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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 27
Chapter Title: A Snake and a Bird
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Even if he saw things differently than I did, Kivrin would listen to my story with sincerity.
“Thank you, Emil. I’ll go talk to him!”
Emil handed the bandage back to me.
“By the way, Young Madam, do you happen to know how the Young Lord injured his hand?”
“I heard about it, but…”
My voice trailed off.
—*I-I got hurt b-because I’m a m-monster.*
Before I could even say what a terrible explanation that was, Emil grinned.
“Then that’s a relief. Please, help the Young Lord recover, even just a little. The Duchess was truly furious. She was already blaming herself, saying His Excellency abandoned his right arm because of her, and now the Young Lord has injured his hand…”
“…”
Menelik ‘abandoned’ his arm?
I was suddenly reminded of how Winter had immediately told me to quit my flower arrangement lessons when I showed up with a bandage on my finger.
Menelik had abandoned his right arm, and now Kivrin had hurt his hand.
It was understandable why Winter was reacting so sensitively.
*Hmm, I really need to persuade Kivrin properly.*
“Would it be okay to ask for your magic again next time?”
“I should be the one asking you. Please, ensure the Young Lord receives treatment consistently.”
“Yes!”
My spirits lifted, I walked briskly down the hallway.
I made sure to grip the bandage tightly, afraid the invisible magic might escape.
Thanks to that, I was a beat too late in noticing someone was waiting for me in the corridor.
“You didn’t answer my question earlier.”
Ugh! You scared me!
“Rose?!”
“What do you see when you look at me?”
It was a continuation of our earlier conversation.
*I’m about to go have a talk with Kivrin, you know?*
*Could you maybe ask me again after that?*
I unconsciously hid the bandage behind my back as I answered.
“You look like the Young Lord’s nanny, of course. Though you talk like a child.”
Rose leaned in closer.
His eyes had already turned a deep crimson.
*Oh no, of all the times for the hallway to be empty…*
No, maybe Rose used a spell to drive everyone away.
As I hesitated, Rose brought his face right up to mine.
“The way I see it, you don’t have any abilities at all.”
“…”
Why the personal attack all of a sudden?
Rose slowly closed his eyes, then opened them.
He let out a deep sigh and said something completely unexpected.
“So be careful of the Young Lord… of Kivrin.”
“…What?”
Wait a minute. What is this all about?
Just as I was about to narrow my eyes at him, Rose lightly tapped my forehead with his finger.
“Don’t treat me like one of those Temple goons. When the time comes for him to shed his skin and the sealing spell breaks, I’ll be the one to grab him and run. I’m just saying this as a precaution.”
I couldn’t make any sense of it.
“Shed his skin? Why would you run away with the Young Lord for that?”
“I don’t know either.”
“…”
He was just talking nonsense.
I turned to leave without a second thought.
“You’re lying about being scared of me, aren’t you?!”
*You’re only just figuring that out?*
I was planning to just ignore him.
But then Rose muttered from behind me.
“Ah, seriously. Do I have to show you my true form for you to believe me?”
*Hot damn, wait a minute.*
—*She says she finally understands. That only a monster can heal another monster.*
The first thing that came to mind was Winter’s words.
Then, the question I had asked Kivrin and his reply.
—*I heard you told your mother that only a monster can heal another monster… Do you need my help?*
—*I don’t… don’t really know. My nanny told me that.*
My eyes widened in shock as I turned back to Rose.
“Don’t tell me the reason you told the Young Lord that only a monster can heal a monster is…”
“Ah, that? I did say it with my own identity in mind.”
Rose admitted it nonchalantly.
*Ugh.*
I had no choice. I hesitantly approached Rose.
When I gestured with my hand, he obediently bent down so I could whisper in his ear.
“Can you really heal him? His hand? The scales on his face? The sealing spell, too? But then why would you run away with him?”
Should I be lowering my voice, or should we find an empty room?
Rose countered with a question of his own.
“The methods are different, but the result is the same, isn't it? Calming him down, isolating him… in a broad sense, isn’t that a form of treatment?”
Feeling like we were talking in circles, I got straight to the point.
“The treatment I’m thinking of is for the Young Lord to live a normal life like everyone else, without any worries. Without having to be cooped up like he is now.”
Rose crossed his arms.
“That’s impossible from the start.”
“…Why?”
“Do you really think Kivrin can ever be normal?”
“Yes. He’s cute.”
“…”
Why are you the one looking like you have a headache? I’m the one who’s frustrated here!
“Excuse me for a moment.”
Rose slung me over his shoulder and entered a nearby room.
Soon, I could hear footsteps outside.
“You have good ears, too.”
Still, why do I feel like I’m being treated like a sack of potatoes?
Rose set me down and then bent his knees to meet my gaze.
“Listen carefully. There is a snake sealed inside Kivrin’s body.”
I bravely looked into Rose’s crimson eyes, which I was slowly getting used to.
“Is that why he’s getting scales on his face?”
If that were true, the Temple would have a field day.
“Exactly. And what’s more, that snake has a very nasty personality. The absolute worst.”
“Huh? You talk as if you’ve met it.”
“I have. We even lived together for a few years.”
“…”
I instinctively took a step back, and Rose snapped.
“I have no intention of remarrying you if we get divorced, so get back here. We were family.”
“A husband and wife are family, too.”
“I told you, it’s not like that! That snake, for what it’s worth, briefly looked after me like its own child, so I came all this way to repay the favor! A prophet told me to wait at the ducal estate!”
Rose vehemently insisted on his innocence.
Aha, now I was starting to get the picture.
It would have been nice if he had just explained it properly from the beginning.
I put the bandage in my handbag and sat down primly in a nearby chair.
“Alright. I’ll listen seriously now.”
“…Really?”
“Mhm. But can I ask one question first? You once said you became Kivrin’s nanny because you were indebted to him. But why are you now saying you’re indebted to that snake?”
Rose ran a hand roughly through his hair. His crimson eyes wavered.
“That’s the problem. They’re the same person. What’s sealed inside isn’t a completely different being, just a remnant of Kivrin’s past life. Past memories, past powers, things like that.”
I tilted my head.
I understood that Kivrin’s past life was a snake and that it had a terrible personality.
And that it had, ‘for what it’s worth,’ looked after Rose like a child.
“But just because his past memories return, it doesn’t mean his current memories will disappear, right? He’ll still be the same cute Young Lord.”
Rose was pessimistic.
“No one knows for sure. At the time, I was far away from Kivrin, and by the time I found him, all I heard was that he had gone mad and died. So, if Kivrin regains his memories, he might become extremely unstable.”
“…”
“Doesn’t sound like a normal cause of death, does it?”
Rose gave a self-deprecating laugh.
I recalled the plot of .
Did the Kivrin in the novel change so drastically because he went through the process of shedding his skin and remembered his past life?
The Kivrin in had killed a great many people.
There had even been rampant speculation that he had murdered Winter and Menelik.
“So? Do you want to leave the ducal estate now?”
Rose asked, his eyes full of anticipation.
So that was his goal.
I shot him a sidelong glance.
“Then are you a snake, too?”
As if I had asked the most ridiculous question, Rose lifted his chin and proudly revealed his identity.
“I’m a bird.”
*Huhhh?*
I was more bewildered by that than by hearing Kivrin’s past life was a snake.
“But birds eat bugs, don’t they?”
Rose made a gagging sound.
“I have never once put such a filthy creature in my mouth. And I never will.”
R-right…
I momentarily put aside my thoughts about Kivrin and decided to get more information from Rose first.
“If you’re a bird, how can you turn into a person and use spells? And…”
I grabbed one of the cloths covering the unused furniture.
When I showed him the part decorated with a dove, Rose’s brow furrowed.
“What do you think? Does it look like you?”
Rose snatched the cloth from my hand and answered my questions one by one.
“I learned how to transform into a person and how to use spells from ‘Del.’ He had the nickname ‘God of Destruction,’ but he was surprisingly smart. And I look nothing like this dove. Hmph, I’m much more handsome.”
Del? Was that the name Kivrin used in his past life?
Rose pressed me again.
“Still have no intention of leaving the ducal estate?”
“Nope. Not yet.”
I made a vow to raise Kivrin well.
And I refused to let my parents-in-law die.
I answered confidently, but then I flinched.
“You’re not going to use a spell on me to chase me away, are you?”
“Hmm.”
Rose snapped his fingers.
Gah!
I squeezed my eyes shut.
But even after a few seconds, nothing happened.
I reluctantly peeked through my lashes to see a rose-colored feather fluttering right in front of my nose.
“…H-huh?”
