You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 29

I gasped at the mention of 5 days having passed. Was I asleep for that long? Seeing my startled expression, Doel chuckled again.

“It was incredible. His Excellency summoned every physician he could… It was complete chaos.”

“Karhan did?”

“Yeah. His face was filled with worry.”

“…Karhan was?”

I wondered if it wasn’t just the 5 days I had been asleep, but if the whole world had been recreated. Karhan’s face filled with worry, really? Of course, he occasionally showed various expressions in front of me, but his face was fundamentally based on a blank expression. When surprised, his eyes would widen slightly, and when in a good mood, the corners of his mouth would curl up a bit.

But worry filling his face to the extent that even Doel could see it? I tried to imagine his expression in my mind, but it wasn’t easy.

“Ah. Of course, that’s just from my perspective. Others might not have felt the same way.”

“I see…”

He must have been really worried. A smile inadvertently appeared on my lips.

Afterwards, we continued to chat casually. What happened to the lord while I was unable to wake up, how Karhan handled the situation, if the ledger we brought was being well-kept. 5 days was a very long time, so there was a lot to talk about.

As I was looking into Doel’s eyes and having a gentle conversation, a sound was heard. Growl, the sound of my stomach clock indicating that my belly was completely empty.

“Ah…”

That was loud. He must have heard it for sure.

I slyly turned my face in a different direction. Embarrassing. I closed my eyes tightly. It didn’t matter when I was a bird, but it mattered now. I felt my face heating up from the extreme embarrassment.

Resenting the inconsiderate stomach clock, I pressed my lips tightly together and stared at the blanket. As 1 second, 2 seconds passed, Doel’s silence made me even more embarrassed. I took a quiet deep breath and slowly turned my gaze to steal a glance at him. Doel had his hand covering his mouth, smiling.

Our eyes clearly met as I glanced sideways.

“There’s no need to be embarrassed about this, right?”

“R-Really?”

Kind Doel spoke in a way that wouldn’t make me feel embarrassed. Indeed, it’s a natural physiological phenomenon for humans. I chuckled and slowly turned my head back to its original position.

And at that moment, I saw it. The devil’s smile.

His lips, which had been curved into a pretty smile, parted.

“There’s something you did to my face, remember?”

He pointed to his cheek with his finger.

“Huh?”

I stared at Doel’s face, frozen with a smile. I pondered deeply about what the cheek he pointed to signified. And finally, I remembered. What I had splattered on his face.

“Ah… Uh…”

I blurted out foolish sounds, unable to find the right words. As I stammered like a malfunctioning robot, Doel let out an evil chuckle. My poop had landed on that face. I couldn’t control my trembling pupils.

As I remained with my mouth open, Doel’s eyes flashed. He raised his hand, pretending to wipe his cheek.

“I never thought poop would fly onto my face in my life. I thought it was just because you were a bird… But you were a human.”

He drew out the last syllable slowly. My heart pounded wildly. Was he upset? If it were me, I would have simply thought it was bad luck for a bird to poop, nothing more. But to think that the inside was a human. The level of disgust had changed.

I couldn’t bring myself to look at his face and lowered my head. Biting my lips, I glanced at him, and I heard the sound of him getting up beside me. Gasp. Was he so disgusted with me? I sneaked a sidelong glance at Doel. Was he really going to leave? He turned the doorknob and opened the door!

And standing at the door, he ordered a meal from the attendant.

Doel is really kind. He even takes care of the meal for the person who pooped on his face… What have I done to such a kind person? With a miserable feeling, I closed my eyes tightly. Clenching my fists and waiting, Doel came back and sat on the chair.

With a mix of worry and courage, I carefully observed Doel’s face. Then, I saw his round, curved eyes and the slight upward curl of his lips. His face was filled with joy. No, this guy.

My eyes narrowed. The corners of my mouth turned down as if they would pierce the ground, and my head lowered.

“…Are you making fun of me?”

He seems to find it very amusing, smiling like that. Teasing an old person. Rude fellow.

I muttered to myself and stared at the blanket with a sullen face. Doel, beside me who had suddenly changed my attitude, scratched his head with an awkward laugh.

Confirming that Doel didn’t seem to be in a bad mood, I felt relieved, and grumbles escaped my mouth. Well, as a bird, I couldn’t control my sphincter, so I could poop on someone’s face and all that. Hmph. I exhaled through my nose. Doel spoke to me, whose face had turned bright red.

“Sorry. Are you angry? I was just joking.”

I didn’t answer those words. I didn’t make eye contact and remained still. My emotions were up and down, as they had always been since becoming a bird.

I could sense the air of not knowing what to do beside me, seeing my enraged appearance. With the corners of my mouth turned down, I glanced at Doel. He was smiling awkwardly. I turned my gaze back to the blanket. I repeated this action a few times and then spoke in a small voice.

“Sorry…”

“Huh?”

My voice, already hoarse, became even more muffled, prompting Doel to ask again. Without making eye contact, I slightly averted my gaze and spoke once more.

“Sorry, hmngh.”

I apologized again in a louder voice. This time, Doel seemed to have heard me, as he widened his eyes for a moment and remained still before bursting into laughter, “Hahaha.” Thinking there was nothing more to be embarrassed about, I brazenly stared at Doel.

He laughed until his face turned red, gasping for breath. It seemed my apology was that amusing. Ugh, I shouldn’t have apologized. Ignoring the person beside me who was laughing so hard the room shook, I waited for the meal to arrive soon.

As Doel’s laughter gradually subsided, there was a knock on the door. Doel responded, and the closed door slowly opened.

Meat! Meat! I blinked my eyes and stared at the small tray the attendant had brought. A savory aroma wafted, but it was still covered with a silver lid, so I couldn’t confirm what food was inside.

Since I wasn’t in a condition to get out of bed, the attendant placed a small table in front of me so I could eat in bed. Meanwhile, I stared intently at the tray placed on one side. After a long wait, the attendant placed the tray on the table and lifted the lid that had been hiding the identity of the food.

“…Oh.”

There was only one. Moreover, it wasn’t meat but a watery dish like soup. There was no delicious meat to be seen anywhere. I stared at the attendant who had brought the meal with despondent eyes. Is there no more…? The attendant, whose eyes met mine, bowed once and turned around to leave.

“Since it’s still difficult for you to move, I’ll feed you.”

Doel, who hadn’t grasped the seriousness of my mood, scooped up a spoonful of soup and brought it close to my mouth. Although I felt dejected, I automatically opened my mouth as Doel brought the food to my lips and chewed a mouthful of soup.

Right. I’m still sick, so I can’t eat chunky things like meat. And since I’m all old, my teeth might be shaky, right? Trying hard to comfort myself, I obediently ate like a baby bird being fed by its mother bird.

As I diligently ate without taking a break, the soup bowl soon started to show its shiny bottom. The sound of the silver spoon scraping the bowl could be heard. Ah, I’m full. Exhaling slightly, I comfortably leaned my back against the headboard.

An elderly person’s body is truly inconvenient. Moving around isn’t refreshing at all. I feel like I could eat a whole steak if I wanted to, but it’s also pitiful to feel full after just one bowl of soup. Who will take care of me when I’m even older than now? I had somewhat gloomy thoughts.

In the meantime, Doel lifted the small table he had set in front of me and placed it on the floor. Then he got up from his seat.

“I think I should get going now.”

“Where are you going? Are you busy too, Doel?”

Karhan was also very busy, so is Doel very busy too? Or maybe they became close while I was asleep, and he’s going to hang out with Karhan? If that’s the case, I’d be a little disappointed, but it would be a good sign. As I looked at Doel with slightly wavering eyes, he looked at me with furrowed eyebrows, feeling sorry.

“I’d like to stay a bit longer, but my work isn’t finished yet. I need to wrap things up.”

“So, you’re leaving here?”

“For the time being.”

For the time being? Does that mean he’ll come back? Ah, right. Come to think of it, in the beginning, they parted ways briefly and then met again with Karhan later. After that, a love line developed. Thinking that the two of them would do well together, a smile subtly bloomed on my face.

As I was smiling like that, he stared at me intently, as if he found it strange. But I won’t tell him. I do hope they do well together, but wouldn’t it be boring if I revealed the ending? Hehe. I hummed a tune.

“I’ve felt this way for a while, but I don’t know what you’re thinking with that tiny head of yours.”

He reached out his hand and stroked my head. My powerless head swayed slightly from side to side. Along with it, my neck started to ache a little, making me frown. I thought I should give him a sharp remark about the act of carelessly patting my head now that I was no longer a bird.

“Tsk tsk. You shouldn’t casually pat an old person’s head!”

I spoke seriously in a stern voice, as if scolding a child. At my words, Doel’s movement of patting my head stopped. It seemed my voice was successful.

Perhaps because he was terribly scared, Doel’s hand, still on my head, trembled. I thought I might have spoken too harshly, but I felt this was something I should say firmly, so I didn’t apologize.

Silence filled the room. I could feel Doel’s hand still trembling above me. At this rate, it seemed like my head would start vibrating. I told you my neck hurts. Wondering why he was still resting his hand on my head, I moved my head to look at Doel, who was still trembling. Pitifully, he couldn’t even look at me properly and was covering his face with one hand, bending his waist.

Did I sound that scary? Indeed, even when I was young, it was a bit frightening when adults older than me abruptly spoke to me.