FVB - Chapter 3

No wonder… the humans I encountered in the forest seemed so surprised to see me. Considering how eagles are portrayed in the original story, it's understandable.

Okay, let's calm down. I retracted my claws and pondered the original story.

The main setting of the novel is the Artes Empire, a nation founded by Artes, the god of hunting and the most beloved son of Ignis, the god of fire, who named the country after himself. According to the setting, the imperial family inherits his blood, granting them immense martial prowess. Moreover, blessed by Ignis, they are born with an incredibly potent fire energy that ordinary people cannot even dare to approach.

However, the male protagonist of the original story, Ricardo von Artes, the first prince born to the Empress, was inherently weak. While he might be considered exceptional among commoners, he was too frail to suppress the raging fire energy, leaving him perpetually weakened. Learning swordsmanship or magic in that state would be akin to shortening his lifespan, so he used spirit magic, which put the least strain on his body. In short, he was a mutation in the Artes imperial family, who were naturally gifted with martial prowess.

And the most important villain in the original story, the second prince, Theodore von Artes, was the complete opposite of Ricardo. He was born with god-like fire energy and martial prowess but was not the legitimate heir, making him a mutation in a different sense from the first prince. While anyone with even a trace of imperial blood, regardless of their mother, was born with blonde hair and gold eyes, he was born with black hair and red eyes.

A situation where the next emperor had to be chosen between the first prince, born to the Empress and possessing the legitimate hair color but with a frail body, and the second prince, who possessed unprecedented martial prowess and fire energy but lacked the legitimate hair color. The Emperor took no one's side. As a result, the nobles' power was divided…

"Grrr-!"

While reminiscing about the original story, I snapped back to reality at the sound of an animal's growl. It seemed wild dogs had arrived, drawn by the scent of blood. I quickly descended to the grassy field and stood in front of Theodore. These wild dogs, lacking a strong individual, always roamed in packs of three in this forest, acting like kings. Since I only ate berries, I rarely encountered them. So, this was my first confrontation with them. The wild dogs, seeing me, cautiously retreated a little.

"Grrr-!"

As if telling me to move, I puffed out my chest feathers and spread my wings wide, as if to show off to the growling creatures. I was already big when still, but even bigger when I spread my wings!

"Screech-!!!"

My cry was closer to a whistle and not threatening at all, but flapping my wings along with it seemed to have some effect. The wild dogs snorted a few times and then turned back. They might be three in number, but they were just wild dogs, not wolves. They realized it would be difficult to face me, who even had the ability to fly. Once they disappeared, a sigh of relief escaped me. I had put on a lot of airs, but my heart was still pounding.

"Screech…"

I sighed weakly and turned around. First of all… what do I do with him…?

The reason Theodore, who was hailed as an unparalleled genius and a master swordsman, was in this state was, in short, due to the Empress's scheme.

Second Prince Theodore had become the commander of a large-scale monster subjugation, and Theodore's physical condition, having not rested properly throughout the subjugation, was truly at its worst.

Despite that, he successfully completed the subjugation and barely returned, only to be poisoned by his nanny, whom he trusted implicitly. The poison blocked the flow of mana, slowing healing and detoxification, and maximizing internal injuries, making it even more fatal for Theodore, who was a mage. If it had been anyone other than Theodore, they would not have lasted long and would have died.

'Your Highness, I, your nanny, have nothing more to wish for now that you have returned safely. Please, have this first. I prepared it for you, Your Highness, who has worked so hard.'

He drank it, thinking it was just tea to help him recover his strength. He didn't know that the nanny had long been bought off by the Empress, or that the tea was poisoned.

'I hear there will be a victory banquet for Your Highness. Since Your Highness dislikes banquets, how about going out for some fresh air beforehand? Just to change your mood. But it might be dangerous, so be sure to bring a guard.'

He went out for some fresh air as his nanny suggested and was attacked. The attackers were the very guards who had protected him since childhood. Theodore, with accumulated fatigue and a poisoned body, managed to shake off the attack and ended up in this remote forest.

[Trembling fingertips, wandering eyes, and irregular breathing. Even though Theodore knew his nanny was lying, he accepted the tea she offered and left the palace as she suggested. He ignored the fact that his knights, whom he had known since childhood, kept fidgeting with their swords and exuding murderous intent as he walked.

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself. Yes, even though everything pointed to one thing, he didn't want to believe it. Until the very last moment. Even as their swords were aimed at him, he might have wanted to believe.]

No, in fact, he knew. As the book said, Theodore knew everything but simply pretended not to. Theodore, who never abandoned his faith in humanity, would never trust anyone again after this incident.

Did I mention that the ending of this book was a sad ending? Theodore, who didn't trust people, continued to cultivate his hatred for them and eventually burned the entire empire to the ground with his own hands. So the male lead and the female lead all died, making it a truly sad ending.

I vividly remembered muttering, "What the...?" at the ironic ending, where the empire blessed by fire was consumed by flames and turned to ash, despite enjoying the story so much.

So… in other words, if this guy disappeared, the ending where the empire was burned to the ground would disappear as well. Then I could continue this leisurely life, no, this bird life.

"Ugh…"

Theodore suddenly groaned, startling me so much that I flapped my wings and backed away. Fortunately, he wasn't trying to wake up but seemed to be tossing and turning in pain.

Come to think of it, Theodore wasn't going to die just because I left him alone. In the original story, he escaped to this forest, somehow healed his wounds, and returned to the palace. He killed his nanny and guards as soon as he returned, but that's beside the point…

If he wasn't going to die even if I left him alone, should I just leave him alone? But what if the wild dogs showed up again like before? But this guy didn't seem like he was going to wake up… 

Earlier it was wild dogs, but if this was really the world in the novel, who knows when and where monsters might appear. Even if I was the king of the sky, that was only in terms of animals. Could I even beat monsters?

"Screech…"

No, why was I naturally thinking about protecting him when I had just been thinking about letting him die?! He's the villain! The one who will destroy the world!

Let's just leave him alone. He survived in the original story anyway. What could an eagle possibly do to help! Having made up my mind, I left Theodore and flew into the sky.

ꕥ

Theodore slowly opened his eyes. He remembered arriving in the forest, but he must have lost consciousness there. How much time had passed? Seeing that he was still alive, he seemed to have shaken off the attackers well… 

The sunlight was so bright that he tried to shield it with his hand, but he felt something in the way. Could he have been captured? With an ominous feeling, he looked down while lying down and saw that his body was covered in all sorts of plants.

“…Plants?”

From weeds to leaves on branches. All sorts of plants were all over his body. Theodore carefully raised his upper body. He expected it to be somewhat painful since his wounds hadn't healed, but it didn't hurt as much as he thought.

He removed the plants and checked the places where he had been wounded. There were a lot of crushed, unidentifiable plants stuck to them. To be exact, they looked like they had only been partially crushed, but they were properly attached to the wounds because of the blood.

“What is this…”

Looking around, he saw various things scattered around, including red berries and what looked like medicinal herbs, and a river was flowing nearby. There was no river near the place where he had collapsed, so someone must have moved him here. 

His poisoned body wasn't in such bad condition, and he seemed to have a subtly bitter and sweet taste lingering in his mouth. Someone had moved him here, treated his wounds, and given him an antidote. But who?

Just then, the sound of rustling grass grew closer, as if someone was approaching, so Theodore lay back down. He didn't know who had treated him, but since he didn't know their purpose, it was best to assess the situation first.

A moment later, something landed next to him with the sound of flapping wings. It must have been a bird that came to pick up berries, not the one who had treated him. Relieved, he raised his body, but he made eye contact with a large eagle. 

The eagle, which had been about to put down the herb it was holding in its mouth, was startled to see Theodore, puffed out its chest feathers, and climbed up a tree. The herbs that the eagle had brought looked similar to the ones that were already there.

“Could it be…”

It was definitely an eagle, but its flustered appearance was just like a person's. Even someone who didn't know the situation could clearly see that it was flustered. No, it couldn't be… but what if…? Theodore moved his lips several times before finally managing to speak.

“…Did you treat me?”

It truly made no sense, but given the circumstances, he couldn't think of any other explanation. To Theodore's question, the eagle simply watched him warily, saying nothing.

An eagle had treated his wounds. Rationally speaking, he knew it was crazy, but the way the wounds had been treated and the way the plants had been placed on his body were too clumsy to have been done by a person. 

And the fact that his back, which should have been fine without any wounds, was particularly sore could be understood if he assumed that the eagle had dragged him here by his clothes.

So, an eagle had carried a person to the river, covered his body with plants, treated his wounds, and given him an antidote… Theodore closed his eyes tightly for a moment and then opened them. Leaving aside the question of whether an eagle had the intelligence to distinguish the appearance and uses of herbs. Why had it saved him?

“Why did you save me?”

The eagle turned its head as if it hadn't heard. That made it even more suspicious. It was as if it understood what he was saying but was pretending not to. 

Theodore narrowed his eyes and then chuckled. Yeah, that didn't make sense. Eagles were known to be intelligent animals, but even so, they wouldn't be able to understand human speech. And to pretend not to know.

“Did you save me out of pity?”

At the word "pity," the eagle turned its head again and looked down at Theodore. Its silvery feathers and eyes looked mysterious. So much so that it wouldn't feel strange even if it understood human speech.

“I don’t care if it’s pity. If it helps me.”

Thank you for saving me. At the kind words, the eagle flapped its wings and soared into the sky. The mouth that had been sweet just a moment ago suddenly turned bitter.