“I won’t do anything like locking Snow up again. So, Snow, you shouldn’t do anything reckless either.”
When they returned to the room, Zex put the birdcage away in the corner.
He retrieved just the bed made for the little bird from the cage and placed it on the table.
Then, he gently set Sharon down there.
‘Yay!’
Relieved to be freed from the birdcage, Sharon rejoiced inwardly, but then noticed Zex staring intently.
Had she looked too happy?
Sharon started to feel uneasy.
“…You’re cute.” Zex murmured softly.
She must have misheard.
There was no way a man as intimidating as Zex would say something like that, so Sharon chose to ignore it.
“Ah, as I thought, you’re just too cute.”
However, a second time was impossible to ignore.
‘C-cute…? What is it!?’
She glanced around restlessly, but there was nothing out of the ordinary.
“Snow.”
“Pi? ‘Yes?'”
“Cute.”
“Piiiii!? ‘Ehh!?'”
Hearing the word “cute” with a completely straight face, she didn’t know how to react.
‘No one has ever called me cute before! N-no, he just means as a pet, of course!’
Somehow, her body felt feverishly warm.
“…Snow, aren’t you afraid of me?” Suddenly, Zex asked, his face serious.
Of course, at first she had been scared, thinking she might get eaten.
But now, she knew Zex was a kind person.
‘I’m not scared.’
To show she was fine, Sharon approached Zex’s hand.
With his black gloves still on, Zex gently touched the little bird’s head.
“Snow, you’re really cute and a good girl.”
Unlike Ella, Zex’s touch was reserved and very gentle.
It made her feel ticklish, but she was still not used to being called “cute.”
Even seeing the flustered, awkwardly frozen little bird, Zex narrowed his eyes fondly.
If she was going to be called that no matter what state she was in, maybe it was better not to think too hard about it.
Emptying her mind, Sharon let herself be petted.
“…It’s always been my dream to spend time with animals like this.” As he stroked Sharon, Zex spoke quietly, almost nostalgically.
For the strongest man in the Crusell Kingdom, it was a surprisingly sweet dream.
Seeing the emotion in his face, Sharon sensed it was a long-held desire.
She wasn’t a real little bird, but had she helped fulfill Zex’s dream?
‘But… he thinks I’m cute because I’m a little bird.’
She hadn’t forgotten that she was currently a bird.
Even so, she felt a little giddy.
After all, she had never been treated with such care before.
‘If I was Sharon, the real me, things would never be like this.’
Even if she had met Zex after her exile, things wouldn’t have been the same.
Sharon was a criminal, and he was the one responsible for accepting and supervising exiles.
There was no way she would be doted on or cherished.
“Snow? …Did you fall asleep from exhaustion?”
As if to escape from reality, Sharon let herself fall asleep.
—Look, that creepy hair color. Like poison.
—The “Outcast of the Sdulc Family” doesn’t even have magic, but at least her hair stands out.
Her classmates at the Academy giggled behind her back.
Even as a Countess, Sharon, who possessed no magic at all, was someone anyone could mock with impunity.
Because the very family who should have protected her were the first to scorn her.
‘Is this… a dream of the past? Memories I’d rather forget…’
She wanted to wake up quickly, but the dream continued.
—Sharon. You will surely become the hope of our family!
Her father, Count Kyle, wanted talented children.
The Sdulc Family had always been born with Grass Attribute magic.
That was why they had found success in agriculture-related enterprises, but her father was not satisfied with that alone.
In the Foren Kingdom, where people were valued by their magic, the Grass Attribute’s status was not high.
To further the prosperity of the Sdulc Family, her father chose Emeralda, who possessed Wind Attribute Magic, as his wife.
Wind Attribute Magic was said to be compatible with other attributes, capable of incorporating various elemental powers.
He hoped that perhaps a child with an attribute other than Grass would be born.
However, her older brother Cody, the heir, had the traditional Grass Attribute Magic.
Though disappointed, her father knew Grass Attribute Magic was indispensable for the family’s business.
So he decided to focus on raising the status of the Grass Attribute by expanding their enterprises.
In the midst of all that, Sharon was born with rose-red hair.
No one else in the entire kingdom had hair like that.
Her father doted on Sharon, believing she must possess some special magic.
—At least, until her Magic Appraisal at age five.
All noble children in the Foren Kingdom undergo Magic Appraisal when they turn five.
At birth, magic is unstable, and it is said to settle at age five.
However, during her Magic Appraisal, Sharon was found to have not only no attribute but no magic at all.
A crushing disappointment.
To her father, a daughter without magic was no daughter at all.
His overwhelming affection turned cold overnight.
Her mother, suspected of infidelity and blamed for giving birth to a daughter without magic, came to resent Sharon.
—If only you had never been born!
Every time something happened, her mother would regret having given birth to Sharon.
Feeling sorry for even being alive, Sharon cried every day.
Her brother, too, despised Sharon for breaking up their once-harmonious family.
Still, her parents let her attend the Foren Noble Academy, for the sake of appearances and for the prospects of a profitable marriage.
Forming a connection with Leona, the Duke’s Daughter, was a great gain for her parents.
But after Sharon’s exile, all of that was ruined.
—How dare you shame us like this and act as if nothing’s wrong!
Her mother’s rebuke echoed in her mind.
‘I-I’m sorry…!’
Just as she was about to be struck with a fan as usual, Sharon suddenly awoke with a gasp.