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-”
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「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 .
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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 .
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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 .