“No! Because you’ve spent lonely and difficult times, you need to meet someone who will restore your position and create a warm home for you. That’s the right answer, Hadel.”

Didn’t he have concerns about the tight budget in the North? Didn’t he miss the families in the central region?

Marrying a high-ranking lady could be the solution to all those worries.

“…”

Whether my words got through or not, Hadel remained silent for a moment. I faced Hadel with clenched fists on my knees.
“Listen to me, Hadel. The only thing I can do for you is alleviate your mana, at best.”

And that was something I could do even while staying by the side of my companion woodpecker.

It was at that moment when I conveyed such meaning and focused my eyes.

“Ugh.”

His thick fingers naturally traced my earlobe. Even when I was a woodpecker, Hadel often touched me like this.

But now, as a human, even the usual contact couldn’t be the same. Feeling ticklish, I hunched my shoulders.

Observing me like that, Hadel’s stiff lips formed a faint smile.

“…See? You’re different too.”

When I was a woodpecker and when I’m a human. Hadel’s unspoken words echoed in my ears like a hallucination. Before I could refute that statement, Hadel met my gaze and whispered.

“Don’t turn away, and don’t avoid it. I like you, Marian. I don’t need any other woman besides you.”

I should tell him to snap out of it.

“Ugh.”

Why are my eyes getting so warm, and why is my heart beating so forcefully?

‘Hadel keeps reminding me of what I lost.’

My shattered heart, the human life I believed I could never return to, and…

‘You can just accept it. Why does it have to be me?’

Even the place I thought had completely disappeared.

Instead of a response, I bowed my head. I didn’t want to show that I was shedding tears.

In the North, there were many eyes and ears spreading news to the birds. Thawing the ice monster placed in the castle was one of those skills.

‘It’s amazing that even ordinary animals become ice monsters when fed with just this small piece.’

He examined the small powder the birds gave him, and soon sealed the opening of his pocket tightly.

Inside the pocket was fine powder that looked as if snow had been ground into it. It seemed pretty at a glance, but he knew how terrifying a weapon it was.

‘This time, I was allowed to use the powder freely on many animals. I didn’t expect it to end so anticlimactically.’

Sometimes, he wondered what would happen if a person ate this powder, but he suppressed his curiosity. Since the situation was irreversible.

‘I hope you give me an order to feed it to people later.’

If he spread this powder across the river that traverses the entire North or in the well that everyone in the Northern Castle relies on, something tremendous would probably happen.

However, he couldn’t rejoice at the thought while contemplating the content of the report he had to send to the birds. In the letter sent to them, he described the situation as much as possible without revealing his mistakes.

If I write up to here, he will surely issue a displeasure command, so he mixed in some other incidents. Fortunately, something of interest has recently happened in the North that the birds might be curious about.

“Phew, it’s well-written even if I say so myself.”

To deflect responsibility, he became verbose, but nevertheless, thanks to the ongoing events, it read like an exciting novel.

“I hope the prince of birds won’t be too angry.”

Not knowing what impact his letter might have on the bird prince when transmitted to the capital, Ganja just prayed fervently not to get in trouble.

Allowing others to harm someone in exchange for money wasn’t something that happened often.