Chapter 118: The Birdman Has Some Explaining to Do
Chapter 118: The Birdman Has Some Explaining to Do
The priest still had no idea what to say.
He hadn’t merely witnessed stone moving. He had seen enormous hands of shimmering light touching the statue.
He had watched pulsing power surge through it.
And even now, though the figure appeared frozen once more, he could still see golden veins running through the wings, carrying something that looked like pure magic.
’Goddess... what is this supposed to mean?’
he asked silently.
This time, no answer came. Instead, her presence withdrew.
As suddenly as it had arrived...
It vanished.
Only the lingering divinity the temple had absorbed remained behind, pulsing gently through the ancient walls.
The air still carried the faint scent of warm incense and sun-heated stone. Somewhere high beneath the dome, tiny fragments of dust drifted lazily through darkening shadows.
Even their breathing sounded strangely loud in the sacred silence.
A familiar ding echoed through Mirabelle’s mind. She instantly knew another system notification was about to appear...
Along with Pebbles.
Without missing a beat, she pushed the thought aside.
’Not now, Pebbles.
I really don’t think this is the right moment.’
To her surprise...
Nothing happened.
’Looks like Pebbles actually has a brain after all.’
"Well..." Kaelith spoke softly. "At least it doesn’t look like she has any objections to our bond."
His words broke the silence like the first raindrop after a long drought.
"You don’t say, Sherlock."
Mirabelle rolled her eyes.
"What’s a Sherlock?"
Lucien finally tore his fascinated gaze away from his own fingertips and looked over at the two of them.
Mirabelle narrowed her eyes for a brief moment before deciding not to answer. Instead, she turned back toward the priest.
"Any interpretations of what the Goddess is trying to tell us?"
’How should I know? She didn’t tell me either...’, the Beastman cursed inwardly.
Naturally, he kept that thought to himself.
"It is a positive sign," he said instead.
At least that much he was certain of.
"We’d already figured that out," Lucien scoffed.
For some reason, this priest didn’t strike him as particularly competent. Thoughtfully, the fox Beastman looked back up at the statue’s wings.
"This is going to cause absolute chaos once the citizens see it."
"We should avoid that if at all possible."
Kaelith fixed the priest with a sharp look.
The man visibly shrank beneath it.
His palms had grown damp. He hadn’t even realized he’d stopped breathing until his lungs began to ache.
Suddenly, the hyena Beastman radiated a presence powerful enough to make even the lingering divine aura seem to fall silent.
The hairs along the priest’s arms rose. A cold shiver crawled beneath his robes, despite the lingering warmth inside the temple.
Mirabelle paid no attention to the silent exchange between her mates and the temple servant.
Her mind was already working through the problem.
"What if we temporarily close the temple to the public because of renovation work?"
she suggested.
In doing so, she unknowingly rescued the thoroughly relieved priest from Kaelith’s death stare.
The man immediately turned all of his attention to the future Duchess.
"What exactly did you have in mind?"
"We could announce that, in preparation for my upcoming succession, I’ve donated funds to the temple..."
She glanced briefly toward the statue.
"...and that they’ll be used to restore it."
_____
On the way back to the castle, Silas remained lost in thought.
It had started with the temple itself.
He had never seen one like it. Even compared to the Grand Temple standing before the royal palace in Zasar, this one was...
How could he describe it?
Magnificent didn’t quite capture it.
He had seen temples adorned with far more gold and precious gems. Yet none had felt so... ethereal. As though the Goddess truly dwelled within its walls.
And the statue surpassed every one he had ever seen. It was so detailed. So lifelike.
Not to mention... He had actually felt the Goddess’s presence.
Just like the others.
But even more had happened.
His shadows had whispered it to him.
The flashes of light high beneath the dome.
The shimmering magic filling the air.
The way the temple walls drank in that silent power.
Today, he had stood closer to the Goddess than even Zasar’s High Priest ever had.
The panther’s gaze settled on the female walking cheerfully ahead of him, laughing together with Kaelith.
Her laughter floated back toward him, light and effortless. Somehow it seemed brighter than the birdsong echoing between the ancient trees.
His female.
What was so extraordinary about her that even the Goddess herself had turned her attention toward her?
And of course she was extraordinary.
Every Beastman believed his female to be extraordinary.
But Mirabelle possessed something...
Something impossible to put into words.
And that... That worried him more with every passing day.
_____
Back at the castle, Mirabelle withdrew with her mother to discuss everything that had happened and to set the well construction in motion.
Meanwhile, her three mates gathered in Kaelith’s room.
Sunlight spilled through the tall windows, warming the polished wooden floor. Somewhere in the corridor outside, servants hurried past, their footsteps muffled by thick carpets.
Silas was sprawled across one of the armchairs they had turned toward one another, one leg casually draped over the armrest, while Lucien paced back and forth in front of the desk with a stack of papers in his hands, absently rereading the same passages over and over.
Silas absentmindedly tapped one claw against the armrest. The quiet click echoed through the room, the only sound besides the crackling fire and Lucien’s restless pacing.
Lucien turned another page without truly reading it. The parchment rustled softly beneath his fingers, though his thoughts had remained on the same sentence for several minutes now.
That was how Kaelith found them when he entered carrying a tray loaded with snacks.
Owen had practically forced it into his hands, adding with a wink that alcohol was always better with something in one’s stomach.
The tray held honey-caramelized pastries — Lonan’s newest creation — along with salted nuts, grapes, and several kinds of cheese.
Warm caramel still clung to the pastries, filling the room with the scent of toasted butter and honey. The grapes glistened with tiny droplets of cool moisture.
The combined aroma reached Silas first.
The panther immediately straightened a little in his chair.
"Put it there."
He lazily pointed toward the small table between the armchairs, his tail swaying idly behind him.
"What am I, your maid?" Kaelith grumbled.
Even so, he set the tray down exactly where Silas had indicated.
Then he dropped into the second armchair.
Not quite as outrageously as Silas.
Still...
Had their etiquette tutors witnessed this scene, they probably would’ve suffered heart attacks.
Silas immediately reached for one of the caramelized pastries.
It crunched loudly as he bit into it. Flakes of caramel shattered between his teeth while warm butter melted across his tongue.
"Oh..." His ears twitched. "These are good."
He chewed thoughtfully.
"...They kind of taste like Mirabelle."
Instantly, the other two froze.
Then they practically dove at the tray.
Meanwhile, Silas hurriedly tried to hoard as many pastries as possible before they disappeared.
"There’s vanilla and cinnamon in them," Lucien analyzed.
"...And a hint of cardamom," Kaelith added.
The expressions on all three Beastmen darkened simultaneously.
"The birdman..."
Kaelith began.
"...didn’t..."
Lucien continued.
"...do something involving Mirabelle..."
Silas finished the thought they were all having.
At once, the room grew darker.
Not because the light had changed. Because the shadows had.
They thickened around Silas’s chair, spreading silently across the floor like pools of living ink.
The fire dimmed. The corners of the room disappeared into darkness.
One shadow slowly peeled itself away from the others. It lingered for only a heartbeat. Then it slipped beneath the door without making a sound.
It flowed silently over the polished floorboards, swallowing the reflections of the firelight as it passed.
Silas’s shadows had already decided that someone might have touched what belonged to them.
"Mirabelle didn’t smell like him," Lucien finally said.
The words visibly relaxed the other two.
"And he doesn’t smell like her either," Silas growled.
"Don’t you think we’d have noticed if she’d..." Kaelith tried to reason.
"But why does it taste like her?"
Silas’s brows remained furrowed. His mood hadn’t improved in the slightest.
"It tastes the way she smells..." The fox looked at the pastry in his hand. "...Is that just a coincidence?"
Lucien clearly wasn’t ready to let the matter go. Which meant Kaelith, as First Mate, had to calm the waters once again:
"...Maybe he was trying to do something nice for us?"
"Please." Lucien snorted. "You don’t even believe that yourself."
"He’d better hope that’s all it was."
Silas crossed his arms while taking another bite of the pastry.
Without needing to discuss it further...
All three silently agreed to keep an eye on the head chef.
"All right."
Kaelith stood and walked over to the liquor cabinet.
"Back to the original topic."
He began pouring each of them something considerably stronger.
Crystal glasses clicked softly against one another. The rich scent of whiskey mingled with caramel and roasted nuts as silence settled over the room once more.
"Did you find anything, Lucien?"