I Became the Black Swan Mother of the White Swan Princess

Youve finally returned, Your Ladyship! Why did you come back so late!

Selene.

As I returned, exhausted, to the lake, Selene waved her beak around as she spoke.

It looked like shed waited for a very long time, as I could see that the mallard duck had turned pale with worry.

Do you know how much I worried! I thought something happened to you while you were outside

Dont even get me started.

It wouldve been better if something had happened at least.

Id only returned empty handed after dragging my body out.

Not only did I not find out about Loam, I hadnt even gotten to take a single bite out of the cakes.

Ah ahWhat is this, seriously.

Though it was a relief I hadnt gotten caught, Id used up all my energy to secretly turn into a swan and get myself back in that form.

Basically, I experienced a game of extreme hide-and-seek and then returned.

Your Ladyship. Whats going on? Were you unable to find the childs father?

Im not ready to talk about thaAh, wheres the child?

I spread my wings and looked around for Haniel. The small baby swan that had been playing happily when I left was nowhere in sight.

Selene, I told you to watch the kid! Why are you out here alone!,

But there wasnt much I could do..

What do you mean?,

She didnt even let me near her, you see. As soon as Your Ladyship left, the childs spirits dropped immediately and sank into silence, zipping her mouth shut. She just stayed quiet and then kept hiding from me, over there.

*Pout.*

She pointed her beak in the direction of the field of reeds. I saw a small white, curled up, little wad of cotton like thing appear in my line of sight as Icarefully approached in that direction.

THa, Haniel?

Mommyyyyy. Hnn, hnngh..

As she lifted her head and saw me, Haniel burst into tears.

*Pitter-patter,* she dashed into my embrace, and I couldnt bring myself to shake her off.

Mwo, Mwommy

Her trembling appearance reminded me of the shaking shoulders of the two children at the pastry shop.

I stood in place, unsure of what to do as my nose soured, when Haniel shook her head rapidly.

It, its not Mommwy, wight? Bweck Swan-nim?

Haniel.

Pw, pwease dont gwo, Bweck Swan-nim. I wont caw you mommwy anymore.

She said this as she desperately burrowed into my wings.

What should I do.

No matter how much I grit my teeth, I couldnt move, whether it was because my body couldnt or wouldnt move.

At some point, Selene approached me carefully after seeing how Haniel had disappeared into my plumage, practically burying herself in my feathers.

She looked for you so much, Your Ladyship, she wouldnt eat anything.

You still shouldve given her something. Shes still a child. How could you leave her alone like that?

What do you mean leave her alone. I asked Lady Melloe to watch after her.

Lady Melloe?

I gave a derisory snort all the way to the end of my beak.

I wasnt asking because I didnt know who that was.

Instead it was that I knew her all too well that this was the problem of all problems.

There are so many others you could have asked, why did you give the child to Lady Melloe to watch?

Bu, but

Youre really asking for it, arent you.

Unable to believe what I was hearing, I shot daggers at Selene.

I was at the peak of the lakes ecosystem and so I was familiar with the members and inhabitants.

Lady Melloe.

As you could tell from how we addressed her as Lady, at one point she was from a noble family, but that very lofty mindset of hers sent her to the lake.

The world was about class and dignity.

As someone from one of the oldest families of the Northern Lands, she remained unmarried and spent all her time and energy into teaching an etiquette class for young noble girls.

This temperament that seemed so fragile remained steady even in the face of power.

At the newly instated proxy Ranias order for her to marry the late duke whod been half-dead at the time, shed honestly responded with a lady must keep her dignity and gotten herself cursed.

In one way, you could say shes incredible.

Even after Lady Melloe became a goose, she never lost that dignified attitude of hers. Despite becoming a bird, she only said that throwing away the noble mindset was subjecting oneself to becoming a true beast and then set up an etiquette school at the lake.

Many of the either clueless newcomers to the lake or the children whod been born at the lake had entered the school, but among them, not a single one had been able to last long under her intense curriculum.

Did the child even do anything wrong? Dont you remember? After that baby duck, no, Viscount Artes son was expelled from the school, how he ended up? Before, he didnt really have the best mannerisms, but now hes completely given up on life. Not that long ago I saw him sadly chewing on hemp seeds.

T/N the word (dae-ma) here means either hemp or marijuana so I went with the safer choice0x0

Im very sorry. But I dont have experience with taking care of such quiet kids. So I took her to Lady Melloe, who said that these kind of children needed to be starved until they asked for food.

What?!

That old grandma is asking for it!

But I didnt leave immediately to confront the woman and only covered Haniels ears with my wings so she wouldnt hear any other horrible words.

How can I leave this kid alone by herself again.

I was unable to take another step and ended up just sitting down instead.

It wasnt just because Lady Melloe kept badgering me to keep a temperament befitting of a duchess every time I saw her.

Your Ladyship, you went all the way to the city today, please tell me what happened. Were you able to visit the pastry shop?

Hyoo. About that

I felt a headache coming on as I thought of how to explain that Id ended with nothing after Id spent all that time waiting in line.

Though, of course, standing in line wasnt the only thing that had happened.

I gave cake to those kids and those brothers who were exploring popular shops and restaurants

Uhm.

But why is my back so cold? I had safely returned to the lake, but the cold ringing of metal from earlier in the day still lingered in my ears.

At the same time the chiseled jaw of the man Id pushed hazily resurfaced in my thoughts.

Are you really

How rude to speak so casually. Being handsome isnt everything.

Although I didnt see his face properly, it wasnt just my imagination.

Just like how one can recognize an animal as an elephant by its trunk, there were similar features to recognizing beautiful people. From the shape of his briefly revealed hands to his firm chest muscles, it was clear that he wasnt an ordinary guy.

So what? Its not like Im going to see him again.

From the way he treated me even after knowing I was a Duchess, he either didnt believe me or was really asking for a beating.

The only other reason why hed cling to me like that is

Oh my gosh, no way.

Yes? Is something the matter, Your Ladyship?

Its nothing. Just that my beauty got me in trouble again.

Catherine, you troublemaking woman.

I feigned innocence while slowly shaking my beak.

Though my knowledge of romance was limited because Id only learned them by reading novels, the only reason a man would stop me like that was that he fell in love with me at first sight.

Seeing as he even left his brothers side to pursue a woman, I got the picture.

Honestly, was I that nice to him?

I told him about standing in line and gave him an expensive cake, so I guess I showed him a lot of different sides of me.

So Your Ladyship, will you be going out again?

Yeah, there are no other options so I think Ill have to do that

How could I let this matter go.

I quietly mumbled out a response, then suddenly raised my head.

I wondered if it was a sort of wild instinct, since after I turned into an animal I was much more sensitive to peoples presence.

Selene.

As I saw an approaching torch from far away, I quietly called out to her.

All sense of happiness and idle imaginations had disappeared from my face.

Carefully lifting my wing, I nudged the sleeping Haniel towards Selene.

Take her and hide right now. Watch over her to make sure she never comes out.

Your Ladyship, why so suddenly? And itll be hard for me to take care of her myself-

Then at least take her to Lady Melloe.

Hearing the resignation in my voice, Selene flinched, surprised and confused.

But before she tried to stop me, she noticed the approaching torches as well.

Y-your Ladyship, thats!

Yeah.

I calmly raised my head and took a step forward.

Theyre a bit late, for once. My daughters.

HONK!

Let go of me! I said, let go!

No matter how much I kicked and struggled, the snare around my neck only tightened.

As soon as Id decided to show my face, Id expected that news from my venture into the city would quickly travel to the sisters.

I suspected theyd interrogate me, but who knew that theyd tie a rope around me like this instead.

Come on! Why arent you following!

Holding the rope firmly, Rebecca dragged me even more insistently.

Its not like I resisted them at first, even willing to go with them voluntarily since I didnt have a way to escape, but it looks like she wasnt satisfied with that.

Thud.

As soon as the door to the villa closed behind me, she grabbed the rope and pulled even harder at it.

K-keuk!

Looks like yourliver swelled up! Tell me what you did, immediately!

You cant understand me even if I talked!

*Fwip.*

Id hit my head against the wall. When I fiercely turned to glower at Rebecca, she met my eyes with a glare of her own.