Episode 12
The Yeriel Trading Company’s abilities were truly astounding.
The magical potion used for siren stationery was not only expensive, but also quite difficult to obtain. It was one of the potion-class items directly managed by the Imperial Palace because of the potential for illegal misuse.
But they managed to get that siren potion for me in just one day.
As I spread the potion carefully over the freshly dried, crisp sheets of stationery, I murmured to myself:
“I’m already in direct contact with the head of the Yeriel Firm. The Gruan Trading Company is going to grow enormous.”
And Celtroon must have sensed it too.
That must be why he places such boundless trust in me.
Susan quietly watched me—this child who acted as though I already knew the future.
Her eyes seemed to say, *“It’s so strange. It’s like the world and circumstances move exactly according to the young lady’s thoughts.”*
I decided it was time to clear up any suspicion she might have.
In the romance-fantasy novels the *former me* had read, maids never questioned a regressed heroine even if she suddenly changed. They’d just be happy—*“Our lady has become different!”*—and accept it. But a nanny who had been with me since birth might feel differently.
She might be feeling a sense of incongruity at my sudden change. I should cover it up with something a child might plausibly say.
With that thought, I turned to Susan and spoke.
“Hey, Susan.”
“Yes, my lady?”
“Do you want to hear a secret?”
“A… a secret?”
“Yeah. You know, I have an angel.”
“……Pardon?”
Like a child excited to tell a fun story, I covered my mouth and giggled.
“I have a guardian angel. And my angel tells me everything I need to do.”
Susan blinked in bewilderment. Then she smiled warmly.
*‘Sometimes she acts so mature, but she really is still just a child.’*
Her expression said, *“A guardian angel, all of a sudden?”*—but in an affectionate way. But the truth was, I did have one. My guardian angel was the *me* who had read this book in my previous life, as well as the pre-execution, pre-regression Lathia.
As long as my divine favor remained, I was confident I would never fail in this life.
And then—
“Pip, p-pirrk… pirrr… peek!”
A familiar bird cry broke off as though in a seizure. Startled, I turned my head—and saw it.
“Huh? That bird…!”
The baby bird Susan and I had cared for so sincerely lay on its side, foaming at the beak and fainted.
—
The fainted bird’s true name was *“He Who Has Obtained Forbidden Knowledge, Herald of the High Heavens, and Merciful to All Wanderers.”*
The main god said the name was too long and shortened it to “Geum-ja”—taking the first and last syllables. And Geum-ja was a guardian angel.
More precisely, a high-ranking guardian angel in training to become a god.
Guardian angels received names listing the abilities they possessed.
So in Geum-ja’s case:
1. **He has forbidden knowledge.**
Meaning: he possesses knowledge not of this world.
2. **He is a herald of the high heavens.**
As a herald, he can hear the words of the gods—and convey them.
3. **He is merciful to all wanderers.**
Meaning he compassionately looks after those who stray.
So in short, Geum-ja was a smart guardian angel who could draw on divine powers and was compassionate toward wanderers.
Once a guardian angel gained four abilities, they would qualify for the examination to become a god. The method of acquiring abilities was simple yet difficult: they had to help a child blossom with talent.
Guardian angels could discern a child’s innate potential. That was why Geum-ja chose Lathia—because she had the budding makings of a great merchant lord.
Previously, Geum-ja had been spying on Lathia to check whether she was a good child and got injured. Lathia took him in and cared for him with great sincerity. Just as Geum-ja was thinking that such a kind child was worthy to accompany…
*“Lathia began tormenting Karsian.”*
Disappointed, he left her. A guardian angel, being an *angel*, could only remain with a child who was kindhearted.
*But recently… something felt different.*
Lathia’s heart held only pure goodness now. Occasionally he sensed “desire,” but it was only the desire for survival—not malice. So he had been watching her, curious about what had changed.
And then he heard a shocking statement:
“Yeah. I have an angel with me.”
Geum-ja doubted his ears. He scrubbed the sides of his head with his folded wings where ears might have been. But no matter how much he scrubbed, Lathia’s meaning was unmistakable:
“I have a guardian angel. And they tell me everything I should do.”
It meant she had discovered his identity!
Unthinkingly, Geum-ja thought:
*I’m doomed.*
For if a guardian angel was discovered, they had to abandon the child and start all over again from the beginning with a new one.
*All the work I’ve done until now—gone…!*
Realizing this, Geum-ja fainted from shock.
“Pip, piprrk… pirrr… peek!”
*Damn it. When do I have to go through that all over again!?*
Roughly that was the meaning.
—
Susan placed a small hot-water bottle beside the unconscious Geum-ja and said worriedly:
“I was worried because he had disappeared, and now he shows up sick again…”
Lathia rested her chin on her hand and looked at the limp bird.
“How can something so pretty and fragile survive in the wild?”
She suddenly thought she resembled the tiny bird.
*I was weak too—and that’s why I died so helplessly in my previous life.*
She still had nightmares of her neck being severed.
*I don’t want that to happen this time, but… it’s exhausting to stay tense all the time.*
Yet she couldn’t just relax either—she had no guardian strong enough to protect her.
*There’s no adult by my side with the ability to protect me… the way I picked up this little bird and sheltered it.*
She felt sorry to admit it, but it was true. Susan could never defy the marquis.
Lathia gently stroked the feverish bird’s head.
“You have to keep your guard up. Otherwise you’ll get swallowed whole.”
Sensing Lathia’s gloom, Susan tried to brighten the mood.
“Why don’t you give him a name, my lady?”
“A name?”
“Yes. It looks like we’ll be caring for him again for a while. We didn’t get to name him last time.”
“Mm… that’s true. We just called him ‘baby bird.’”
And he always seemed offended whenever they said “baby bird.” As if thinking, *“I have a name, you know!”*
*I don’t know what that real name is… but giving a new one isn’t hard.*
Lathia thought for a while.
“Pirr… pirrr…”
Geum-ja groaned like someone unfairly wronged. Hearing the chirping sounds, Lathia’s eyes sparkled.
“Piro-ri.”
“Piro-ri?”
“Yeah. He goes pirrr, pirri when he chirps.”
Dogs bark “woof-woof,” cats go “meow,” so she said birds should be named “Piro-ri.”
*Wouldn’t “Chirp-chirp” make more sense…?* Susan thought, but Lathia’s childish reasoning was so cute that she couldn’t help but chuckle.
Meanwhile, as soon as she named him, an invisible divine mark spelling “Piro-ri” appeared on Geum-ja’s body. Neither Lathia nor Susan could see it, being in the language of the gods. Thus Geum-ja became “Piro-ri.”
Even if he was a high guardian angel on the verge of ascending to godhood—if the child he chose called him Piro-ri, then Piro-ri he was.
—
“Hello, Piro-ri.”
I greeted the barely conscious Piro-ri softly. He looked around, then stared at me quizzically upon hearing his new name.
*Piro-ri? …Me?*
He seemed to be thinking exactly that.
I marveled to myself.
Amazing—I can read a bird’s expressions… Hmm, should I try going to a gambling den?
If I had mind-reading abilities like this, I might even see through veteran gamblers’ poker faces.
Maybe I should become the empire’s greatest gambler. That would earn money much faster than slowly growing a trading company…
I was thinking that with Piro-ri in front of me when—
“Peek!”
Piro-ri, who had been looking around normally, suddenly let out a pained cry and collapsed face-first.
“Piro-ri?”
“P-peek… peekk, peek…”
Startled, I placed my hand over his tiny body.
“Oh my gosh! You have a fever!”
“Peek, peekk…”
Eyes squeezed shut, panting, Piro-ri wrapped his wings around my hand. Then he opened his eyes just a sliver and looked at me.
*You must not. You mustn’t do bad things.*
It made no sense, but that expression… was exactly like an adult scolding a child.
Not do bad things… Wait—could it be… because I thought about gambling?
Unsure, I whispered experimentally:
“I’m going to become the greatest gambler in the world.”
“PEEK…!”
“…A-and then I’ll use my gambling money to do something really bad.”
“PEEKK!!”
Piro-ri froze in horror—then went limp.
“Piro-ri!”
I panicked and checked him. His feverish body wasn’t moving at all, as if he had fainted again. I must have been right.
“Oh no… I’m sorry. I won’t think things like that again.”
I placed my hand gently on the wilted Piro-ri and apologized.
“Oh my, did Piro-ri wake up?”
Just then, Susan returned with breakfast.
“He did, but he fainted again…”
“What? Piro-ri fainted?”
Susan quickly set down the tray and rushed over.
“Oh dear, the fever is terrible. Why suddenly like this?”
As Susan dripped water into Piro-ri’s beak, I mumbled:
“I… I had a bad thought.”
