Chapter 16
But no matter how cute he was, things that had to be done still had to be done.
I lightly scratched his head with my index finger and said,
“I’ll stay by your side. But you’re badly hurt, so you need to eat and take your medicine. And the doctor said you have to eat well.”
“……”
“I’ll bring the medicine and food, so wait just a little until then. Then I’ll stay beside you until you fall asleep.”
Perhaps my calm persuasion worked, because the crow obediently laid back down. It seemed he was willing to wait for me.
“What a good boy.”
As a reward, I gently scratched his forehead again. Then, keeping my eyes fixed on him, I slowly turned around.
This time, he didn’t cry.
‘I’m glad Raven isn’t an ordinary crow.’
If he had been an ordinary crow, it would have taken quite a while to make him understand me or persuade him.
Being able to communicate with an animal, even simply, was truly convenient. If things went on like this, I might be able to raise a crow well too.
Having gained a strange sense of confidence, I sat on the sofa and finished mixing the medicine with water. Meanwhile, Raven lay on the cushion and quietly waited for me.
A little while later, the medicine had fully dissolved and reached a thick consistency. I returned to him with the cut fruit.
“Caaaw.”
Raven greeted me with a cry tinged with delight. Since he was badly hurt, the sound wasn’t loud and even cracked a little, but I could clearly sense that he was welcoming me.
“First, let’s eat.”
I smiled faintly and picked up a piece of fruit with a fork, then brought it in front of him.
“A servant prepared this for you to eat, but I don’t know if it’ll suit your taste. You can spit it out if you don’t want to eat it.”
“……”
When I held the fruit close to his beak, Raven silently opened his mouth and ate it.
He seemed to chew a few times, then opened his mouth again, as if asking for more.
“What a relief, the fruit seems fine…”
I continued picking up fruit and giving it to him at his pace. Each time, Raven readily ate every piece of fruit. He must have been starving.
‘Well, he’s only been sleeping since I found him this afternoon until nightfall.’
He hadn’t eaten lunch or dinner properly. Perhaps the reason he had opened his eyes now was because he was hungry.
‘I’ll have to feed him much more in the morning tomorrow!’
Before long, the plate of fruit was cleanly emptied. Now, it was time for his medicine.
I scooped up a spoonful of the thick medicine with a small spoon and poured it into his mouth.
“…How is it? The doctor prepared that medicine.”
“……”
His beak, which had been chewing enthusiastically when he ate the fruit, moved irregularly this time.
He seemed to chew a little, then stopped for a moment, and then seemed to move the medicine around inside his mouth before stopping abruptly again.
I had no way of knowing what that behavior meant, but I instinctively understood that he was reluctant to take the medicine.
“You have to take it even if it tastes bad. The doctor said you need to do that to get better.”
“……”
“Do you know how badly you were hurt? You were shot, you lost a tremendous amount of blood, and your leg was broken, so it even had to be bandaged. It’s a miracle you’re alive.”
“……”
“So please take it even if it tastes bad, hm? I don’t want you to die. You need to get better quickly and return to the place you came from.”
It felt as though I was soothing not a crow, but a disobedient four-year-old.
For a moment, I wondered what on earth I was doing in front of a bird, but I quickly changed my mind. The one before me was Raven Barietsch. He had to be alive for him to love me, and for him to desire me.
When I imagined the scene that would finally come true at the end of all tragedy, a sinister desire suddenly stirred deep in my chest.
My mouth went dry on its own, and I secretly swallowed. A shiver ran through my entire body, and a hot heat pooled in my lower abdomen.
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