I Became the Villainous Sub-Male Lead’s Pet Bird 25

Episode 25

I couldn’t trust Cesar. The important person to him was Sylvia, not me. He acted kindly, but I never knew when he might turn around and kill me.

Moreover, it was uncertain whether he would accept me now that I was human again.

I was able to open his heart, even just a little, because I was a bird. An insignificant bird, incapable of telling anyone anything or causing any harm, that’s why I could reach him.

“What should I do now?”

Even as I asked, I knew the answer.

I had to leave Cesar’s side. There was no way he would accept me as a human. Knowing so much about Cesar, I might be killed even sooner than when I was Lily.

Despite that, Cesar’s words, asking me not to leave his side when I was Lily, lingered in my mind.

I looked at his face and slowly lowered my head. My forehead touched Cesar’s. Silky, pink hair, no longer fluffy feathers, flowed down.

Close enough for our breaths to mingle, I apologized.

“Cesar. I’m sorry. I don’t think I can keep that promise.”

I smiled bitterly, looking at him. Looking back, Cesar as Lily had been scary, but his occasional gentle words had been warm and comforting.

‘That’s why I feel this bittersweet feeling.’

I bid farewell to his sleeping face.

“Goodbye, Cesar.”

Even after my words, his eyes remained closed. I brushed his hair aside and was about to get out of bed.

Just then, a firm hand grabbed mine. A weak grip, like someone searching for warmth in their sleep. But I couldn’t bring myself to pull away, afraid of waking him.

A drowsy voice, as if lost in a dream, murmured,

“…Don’t… go.”

His words touched my heart. They held me back as I was about to turn away without a second thought.

“I’m not your pet bird anymore…”

His words reminded me of him saying he hated being alone. But I couldn’t stay by his side. As a human, I might be rejected.

If things remained the same after I left, Cesar would die at the hands of the Crown Prince, facing the contemptuous gaze of the woman he loved.

I drew a line again, saying it wasn’t my concern. But I seemed to have grown attached to him, despite everything.

‘I’ll help you avoid your ruinous end, as long as my life isn’t threatened.’

I remembered his kindness when I was writhing in pain. So I could offer him this much goodwill.

Gently stroking his face, I told a blatant lie.

“It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.”

Cesar’s breathing evened out, and his grip loosened. I slowly moved away from him. And I thought about where I, now a human, should go.

“…Where should I go?”

The joy of becoming human was short-lived, and I held my head, facing the sudden reality. I needed a safe place, somewhere to protect me.

Then, my thoughts drifted to that peculiar encounter.

The Tower Master.

He must have known this would happen. He had even placed a spell on me.

“Ha, what kind of person is he? He seemed to know everything, but it’s almost scary how he seems to know even my future.”

I chuckled and chose the best option available to me. It was the only option I had.

After organizing my thoughts, I carefully approached the cage and took out the jewels I had collected. Sparkling jewels greeted me.

I quietly held them in my hand and took Cesar’s clothes from the wardrobe and put them on. They were incredibly loose, but I couldn’t walk around naked.

I slowly recalled the spell the Tower Master had placed on me during that strange encounter. It was all incredibly suspicious, but having suddenly transformed from a bird to a human, with no proper identity or place to go, I had no choice but to rely on the Tower Master’s help.

“Inevitabilities disguised as coincidences…”

How did he know I would become human and need his help? Even if I asked, he probably wouldn’t answer.

I slowly closed my eyes and spoke.

“…Take me to where the Tower Master is.”

A bright light enveloped me.

A single pink feather slowly drifted to the floor, and when I opened my eyes again, I had arrived at an unfamiliar place, not the Dukedom.

The day I became human, I took the jewels he gave me and ran away.

---

Cesar had a strange dream.

In his dream, he heard someone gently stroking him and whispering sweet words. Even though it was a voice he had never heard before, it somehow reminded him of a small, soft bird.

‘Beep.’

It smiled as it filled the desolate annex with flowers. It comforted him, saying it was alright when he said he hated the night.

It had become something precious, something he couldn’t lose.

As he reached out, the bird, which had been smiling brightly, tilted its head and tried to move away. Even though he knew it was a dream, Cesar felt uneasy and quickly grabbed the retreating hand.

Then, a gentle voice soothed him again.

‘It’s okay. I’m not going anywhere.’

Reassured by those words, Cesar drifted into a deeper sleep.

And when he opened his eyes again, the sun was high in the sky.

“Oh dear.”

He had closed his eyes for a moment after Lily recovered, but he hadn’t expected to fall asleep so deeply.

Lamenting how deeply he had slept, Cesar looked to his side to check on Lily. But Lily, who had been sleeping next to him, was gone.

“Lily?”

Cesar frantically searched the bedroom for Lily.

The soft chirps, the fluttering pink feathers, the jet-black eyes that had looked at him. Lily was nowhere to be found.

Cesar’s heart sank.

“Where did my bird go?”

Confused, he got up and searched the bedroom. He checked the floor, wondering if she had fallen off the bed, and looked inside the cage, thinking she might be eating breakfast.

And he noticed something strange.

“…The jewels are gone.”

The jewels Lily loved so much were missing.

Lily used to collect the jewels he gave her and hide them deep inside the cage, thinking he wouldn’t notice. He had heard that some birds had a habit of hiding shiny objects, so he let her be.

A sense of foreboding washed over him.

No, it couldn’t be. He clearly remembered the small chirp that had answered his words, asking her to stay by his side.

‘Beep!’

She had raised her wings and smiled at him. She had chattered about her day at the end of each day. He remembered the warm presence leaning against him when he said he hated the night.

“You said you’d stay by my side. You answered my words, promising not to leave me. And yet, you dared…”

Cesar’s purple eyes gleamed ominously.

He tapped the cage with his elegant fingers, slowly recalling the past as if organizing his thoughts.

This had happened before. She went out without permission and returned, sleeping soundly in someone else’s hand.

“Did she go out? Or did someone take her?”

If someone took her, he would punish them. And if she went out on her own, he would make sure she could never leave his side again after she returned.

But this time, it felt different. Cesar instinctively considered another possibility.

“Did she take the jewels and run away from me?”

He wanted to dismiss it as an absurd thought, but his gut feeling told him Lily had run away.

“Ha, haha…”

He was possessive. He couldn’t tolerate the loss of something he considered his. So he would gladly recapture the runaway bird.

The last time she disappeared, she had left the tracking jewel behind. That’s why it took him quite some time to find her. But this time, Lily had disappeared with the jewels. It meant he could track her location.

Cesar slowly curled his lips into a languid smile.

“If you ran away from me, don’t let me catch you too soon.”

Because right now, he was angry.

Cesar picked up a pink feather that had fallen on the floor, thinking of Lily. He slowly chanted the spell to locate the jewels.

She had become more precious than just a favorite toy. The thought of not hearing her chirping and chattering made him feel instantly lonely.

He couldn’t tolerate her entering his heart and then disappearing as she pleased.

---

Arriving at an unfamiliar place, I looked around and then collapsed.

“Ouch! That hurts.”

I checked the floor, wondering if I had tripped over something. But the floor was smooth and spotless.

Realizing I hadn’t fallen because of the floor, I recalled my clumsy steps when I walked to the cage after becoming human.

“Is it because I spent too long as a bird? But to collapse after standing for a bit…”

I sighed, feeling like a toddler learning to walk.

“Phew. Now that I’m human again, I should get used to it.”

But I don’t think I can walk anymore.

I cradled my scraped knees and slowly looked around.

“I asked to be taken to where the Tower Master is, but there are only difficult-looking books here.”

‘Where is this place? And where’s the Tower Master?’

I sat still and waited for the Tower Master. Since he had brought me here, I figured he would appear with perfect timing.

Just then, I heard someone muttering from a distance.

“…Is this diverging flow a good sign, or is it another path to ruin?”

‘Huh? What does that mean?’

Curious, I tried to flutter over like I did when I was a bird, but then I remembered I was human again.

‘It’s a little sad that my fluffy wings, like a companion, are gone.’

Trying to accept the inevitable, I crawled towards the source of the sound.

And soon, I cautiously peeked out. A scene resembling a laboratory unfolded before me. A gasp escaped my lips.

“Wow…”

Inside a large circle, filling a corner of the spacious room, an expansive flow of energy, even more vibrant than the colorful mana stone I had seen, was swirling.