Chapter 4

The next day, she appeared carrying a stuffed toy that was slightly larger than I was.

It was, unbelievably, a brightly colored stuffed snake.

Surely not.

“Now, look, little one. This is your prey.”

“…Peep?”

Even if it was only a stuffed toy…

There was no mistaking it. It was a snake. Surely she didn’t expect me to hunt one, did she?

Besides, I wasn’t a bird of prey in the first place. I could probably survive just fine on fruit and seeds.

And if it was a snake, wasn’t it Rosaria’s own kind?

I was thoroughly confused.

There seemed to be all sorts of problems with this lesson, but Rosaria didn’t seem bothered in the slightest.

“I’ll put a little of my pheromones on it.”

“Peep.”

“Please remember this scent.”

Rosaria brought her wrist close so that I could recognize her pheromones.

Her pheromones weren’t quite as dangerous as the master of the house’s, but they still carried a distinctly threatening scent.

It gave me the feeling that she might sink her teeth into the back of my neck at any moment.

The strange thing was, I didn’t feel as though they posed any direct danger to me.

What was that about?

I tilted my head.

It felt different, yet somehow I seemed to already know a pheromone that was similar to this one.

Surely I was imagining things.

“Peep!”

“As expected, my little one is so clever. Now that you’ve memorized it, I’ll go hide this.”

“Peep!”

I nodded.

I had no idea whether I’d actually be able to find it once she hid it, but she was putting so much effort into teaching me that I couldn’t exactly refuse just because I didn’t like the idea.

It was quite some time before Rosaria returned.

“I’m sorry, little one. It took me a little while to find a suitable place to hide it.”

Had she hidden it incredibly far away?

“Shall we go find it?”

“Peep!”

“Take your time and feel for the pheromones. You need to be able to do this if you want to humanize later on.”

“Peep!”

Humanization!

At that word, which made my ears perk up, I concentrated with all my might.

Where had she hidden it?

If she’d hidden it too far away, I might not be able to find it.

“Peep!”

I suddenly sensed a faint trace of pheromones carried on the wind and lifted my head.

I hurriedly moved my tiny feet, which had been standing still until then.

It had to be somewhere around here.

Even as I moved forward, I kept glancing behind me.

Thankfully, Rosaria was following close behind.

Relieved, I quickened my pace.

How many minutes had I been walking?

“Peep!”

I spotted the brightly colored stuffed toy between the bushes.

Found it!

I spread my wings wide and immediately grabbed the toy in my beak.

Take that! Take that! Take that!

Honestly, I wasn’t even sure if I was doing this correctly.

I remembered the way I’d once imitated something I’d seen from the sidelines, so for now I’d simply thrust my beak into its neck.

Without letting go of the toy, I tossed it around from side to side, and suddenly, the cheerful sound of applause came from somewhere.

Clap, clap, clap!

“…Peep?”

With the toy still clenched in my beak, I tilted my head and looked toward the sound.

The master of the house and Baon were standing there, watching me.

Baon was clapping with exaggerated enthusiasm, as though deliberately putting on a show, while his shoulders trembled as he struggled to suppress his laughter.

“Well, this is… Pfft.”

“……”

“That was quite the vicious hunt.”

“……”

“I was practically trembling with fear.”

I abruptly dropped the toy from my beak.

Oh no.

It was the master of the house.

I really wished Rosaria would hurry over and save me.

She had definitely been following me just moments ago, but I couldn’t see her anywhere now.

The master of the house was still staring at me with an unreadable expression.

He almost looked intrigued.

What exactly was so interesting?

The master of the house, who had been observing me from several steps away, called out.

“You.”

“Peep?”

“Your eyes are red.”

“…Peep?”

So what?

The master of the house couldn’t seem to take his eyes off me.

His red eyes scanned me from head to toe, filled with surprise.

“Is this even possible, Baon?”

“So it would seem. This is the first time I’ve encountered such a situation myself.”

Baon adjusted his silver-rimmed glasses and let out a brief exclamation of wonder.

His sharp eyes, partially hidden behind his glasses, were fixed on me.

He was being unusually serious, unlike his usual self, and that made me uneasy.

I called out to him.

“Peep-peep?”

“It seems such a thing really does happen. I’ve only ever heard about it. I never expected to witness it with my own eyes, though.”

“Even though it’s a new addition to the clan, it inherited everything it was meant to inherit.”

The master of the house gave me a cold once-over before turning his gaze toward the brightly colored stuffed snake.

“Those are Rosaria’s pheromones.”

“It seems Rosaria was teaching it how to hunt.”

“Teaching it how to hunt?”

“When they’re young, you have to teach them everything, one thing at a time.”

“Our kind shouldn’t need that.”

“The little one is different, isn’t it?”

“That sounds troublesome.”

It was a short and simple conversation.

And it ended with one conclusion:

That sounds troublesome.

The serious atmosphere had lightened considerably over such a trivial topic, but I had become even more serious.

Oh, no.

It wasn’t enough that the master of the house disliked me.

Now he found me troublesome.

I backed away, looking around anxiously.

Where had Rosaria gone?

What if I got caught and thrown out?

One word from the master of the house would be enough to end everything.

I was frantically shifting my little feet, wondering what I should do, when Baon waved at me, completely oblivious to my predicament.

“It’s been a while. In the time since I last saw you…”

“……”

“You haven’t grown at all.”

Didn’t people usually say you’d grown, even if they didn’t mean it?

Without realizing it, I glared at him.

Baon smiled pleasantly.

As if he’d anticipated my reaction, he continued speaking calmly, utterly unfazed by my glare.

“I assume you’re looking for Rosaria.”

“…Peep.”

I nodded reluctantly.

It definitely wasn’t because I’d been offended by his saying I hadn’t grown even a little.

“She is probably watching from somewhere nearby. It’s standard procedure to keep watch while someone is hunting.”

If that was the case, then she must have seen me run into the master of the house.

It seemed Rosaria had no intention of showing herself.

I considered how to get myself out of this situation, then steeled myself and stood directly in front of the master of the house.

My sudden movement made his eyebrows rise.

“Peep.”

I dragged over the brightly colored stuffed snake I’d been holding moments ago and offered it to him.

“Oh?”

“…What are you doing?”

The master of the house frowned.

Oh no.

He didn’t seem to like it.

But this was the only thing I could give him right now.

“It seems to be giving you the prey it hunted.”

“What?”

“It appears to be a gift.”

“Peep!”

I eagerly agreed with Baon.

I nudged the stuffed toy toward the master of the house with my wing, urging him to take it.

There was a little dirt on it, but surely that could just be brushed off.

“Peep!”

“It seems to be telling you to take it.”

“Hah.”

I nodded once more at Baon’s words, and the master of the house’s expression became even stranger.

As though he’d just heard something he never expected to hear.

“Little one!”

“Peep-peep-peep!”

I was trudging along all by myself, having gained absolutely nothing from the experience, when I heard Rosaria calling from somewhere in the distance.

I immediately lifted my head.

Where had she been?!

I had been looking everywhere for her!

All the pent-up sorrow I’d been holding back burst out at once, and I ran toward her, crying loudly.

Rosaria smiled awkwardly, looking troubled.

Apparently, she hadn’t expected things to turn out this way either.

She bent down on one knee and held out her hand to me.

There was unmistakable guilt on her face.

“My little one, were you very frightened?”

“Peep!”

“You’ve gotten so much dirt on you.”

Had I been running around too much?

Just that morning, my white feathers had been perfectly clean.

Now they were covered in dirt, leaving them mottled and dark.

Rosaria carefully brushed the clumps of dirt from my feathers before straightening up.

I settled comfortably in the palm of her hand, taking a position that would make it easier to travel.

I’d climbed onto her hand many times by now, so it wasn’t difficult.

As I plopped down on my little bottom, Rosaria apologized with a sorrowful expression.

“I’m sorry, little one. This wasn’t how it was supposed to go. It’s just that the head of the household and Lord Baon happened to come out right there…”

“Peep-peep.”

I took Rosaria’s hand to let her know it was all right.

How could running into those two possibly be Rosaria’s fault?

The master of the house had simply been walking around his own home.

“But you did a wonderful job finding the toy I hid, didn’t you?”

“Peep!”

I proudly puffed out my little chest.

Even though I was still a young chick inexperienced at sensing pheromones, I hadn’t wandered around aimlessly. I’d found my target in one go.

Rosaria looked at me fondly before furrowing her brow.

“I just never expected the head of the household to actually take the toy.”

That was the truly mysterious part.

To my surprise, the master of the house had obediently accepted the toy I’d given him.

I’d expected him to refuse because he’d made such a strange expression, but he’d actually taken it.

And he hadn’t said a word.

I’d been nervous that, like the last time we’d met in the hallway, he’d scold me for wandering around wherever I pleased.

“My little one, you did perfectly in today’s lesson. You found the toy and even handled the crisis wonderfully.”

“Peep!”

“When we get back, I’ll give you a bubble bath. I’ve already found one that’s safe for you to use.”

Bubbles!

I couldn’t contain my excitement and started bouncing in her hand.