebrows and made a laughing-like noise. The wolf, wagging his tail while making a satisfied woof, fell face down with his chin on the floor.

The crow tossed and turned in the wolf’s arms. Perhaps she was surprised that he suddenly fell, the crow didn’t try to get out of the wolf’s arms at that moment.

On the contrary, as if feeling good, the crow half-closed her eyes and seemed to be preparing herself for bed. The wolf licked his nose.

Karmeut: ‘If Rainelle feels comfortable, this isn’t too bad.’

For whatever reason, Karmeut turned his head and shoved his snout into Rainelle’s wing while thinking that it was enough if Rainelle could be eased of her worries. Rainelle flinched for a moment as the moist nose touched her wing feathers, but soon she calmly adjusted her posture.

After that, she began to arrange the wolf’s fur with her beak. The wolf seemed to smile yet again at her action of gently pulling and arranging his soft fur.

The wolf expressed joy by gently waving the tail that covered the crow’s body. But the crow, which was combed by his tail fur, puffed her feathers and hit him with her beak.

The crow, which made a dissatisfied cry, flew over the wolf’s head. She sat down on his head as if she didn’t care about the wolf’s opinion.

At such behavior, Karmeut licked his nose. Then he clenched his jaw and fell flat on the floor. The crow staggered for a moment, squealed, and pecked the back of his nose with her beak. The wolf twitched and lowered his ears.

After the wolf stopped moving, the crow swayed her tail around contently. Then, very comfortably, she began to doze off in that position.

Suddenly Karmeut was stuck in that position until she woke up, but his tail moved in a joyful manner.

—As an added bonus, of course the Emperor did not return to work, so his servants came to find him, but nothing could interrupt their time.