Chapter 79
“R…really, it was a living egg.”
The nanny couldn’t take her eyes off the small bird chirping in the basket of eggs.
The bird, whose feathers weren’t even dry yet, lifted its head and chirped loudly. It looked quite adorable.
“Yes, it really was. Wow, I was really surprised too. Suddenly, the egg cracked, and it came out all by itself.”
Young-woon also couldn’t take her eyes off the bird. She repeated her astonishment out loud several times.
“Really, you’ve gone through a lot. It’s amazing. The mother didn’t even properly incubate it, yet it managed to break out of the shell.”
“Right? It’s truly amazing. If you’d seen this tiny thing pushing its way out of the shell, you would’ve been even more surprised.”
Xiaogyo had already been amazed when she saw the bird breaking out of the egg at Dong-gong, and when she returned, she immediately bragged about it to Hyanga, the first person she met.
Now it was the nanny’s turn.
Young-woon clenched her fists while staring at the bird. It seemed as if the tingling sensation from the moment the egg hatched in her palm was still lingering.
“Oh dear… and there’s no mother either. That’s a problem. We need to feed it something quickly.”
“Ah… you’re right. We need to feed it. I hadn’t thought of that.”
Young-woon was just amazed that the egg had hatched, but the nanny immediately started thinking about feeding and raising it.
“This isn’t the time to hesitate. It keeps chirping, so we should at least try giving it some grains. And maybe catch some larvae too.”
“Oh, birds eat that kind of thing?”
“Of course. Parent birds diligently catch insects and feed them to their chicks.”
“I see… then, if we give it some, will it eat?”
Having decided to raise the bird now that it was brought here, Young-woon asked cautiously. She had seen flying birds before, but never a newborn one, so she was unsure what to do.
The nanny patted Young-woon’s head gently and spoke kindly.
“It probably won’t eat by itself. When a bird is freshly hatched, the mother chews the food and feeds it directly. Since this one has no mother, we’ll have to mash it up and feed it.”
“Wow. How do you know all that?”
“When I was young… I raised a small bird once.”
The nanny didn’t elaborate further, but Young-woon somehow felt it might be related to her own mother.
She wanted to ask more, but seeing the nanny’s sad expression even after just a brief thought, she couldn’t bring herself to.
“Hey, Hyanga.”
“…Yes, nanny.”
Hyanga, who hadn’t taken her eyes off the bird, responded in surprise.
“Go to the kitchen and grind some millet to bring here.”
“Yes, I’ll go right away.”
Hyanga quickly replied and dashed out of the room.
“By the way, where did this little one hatch?”
“Huh? Well, um…”
“It hatched in Subokgak.”
When Young-woon couldn’t answer properly, Xiaogyo quickly interjected.
“Yes, in Subokgak.”
She still hadn’t told the nanny about the secret passage or the ancestral tomb, and Young-woon hoped she never would have to.
“And what about the eggshell?”
“Ah… it ate it all.”
“What?”
The nanny’s eyes widened in surprise at Young-woon’s words.
“It’s true. It hatched and ate the entire shell.”
“Indeed. I saw it myself as well.”
“Oh… really…”
Hearing Young-woon and Xiaogyo confirm the story, the nanny finally believed it.
The little one had somehow broken the eggshell into tiny pieces as it hatched. After chirping once, it started eating the broken shell. As a result, Young-woon had to hold her hand up until the bird finished eating.
The nanny hadn’t thought about feeding it beforehand because of this.
With no eggshell left, Young-woon wondered what to do next.
“Do… other birds not eat the shell?”
“I’m not sure. It’s the first time I’ve heard of such a bird. But there are so many kinds of birds, and I don’t know them all.”
“I see…”
After all, an ordinary bird wouldn’t have been born from the leftover shell of such a large bird. Though small now, it could become large in the future.
‘It’d be a problem if it grows as big as that… well, it’s hard to imagine at this size.’
Young-woon recalled the large bird she had seen at Dong-gong.
“Piiiyak.” Perhaps sensing her thoughts, the small bird chirped loudly.
“You… what? You knew you could chirp like that?”
Young-woon muttered in disbelief.
“Nanny, I’ve brought it.”
“Good, hand it over.”
Hyanga handed the nanny the finely ground millet mixed with water. The nanny placed it in a small dish and mashed it further.
“Here, let’s try feeding this.”
The nanny scooped some mashed millet onto chopsticks and dropped it into the bird’s open mouth.
At that moment, with a peck, the bird lowered its head and spat out the millet.
“Huh? What’s wrong?”
Young-woon exclaimed in surprise. The bird had eaten the shell so well.
“Maybe it’s not hungry yet?”
“Impossible… it must be hungry…”
The nanny answered with a worried expression and tried again with the chopsticks.
“You have to eat. Otherwise, you won’t survive.”
Gently speaking, the nanny dropped the millet into the bird’s mouth again.
Once again, peck, the bird spat it out.
“Huh, hahaha. What is this…”
“Hmm… I wonder?”
Everyone looked at the bird in the basket, utterly perplexed.
It chirped continuously, as if nothing had happened.
“I’ll try feeding it again later.”
The nanny said this, but Young-woon somehow already knew what the little one wanted to eat.
“Alright, nanny. I’ll feed it later. You go handle your work. You’ve been busy lately.”
“Yes, I need to go. They said some goods purchased from Seolwon Trading have arrived.”
Since the return of the Seolja Trading Group from the Murim Alliance, Seolwon Trading had been busy. They began mass-producing the things Young-woon had planned.
Although Young-woon had initiated the work, as the representative of Yeonhongwon, it was the nanny’s job to manage it.
“I’m sorry for giving you so much work, nanny.”
“Oh, miss, don’t say that. Your work is my work too. I’m happy to help.”
“Thank you, nanny.”
“Don’t mention it. I’ll go now.”
“Alright, nanny. See you tonight.”
After confirming the nanny left, Young-woon called Hyanga.
“Hyanga, go grind other grains besides millet and bring them.”
“Oh, that’s a good idea. It might eat something else. Got it, I’ll go!”
Hyanga smiled brightly and ran out again.
Young-woon let the nanny and Hyanga go intentionally, then sighed softly and looked at Xiaogyo.
“Xiaogyo, you know the poisonous plants in that back garden? The ones the nanny raised?”
“Yes, I do.”
Xiaogyo wasn’t surprised that Young-woon knew about the poisonous plants. She had experienced so much recently that this didn’t faze her.
“I think we’ll need to use a bit of them.”
“Excuse me?”
“I’m not using them elsewhere. I mean, for this little one.”
Young-woon pointed at the still chirping bird.
“I have a feeling it won’t eat grains. But it might eat something poisonous.”
“I see… that makes sense.”
Xiaogyo nodded, agreeing. She could sense the poison’s aura from the bird.
“Please, bring just a little, without the nanny noticing. We’ll see if it eats it.”
“Yes, I’ll go.”
Xiaogyo nodded and left the room.
“Piiiyak.” The bird chirped loudly again.
“You… you really understand me? Are you happy because I brought poison?”
“Piiiyak.” The bird chirped again, as if answering.
“Haha… hahahaha.”
Young-woon laughed at the absurdity of the bird seemingly understanding her.
“Miss, I’ve brought it. The Biryongcho and Eumpunghwa.”
Xiaogyo returned quickly with the poisonous plants.
“Piiiyak.” The bird, sensing the poison, chirped loudly, seemingly demanding more.
“Huh… it wants to eat this, I guess.”
“Really? How do you know?”
“Huh? Didn’t you hear it chirp long just now? It’s asking for it, isn’t it?”
“I heard the same thing.”
“Really? Am I the only one who understands it?”
“Piiiyak.” The bird chirped again, as if confirming.
“Xiaogyo, give it to the bird.”
“Are you sure?” Xiaogyo’s face showed concern.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I… don’t get affected by most poisons. Must be my mother’s influence.”
“You… knew that?”
“Yes. I figured it out.”
Previously, Xiaogyo only knew that Young-woon’s mother had mastered poison martial arts. She might know more but chose to hide it. Young-woon acknowledged only what Xiaogyo had revealed at that time.
Xiaogyo didn’t ask how Young-woon knew; she simply nodded and handed over the poisonous plants.
“Thank you, Xiaogyo.”
“You’re welcome.”
Using a dagger, Young-woon chopped the plants into small pieces and dropped them into the bird’s mouth with chopsticks.
Gulp. The bird swallowed the poisonous plant.
“Piiiyak.” It chirped loudly again, demanding more.
“Haha… it wants more. Hahaha.”
