Episode 9
“So Proud Count is the center of this conspiracy.”
“—caw caw—caawk!”
“I intercepted a letter halfway through, but the cipher’s complicated, so it’ll take time to—”
“Caw! Kaaark! Cawk-kek!”
“You better watch yourself… wait, what’s that noise?”
The prince ended up clapping his hands over his ears. They were talking about something serious — the safety of the royal family — and yet that weird noise kept going on.
“Is that… a crow?” someone muttered. Leonard sighed quietly.
“Yes. We’re treating a crow at the castle,” Leonard said.
“Treating?” Prince Aster looked baffled. He’s known Leonard since they were kids and didn’t expect such a casual answer. “Treating? You didn’t kidnap it, right? Is the crow crying because it’s scared of you?”
“No,” Leonard said quickly, trying to stop the misunderstanding. “If anything, I’m the one being chased. If you leave it alone and walk away, it cries like that.”
“You’re being chased? By a crow? Why?” the prince said, incredulous. Leonard’s expression turned complicated.
“Maybe it thinks I’m its parent,” Leonard suggested weakly.
The prince burst out laughing — hard, slapping the table. Leonard stared stone-faced until the laughter died down. “You’ve been telling lots of tall tales lately, Lord Duke,” the prince said, still smiling.
“This isn’t a tall tale.” Leonard insisted.
“Who would believe a bird that smart unless they’re mad?” the prince scoffed. Leonard’s face tightened.
“I’ve seen other animals not even cross your shadow—” the prince said, then stopped. He saw Leonard’s expression change; suddenly, the room felt colder. Leonard’s presence silenced everyone around him — even the prince flinched. Leonard walked past him, saying, “See for yourself.”
They pushed through a crowd of servants who were clustered in a circle, murmuring. What the prince saw made his jaw drop. In the middle of the fuss was one servant, and his opponent was a crow. The bird had clearly won — it was on top of the fight.
“Stop it! Stop!” the servant begged, covering his battered face and trying to push the crow away. Glittering jewels and coins spilled from a torn bundle he was holding — a pocket watch rolled on the floor and flashed in the light.
Leonard’s eyes snapped to the empty wrist where that watch should have been. He remembered the crow pecking at someone’s wrist a few days earlier.
When the prince and Leonard showed up, everyone flattened against the wall. The servant who’d been attacked crawled toward Leonard on his knees. “I’m sorry! Please spare my life!” he cried. “What did you do?” Leonard demanded coldly.
“Master! Please have mercy on this foolish servant!” the man stammered. Leonard’s voice was icy, but the servant just babbled apologies.
Then another servant stepped forward. “I saw it. I heard crow noises and went to see. I found a stranger conspiring with him.”
“A stranger?” “Yes. He jumped out the window as soon as he saw me.”
Leonard’s expression sharpened, and Aster nodded grimly. A few nobles were rumored to be plotting rebellion — if they sent assassins, the prince would be the most likely target. “Lock the gates,” Leonard growled.
The kneeling servant went pale. The accuser’s face drained as well. No one moved; they just sobbed. Leonard barked, “What are you waiting for? Lock the gate now!” His tone sent chills through everyone.
Someone put a hand on Leonard’s shoulder. It was Prince Aster. “Wait — leave it,” he said.
“It was an assassin.”
“I know that, but he probably ran away already.”
“If we chase now, we might catch him. We can’t just let him go.”
“Your servants look terrified,” Aster said. Leonard realized the point — his household was shaking with fear. He clenched his teeth. “But—”
“Enough, Leonard!” the prince interrupted. “I’m not some dainty noblewoman — I can look after myself.” He clapped Leonard on the shoulder in a teasing way and added, “If you’d paid more attention to people before, Miss Fabian wouldn’t have run off.” It was a light jab that made Leonard force a bitter smile. After that, someone in the crowd fainted. Leonard watched the chaotic scene quietly.
This was his castle, Terkia — a place he rarely left outside of war and study. Still, it always felt strange. The solid stone walls felt like they closed in on him. Then — CAAAWK! — Another loud crow cry cut through the air. The bird flew toward them and, without hesitation, Isadora leapt up onto Leonard’s offered hand.
“Phew, looks like that’s settled.” The bird flopped on Leonard’s hand. “Good thing the assassin failed.” That wasn’t actually about saving people; Isadora mused to herself that she didn’t want the rival paper to steal the scoop. “If Golden Scales gets this exclusive, I’ll be jealous.”
Leonard breathed out. The crow’s wing bled again; he dabbed the blood with his sleeve. His face was cold as ice, but Isadora chattered cheerfully. “Take me too! I have to interview Prince Aster!”
The prince recoiled at the noise but then saw the bird sitting on Leonard’s shoulder and blinked in astonishment. “Really? The bird isn’t afraid of you?” he said. Leonard grabbed the chance. “Exactly. Among all these people, it follows only me. If it can’t hop up, it cries until I lift it.”
Leonard strode toward the prince with impressive force, making the prince step back. “How odd — an animal that follows you so closely.” The way Leonard said it sounded meaningful; he seemed slightly excited, like he’d been waiting to hear that someone noticed. “It caught the thief, found the stranger — what a clever bird.”
Isadora looked at Leonard, like, “Why are you bragging about my work?” but Leonard was oddly proud, like a man praising a child.
Veterinarian Cliff examined the bird’s torn wing and frowned. “As I said earlier, an arrow broke the wing bones.”
“Even so, it flew around all day?” Leonard said.
“Animals don’t rest as people do,” the vet said as he gently pulled on the wing. “Oof! That hurts,” Isadora cried out. The vet pressed around the wound, checking for shattered bone. He froze at the look Leonard gave him — the duke’s stare was grim and intense, and it made the vet break into a cold sweat and carefully set the bird down.
“So? After all that poking, what did you find?” Leonard demanded.
“Well… the bird’s life isn’t in immediate danger,” the vet stammered, easing a little. But then he added soberly, “However, I don’t think this bird will fly as it used to.”
“What?” Leonard felt his stomach drop. He couldn’t believe it. “You mean it won’t fly?”
“If it can fly, it won’t likely be capable of long flights the way it did before.”
“Not like before?”
“We’ll do our best to help it recover,” the vet said, adjusting his glasses. “But long flights might be too much.”
Leonard accepted that, stiffly. The vet promised to try everything. “Don’t let the bird move around much,” he warned.
“Don’t worry about that,” Leonard said. The bird hardly left his shoulder anyway; Leonard could just walk where it wanted when it tugged at his collar. The bird had become like a cherished pet. Lately, Leonard even thought it looked kind of endearing.
