“Even my stomach is growling.”

I need to present myself in front of others first, whether it’s a meal or anything else.

While licking my lips, I approached the window, the only place where I could expose my face.

“I wish I could quickly return to my jokjebi form.”

With such thoughts, suddenly, I never thought I would encounter someone outside the window.

“Huh?”

“……!”

Opening the window, the gust of wind made my long hair flutter. I raised my eyes after gathering the hair like a comb with my fingers, only to find familiar blue eyes that had met mine several times, making me feel at ease.

It was the birds.

“Why is that man here?”

Whether he developed a taste for stepping on the window frame while holding me last time or not, he was outside the window again, walking along the wall.

With widened eyes, he, who seemed surprised, instantly formed a sharp expression.

“You.”

Yikes.

I quickly sat down, pressing myself against the wall as closely as possible, as if the birds wouldn’t notice me if I did so.

My heart pounded. The voices of the birds outside echoed.

“Just a moment!”

What’s with this “just a moment” again?

“Is he trying to freeze me again? Saying something about feeling the flames or whatever!”

This time, there was no way to avoid it. The fact that I was in the midst of people meant that Hadel’s mana was still inside me.

Breathing heavily and unsure of what to do, Hadel, who had been sitting in a chair, stood up and asked, “What’s wrong?”

There are birds outside! They tried to grab me again!

Although I was about to say that, what came out of my mouth was a familiar crying sound.

“Kkyu!”

“Oh, I turned into a jokjebi again!”

It was so delightful to turn into a jokjebi. Tears almost welled up. However, the tears were absorbed by the voice resonating from above, and I clenched my teeth.

“Hyungnim.”

The birds followed me all the way here.

“This crazy guy even dares to stick his head into Hadel’s study!”

Hadel, who was walking towards me to calm me down, also noticed the birds and became ice-cold, looking at them with a cold expression.

Hadel sternly scolded the birds in a polite tone.

“It’s not pleasant to see a person leaving from someone else’s room through the window, birds.”

Normally, birds that would get irritated by that kind of remark were now urgently questioning.

“Did you see a girl with pink hair who was here just now?”

At that remark, Hadel’s gaze instinctively turned towards me hiding underneath. I clung to the wall, shaking my head desperately.

“Say you don’t know! Please! Just say you don’t know!”

I don’t know why the birds are looking for me, but the moment I met their gaze, I recognized the madness in his blue eyes.

Whether he sensed my urgent desire or for some other reason, Hadel responded indifferently.

“There is no girl with pink hair in this castle. Perhaps you saw it wrong.”
“That…”

Honestly, I didn’t think the birds would retreat so easily from here. Even when Hadel asked me to let go, wasn’t he the one who openly showed hostility towards Hadel?

However, unexpectedly, the birds staggered back. Sorrow spread across his face like a solvent.

“I see. Well, …there couldn’t be.”

‘What?’

The faint muttering was not audible even to my ears, which were close to him.

I wanted to ask what he was saying, but the birds disappeared outside with a sob. Confirming that the shadow looming above had disappeared, I let out a relieved sigh and collapsed onto the floor. Hadel, who witnessed this, lifted me up in his arms.

After carefully closing the window and even locking it, Hadel earnestly advised me.

“Don’t stick your head out of the window now. Don’t even go out.”

“Kkyu.”

That’s the plan for me, too. If I go out the window one more time, my heart won’t survive the shock.

‘But, didn’t the birds just call me Marian?’

I turned to look at the closed window with a trembling expression. Naturally, there was no one outside the window.

That day, the birds briefly left the Northern Castle. The place they headed to was a tent in the forest, far from the North.

Inside the large tent, not a ray of sunlight entered. In that dim place, there was a person sitting, wearing a black robe turned inside out.

So inconspicuous that unless it was a person with bright eyes, anyone passing by would not even notice. Except for the chair he was sitting in, there was nothing in the tent. Unlike other tents with makeshift beds or appropriate belongings, it was somehow a chilling place.

The birds, who stepped in there with firm steps, as if this darkness didn’t bother him at all, stood right in front of him. And they called his name.

“Yulnisia.”

Instead of answering, Yulnisia reached out to the air. Dust-like particles embroidered letters in the air.

What’s going on here?

Approaching Yulnisia by a step, the birds spoke.

“My head feels weird. Examine it.”

Without holding his wrist, Yulnisia responded immediately.

There’s nothing wrong.

“I keep seeing illusions. Today, Marian even screamed in front of my eyes.”