Mom's Possessed - Chapter 53

Bentley looked at Bonita, who was opening her eyes wide, and smiled confidently.

‘How about it, my acting wasn’t bad, right?’

He had been a bit bothered by the comment about acting like a five-year-old earlier.

Meanwhile, Bonita was thinking:

‘Why is he smiling?’

Is being good at lying something to be so proud of…?

It was a mindset Bonita couldn’t understand at all.

Unaware that they were growing further apart, Bentley politely sat down next to Oliver.

As luck would have it, he was once again sitting across from Bonita.

Bentley, picking up his utensils, muttered to himself:

‘Hmm, but she’s still a child after all. Sitting still like this, she looks kind of cute.’

Her small stature for her age, her large gentle eyes, and pink hair were quite adorable.

Cutting the bread served as an appetizer with a knife, Bentley gave a slight eye-smile.

‘Alright, let’s try to get along again. I’ll apologize for being too hasty earlier and try to become friends.’

And Bonita, the recipient of Bentley’s fresh eye-smile:

‘Why does he keep looking at me? His gaze makes me uncomfortable…’

The intense stare was very burdensome.

Somehow, it felt like facing a snake wearing a sheep’s disguise.

The important thing here is that it’s a snake, not a wolf.

‘Come to think of it, his eyes are snake-like too.’

It was chilling to think that maybe he had purposely let himself be caught earlier.

Bonita tried to focus on the bread and soup on her plate to escape Bentley’s gaze.

It wasn’t a particularly difficult task.

‘Delicious!’

The meals served at the duke’s mansion were always impressively excellent and to her taste.

If she had to pick the best thing about coming here, the food would definitely rank 4th.

The remaining 1st, 2nd, and 3rd places were occupied by the changed Aria, Luke, and Catherine respectively. Bonita smiled happily.

Seeing Bonita like this, Bentley’s eyes momentarily glazed over.

At the same time.

“Haa.”

Aria, lying alone in her room, sighed as she twisted her body.

With each movement of her fingers, the light and soft satin blanket wrapped around her comfortably. However, her heart felt the opposite, drooping like a wet cotton ball.

‘I wonder if Bonita is alright.’

If Renan’s guess was correct, Oliver would surely see Bonita as a thorn in his side.

And that’s not all.

He already had a record of swapping Bonita with a dead baby.

If so, he might try to poison his niece who was now walking around with both eyes wide open.

Aria’s lips turned blue.

Her pretty fingers tensed.

‘I should have gone after all…’

The reason Aria was alone in her room, even making the excuse of not feeling well, was simply because she didn’t want to face Oliver.

It wasn’t just because of personal awkwardness.

‘The fact that Aria was the one who carried out the baby swap… is probably true.’

But Aria has no motive. There must be someone who instigated her, and it’s probably the Viscount Delphinium – that is, Oliver.

‘If so, the two must have met before. Oliver will surely remember Aria clearly.’

That was the problem.

The moment Oliver discovered Aria, he would try to contact her again somehow. From his perspective, he needs to find out why Aria, who had followed his orders, shamelessly came to the duke’s mansion after 7 years.

However, she doesn’t know exactly what kind of relationship the real Aria and Oliver had.

If he were to send some kind of signal that only the two of them would understand, and she failed to recognize it properly, she would surely be exposed.

Perhaps… even the fact that she isn’t the real Aria.

“Of course… he probably already knows I’m here from hearing about it.”

Aria muttered as if reminding herself.

“Rumors about me have already spread quite a bit.”

It wasn’t something that could be hidden in the first place.

Even if they sealed the lips of all the servants in the duke’s household, as long as she stayed in this mansion, they couldn’t completely stop the rumors from spreading.

So they chose to openly disclose it instead.

That strategy worked quite well.

People who were very curious at first stopped trying to uncover secrets so eagerly once they saw Aria and Bonita.

That’s just how people are.

When there’s a secret, they burn with curiosity, but once they know the secret, their interest often fades surprisingly quickly.

“It would be nice if I could see Renan again.”

Who knew not being able to write letters would be this inconvenient.

Aria took a deep breath and tried hard to send her thoughts to Renan.

Of course, it wouldn’t work.

Smuggling in one of the empire’s magically treated messenger birds might be a more realistic option.

– Just as she thought that.

Tap tap.

There was a sound of something pointed tapping on the window.

Aria sat up abruptly, hoping it might be. Her steps towards the window were urgent.

“…!”

Her blue eyes widened.

Outside the window was a pigeon with a paper tied to its foot.

The pigeon’s feathers were snow-white, glinting silver in the moonlight.

It was clearly a well-maintained messenger bird, its feathers glossy and sleek at a glance.

“Coo.”

As Aria stood frozen staring, the pigeon made a disgruntled cooing sound and pecked at the window with its beak.

“Ah…! I’m sorry.”

She hurriedly lifted the window up.

As soon as a small gap appeared, the pigeon flew inside and immediately went towards the fireplace, pecking at the floor.

“Um, excuse me…”

Would you mind giving me that paper tied to your foot?

Aria asked timidly.

However, when she reached out her hand, the pigeon snorted once – though I’m not sure if this expression can be used for birds, there was no better word to describe that gesture – and flew up to a high shelf.

“…What?”

It was absurd.

Pigeons raised as messenger birds were not ordinary pigeons, but magical creatures bred from a cross between avian magical beasts and pigeons.

Such messenger birds receive harsh training from specialized magicians from the moment they hatch. Thanks to this, the messenger birds used by imperial nobles and the military do not engage in any unnecessary behavior outside of their duties.

So what was with this ill-mannered attitude?

“Are you… defective?”

“Coo!”

The pigeon flapped its wings violently at those words.

“Ouch!”

Not content with that, it began pecking furiously at Aria’s forehead.

Its beak was so hard that every spot it touched swelled up bright red. Aria, worried that she might actually start bleeding, hurriedly apologized.

“I’m sorry!”

“Coo!”

“I… I’m sorry for calling you defective when you’re an animal!”

But wait, are messenger birds considered animals?

No sooner had Aria wondered this than the messenger bird tilted its head and landed back in front of the fireplace.

Then it calmly began preening its feathers.

“No… what in the world?”

Given the circumstances, it seemed like Renan had sent it, but how he had obtained a messenger bird, and why he had chosen such a creature, was completely beyond her understanding.

“What do you want?”

“Coo.”

There was no answer to her question.

Aria let out a hollow laugh.

‘What a foolish thing to do.’

How could a creature that can’t speak possibly answer?

No matter how extraordinary messenger birds may be compared to ordinary animals, they don’t have the same vocal organs as humans.

She sighed and pondered.

‘How can I get that letter?’

Should I use magic to catch it?

But that wasn’t a realistic method.

‘Or should I bring a net?’

When she was young, she often watched her elder brothers make traps to catch sparrows.

Of course, they released them right after catching them since they couldn’t eat them.

‘Not a bad idea.’

Aria’s eyes sparkled with dangerous mischief. The messenger bird noticed and flinched.

It flapped its wings.

“Coo coo coo! Coo coo!”

“Huh?”

As Aria tilted her head,

“Coo coo!”

Tap tap tap tap tap!

“Coo coo!”

Tap tap tap!

It cried out loudly, then pecked the floor vigorously several times in succession. It pecked so hard that the desk shook each time it bent its neck.

Aria got goosebumps and covered her forehead that had been pecked earlier.

“You… earlier was just you going easy on me…”

“Coo coo coo!”

“Ah! Could it be?”

Just then, a hypothesis flashed through her mind.

“Are you hungry?”

“Coo coo!”

That was the correct answer.

She had been so focused on the fact that the messenger bird was a magical creature that she failed to consider what a ‘normal animal’ might want.

“What do you eat?”

“Coo coo!”

“Will regular pigeon food do? Umm… bread?”

“Coo coo!”

“Alright then, someone will be here soon, so wait outside the window for a bit. It would be troublesome if someone found out you were here.”

The messenger bird, understanding Aria’s words, nodded twice. Then it flew out through the open window and perched obediently on the frame outside.

Aria pulled the bell rope twice.

Soon after, there was a knock at the door.

Aria called out loudly.

“Please bring me dinner now! And make sure there’s white bread on the menu!”

“Understood, Miss Hilton.”

The maid knocked on the door again less than 5 minutes after being called.

It seemed they had already prepared the meal in advance so that Aria, who was alone in her room, could eat whenever she wanted since it was dinnertime.

“Is it alright for you to eat this kind of food when you’re not feeling well?”

“Of course. I’m almost fully recovered now.”

Aria said glibly as she received the food.

There was a nicely grilled piece of beef and mashed potatoes. Next to a simple salad were the white bread Aria had requested and some corn soup.

As soon as the maid left, Aria called in the messenger bird and tore off a piece of bread to give it. The bird immediately became docile and obediently extended its leg to her.

“You mercenary messenger bird.”

Aria grumbled without malice as she untied the letter.

Inside, it read: