Chapter 10
With swelling anticipation, I headed behind the storage shed.
Just then, something liquid touched the toe of my shoe as it stepped onto the damp earth. When I lowered my head without thinking, I saw the tip of my shoe stained with pale blood.
“Blood…?”
In that instant, goosebumps rose all over my body. At the same time, I jerked my head up. And at last, I discovered something hiding itself within the pitch-black shadows.
A single crow with feathers black as jet, clearly visible even in the darkness, was lying in a pool of blood, quietly blinking its eyes.
It was Raven Barietsch.
“My goodness…”
The moment I found him, a shiver ran through me from head to toe.
We had finally met. On a day in spring when I had turned seventeen after the long winter, as if it were fate.
I dropped the parasol I was holding. Then I covered my mouth with both hands and gasped, pretending I had never dreamed I would encounter an injured crow in such a secluded place.
I pressed my palm over my heart, which was pounding as though the whole world were resounding, and slowly approached him.
Raven Barietsch was far larger than I had imagined. Even in the form of a crow, he somehow gave off an oppressive presence. It made me cautious about approaching him, but I couldn’t pretend not to see him when he was injured.
I was someone who wanted to become wholly his. I wanted him to want me, desire me, and crave me like a scorching thirst.
This moment was only a very small beginning toward my goal.
“How did you get hurt like this…”
I crouched beside him and reached a trembling hand toward Raven Barietsch. I hoped this touch, and my blue eyes, would feel like salvation to him.
He looked up at me with eyes full of wariness, but he did not reject my touch. He merely stared at me as he drew ragged, powerless breaths.
At last, my hand touched his feathers.
His feathers were soaked with blood. He was injured so badly that the moment I carefully gathered him into my arms, the front of my dress was quickly stained damp with blood.
Perhaps he did not even have the strength to hold up his neck, because he went limp in my arms. As I looked at him quietly leaning against me, worry suddenly surged up that he might die like this.
“…You can’t die.”
I muttered without realizing it and checked his pulse. Fortunately, he was still breathing. But if his treatment was delayed even a little, his life could certainly be in danger.
“I’ll make sure to save you.”
After uttering a vow he would not be able to hear, I rose to my feet and ran to the maids.
“Nova!”
“Miss, why did you suddenly drop your parasol— My goodness…!”
Nova, the maid who had been following behind me the entire time, was carefully picking up and tidying the parasol I had dropped. In the middle of that, when she saw me suddenly pop out of the shadows, she could not hide her shock.
That was only natural, since a pitch-black crow she had never seen before was being held in my arms. On top of that, my pure white chemise dress was completely stained with blood. It was a sight that would startle anyone.
“Are you hurt somewhere? What on earth did you do in the storage shed?!”
Then the maids gathered around me all at once and made a great fuss. They stamped their feet in agitation as they checked my condition.
But the important one was not me.
“I found this crow collapsed behind the storage shed. It has lost too much blood, so I think we need to call a veterinarian right away.”
I gave the anxious maids a clear explanation of the situation and immediately gave an order.
“Nova, go at once and bring a veterinarian here. Every moment counts. It doesn’t matter how much money it costs.”
“Pardon? Ah, yes, understood!”
“And Anna and Maya, you two go to my room and prepare clean towels and water. And it would be good if you could also prepare something like a cushion for this child to lie on.”
“…Understood, Miss. We’ll look for them right away.”
Though the maids were bewildered, they scattered and disappeared to their respective places.
Following after them, I ran into the mansion with Raven Barietsch held in my arms.
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