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~Chapter 6~
“We met somewhere before.”
Dahlia tilted her head and thought. She was sure it was her first time seeing this bird, but the bird said it had met her before.
Maybe it was mistaking her for someone else who looked like her?
“Are you sure you’re not confusing me with someone else? This is really my first time seeing you.”
Chirp chirp chirp.
The bird shook its head, as if to say no, and started to cry again. It was a bird whose feelings changed really fast—it got mad, then cried right after.
“Oh, sorry. Don’t cry. How about this? From today, let’s say we really know each other.”
Then, the bird suddenly sat down on her palm and started to wail loudly, beating the floor with one wing.
Chirp chirp chirp chirp chirp.
The bird cried so much that Dahlia poured some water onto a plate on the table and offered it to the bird.
“Drink some water.”
The bird seemed thirsty and drank it up.
Looking at how it acted, it really felt like they knew each other. But why couldn’t she remember such a strange bird that could understand people?
Maybe she saw it when she was young? There were parts of her childhood she couldn’t remember.
But the Ruu Sephon Empire and the Kingdom of Forevern were three weeks apart by carriage. How could such a small bird travel all that way? Was it a migratory bird?
For now, Dahlia just stroked the bird’s small head to help it calm down.
“Then, to celebrate our reunion, should we become friends?”
Chirp.
The bird nodded as if it agreed.
“Good. Then I can’t just keep calling you ‘bird,’ so I’ll give you a name.”
The bird’s red eyes shook, as if it was worried.
But Dahlia didn’t see, since she was busy thinking up a name.
“How about Lemonardochikaramusgeranio? I put together the names of all my favorite romance novel characters!”
The bird, as if it had expected this, covered its face with its wings.
“You like it?”
Chirp chirp chirp.
The bird lifted its head and shook it strongly, but Dahlia pretended not to see, because she liked the name.
“Then, Lemonardochikaramusgeranio. Now we’re friends, right?”
Chirp.
The bird nodded as if it had given up.
Dahlia thought it was cute, so she stroked the bird’s soft head again with her finger. The soft feeling was addictive.
Just then, Annie opened the door and looked at Dahlia with narrow eyes.
“Lady Ria, what are you doing?”
“Hm?”
“Why are you wiggling your finger at empty air?”
Dahlia froze, her hand in the air.
“What?”
Loyal maid Annie asked the same question again, just as Dahlia said it.
“Why are you wiggling your finger at empty air?”
Dahlia looked back and forth at the bird and Annie with a surprised face.
“Annie, you really can’t see Lemonardochikaramusgeranio?”
“I already told you your imaginary friends disappeared when you were nine years old.”
Annie spoke with a serious face, and Dahlia waved her hands in protest.
“That was when I was a kid! That’s not what’s important. Can you really not see this bird? Lemonardochikaramusgeranio?”
Dahlia put the bird on her palm and held it out so Annie could see.
Lemonardochikaramusgeranio chirped, as if it was making fun of her.
Annie looked at Dahlia’s palm closely.
“There’s a bird there?”
“Yes. You really can’t see it?”
“No. But wasn’t your imaginary friend at nine called SweetCheeseCakeUrbanBasque? Do you always have to give your imaginary friends names like that?”
Annie frowned and sighed deeply.
“Why?” Dahlia tilted her head and asked.
Annie looked at her as if Dahlia really didn’t understand.
“They’re too long.”
“But Lemonardochikaramusgeranio likes it.”
“If that imaginary bird could talk, it would say it hates it.”
Chirp.
Lemonardochikaramusgeranio nodded hard, agreeing, but Dahlia ignored it again.
“Lady Ria, I think you should take your evening medicine now. The palace doctor said stress is the worst for your illness. The trip here was hard, so you must be stressed. I should have taken better care of you. This is my fault.”
Annie blamed herself as she searched through the bags.
“No, Annie. I’m okay.”
But Annie kept looking for the medicine.
The princess’s rare illness couldn’t be cured, even by the famous palace doctor.
But he didn’t give up. He watched her for a long time and made a medicine to help her symptoms not come back often. It was a calming medicine.
All kinds of calming herbs were mixed in—this was the only thing that could hold back the princess’s sickness.
“Really, I can take it later. Lemonardochikaramusgeranio, you’re not my imagination, right?”
Dahlia looked at the bird with a troubled face, and the bird shook its head.
Chirp chirp chirp.
“It says no.”
“Lady Ria, of course your imaginary bird will answer however you want.”
Annie gave her a cup of water with the medicine.
Just then, Dahlia thought of a way to prove it.
“I’ll make you believe. Lemonardochikaramusgeranio, want some water?”
She took the cup from Annie and offered it to the bird.
The bird understood and chirped, then calmly drank the water.
Annie saw the water in the clear glass go down and her eyes shook like an earthquake.
“…So it’s really not imaginary.”
“See! I told you!”
Dahlia looked proud.
“Then is it a transparent bird?”
“I can see it.”
“Honestly, imaginary birds and transparent birds are both strange, but the strangest thing is that only you can see it. And that you can talk with it, too.”
At Annie’s sharp point, Dahlia slowly nodded and looked at the bird.
But what was stranger—being able to see a bird no one else could, or seeing the future in her dreams?
Her life was already full of strange things. Maybe that’s why she could accept this strange bird easily.
“What are you, really? Lemonardochikaramusgeranio.”
The little bird chirped, as if it was smiling.
“First, let’s change its name,” Annie said firmly.
“Why? Can’t I keep it?”
Dahlia looked at Annie and tried to protest.
“Lady Ria, let’s pick something you can say in one breath. Your favorite horse’s name, GentleMaraphineCharisma, is so long that it runs away before you can even finish calling it.”
Annie rubbed her forehead and sighed.
“I just like a lot of things. And I want to call my friends by names I love.”
“Let’s compromise. How about Lemon?”
Chirp.
Lemonardochikaramusgeranio chirped happily, as if it liked the name.
Dahlia, defeated by both Annie and the bird, nodded.
“Alright. From now on, Lemonardochikaramusgeranio’s nickname is Lemon.”
“Thank you.”
Annie bowed her head with real relief.
