Chapter 59
At my words, Blanche’s face brightened.
‘Even though it’s a bird’s face, I can actually read its expression.’
He didn’t speak out loud, but I could almost hear Blanche’s voice ringing in my ears, crying out, “My king!”
“It’s not allowed.”
But my words were quickly denied.
“Why not?”
“It’s a creature that carries dangerous magic. If you keep it close, the same thing as last time could happen again.”
‘Oh, I know that better than anyone. I know he’s dangerous.’
Ignoring Lien’s warning, I looked into Blanche’s eyes and spoke silently.
‘Blanche, are you really going to make that happen again?’
Perhaps he understood my gaze, because Blanche shook his head side to side and flapped his wings wildly. His eyes were shimmering with tears, begging me to save him from whatever Lien had done.
“It’s fine. That won’t happen again.”
“But that bird—”
“It’s fine. Really.”
At my firm tone, Lien closed his mouth tightly.
If the person in front of me were my master, I’d trust him completely. But he wasn’t, so there was no need for that.
How could I entrust a volatile, bomb-like former demon king to a stranger who simply claimed to be a doctor?
“I’ll take responsibility. He’s the one I brought here.”
“…I see.”
After a short silence, Lien replied briefly and released Blanche’s leg.
As soon as the restraining grip loosened, Blanche hastily flew to my shoulder.
“Thank you for taking care of my friend all this time.”
“It was nothing.”
“Then I’ll be going now.”
I gave a polite nod and turned away without hesitation.
Once we were far from Lien, in a quiet, empty area, Blanche began crying out as if he’d been waiting for this moment.
<My king… What in the world is that creature, more wicked than any demon?!>
For a former demon king to call someone wicked—now that’s saying something.
“What exactly happened? No—before that, you!”
I grabbed Blanche’s round body in both hands and shook him side to side violently.
“What the hell did you do to me, you brat?!”
<Uugh, my king! If you shake me like that, even I… I think I’m going to throw up…>
“Throw up?”
‘No way—I can’t have my hands getting dirty.’
Taking a deep breath to compose myself, I stared directly into Blanche’s eyes.
“Then tell me. What kind of crazy thing did you do to me?”
<Crazy thing? My king, please don’t use such frightening words.>
“Then what else would you call it?”
<Well…>
Unable to find an excuse, Blanche rolled his eyes away, avoiding my gaze.
<It wasn’t on purpose! I just got too excited after eating a rare treat…>
“So in your excitement you decided to kill me?”
<Nonsense!>
Blanche jumped as if struck by lightning.
<How could I ever kill my king?!>
But this wasn’t just about him drinking too much blood.
‘If it were only that, I’d have just fainted from blood loss.’
Instead, the magic inside me went berserk. That meant his magic had interfered.
<While I was drinking, I accidentally let some of my magic flow into you… I was shocked too.>
He muttered weakly, sounding utterly dejected.
Blanche was terrible at lying, so it didn’t seem like an excuse.
‘Normally I could’ve resisted foreign magic easily…’
But with my strength drained from the blood loss, I’d taken the full hit.
“Blanche, from now on, no more blood. Agreed?”
<But if you just make a small cut and give me a little bit—>
“Blanche?”
I glared at him and called his name in warning. Blanche immediately caved and changed his tune.
<A wise decision! No more blood! What special meals? A true demon should live on his regular diet!>
“Good. Since you’re reflecting on it, I’ll forgive you this time.”
At least I didn’t die, and thanks to this, I even met Lien—the man who insists he isn’t my master.
‘So in the end… maybe it wasn’t all bad?’
Still, I’d rather never go through it again.
“Now stay quiet and lay low for a while. Consider it your reflection period.”
<Understood, my king.>
“You know if you cause trouble during this time, the punishment will be worse, right?”
I deliberately lowered my voice to a dark, ominous whisper near his ear.
“If you cause another incident…”
<If I do…?>
“I’ll send you back to that doctor.”
<Eek!>
At my words, Blanche’s feathers went pale as if all color had drained from them.
I’d only used Lien as a bluff because Blanche seemed scared of him—but seeing that reaction made me genuinely curious.
‘Seriously… what on earth did Lien do to make him like this?’
After sending Blanche away, I resumed heading toward my original destination.
“Danae!”
Without warning, I appeared in her room. Miri, who had been delighted to see me, quickly glanced nervously behind me.
“What’s wrong?”
“That man isn’t with you, right?”
“That man?”
“The one who calls himself a doctor!”
“Lien?”
“Yeah, that’s the name.”
“Well, he’s not here…”
At my answer, Miri visibly relaxed and let out a deep sigh.
“Did something happen between you and Lien?”
Miri’s eyes widened in disbelief, as if she couldn’t understand how I could even ask that.
“Danae, aren’t you scared of him?”
“Not really?”
He was irritating for denying being my master, sure—but he wasn’t scary.
‘Maybe it’s because he acts so stiff?’
But Miri didn’t seem like the kind of person who’d call that scary.
‘Besides, her ears are trembling…’
That was definitely the reaction of someone who was afraid.
“It’s weird. Just looking into his eyes makes me tremble. I can’t even stand being in the same room.”
“Really?”
“I’m serious! When I heard you’d been calling him over lately, I couldn’t even go near your room.”
“Oh, I’ve stopped that now. So you can come by anytime.”
“Really? Thank goodness.”
Miri sighed in relief, then looked curiously at the shiny envelope I was holding.
“But what’s with that flashy envelope? It’s practically glowing.”
“Oh, this?”
I briefly explained the situation.
That the prince I’d met in the capital had a birthday coming up, and I was trying to think of a gift to send him.
“I see. Hmm, a prince probably already has everything, huh?”
“Right? So I want to give him something memorable.”
“How about something that can only be found in the north? The royal family lives in the south, so he might find something from here interesting.”
“Something unique to the north, huh…”
That was actually a good idea.
I’d have to think about what exactly fit that description, though.
“Oh, speaking of birthdays—when’s yours, Danae?”
“My birthday?”
“Yeah! Friends should know each other’s birthdays. That’s rule number 12 of the friendship code.”
“I’ve always wondered—how many rules are there in this friendship code of yours?”
“Right now there are forty-three. I’m still adding more, so there’ll be even more in the future.”
Forty-three already, and counting.
“Being a true friend isn’t easy, huh.”
“That’s what makes it precious.”
Miri lifted her chin proudly and patted my shoulder.
“So, when’s your birthday? Mine’s in the summer—June 3rd.”
“Unfortunately, mine’s already passed that season. It’s around the time autumn turns to winter.”
“Autumn to winter? That means… about now?”
“Yeah. My birthday’s in November—”
‘Wait.’
I stopped mid-sentence as a realization hit me. My mouth fell open.
‘Wait, my birthday…’
“It’s about a week away, I think?”
“…What? A week away? Your birthday?”
Miri frowned in disbelief, staring at me.
“I did the math. I guess I completely forgot after being sick for so long—I lost track of time.”
“So you’re not joking?”
“Yeah. Looks like my birthday’s in a week.”
“What?!”
Miri screamed so loudly that it made the winter mansion tremble.
