Bluebird Lady and The White Lion Family

 

‘Why did he suddenly freeze up?’

 

Seeing Ricardo’s suddenly serious demeanor, Sophina swallowed hard.

 “I’m more fragile than you think, Ricardo. Just keep that in mind.” 

Her tone was tense, and she glanced at Ricardo.

 

Ricardo hastened to compose himself, then looked down at her like a predator watching his prey, his gaze relaxed.

 

He shook his head nonchalantly and added,

“Put on some more clothes for outside, my lady.” 

Everyone else had gone out to the river near the hotel to enjoy the city atmosphere.

 

Ricardo called after Sophina, who had begun to pull on her outer garments.

 “And the world is rough.” “Huh?” “If you want to go somewhere, just tell me. I’ll take you.” 

At that, Sophina’s lips quirked up. Was he worried, she wondered.

 

‘Nah. I’ll just be honest about that.’

 

Feeling slightly better, she hummed, then turned to Ricardo.

 “So what are you going to do, anyway? I heard you were going to do lotus flowers or something.” “It’s cold outside.” 

He didn’t answer the question, but instead wrapped his shawl around her.

 

Sophina thanked him, her voice a little muffled, as if she were stuck somewhere.

 “Uh… thanks.” 

‘This kid could just barge in without warning.’

 

Muttering under her breath, Sophina followed Ricardo out of the hotel.

 

They were all sitting on mats by the river. They greeted her in unison.

 “Are you feeling better, sweetheart?” “Sophina, how is your stomach?” — I got over my stomach ache in an hour! 

Even Canus, who had been beating Sophina, added coolly.

 — I didn’t see it that way, but she’s a weakling. 

Everyone was concerned for Sophina.

 

‘I wonder if I’ve been fooling them into thinking I was sick.’

 

She replied with a grim smile, feeling her conscience prickle.

 

Khan spoke shrewdly, pinching Sophina’s cheek without hurting her.

 “But your complexion is darker than before, and you seem to be sweating.” “Oh, I’m fine!” 

To be honest, it was a bit of a struggle, but it was worth it.

 

Using my animalized abilities was a lot less tiring, and the shock of Ricardo’s discovery had taken the edge off my exhaustion.

 

‘I wonder if it’s the same reason it doesn’t hurt when I smash my hand or foot on the corner of a desk.’

 

While Sophina was lost in thought, Ririela held out the lotus she had made to her.

 “Go ahead and give it a chance, Sophina.” 

Then she explained to Sophina. It’s traditional in this city to draw a fortune, then place it in a lotus flower made of paper and let it float away.

 

Sophina meekly took the charm from the wooden container.

 

‘What a shame.’

 

Then she poked Ricardo gently on his side.

 “I suck at this, what did you get?” “The crown.” “Wow, I guess I’ll just have to stick with you then.” 

She tried to sound flattering, but he returned it coldly enough to make her feel the chill.

 “You’re not going to get away with that.” “Tsk.” 

But he didn’t glance at Sophina. Ricardo’s ears perked up like a lotus with lanterns floating on the river.

 

An eventful day passed.

  

The next day.

 

Sophina fell seriously ill.

 

‘I must have pushed myself too hard yesterday.’

 

No wonder, she thought, she’d overdone it, and the night breeze hadn’t gotten the better of her.

 

Changing into the form of a bluebird to regain her strength, she lay buried in her pillow.

 

The rattling, tiny bluebird’s beak kept fluttering.

 “Twitweeeet….” 

My head was hot, but for some reason, I felt a strange chill. My body felt like it had been frozen solid.

 “My lady, you should eat something.” 

Just then, Ricardo approached her with a tray full of food.

 

She gulped, lifted her eyelids, and saw the contents.

 “….Twee, Twit?” 

A faint cry of surprise escaped her.

 

‘What was that?’

 

The bluebird blinked its round eyes and scratched its head intently.

 

The tray was piled high with berries, grains of rice, and a thin, skinny twig that looked like…

 

‘It’s mealworms, dried up mealworms.’

 

Sophina was horrified. 

 

‘Why was Ricardo holding that?’

 

She winced, but pushed herself to her feet. The bluebird threw off the covers and sat up, her butt hard against the pillow, and looked up at Ricardo.

 

His haughty face looked no different from usual.

 

In fact, the presence of the ugly creature seemed to be the least of Ricardo’s concerns right now.

 

Unaware of Sophina’s confusion, Ricardo offered her the mealworms, his face full of concern.

 “Canus says they’re good for protein, don’t you like them?” “Tweet?” 

Sophina shook her head and rolled her eyes.

 

‘I’m pretty sure in the book, Ricardo despised bugs, but no way…’

 

Perhaps he brought them here because of something Canus said.

 

‘So you hate them because of me, but you’re trying to be helpful?’

 

Or maybe it’s because it’s dead, so it’s less objectionable.

 

Either way, that disgusting mealworm meant Ricardo’s heart was in the right place.

 

Sophina’s round, chestnut-colored eyes widened in disbelief.

 

‘But I won’t eat them!’

 

Of course, being impressed and eating were two different things.

 

Sophina had always loved the fruit of the tree.

 

‘This bluebird, but it has integrity.’

 

And birds in Ropan are supposed to eat worms!

 

She plucked the berries from Ricardo’s tray and saved them in her quilt. She didn’t have the strength to eat right now.

 

Ricardo smirked at her behavior.

 

It was kind of cute, like a squirrel hiding food.

 

But he was adamant.

 “You must eat, my lady, even if you have no appetite.” 

So, in Ricardo’s arms, Sophina had no choice but to peck at the berries like a baby eating baby food.

 

And that night. Ricardo stayed by her side the whole time, nursing her.

 

The others were concerned for her, but Ricardo was even more vigilant.

 

Because…

 

‘I shouldn’t have let her go out there.’

 

He felt guilty. Ricardo gently brushed the feathers of the sleeping bluebird with his fingertips.

 

Sophina’s body was still warm from the fever.

 

‘That’s a lot of work. It’s getting on my nerves.’

 

Ricardo muttered to himself as he replaced the dainty towel on the bluebird’s forehead.

 “Get better, my lady.” 

Ricardo’s efforts were rewarded a day later. The humanized Sophina thanked Ricardo in a voice that sounded more cheerful than yesterday.

 “Thank you, Ricardo. Now let’s go to the hot springs, shall we?” 

Ricardo knew that if she couldn’t enjoy a trip to the hot springs, she was going to play hard for the rest of the day.

 

Sophina dragged Ricardo to the hot springs.

 — Me too, me too! “I want to come with you, Sophina.” “One more trip to the hot springs wouldn’t be a bad idea, my dear.” 

Soon enough, the others were tugging at her to join them.

 

Before long, they were all bathing together in the family bath.

 

But while enjoying the hot springs, Sophina encountered an unexpected challenge.

 

Khan brought up a topic while she was in the hot water.

 “The clock tower in the center of the city center suddenly collapsed.” 

‘Ahaha, I see.’

 

Ricardo whispered to Sophina, who was muttering soullessly in response.

 “My lady, I hope you weren’t sick yesterday because you were in an accident?” “Oh, I’m not!” 

She shook her head in disbelief, waving away the question.

 

The life of a superhero was hard. Her denials only intensified the suspicion.

 Swoosh— 

Sophina dived under Ricardo’s gaze, feeling like a hot spring egg. His brow furrowed, and he followed her underwater.

 — What, you two want to bet who can hold their breath the longest? 

And it quickly escalated into a petty bet.

 “Hey, Canus, that’s not fair! Are you the only one who takes cold baths?” — Oh, I’ll be snake meat in that hot spring! “I hear snake meat is surprisingly good.” 

Even Ririela chimed in.

 — Ririela sis, is that what you’re talking about in there, fangs? It’s so barbaric! 

Canus used its tail to splash Ririela with icy cold water.

 

Unfortunately, the water that was aimed at Ririela flew right at Sophina.

 “Hey, you!” 

Naturally, Sophina twisted one corner of her mouth up and dipped her hand into the water.

 

Then she took a full swing at Canus.

 “Ah! Did you do that on purpose, my lady?” 

But why did Ricardo get hit?

 

From then on, the water splashes followed everyone with their tails between their legs.

 

Somehow, the hot springs had become a battleground, with droplets flying everywhere.

 

They made new memories, old and new.

 

And that was the end of their journey in Leche.

 

The trip left Sophina with more questions than treasures.

 

‘It’s up to me to solve them.’

 

Upon returning to the mansion, Sophina immediately summoned Jane.

 “Jane, I need you to look into that workshop where I used to have my watches made.” 

First, I planned to find out more about the suspicious informant.

 

Apparently, Jane’s father was the owner of the shop.

 

The Chadwick’s didn’t hire just anyone, so everyone had a good background.

 

Anyway, Jane had a lot of contacts, so she was always able to bring in stories. I think it was her work that got the word out favorably about the Roneache flowers last time.

 

Perhaps it’s possible to find out.

 

And….

 

Sophina chuckled and said,

“You said your father runs the top, didn’t you?” “What? Yes.” “Can you make me a ledger, secretly?” 

Having brought so many things from the secret place, I wanted to put them to good use.

 

But I didn’t want anyone to ask me where the Thenedore came from out of the blue.

 

So I had to find a way to launder it well. I intended to play it straight.

 Visit my Ko-fi for advance chapter discounts!! Advance chapters on Ko-fi~