As I watched, my mood improved, but Hadel’s face contorted. As if holding back tears, he embraced me with both arms and buried his face on my shoulder.

“There’s no one else but you.”

I patted the back of his neck with both hands and replied, “Yeah, a clever woodpecker like me is one of a kind in the world.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“What? Then what does it mean?”

Perhaps due to the intense flames he conjured, Hadel’s body felt warmer than usual. I could sense the throbbing sound of his heart through our touching skins. It was undoubtedly busy creating new flames, depleting the mana stored in his exhausted heart.

“I didn’t know back in the forest when we first met that you could deplete mana like this.”

Now that I knew I could expel the stagnant mana from my heart, maybe I wouldn’t fear mana explosions as I did before.

“Then I won’t need to absorb his mana to help him.”

It was a bit of a bittersweet thought. I had this thought as I gently patted Hadel’s back.

Hadel whispered in a low voice, “Stay by my side.”

“…”

The intense flames seemed to have transferred to my heart as well.

In the end, the evacuation order for the Northern Fortress residents ended as a happening. Before the subordinates could lead the people to escape, pillars of fire shot up into the sky, and they realized that all the ice monsters had disappeared.

Hadel’s subordinates sincerely praised him. Some people shed tears when they saw Hadel, whom they thought they wouldn’t meet again.

“You did a great job, Your Highness.”

“I was really surprised. It was a powerful heat that felt like the seasons changed in an instant.”

“The monsters won’t be able to approach for a while.”

Yeah, that’s right. Our Hadel did an incredible job. I listened to their praises with a pleased expression.

“Um, but…”

At that moment, their gaze turned toward me.

“Who is that person?”

Ugh.

‘Ah, this is why I said I should hide.’

I put on a composed expression and tightly wrapped Hadel’s cloak around me.

Honestly, after helping Hadel and showing off the explosion of flames, I thought I would return to being a woodpecker. I mean, using up all the received mana, that was the plan.

‘But it’s strange. My heart is pounding as if it’s completely normal.’

But I couldn’t become a woodpecker again. Now the problem was what to do next. Since I couldn’t just show up in front of people with a “Ta-da!”

Being pulled by Hadel, who said I couldn’t hide forever, I realized that I couldn’t keep avoiding people and running to the study whenever I wanted.

‘But honestly, I don’t know when I’ll become a person again, and I can’t keep stepping on the windowsill and running away to the study forever.’

As Hadel said, it was reasonable to reveal myself to some extent. But once I faced curious eyes, I couldn’t help but shrink away.

‘Hadel, figure something out.’
I glanced at Hadel with an awkward expression. He handed me his cloak, and dressed in simpler attire, Hadel responded in his characteristic dry tone, “My guest.”

No, suddenly a woman appeared, and if you say she’s a guest, isn’t it too suspicious?

‘I should have just said it myself.’

I wanted to avoid being suspected and kicked out like this. I wrinkled my nose. The expressions of Hadel’s subordinates, who felt that Hadel’s explanation was as unfriendly as mine, became awkward. The funny thing was that the negative feeling I expected wasn’t as strong as I thought.

“It seems like a lady?”

“Considering the gender is female, calling her a lady makes sense, right?”

“Your Highness, you’re joking, right…?”

Was that a joke? It wasn’t funny at all.

“Is she really a guest?”

“Yes.”

“But I’ve never seen this person before.”

“I haven’t introduced her.”

When Hadel continued to respond briefly to his subordinates’ questions, it was when I, frustrated, decided to open my mouth.

“Excuse me…”

I’ll just leave.

I tried to say something like that.

Suddenly, the cloak I was wearing fell to the floor with a thud. The long hair shortened, and people looked giant as if I had become a giant.

Only familiar whimpering sounds flowed from my mouth, attempting to explain my situation.

“Kkyu kkyu kkyu.”

I turned back into a woodpecker again!

The faces of those who witnessed my transformation paled.

“…A woodpecker?”

Oh my, what does it mean to turn back into a woodpecker now!

Feeling awkward, I climbed up Hadel’s leg and hid inside his shirt. One of the subordinates, who had been watching me, wiped his eyes with a handkerchief and asked.

“Looks like I’ve caught a disease. I just saw a pretty lady turning into a woodpecker, right?”

“Exactly.”

Instead of denying or evading, Hadel answered with complete honesty.

“Her name is Marian.”

“Huh?!”

Of course, the explanations were excessively brief for them to understand the situation.

The reason I tried not to reveal my human appearance all this time was that I was afraid people would mistake me for a cursed monster.