The Obsessive Male Lead Is Obsessed With Me! - Chapter 173

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Side Story, Chapter 4
“Your Majesty, it’s Ruda.”
The Maid Manager, who spotted Ruda first, opened the window for her.
Ruda let out a cheerful chirp and flew straight toward Lionel, who extended his palm to her. He then instructed the Maid Manager.
“Bring water and fruit.”
“Yes, Your Majesty.”
Now that Ruda had arrived, it was time for a brief rest. Though Lionel said nothing, the Aides set down their documents and pens, exhaling with relief.
The Maid Manager wheeled in a trolley, laid out refreshments for Lionel and Ruda, and distributed cups of tea to everyone.
Lionel ignored his own cup entirely, instead feeding small fruits to Ruda’s beak.
“Does it taste good?”
“Chirp-chirp!”
“Is this enough? Would you like a cookie?”
“Chirp, chirp-chirp.”
A few dried fruits made a sufficient breakfast. After gorging herself, Ruda patted her full belly with her wings, then flew up to perch on Lionel’s head.
“Chirp-chirp!”
I’m full now, so go do your work!
Ruda was Cecilia’s Spirit Familiar. Thus, Cecilia alone could understand Ruda’s thoughts.
Yet over the past few years, having kept Ruda at his side like his own Familiar, Lionel had come to grasp much of what she meant.
Lionel pushed a dish of dried fruit and water to the corner of his desk, always within easy reach, then returned to reviewing documents.
“Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp.”
As if settling into a nest, Ruda perched comfortably atop Lionel’s head and began preening her feathers.
Her intermittent chirps sounded almost like a lullaby, and one or two of the Aides, relaxing with warm tea, found their heads nodding without their notice.
“Ahem, hem.”
Another Aide, noticing this, gave a light cough. The sleepy one jolted awake, glanced around flustered, then sighed softly upon realizing no great time had passed.
Ruda, satisfied with her grooming, launched herself from Lionel’s head.
“Chirp-chirp!”
I’m going to play now!
“Off you go,” Lionel said, waving her away.
Ruda flew out the window and headed straight for the First Princess’s Palace.
Ruda was Cecilia’s other self, so to speak—which meant she bore the duty to nurture and care for Cecilia’s children as if they were her own.
“Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp.”
Let me think…
Glancing up at the sky, Ruda guessed that Penelope would be in the Princess’s Palace study by now and flew there.
She alighted gently on the window sill, deliberately keeping her beak closed as she peered inside.
“…And so the Blue Bird spread her wings and took flight, when suddenly a long tail feather fell into the girl’s hands…”
Penelope sat upright in her small chair with admirable composure. She had turned three just months ago.
The child, who had struggled to speak properly even before turning two, now spoke nearly as well as an adult. Standing before her birthday cake with three candles, she had declared:
“I want to take lessons too.”
By Cecilia’s reckoning, three was far too young to begin formal study.
By Lionel’s reckoning, however, three was the perfect age to start learning.
Thus the couple had their first married quarrel over Penelope’s education. Lionel prevailed, for Penelope’s will proved unstoppable.
As the old saying goes, no parent can overcome a child’s determination. Cecilia surrendered, though not without conditions.
“Only two or three hours a day. Start with the simplest things, slowly.”
So Penelope began with the study of the Imperial language.
Though Cecilia stubbornly insisted that no further education could commence until Penelope mastered her letters, the girl proved far too gifted for such restrictions.
After just three months of study, she read fairy tales flawlessly, without a single stumble.
“…And so they lived happily ever after.”
“Splendid! Your pronunciation and intonation are without fault. I believe you’re ready to advance to the intermediate level!”
“Teacher, I have a question.”
“Oh… A question, you say?”
The Tutor’s face stiffened abruptly, even as he continued clapping enthusiastically.
Penelope, unaware, posed her question in utmost seriousness, having puzzled over it at length.
“What is the standard for happiness?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“I grasped the concept of eternity through your explanation last time. Understood as a human measure, it means until death—and barring illness or accident, humans can live to a hundred, can’t they?”
“Well, yes, that would be… correct.”
“Yet this story’s protagonist appears to be no more than ten years old, so ‘living happily forever’ means at most ninety years of unbroken happiness. Can such a life truly exist?”
“Ah, well, Your Highness, you see… ‘lived happily ever after’ doesn’t mean every single moment was happy. Rather, it means that even through hardship and difficulty, like the adventures in this fairy tale, ultimately they reached happiness at the end, so to speak…”
“If only the final moment brings happiness, can such a life be called happy? If someone lived ninety years in misery but the last ten in joy, was that a happy life? And if they lived ninety years in happiness but the last ten in sorrow?”
“Well, that is to say…”
Penelope posed her lengthy, precise questions in a steady voice, while the Tutor perspired nervously.
Watching this lesson between a three-year-old and a thirty-year-old adult, Ruda carefully took flight from the window sill.
‘I’ll visit Pippa another time.’
She was studying so hard—I couldn’t interrupt her now!
Instead, Ruda flew to the Nursery in the Empress’s Palace.
Though Penelope, upon turning three, had received the First Princess’s Palace and moved to independence, the twin Princesses and Prince—still unable to walk—remained in the Empress’s Palace.
“Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp!”
Children, I’m here!
Ruda flew gracefully through the half-open window and landed on the Mobile hanging from the ceiling.
The two infants, who had been lying in bed after feeding, their eyes fluttering as they drifted toward sleep, now reached out toward Ruda.
“Ah, ah!”
“Wa, wa!”
Both children babbled eagerly, squirming in an effort to call her over.
Yet Ruda remained on the Mobile. She knew well that her talons and beak could be threatening to such tiny creatures.
Instead, keeping her eyes on them, Ruda gripped the edge of the Mobile and began to chirp and sing.
“Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp. Chirp-chirp.”
“Ooh, ooh.”
“Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp-chirp, chirp, chirp-chirp…”
When Cecilia had first created the Blue Bird magical construct and controlled it, she’d once earned Lionel’s mockery for being tone-deaf.
Yet this reborn Ruda was no tone-deaf bird. Especially the lullabies she’d learned from Cecilia and Lionel—she sang them beautifully, and lulling small children to sleep was child’s play.
“Oooh…”
“Ooh-aah…”
Following Ruda’s movements, the two infants watched the slowly spinning Mobile, their eyelids growing heavy.
Within moments, their eyes had closed entirely, and soft, peaceful breathing filled the room.
Regarding the sleeping children with satisfaction, Ruda heard the Nursemaid—who sat beside the crib watching them—speak softly.
“Thank you, Ruda.”
“Chirp-chirp!”
It’s nothing at all.
These children were hers in all but name, so helping them grow strong by putting them down for their afternoon nap was simply her duty.
Ruda gazed peacefully at the sleeping faces from her perch on the Mobile, then took flight once more.
“Chirp-chirp, chirp-chirp.”
Where should I go next?
Ruda began to wander aimlessly through the Imperial Palace.
Though her feather color was distinctive, her small frame meant she usually went unnoticed.
So when she ventured behind shadowed buildings, she often overheard the grumbling of visiting Nobility or Palace Maids.
For instance, like the whispers she caught right now.

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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