You! Don’t Press that Button! - Chap 67

Arthur finished untying the string and stood up, holding me in his hand. I could still feel slight tremors in his body.

“Arthur Barthes.”

“…Geld Andrew.”

So the yellow-head’s name is Geld. Arthur didn’t avert his gaze, as if determined not to back down.

“Just let me play with it for a moment, hand it over.”

“No.”

Geld’s expression looked fierce, but Arthur stood his ground, frowning just as intensely. Unlike before, he spoke firmly while maintaining eye contact, causing Geld to grit his teeth and clench his fists.

Just as I thought he wouldn’t, the guy threw a punch at Arthur. Arthur, probably because he was holding me, couldn’t block it with his hand and instead ducked down and rolled. Then he extended his leg and kicked Geld’s knee.

“Ow!”

Geld once again ended up rolling ungracefully on the ground. The kicked knee must have hurt, as he groaned and clutched it with both hands.

Both Arthur and Geld breathed heavily, then, as if receiving some signal, they simultaneously sprang up like coiled springs and lunged at each other. Arthur quickly put me down and grabbed Geld’s hair, while Geld, not wanting to lose, pulled at Arthur’s collar.

“Let go of this, you crazy!”

“You, bastard!”

They rolled on the ground, hurling insults at each other. Dust rose around them, while the other kids stood hesitantly, unable to intervene, watching each other’s reactions.

Thinking I should help Arthur, I quickly flew over and grabbed Geld’s hair. Take this beating and never come to our mansion again! Thus, our fight turned into a chaotic mess that no one could stop.

While we were fighting frantically, unknown people quickly approached and forcefully pulled apart Arthur and Geld’s arms. The two, pulled backward, let out a grunt as they separated from each other.

“Peep!”

Of course, I was still busy pecking Geld’s head vigorously. You bad son of a…! As I shook my body frantically, a large hand grabbed me too. As the yellow mess of hair grew more distant, I huffed and raised my head to see Karhan with his mouth slightly open.

In all the time we had spent together, this was the first time I had seen such a dumbfounded look on his face. To see such a clearly bewildered expression on a face that had only ever shown slight smiles or stiffness – it was truly a sight to behold.

I only calmed down after settling into Karhan’s hand. I heard a deep sigh from above my head.

“Peep peep.”

Ptooey ptooey. I spat out the hair that had gotten into my mouth from fighting so hard. It was evidence of my victory, pulled out right from the roots.

As the situation somewhat calmed down, Karhan opened his mouth.

“What on earth are you all doing?”

“…Brother.”

“Peep! Peep! Pee-eep!”

He started it by insulting Arthur and trying to hit me too! I cried out in an angry voice. But as if he couldn’t hear my voice, Karhan lightly ignored me and looked at Geld.

“You’re the youngest son of Viscount Andrew.”

“Yes. I’m Geld Andrew.”

Geld answered with his head held high, as if he was so great. Karhan looked at him for a moment before speaking.

“I’ll look into the situation and contact the Viscount’s family. You may leave now.”

“Your Grace, that guy…!”

Geld’s mouth, which was about to say more in anger, clamped shut at Karhan’s cold gaze. The guy who had been playing the boss so well in front of his friends seemed quick to read the situation and lowered his gaze. After mumbling for a bit, he bowed his head and quickly left with his friends, almost as if fleeing.

After looking at the chaotic garden for a moment, Karhan headed to his office with the two of us.

I, still in bird form, and Arthur sat on the sofa in front of the table. Karhan, seated at the head, remained silent, crossing his legs without saying a word. He swept us with a cold gaze before asking softly:

“What happened?”

“…It’s nothing. Just a fight between friends.”

Arthur stubbornly closed his mouth and didn’t explain the reason for the fight. It was clear how he had been treated by Geld until now, but he didn’t voice the reason. He quietly lowered his gaze and just glared at his tightly clenched fists.

I looked at him and let out a small sigh.

“Peep.”

After a meaningless silence, Karhan spoke in a voice full of fatigue.

“Stay in your room and reflect.”

“…Yes.”

Arthur stood up and bowed his head. Although his back looked weak, his stride was confident. I nodded slightly at the sight. Well done, Arthur! You were brave! As I flapped my wings in encouragement, Arthur saw it and left the office with a faint smile on his face.

After Arthur left, I glanced around cautiously and transformed into my human form. Karhan skillfully grabbed a blanket from inside the office and covered my suddenly naked body. I accepted it naturally and wrapped myself.

“Are you hurt anywhere?”

“No. Is there blood on me?”

“Yes.”

Karhan pulled out a tissue from the table and dabbed at my lips. The tissue quickly absorbed the blood and turned red. I raised my hand in confusion and pressed my lips. There’s no pain. I see.

“That’s not my blood. It’s that nasty guy’s blood.”

It could be called a trophy. I looked at Karhan with a solemn expression. Karhan, holding the tissue, didn’t even look at me as he threw it away and said:

“It seems Arthur invaded your room while the servant was briefly called away. I’m not sure how he heard about it and entered your room, but there are many people in the mansion, so there must be a few servants who have seen you in your bird form in your room.”

So this is why Karhan told me to be careful. My wings, and the name Seol. Just because I was the Duke’s pet, someone could invade my room. If they discovered I was a beastkin, it could lead to bigger trouble. I nodded slightly with a worried expression.

“But why did you fight?”

“Well…”

Thinking that Arthur should be the one to talk about himself, I hesitated for a moment before opening my mouth.

“That guy tied a string to my feet and hung me from the table leg. He was about to throw stones too.”

“Stones?”

“Yeah. He’s a really bad guy. Arthur stopped him, and that’s how it turned into the fight you saw. Don’t scold Arthur. If he hadn’t stopped it, I might have been hit a few times and died already.”

If I were human-sized, a few stone hits wouldn’t kill me, but I was only as big as an adult’s fist. The stones were enormous weapons that could threaten my life. As I pulled down the corners of my lips, Karhan’s brow twitched.

“You weren’t hit, were you?”

“No.”

“That’s a relief. I’ll have to send a separate letter to Viscount Andrew. As for Arthur… I’ll have a talk with him separately.”

“Okay. But, pay a little more attention to Arthur. You’re his only brother. Even if you’re not blood-related, you’re the only person Arthur can rely on.”

When I lived at my aunt’s house without parents, the hardest thing was not having anyone to lean on. Even when I was upset or happy, I couldn’t open up to anyone. I thought Arthur’s case might be similar to mine, so I started to feel a bit concerned.

There’s a different feeling between not being able to open up because there’s no one around and not being able to open up even though there is someone, so I can’t fully empathize, but I’d like Karhan to pay attention to Arthur from a somewhat understanding position.

I quietly met Karhan’s eyes. His transparent, silvery-gray eyes took in my appearance.

“Be kind to Arthur like you are to me. He’s still a child. If you don’t teach him little by little, he won’t know things.”

I reached out and covered the back of Karhan’s hand. I could feel his hot body temperature and the high, mountain-like knuckles. Gently stroking it, I opened my mouth.

“Every single action of yours will remain in Arthur’s memory and could become a wound.”

According to Geld, Arthur was adopted. Although I hadn’t spent an extremely long time with Karhan, I didn’t think he would treat Arthur coldly just because he was adopted. Judging from his usual behavior, Karhan wasn’t a bad-natured person.

“Praise him, pat his head, things like that. Okay?”

As I smiled with curved eyes, Karhan slowly nodded. I thought it might be a bit much to keep touching the back of his hand, so I was about to lift it when Karhan flipped his hand and held mine. His large hand enveloped me like a wrapping cloth.

“What’s wrong?”

Do you have something to do? I looked at him with wide eyes, and Karhan opened his mouth.

“I’ll take you to your room.”

“No need, you’re busy. I can just go in bird form.”

“No. You must be tired, there’s no need for that.”

Saying that, he wrapped me tightly in the blanket, then put his hands under my back and knees and lifted me up. Suddenly lifted into the air, I looked at Karhan with a slightly worried face.

I had decided not to treat him like a character from a book, but… Doel and Karhan were destined to become lovers someday, so I wondered if it was okay to be held like this. Karhan and I are close friends, so he’ll understand everything, right?

In the end, we left the office in this state, and oddly enough, there weren’t many people in the corridors Karhan walked through. Fortunately, it seemed like there wouldn’t be any rumors.

When we arrived in front of my room door, we could see a servant lingering there. It was a servant I hadn’t seen before.

“What are you doing here?”

At Karhan’s frosty voice, the servant jumped in surprise and froze. He slowly turned around, bowing his head repeatedly.

“I’m, I’m sorry! I’m sorry, Your Grace! I just started working recently and forgot to bring the water jug…”

His ears were bright red, probably from embarrassment. His words seemed true, as we could see a water jug in the corner.

The servant picked up the water jug without straightening his bent back and hurriedly left the corridor. It was common to make such mistakes when starting a new job. It was a bit unfortunate that he was caught by Karhan, though.

After taking me to my room, Karhan took out a few clothes and handed them to me. It was something a servant could easily do, but him doing it personally made me feel strange yet oddly proud. Perhaps because I hadn’t made many friends I could confide in, I wondered if this kind of relationship with Karhan was what true friendship was like.

Being there for each other in both hard times and happy times, that’s what friends are, right? I smiled slightly, raising the corners of my mouth. Then, as I took off the blanket and started putting on clothes, I felt a gaze boring into my body and tilted my head slightly.

Slowly raising my head and looking to the side, I could see Karhan staring intently at me as I was putting my arms through the sleeves of my top.