The Villain's Lost Daughter - Chapter 93

The small sound at the window resembled a knock on the door.

“What is it?”

Pulling my shawl over my shoulders, I walked to the balcony.

The curtains were slightly parted, and I peered through the glass doors, but no one was there.

All I could see was the mansion’s darkened surroundings.

“…What the…”

A chill ran down my spine and I shivered slightly.

Tap!

The sound of something hard hitting the glass rang out once more.

It’s a little lower than my eye level…

Huh?

“…A bird?”

What I caught at the end of my gaze was a large bird, about half my size, with a little exaggeration.

“What kind of bird…”

Tap, tap—

As I was muttering to myself, still not fully understanding the situation, the large bird knocked on the door once again.

The dull sound was the bird’s beak tapping on the door.

“Oh, I guess I’ll let you in first.”

Hastily, I pulled the curtains aside and opened the balcony door slightly.

A black bird swooped in through the open door. The bird’s confident stride, even as it entered a stranger’s room, was incredibly cute.

“…What, how cute.”

The large, black bird should have been scary, but to me, it looked nothing but cute.

Its fur was neatly kept, and its expression was docile, as if it had been raised by someone. I smiled weakly, closed the door and drew the curtains again.

When I turned around, I saw a large bird standing quietly beside the sofa, staring at me with its blue eyes.

‘…No way.’

Looking at those blue eyes, I realized something.

I cautiously approached and bent down before the bird.

“Did the Prince send you?”

It may seem strange to talk to a bird, but I used to talk to animals from time to time.

Old habits die hard.

And the truth of the matter was that I loved the way they tilted their heads when I spoke to them

Just then, the bird spun around and exposed its back to me.

“…A bag?”

What I saw before me was a small bag.

Quack-quack-quack!

The bird flapped its wings slightly as if to invite me to open the bag.

At first, I was worried that the bag would squeeze its body, but I couldn’t see any discomfort on its face as it stared at me.

“…I didn’t realize this was the way you wanted to communicate.”

Muttering in a voice that was a mixture of bewilderment and laughter, I carefully opened the bag the bird was carrying.

“If you’ll excuse me for a moment, then.”

After a moment of feeling the bag’s peculiar sensation of levitation, as if it had been enchanted with space magic, I felt something flat and square in my hand.

Contrary to my expectation that it would contain a letter, it was a diary-sized notebook that came out of the bag in my hand.

“…What is this.”

I could feel a faint glow of magic coming from the luxurious leather-bound notebook.

“An artifact?”

Quack-quack-quack!

At the end of my question, the bird chirped, as if answering my words, and turned around again.

Its piercing blue eyes somehow seemed to say yes.

‘…Is it a monster?’

It seemed like it was answering me earlier.

If this bird was a demon, it made sense.

Usually, when we think of demons, we think of them as ferocious, vicious creatures that hurt people, but there are some that are not.

‘I wonder how the kids in the North are doing.’

When I lived in the north with my father, there were snow hares and three-tailed foxes that sometimes visited the garden behind the castle.

They were officially registered in the Demon Book and would sometimes visit me for treats.

‘They were so cute.’

They were no ordinary animals, though, and although their teeth and claws were sharp, they had never once hurt me.

Anyway, considering that, there was a good chance that this one in front of me was a demon.

I wasn’t too interested in demons, so I had no idea what species it was.

‘Well, I’d have to ask Callian to find out for sure.’

Uh-oh! Staring at the black-feathered bird with curious eyes, I stood up from the position I’d been crouched in.

As I walked toward my desk, the bird followed closely behind me.

It seemed to be waiting for me to open my notes. I had reason to think so.

Because the big bird’s gaze was darting back and forth between me and the note in my hand.

I thought to myself, ‘He’s waiting to see if I open the note.’

This smart-looking kid was only going to come back if he saw me open the note or not.

“Hold on, I’ll give you something, and I’ll open it in a second.”

This time, the bird’s busy eyes froze, as if it understood me.

Its eyes followed my hand as I opened the desk drawer. It seemed to understand that I was giving it something.

“…You’re so cute.”

I chuckled softly at the bird’s behavior.

The surprise I’d felt when I first saw the large bird in the darkness had faded, and I was now left with a feeling of adoration for the blue-eyed bird.

“Ah, here it is.”

What I pulled out of the drawer was a box barely bigger than the palm of my hand.

More accurately, it was a box of snacks that had been enchanted with a preservation spell to keep the contents from spoiling.

“I didn’t season this, so you can eat it.”

What I pulled out of the box was jerky.

Turns out, it’s Evan’s homemade meat jerky for animals.

For a few years now, Evan has been making animal treats for me regularly because I love animals.

His treats have mellowed out some of my most rambunctious animals.

So if this bird was a real animal, it would be okay to eat, and if it was a demon, it would be even more acceptable.

I didn’t expect to give it to such a big bird, so it’s a bit small.

Chip, chip, chip—

The cute little bird seemed to recognize it and flapped its wings with a little chirp.

It made me feel good to see a bird bigger than most five-year-olds get excited.

“I worked hard to get here.”

I put three small pieces of jerky in my hand and held them out to the bird.

Its sharp beak looked like it could easily tear my hand off, but the docile bird didn’t even give my hand a small peck, just snatched the jerky.

Gulp—!

The bird swallowed the jerky, chirped, and circled me.

“Oh my, was it that good?”

It seemed to like the jerky because it rubbed its head against my arm.

I was so overwhelmed by its cuteness that I took the rest of the jerky out of the box.

However, there were only about ten small pieces in the box, so after a couple more bites, the jerky disappeared like a blur.

“Ugh, what am I going to do, there’s no more…”

As I patted his head apologetically, the bird visibly sulked.

Seeing the sadness in its blue eyes, which looked so much like someone else’s, made me feel sorry for it.

I paused as I was about to call the bird to remind me of him the next time I saw him.

“…Come to think of it, I don’t know your name.”

For now, I decided to call it Blue, after the color of its eyes.

“…Blue, I’ll give you another one next time I see you. Don’t be too disappointed, okay?”

Luckily, the cute bird looked me straight in the eye and chirped in understanding.

If we didn’t meet again, I would sneak the jerky to Callian.

After all, I don’t know this bird, but I’m sure Callian has plenty of chances to meet him.

Chirp-chirp-chirp

The bird’s chirp sounded like it was saying, ‘Okay, promise.’

“Let’s see— Now, let’s see what the note is from His Highness.”

I stroked the bird’s face in my hand one more time and sat back in my chair.

The large bird was next to me, resting its face on the desk and watching me.

“Hmm, I think this is an artifact.”

Shaking my head at the faint magic I could still feel, I slowly unfolded the note.

[Dear Lady Erita. If you receive this note, please imprint it with your magic power, and no one but you will be able to see what’s written on it…]

“…Hmph.”

My eyes widened at the words on the first page.

A note-type artifact that, when imprinted with magic, no one but me would be able to see the contents.

Every mage with an interest in artifacts knew this.

It was an artifact that allowed one to easily communicate with someone far away, a sort of messenger from a distant past life.

[You may have noticed that this note is an artifact as soon as you received it, and perhaps you know how it works.]

He was right. I first infused the note with my magic.

A white glow emanated from the note, then faded away.

“…This is really hard to make.”

I muttered to myself and picked up the fountain pen on my desk.

✿

Erita was still cuddling the black, docile bird.

The large bird’s owner was alternately looking out the quiet window and at his watch.

‘…It’s long past time.’

His bird, whom he named Rev, was a demon he had rescued from the battlefield three years ago.

The blue-eyed creature was originally a flying demon with a reputation for ferocity.

But Rev was still young, and the sixteen-year-old Callian couldn’t let the wounded hatchling, which had been attacked by other demons, escape.

Three years later, the bird he rescued was as healthy and intelligent as ever, a mere scrawny hatchling.

“Perhaps Rev is lost.”

Callian muttered to himself, knowing that his clever bird could not possibly be lost.

It was now ten-thirty. It had been thirty minutes since Callian had flown Rev to Erita at ten o’clock.

Enough time to travel from the Imperial Palace to the Grand Duke’s residence, given Rev’s usual speed.

“…Still no answer.”

If Erita had fallen asleep, Rev would have been back long ago, and if he had delivered the note, a reply would have been expected.

But there was nothing but his handwriting on the open note, and Rev showed no sign of returning.

“I can’t believe it. When did I get so impatient?”

Normally, he was never in a hurry, but when one person was involved, he would turn into a different person.

That’s when it happened.

Black letters began to form in the corner of his open notebook.

[Um, Your Majesty, are you looking at this? …Is this how I should be using this?]

The cursive filled the page at a pace that was neither slow nor fast.

As he gazed at the neatly crafted sentence, a smile crept across Callian’s face.

After staring at the circles for a moment, he picked up the pen next to him.

— Yes, I see it, if you write this way, I will see it.

Swack, swack—

The sentence was formed, the black ink leaving a trail wherever the fountain pen’s nib passed over the paper.