Chapter 75
*Timing is Everything*
With Lady Irang’s help, we decided to return to the earldom immediately by wyvern. As I boarded the wyvern, clutching the phoenix egg, I felt a faint vibration.
“Hmm?”
The young master was busy taking notes and designing magic circles, seemingly oblivious. He coughed occasionally, probably due to motion sickness.
I thought he had touched me. Was it my imagination?
But the faint vibration continued throughout the flight. Had I developed a hunger function? That was impossible. I would have noticed! Then why…?
I soon found the culprit(?). It was the phoenix egg.
I hadn’t noticed because I had been holding it so tightly. The egg was shaking intermittently, as if the baby phoenix inside was trying to get out.
“Young Master, Young Master!”
“Ugh, later.”
“It’s important! The phoenix egg…!”
“Yes, yes, just… ugh… hold onto it. We’ll talk later.”
He pressed his hand against his forehead and turned away. I observed the egg, leaving the motion-sick young master to rest.
“Are you trying to hatch? I don’t think the young master can help you right now. He has terrible motion sickness. Are you moving because you’re airsick too?”
“…”
The egg, of course, didn’t answer.
The earldom was far away, so we spent the night in the sky. The young master suffered from a headache and dozed fitfully, and I was busy taking care of him, wiping his brow and hugging him when he shivered.
“Estella. You don’t have body heat. I’m getting colder.”
“Oh.”
As I reluctantly moved away, he pulled me closer and wrapped a blanket around us. It was a thick, large blanket, more than enough for the two of us.
He looked down at me with drowsy eyes and smiled faintly.
“I didn’t tell you to leave.”
Would he scold me if I hugged him tightly? His expression seemed to say he would forgive me.
Still, I should restrain myself. He was suffering from motion sickness. And what would I do after hugging him? I couldn’t kiss him. That would be taking advantage of him while he was sick.
“You don’t know how much I’m restraining myself.”
“…Are you airsick too?”
“Of course not. Forget it.”
I fidgeted and then placed the phoenix egg in his arms.
“Young Master, hold onto the phoenix egg. You’re wrapped in a blanket, so you’re nice and warm. Baby birds need a warm environment to hatch. It’s common sense.”
“I know that, but why are you giving it to me… Whatever.”
He grumbled, then carefully cradled the egg in his arms.
“Have you ever seen a baby phoenix?”
“No. And I’m not particularly curious.”
“Liar.”
I nudged him in the ribs with my elbow. He was clearly curious about what a baby phoenix looked like. Otherwise, he wouldn’t be holding the egg so preciously and tapping it with his finger.
“It might be a yellow chick.”
He sounded a bit naive.
“How can it be a yellow chick? Silly. It’ll be a red chick. You saw the phoenix, it was red.”
“Just because the parents are red doesn’t mean the chick will be red. It’ll be yellow.”
“Red.”
“Yellow.”
“Red.”
Our bickering stopped abruptly. The phoenix egg was shaking.
“Oh! It’s about to hatch! Reddy is coming!”
“What kind of name is that? So unimaginative.”
“Then Ferdinand Alexander Elizabeth Quadra Ruby Danielle!”
“…I hope it’s red. Reddy is better.”
Thump, thump, thump.
The egg cracked, and a wet, ugly little head emerged. I pulled the blanket away and helped the baby phoenix out of its shell.
As soon as it was out, the young master wrapped it in the blanket. The wet chick quickly dried.
“Hmm, it doesn’t seem to be Reddy.”
He shrugged. The chick nestled in his arms was neither red nor yellow, but white. We were both wrong.
It wasn’t red as we had expected, but it was much cuter. It had a short beak, stubby wings, and tiny claws.
Chirp, chirp!
“It’s so cute! I want to give it a cool name…”
“Hmm…”
He looked at the chick for a moment, then said confidently,
“Let’s call it Sparrow.”
“You know that’s ridiculous, right?”
“Do you have a better suggestion?”
“Ferdinand Alexander Elizabeth…”
“Don’t suggest names you can’t even remember.”
Sparrow? That was too simple. Despite his unimaginative naming sense, he gently stroked the baby phoenix.
“It looks a bit like you.”
Chirp, chirp, the chick cried. I leaned against him and asked,
“You mean cute?”
“A bit… clueless.”
“Hey, don’t say hurtful things so casually.”
“Are you hurt?”
“Of course not. I’m clueless.”
He placed Sparrow in my arms, then wrapped himself in the blanket and lay down.
“I want to rest now.”
“You’ve been resting all this time.”
“You need to stop talking back.”
“Do you hate it?”
He turned away and replied gruffly,
“I could never hate you.”
We arrived at the earldom around lunchtime. I, being a doll, was fine, but the young master needed to eat. Since the journey had been arduous, I wanted him to enjoy a delicious meal at home.
So I starved him. He sulked.
“I’m hungry.”
“Just a little longer! We’re almost at the earldom!”
“Can’t I at least eat an egg? Do you think Irang packed those emergency rations as interior decorations for the wyvern carriage?”
“An egg? You said egg!”
I held Sparrow up to his face. The white chick pecked at his nose.
“How can you say that in front of Sparrow?!”
“It’s too stupid to understand!”
“Don’t be so mean! Sparrow, don’t listen to him!”
“Do you even know where its ears are?”
“I do! Right… right… around here?”
“They’re not there.”
We bickered, and before we knew it, we arrived at the earldom.
We decided to land near the young master’s workshop in the garden. The wyvern circled, looking for a landing spot.
Just then, a familiar voice boomed.
“A wyvern! A wyvern has appeared!”
It was Head Butler Godora! I climbed onto the roof of the cabin.
“Estella! What are you doing?!”
The young master, holding Sparrow, reached out to me. I pushed his hand away with my foot and continued climbing.
“I’m going to say hello! Before we land! Wave too, Young Master!”
As I waved towards the ground, Head Butler Godora waved back enthusiastically. He seemed even more excited than I expected.
“See! Even Head Butler Godora is happy to see us!”
The young master shook his head and sighed.
“Listen carefully.”
I listened, and Head Butler Godora was screaming.
“The wyvern kidnapped the young master and that doll! Yuji! Yuji! Come quickly! Capture that monstrous beast!”
When the wyvern landed in the garden, the situation wasn’t ideal. Captain of the Guard Yuji had arrived with his soldiers, and Head Butler Godora was running towards us, brandishing a cleaning rod.
“I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”
“Well… whatever. Let’s just say we have a welcoming committee.”
The young master jumped off the wyvern and extended his hand towards me. I felt like a noble lady, which was nice. I grabbed his hand, holding Sparrow in my other arm.
“Oof! Don’t jump on me like that!”
“We’re home! We’re home! We’re home!”
“Yes, we’re home.”
He chuckled and rubbed my cheek. Was that a sign of affection? It felt a bit like he was petting a puppy, but that must have been my imagination.
“Wait! Young Master! Is that you?!”
Head Butler Godora, realizing it was us, started waving frantically again. Captain Yuji and the guards lowered their weapons, relieved.
“You’ve finally returned! We were so worried.”
“Godora, it’s been a while.”
“You’re back for good, I presume?”
“I don’t know.”
He glanced at me. Everyone’s gaze was on me. Feeling a bit shy, I hugged Sparrow tightly and giggled. In my experience, no one scolded you for giggling!
“It’s a relief. You brought a strong creation with you, so you must have had less trouble.”
Head Butler Godora’s words made the young master cough, as if he had choked.
“Of course! I protected him all this time!”
“Oh, what a capable doll.”
That was unusual, coming from the usually stingy Head Butler Godora. I beamed. Chirp, chirp, even Sparrow seemed to be celebrating.
“Let’s go inside. Have you eaten? Ah, you should change your clothes first. Or would you prefer a bath first?”
The head butler fussed over the young master, who looked annoyed. It was time for me, the capable maid Estella, to step in.
“The young master is hungry. He’ll bathe and rest after his meal, and then review the pending documents.”
Head Butler Godora nodded in agreement and then praised me again.
“What a clever doll. Estella, was it? Did you have any trouble with the young master?”
Trouble? It felt like we had nothing but trouble…
But I couldn’t worry him, so I decided to share the best news. We had made a new friend! I would tell him about the cute baby phoenix.
“We did have some… developments. We have a baby!”