WSP 06

Chapter : 06

Was it last month? There was a carriage driver who was so silent I naturally assumed he was a giant carp and bit him. Only then did he speak up, saying, “It hurts, so let go and let’s talk first.” Since then, I haven’t even put my beak near anything living.

「Come to think of it, Madam, you’re acting unusual too. You never used to have any interest in the affairs of the lake.」

“……I told you, it’s not like that.”

I told her not to talk nonsense, but my eyes were already fixed solely on the baby swan. I couldn’t stay like this forever, but strangely, my feet wouldn’t move.

「The sun will set soon. Madam, you’ll be going inside to rest before the moon rises, right? I’ll take this little one. If I head out toward the fields at the edge of the lake, there might be some birds who know him.」

“……You’re taking him to the fields?”

「Yes. Wild dogs have been coming down lately, so if we leave him here, he might not even make it through the night.」

“Quiet!”

Cover your ears, baby!

Unknowingly, I hesitantly reached out my arms and gathered the baby swan into my embrace. As the tiny body went still, unable to even struggle properly out of surprise, my voice dropped low as well.

“Fine, Selene, you should get going. Didn’t you say you promised to help clear the reed beds starting this afternoon? A promise is a promise. Don’t look down on community living.”

「……But then, this baby swan……」

“Sigh, it can’t be helped. I’ll just have to keep him with me for today.”

I shrugged with a light sigh. Shaking my head at Selene—who, for a duck, was giving me a very skeptical, half-lidded stare—I acted as if I were bothered to death.

“……I was planning on taking a nice, relaxing nap, but I really can’t get any rest.”

◇ ◆ ◇

……There’s no one here, right? As soon as I entered the annex, I glanced around and quickly set the baby swan down on the table. Any thoughts of sleep had long since vanished. I slept yesterday, I slept the day before, and I’ll sleep tomorrow—is a little nap really a big deal right now?

“Hmm……”

Yes, yes. As I watched the baby swan, my head nodded of its own accord. His fluffy feathers were as soft as snowflakes on the verge of melting. Seeing him still hesitating as if frightened, I belatedly moved him onto the bed.

“Sorry. It’s been so long since I’ve been around a baby.”

It must have been hard.

I hurriedly pulled over a blanket and rolled it into a nest-like circle. I felt like I had to do something for him, but not knowing where to start only made my heart race faster.

“There, how is that now?”

「……」

Even though I knew there would be no answer, I waited for a long time before letting out a chuckle. Since no one was watching anyway, I lay down slowly to meet the baby swan’s eyes. His red pupils tilted curiously.

“Ah…… what am I going to do?”

He is crazy cute! He was so adorable I wanted to bury my face in my hands and stomp my feet. But if I made such a fuss, I’d only scare him again.

I bit my lip and rested my chin on my hands. Back at the zoo, whenever a baby animal was born or brought in, I was always the one to look after them.

“Baby, where on earth did your mother go?”

「……」

“By the way, how are your eyes like jewels?”

They were clear eyes I wanted to kiss, if only he wasn’t afraid. They were like rubies—well, I’ve never seen a real ruby, but I could guarantee it wouldn’t be clearer or more transparent than this.

But…… aren’t swan eyes usually black? My tilted head mimicked the baby swan’s. For a moment, I wondered if he was a human under a curse, but it didn’t seem likely. If he were cursed, he would have said at least one word.

I can understand the speech of all animals, but animals don’t have a diverse vocabulary like humans. Usually, even if I can understand them, it’s just expressions of mood or state—like good, bad, hungry, or sleepy.

“……”

But this little one doesn’t even say that much. Aside from being startled at first, he didn’t show much sign of being terrified or fearful. Seeing that only a baby’s characteristic curiosity remained, it seemed he truly didn’t know the ways of the world.

After tilting my head back and forth while resting on my chin, I finally snapped my fingers.

“Ah! I see!”

Right, he might be a mutation of some sort. Thinking of it that way, it made sense why the mother swan might have left him behind. Startled by my sudden movement, the baby swan shrank his neck in fear.

“No, no. It’s not your fault.”

How could such beautiful eyes be a fault?

My eyes grew stingy with tears—how meddlesome of me. Even though I don’t remember the exact moment I was abandoned, I could never erase the feeling of being discarded by parents as I grew up.

Worried that my intense reaction might hurt him, I carefully picked the swan up.

“They really are fools. Leaving such a pretty baby.”

Um…… but why do I keep smiling? Knowing the reason full well, I tried to keep my cheeks stiff until the end, pretending I wasn’t. If I laughed openly, I’d look like a truly wicked person. Despite that, the corners of my mouth were already creeping up.

「……」

“Don’t misunderstand. I just…… naturally have a smiley face.”

The innocent eyes looked up at me, so I quickly offered an excuse. But how could I not smile? I might finally have a family! And such a pretty baby at that!

“Hey…… it’s a bit funny for me to say this, but……”

「……」

“Shall I be your mom?”

I gulped, feeling secretly nervous. I never thought I’d be saying such words to a baby swan instead of a person, but honestly, I was more heart-fluttery now than when I used to imagine things that never happened.

‘I was lonely!’

No matter how satisfying lake life was, a life lived alone was the same in my past life and this one. Especially compared to the lake where everyone hung out together, the tip of my nose would often tingle with sadness on the way back to the annex alone.

“Think about it. It won’t be a bad deal for you either.”

「……」

Though I knew he wouldn’t answer, I couldn’t take my eyes off the tiny baby swan. Should I be a bit more proactive? I gathered my courage and touched his head; the sensation was so soft it felt like he was melting, and my whole body shivered.

“Let’s just live together. Okay?”

「……」

I said it like that, but as if to prove I’m a Black Swan, my heart had already turned pitch black with greed. ……So what? I just won’t let him go. My conscience pricked for a moment, but then again, it wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. He was an abandoned child without parents or siblings, so unless they came looking for him, he needed someone to care for him.

‘Honestly, even if they came for him now…… would they even be proper swans?’

If they abandoned a chick once, there’s no reason they wouldn’t do it twice. In my head, a hundred reasons why I had to raise this child began to form. I tried not to get too absorbed, but my fingers were already itching, incessantly stroking the baby swan’s cheeks. I only pulled my hand away when I saw his head drooping.

“You must be sleepy. It’s understandable.”

「……」

I gently placed the swan back down on the rolled-up blanket. In my heart, I wanted to sleep while holding him tight, but I hadn’t slept a wink since yesterday either. If I got greedy and slept holding him, it would be a disaster if I crushed him…… Wait, no it wouldn’t. I’m going to turn into a black swan anyway.

“……Haha.”

With an awkward laugh, I opened the curtains and the window so the moonlight would shine well onto the bed. This way, there was no chance of our baby swan getting crushed. There was a simpler and safer way—letting the baby sleep on the floor from the start—but honestly, I didn’t want to do that.

“Right. It’s the first day.”

He must have been shocked by being abandoned.

The idea that this pretty baby had been abandoned had already become an established fact in my mind. “There, there,” I whispered, stroking his head as I leaned my body beside him. I don’t know which of us fell asleep first, but I was the first to feel like I was in a dream.

Thank you! To think you’d grant my wish like this!

With a baby finally rolling into my leisurely lake life, I had nothing more to ask for. And not just any baby, but a bright-eyed swan! He was the perfect baby for the cursed Catherine. The fact that I’m a Black Swan while a White Swan dropped in was a bit of an error, but it couldn’t even be called a flaw.

‘It’s not a dream, is it?’

Even in my half-asleep dream state, that was my only worry. It’s against the rules to take back something you’ve given. Vowing never to let him be taken away, I reached out my arm toward the baby swan. No, instead of an arm, I spread a black wing.

「Mm, are you awake?」

When did he get buried like this again? I opened my eyes happily at the sensation of the baby swan burrowing into my belly. You only have me too, right? He must have sought out my embrace instinctively. After wriggling around for a while, the baby swan tilted his head, and I added with a smile:

「Oh my, you must be surprised. There’s nothing to be afraid of. The reason your mom suddenly changed is……」

「Mom?」

「……」

Wait, hold on. Unlike me, who had frozen solid, the baby swan’s face brightened like never before. He innocently fluttered his two wings and proceeded to kindly confirm the kill.

「Mom? You our mom?」

End Of Chapter : 06