Chapter 23
Three dogs—and that.
“A… sparrow?”
In the tidy room, a small sparrow was sitting quietly on the windowsill. For a moment, I wondered if it was outside, but after looking more closely, it was definitely inside the room.
“How did a sparrow get in here? Wait, more importantly—where did the Duke go?”
No matter where I looked, the Duke of Calix was nowhere to be found. Not on the bed, not under it, not inside or outside the wardrobe.
As I was busy searching the room, the sparrow suddenly fluttered over to me.
I cautiously held out my finger, and the sparrow landed on it lightly.
“Chirp chirp.”
“Uh… hello, little sparrow?”
“Chirp.”
What was with this bird?
“Woof woof! (That bird is the master!)”
“…….”
What?
Did I just hear that?
“Do I need to clean my ears or something?”
“Woof woof! (I said, that bird is the master!)”
I tilted my head and rubbed my ears—then Luca barked again.
“This sparrow is the Duke?”
“Woof! (Yup!)”
“…….”
That can’t be. Am I dreaming right now?
“Ugh, maybe I slept badly last night. I must be out of it. I’ll come back later.”
I placed the sparrow gently on the table.
Looking around, I noticed a small door at the bottom of the main door—probably a pet door, for the dogs to go in and out for meals or bathroom breaks.
“Luca, I’ll come back later.”
“Woof? (You’re leaving?)”
“See you in a bit.”
Leaving behind the three dogs and the sparrow, I stepped out of the room.
Still drowsy from lack of sleep, it was hard to fully accept what I had seen in the Duke’s room.
“I’ll sleep on it and think again later.”
There had been no strange incidents during the night, and now it was daytime—so at least I didn’t have to worry about ghosts. I decided to get some rest.
After a long nap, the sun was already dipping past the mountains.
“Ah, I slept too long.”
I went down to the butler to get something to eat to satisfy my hunger, then headed back to the Duke’s room.
What if it was just the sparrow again? Could what Luca said be true?
I knocked on the Duke’s door, but like in the morning, there was no response.
“I’m coming in.”
In the end, it was the same situation as before, except the room was slightly more disorganized.
“Sigh…”
So I’m supposed to believe this? That the Duke of Calix turned into a sparrow?
Come to think of it, it’s not that unbelievable. After all, I’m a transmigrator, and I can understand dogs, like Luca.
“Are you really the Duke?”
“Chirp!”
The sparrow—no, the Duke—fluttered over to me and chirped, opening its little beak. The unexpected cuteness threw me off.
“How long will you be like this?”
“Chirp chirp!”
Hmm… I can’t understand that language. And it didn’t seem like Luca could either.
“Yap yap! (There’s paper here!)”
Tofu barked, pointing his nose at a shelf.
“Oh, thanks.”
I grabbed some paper and ink from the shelf and laid them on the table.
“Could you stamp some numbers using your feet?”
“Chirp!”
As I opened the ink cap, the sparrow dipped a little foot into it and pulled it out again.
Yup, definitely not a normal bird. No way an ordinary sparrow would understand human language.
Soon, the Duke-in-sparrow-form started hopping across the paper, leaving behind tiny three-pronged footprints—shaped into numbers and letters.
“One week?”
Not super long, but not short either.
That was about how long the Duke had been said to be away on convalescence.
“I have a lot of questions, but it must be hard to answer them like this, right?”
“Chirp!”
It had already taken him a while just to stamp out the return time, so I didn’t want to overwork him. He did look a bit tired already.
“So you’ll stay like this for a week? Will you go back to the duke’s manor afterward?”
“Chirp chirp, chirp, chirp!”
Yeah, I still have no idea what he’s saying. Maybe…
“Should I take Luca, Tofu, and Black out for a walk? I don’t really have anything to do here anyway.”
“Chirp chirp!”
“Woof woof! (I love walks!)”
“Yap yap! (Walk time, walk time!)”
“Bark! (Walk!)”
Excited by the word “walk,” the dogs all rushed over to me.
“Alright, alright. Let me get ready and we’ll head out. I’ll grab my coat.”
“Woof! (Okay!)”
“Yap yap yap! (Hurry back!)”
As I opened the door to leave, the sparrow flew after me.
“Duke? Are you coming too?”
“Chirp!”
“….”
What exactly is going through his mind right now?
I was dying to know, but I had no way of finding out. Still, I was grateful that I could at least talk to the dogs—otherwise, I’d be terribly lonely.
“Alright, let’s all go together.”
“Woof woof! (Walk!)”
In the end, we all poured out of the Duke’s room in a group. I quickly threw on my coat and headed out for a walk with the three dogs and one sparrow.
“It’s pretty cold today. We should keep it short and head back.”
“Chirp!”
To my surprise—or relief—the Duke was quite responsive as a sparrow. It was oddly endearing and a little pathetic at the same time.
“But are you really going to stay on my shoulder the whole time?”
“Chirp chirp!”
This was the real issue: Duke Calix, in sparrow form, had perched himself on my shoulder and didn’t seem interested in coming down.
He could fly, but apparently, even that was too much trouble. Was I really being used as a means of transport?
Well… the pay was good, and the sparrow was cute, so I let it slide.
After a short walk and giving the dogs a voluntary bath, exhaustion hit me.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. I’m heading to bed.”
“Chirp!”
Pretending it was just a polite goodbye, I shamelessly gave the dogs a ton of pets before heading to my room. Though, Black almost bit me—when would that dog ever open up?
But the thoughts didn’t last long. My tired body quickly fell into deep sleep.
It was the beginning of a strange kind of cohabitation.
***
A week later—the day the Duke was supposed to return to normal.
I carefully opened the door to Duke Calix’s room.
Inside, the Duke had returned to his original form and was feeding treats to the dogs.
“Your Grace!”
“Lady Elena, thank you for everything.”
He greeted me with the kindest smile I had ever seen from him.
I felt genuinely glad to see him back in his original form.
“Really…”
I had so much to say, but the words tangled up and refused to come out.
“Take your time. We have plenty of it.”
“Then… um, are you heading straight back to the ducal manor?”
“There’s no rush. Why don’t we go tomorrow?”
“I don’t mind.”
“Then let’s rest today and leave tomorrow.”
“Okay.”
Though he clearly had the authority to decide, he still asked for my opinion. That was the moment I realized his kindness wasn’t just an act.
So the Duke really wasn’t a murderer after all.
I had no choice but to let go of my suspicions. It was shocking to realize he’d been falsely accused and died unjustly in the original story. After all, how could anyone commit murder in sparrow form?
But then… who was the real killer?
It only became more confusing. The bigger problem was that the real culprit was still alive—and probably still active.
Proving Duke Calix’s innocence didn’t mean everything was resolved.
More importantly, I still didn’t know if I’d managed to escape the “victim route.”
Some details like witnesses and timing may have changed slightly, but no victim had ever been replaced yet. Which meant… I was still fated to die.
“Lady Elena? You seem deep in thought.”
“Oh, just a little…”
The Duke stood up after giving the dogs their treats, still smiling warmly.
“If you’re tired, would you like to rest more in your room? I can take the dogs out for their walk today.”
“No, let’s go together. I like walks too.”
“…Alright then. Let’s go together.”
Even though he had proven he wasn’t a killer, I still couldn’t bring myself to share everything with Duke Calix. We weren’t that close—just a noble and his hired help, or maybe a slightly friendly doctor and patient.
So I stayed quiet as I walked, and the Duke didn’t press me.
In the silence, our walk continued.
