A Long Day
The roundup ended quickly.
The woman who saw us burst in at the start trembled all over, and even when I said “It’s all right,” she only kept shaking.
Then Til, who was perched on my shoulder, hopped onto the woman’s and said, “Ree, ree, kidnapped, kidnapped.”
“Lulu…?” she whispered.
“I’m Lulu.”
“Lulu…”
She held Til tight.
After a little while, I asked, “Have you calmed down a bit?”
“All the guards on the lower floor have been captured, so you can rest easy. I’m Reinhardt Westland, the lord’s son.”
“The lord’s…”
“Yes. So please don’t worry.”
“Thank you… thank you.”
She must have been under extreme tension, so after I cast healing, her expression softened.
“May I have your name?”
She was Miss Rena, the daughter of Fleur Flower Shop.
“Fleur Flower Shop… The one that won first place in the souvenir division of the crafts category at the exhibition?”
“Yes, that’s us.”
I thought I should escort her home, but the shop might be under surveillance.
Are the other firms putting pressure even on the souvenir division?
I told her we’d head to the estate instead of her house, and she agreed.
In the carriage, when I asked, “You’re not suspicious of me?” she said anyone would know I’m Young Master Reinhardt.
According to her, she was scooped up while shopping, then confined in that manor. The room she was imprisoned in had only a small window. Lulu wasn’t caught with her; when she realized it, Lulu was outside the little window, and apparently slipped in from the outside, so the guards never noticed.
She’d been praying that she could teach Lulu enough words so Lulu could convey something to her family.
I explained how I had found Lulu and how I’d guessed along the way that “Ree” might be referring to her owner.
“So Lulu was taken to an animal shop after getting lost? But thanks to that, Young Master Reinhardt saved me. It’s all thanks to Lulu.”
Miss Rena held Lulu in her arms, stroking her gently.
When we reached the estate, I left her in the care of a maid and went to report to my family.
“I didn’t expect there to be victims even in the crafts division.”
“We should protect Miss Rena’s parents and family tomorrow.”
I’ll leave that to them.
I’m exhausted.
It’s been a long day with far too much happening.
The next morning, when I went to check on the cocotte chicks, I saw them eating from the feed tray.
“Good, they’re eating.”
“Yes, I never imagined the flat dish was the reason.”
“Wait—there are only five of them.”
“The other two still can’t eat from the tray. We’ve been feeding them with the spoons we bought.”
“Who’s feeding them?”
“Mister Georges.”
“Why?”
“He’s good at feeding them.”
Since he can’t come to the workshop every time, he keeps them in his room.
Georges is probably going to complain at me again.
He’s still taking care of the slime that relies on Lucas’s liquid meals, too.
“We’re out of feed, aren’t we?”
“Yes, and even now it’s not enough.”
We went to the greenhouse and stood before the dodorin tree.
Isn’t the dodorin huge?
Not in height—its branches spread in every direction, invading the space of other plants.
My parents arrived with Tom.
Seeing the dodorin, they said, “Hardt, you overdid it.”
Since the fruits are the chicks’ feed, we can’t just cut all the branches.
I asked Tom which branches were the most troublesome, then harvested the dodorin fruits from those.
We couldn’t get all the fruits from the branches we’d remove later, so I asked him to cut them only after we finished picking what remained.
Even as we returned to the estate, my parents continued lecturing me, but when I said I needed to go back to the workshop to feed the chicks, they gave up and let me go.
After helping crush dodorin fruits in the workshop and giving the chicks more feed, I went with Georges to his room.
“Georges, sorry.”
I apologized as I crushed more dodorin fruit.
“It’s only until they can eat on their own.”
The two chicks in Georges’s room were kept in a modified incubator—Maria had removed the egg rack and laid straw on warmed stones.
“Why are these two the only ones who can’t eat on their own?”
“There’s a difference in stamina even among chicks. Isn’t it the same as with Ripka and Bianca?”
I see.
Georges held one chick in his palm and used the feeding spoon he bought at the animal shop to open its beak and feed it.
He really is skilled.
Once the chick realized it was food, it opened its beak desperately, eating with all its might.
At this rate, the day they can eat on their own isn’t far.
What do you think about this chapter?
