「I’m sorry!」

The hastily scribbled apology from the startled Cordelia was such terrible handwriting that it was a wonder it could be read at all.

Caspian, who had been silently looking at Cordelia, closed his book.

“Shall we take a break? I have something to show you.”

Following Caspian out of the room, Cordelia looked around curiously. The child didn’t even know what other rooms existed on the second floor besides the young master’s room.

Caspian, walking down the corridor, stopped in front of a certain door. From the outside, it didn’t look much different from his room.

The place they entered was an empty room. In the center of the very sparse room without even a single chair, there was only a birdcage.

“It’s a canary. Have you seen one before?”

Inside the cage was a small, pretty bird with bright yellow feathers. Cordelia approached the cage with sparkling eyes.

“I’d like you to take care of this bird from now on. It’s not difficult—just fill its water and food daily, and change the sand periodically.”

「It’s so pretty!」

“…Yes. If there’s anything you don’t know, ask Catherine.”

The bird was well-behaved. It didn’t cry or flap its wings at the sight of a stranger.
Its tiny black eyes looked straight at Cordelia. Cordelia, who had been peering into the cage, hesitated.

“Canaries are rare birds in the Empire. They mainly live on islands in distant foreign lands, and it’s said that a king from there gave one to the Obenhart family as a token of friendship.”

“……”

“I was given a newborn chick on the day I was born, so it’s about the same age as me. In human terms, it would be like an elderly person now.”

The bird tilted its head. Cordelia, who had been staring intently at the bird’s eyes, unconsciously tilted her head as well.

“Canaries are famous for their vibrant colors and beautiful songs. But this one can’t sing.”

“……”

“…I made it that way.”

Cordelia looked up at Caspian. His fine green eyes sank into deep thought.

“My father dislikes noise.”

Looking at those eyes, Cordelia once again felt a sense of dissonance.

On her first day at the mansion in the garden, and now in the canary’s room, the eyes Cordelia discovered all had the same color.

If at first she had welcomed that similarity, now she was curious. What was it that made his eyes look this way?

Cordelia turned her head toward the birdcage. The bird was still looking at her. As if it had something it wanted to say.

Even as Cordelia glanced back repeatedly until she left the room, the bird never took its eyes off the child.

* * *

Cordelia stayed awake until everyone in the mansion was asleep, and when the outside became deathly quiet, she left her room.

Tiptoeing up to the second floor with raised heels, Cordelia looked around and carefully opened the door.

The only light in the dark room was a single beam of moonlight. She put down the lantern she had brought on the floor.

After hesitating for a moment with her hands clasped, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

‘Hello.’

Cordelia greeted the canary, which was glowing yellow in the moonlight.

The bird had been facing the door from the beginning, as if waiting for the child. The canary gazed at her quietly.

‘My name is Cordelia. What’s yours?’

With her lips tightly closed, Cordelia addressed the bird.

Various creatures lived in the forest of Ernel. They all had different languages, and Cordelia enjoyed communicating with them.

She felt the wind brushing against trees, stroked the soft fur of animals, and looked into the eyes of magical beasts.

‘Can’t you hear my voice…?’

Even if they looked like ordinary beasts, magical creatures with mana had a different aura. Cordelia had seen many magical beasts in Ernel and read their minds.

The canary made no sound whatsoever. Neither from its beak nor its eyes could Cordelia read the canary’s voice.

Although faint, she definitely felt an atmosphere similar to that of a magical creature… Could it be because of the Therion language?

‘I, want, to be, your friend.’

Cordelia haltingly conveyed her intentions in imperial language sentences. The canary remained unresponsive until the end.

‘I’ll come again tomorrow. Good night.’

Cordelia left the room with a feeling of disappointment.

* * *

Cordelia had no experience of facing nobility in Therion. Because of this, she was also unfamiliar with the proper etiquette for dealing with nobles.

She was learning from Catherine whenever possible about correct posture and behaviors to avoid, but there were limitations due to her understanding of the imperial language.

Above all, Cordelia had never been scolded by the young master while serving him.
Even when she dropped clothes while helping him change, or when she kept making mistakes during bath service because it was her first time, Caspian would just wait silently without reprimanding Cordelia.

Cordelia was grateful for the young master’s kindness, but on the other hand, she grew impatient. She wanted to become a maid who could serve the young master without any inconvenience as soon as possible.

Today, while listening to Catherine’s explanation about etiquette in the kitchen, Cordelia was reviewing what she had learned by drawing pictures in her notebook while Catherine stepped away briefly.

“Greetings. Waiting posture. Placement of tableware.”

As she was adding notes in imperial language under bizarre drawings that she might not even recognize later, she heard giggling.

“Hey, you’ve lasted quite a while, haven’t you?”

A maid who had been preparing ingredients at the next table addressed her in a mocking tone.

“I wondered how you managed to butter up the head maid, and now even the young master… They say Therion people eat magical beasts, did you eat some beast that can charm people?”

“……”

“Or are you the magical beast?”

The maids laughed raucously.

Even without understanding the language, malice was always clearly readable. Whether from humans or magical beasts.

Cordelia had always responded to human malice with indifference. And their reactions were always the same.

“Are you ignoring me right now?”

The maid who had been leading the atmosphere stood up abruptly and approached with angry steps. She snatched the fountain pen that Cordelia was holding.

“Why do you have this expensive fountain pen? Don’t tell me you stole it from the young master’s room? My goodness, not even realizing that the young master took you in out of pity… You should know your place, lowly Therion person!”

Why did imperial people hate Therion people so much?

Cordelia had once asked Gideon and Evan. They had said:

<Not all imperial people hate Therion people. Evan and I really like you, Del.>

<They’re just inferior people who need someone to hate blindly. If they bother you, just kick them in the shin!>

Instead of trying to understand their answers, Cordelia chose to believe them.

So was this the moment to kick a shin?

Cordelia’s eyes, which had been staring at the fountain pen in the maid’s hand, slowly moved downward. From her seated position, she just needed to stretch her legs.

“She’s ignoring me again? You can’t speak, and now you’ve gone deaf too…!”

Suddenly grabbed by the shoulder, the maid turned around sharply.

“M-Miss Catherine…!”

Catherine held out her hand to the maid. The maid hesitated before placing the fountain pen on her palm.

“Becky, I’ll let it go this time, but there should be no more incidents like this in the future. You understand what I mean, don’t you?”

Catherine admonished her sternly. Becky answered in a crawling voice and nodded her head.

Catherine returned the fountain pen to Cordelia and took the child out of the kitchen.

“Why on earth are you taking the side of a Therion person!”

Becky glared at the closed kitchen door and fumed.

“Did you hear? That bird in the inner room on the second floor, they say that child is now in charge of taking care of it?”

“What? That’s always been Miss Catherine’s job!”

“That’s what I’m saying. Whatever it is now, when he was younger, the young master cherished that bird very much…”

“No way…”

Becky, who had been muttering in disbelief, suddenly changed her expression.

“Girls, I have a good idea.”

Becky’s lips twisted maliciously.

* * *

In the early hours of the morning, three maids walked down the corridor, muffling their footsteps.

Entering the room, Becky headed straight for the birdcage. The bird flapped its wings and opened and closed its beak repeatedly as if wary of the intruders.

Sarah, who had put the lantern on the floor, tried to open the window. The window, which hadn’t been opened for a long time, creaked.

“Sarah! Are you determined to get caught?”

“The window won’t open…!”

Sarah, who had finally opened the window, sighed.

Meanwhile, Becky had reached into the cage and pulled out the bird. The bird moved its beak busily but couldn’t make any sound.

Becky went to the wide-open window before releasing the bird. However, the bird just remained still on Becky’s palm.

“Why isn’t it flying?”

Even when she poked it with her finger and extended her hand outside the window, the canary remained motionless.

“Are you doing well?”

Maria, who had been keeping watch outside, peeked her head in and asked.

“Almost done! I told you to stay in the corridor, not come in!”

“But what if someone really comes…!”

Feeling anxious, Becky stretched her arm out the window.

She lowered her arm as if to throw the bird, then suddenly raised it upward. As the body fell from her hand due to the momentum, the canary finally spread its wings.

“Let’s see you struggle and get kicked out!”

Becky smiled with satisfaction as she watched the yellow bird fly far away.