An Odd Fellow and a Good One
Inside the cozy room, a peculiar scene unfolded: a young child was talking to a crow.
"Kamang, so, Tollin has been in a really bad mood lately."
The clever-looking little boy babbled, gently tugging at my wing. "Pale said it's because the construction is being delayed, so his nerves are shot."
Without offering much of a response, I listened to him while pretending to peck at a few walnuts he had scattered across the desk.
Seemingly pleased by this, the boy began to pour out his thoughts even more eagerly. It was a slightly tedious, yet far from trivial, way to pass the time.
Children are far more honest than adults, and animals are much better suited to keeping secrets than humans. The combination of these two truths had resulted in a bizarre dynamic where the boy treated me as a sort of mute therapist.
The boy prattled on in front of me about the current state of the duchy, Tollin's condition, and the progress of the construction—not in precise detail, but roughly as much as he knew.
This clever heir of the Fides Duchy knew a lot for his age, but by the same token, he seemed to have found a peculiar joy in sharing things he couldn't tell the adults of his family with a speechless beast. Though we hadn't known each other long, he also seemed to have grown quite attached to me.
If someone were to accuse me of taking advantage of an innocent child, I wouldn't really have an excuse.
"Kamang? Are you listening to me?"
By the way, that name was incredibly hard to get used to. Kamang, just because I was a black bird. I couldn't tell if his naming sense was delightfully childlike or just incredibly lazy.
Oblivious to my inner complaints, the boy kept stroking my wings. Looking into his clear, innocent eyes, I recalled the first day we had crossed paths.
The Young Duke of Fides was the very first person I had spotted when I transformed into a crow to scout the estate, shortly after the Duke of Fides's death—or rather, his officially reported death.
"A crow...?"
To be precise, our eyes had met while I was spying on him as he lay buried in his bed, sobbing.
With his eyes swollen from crying, the boy had approached the window. Finding it strange that a crow didn't fly away, he stopped sobbing for a moment and ushered me inside.
If it had been any ordinary crow, his guardian or a maid would have shrieked in horror, but perhaps out of consideration for the grieving boy, no other servants were in sight.
Since it wasn't a bad opportunity to inspect the interior of the duchy, I hadn't rejected his hospitality.
Besides, having once opened my own window for a crow that responded to my words on my very first day of transmigration, I could understand him. Though in my case, that crow had practically blackmailed its way inside.
Thanks to the Young Duke, I was able to enter the estate in a much more gentlemanly fashion than that feathered thug from my past.
"Aren't you scared? You shouldn't get so close to humans."
The boy took after the father who raised him; he was both meddlesome and clever.
"I went to Father's grave today. Tollin said Father has reached Teritum and is watching over me from there. But strangely, I feel like Father is still alive somewhere."
He was talkative, and he possessed a strange, sharp intuition.
The kid, who had dubbed me Kamang, dropped hints that allowed me to piece together what was happening inside the estate. The one-sided trust established back then had continued to this day.
I quietly watched the boy as he babbled with a smile.
"Tollin told me not to go, but I want to visit the place near the Temple where the poor people live. Besides, I'm almost old enough to enter the Academy anyway."
He murmured with a somewhat wistful expression.
"Before that, I want to properly look into the affairs of the Fidus family. There are things Tollin and Pale aren't telling me."
Watching the kid speak so commendably, I turned my head away. The day his wish came true would likely be the day the heart of a certain someone, currently losing sleep over work, would utterly shatter.
Deciding I had gathered enough information for the day, I stopped pecking at the walnuts and fluttered my wings a few times.
"Huh? You're leaving already? Isn't it too early today?"
Though disappointment was written all over his face, I paid it no mind and tapped on the windowpane with my beak.
"Right. You probably have a family of your own, too. Go on, hurry back."
The gentle boy quietly opened the window for me.
Even after flying out, I circled the estate a few more times. The Fides Duchy, now devoid of Agoni Fidus, felt strangely prickly, as if bristling with thorns.
I cast a glance at Tollin clutching his head in his office, then at Pale walking down the hallway with a stack of documents, then at Jack training the knights, and finally, at the child's room one last time before soaring high into the sky.
"I want to visit the place near the Temple where the poor people live."
Recalling the boy murmuring those words with sparkling eyes, I put more strength into my wings. The day I had to keep a close eye on the Young Duke was drawing near.
In the original novel, that little Young Duke, whose name wasn't even mentioned, was destined to die after the Hunting Festival.
"That insect! He should at least tell me how much longer he's going to drag this out!"
Though not quite as frantic as Tollin, the First Prince was equally furious about the constantly delayed construction.
Rasiah had badgered the Seventh Prince, who visited occasionally for his treatment, demanding to know why they couldn't just send men to the duchy. But every time, the Seventh Prince merely repeated that the time was not yet ripe.
Rasiah Abaran scowled as he pictured the Seventh Prince's expressionless face. The more he saw of him, the stranger the fellow seemed.
He didn't demand money, nor did he seem to covet power. Despite holding Rasiah's life in his hands, he showed no greed for the things others desperately craved.
He merely laid down arrogant, infuriating conditions or made incomprehensible demands from time to time. The problem was that these demands directly restricted the First Prince's actions.
The way the boy treated him with an air of detached indifference was also deeply grating. No, in truth, his very existence was an eyesore. If not for that cursed remedy, Rasiah would have snuffed his life out long ago.
It wasn't as if Rasiah hadn't tried having him tailed or his room searched. However, there was nothing in the room that could be called a personal possession except for a few trashy books, and on the days he was tailed, the boy would vanish like a ghost, as if he possessed some uncanny sense.
Frustrated by how a useless weakling with not a shred of power could pull off such tricks, Rasiah could only kick his bed in sheer vexation.
"If you no longer require treatment, you don't need to send people. You can just tell me directly."
The day after he had assigned tails, he had been forced to listen to the Seventh Prince's deadpan sarcasm. Those words had set Rasiah's temper ablaze once more.
"How dare you play games with my life."
Even in the face of Rasiah's wrathful glare, the boy hadn't flinched.
"And why is that?"
"What?"
"Was it not a game when you played with the lives of innocent knights?"
The First Prince immediately knew who the boy was referring to. The knight who had lost track of the Seventh Prince had been forced to pay for his incompetence with his life.
That knight hadn't possessed a secret remedy to shield himself from Rasiah's fury. But the First Prince believed that comparing the two was entirely absurd.
"Are you seriously comparing me to those mere insects?"
The Seventh Prince had simply stared at the First Prince in silence. It was Rasiah who broke first, unable to bear the quiet tension.
"...What? Why aren't you saying anything?"
"Indeed, they cannot be compared."
The Seventh Prince had stared at the First Prince with sunken, heavy eyes before speaking.
"Do not set anyone to tail me ever again."
With those final words, the Seventh Prince had shut his mouth, and there had been no treatments for a while.
For the first few days, nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Rasiah had even begun to wonder if his body was completely cured, but after suffering a sudden, massive nosebleed a few days later, he finally stopped assigning tails to the Seventh Prince.
"That subhuman piece of trash."
Why isn't my body healing? The First Prince ground his teeth, clawing at his desk. He was busy imagining various ways to torture and kill the boy once the treatment was complete when—
Knock, knock.
"Your Highness, the Second Prince has arrived to see you."
A servant quietly announced the arrival of Dito Abaran. Feeling his anger subside slightly, Rasiah called him in.
The Second Prince stepped into the room, his dazzling blonde hair swaying.
"First Prince, I trust your noble body is in good health?"
"Pfft, what's with that disgusting tone?"
Dito's characteristically cheerful demeanor and playful tone instantly dissolved Rasiah's lingering irritation.
"I was trying to copy how the nobles speak. Don't I sound just like them?"
At the playful response, Rasiah frowned.
"Don't copy the speech of those trashy bastards. You'll only pick up filthy habits."
Dito wore a look of mild surprise at the First Prince's irritable reaction.
"Did the nobles do something to annoy you again? I thought things went well during the last meeting."
Tilting his head, Dito suddenly clapped his hands together as if realizing something.
"Did the Fidus family dare to make some absurd demands? I heard the construction has been delayed lately. The paperwork piling up from the Ministry of Finance is immense."
At his words, Rasiah clicked his tongue. In truth, it was their side that was being unreasonable, but Dito didn't seem to have caught on to that yet. Officially, the construction was being delayed due to a failure to reach an agreement with the Fidus family.
"No, it's nothing like that. I've just been busy."
"What a shame. I thought this was a perfect opportunity to punish those who dared to slight you, Brother."
Rasiah let out a dry chuckle. It was embarrassing to admit he was acting on someone else's orders, and even though Dito was his cherished younger brother, it felt risky to reveal his true health condition when the throne was at stake. Of course, the Seventh Prince had also warned him not to tell a soul.
But seeing his brother get so innocently worked up on his behalf made Rasiah feel much better.
"Well, yes. I wish I could get started on it as soon as possible, too."
"Hmm..."
"What is it?"
"Brother, in that case, why don't you leave it to me?"
"Leave what to you?"
When Rasiah asked in confusion, Dito replied with confidence.
"The charity project in the Capital. If you are that busy, I can go as your representative and handle some of the matters. You know how capable I am, don't you?"
"Ah..."
Rasiah, who had been enjoying the casual conversation, was suddenly caught off guard.
No one knew better than Rasiah how sharp Dito was when it came to work. He had often delegated complex imperial duties to him in the past, and Dito's advice had proven useful on many occasions.
He knew that if he handed this project over, Dito would execute it flawlessly. However, if he handed over a project that he was deliberately stalling, he might run out of excuses to delay it further.
"I-I will think about it. Since this is a matter I personally brought up before His Majesty the Emperor, I want to be cautious this time."
Rasiah declined, his tone sounding awkward even to his own ears.
The First Prince stole a glance at his brother, worried Dito might notice something was amiss, but the Second Prince merely nodded as if he understood perfectly. If anything, he added an apology.
"That makes sense. I let my eagerness get the better of me and spoke without thinking."
Rasiah let out a quiet sigh of relief.
"Yes. I am quite tired today, so you may leave now."
Rasiah tried to usher Dito out in a hurry, and Dito Abaran seemed to accept this without finding it strange.
"Then,"
Before stepping out of the room, he turned back to Rasiah with a bright smile.
"Take care of your health, Brother."
Rasiah watched his brother's smile, which seemed unusually deep today, as Dito vanished behind the closing door.