The Youngest Daughter of the Snake Family - Chapter 2

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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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Episode 2
……Was that really permission?
Could Baon really be this oblivious?
Not that I minded—the outcome worked in my favor anyway.
I rose onto my tiptoes, clinging to the knotted basket handle as I surveyed the room.
Though I couldn’t see everything, the ceiling and walls alone told me this was an extraordinarily luxurious chamber.
I found myself thinking of the man Baon had just addressed as “Gaju”—the head of the household.
A title like that meant he led an entire Family, which meant this house belonged to him.
Wait.
The realization struck me late, and my body went rigid.
……The master of this house dislikes me.
I could tell from our conversation alone.
This Gaju clearly disapproved of my staying here.
It was only a matter of time before I was cast out.
What do I do?
“……Peep.”
I covered my eyes with my wings. They felt damp.
“You’re crying.”
Baon observed me with a puzzled expression.
“Are you hungry?”
“……Peep.”
I tilted my head, then nodded. Now that he mentioned it, that seemed right.
I’d only just hatched and had eaten nothing since.
The moment I acknowledged this, my belly growled audibly.
To my surprise, Baon’s expression shifted to something like distress.
“Hmm. What do birds eat, anyway?”
Wait, hold on.
“Do they eat meat? No, I think that’s only raptors.”
Baon murmured to himself, lost in thought as he looked my way.
This is bad. Not with that look in his eyes.
As unease crept through me, I clamped my beak shut firmly.
No. I absolutely cannot open my beak.
My anxiety was reaching a crescendo, and I dreaded what I might imagine next—when Baon spoke again.
“Ah. Do they eat insects? Bugs and such?”
“Peep! Peep-peep!”
No! Absolutely not!
I shook my head with forceful denial.
My violent reaction drew an unpleasant smirk across Baon’s face.
He was clearly enjoying himself.
“I’ll fetch something for you right away.”
“Peep. Peep-peep! Peep!”
No, wait. Don’t go! Baon!
I called after him desperately as he turned to leave.
What if he actually comes back with insects?
I collapsed onto my knees, stretching out my wings in supplication. My pitifully short wings trembled as I held them out.
One mountain after another, as the saying goes.
My future as a bird seemed impossibly distant.
Fortunately, what Baon brought back was a small fruit.
Red Berries—they gave off a sweet, fragrant aroma.
“There were no other living creatures to be found in the Family Private Territory.”
I couldn’t fathom what kind of land had no creatures at all, but I was profoundly grateful.
I’d been terrified he might actually bring insects.
“Go ahead and eat.”
“Peep!”
I began eating the berries one by one, crammed tightly as they were in the small container.
I’d thought it would be difficult at first, but using my beak proved surprisingly natural.
As I ate, I even developed a technique of sorts, managing to consume them quite quickly.
“Peep-peep-peep.”
Full.

She tapped her protruding belly. She’d eaten her fill, and with sunlight streaming through the window, drowsiness came creeping in.
It had always been the way—a nap after eating was the greatest luxury.
How long had it been since she could sleep like this? The freedom to rest without watching her surroundings felt like a dream.
“You seem sleepy,” Baon observed.
“Chirp.”
She nodded and flopped back onto the quilted bedding.
A yawn stretched her mouth wide open.
As her body swayed and her head bobbed drowsily, she noticed juice staining her white fur.
“Chirp?”
When had that gotten on her?
She glanced around and hurriedly rubbed at it with the quilt.
It only smeared worse.
“……Chirp!”
After scrubbing repeatedly without improvement, she kicked at the bedding in frustration.
“Now, now, you mustn’t do that,” Baon said sternly.
Was he scolding her for bad manners? She glanced up at him nervously.
The moment their eyes met, Baon leaned closer and spoke with utmost seriousness.
“What if you break your legs?”
“……”
“So you mustn’t kick with your feet.”
She couldn’t let such a comment pass and quietly examined her legs.
Wiggle, wiggle.
“……Chirp.”
See? Perfectly fine.
She held up her legs to show him. They were quite properly attached.
She’d have to be more careful from now on.
When she smoothed the quilt flat, Baon made a strange expression—as if he were holding back laughter.
It was probably just her imagination.
She looked down at the quilt, feeling gloomy.
Now even a quilt filled with nothing but cotton had to be classified as a danger.
She’d always thought the inside of a quilt was the safest place in the world.
“A new person will be coming tomorrow,” Baon said.
“……?”
“Rozaria will be helping you in various ways, so you must behave well and listen to her.”
She nodded readily. There was no reason to dislike someone who would help her. In fact, it was good news.
Her goal was to grow up safely and steadily in this home.
And if she could learn, she wanted to stay here long enough to achieve Humanization.
In her past life, she’d never been able to experience Humanization before her end came.
If luck was with her, couldn’t she learn that too from Rozaria?
* * *
“Hello there, little one. You’re even cuter than I heard! I’m Rozaria.”
Early the next morning, Rozaria arrived much sooner than expected.
“Chirp, chirp.”
She returned the greeting, caught off guard.
She hadn’t anticipated such warmth.
Rozaria was clearly disposed to treat her kindly.
She felt oddly self-conscious under such attention.
Even the elders of her own kind had never shown her kindness, so the thought that Rozaria—not even of her kind—would care for her felt strange.
“Oh my, such good manners! You were greeting me just now, weren’t you?” Rozaria pressed her hand to her heart.
With thick wavy crimson hair and violet eyes, Rozaria was moved to tears by so simple a greeting.
What was she so delighted about?
She seemed like someone who’d never received a greeting before.
Whatever she’d endured before, this was……
Winning her over was far too easy.
Seizing this momentum, she decided to demonstrate the secret technique she’d been perfecting all night.
It was a skill she’d honed as a survival method to capture the hearts of the Family.
“Chirp-chirp. Chirp!”
The only method permitted to the very young.
Namely, “Pick Me Up.”
As she stretched her tiny arms and toddled forward, Rozaria clutched at her chest.
“My lady…. To think someone like you is the Gaju’s daughter. I can scarcely believe it.”
“Squeak.”
“Oh? You’ve got something on you. Shall we get you cleaned up first?”
Rozaria composed herself and pointed to the traces of food I’d left on my fur yesterday.
I scrambled carefully up onto her palm.
It was time to return to my usual fluffy state.
Rozaria, holding me steady with one hand to keep me from falling, seemed to be trembling slightly.
“I can’t believe they’d even consider sending someone like you beyond the territory. Hmph—it’s been so long I’m worried I’ll lose control of my strength.”
…Wait. I think I just heard something I shouldn’t have.
Or did I?
I turned nervously, and Rozaria broke into a bright smile.
“Don’t worry, my lady. I’m quite good at controlling my strength. I’m not like those brutes who let their blades do the talking before their minds catch up.”
That’s why Baon must have called me in, after all.
Rozaria spoke with evident pride.
I, by contrast, went rigid. My fur bristled from tail to crown.
I was fairly certain I’d just heard a threat to my very life.
Rozaria led me into the bathing chamber and began drawing warm water.
“Since you’re still so young, the water should be just a touch warmer than your body temperature, they say.”
She seemed to be recalling something she’d read in a book just moments before.
Unease crept over me.
Rozaria, seeing my anxiety, smiled radiantly with that beautiful face of hers.
The defining trait of this Family was that everyone possessed such striking looks it made you forget reality for a moment.
I stood there dazed, staring at her, when her words snapped me back to attention.
“Come now, shall we get you in? My lady.”
Mother, will I be all right?
In that instant, I desperately wished I could see Baon.

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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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