WSP 05

Chapter : 05

“It means if you patch things up as you go, you at least get to keep one more day of happiness.” “Mmm.” That’s definitely how I felt before! “Whew.” But today, strangely enough, I couldn’t stop sighing. Even as I tossed and turned in bed, I felt uncomfortable, as if something were poking me in the back—though in reality, it was likely my conscience, not my body, that was restless. “…” Eventually, I kicked off the covers and stood up. Looking out the window, night was still a long way off, but in my agitated state, I found myself wishing I’d already transformed into a black swan. In the end, I wandered out to the lake and sat on a small mound, resting my chin in my hands.

「You’re out early, Duchess.」

“Yeah, yeah. Hi.” A group of geese floating on the lake approached to greet me, but I waved them off, signaling them to stop. I’m really not in the mood for your greetings right now. I wondered if coming to the lake was a mistake, but then again, I had nowhere else to go.

「My Lady, you really did come out. The geese told me, but I didn’t believe them until I saw it.」

“Selene.” Does this lake have no secrets? News travels fast when everyone is constantly floating around. Selene waddled over and sat beside me. I smoothed out some dried grass to make a spot for her.

「You look like you’re in a bad mood, My Lady.」

“…Hmm. Me?”

「It’s been like this ever since Lady Rebecca visited, hasn’t it?」

Sharp as a tack. I tried to play it cool, but eventually, I just gave her a light side-eye. In fact, you could say Selene ended up cursed precisely because she was so quick on the uptake. She was the first to realize that the handsome merchant visiting the Duke’s manor was actually a black mage, and for that alone, she ended up in this state. There was no point in trying to hide anything from her.

「Cheer up. It’s not like Lady Rebecca acting like that is anything new.」

“I know, but…” It’s a bit different when a girl like that is my daughter, don’t you think? “Wheeeeeew.” The sigh I had been holding back finally escaped. The truth was, the reason for my gloom was those two girls: Rania and Rebecca. Calling them “villainesses”—the kind you’d find in any novel—was one thing, but they were technically my daughters. I could adapt to almost anything else, but I just couldn’t get used to that. Stepdaughters the same age as me! You might wonder why a widow, sold off and cursed, would be so shaken by that, but everyone has their priorities. In my past life, I grew up alone without parents or even a single sibling, so I had a huge romanticized ideal of what a family should be. A kind, attentive husband and a reliable son are great, but for a mother, there’s nothing like a lovely daughter! Soft, chubby cheeks, innocent sparkling eyes, and plump, pouting lips… “Ohh!” Just thinking about it made my heart swell and my nose tingle. Maybe that’s why when I read novels, my favorite scenes weren’t the ones between the leads, but the parts in the epilogues featuring the children. Whenever a tiny, adorable girl who looked just like her mother appeared, my mouth would hang open as if she were my own. ‘Right. I paid for your formula and changed your diapers through the screen, so you’re basically my daughter!’ Seeing those children in novels growing up happy, holding their parents’ hands, made me feel incredibly proud. To say it reminded me of my own childhood… well, that would be a lie, but just watching them made me happy. I used to think that if I ever had a daughter like that, I’d raise her to be the prettiest and most cherished girl in the world.

“…And then there’s this.” One is a psychopath and the other is a jealousy-driven villainess. The gap between my dreams and reality hit me so hard I was wide awake. I could give up everything else, but this was my final dream! What did I do to deserve this? I never asked to be rich like everyone else, or to meet a handsome prince. I just wanted to live a normal life and raise a pretty daughter in a happy home. But this? This is a total disaster. “If I knew it was going to turn out like this, I would have made a better wish.”

「Huh? What wish?」

“Nothing. Never mind.” I tapped Selene’s beak as she tilted her head in confusion and stood up. Still, if I’d known the last wish I made at the zoo would come true in such a twisted way, I should have included one more thing. …Please, just give me one pretty daughter. Why didn’t I say that? With a heavy heart and useless regrets, I straightened my black mourning dress. I’d be turning back into a swan soon anyway, but I needed to get back to bed and try to get some sleep. “I’m heading back. You go catch some carp. They say they’re in season.”

「Actually, I caught one earlier, but it turns out he was a person too. No wonder he was so big.」

“That’s not something you should say with a smile… Wait!” Quiet. I was about to scold Selene when I pressed a finger to my lips. Startled, Selene looked around, thinking Rania or Rebecca had arrived, but it was neither. To be precise, it didn’t sound like a person.

「…My Lady, what is it?」

“Hold on… didn’t you hear that sound?”

「What sound…?」

“Look. There it is again!” Rustle. At the faint sound coming from the bushes, I lowered my posture. Something was definitely hiding in the reeds. I pushed the frantic Selene behind me and took one cautious step, then another. “…Who’s there?” I called out first, but there was no response. Even though I was in human form, I was at the top of the lake’s food chain. If there was no answer, it was one of two things: they were either recently cursed or they were an actual animal.

「How dare they ignore My Lady! Come out this instant! Should I go in and check?」

“No, no, it’s fine.” For some reason, my gut told me it was the latter. I calmed the unnecessarily excited Selene and carefully parted the reeds. “It’s okay, you can come out… Oh my!” My hand instinctively flew to cover my mouth. It was a creature I had never seen at this lake before. A tiny, incredibly adorable fluffball with soft white downy feathers was blinking its red eyes at me. “…A—a baby swan!” Good heavens. For a moment, I could hardly breathe. I just stared. It was huddled in the reeds… actually, it was so small there was barely anything to “huddle.” The way it sat there, tilting its head, was cuter than any doll. “Look, Selene! A swan. It’s definitely a baby swan!”

「You’re right. It looks like it was just born… I wonder if its mother is nearby? Or is it lost?」

“Shh, it looks scared.” As the baby swan shrank back at Selene’s loud voice, I carefully lowered myself. Luckily, it didn’t run away, just sat there blinking, so it seemed I wasn’t too terrifying. “What’s a baby swan doing here? The only swans at this lake are Sir Remington and his wife! Did they have a baby already?”

「No way. Just the other day they had a massive fight over whose fault it was they got cursed. Besides, they’re both too old to be having new babies…」

“I-I guess so, right?” It’s a common prejudice to think a cursed lake would be purely gloomy or peaceful. If anything, because people turn into animals, their emotions become more primal. It’s a literal “Animal Kingdom” that would put any celebrity drama to shame. With no restrictions, no prying eyes, and a sense of “who knows when we’ll be human again,” people tend to follow their whims—especially when it comes to romance. In the three months I’ve been here, I’ve already seen three couples get divorced.

「…Well, just in case, should I go ask Sir Remington?」

“No. What if it’s not theirs? Don’t you see how scared it is? I’m not trying to gossip, but Sir Remington is a bit… gruff. If the baby starts crying, how will you handle it?”

「W-well, that’s true, but…」

“We need to calm it down first. If we rush in and traumatize it, what about the baby swan’s future? We must not get excited. We are the adults who should set an example. Understand?”

「…I think you’re the one who’s most excited, My Lady.」

I turned my head away, pretending not to hear Selene’s blunt retort. Always so observant. I could feel my cheeks and neck burning, but my fingers were itching to reach out. “Ah…” Where on earth did you drop from? Its body didn’t even have proper feathers yet, just soft, white fuzz. How long had it been since I’d seen a baby? Since Lake Perdium was mostly a place of exile for the cursed, young life was extremely rare. More accurately, most couples changed their minds before a baby could even be born… but regardless, this was a baby. A baby! The very thing I had longed for! “Since it hasn’t said a word, it’s definitely not a person. It’s just a newborn swan.”

「I suppose so. If it were cursed, it would at least be able to speak. And no matter how wicked Lady Rania is, she wouldn’t place a curse on such a tiny baby.」

“You think so too, right?”

「…Why are you so happy about this, My Lady?」

“Happy? Who’s happy?” I belatedly tried to act indifferent, pressing the back of my hand to my cheek to cool the heat. Just because someone is a cursed human doesn’t mean it’s obvious from the outside. Unless they speak for themselves, no one knows if they were originally an animal or a human. Some people are so shocked by the transformation that they don’t speak for years.

End Of Chapter : 05