Formo, who had been sprawled haphazardly on the bed after making a mess of the pillow, opened his eyes sharply and corrected his posture at the sound of someone’s footsteps gradually approaching. Judging from his experience thus far, this nimble and stealthy footstep definitely belonged to the wretched human, Serdin.
Serdin, who had thrown him a pillow while spouting nonsense about thinking of it as himself and cherishing it, was returning.
Formo intended to peck at Serdin’s annoying head with all his might the moment he faced him. The eyes of Formo, who was sitting on the bed headboard, gleamed sharply like those of a predator eyeing its prey. Soon, the door burst open.
The white-headed long-tailed tit didn’t miss the timing and rushed toward his target at high speed. There were results from practicing how to move forward with his injured wing while Serdin was away.
He had put in so much force that his injured wing began to throb painfully. But the proud Formo was undaunted and increased his speed.
Then, with a resonant battle cry, he thrust his beak toward Serdin’s head. His eyes were tightly shut. It was because he didn’t have the confidence to peck at his head while looking straight at him.
“Ppiiiiik!”
*Pok.* It was a completely different sensation from what he had prepared for. A feeling that was soft and warm, and even familiar, came from his head. Formo, who had expected it to be somewhat hard even if not as hard as a rock, tilted his head at the unexpected sensation and slightly opened his eyes.
“Pipi.”
Formo’s round eyes blinked a couple of times as if grasping the situation, then slowly took in the man before him.
“……”
“Pipi, you……”
The corners of Serdin’s mouth twitched and curved upward—he had hurried over after becoming anxious from Kert’s story, only to receive an unexpected welcome. He no longer even tried to hide the laughter bubbling up, nor made any show of effort to do so.
“Could it be you came out to greet me? Hm? Did you miss me that much? Ah, Pipi……”
At the gaze filled with affection, as if looking at a beloved being, Formo’s body stiffened like stone. It was a misunderstanding. Formo absolutely had no intention of going out to greet Serdin. Truly not even the slightest bit.
But considering that where Formo had aimed was not Serdin’s annoying head but his chest, and that Serdin’s hand was around that chest area, and that his body had been caught snugly in that hand—it was undoubtedly a situation where the wretched human could misunderstand.
The unexpected sensation Formo had felt was courtesy of the wretched human Serdin’s hand. Formo’s beak trembled finely upon belatedly realizing this. Even though he had his eyes closed, to think that he, who was born with a guardian’s fate, couldn’t even read the direction properly and made a mistake.
It was too humiliating.
“Pipi, what should I do? I keep laughing because of you. What if I get kicked out for being an undignified crown prince?”
Formo furrowed his brow at the murmuring that was close to talking to himself. Whether he got kicked out or not, what did that have to do with him? Formo couldn’t understand why Serdin asked him such personal things. Was he trying to let him know in advance that an opportunity to escape might come soon?
If that was the case, it seemed to make a little sense. Formo smoothed out his furrowed brow and carelessly patted Serdin’s hand that was gripping his body with his wing. Despite the halfhearted patting, Serdin’s face gradually brightened.
“Ppii, ppii! Ppiiit!”
“Pipi, could it be you’re comforting me right now? You’re saying you’ll take responsibility for me even if I get kicked out, right? You’re telling me to trust only you. Right?”
Serdin, not knowing what meaning Formo’s chirping held, opened his mouth slightly, touched.
“Ah, Pipi……”
Hearing the voice mixed with both a sigh and affection pricked his conscience, but Formo deliberately ignored it. One should be able to tell small lies to find one’s rightful place.
Formo silently mulled over the meaning of the chirping that Serdin had misunderstood.
*’It’s okay, it’s okay! Even though you’re a completely wretched human, you’ll manage to survive somehow.’*
Nowhere in Formo’s chirping did the meaning of taking responsibility exist.
“Pipi, I’ll only trust you—my smart and valiant Pipi.”
Formo showed a splendidly magnificent expression to the human who was chattering away about trusting only his smart and valiant self, then turned his head sharply. Even though he was a wretched human, it was fortunate that he at least had proper eyes to know that he was magnificent.
This was one of the few merits of the wretched human.
“……Pipi, what is this?”
The pitiful sight of the pillow with holes showing its insides came into view of Serdin, who had been pestering Formo. Though he called it pitiful, in truth it was just a few small feathers from inside the pillow poking out through the torn gaps.
“Pipi.”
Serdin’s gaze darkened as he examined the pillow that could be fixed without a trace with just a few stitches. Formo looked up at him with tense eyes as Serdin’s attitude suddenly changed. Could it possibly have been a cherished pillow? Well, if it was a pillow meaningful enough to throw at him while telling him to think of it as himself and cherish it, he could understand that reaction.
With a heavy heart, Formo twitched his beak and waited for the other’s words.
“I’m asking just in case, Pipi…… did you kiss that pillow?”
“……”
It was an outrageous question he hadn’t expected. He had thought he would get angry at most, but to ask if he had kissed it. What kind of mentality did this wretched human live his life with?
Formo scrunched up his face as if asserting his innocence. His large, round eyes immediately took on an angry gleam and shone fiercely. Even though he had stomped all over that pillow thinking of it as Serdin and pecked at it, he had absolutely never kissed it.
How one-dimensionally must he be viewing him to be able to make such a remark? And what kind of eyes must one look at the world with to come up with such an idea? Formo glared at Serdin who asked such an annoying question that it completely offset his few merits, and let out huffing breaths.
When Formo showed a displeased reaction, Serdin changed his question and asked again.
“Pipi, you put your beak on that pillow, didn’t you.”
At that question, Formo’s beak, which had been perking up in dissatisfaction, stopped. Soon the anger that had filled his eyes disappeared, and absurdity took its place.
“……”
“……”
A familiar silence passed between them. Formo couldn’t understand Serdin. He really couldn’t have imagined that giving something a once-over with his beak would be taken as a kiss. Formo, who had been staring at Serdin who was pretending to be sulky with dumbfounded eyes, shook his head from side to side.
He was definitely a human whose mental state wasn’t sound. Being with this human seemed to create many maddening situations.
The day after experiencing the absurd incident, Serdin’s overprotection intensified. The pillows and blankets that had occupied the bed had vanished without a trace. The wide bed was completely bare.
Perhaps because the ill feelings from yesterday’s incident hadn’t yet subsided, Serdin was sitting backwards in his chair, persistently staring at Formo’s beak.
Formo, who had been sitting on the bed under that burdensome gaze, idly killing time, irritably shook his tail. He was anxious and bored. The long-tailed tit, who had been shaking his tail trying to calm his restless heart, soon grew tired of even that and let out a deep sigh.
Then Serdin asked affectionately with a faint smile on his lips.
“Pipi, are you bored?”
“Ppi!”
Since it was welcome news to hear, Formo answered vigorously, unlike himself. Having drawn a satisfyingly pleasant reaction from Formo, Serdin smiled brightly and offered generously.
“Then shall we go for a walk?”
Had there been a change of heart in this wretched human?
*’Why is this human, of all things, offering a normal suggestion?’*
It was strange, but because the excitement the word “walk” brought was so great, Formo couldn’t help but show an intense reaction with sparkling eyes. Afraid that Serdin might change his mind, he flew over and landed on his shoulder with a flutter.
“Pipi, I told you not to use your wings.”
At that rebuke, Formo’s round eyes drooped downward as if recalling something sad.
Yesterday, Formo had endured the pain in his wing to rush at Serdin, and during the night, he had cried his eyes out complaining of pain. Even forgetting his dignity as a guardian. Serdin, seeing Formo cry sorrowfully for the first time, was startled and called for the royal physician, and the capable physician quickly arrived and examined Formo.
Then, after a brief examination, he spoke with a stern face.
*’You must be careful to prevent him from using his wings for the time being. If things continue like this, he may never be able to fly again.’*
At the physician’s frightening words, Formo burst into tears again after having barely managed to stop. The thought that he might not be able to fly even if he waited a thousand years suddenly made him scared. Even after the physician left, Serdin soothed Formo, who wouldn’t stop crying, for a long while.
Despite Serdin’s comforting pats, Formo continued to cry sorrowfully, but at some point fell asleep with his beak buried in the pillow. Serdin, who belatedly discovered that Formo’s beak had once again been directed at the pillow, spent the night firmly suppressing the strange emotion boiling up from within.
Anyway, as such, Formo came to live thinking he had no wings for the time being. Since flight is like instinct to a bird, it would surely not be easy, but if he wanted to recover quickly and leave this place, he had to follow the physician’s words without fail.
He had just made up his mind moments ago, but he had gotten so excited at Serdin’s suggestion of a walk that he momentarily forgot. And Serdin deliberately, deliberately pointed out Formo’s cute mistake.
“Pipi, you forgot again, didn’t you.”
Feeling a bit embarrassed, Formo blushed and turned his head sharply. One of the greatest of this wretched human’s many shortcomings was that he was excessively quick-witted, and—
“It’s okay, Pipi. I’m here, aren’t I? Even if you can never fly again, you can just sit on my shoulder and get around.”
—another was that he only ever said such absurd, useless, and even embarrassing things.
