Chapter 17
Chapter 17
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 17
Chapter Title: Suspicious Pigeons
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Hold it in.
Gu!
I'll hold it in if I can...
Gu-gu-gu!
If I just wait a little longer, Daddy will come back, so for now, I'll hold back while secretly gathering evidence...
Gu-gu!
"Shoo, pigeon, go away!"
I was already on the verge of losing my mind, and now this pigeon was making all this racket!
I snapped and swung my arm wildly, but it was no use.
The pigeon perched on a tree much taller than me just calmly preened its feathers, as if deliberately taunting me.
'Why have pigeons been showing up around our house so much lately?'
Did it nest nearby or something?
"Miss, what's wrong?"
"The pigeon keeps cooing at me."
"Really? Maybe the pigeon wants to be friends with our miss. Should we say hello to the pigeon~?"
I waved half-heartedly toward the pigeon, following Betty's lead with dull eyes.
I never realized being treated like a kid everywhere would be this exhausting.
Ever since Yasmin acted suspiciously, the hired help from the main estate had started treating me with a subtly sharper attitude.
Were they seeing me as an easy mark of a child? They were starting to snidely mock me or pretend not to hear and ignore me more and more.
'Above all, those eyes.'
The eyes that stuck to Dietrich and me no matter where we were or what we did, watching like surveillance.
Honestly, it was creepy how obsessive it was.
Were these servants or special agents dispatched to spy on us?
"There's a strong wind today, so why bring the young miss out to the garden?"
The butler's sharp voice pierced my ears as I sat listlessly in Betty's arms, staring blankly at the pigeon.
See?
They popped out from places I couldn't have imagined, like it was their job to monitor me and Dietrich all day...
"We haven't been out long, butler. The miss just likes watching pigeons, that's all."
Go, Betty!
She never backed down, no matter who she was facing.
"Wild animals are fierce and filthy. What if something happens to the precious young miss while you're escorting her close? Can you take responsibility?"
"But that pigeon looks really clean and tame. It hasn't threatened us at all, even though we're this close."
Now that she mentioned it, yeah.
While I'd been pacing under the tree lost in thought, it hadn't shown any sign of threat.
It had been noisy, sure, but it seemed more like it wanted my attention than anything threatening.
"You really... must have never learned any manners for dealing with your superiors."
The butler's voice changed.
It was completely different from the chilling tone at first, when he'd even brought a trampoline to curry favor with me or Dietrich.
To stop the fuming Betty from charging again, I tightly hugged her neck.
Lately, the vibe from the main estate hires was seriously suspicious.
If you included the guards, there were way more people from the main house than the original staff here.
I couldn't predict what might happen if a big conflict broke out.
"Bettyyy, I'm thiwsty. Watew pwease."
Betty scowled once at me and the butler alternately, then turned on her heel.
Not the most polite move, but they couldn't punish her for that.
Feeling a bit relieved, I clung to Betty as she carried me, when I spotted the butler heading toward the tree where the pigeon was perched.
I'd expected him to stalk us obsessively like always, so why was he going there?
'Wasn't he coming to get me?'
Right before the entrance door closed, the last thing I saw was the silhouette of a pigeon landing on the butler's outstretched hand.
No way—the guy who'd been lecturing us about the dangers of wild animals was the one reaching for the pigeon...?
'A pigeon?'
Pigeons had been flying around our house a lot lately, hadn't they?
I hadn't paid much attention before, but the one today was unusually docile, like it had been handled by humans for a long time.
And the butler reaching out to such a pigeon...
'...Could it be a carrier pigeon?'
I'd never seen one in my previous world's lifetime, only read about them in dictionaries, so it hadn't even crossed my mind as a means of communication.
"Bettyyy."
"Yes, miss?"
"I wanna wwite a wetter. How send wetter?"
"A letter? Who do you suddenly want to write to?"
No one too close around the house, right?
To test if they could send letters via carrier pigeon instead of human courier, it'd have to be someone reasonably far away.
'The old butler grandpa who's away recuperating came to mind first, but his hometown's too far.'
After ruling out options, only one person was left who could convince Betty.
I bit my tongue hard and answered.
"Mariella wants to send Daddy a wetter."
"Oh my, our miss is so sweet!"
If you're that touched over a mere excuse, it kinda embarrasses me.
"Let me see. The master is probably leading the Northern Army on the move right now, so we could send it by human courier, or... Ah, should I check if we can send it by carrier pigeon?"
"Carrier pigeon?"
"You saw that cute pigeon earlier, right? You give the letter to those friends, and they flap their wings and deliver it to Father."
So they do use carrier pigeons in this world.
The new butler... no way?
Maybe he's using it for personal reasons. Being from Kalena Castle where the main family's at, he could have tons of family or friends there.
'But what if—just in case.'
What if the butler was using the carrier pigeon for other purposes?
Until Daddy comes back, I'm the lady of this house.
A rich house full of kids. I had to stay sharp against any imaginable danger.
"Shall I bring stationery, miss?"
Betty set me down in my room and asked politely.
Instead of answering right away, I toddled across my room to the window and pressed right up against it.
Yep, from here, the butler's office was in clear view.
Across the flower bed Mom made for me was the office the butler used.
From my high-up room, I had a perfect view down into it.
If he got the carrier pigeon, he'd head back to the office to read it or write a reply, right?
"Yeah, I no sweep hewe, wwite wetter."
"Then I'll move the table to the window."
Perfect spot.
I sat at the spot Betty moved it to, keeping watch on the butler's office while biting and releasing my lip repeatedly.
Honestly, the best case was that the sudden pigeon influx around our house was just normal pigeons.
The next best was that the butler was a sentimental guy writing often to faraway loved ones.
"But miss, you don't know letters yet. How are you going to write a letter?"
Betty set ornate, luxurious stationery in front of me, with a pressed flower decoration on one side.
Only then did I realize I didn't know this world's script.
"Wight. No know wetters, so no wwite wetter..."
It was just an excuse to probe about carrier pigeons anyway. I could cancel by saying I don't know letters.
I was about to tell her to put the stationery away when Betty grabbed both my hands tight.
...Why are her eyes sparkling like that? So intense?
'I'm seriously not even fazed.'
Writing to a dad whose face I don't even know would be way more awkward.
I wish she'd stop misunderstanding on her own.
"Don't worry. If you don't know letters, you can draw a picture. If the master sees the picture letter you drew with such care, he'll be so moved!"
"No, I..."
"Where are the crayons? Just trust me. I'll get the 152-color set!"
"No, not that much..."
"Oh, do you need paints too? Or should I dig out the pastels?"
"...Just cwayons fine."
"Yes! Right away!"
Man, I can't even play the three-year-old properly.
The second parents come up, everyone gets fired up to soothe and help me however they can. Can't say a word.
I'd only mentioned not knowing letters once, and now a mountain of crayons—even 152 colors—that I couldn't hold with arms outstretched sat before me.
I stared blankly at the crayon pile for a moment.
'What should I even draw?'
I'd planned to just scribble a quick "how are you," but how did it come to this?