Episode 11
Not long after, Leonard came looking for Lania’s room.
“There you are.”
The missing crow was perched on the edge of his sister’s bed.
He’d searched everywhere—never thought the bird would sneak off to his sister by itself.
“Didn’t you just say this crow never leaves your side, Brother?”
And yet here it was.
Leonard rubbed the back of his neck, then reached to touch the crow’s tail feathers.
“Come on. Time to go back.”
[“No way! You don’t even appreciate my newspaper!”]
“Cawwwk!”
The moment he brushed her tail, the crow smacked his hand away sharply.
Such a fierce reaction left him stunned.
Then she hopped right onto Lania’s lap like she was at home.
“This crow gave me a weird gift,” Lania said.
“…A gift?” Leonard’s eyes flashed.
“What do you mean, gift?”
“Here.”
She held out her palm. A shiny gold-trimmed button glittered in it.
Leonard’s face stiffened. He recognized it immediately—one of his own buttons.
The crow’s favorite treasure.
Countless servants had almost lost their fingers trying to take it away before.
“Brother, has she ever given you a gift like this?”
“…No.”
“She even shook her head and danced funny while giving it. Have you seen that before?”
“…No.”
Lania blinked at her silent brother.
“Wow… looks like this crow likes me better than you.”
The air instantly turned dark around Leonard.
The mood was so heavy, Lania almost burst out laughing, but held it in.
Satisfied with her little prank, she gently set the crow down.
“What’s her name?”
“…Didn’t give her one.”
“What? You’re keeping an animal and didn’t even name it?”
“Wasn’t planning to keep her.”
He spoke quietly.
He only brought the crow back to heal it and then release it.
He’d found her frozen with an arrow wound, probably after crashing into his carriage.
He’d pretended to his servants that the arrow “seemed suspicious,” but in truth, he’d just felt too sorry to leave her.
Once she recovered, he’d let her fly free—that had been the plan.
“So what’s the gender then? Male?”
“…Don’t know that either.”
Lania squinted.
“So you just played around with it without even checking? Figures.”
Leonard lowered his head slightly.
Lania ignored him and stroked the crow, whose jewel-bright eyes sparkled.
“Then can I keep her?”
[“Thanks, but no thanks, Lady. I actually have a real job—”]
“Yes, you can.”
“Huh?!” Isadora’s eyes went round.
[“Excuse me? Who gave you the right to decide my life?”]
“Really?” Lania asked, suspicious.
“Truth is, having this bird around has been nothing but trouble,” Leonard admitted.
Since the crow came, he couldn’t go out, couldn’t invite guests.
She shoved her head into his paperwork, servants kept fires burning too hot because “the poor bird” was cold, and feathers covered the halls nonstop.
“So if you take her, it’ll be easier for everyone.”
[“No way! Absolutely not!”]
Isadora flapped and screeched.
[“Who do you think you are, handing me off like baggage?! Just because you own this castle?!”]
…Then she paused.
[“…Okay, yes, technically you do own it. But still! Have some decency! I haven’t even finished my reporting yet!”]
For a moment, Leonard’s eyes flickered, but he turned away and left the room.
‘Wait… so all this time he didn’t actually like me?’ Isadora thought bitterly.
He’d let her sit on his shoulder.
He’d never complained when she squawked in his ear.
Even when she ripped off all his buttons, he hadn’t gotten angry.
Was he secretly just waiting for a chance to get rid of her?
‘Then why did you pet me, huh?!’
Feeling betrayed, Isadora puffed up and launched herself off the bed.
[“You get back here!”]
“Caaawwk!!”
Lania sat frozen, wide-eyed, watching the crow chase her brother down the hall, shrieking through the closing door.
The screeches faded in the distance.
Only then did she lower her hands from her ears.
“…Is Brother’s hearing… okay?”
Of course, it wasn’t.
When they were young, Leonard had always given things up for Lania—money, tutors, even people.
She’d been the mistress’s child with nothing, and he’d shared without regret.
But when she asked earlier, “Can I keep the crow?”
—for the first time in his life, Leonard had felt annoyed.
‘This bothers me.’
The blunt thought startled him.
He’d never been so selfish.
For the first time, he realized half of his blood was truly his mother’s.
Rustle, rustle.
“What are you doing?”
The crow froze in the middle of digging through his paperwork.
Those wide, guilty white eyes made Leonard chuckle.
Yesterday, he’d really thought about leaving the crow with Lania.
But the second he tried, the bird had bolted after him at full speed, wings flapping like crazy.
It had made him feel better—for a while.
“Yet when I try to leave you, you scream the whole castle down.”
“…Caw.”
“And yet your affection goes to someone else.”
His eyes darkened.
For the first time in his life, an animal had chosen him.
Of course, he felt proud.
But when the crow’s attention drifted, an uneasy panic crept in—he wanted to poke or pet her just to make her look at him again.
Was this… jealousy?
‘Lania asked if the crow was male or female.’
He hadn’t even considered it before.
‘Maybe I should bring a vet.’
He thought of Cliff, then grimaced.
He didn’t like how roughly Cliff had handled the bird last time.
So instead, he asked a servant nearby, “Do you know how to tell if a crow is male or female?”
“…Not really, my lord. But maybe… check underneath?”
“…Underneath?”
“Well, if it’s male, it’ll… be there. If not, female.”
Leonard walked behind the crow.
Her tail feathers fanned out neatly like a tiny folded fan.
He carefully lifted them.
[“Agh! What are you doing?!”]
Isadora jumped and instinctively bit his hand.
He didn’t budge, just clicked his tongue.
“Feathers are in the way. Can’t see.”
[“See what exactly?!”]
She looked up at the shadow falling over her and froze.
Something was definitely wrong.
“Caaawk! Caaawk!!”
Isadora flapped around the room in a panic.
Leonard crawled after her on hands and knees, slow and predatory.
It wasn’t funny—he looked more like a hungry wolf than a man.
She shrieked and ran harder.
The entire day, he chased her relentlessly, brushing her soft belly feathers with his fingertips, only to learn nothing at all.
He did, however, discover her feathers were ridiculously silky.
The bird, meanwhile, was furious.
“At this rate, you’ll hate me before I ever find out,” Leonard muttered, offering her his hand to bite again.
“But I need to know before I give you a name.”
[“You can check a thousand times and still won’t figure it out!”]
Crows were notoriously hard to tell apart by sex.
Even their own father hadn’t been able to distinguish Isadora from her twin, Edgar, when both were in crow form.
Only their mother could.
[“Stop it! I’m the one who interviews people, not the one getting investigated!”]
Her heart pounded like a drum.
Someone was chasing her this obsessively?
Suddenly, she remembered all those nobles who’d screamed when she chased them for interviews.
‘So… this is what it feels like.’
Not that she planned to stop reporting on nobles anytime soon.
[“But seriously—why are you doing this?!”]
Yesterday, he’d almost handed her to Lania.
Now he was fixated on knowing her gender.
His moods were impossible to understand.
And if this went on, there was no way she could do her job.
She wouldn’t be able to snoop around the castle or dig up secrets—there’d be no scoops, no headlines.
Her sharp eyes narrowed with resolve.
‘Forget this. Time to escape!’
