A Crow at the Window
Meanwhile, Idel glanced back without being obvious and only relaxed once she confirmed that Dante had not moved an inch from his seat.
Dante Knightray is smart, so he must have realized the person who hates him is me.
If not, his personality would have driven him to follow her persistently.
Thinking that far, Idel gave a light shake of her head and turned her steps toward her own room.
Now that the maids had given up and left, it was time to start prowling around the room.
The best outcome would be running into Veronica or Sylvia like this…
“Miss Idel.”
Bingo.
She was starting to get used to these coincidences. Idel smoothed out her expression at the sound of Sylvia’s voice behind her.
Before she could even turn around, Sylvia had already approached and spoke with a stiff face.
“Miss Idel, so this is where you were. The maids said they couldn’t find you anywhere… Were you avoiding them on purpose?”
“Hmph. They were probably just pretending to search.”
“…Sigh.”
Thinking that Idel was nitpicking again, Sylvia let out a small sigh and continued.
“Miss Idel, I’m not saying you must become close with the servants or treat them kindly. However, behaving as you are now could cause problems.”
“Behaving as I am now? What exactly have I done?”
“Treating the servants’ hard work as if it never existed, or framing their mistakes as if they were intentional…”
“Yes. That’s how it looks in your eyes.”
Idel cut off Sylvia’s words as though she had expected nothing better. Then she half-turned her body, clearly signaling she had no desire to continue the conversation.
A murmur that was barely audible slipped from Idel’s lips.
“This is all because of you in the first place…”
“Pardon?”
At Sylvia’s wide-eyed look that seemed to ask what she had just said, Idel raised one eyebrow and spoke.
“You really don’t know?”
“What exactly am I supposed to not know?”
“That idiot I saw in your office the other day…”
“Miss Idel!”
“Tsk.”
She had been treading a dangerous line when Veronica’s sudden appearance made her click her tongue lightly.
Of course, she had never intended to reveal the truth to Sylvia right then. Veronica would never leave the two of them alone, so she was bound to come searching soon anyway.
The moment Sylvia learns the truth has to be far more dramatic than this.
Idel glanced at Sylvia, bit her lower lip lightly, and looked at Veronica.
For a brief moment, Idel’s and Veronica’s gazes collided in midair.
Veronica quickly studied Idel’s expression.
Is it pride?
Idel Clementine had noticed her situation yet was still holding her ground. She didn’t appear to be afraid of her yet.
But it seems she hasn’t told Sylvia yet.
Although Veronica had intervened, the old Idel would have run her mouth immediately in front of her.
Veronica twisted the corner of her mouth discreetly before composing a gentle expression and letting out a sigh of relief.
“Sigh… You were with Miss Sylvia. What a relief.”
“…”
“I was truly worried when you left like that, Miss Idel. I’ll caution the maids more strictly, so please set your mind at ease, all right?”
“…Forget it. I don’t want to see anyone today, so tell everyone to leave except for Diane.”
“If that is your wish, Miss Idel, it shall be done.”
Veronica accepted Idel’s words with perfect politeness and turned to Sylvia.
“Miss Sylvia, I will escort Miss Idel to her room. You must have a great deal of work, so please leave this matter to me.”
“Ah, just a moment…”
“Yes?”
Sylvia, who had reflexively stopped them, hesitated for a second before shaking her head.
“No, it’s nothing.”
It was true that Idel’s earlier murmur still bothered her, but it wasn’t important enough to interrogate in front of Veronica as well.
I can ask later when the chance comes.
Looking at Idel’s sullen face, she spoke calmly to Veronica.
“Then I’ll leave Miss Idel in your care. The servants as well. If any issue arises, come to me without hesitation.”
“Yes, please don’t worry. Then I shall take my leave. Miss Idel, this way.”
“Don’t touch my body.”
After speaking curtly to Veronica, Idel gave Sylvia one last glance before walking toward her room.
This much should have set the bait for ‘that moment’ quite nicely.
“Miss Idel, then as you instructed, we will now…”
“Where is Diane?”
“Ah, Diane… I did call for her, but it seems something came up. I’ll send someone once more.”
“Hmph.”
“Then I will close the door. Please rest comfortably, Miss Idel.”
Watching the door close without the slightest hesitation, Idel crooked the corner of her mouth into a smile.
“What work. They simply didn’t call Diane.”
And they had no intention of calling her in the future either.
It seemed this round of harassment would take the form of neglect, using Idel’s own request to be left alone as the excuse.
Works for me.
Perhaps because the servants had been harassing her in such a childish manner, she had been feeling that her surroundings were far too noisy lately.
With the certainty that no one would come, Idel released the tension in her body and flung herself onto the bed.
…I’m tired.
The nerves she had kept razor-sharp in order to react appropriately to every situation suddenly unraveled.
That makes sense. When I go to meet Sigmund for Haeju, I don’t need to calculate every move, so I can at least breathe. But right now I can’t do that.
The texture of the blanket against her cheek felt especially soft today. She was slowly blinking her increasingly heavy eyelids when—
Knock knock!
A knocking sound came from the window.
Not the door, but the window? Idel lifted her head in surprise. She peered outside with wary eyes and tilted her head with a strange expression.
…A bird?
The creature tapping on the window was a crow with jet-black feathers and red eyes.
The crow, staring inside the glass with bright, beady eyes, tapped the window with its beak again.
Knock knock knock!
It was a swift action, as though it had been waiting only for their eyes to meet.
The crow’s clear display of intent made Idel sigh softly as she approached the window.
Melissa didn’t send it to spy on me, did she?
There shouldn’t be any need to go that far yet. Or perhaps it was sent to enjoy watching her suffer…
It obviously isn’t an ordinary crow, which is why I feel wary.
Still, whether she liked it or not, Idel’s only option was to open the window.
Ignoring it wouldn’t make the crow leave quietly.
Knock knock knock knock knock!
“All right, all right. I’m opening it now.”
Goodness, how impatient for a bird.
Thinking that a mere bird had no patience, Idel opened the window.
The crow bobbed its head as if pleased by her action and hopped nimbly into the room.
Then it blinked its round eyes and stared straight at her.
What is this?
Idel, who had unintentionally entered a staring contest with the bird, was rolling her eyes when the crow—tilting its head this way and that while observing her—proudly extended one leg toward her.
“What is this?”
“Caw!”
Perhaps because it was too absurd. Only then did Idel notice something dangling from the crow’s leg.
It was a device shaped like a crow, no larger than her finger.
…A crow attached to a crow’s leg?
What kind of bizarre object was this?
Idel narrowed her eyes once more and was staring intently at the device when the crow-shaped artifact clicked its small beak open and spat out a tiny note.
Hey. Dead?
Frustrated. Built this. Secretly.
Answer. Feed note.
Keep it short.
……No, four separate notes.
Idel stared blankly at the extremely concise series of notes and let out a small exclamation.
Only after reading them did she realize the creature before her was none other than a ‘crow.’
“I must have been slow.”
“Caw?”
“The crow is the signature symbol of the Crow’s Nest, after all.”
It seemed Sigmund, frustrated by the lack of news, had created a communication artifact.
The fact that it can only transmit short words suggests the performance isn’t exceptional, but still.
Even so, this was better than nothing.
Idel wrote a short reply on the paper exactly as Sigmund had requested and fed the note to the crow artifact.
Watching the note disappear in an instant, Idel burst into laughter before she could stop herself.
There was no special reason. It was simply because…
Lacking in ability?
Joke. You’re cute.
She could already imagine how Sigmund would react to a note that could be interpreted in two different ways.