Chapter 44

Marianne glanced inside the cage with wary eyes. While living in Lennox, she raised puppies, cats, rabbits, and even deer, but she had never raised a bird. A birds’ appearance did not meet her aesthetic standards so much.

Apart from that, however, she felt suspicious about what the emperor said.

‘Why do I need a bird that can talk well?’

Marianne doubted her own memory and then suddenly clapped her hands.

“Got it! This is a messenger bird, right?”

As if her reply was correct, Eckart felt a bit relieved.

“It’s also a great species as a pet, too.”

“Huh… Do I have to raise it myself?”

“The less others see it, the better for you. As she is smart, Poibe follows her master’s words but she is very hostile to others.”

“If that’s the case, I can’t help but raise her by myself.”

Marianne gently touched the cage’s grate with her fingertips.

If the bird were a messenger, her preferences were not an important consideration. When it’s difficult to communicate with people, there’s nothing better than using this bird to share news quickly and accurately. Even if one had to write and send a message, the flying bird would be far ahead of an animal running on the ground.

“You said her name is Poibe, right?”

“Yep. The owner who raised Poibe since she was a baby called it that.”

“I see. Let me call it Phebe. I think I had better give her a nickname to cultivate intimacy.”

She carefully unlocked the cage. Opening a small door, Poibe naively trotted out with her small feet.

‘Wow! She is cuter than I thought.’

When Marianne smiled happily, appreciating its cute look, Poibe suddenly flew off.

“Oops!”

Marianne screamed and stepped back unconsciously. Poibe fled into the air, wandering around the chandelier on the ceiling before settling down on a golden candlestick fixed to the wall.

“Phebe! I was surprised!”

Marianne growled with a sullen face. But Poibe looked down on the ground with her black and sparkling eyes that were like black beans.

“Come here, good girl!”

Marianne did not give up and lifted her arm to open her index and middle fingers.

“Phebe, come and say hello. Huh?”

Poibe shook her head and looked at Marianne. After hesitating for a moment, Phebe shuffled and flap on her fingers as if she understood Marianne’s words.

“Oh, how cute!” Marianne exclaimed, forgetting she was surprised a moment ago.

She thought she didn’t like birds, but when she took a closer look, she felt that Phebe’s reddish cheeks were lovely.

“Nice to meet you. I’m Marianne. I’m your new owner, starting today… Ouch!”

But peace did not last long. Poibe pecked Marianne’s hand with her beak and flew back.

“Phebe! It hurts! I hear you follow your owner’s words very well, but it was a white lie!”

Marianne grabbed her head while the bird quickly flew away after pecking her hand.

“You! How come you peck your owner’s. Ouch!”

“Fool.”

“What? What did you say?”

“Fool.”

Poibe repeated the same word with very accurate pronunciation.

Grabbing her head, Marianne was aghast.

‘Fool? Did you say I was stupid? Was I treated as a stupid woman by a parrot?’

“Your Majesty, you didn’t cheat me again, did you?”

She threw a tantrum at Eckhart unconsciously. He was sipping the tea he complained about a moment ago.

“What the hell is she doing? You said she is gentle to the owner, right? You said it’s a good species as a pet, didn’t you?”

In the meantime, Poibe flew back to her and dishevelled her hair with claws. Her nicely-braided hair quickly became messed up as if someone grabbed it.

Eckart calmly dropped the teacup on the table despite the fuss.

“Marianne, I can swear that I have always spoken to you honestly and frankly. It’s too unfair for you to call me a cheater. Why don’t you think about it again before calling me a culprit?”

“Why does she keep running at me instead of you? I am the owner! Ouch!”

“You must be hot-tempered. When did I say you were the owner? Poibe followed her owner’s words, but she was hostile to others.”

“Oh, that’s the same logic…”

Marianne suddenly slurred while getting angry with him. She opened her mouth wide as if she was embarrassed.

“Oh, what you mean is Poibe has another owner other than me, right?”

“Did you expect to be recognized as her master when you just met her for less than ten minutes? Let me repeat. Poibe is a very smart bird. Sometimes she can be arrogant. For example, she insists on choosing her own owner, or pestering the owner until she recognizes her new owner.”

At that moment, she thought to herself, ‘I really want to put both of you in the cage.’

It occurred to her that if she uttered what she thought a moment ago, she would have been executed on charges of royal contempt. If her friend, Evelyn, who enjoyed using straightforward expressions, had heard her, she would have concluded that there was no more she could teach.

“Phebe, you have to get along with me well. Admit it quickly and come to me.”

At any rate, what was important now was to put Poibe back in the cage. Given Eckart’s attitude, she could hardly expect him to help her, and she felt her pride would be hurt if she asked for an outsider’s help. She even thought that she had to solve the problem by herself, given that Phebe would serve as a messenger bird that followed her owner’s instructions well.

In addition, she still had a ray of unbroken hope.

All the animals she raised at Lennox followed her well. Unfortunately, Poibe looked especially wary. But Mariane had the experience of training and having Lilly, a cat abandoned by her previous owner, follow her well.

Once she put Phebe back in the cage, she would please the bird with delicious food. She would bathe Phebe in the water with fragrant flowers, she would make a soft fluffy blanket like a cloud, and let her fly over the garden tomorrow…

Marianne’s dream was grand. And her trick was not bad either. But Phebe was still unruly.

“Hey! You naughty bird! Ouch! Stay still! Phebe!”

Reality was always colder than she wished.

Marianne ran around to catch her, holding a heavy cage. While she was running around, she had her head and hands pecked. She pretended not to get angry, trying to stay humorous. In the end, she got upset again and left vivid shoe heel marks on the carpet while trotting up and down.

Eckart was silently watching that ridiculous scene unfolding before his eyes. Her action was so ridiculous that he didn’t even want to stop her. He didn’t smile nor did he get angry.

“Marianne!”

“Hey! You’re so mean! Sometimes you have to do it even if you don’t like it! Didn’t your former owner train you that? If you’re so rude like this, you should have said that you don’t want to come to the new owner! How come you are so bad?”

Now, the atmosphere was getting hotter. Eckart began to wonder if she was speaking to Phebe or to him while complaining to Phebe. While going after Phebe for a while, she committed a big discourtesy to the emperor by neglecting him, which was unforgivable.

‘Indeed, she’s always unpredictable. I really can’t help her since she is so unpredictable like that.’

Eckart swept his face roughly with his hands as if he was pretty much upset.

An unstable and unpredictable figure like her was a risk to his plan. He avoided the type of person that he could not trust or could cause trouble. Even if she took the initiative on this deal, it was he, not Marianne, who was in charge.

Aside from the deal, he was the emperor of the Aslan Empire. If he decided, he could limit the behavior of the other party or punish him or her for their rudeness, based on their social status. Perhaps she knew it well.

Suddenly he wondered why she was acting like that and why he was letting her act like that.

“Yes, good, Phebe. Come this way. Oops!”

But before Eckart could ponder over it, Marianne, holding a cage, tipped over the armrests of the couch and fell down on the carpet.

Bang!

With the silver cage falling on the floor, Marianne lost her balance and flopped down.

She just grabbed something at the moment. She felt something hard and warm pulling her back.

“I really can’t take my eyes off from you for a moment.”

He mumbled as if he gave up. Mariane slowly turned her head to the left.

His green eyes were trembling like a ship sailing in the middle of a storm.

“Are you going to enter the cage as Poibe isn’t coming along?”

“…”

“Or are you going to treat me as a couch?”

“No…”

Marianne walked on eggshells. She belatedly found she was sitting on his knees unconsciously. When she was about to loosen her hands around his neck, Eckart lifted her up.

“Your Excellency!”