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Chapter 08
‘What should I do about this?’
If she got rid of this stone, she would lose the only proof that she was the youngest princess of Xenotat.
Alina didn’t have the kind of magic Kynerek had to break a monument stone, so burying the fragments in the vegetable garden would have to do for now.
No one was likely to suddenly search the servants’ quarters, but the garden still felt safer.
She needed to move right away after thinking that—but her legs had gone weak and she couldn’t move.
‘Calm down first.’
Alina set the basket on the ground, brought her hands to her chest, and tried to steady her breathing.
Just as her breath began to settle, a small bird fluttered in and perched on the basket’s handle.
With a white round body, sesame-seed–like black eyes, a triangular beak, and a long, straight black tail, the little bird chirped.
‘A bird?’
Alina plucked a leafy vegetable from the garden and held it out to the bird.
The bird tilted its head this way and that, then opened its beak.
“Rise, Rise!”
“…Huh?”
Alina’s eyes widened at hearing her own name come from the bird’s mouth.
‘What?’
She doubted her ears. A bird… talking to her? And calling her by name?
That kind of thing only happened in fairy tales with princesses—or in stories told by crazy people.
‘Am I hallucinating?’
Alina was neither a fairy-tale princess nor crazy. So thinking the bird called her name had to be her imagination.
It should have been, but…
The round white fluffball flapped its tiny wings and began chattering nonstop.
“Rise! Tasty! Rise!”
Not only did the mysterious bird know Alina’s name, it loudly proclaimed that “Rise is delicious.”
Anyone overhearing would think it was saying she tasted good—an easily misunderstood and very troubling statement.
Thankfully, Malehark had no tradition of cannibalism.
Putting aside the questionable comment, the bird looked more like a wren or a white-eyed bird than a parrot.
Xenotat and Malehark often used different names for the same things—plants, animals, everything. This bird was one of them.
In Xenotat, it was called a white-eyed bird; in Malehark, it was called a wren.
‘So here in Malehark, this little thing is a wren.’
A wren that spoke human language.
Alina narrowed her eyes. Were there even wrens that could mimic people?
“Tasty, Rise! Tasty!”
As the bird chattered endlessly, Alina panicked and grabbed its beak.
“What are you?”
She found herself seriously speaking to a bird. Even she thought it made her sound a little insane, but there was no helping it.
“Um, so, how do you even know m—”
“Til!”
As Rise—her name—held the bird’s beak, it flapped desperately, and a familiar voice reached her ears.
“Ah! Rise, I’m sorry!”
It was Richard.
He snatched the bird away from her and held it protectively to his chest.
Alina frowned as she watched him.
“So… you and this bird…”
Are acquainted?
She was about to question him, but the moment she formed the thought, she realized how crazy the question sounded and shut her mouth.
Richard had once called her a “crazy woman.” She had no desire to strengthen that impression today.
Seeing her stiff face, Richard grew nervous and rushed to explain.
“It wasn’t saying you are tasty. It meant the food you made was tasty! I was just bragging, but Til talks short, so it came out weird. So…”
“Wait.”
As Richard’s rapid-fire excuses poured out, Alina pressed her fingers to her temples.
“So this bird’s name is Til.”
“Yeah.”
“And you bragged about me to Til?”
“Yes!”
“And what Til said is…”
“A misunderstanding!”
“I’m not misunderstanding. It’s not like you actually tried to eat me, so what is there to misunderstand?”
Alina smiled softly now that she finally understood the situation.
Considering their first meeting involved him trying to eat poisonous weeds, him being friends with a talking bird wasn’t all that shocking.
She folded her arms and looked at Til nestled in Richard’s arms.
“But what do we do? I didn’t bring anything for Til to eat.”
“Fruit is fine.”
Richard released Til, who flitted busily between them and landed on Alina’s knee.
Alina smiled faintly at Til, who bounced on her apron and wrinkled the fabric.
“Til, do you like blueberries?”
“Rise! Like!”
Its pronunciation was far too crisp for a bird, but Alina decided not to question it too deeply.
This was Malehark, after all. There were rumors the First Prince and Princess could command dragons.
And according to the founding myth Marika told her, the first emperor of Malehark had tamed a phoenix.
In a country like that, a small bird speaking a few human words might be nothing special.
Alina opened the little packet she’d brought for Richard and placed some blueberries on her knee.
Til hopped over, picked up a berry with its beak, and perched on Alina’s shoulder.
After eating the blueberry with little munching noises, Til rubbed its face affectionately against her cheek. Richard, for no real reason, rubbed his own cheek with the back of his hand as if he’d been the one to do it.
“Um, Rise. Sorry for startling you.”
“No, I’m sorry for making you wait hungry.”
She spoke kindly and took out the small bowl she’d packed.
Richard’s eyes lit up at the sight of the still-warm chicken soup.
“What’s this?”
“Do you have any allergies?”
“Probably not.”
Alina placed a spoon in his hand. He stared at it, then wiped his hands on his clothes.
“What are you doing?”
“You said hands should be clean before eating.”
Alina gently patted his back at his earnestness.
“That’s right. Good boy.”
His ears turned bright red at her praise. With a quiet “Mm,” he buried his face in the bowl and began eating enthusiastically.
“Tasty, Rise.”
Even while eating, he didn’t forget to tell her how he felt.
He opened his mouth wide—ahh—and shoveled in spoonful after spoonful.
Each bite seemed to fill him with more energy. The rich broth warmed his body, full of nourishing chicken fat.
She had packed it full of ingredients, so every spoonful brought up plenty of vegetables and chicken.
The boy’s cheeks puffed out with food.
“Too gwooood.”
“Yes, yes. I get it. Eat slowly. Chew well.”
Richard couldn’t even answer—he was too busy devouring the soup.
Before she knew it, the bowl was empty.
He stared longingly at the empty dish, then looked at Alina. She smiled faintly.
“After eating, you say: ‘I ate well. Thank you.’ That’s polite.”
“…I ate well. Thank you.”
“Good.”
She stroked his head as he obediently followed her instructions. He quickly sat beside her and leaned his head on her empty shoulder.
Alina leaned back against the wall and closed her eyes.
Til perched on one shoulder, Richard leaning on the other, and warm sunlight over the garden made her drowsy.
Yesterday she had told Marika she saved a puppy in the garden to explain herself, and sitting here now, it truly felt as if she had adopted one.
A very handsome, very cute puppy.
‘Wait. I can’t relax now.’
She shook her head abruptly.
Til’s sudden arrival meant she still hadn’t dealt with the stone fragment.
And more importantly, she needed to get back to the kitchen. Today she was to be assigned to banquet preparations.
Greta had told Alina that once she returned from the training grounds, she was to work directly with the cooking team.
For a kitchen maid whose usual job was washing dishes, it was practically a promotion. Her soufflé pancakes from before had made a strong impression.
Since expectations were placed on her, she had to meet them.
Alina intended to repay Greta’s trust with skill and hard work.
“I should get going now, Richard.”
“Already?”
His big eyes filled with disappointment as she stood.
Her heart ached a little, and she stroked his hair.
“I’ll see you again tomorrow at this time. You didn’t forget the promise we made, right?”
Instead of answering, Richard pulled something from his pocket: a piece of bread.
“I didn’t eat it.”
Alina’s brows drew together sharply at the sight of the bread—covered in blue mold.
“Who… who did this? Who keeps giving you this garbage every day?”
“…”
Richard pressed his lips tightly together, his expression darkening.
Alina couldn’t hide her distress and coaxed him.
“Richard. Answer me. Who?”
“What happens if I tell you?”
“What?”
“If you find out who gives me this… will Rise give me the same thing too?”
“…That’s what you were worried about?”
Alina pressed a hand to her chest. Seeing how he watched her anxiously made her heart clench painfully.
He was afraid she would push him away.
Breathing became difficult from how much it hurt, and she took a deep breath.
Even though they had met only a handful of times, he had already embedded himself deep in her heart.
“Even if the one mistreating you is His Majesty the Emperor… it doesn’t matter.”
She meant it.
“I’m on your side. I’ll stay on your side, no matter what.”
Alina said the words she had longed to hear in her two past lives.
When she had been abandoned alone in the cold palace, this was what she had wanted someone—anyone—to say.
She gently held the boy’s thin hand.
“So don’t worry. Tell me. Who’s bullying you?”
“My brother.”
“…Your brother?”
At Richard’s heavy reply, Alina’s face hardened—stiffer than the stale bread.
