She swung the door open, stepped aside, and only followed us in after we had entered.
Her steps, as she walked past us and forward, were light, fully expressing her excitement.
Unlike her fast, short steps, Klen and I followed slowly behind.
Reaching her destination across the room, Linda turned back and smiled gently.
“How is it?”
Right in front of the large window was a white, milky ceramic pot.
A tree was growing in the pot, which was more elegant than flashy, and it was slightly taller than me.
Resting between the well-arranged leaves and branches was clearly a birdhouse.
The birdhouse, woven with branches, looked a little clumsy compared to one made by an ordinary bird; it was clearly the work of a human.
And two small bowls, seemingly placed specifically for the bird, occupied a spot quite stably between the branches.
One contained fresh water.
The other contained various grains that hadn’t captured the bird’s palate.
Linda’s face was filled with pride as she watched me observe it carefully.
‘Better than I expected.’
There was no sign of a metal cage, as if it perfectly reflected my opinion of letting it come and go as it pleased.
[Hoo-hoo~ The houses of those who live with humans are not much different from ours.]
The bird, which had been sitting quietly on my shoulder, lightly bounced in place, seemingly interested in its new home.
‘That’s not the case.’
This creature would never go into a cage, probably.
The small bird tilted its head a few times, then hopped onto a branch and began to inspect the items one by one.
Like an ordinary bird, it took a sip of water and quickly pecked at the bird feed.
Finally, reaching the front of the house, it gripped the entrance tightly with its tiny feet and peered inside.
“……”
The three of us watched the scene, holding our breath.
The slight movement of its small head was cute, yet a strange tension flowed through the air.
And when it finally slipped inside, the strength drained from all three of our shoulders, and they visibly drooped.
[Hmm hmm. Well done. It’s not as good as my home in the forest, but… it’s not bad skill.]
Even though it spoke like that, it seemed quite pleased, settling in and preening its feathers.
“It seems to like it.”
“I think so.”
“But isn’t it positioned right where it can be seen from the bed?”
“Oh.”
I turned my head at Klen’s remark.
It was certainly positioned right in front, visible even if I only raised my upper body.
But wouldn’t it be visible no matter where it was placed, unless it was behind furniture?
“Don’t worry about that.”
Linda confidently stepped forward and drew the curtain across the window.
The slightly heavy curtain draped naturally between the branches that extended sideways, covering the area above it.
Although the spot where the tree stood bulged out awkwardly, it wasn’t unsightly, and the bird was quiet, indicating it wasn’t affected either.
And when she drew the curtain back, the bird was sitting in the house, peeking its head out and looking this way.
“Hmm. But isn’t the opposite side better than this?”
“What are you saying, Lord Klen. Near the window will be good for the bird too.”
“But wouldn’t Adrian be embarrassed to have her sleeping appearance seen?”
With words that were hard to tell whether they were acting or genuine, Klen continued to complain to her.
[Don’t worry. Surely I wouldn’t interfere with the relationship between partners.]
“……”
This bird was tiny and cute in appearance, but it was a Divine Beast that had lived for hundreds or thousands of years.
Since it wasn’t an ordinary bird, its gaze might be uncomfortable.
But there was a phrase that had been bothering me for a while.
How in the world did this creature know that Klen was my partner?
Had I ever said such a thing?
I first glanced at the two people.
Linda was neatly arranging the curtain and tying it with a cord, and Klen, standing next to her, was pouting and grumbling, capitalizing on his acting skills.
Taking advantage of that moment, I quickly asked the bird.
“How did you know I married Klen? I don’t think I told you.”
[If you make marriage vows in a place like that, wouldn’t I naturally know?]
“What?”
[For marriage vows, there must be witnesses besides the couple. Don’t worry; we properly confirmed it~]
Without realizing that I had frozen in place, the bird puffed out its chest and lifted its head.
I had thought there might be Divine Beasts or Spirits around at that time.
But I had only ignored it because they were invisible.
They were truly there, then.
Especially this bird, I thought it had followed the Elder.
Did it come back because it was worried about me?
The thought of doing such a thing in front of multiple Divine Beasts made my face heat up.
I held my head.
And after slightly running my hand through my hair, I looked up.
“Right. You, you saw it?”
As I reached out my hand toward it, the bird flew up, as if its sensitive animal instinct had kicked in.
And after quickly circling above my head, it unexpectedly landed on Linda’s shoulder.
“Oh my.”
A bright smile appeared on her face as she turned her head toward her shoulder.
And Klen, watching from beside her, immediately turned his head toward me.
For a Divine Beast to suddenly leave its master’s side and go to someone else’s shoulder was strange indeed.
“What’s the matter?”
“……It seems to be grateful that you prepared a home for it.”
[I felt my life was in danger!]
“Is that so? Hehe.”
“……”
Linda approached again with short steps and picked out a large seed from the bowl of bird feed, extending it toward the creature.
At that, the creature looked at it cautiously, pretending to be wary, then quickly pecked and ate the seed.
Linda, who was looking at the sight with satisfaction, looked at me and asked.
“By the way, what is its name?”
“……Huh?”
“Have you not decided on a name yet?”
Did Divine Beasts have names?
Hugo just called his Divine Beast Pegasus.
“Name?”
I asked softly, repeating Linda’s word, but my gaze was directed at the bird.
It was a question for the creature. If it had a name.
[Unlike humans, we have no problem communicating even without such a thing. However… I won’t stop you if you insist on giving me one.]
Cheep, cheep!
Yet, it cried out brightly, as if anticipating it.
“……”
“Do you not have one in mind?”
It was a sudden situation, so I quickly rolled my eyes.
I suppose I could give it a name.
Was there a decent name?
Unlike with Ebony, nothing immediately came to mind.
My rolling eyes looked at Klen, then slowly stopped at the bird.
“……Aren?”
“Aren… is that right?”
“Hmm.”
Linda smiled with an ambiguous expression, and Klen looked at me as if thinking seriously.
“Did you perhaps take one letter from your name and mine?”
“Ahem.”
I swallowed the cough that was about to pop out and turned my head.
My cheeks, which had been flushed earlier, now seemed to burn with even more heat.
No, why did he figure it out so quickly?
And shouldn’t he pretend not to know such things, even if he did?
“Oh my. But I think it’s better than CleAn, or RenAh, or RenLy.”
Linda helped me with a small laugh, but the feeling of being teased was stronger.
“If you don’t like it…”
[Good! I like it!]
