Chapter 6 : The Tyrant's Tranquilizer

Translated by Tam

Edited by Kio

Serwin in the novel did nothing more than this without hesitation. He was an attractive villain, and it was natural for him to do evil, so he never gave off a good impression. But when she faced him in real life, she realized, a villain is never an attractive person.

'Scary…'

The fear she had forgotten for a while came back. She remembered the rogue's head, rolling over marble like a ball, like it was clear in front of her eyes. She was scared and couldn't stand so she cried. Amelie was peeping, peeping and crying sadly.

“Do birds shed tears?”

Serwin approached her. He bent down to meet Amelie's eye level. His fierce eyes were looking at her in front of her nose. It was the same as the eyes of a beast on TV.

“Pyii… Pyi. “

'Don't come near me, madman.'

Amelie took a step back.

“Why are you crying? I fed you and stroked you.”

Serwin looked confused, unable to understand.

“Piii… Pyi… Pyiii.”

'I'm crying because you're crazy!'

Amelie used whatever Serwin didn't understand to curse and swear. Serwin opened the cage and put his hand in.

'You're going to hit me for swearing! You devil! You tyrant!'

Amelie flapped her wings and avoided his hand. But the cage was so narrow that he quickly caught her.

“Pyiiii!”

She struggled to get out of his hands. But the big, hard hands were more solid prisons than the cage.

Amelie shut her mouth tight. Nevertheless, she couldn't control her sorrow and her heart was shaken.

“Are you surprised by the loud noise?”

Serwin stroked her chest with his thumb. He petted her carefully like trying to calm her down. He stroked her for a long time until her heartbeat returned to normal.

A few days have pa.s.sed since Serwin arrived at Dellahaim's mansion. Amelie was looking for a chance to escape every day, but she was still held by Serwin.

'…failed again today. Six wins and six losses.'

It's a hopeless winning percentage.

“Hyu…”

Amelie sighed. Serwin's new pet life is not hard. Rather, she enjoyed more luxury than she did when she was a human being.

Serwin was very friendly to Amelie. Beyond just loving it, she was constantly trying to make herself comfortable.

Get a large gold cage, or put small blankets and cus.h.i.+ons all over the room to make sure it isn't cold. Amelie's meal seemed to be particularly selectable. When the caterpillar came out, she really wanted to faint, but she couldn't help but admit their sincerity.

When he was in the mansion, he always kept Amelie within his reach. When Amelie wakes up, he finds her, looking at her with very sweet eyes. Sometimes he was a very good master, holding Amelie in his hand and holding her nose in her feathers.

'When I'm sick of going to work, I thought I'd like to be reborn as a rich family pet, but—'

She didn't expect that dream to come true like this. However contrary to her imagination, the reality was not easy.

Serwin continued to look for the witch. Watching him and his knights getting closer little by little, Amelie's heart trembled every day. It was hard to watch the people who chased her or to see the knights that got hurt because they couldn't find her.

The carpet still had Chad's bloodstains. Maybe the blood on the marble was wiped away. Every time she saw that, Amelie had a thought.

'He may be a good owner, but he's not a good man.'

On the other hand, she's afraid they'll find out, because of her present state, she's deceiving people, and it's giving her a guilty feeling.

'Huh.. I need to run away soon so I don't feel this way.'

Amelie goes to sleep and lies down on her head. Spreading her wings to the side and hanging, she couldn't be more comfortable than this. Ethan looked at her, without bothering her that night.

Ethan took care of Amelie while Serwin went “hunting.” He gave her a meal or a bath.

The knight of the Emperor is one of the most prominent elites in the Empire. Additionally, Ethan seemed to be a high man among the Emperor's knights. Even though he wasn't fully in charge of taking care of the pet bird, he took care of Amelie quietly and carefully. Of course, his att.i.tude was because she's the Emperor's favorite bird.

Amelie didn't like Ethan very much. Four of the six escape attempts failed because of Ethan.

Once he opened the window and she tried to fly, Ethan jumped out of the window and caught Amelie. He fell from the second floor and was fine, and only Amelie was stunned and pa.s.sed out.

'What are you looking at?'

Amelie glared at Ethan harshly. The half-closed mint-colored eyes were full of complaints. When Serwin was around, Amelie was pretending to be pretty, but when she was with Ethan, she was different.

“You look like a human being at a time like this.”

“Pyak.”

Amelie snorted. Ethan put the food down next to Amelie.

“Eat and sleep.”

“Pyak.”

Amelie pushed him with her feet. Then turned and lay down, ignoring Ethan.

She was very tired because she couldn't sleep at night.

During the day, she's unable to escape because of Serwin and Ethan. So Amelie was trying to escape when Serwin was asleep. But the problem is that Serwin doesn't sleep at all.

Amelie didn't sleep every day and waited for the night, but she never saw Serwin sleeping. Rather, he used to deal with the work he had brought from the Palace every night. Eventually, tired Amelie was forced to fall asleep in the middle of the night. Because of that, she was always suffering from sleep deprivation without any results.

'If you have so much work, why are you looking for me?'

Why is he looking for a witch? Was his prey a witch from the beginning?

Her curiosity increased every day, and it was frustrating that she couldn't ask anything.

'I'm going to sleep. Phew.'

Sighing. Amelie closed her eyes and fell asleep quickly.

“Are you sleeping?”

Ethan put down his sword as the night came, and looked at the colorful bird.

'What's so special about it…'

It was cute though. The pink-haired body was cute, and the hair on her forehead was lovely. When she flapped her small wings and looked angry, he wanted to bite it. (Editor note: Because she's cute, not like a drumstick)

But it is an ordinary bird.

The mint-eyes were a bit unusual, sometimes she behaved smartly like a human, the bird was a special and  bird.

“Your Majesty doesn't like small and weak animals like you.”

Ethan didn't know why Serwin especially cared about the bird.

Ethan stood by the bird quietly. Even when he opened his eyes, there was always an accident, so that's the reason why he couldn't leave her side even when she was sleeping.

After a while, Serwin returned to the room. The man who had been to the forest smelled of animal blood. He must have hunted with anger because he couldn't find the witch. Ethan jumped to his feet to be polite.

“What about the bird?”

“It's asleep.”

Ethan pointed to Amelie. Serwin who forgot to change came to the table.

“Again?”

Amelie was fast asleep. Every time she breathed, her chest fluttered, and her fluffy hair fluttered. It just looked like she's calming down. But Serwin was worried.

“I think it's losing energy.”

“Yes, they spend most of the day lying down or sleeping. The amount of food it eats has decreased.”

Ethan agreed. The number of accidents that occurred 4 times decreased to 3 and 2 and now she doesn't think about getting up and just lies down. When he brought the caterpillar to cheer her up, she fainted.

Amelie was just saving energy during the day to escape, and the decline in food was due to stress from listening to her chasing story every day, but of course, they couldn't have known that.

Serwin took the situation seriously and swept under Amelie's beak with the tip of his index finger. It was a careful touch.

“Are you being affected? How many days have you been feeling sick? It's so quiet these days.”

Ethan nodded at once. That's why Serwin came all the way here after hunting the witch, but Amelie wouldn't have known that.

“Little animals are sensitive. It could be a good environment for humans, but not for birds. That's why it's difficult to judge an animal's needs.

“Yes, but—”

Serwin had an uncharacteristically blurry tongue.

No living creature lived long beside him. He didn't raise an animal because he would not be able to see it die because of him. As he thought, Ethan didn't like Serwin's attempt to raise a bird from the beginning.

“I somehow thought this bird would be fine.”, Serwin said bitterly.

“…..It looks like a bird that the Count family loves very much. Even now, he asks me to return the bird every day. They have asked me several times to see how well I and the bird are doing.”

“That's right.”

“The Count Dellahaim is far from the capital and has no power in politics, but they have a long-standing reputation. There's nothing good about it.”

Serwin frowned. He knows him well too. He was caught by a Dellahaim lady a while ago. He didn't even do anything, but it was obviously her purpose. To tell him to return the bird.

“I've grown so attached in a short time.”

Finding the witch was not easier than he thought. His intestines seemed to burn with anxiety saying that the day was far away. It was this little bird that calmed him down. Even if he felt angry, when he saw those round eyes terrified, he would calm down.

Serwin understood why Count Dellahaim cared for birds. When he stays awake all night working, it's weird not to fall for a little bird that has eyes full of sleepiness and watch over it.

The sleepy bird had a very calm face so he couldn't easily look at it. There was a deep sense of regret in his touch.

However, it is better to let go than to watch it die.

The next day, Ethan returned Amelie to Count Dellahaim. With the golden cage and toys that Serwin had prepared for her.