“Ugh…”
I frowned at the sudden rush of light.
It was natural for my face to frown after being in the dark for so long and then being exposed to light.
“The passageway is awake. Tell that person. The passage has come to her senses.”
Before I could open my eyes, I heard the voice of an unfamiliar man.
Passage?
What does that mean?
I shouted loudly before they left and closed the door again.
“Passage? What on earth does that mean and who are you? Where’s Glene?”
Then I opened my eyes and tried to see the face of the man in front of me.
As I blinked, perhaps as I got used to the light, a blurry image came into view.
‘Black hood?’
Several people standing with their backs to the light were all wearing black hoods.
This is the same hood I witnessed when I was seven, ten, and even an adult.
‘The person who attacked me…!’
Has it been around me since I was seven? How long have you been watching me?
I had goosebumps all over my body when that thought came to mind. I looked at them with my eyes wide open.
He clicked his tongue and said.
“Tsk, it’s noisy when you wake up.”
“Let me go now!”
I didn’t even know how I was fainting. It was clear that the residents of the mansion were worried about me by now.
‘What on earth is going on?’
How could this happen when Kendrick and Arsene are away from the mansion!
No, did you kidnap me on purpose while the two of them were away from the mansion?
“We can’t do that. How long have we waited for this day?”
Kkk.
An unpleasant sound of laughter rang out. Just hearing the sound of laughter gave me goosebumps, so I instinctively hesitated and took a step back.
“Glene? Is it the girl who brought you here? You will see it soon. Before that, first.”
He lit the candle he was carrying.
In an instant, a terrible smell of scent spread everywhere. I gasped and tried to hold my breath for a long time, but it was useless.
“W, what is this, c, cough!”
“There’s nothing I can do about it because it’s noisy. Besides, it would be easier to move it in beast form.”
The smell of the scent I’ve never smelled in my life made me feel numb.
The scent was so strong, I couldn’t even open my eyes properly now.
I blinked and closed my nose and mouth with both hands.
But,
‘Huh?’
As I inhaled the scent, I felt like my body was changing on its own.
So, this is definitely the feeling.
‘When I was seven years old…!’
Pong—!
Before I could finish thinking, I heard a small explosion.
“Chirp!”
My vision lowered, and I felt like I had wings instead of arms.
I was forced to shapeshift.
‘What is this!’
Are you forcing me to become a bird? Was this possible?
I tried flapping my wings, but I couldn’t fly because I felt too heavy, perhaps because I felt weak.
Tak—!
Instead, I tried to fly but fell off the altar and hit the ground on my beak.
“I told you to stay still. Stay dead until that person finds you.”
A strange man came close to me.
I instinctively flapped my wings and struggled to get away from the man.
“Chirp, chirp!”
“Damn it, you’re noisy. Can’t we just throw away Giles’ pollen?”
At that time, someone else’s voice was heard.
“The Passage ability is known to be able to detoxify Giles pollen, so using it would be of no use. And…”
He paused and then spoke.
“If we lose our senses and use our powers recklessly, we’ll end up in trouble. We must remain quiet until the ceremony. It’s an opportunity we’ve taken, and we can’t ruin this opportunity.”
At his words, the man who was approaching me nodded his head in agreement and said,
“Of course you are right. How did we seize this opportunity…”
And,
“Ugh!”
Black energy flowed from the man’s body and attacked me.
Just like when Glene attacked me before I came here.
I felt like I was suffocating and flapped my wings in pain as if my body was being squeezed.
And not long after.
Clank!
As the man withdrew his black energy, he attached something like a chain to my ankles and lifted me up.
“Chirp!!”
“Let’s take her. It’s locked there. if she’s trapped there, even if she’s a phoenix, you won’t be able to cause a ruckus.”
I struggled, but instead of loosening the chain, it only made my ankle hurt more.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to break free of these chains and escape.
Besides,
‘What does phoenix mean?’
The men continued to exchange words that I couldn’t understand.
In the end, I gave up trying to run away and had to be dragged along by the man.
***
And now.
‘What the hell is this…’
I was locked in a huge cage.
It was as big as one room, and the height was much higher than the normal ceiling of the room.
The men muttered, ‘I’m finally using this.’ and then opened the cage door and threw me into the cage.
The gap between the cage bars seemed very wide, so I thought I could fly up and escape right away.
“Chirp!”
“Haha, it’s no use. This is a cage with special treatment so that you cannot escape.”
The man laughed at me.
After that, I tried to run away several times, but it was useless.
He squatted in front of the cage and mocked me.
“Do you want to escape? I’ll get you out soon. However, before that, you will have to give back everything that is ours.”
‘Ours?’
I couldn’t understand a single word that man said.
The man chuckled for a while and then left the room.
Since then, no one has entered the room with the huge cage.
All I could do was sit in the corner of the cage with my wings folded and guess where the cage was.
‘I couldn’t change my bird form.’
I don’t know what special medicine was used, but I couldn’t release my bird form.
Thanks to this, I was stuck in my bird form without moving.
‘But here, why does it feel familiar?’
I looked around and thought.
This huge bird cage, as well as the room with the bird cage, was a structure I had never seen before. Still, it felt somehow familiar.
‘What on earth…’
Is it just my imagination?
Then, the door opened and the maids served the meal. Each plate was filled with food.
On the subject of kidnapping, it seems that they are trying to feed me on time.
‘I don’t know what kind of ceremony it is.’
The men talked amongst themselves about having to take me with them until the ‘ceremony.’
It looks like they are trying to keep me alive at least until the ceremony.
I don’t know when that happened, but anyway, it seemed like they didn’t have any intention of killing me right away, so I was relieved.
The maids put food into the cage bars.
Soft bread. Warm chickpea stew and fresh asparagus salad were placed one after another in the cage.
‘When I tried to leave, it seemed like something was blocking me and I couldn’t get out.’
Is it possible to push things into the bars from outside?
In the first place, even the structure of this cage didn’t make sense. I moved slowly toward food.
I can’t die like this.
I must take the opportunity to escape. To do that, I first had to eat well and rest well.
However,
“Chirp?”
Huh?
When I looked closely at the maids who served the food, I saw that they were all from the bird clan.
I could immediately recognize the bird clan because it had a unique scent up close.
All four maids who came to deliver food were from the bird clan.
‘How can this be?’
It was unlikely that there would be more than four maids from the bird clan in another clan’s mansion.
‘Come to think of it!’
While I was being dragged here, I remembered that the knights standing guard were also members of the bird clan.
Though I wasn’t aware of it at the time, they were all part of the same bird clan when I thought about it later. Moreover,
‘When something happens in the sanctuary.’
It was also the bird clan that spread Giles’ pollen. They all flew with pollen on their wings, spreading Giles pollen to other clans.
And when I ran away, a bird clan chased after me fiercely.
‘So the bird clan kidnapped me?’
Then, is it Gale?
After thinking about that, I tilted my head in confusion.
Gale didn’t look like he was in a state to kidnap me right now.
The holy relic was damaged, and the person himself didn’t seem to be very healthy.
At that time, the scenery outside the window came into view.
Oak tree branches seen outside the window. It’s too rough for a garden tree.
And all the way to the top of the small tower behind it.
Why do I know this now?
I finally realized why this room felt familiar to me.
Right here,
‘It’s the Raniero mansion!’
“Ugh…”
I frowned at the sudden rush of light.
It was natural for my face to frown after being in the dark for so long and then being exposed to light.
“The passageway is awake. Tell that person. The passage has come to her senses.”
Before I could open my eyes, I heard the voice of an unfamiliar man.
Passage?
What does that mean?
I shouted loudly before they left and closed the door again.
“Passage? What on earth does that mean and who are you? Where’s Glene?”
Then I opened my eyes and tried to see the face of the man in front of me.
As I blinked, perhaps as I got used to the light, a blurry image came into view.
‘Black hood?’
Several people standing with their backs to the light were all wearing black hoods.
This is the same hood I witnessed when I was seven, ten, and even an adult.
‘The person who attacked me…!’
Has it been around me since I was seven? How long have you been watching me?
I had goosebumps all over my body when that thought came to mind. I looked at them with my eyes wide open.
He clicked his tongue and said.
“Tsk, it’s noisy when you wake up.”
“Let me go now!”
I didn’t even know how I was fainting. It was clear that the residents of the mansion were worried about me by now.
‘What on earth is going on?’
How could this happen when Kendrick and Arsene are away from the mansion!
No, did you kidnap me on purpose while the two of them were away from the mansion?
“We can’t do that. How long have we waited for this day?”
Kkk.
An unpleasant sound of laughter rang out. Just hearing the sound of laughter gave me goosebumps, so I instinctively hesitated and took a step back.
“Glene? Is it the girl who brought you here? You will see it soon. Before that, first.”
He lit the candle he was carrying.
In an instant, a terrible smell of scent spread everywhere. I gasped and tried to hold my breath for a long time, but it was useless.
“W, what is this, c, cough!”
“There’s nothing I can do about it because it’s noisy. Besides, it would be easier to move it in beast form.”
The smell of the scent I’ve never smelled in my life made me feel numb.
The scent was so strong, I couldn’t even open my eyes properly now.
I blinked and closed my nose and mouth with both hands.
But,
‘Huh?’
As I inhaled the scent, I felt like my body was changing on its own.
So, this is definitely the feeling.
‘When I was seven years old…!’
Pong—!
Before I could finish thinking, I heard a small explosion.
“Chirp!”
My vision lowered, and I felt like I had wings instead of arms.
I was forced to shapeshift.
‘What is this!’
Are you forcing me to become a bird? Was this possible?
I tried flapping my wings, but I couldn’t fly because I felt too heavy, perhaps because I felt weak.
Tak—!
Instead, I tried to fly but fell off the altar and hit the ground on my beak.
“I told you to stay still. Stay dead until that person finds you.”
A strange man came close to me.
I instinctively flapped my wings and struggled to get away from the man.
“Chirp, chirp!”
“Damn it, you’re noisy. Can’t we just throw away Giles’ pollen?”
At that time, someone else’s voice was heard.
“The Passage ability is known to be able to detoxify Giles pollen, so using it would be of no use. And…”
He paused and then spoke.
“If we lose our senses and use our powers recklessly, we’ll end up in trouble. We must remain quiet until the ceremony. It’s an opportunity we’ve taken, and we can’t ruin this opportunity.”
At his words, the man who was approaching me nodded his head in agreement and said,
“Of course you are right. How did we seize this opportunity…”
And,
“Ugh!”
Black energy flowed from the man’s body and attacked me.
Just like when Glene attacked me before I came here.
I felt like I was suffocating and flapped my wings in pain as if my body was being squeezed.
And not long after.
Clank!
As the man withdrew his black energy, he attached something like a chain to my ankles and lifted me up.
“Chirp!!”
“Let’s take her. It’s locked there. if she’s trapped there, even if she’s a phoenix, you won’t be able to cause a ruckus.”
I struggled, but instead of loosening the chain, it only made my ankle hurt more.
No matter what I did, I couldn’t seem to break free of these chains and escape.
Besides,
‘What does phoenix mean?’
The men continued to exchange words that I couldn’t understand.
In the end, I gave up trying to run away and had to be dragged along by the man.
***
And now.
‘What the hell is this…’
I was locked in a huge cage.
It was as big as one room, and the height was much higher than the normal ceiling of the room.
The men muttered, ‘I’m finally using this.’ and then opened the cage door and threw me into the cage.
The gap between the cage bars seemed very wide, so I thought I could fly up and escape right away.
“Chirp!”
“Haha, it’s no use. This is a cage with special treatment so that you cannot escape.”
The man laughed at me.
After that, I tried to run away several times, but it was useless.
He squatted in front of the cage and mocked me.
“Do you want to escape? I’ll get you out soon. However, before that, you will have to give back everything that is ours.”
‘Ours?’
I couldn’t understand a single word that man said.
The man chuckled for a while and then left the room.
Since then, no one has entered the room with the huge cage.
All I could do was sit in the corner of the cage with my wings folded and guess where the cage was.
‘I couldn’t change my bird form.’
I don’t know what special medicine was used, but I couldn’t release my bird form.
Thanks to this, I was stuck in my bird form without moving.
‘But here, why does it feel familiar?’
I looked around and thought.
This huge bird cage, as well as the room with the bird cage, was a structure I had never seen before. Still, it felt somehow familiar.
‘What on earth…’
Is it just my imagination?
Then, the door opened and the maids served the meal. Each plate was filled with food.
On the subject of kidnapping, it seems that they are trying to feed me on time.
‘I don’t know what kind of ceremony it is.’
The men talked amongst themselves about having to take me with them until the ‘ceremony.’
It looks like they are trying to keep me alive at least until the ceremony.
I don’t know when that happened, but anyway, it seemed like they didn’t have any intention of killing me right away, so I was relieved.
The maids put food into the cage bars.
Soft bread. Warm chickpea stew and fresh asparagus salad were placed one after another in the cage.
‘When I tried to leave, it seemed like something was blocking me and I couldn’t get out.’
Is it possible to push things into the bars from outside?
In the first place, even the structure of this cage didn’t make sense. I moved slowly toward food.
I can’t die like this.
I must take the opportunity to escape. To do that, I first had to eat well and rest well.
However,
“Chirp?”
Huh?
When I looked closely at the maids who served the food, I saw that they were all from the bird clan.
I could immediately recognize the bird clan because it had a unique scent up close.
All four maids who came to deliver food were from the bird clan.
‘How can this be?’
It was unlikely that there would be more than four maids from the bird clan in another clan’s mansion.
‘Come to think of it!’
While I was being dragged here, I remembered that the knights standing guard were also members of the bird clan.
Though I wasn’t aware of it at the time, they were all part of the same bird clan when I thought about it later. Moreover,
‘When something happens in the sanctuary.’
It was also the bird clan that spread Giles’ pollen. They all flew with pollen on their wings, spreading Giles pollen to other clans.
And when I ran away, a bird clan chased after me fiercely.
‘So the bird clan kidnapped me?’
Then, is it Gale?
After thinking about that, I tilted my head in confusion.
Gale didn’t look like he was in a state to kidnap me right now.
The holy relic was damaged, and the person himself didn’t seem to be very healthy.
At that time, the scenery outside the window came into view.
Oak tree branches seen outside the window. It’s too rough for a garden tree.
And all the way to the top of the small tower behind it.
Why do I know this now?
I finally realized why this room felt familiar to me.
Right here,
‘It’s the Raniero mansion!’
