‘We must have met before.’
Dalia tilted her head in thought. It was clear this was her first time laying eyes on the creature, yet the bird was adamant they had crossed paths before.
Could it be mistaking her for someone who looked like her?
“Are you sure you aren't mistaking me for someone else? I truly am seeing you for the first time.”
“Peep, peep, peep, peep.”
The bird shook its head in denial, tears welling up and spilling drop by drop.
It was certainly an emotional bird, flying into a temper one moment and weeping the next.
“Oh, dear, I’m sorry. Don’t cry. How about we consider ourselves true friends starting today?”
Suddenly, the bird tottered down onto her palm, struck the surface with one wing, and burst into a fit of wailing tears.
“Peep, peep, peep, peep, peep, peep, peep, peep!”
As its weeping grew louder, Dalia poured some water into a saucer on the table and set it before the little creature.
“Drink.”
As if its throat had been parched, it began to sip the water leisurely.
Its behavior certainly suggested they shared some past acquaintance, but why couldn't Dalia recall such an extraordinary bird that understood human speech?
Had she seen it when she was little? Her childhood memories were full of gaps in places.
Still, the journey between the Lucifon Empire and the Kingdom of Wyvern took three weeks by carriage. How could such a small bird travel back and forth? Was it a migratory bird?
Dalia began gently stroking its small head to soothe it.
“So, to celebrate our reunion, shall we be friends?”
“Peep, peep.”
The bird nodded in agreement.
“Good. But I can't just keep calling you ‘bird,’ so I’ll give you a name.”
Its red eyes flickered with unease, as if sensing an impending misfortune.
Dalia, however, was far too engrossed in brainstorming names to notice.
“Hmm… How about Lemonardochikaramosgeranio? I combined the names of the male leads from my favorite romance novels!”
The bird buried its face in its wings, looking as though this was precisely what it had feared.
“Do you like the name?”
“Peep, peep, peep, peep, peep.”
It jerked its head up and shook it in refusal, casting her a guarded glare, but Dalia took a liking to the moniker and ignored the reaction entirely.
“Lemonardochikaramosgeranio it is, then. We’re friends from now on, right?”
“Peep, peep.”
The bird gave a reluctant nod.
Finding the sight adorable, Dalia stroked its soft crown once more with her index finger.
Its touch was so velvety it felt almost addictive.
Just then, Annie pushed the door open and stepped inside, her eyes narrowing as she looked at Dalia.
“Miss Lia, what are you doing?”
“Huh?”
“Why are you waving your finger in thin air?”
Dalia’s hand froze mid-stroke.
“What did you say?”
Her faithful maid Annie repeated the exact same question, word for word:
“Why are you waving your finger in thin air?”
Dalia looked on in shock, her gaze flitting between the bird and Annie.
“Annie, don't tell me you can't see Lemonardochikaramosgeranio?”
“Didn't you say your imaginary friend disappeared when you turned nine?”
Annie spoke with a flat face, prompting Dalia to wave her hands in protest.
“That was when I was a child! That’s not the point. Can you truly not see this bird? Lemonardochikaramosgeranio.”
Dalia set the bird back on her palm and extended it toward Annie to show her clearly.
Lemonardochikaramosgeranio let out a cheeky chirp, as though mocking her.
Annie examined Dalia’s palm thoroughly with a measured gaze.
“Are you saying there’s a bird there?”
“Yes. Can you really not see it?”
“No. But… wasn't your imaginary friend at age nine named BasqueCitySweetCheesecake? Do the names of your imaginary friends always have to be like this?”
Annie knitted her brows and let out a deep sigh.
“Why not?”
Dalia tilted her head to ask, and Annie gave her a look as if the answer were glaringly obvious.
“Because they're too long.”
“But Lemonardochikaramosgeranio likes his name.”
“If this imaginary bird could actually speak, it would tell you it hates it.”
“Peep, peep.”
Lemonardochikaramosgeranio nodded vigorously in agreement with Annie, but Dalia paid it no heed once more.
“Miss Lia, I think it would be best for you to take your evening medicine now. The royal physician said stress is the worst thing for your condition, and the journey to the Empire was grueling, so fatigue must have piled up. I should have taken better care of you… It's my fault.”
Scolding herself, Annie hurriedly rummaged through the luggage for the medicine vial.
“No, Annie, I’m fine.”
Yet Annie set her lips in a firm line and kept searching.
The princess's rare condition was something not even the renowned royal physician could cure.
Even so, he had refused to give up; after monitoring her symptoms for a long time, he had concocted a medicine to reduce the frequency of her episodes.
It was a sedative for both mind and body.
Brewed from a blend of assorted calming herbs, it was the only remedy capable of keeping the princess's affliction at bay, if only a little.
“Truly, I can take the medicine later. Lemonardochikaramosgeranio, you aren't a figment of my imagination, are you?”
Dalia looked at the bird with a troubled expression, and it shook its head.
“Peep, peep, peep, peep.”
“See, he says he isn't.”
“Miss Lia, it's only natural for an imaginary bird to say whatever you want to hear.”
Annie said as she poured the medicine with some water into a glass and offered it to her.
The moment Dalia’s eyes fell upon the glass of water, an idea struck her to break through this suffocating impasse.
“I’ll make you believe me. Lemonardochikaramosgeranio, will you drink some water?”
Dalia took the glass from Annie's hand and held it out toward Lemonardochikaramosgeranio.
The bird gave a soft chirp as if catching on to her plan, then beamed and took a sip without hesitation.
The moment Annie saw the water level in the clear glass gradually dropping, her eyes trembled as if struck by an earthquake.
“…So it really isn't your imagination.”
“Told you so!”
Dalia declared with a triumphant look.
“So is it an invisible bird?”
“I can see it.”
“Honestly, whether it's an imaginary bird or an invisible bird, both are bizarre. But what's even stranger is that it only appears to you, and stranger still that you can communicate with it and understand its words.”
At Annie’s sharp observation, Dalia gave a slow nod, staring at the bird in silence.
Then again, which was stranger? Seeing an invisible bird, or seeing the future in dreams?
Her life had long been brimming with the extraordinary, and perhaps that was why she could accept the presence of this curious bird without putting up a fight.
“What are you really? Lemonardochikaramosgeranio.”
The little bird chirped as their eyes met, seeming to smile.
“At the very least, we must change its name.”
Annie declared firmly.
“Why? Can't we just leave it as it is?”
Dalia protested hesitantly, gauging Annie’s reaction.
“Miss Lia, let's pick a name that can be said in a single breath. Even your favorite horse, Gentle Mara Pine Charisma, has a name so long that he gallops off before we can even finish saying it.”
Annie pinched the bridge of her nose and let out a sigh.
“There are so many things I love, and I want to call my friends by names I adore.”
“Then let us compromise this time. How about Lemon?”
“Peep, peep.”
Lemonardochikaramosgeranio let out a crisp chirp, as though quite pleased with the name.
Faced with this alliance between human and beast, Dalia had no choice but to concede, nodding her head.
“Fine. From now on, I will call Lemonardochikaramosgeranio by the nickname Lemon.”
“Thank you very much.”
Annie bowed her head, an expression of profound relief and sincerity etched upon her face.
