I’m the Youngest Daughter of the Serpent Family
Chapter 4
The next day, she appeared holding a doll that was slightly larger than my body.
It was none other than a brightly colored snake doll.
No way. It couldn’t be.
“Look here, baby. This is your prey.”
“……Peep?”
Even if it was just a doll…
No matter how you looked at it, that was a snake. Surely she didn’t think I could actually hunt a snake, did she?
In the first place, I wasn’t a bird of prey—I could survive perfectly fine on just fruits and seeds.
Besides, if it was a snake, wasn’t it the same species as Rosaria?
I was utterly confused.
There seemed to be plenty of problems with this, but Rosaria didn’t seem to mind in the slightest.
“I’ll lightly leave some of my pheromones on it.”
“Peep.”
“Please remember this sensation.”
Rosaria held her wrist close so I could register her pheromones.
Her pheromones didn’t carry quite the same intensity as the landlord’s, but the scent still gave off a distinctly dangerous vibe.
It felt as though she might sink her fangs into my neck at any moment.
The strange thing was that it didn’t feel like an immediate threat to me.
What is this?
I tilted my head. It was slightly different, but I felt as though I already knew a similar pheromone.
Was I just imagining things?
“Peep!”
“As expected, our little baby is so smart. Now that you’ve memorized it, I’ll go hide it.”
“Peep!”
I nodded.
It was doubtful whether I could find it once she hid it, but seeing how hard she was trying, I couldn’t bring myself to refuse.
Rosaria returned only after a long while had passed.
“I’m sorry, baby. It took a little time to find a suitable spot.”
Did she hide it somewhere really far away?
“Shall we go find it, then?”
“Peep!”
“Take your time and try to sense the pheromones. You need to master this so humanization will come easily to you later.”
“Peep!”
Humanization!
The word made my ears perk up, and I focused all my attention.
Where did she hide it?
If she hid it too far away, I might not be able to find it.
“Peep!”
Catching a faint trace of pheromones drifting on the wind, I snapped my head up.
I eagerly set my tiny feet into motion.
I think it’s somewhere around here?
Moving forward, I glanced back. Fortunately, Rosaria was following behind me.
Relieved, I picked up my pace. How many minutes had I been walking?
“Peeeep!”
A colorful doll came into view amidst the bushes.
Found it!
Spreading my wings wide, I instantly snatched the doll with my beak.
Take that! Take that! Take that!
Flap! Flap! Flap!
Truth be told, I had no idea if I was doing this right.
Recalling what I had copied over someone’s shoulder in the past, I had simply shoved my beak right into its neck.
Still clenching the doll, I swung my body this way and that, thrashing it around, when suddenly a cheerful sound of clapping echoed from somewhere.
Clap, clap, clap!
“……Peep?”
With the doll still clamped in my beak, I tilted my head and looked toward the sound.
There stood the landlord and Baon, watching me intently.
Baon, who was clapping in an exaggerated show, trembled with suppressed laughter.
“My word…… snort.”
“…….”
“What a ferocious hunt.”
“…….”
“It is terrifying enough to make one’s knees shake.”
I dropped the doll from my beak.
What do I do? It’s the landlord.
I wished Rosaria would hurry and come save me.
I could have sworn she was following right behind me, but she was nowhere to be seen.
The landlord was still looking down at me with an unreadable expression.
Somehow, he even looked slightly fascinated.
Just what about this is fascinating?
The landlord, who seemed to have been observing me from a few paces away, called out.
“You.”
“Peep?”
“Your eyes are red.”
“……Peep?”
What about them?
The landlord couldn’t take his eyes off me.
A flicker of astonishment dwelled in his red eyes as he looked me up and down.
“Is this even possible, Baon?”
“Indeed. It is the first time I have witnessed such a thing myself.”
Baon pushed up his silver-rimmed glasses, uttering a quiet murmur of admiration.
Behind the lenses, his sharp eyes studied me.
Made anxious by a seriousness he hadn’t shown until now, I called out to Baon.
“Peep, peep?”
“I suppose such occurrences truly do happen. I had only heard of it, never imagining I would see it with my own eyes.”
“For a mere bird, it was born with everything it ought to have.”
The landlord cast a chilly gaze over me, then turned his head toward the colorful snake doll.
“It’s Rosaria’s pheromones.”
“It appears Rosaria was teaching it how to hunt.”
“Teaching it to hunt?”
“When they are young, one must teach them everything step by step.”
“There should be no need for our clan to do that.”
“The little baby is different, after all.”
“How bothersome.”
It was a brief, concise exchange. One that concluded with “How bothersome.”
The rather serious atmosphere had lightened considerably over a trivial topic, but quite contrary to that, I grew dead serious.
Good grief.
On top of disliking me, the landlord now considered me a nuisance.
I stepped backward and scanned my surroundings.
Where did Rosaria go?
What if I get caught and thrown out like this? A single word from the landlord would end everything.
As I stamped my little feet in a panic, Baon waved his hand with oblivious familiarity.
“Long time no see. In the time since I last saw you……”
“…….”
“You haven’t grown a single bit.”
Don’t people usually say you’ve grown, even if it’s just flattery?
Without realizing it, I glared at him. Baon smiled brightly.
As if he had anticipated my reaction, he continued speaking nonchalantly, completely unfazed by my glare.
“You seem to be looking for Rosaria.”
“……Peep.”
I nodded reluctantly. It definitely wasn’t because my feelings were hurt over not having grown at all.
“She is likely watching from nearby. It is customary to observe while a hunt is taking place, after all.”
If that’s the case, she must have seen me running into the landlord too.
It seemed Rosaria had no intention of showing herself.
Pondering how to navigate this situation, I stepped in front of the landlord with resolute determination.
At my sudden action, the landlord’s eyebrows arched upward.
“Peep.”
I dragged over the colorful snake doll I had been holding until just a moment ago and offered it to him.
“Oh?”
“……What are you doing?”
The landlord’s brow furrowed.
What do I do? He doesn’t seem to like it. This is the only thing I can give right now, though.
“It appears to be offering the prey it hunted.”
“What?”
“It seems to be a gift.”
“Peep!”
I immediately chimed in to agree. When I nudged the doll with my wing, urging him to take it quickly, a subtle expression crossed the landlord’s face.
It had a little dirt on it, but he could just brush that off.
“Peeeep!”
“It seems to be telling you to take it quickly.”
“Ha.”
When I nodded once more at Baon’s words, the landlord’s expression turned bizarre.
Like someone who had just heard something utterly absurd.
* * *
“Baby!”
“Peep, peep, peep!”
As I was trudging along all alone without having gained anything, I heard Rosaria’s voice calling from afar.
I snapped my head up.
Where were you?! Do you know how much I looked for you?!
Bursting into a flurry of aggrieved chirps as my suppressed sorrow exploded, I ran toward her, and Rosaria gave an awkward, apologetic smile.
It seemed she hadn’t expected things to turn out this way either.
Rosaria knelt down and reached out her hand to me, her face full of remorse.
“Were you very startled, our little baby?”
“Peep!”
“You’ve got so much dirt on you.”
Had I wandered around too much?
The white down feathers that had been pristine when we came out this morning were now smudged with dark dirt.
After gently brushing away the clumps of dirt clinging to my feathers, Rosaria stood up.
I settled onto her palm in a comfortable position for traveling. Having climbed onto it multiple times already, it wasn’t very difficult.
As I plopped down onto my bottom, Rosaria apologized with a tearful face.
“I’m sorry, baby. I didn’t mean for this to happen. The Head of the family and Lord Baon just happened to come out right then……”
“Peep, peeeep.”
I touched Rosaria’s hand to let her know it was okay.
How could running into those two be Rosaria’s fault? The landlord was merely wandering around his own house.
“Even so, you found the hidden doll wonderfully, didn’t you?”
“Peep!”
I puffed out my chest proudly.
Even though I was still a baby bird unskilled at detecting pheromones, I had located my target in one go without getting lost.
Rosaria looked at me with an admiring face, then furrowed her brow.
“Though I never expected the Head of the family to actually take the doll.”
That was precisely the mystery. Incredibly, the landlord had meekly accepted the doll I gave him.
Since he had made such a strange face, I thought he would reject it, but it turned out completely unexpected.
Besides, he hadn’t said a single harsh word.
I had been on pins and needles thinking he might scold me for wandering around as I pleased again, just like when we met in the hallway.
“Today’s lesson was absolutely perfect. You found the doll and handled the crisis brilliantly.”
“Peeeep!”
“When we go back, I’ll give you a bubble bath. I found something that even our baby can use.”
Bubbles!
I couldn’t contain the excitement bouncing through my little body.
