You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 39

Carefully taking one step at a time, I arrived in front of Karhan’s office without being noticed by anyone. Standing in front of the door, I felt my heart beating rapidly as I gently placed my hand on the door. I signaled the attendant who had followed me to stay there for a moment, then slightly opened the door and poked my head inside.

“Kar, Han…?”

I stopped calling out excitedly. It was strangely quiet, so I opened the door wide and entered the office. The office, usually filled with the sound of flipping papers, was empty. I called out again in a hesitant voice.

“…Karhan?”

He didn’t appear. I slowly approached the desk. The desk had papers neatly arranged on it. I still couldn’t understand what was written in the letters that looked more complex than English.

I scanned the papers on the desk and naturally sat in Karhan’s chair. The backrest supporting my body comfortably made me feel relaxed.

So this is how it feels in human form. I waited for Karhan to come, swaying my upper body left and right. Like a curious thieving cat, I reached out my hand, picked up objects, and examined them here and there. Of course, after I was done looking, I put them back in their place.

When will he come?

I spun the chair round and round by moving my feet. Spinning it quickly like a ride made my vision swirl. Ugh, motion sickness. I stretched my toes and touched the floor. The chair gradually stopped, and the world that had been spinning round and round slowly settled back into place.

Losing interest, I relaxed my body and leaned back against the chair’s backrest, closing my eyes. As I stayed like that until the world calmed down, I felt a presence outside the room.

He’s here! I snapped open my eyes that had been closed. I was excited to see how surprised he would be to see me in the room. The presence approached close to the door, and I heard the sound of the door handle being pulled down, so I hurriedly got off the chair. Then, I crouched under the desk and hid myself. I covered my mouth with both hands in case I made a sound.

The door opened with a click. And someone’s footsteps gradually approached where I was. I saw a shadow through the gap under the desk. Thinking this was the moment, I abruptly stood up and shouted.

“Boo!”

“Ahh!”

“Eek!”

What! Who are you!

I expected Karhan to be standing there when I shouted and came out, but the one waiting for me wasn’t Karhan. An unfamiliar person screamed at my sudden appearance, and I also got startled and screamed again.

My heart was pounding as if it would jump out of my mouth. I widened my eyes and stared at the person in front of me. Judging from his dark navy-blue hair, still soft facial features, and not fully grown body, he seemed to be a teenage boy. He also looked extremely surprised because of me. He widened his eyes and took a step back as if on guard.

“Who… who are you…?”

I asked, trembling. Then, the person who had been on guard with his mouth slightly open suddenly changed, tightly closed his mouth, and deeply furrowed his brows. His slightly clenched fist showed he was displeased.

“Who are you to be here?”

I heard a sharp voice directed at me.

“I, I am…”

What am I…? How should I explain it?

I couldn’t answer who I was. My pupils must have trembled greatly. How should I describe myself? Karhan’s companion animal? Friend? Or… someone like a child…? The boy must have found it suspicious that I couldn’t say anything and just stood still, so he strode over. He stretched out his hand fiercely and grabbed my wrist.

“Why is a person like you here?”

He tightened his grip on my wrist and pulled me. His grip strength was so strong that it felt like he was squeezing my wrist.

“It hurts!”

I squeezed my eyes shut. Regardless of whether I was in pain or not, he didn’t care and dragged me out of the office. Weakened and helplessly dragged out, I couldn’t hide my bewilderment. My heart was pounding loudly.

Chased out of the office, I stood there dumbfounded, and the nameless guy let go of my wrist that he had been gripping tightly. I groaned, ugh, and checked my grabbed wrist. Judging from the red marks that had already appeared, it seemed like it would bruise. I, I’m an animal of this house… Suddenly finding myself in this situation, I felt both wronged and angry, so I exhaled heavily and examined the boy in front of me.

The boy, who looked like a middle school student, glared at me fiercely. His gaze seemed to pierce through me, making me flinch and take a step back.

When I had just become an adult, what I feared most were middle and high school students. It was because the news often reported stories of adults being assaulted by teenagers. I glanced down and looked at his fist. Then I looked at my own hand. Somehow, his looked bigger than mine.

As I remained still with my mouth shut, he made a scoffing sound, hmph, and looked at the attendant.

“What were you doing until this person came in here? Not guarding properly?”

The boy scolded the attendant who had been fidgeting nervously in front of the door. The attendant just bowed his head, apologizing, as if he didn’t know what to do about this situation. Explain who I am!

It was too absurd. It’s not like I entered a place I shouldn’t have, what’s with this? I felt like I should also say something sternly, so I opened my mouth.

“W-who are you then?”

I was wrong. My heart had already lost to this kid.

I chewed my lips anxiously. The boy burst into a hateful sneer. Feeling a bit embarrassed, my face grew hot. I glanced down at the ground once and then raised my gaze again to look at his light purple eyes.

“At least you seem to know how to identify one’s status.”

He must be someone of high status. Could he possibly be… the crown prince or something? Looking at his clothes, they seemed to be of impressive quality. When the topic of status came up, I worried if I had made a huge mistake. I was a bit concerned about startling him at first, but since I had been diligently using honorifics, it should be fine. I swallowed the saliva gathered in my mouth and asked.

“So who are you…?”

When I asked in a humble manner, he twisted one corner of his mouth and said,

“I’m the youngest young master of the Barthes family.”

I had the illusion of his nose reaching the sky. The youngest young master of the Barthes family…? Then isn’t he Karhan’s younger brother? I tilted my head quizzically. The boy, who had been watching my reaction with some expectation, twitched his eyebrows as if my response was strange.

“I’m saying I’m the youngest of the Barthes ducal family. Arthur Barthes. Is it your first time hearing it?”

I’m sorry, but it is my first time hearing it.

I tilted my head to the opposite side. If he’s the younger brother… I think he’s a character who appears in the book, but I couldn’t remember well. It had been a while since I read it, and I hadn’t read everything either. Feeling hazy, I furrowed my brows.

As I stood still without any reaction, his eyebrows twitched again.

“You don’t know me?”

“Yes… I understand you’re Karhan’s brother, but…”

I mumbled in a small, hesitant voice.

“Why are you calling my brother’s name so casually? Is there something wrong with your head? Are you a servant? No, if you were a servant, you wouldn’t be standing there like that. Even your clothes are strange…”

He openly scanned my body up and down. Gasp, that’s right! My wings! Fortunately, thanks to the cape I had put on when I left the room, although it might look a bit suspicious, they weren’t exposed.

Thinking it wasn’t good to reveal my non-human form, I slightly raised my hand and covered my body. Then, the boy who had been examining my body furrowed his brows and twitched his eyes, staring at me.

“Why are you making such an unpleasant pose?”

S-sorry…

I lowered my hand that had been covering my body, shrinking back a little. He sent me an absurd look with a strangely contorted face. As the two of us were in a strange confrontation, I felt a presence from the corner behind me.

I gasped and hurriedly turned around to look at the corner. It must be the person who would resolve this situation. As I widened my eyes and looked at the corner, the expected figure popped out.

“Karhan!”

“Brother!”

Karhan is here! I smiled faintly, thinking it’s resolved now. Seeing the two of us standing there, he approached us with slightly faster steps. In an instant, he came close, and there was a shallow furrow between his brows.

“What are you two doing here?”

He alternated his gaze between me and Arthur. When he looked at me, his gaze briefly went down, probably checking the condition of my legs. I wanted to surprise him with a sudden gift. I drooped my shoulders, feeling deflated.

“Brother, it’s been a while since I last saw you. I’m home for a short while during the vacation.”

The boy greeted Karhan with a completely different face and voice than when he faced me. Karhan nodded his head.

“I see. How were your studies?”

“It was worthwhile to study separately at the ducal estate.”

Arthur said with a big smile. Karhan replied, “That’s good,” slightly raising the corners of his mouth. They talked for a while, exchanging small greetings. I… I stood between them and waited patiently for their conversation to end. But after chatting amicably, suddenly a sharp voice aimed at me pierced my ears.

“Brother. This person entered your office without permission. We can’t just let it slide. How dare they enter the duke’s office…”

He looked at me with a triumphant smile. Was it a big mistake for me to enter the office? It was fine when I was a bird. Now that I have a human body, was I not supposed to enter? I fidgeted my hands and looked up at Karhan. He narrowed one eye and spoke to me.

“For now, go back to your room.”

The order to leave was given. To me!

The boy standing in front of me narrowed his eyes, and one corner of his mouth rose imperceptibly. His appearance was hateful, but since Karhan had spoken, I nodded my head with a sullen face. I had gone to surprise him, thinking he would be happy, but I never expected things to turn out like this.

The excitement I had felt just a moment ago was smashed to the ground.