chapter 37
[Why, why…!]
From the spire that overlooked Black Dragon Castle in one sweeping view.
Bishop pressed his beak against my side and wailed.
And no wonder.
[Ap, aap…!]
No matter how much he clenched his jaw, his beak wouldn’t close.
As if something invisible were stuck between us, there was only the repeated clack, clack sound of his jaw catching.
It had already happened dozens of times.
Bishop pecked me with his beak, he tried to pin me with those hooked talons.
But what came back was only—
“Eek, stop it. It tickles!”
My giggles echoed, helpless.
Every time his sharp beak and claws touched me, instead of pain it felt like soft feathers brushing and tickling.
After tumbling and rolling across the spire, Bishop seemed to be sinking into some kind of despair.
[Th- this is impossible. This can’t be…!]
He muttered to himself and then even—
[I caught a squirrel and why can’t I eat it—!]
He roared, head thrown back.
“Well, that’s the effect of the restraint collar,” I thought.
The answer was simple.
A being bound by a restraint cannot harm the one recognized as its master.
It hadn’t even been days, but Bishop had completely forgotten that fact.
Kkiruk, kkiruruk.
He spat out indescribable curses and fussed angrily at the empty air.
Birds of prey, including bald eagles, are generally known to be intelligent.
But there are exceptions everywhere.
Sadly, I suspected Bishop was one of those exceptions.
Maybe that was why he’d become independent at such an early age; I even thought that possibility.
“You silly bird,” I muttered, flattening my eyes and patting the top of his foot.
Bishop only glared resentfully at me.
[You used me, didn’t you? Huh? Isn’t that it?]
His beak poked at the crown of my head—soft as the cushions in the duke’s bedchamber.
“Used? No, we cooperated.”
I emphasized the word “cooperate.”
[Cooperate? What kind of bird is that?]
“Chua—.”
What on earth would I do with a bird like this?
A deep sigh escaped me.
I decided to skip explaining the purpose or plan details and just act quickly.
‘See that window over there? Fly me to that one.’
I pointed with my little finger toward the guest room where Erjin was staying.
Thanks to the large window that let in sunlight, it was easy to find.
The problem was—
[Why should I?]
Was it so hard to get him to cooperate?
Look—he was already swallowing nervously and eyeing my finger like prey.
A stubborn, untamable wild horse—no, a wild bird, through and through.
‘Why are you trying to eat me? Because you’re hungry, that’s why.’
[Of course. How hard is it to find prey in a castle full of these devils?]
‘I’ll make sure you eat until you’re stuffed if you do what I ask.’
[You’d burst if you were stuffed. Do you think I’m an idiot?]
‘Sigh… fine. Okay. You won’t die. I’ll fill your belly with turkeys.’
[Turkeys…?]
At the mere mention of turkeys—something he always drooled over beyond the window—Bishop’s eyes brightened.
[It’s a deal.]
Bang—crash!
Like a carriage with no brakes, Bishop body-slammed through the glass and into the room.
Shards of glass exploded everywhere and made a mess of the chamber.
“Eek—! I asked to be taken to the window, not to have the window smashed!”
[You were going to come in here anyway, weren’t you?]
“Well, that may be, but there are plenty of ways to open the door!”
I grabbed Bishop’s wing and scolded him, but he just turned his head in irritation.
How on earth was I supposed to train this thug-bird?
Clutching my throbbing head, I climbed down from Bishop’s back.
“Wait here a moment.”
[Hmph.]
He spread his wings as if I weren’t worth answering and tossed me aside.
I almost fell flat on my face, but for now I was grateful he hadn’t just left me and flown off.
“That racket will bring the knights running soon.”
Before that happened, I needed to find Erjin’s talisman and destroy it.
I hurriedly started searching the room.
Beside the bed, the drawer of the table, even the seams of clothes in the wardrobe.
I dashed back and forth across the room.
But I didn’t find anything suspicious.
“They wouldn’t use the same letter talisman here.”
It seemed unlikely they’d have used a plain ornament as the medium.
So what else could it be?
Just then, something struck me as forcefully as Bishop had smashed the window.
‘No way…!’
“So, while I looked away for a second, the bald eagle grabbed Cherry in its beak and flew off.”
“To be more precise, Cherry basically jumped into the eagle’s beak herself….”
Gerard, forehead pressed to the floor, described the situation in detail.
He couldn’t explain any more than that.
“Are you seriously telling me that…?!” Ria, who had rushed over at the news that Cherry had been kidnapped, showered merciless kicks at her twin brother.
Unlike her who was a military officer, Gerard was a civil servant and couldn’t withstand the blows; he collapsed, but Ria didn’t stop.
She climbed onto his back and even tore at his hair.
He sent out a pitiful distress signal, but no one stepped in to help him.
Keneigh was the same.
He only nodded, as if urging her to continue.
“No, I’m telling the truth…”
Indeed, to be honest, if I hadn’t seen it with my own eyes I wouldn’t have believed it either.
Gerard closed his eyes and recalled the moments.
“Hmm, it looks like the chestnuts are all eaten, doesn’t it?”
He was checking the snack tray at Cherry’s request.
A sharp gust of wind whooshed by, and something flew past him like an arrow.
Landing softly on his knee was a black feather.
By the time he realized what was happening—
“Ch- Cherry…!”
Only a small empty pouch fluttered down through the air.
It was the unvarnished truth.
‘Did I say something wrong? Somebody tell me!’
I looked around from my low vantage pleading for help, but the knights and servants at the scene were silent as if they’d swallowed honey.
I understood why—who would dare explain this impossible situation in front of the crazed Keneigh Kroitz?
“Still, luckily they probably didn’t harm Cherry,” Gerard tried to defend himself carefully, blood rushing to his head.
Of course, no answer returned.
Thump, thump.
Only the heavy press of footsteps approaching added to the pressure.
“Ten minutes from now. Find Cherry and bring her back within ten minutes. If you don’t….”
Keneigh didn’t bother finishing the sentence.
But Gerard understood perfectly.
Ten minutes.
If he failed to present Cherry before his lord within the allotted time, he was as good as dead.
At that time, in the guest room.
“Chu-chut!”
I leaped up onto the tall wardrobe.
I finally had a guess as to what the final talisman was.
A talisman is supposed to continue the brainwashing without the subject knowing.
‘To do that it has to meet a few conditions.’
First, it must be easy to carry.
Second, it must not be disposable, so the subject won’t throw it away.
And lastly, it must be something the brainwashed person uses regularly.
Only that way, without realizing it, the subject will look at the medium often and have the brainwashing layered in.
And there was one object that met all these conditions perfectly.
“Chu!”
Found it!
