Of All Things, I Became a Crow

*Rainelle’s POV

Karmeut’s apologetic figure and his behavior of not coming closer to me made me realize that this was reality.

I, I thought until now that Karmeut here was my imaginary bastard(?) Karmeut! So I got mad!! Uh, what do I do?! I took out my anger on him!!

My eyes widened with regret and embarrassment.

Uuu, should I hurry up and explain myself by changing into my human form? Ha, but how ridiculous and stupid it would be if I said I was angry because of my imagination? Ah, no, I have to apologize first... Well, what do I say to apologize?

I was hesitating to speak because I couldn't find the right words, then I heard his voice,

"...Are you in a bad mood because of Sepia and the coronation?"

...Huh? What are you talking about?

"I'm sorry, I didn't know that you, a crow, would be burdened with such a thing, I had a short thought. Since you're a crow, meeting someone like Sepia and the coronation must have been your first experience..."

With a sad expression on his face, Karmeut stretched out his hand and stroked my wing feathers gently. Then he said in a soft voice,

"Sorry. I think I'm the only one thinking too much. If you don't really want to, you don't have to come to the coronation."

No, I'm not mad about that...

But in the present atmosphere, I couldn’t say: "Actually, I was angry because I imagined you abandoning me to be with a woman who looked like a mean girl whose face I didn't even know!"

---I couldn't say that. How can I say that?! Furthermore...

...A feeling about what I've been thinking from time to time to time struck me again.

Karmeut looked the best in my eyes, my heart was pounding again and again. I smiled apologetically and swore to myself as I watched him pat my head,

'Even if the original heroine targeted Karmeut, I will never give him up!!'

Never! Definitely!! No matter what!! I won't give him away!! Give this handsome man to someone?!! He's mine(?)!!

Ah, ah! Before that, I have to quickly change into a human form and say what I have to say!!

"It's okay, it's okay. I'll go to the coronation."

"...Is that alright? I thought you didn't like taking part in the coronation ceremony?"

"No, no, Karmeut’s wish is first. I don't want to say no."

His face brightened with those words.

"Thank you, Rainelle. You're not having a hard time because of Sepia and the coronation, are you?"

"Un, I’m not."

"I'm glad. ---Haa, I'm a little worried, but I think it'll be fine."

Huh? What? What are you worried about? Hearing that he was worried, I looked at Karmeut's eyes. He, the prince who will become the future emperor, continued talking without erasing his smile while receiving my gaze,

"Rainelle is so cute and lovable, so I’m afraid that other guys would pay attention to you. That's not good... Should you not be revealed? No, but it's better for you to reveal yourself..."

...I couldn't decide whether I should be dumbfounded or be happy with Karmeut who muttered those words with a more serious face than ever before.

Of course, being told that I’m pretty is enough to make me feel good, but do you have to ponder about it with such a serious face?

As if realizing the emotion in my gaze, the golden eyes turned to look at my eyes. Then he added with a very serious face,

"I'm serious. You can understand if you pay close attention to the reactions of others later at the coronation... No, no. Just don't look. You don't have to."

...I know it was funny to think about this in the current situation, but...

Karmeut... Surprisingly, he has a childish side... Don't tell me, are you jealous just by imagining me looking at someone else?

Are you really the Karmeut who hugs me in his arms? Giving me such words while looking at me with such eyes, is this really Karmeut? What is this cuteness? Are you seducing me by showing off your unexpected charms? Oh my...

---If that's the case, I'll gladly do it! That’s the feeling that I have to shout!! No, no. Even so, it's better to be careful about love…

I glanced back at Karmeut. Somehow, a smile leaked out from me as he mumbled with a serious face about his inner worries. As my heart got tickled, my body moved first at his very cute behavior.

"What if I’m still curious?"

Perhaps it was because I had turned into a human form while being held by Karmeut, so now it had turned into a posture of me being held in his arms.

...but I'm more curious about his answer than this now!

As I looked into his golden eyes with that in my heart, Karmeut furrowed his eyebrows.

"---If you're curious, there's nothing I can do, but..."

Karmeut's expression darkened as he muttered that there was nothing he could do. Then he sighed and said,

"...can you still not look at it?"

...huh. Hey, this is dangerous! The gap between him and the usual Karmeut is huge, so the cuteness explodes!

OMG! You looked at me with your eyes wide open like a puppy! That's so puppy-like! Is it because wolves are canines? Eish! That's not important in this situation! He’s so cute!

"Ka, Karmeut has done me a lot of favors so far... I, I'll listen to you."

He was so cute that my words came out in a stutter. I mean, even now Karmeut's complexion brightened up. ...It was as if there was a tail that didn't exist behind him, and I could even see a hallucination that he was wagging it.

"Thank you, Rainelle. You can just look at me at the coronation ceremony."

He was quietly embracing me. My hands jolted when he kissed the corner of my eye while speaking those words.

... Why, for some reason, I feel like I'm so lucky today. Ah, I'm happy...

***

3^rd person POV

The day of the coronation was sunny and warm. It was just before the transition from spring to summer, so the sun starts to get warmer. When the leaves changed to a deep green color, the 25th Emperor of the Wolfric Empire ascended to the throne.

Wearing a robe embroidered with gold thread, a luxurious red cloak, along with a large crown studded with various jewels that gleamed in the light on his head, Karmeut sat on the throne.

Seeing the dignified figure of the new emperor seated in his seat, the nobility gathered at the seat bowed their heads and paid their respects. Looking at the nobles, Karmeut smiled quietly.

None of the nobles had heard of Luwellin. Regarding that, they had no choice but to be satisfied because there were not just one or two things that had been handled until the coronation ceremony.

By reducing some nobles’ powers and even disposing a few of them, cleaning had been done and the possibility of chaos in the early days of the ascension had been minimized, so all that was left was...

"Caaaw-"

Looking at the black figure flying over the nobles with a loud cry, the Prince, no, the Emperor reached out his hand.

It was a crow. It flapped her wings and landed on the Emperor's arm. When the nobles saw the crow with a sapphire gold necklace around her neck, they began to murmur amongst themselves.

‘What kind of place is this? Isn't this the place where the new ruler of the Wolfric Empire emerges?

But, a crow, that symbolized death, plague, and misfortune, flew in to such a place?!’

Aside from their dismayed feelings, the nobles did not spit out their opinions indiscriminately. Because they knew that the crow was the one that had confronted Luwellin, the former prince who died in the recent Bozcourt.

And for anyone who was even a little bit sensitive to rumors, it was famous that Karmeut had a pet crow. And that he had a special fondness for that crow.

‘There should be a limit on cherishing something, but he called a crow during the coronation ceremony. As there was no such thing in history, it is both embarrassing and unpleasant. It's not a lucky, sacred, or rare animal... No, even if it is an animal like that, it is still strange to invite one to a place like this.’

"Perhaps you question it. ‘No matter how much you love it, why did you summon a crow, a symbol of death, disease, and misfortune, at the coronation ceremony?’ "

As if the inside of their heads had been looked at, some nobles gasped and trembled at the Emperor's words. Either way, the Emperor rose from his seat. Then he opened his mouth while stroking the crow's shiny black feathers.

"Rainelle."

The purple eyes looked at the golden ones. Then she nodded her head slightly, and her appearance changed.

The figure of the crow changed as it grew. As the small and slender legs stretched, they began to get thicker. The wings gradually grew bigger, the feathers fell out, and white, soft skin began to appear in its place.

The feathers that fell from the wings and body gradually gathered on the smooth white legs and began to form a hem, and as the beak gradually decreased, the face part began to gradually change into a round shape. Black hair with a green luster flowed down like a veil on her beautiful face with densely detailed facial features.

It was short, but it was a surprising change that surprised the nobles. She was so beautiful that even them, who had access to many beauties (because they were the nobles of the Empire), would blush.

As the eyes of the nobles were on her, the woman, who had changed from a crow, hid her body behind the Emperor. As if to protect that woman, the Emperor grabbed his cloak and lifted it to cover her while glancing over at the nobles.

His golden eyes stared at the nobles who cast their gazes on the women as if they were bewitched. Karmeut, who looked at them with a cold gaze, opened his mouth,

"This is the first time I've officially introduced her. You guys knew my crow."

The nobles were silent. Regardless of their reaction, Karmeut continued to speak,

"Her name is Rainelle. You may think that she is an unlucky bird, a crow that can transform into a human. But, let me give you my advice. It would be better not to see her as such. "

The Emperor took a step forward. Then he said something that was like a bolt from the blue sky.

"I believe that no one here will be disrespectful to the one who will become the next Empress."

It was more shocking than seeing a crow transform into a human form. The nobles opened their mouths without even being able to save their face.

A bird taking human form? Although they were surprised by her beauty, her transformation itself was not surprising because of the existence of the hybrid people.

But what about the next empress? Until just before that, they thought she was a pet bird that the Emperor especially cherished, but he said she was the next empress!

Rainelle was also surprised, so she opened her eyes wide and stared at the Emperor. Either way, Karmeut was just looking at the nobles with an inexplicable smile.

*Rainelle’s POV

"What? Whaat?!!"

"What do you mean? Didn’t I introduce you?"

Karmeut's gesture of taking off his cloak under the care of the servants was elegant and dignified,

but that's not the point now!!

No, you said you'd introduce me! You said you were going to introduce me! I didn't even think about introducing myself, but I thought it would end with "a crow that can turn into a human being."

But the empress? The empress? The next empress??

"I never thought you'd say I'd be the next empress!"

Aaaaaaah! To throw a bomb on a spot like that! When I flew in, people gave me a lot of dissatisfied glances! But it came to such an end! Aaaahh!

I grabbed the hem of my dress and tried to suppress my desire to rip my hair out, but Karmeut looked my way. He even smirked.

"Did you forget what I said?"

Karmeut, who suddenly closed in on me, whispered in my ear.

"That I’m going to seduce you to see me as the opposite sex."

Argh, ahhh!! There are servants here, you shouldn't say things like that!

As a conditional reflex, I cawed and slammed into Karmeut's face after returning to my crow form. I went out through the window without looking back at Karmeut who was hit by an accidental headbutt.

***