You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 14

I didn’t hide my displeasure. Perhaps sensing my discomfort, the duke lightly tapped my head with his finger and stroked me. The gentle touch brought sudden peace to my heart, and I obediently received the caress.

As I closed my eyes slightly, feeling the tranquility, the man in front of us spoke.

“I apologize. I wasn’t mocking or anything… What’s the bird’s name?”

“…It’s Peep.”

“Aha… I see.”

His voice trembled slightly as he answered, as if he had tried to hold back laughter. I was 100 percent sure he had been about to laugh because my name was weird. I couldn’t hide my misery about my name.

“Is it… I mean, is it your first time raising an animal?”

“Yes.”

At the duke’s answer, he nodded and said,

“I won’t pose any threat to the animal.”

Despite his words, the duke didn’t let go of me. I raised my head and looked at the duke’s face.

“Cheep.”

Let me go.As I spoke with a firm gaze, the duke finally hesitated and slightly loosened his grip. Seizing the opportunity, I hurriedly flapped my wings and escaped from his grasp. Then, I landed on the ground with a thud.I can walk too, you know!With small strides, I passed by the warmly glowing bonfire and approached the black-haired man.

“Peep peep.”

“Hello.”

He gently extended the back of his hand and approached me. I looked at the hand presented before me and waddled over with my short legs, climbing onto his hand. He carefully lifted me and made eye contact. Perhaps due to the bonfire, his brown eyes shone warmly.

“My name is Doel.”

“Cheep?”

Doel? I feel like I’ve heard that somewhere before…

It was a name that seemed familiar yet not quite. Where have I heard it? It’s unlikely that I, who had no foreign friends, would have actually heard such a name… Doel… Doel…

Doel…?

“Peep…?”

Only then did my mind start to work.

Right, come to think of it, I had accidentally shared a social media post and ended up here… Then this place must be from a book or some form of media I had seen… If the name Doel seemed vaguely familiar, it must be a story I had encountered recently.

I widened my eyes and looked at his face. Black hair and brown eyes. He had a somewhat sharp impression, but upon closer inspection, he had a gentle face. In terms of appearance alone, he resembled the people from the world I lived in the most. However, such an appearance was not common in a fantasy novel filled with colorful hair and eyes.

A memorable character with such an appearance, a main character-level Doel…

Ah, I got it.

This guy is the male lead of the book I read most recently.

Ah…

“Cheep! Cheep! Peep!”

I was so surprised that I flapped my wings and flew around, eventually colliding with something and losing consciousness.

🐤

The moment the black-haired intruder introduced himself as Doel, Peep, who had been perched on his hand, stopped moving. Although his back was turned, and his expression couldn’t be seen, it was clear that the little bird had once again fallen into deep thought. Then, suddenly, he jumped up in surprise and flew around frantically, crashing into a nearby tree. Seeing him fall from midair to the ground, the duke quickly rushed over.

“Thud…”

Fortunately, Peep didn’t fall to the ground but landed on the duke’s hand. However, the impact of the collision seemed quite severe, as he had his eyes closed and let out a small groan. What had happened to this little bird? The duke’s heart pounded rapidly. He carefully lifted Peep with both hands.

Could that man have done something to Peep?The duke turned his head to the side and looked at the awkwardly standing man, Doel. He had a greatly startled expression, as if he hadn’t intended for this to happen, but there must have been a reason why Peep, who had been playing well, had become frightened. The duke frowned and asked,

“What did you do?”

His heart sank coldly in the incomprehensible situation. After saying he wouldn’t pose a threat, what exactly was this situation that had occurred? The duke’s silver-gray eyes were shadowed and shone coldly.

“No, I…”

Doel couldn’t hide his bewilderment at the sudden chilly gaze. He had merely said his name once and made eye contact with the bird, but it suddenly flew around frantically, crashed into a tree, and collapsed with a thud. Could he have frightened the bird? No, that couldn’t be… Given the situation, he wondered if he had unintentionally done something. Thinking he should apologize to the bird’s owner, he hurriedly opened his mouth.

“I’m sorry. It seems I did something that scared the bird.”

“Is that what you call an explanation?”

“I have nothing to say.”

The duke glared at Doel, who had lowered his head with his lips tightly sealed.

Indeed, he had done nothing. However, it was difficult to trust him easily. Peep was not the type to be easily startled by people’s actions under normal circumstances. Even if he was afraid of insects, he was not easily intimidated by people. The duke had a feeling that something had happened between the two of them. What on earth had frightened Peep so much that he had such a seizure?

He lowered his gaze to Peep, who was breathing shallowly on his hand. Peep, who had fainted after colliding with the tree, was even having bad dreams, as he mumbled softly, “Cheep, peep.” The duke worried that the bird’s health might deteriorate if he had hit the tree too hard.

As the duke fretted and stared at the small bird, Doel spoke up.

“Since he didn’t hit his head… We should place him somewhere soft and observe the situation.”

Doel’s throat felt parched as he spoke, overwhelmed by the fierce aura dominating the air. Seeing the duke’s murderous aura emanating from his entire body, Doel stuck out his tongue and moistened his dry lips.

In the village where he lived, there were occasional cases of birds crashing into windows and fainting or dying. However, some were fortunate enough to only suffer a mild concussion without dying. In such cases, if they were well-fed and protected, they would regain their strength and fly away.

From Doel’s perspective, the bird was still breathing, and there was no impact from falling to the ground, so there seemed to be no major issues yet. However, he was cautious, fearing that his neck might be severed in an instant if he misspoke.

For a while, an uncomfortable silence passed between the two. Unable to sit in this atmosphere, they both stood still without saying a word.

The duke struggled to tear his eyes away from Peep, who was breathing heavily, and looked at Doel. The words that had just come out of that man’s mouth were not lies. The duke’s sharp senses confirmed that fact. Although his heart was racing rapidly, it was simply due to his bewilderment at the situation, not because he was busy fabricating lies.

He understood it in his head, but he couldn’t forgive it. Even if that man hadn’t done anything, it was clear that Peep had been frightened because of him. However, Doel seemed to have more experience and knowledge about animals than the duke did. He wanted to drive him away immediately, but he suppressed that urge and opened his mouth.

“…What should we do?”

“We need to lay him down somewhere and observe the situation. I’m not sure exactly, but if he’s not uncomfortable, I’ll take care of him.”

“It’s best if you don’t do anything reckless.”

Doel quietly nodded his head. In the end, that night, the two men devoted themselves to caring for the unconscious Peep.

🐤

The first thing I saw when I woke up from sleep was the duke’s face. Overall, he had a stoic expression, but upon closer inspection, I could notice his eyebrows slightly furrowed with worry. As I stared blankly at his face glistening under the sunlight, I realized it. This man, who had let me sleep in a warm place and had given me delicious food, was none other than the protagonist of the novel. Karhan Barthes, the duke.

“Peep…”

I’m an idiot. I was a fool. I must have really become less intelligent after turning into a bird.

Gradually, my vision blurred. Why hadn’t I noticed? I had pressed the red button and come to this other world, yet I hadn’t even thought about this novel I had read recently. Could it be that my head was empty because I was a bird?

I continued to blink, contemplating seriously. Karhan, the duke, noticed that I was lying still even after waking up and seemed concerned. He cautiously opened his mouth.

“Are you alright?”

“Cheep…”

I’m not alright…

Tears began to well up in my eyes as reality suddenly hit me. They brimmed to the point where I couldn’t see clearly. With no hands to wipe them away, I blinked my eyelids, and the tears fell in droplets beside my face. Karhan’s face came into focus again.

“Sniff…”

The expression “born under an unlucky star” must refer to me, right? Why did I have to press that button?

Tears kept welling up. Karhan reached out and placed me on his hand as I lay there. Then, with his thumb, he gently wiped away the tears flowing down my face. He murmured softly, asking if I was in a lot of pain, expressing his concern for me. As I observed Karhan, a slight question arose. Was he originally this type of character?

Worry was etched on the face of the duke in front of me. Of course, it wasn’t particularly strange for a person to worry upon seeing a small injured animal. However, if it was the character I knew, the story would be a bit different. The duke I had read about in the novel had lived for quite a long time. As a result, he had grown weary of life and was a rigid man who had difficulty expressing his emotions.

Did I not read the story properly? Did I misunderstand something because I didn’t read it attentively?

In the early part of the novel, Duke Karhan meets Doel, the male lead, in the middle of the forest. Even when these two met, he didn’t feel strong emotions. He was supposed to be a cold man who only showed a slight interest in the male lead. Yet, he was making an expression that even I could understand his mood? It was suspicious.

“Peep peep.”

Did he hit his head somewhere too?

I had a small concern that he might have hit his head somewhere without my knowledge. Duke Karhan had even smiled at the mansion. He had even laughed out loud once. There was definitely a significant problem.

I let out a small sigh and got up from my spot. I raised my head and looked at Karhan’s face. His eyebrows were slightly furrowed, albeit subtly.

“Cheep?”

Where does it hurt?

I’m fine. Where are you hurting?