Special thanks to all patrons~
[Casual Supporter: Michelle, Riley R, Christiine G, Diego R, mjkj, SkVt, Serenia, Dr. Gaylord [Oskar], Katrion, Doug]
[Original Mania Level 1: Sami, Ayesha, Lop, arcara]
[Original Mania Level 2: Asuran, Paco, Goddess_hera, Kathy V, DJay, MagicEagle, Venalitor, TheVekmok, Sean D, Graeme K, N0VERCL0CKER]
[Original Mania Level 3: William C, blizgerg, John D, Alice A]
[Original Mania Level 5: Andrew M, sch, ExorcistBirb, Katherine]
[Double Degree Level 2: Christopher]
[Double Degree Level 3: Browser]
[Library Owner: Kiradien]
Chapter 33
Birdcage
On the first night Birdie became Ann’s contracted beast, it slipped Ann’s mind to start accommodating for Birdie. She scratched her head in confusion as she said with a shrug, “Well, I guess you can go sleep anywhere you like to.”
“Chirp chirp~,” Birdie said with an affirmative tone as she plumped towards one of the pillows on Ann’s bed.
“EH?!” Ann widened her eyes in disbelief, “Are you sure you’re going to sleep there?”
“Chirp~,” Birdie rolled to the left and right.
Faye’s jaws were opened wide. She couldn’t believe how insolent this Birdie was! To choose to sleep next to Arlea-sama’s side?! Ever since getting her own bed in the maids’ quarter, Faye never slept with Arlea anymore…She felt…jealous.
“But what if I accidentally crush you under my body?” Ann was really concerned.
“Chirppppp,” Birdie refused to move from the bed.
“Arlea-sama, what about letting Birdie sleep with me?” Faye asked. She would rather have this mistress-thief sleep with her than letting her sleep with Arlea-sama! If she couldn’t sleep with Arlea-sama, then this birdie couldn’t too! Hmph!
“I mean, it would be troublesome if she were to dirty your bed…,” Faye inserted an argument.
“That’s true. But would you be—”
“I’ll be fine. It’s a maid’s duty to let their masters live well. My bed is easier to clean than yours,” Faye cut off Ann’s words.
“Okay then…Birdie, you go sleep with Faye for today,” Ann said as she nudged Birdie. But Birdie held on to the pillow very tightly. Ann tried to lift Birdie, but somehow Birdie was so strong that she was clinging on the pillow and the bed.
Ann sighed. It couldn’t be helped, then.
“Sure, you can sleep with me but don’t dirty the bed. There’s toilet over there if you need it. I’m sure you’re intelligent enough to understand me, right?” Ann asked.
“Chiii,” Birdie growled as if she protested that Ann even questioned her intelligence.
“Alright then. It won’t be my responsibility if you were injured due to sleeping with me…got it?” Ann tried to threaten Birdie, but it didn’t work. Ann knew that she might not be able to remain still in her sleep, thus she was genuinely concerned over Birdie’s wellbeing. But if Birdie insisted, then she got no other choice.
Thus, Birdie slept comfortably next to Ann, while Faye returned to her own bed, heartbroken…
The next morning, Ann woke up seeing the cute little pink birdie sleeping so soundly next to her. Ann smiled reflexively from this relaxing spectacle. She used her index finger to nudge Birdie softly.
“Wake up, Little Birdie! Rise and shine~,” Ann said.
“Ch…chirrrp?” Birdie slowly opened her eyes and got up from her sleep.
‘KYAA—ADORABLE!’ Ann’s heart almost exploded. She didn’t expect to be so happy for having Birdie sleep next to her. She thought that she wouldn’t be able to sleep well and would wake up worried over crushing Birdie or if Birdie made a mess…Guess what? None of that happened.
Ann softly patted Birdie to make sure Birdie was completely sober. Faye arrived at this display of affection that caused her heart to burn with jealousy. But she kept herself restrained for she believed that Birdie would get her own place to rest and reside soon. It was no biggie~!
Faye’s guess was right, as in the morning, after Ann took a bath and got changed…
“Ah, that’s right, can I go outside again to search for a birdcage for Birdie?” Ann asked. Incidentally, Ann and Allen were having their breakfast together today.
“…Why don’t we invite a craftsman here to make the birdcage?” Allen suggested.
“HUH, WE CAN DO THAT?!” Ann was very surprised she almost choked on her food. If Simone were here, she would already say, “Minus xxx point.”
Allen was surprised by Ann’s unladylike behavior, but for some reason, he wasn’t repulsed by it, neither did he hate it. He thought that it was amusing.
“Yes. I’ll call a craftsman I know so you can make an arrangement with him later,” Allen said.
“Thank you so much!” Ann was excited. Having something personally made for her (her contracted beast, to be more exact) was akin to a luxury to her. As a modern person, she was more used to have things ready made. The most she had done in the modern world was to commission some arts and had her name written on a necklace. But now, something physical was going to be made from the scratch as per her request!
For some reason, Allen’s mood was lifted up.
Allen then asked one of his subordinates to request for the said craftsman to come to his residence that afternoon. He hesitated a bit when his mind told him to tell the craftsman to agree only for a comfortable birdcage to be made. If Arlea were to request something that could inconvenience Birdie, the craftsman had to refuse.
Allen hesitated because for some reason, he didn’t feel like it was necessary to do that. Still, his mind triumphed over his feelings as he made sure his subordinate conveyed this message to the craftsman.
The craftsman never met with Arlea before, and he wasn’t someone who had heard any rumors about her. Therefore, upon receiving the instruction, he furrowed his eyebrows and stroked his moustache. That instruction implied that this woman he was supposed to work for—she might think of the bird only as an ornament and might disregard the bird’s comfortability in the cage. That was definitely an awful first impression.
The craftsman sighed. A job was still a job, after all. He had the permission from the master of the said residence to decline if the request was too absurd. Nothing could go wrong.
Thus, that afternoon, the craftsman arrived in the Schwartzen residence.
When Ann welcomed him, Ann was surprised to see that the craftsman wasn’t as she imagined. She imagined a robust and muscular man, a rough and a bright young man to arrive. But what arrived was an elderly man with a moustache that formed the curved “w” letter. He had slanted eyes that reminded her of a fox. Then, those eyes were covered by glasses. The man’s build was slender and…totally betrayed her expectation of a craftsman.
But if Allen recommended him, then he must be good.
“Greetings, Lady Schwartzen. How may I help you with the birdcage you desire?” The man said politely as he bowed. Ann blinked her eyes in surprise. It seemed that this craftsman was so adept in etiquette towards nobles. The man must have been working for so many nobles in his life. Ann felt a little bit unconfident with her progress in noble etiquette…
“Ah yes, thank you for coming, Mister…”
“You may call me Hugh.”
“Mister Hugh! Thank you for coming. You see this cute Little Pinkie Birdie?” Ann asked as she pointed at the small bird perched on her shoulder.
Hugh adjusted his glasses and seemed to widen his eyes slightly as he said, “Why, yes, I see.”
The bird’s name is Pinkie Birdie?? It was so true to its name.
“She’s cute and adorable. She’s small, but I’d like to have a big cage made for her to live comfortably. It has to be so spacious she could fly around. Then, make sure to have a good bedding for her…Oh, also for the food and drink place, it had to be cute and good too—then…Ah, why not make a mini castle for her?!” Ann asked with sparkling eyes. She didn’t hold back at all and considered it her satisfaction to have a mini castle be made as Birdie’s cage. She would own the gorgeous cage, after all!
She wasn’t stingy at all in the first place for things like this. Also, she didn’t need to mind about the fee since Allen told her that he would be paying!
While she wanted not to become a spendthrift, she remembered that she would die soon, so she decided to just go all out to fulfill her desire. Thankfully, she wasn’t a spendthrift in the first place.
Hugh froze on the spot.
This was truly the epitome of unlimited budget works.
Hugh’s mouth twitched as he asked, “A…a mini castle cage?”
“Yes, yes! Don’t you think it will be a great idea? Birdie is a female, so make it cute too,” Ann said.
“This…” was beyond his expectations.
“What’s wrong, Mister Hugh? Could it be that my idea won’t be good? If yes, then just make me a great and cute huge cage…Ah, will it be okay for Birdie to be in that huge cage? Just make it comfortable if having a huge one is bad for her,” Ann quickly added.
Hugh understood now. This lady was a bit bizarre in her request. The husband was afraid that the wife’s request would be too bizarre that the bird would be inconvenienced living there. Thankfully, the lady was actually kind and didn’t forget the bird’s comfortability. The husband might be afraid that the wife forgot about it and reminded him to let her know!
Hugh’s impressions of Ann soared—yet at the same time it soared towards the ‘good weirdo’ category.
“No, it will be alright. I will work on it quickly,” Hugh said.
“When will it be finished?”
“I can deliver it to you tomorrow afternoon.”
“What?! That fast?!” Ann almost popped her eyes out of their sockets.
“Yes…I have a whole team working under me, and we’re also saved by the fact that some of us can use magic to help with the production. No need to worry about the quality drop, as I’ll ensure it to have a good quality,” Hugh said.
“…”
Ann thought Hugh was working alone…and it completely slipped her mind that magic existed in this world and it could help chores tremendously.
Thus, Ann was very excited the whole day until the next day’s afternoon. She let Birdie stay next to her again that day, and Faye tried her best to be patient and kept convincing herself that tomorrow, her anguish would be over.
The next day’s afternoon, Hugh arrived with his subordinates to bring the huge birdcage over to the Schwartzen residence. The maids who saw the cage being transported all felt like their eyes would pop out of their sockets.
That day, they learned that their ‘new’ mistress was a huge fan and pamperer of birds.
Arlea-sama is a bird person!!
The birdcage was so huge that two workers had to move it together. Hugh led the way to report to Ann first. Ann immediately showed the way to the workers—she decided to put the birdcage in her room’s living room. It seemed to be the perfect place to put it.
After the workers put the birdcage there, the workers and Hugh opened the cloth covering the birdcage, revealing an elegant white mini castle birdcage to Ann, Faye, and Birdie. The birdcage had beautiful and comfortable bedding resembling a real noble bed, the feeding section, the playground, and even the toilet section. It was a perfect bird castle.
Ann was so satisfied with the end result and complimented Hugh and the workers. Since their client was happy and satisfied, Hugh and his subordinates excused themselves from the room and returned.
Now only one human, one bird halfling, and one bird monster left in the room.
Ann opened the bird castle’s door happily and said to Birdie, “Tadaaa, Birdie! It’s your new castle-home! How do you like it? Don’t worry, the door will be opened so you can still go out whenever you’d like to. But now, you don’t need to follow me around and can have fun and rest alone~”
Ann turned to look at Birdie with anticipation in her eyes. She was waiting for Birdie’s excited response…
Birdie stared at Ann then at the bird castle next to her that was built just for Birdie…
Ann held her breath in anticipation.
I think she will still stay with her in the bed.