I Became the Black Swan Mother of the White Swan Princess

Tap tap tap.

She ran to me with light steps, and at the sight of her entering in my arms, the breath Id been holding escaped in a puff.

How could she be so cute?

I swiftly turned my head to the back, trying my best to avoid looking at her.

At least, one good thing about the curse was that I could completely turn my head around 180 degrees. It was the perfect body for someone when they wanted to avoid looking at something.

St, stop!)

I firmly made up my mind and closed my eyes to strengthen my resolve.

No matter how much I wanted a child, I wasnt going to lose my life for it.

Now that I knew this kid is the little princess of the novel, it was absolutely dangerous to keep her close.

Its only a matter of time before wed get caught by her brother, and when we were it was no different from a time bomb blowing up the lake.

TIm sorry but Im not your mother. How could I be your mom?

Youre nwot mwy Mommy?

I told you im not! Cant you tell by the different colors of our feathers?

Mine are black, yours are white!

I kept my eyes closed and indicated to the babys feathers with my beak.

I wished she could understand my desperate gesture.

Full of will to survive, I spread my wings wide.

Okay. You see this? You and are are this diff

Ah we, were the swame!

Fwish, the baby swan, who spread her wings along with me, couldnt keep her balance and landed on her buttocks.

I wondered what she was so happy about as I watched her flap her wings as much as she could.

So you are mwy mommwy!

Im going to go crazy, seriously.

My anxiety continued as we moved to the lake, even until the sun rose.

I roughly pointed my forehead to Haniel where to go and then buried my head in my wings.

Mommy, Mommwy! Wook at thish!

I said Im not your mom.)

Oh, oh..

The baby swans shoulders sank.

Perhaps because she was in a swans body, it was more dramatic than slumped shoulders on a human body.

Bu, bwut Mommwy and I are the swame..

Four colors are different, the colors!

When her shoulders were slumped, even the way she bowed her head made it look like she was my actual daughter.

At least our colors were different, otherwise Id have really been driven to being her mother.

I cant. I absolutely cannot

Who was she?

She was the younger sister of the tyrant emperor, the most obsessive man in the world.

I shook my head just thinking about what would happen when I got unfortunately stuck between the two of them.

And without all that, I had been living in a cursed body the minute I opened my eyes.

.. What kind of fate is this?

Thadnt even been wishing for something out of this world.

I didnt want to be like everyone else who transmigrated, relying on a powerful and able husband, I wanted to live like a human being should.

Ah.not that Im even human anymore!

It was another day of living as a half-person and a halfanimal.

Realizing my situation once more, I felt bitter.

Thinking how, in my previous life I was an orphaned parttime worker and in my present life I was now a cursed widow, I almost wanted to blow up the lake.

Hyooo.

Is something the matter, Your Ladyship? Your face has greatly thinned in a day..

..Selene.

Selene wobbled over to me and I scooched over to give her a seat next to me.

Haniel sneaked behind me, but I pretended I didnt see her.

If I show any kind of hint of being happy that this small baby relies on me, Ill end up getting attached.

Child, go stay over there for a bit while the adults talk

Mm?

Go over there and play in the water for a bit. Splash splash, you know, right?

. Plash plash?

The tip of my nose soured as I forcefully sent away the Haniel who had been sticking to my wings like glue.

She wasnt a child who deserved to be treated coldly like

this.

Even the back of her sadly walking away was so adorable to the point that my insides felt like they were burning.

Is there something else you wanted to say, Your Ladyship?

.

..Just.

I turned around, avoiding looking at Haniel.

It was better for everyone that the child wasnt here while I said what I wanted to say next.

Do you perhaps know about the emperor?,

Y-y-y-yes?

What, what did I say, why are you already trembling.

Even before I properly explained more, just because the tyrant was mentioned.

Selene was shivering from head to toe like a Disney cartoon, and only opened her beak after searching her surroundings.

You had asked about the emperors name last time. Though you then said it wasnt important..

No, thats because at that time!

Because I didnt know she was the female protagonists older brother.

When I first fell into a lake and was trying to find out what kind of novel this place was, of course, I had asked about the emperor of this country.

But I wasnt smart enough to remember the name of an emperor in a novel Id read for a bit.

I wasnt even sure if his name was properly mentioned in the novel.

He is Ra, Rashid-nim. Pernoa the Third.

Ahhj

As expected, I didnt know even when I heard the name.

All characters in fantasy novels had similar names, and this guy was no different.

It sounded like a pretty respectable name, a name appropriate for a tyrant character.

And it wasnt like the name was important for my situation.

That, Is that person reallythat terrifying?

Dont get me started! The empires territory expanded to twice its original size after the emperor ascended the throne!

How many wars must it have took for that to happen.

I wasnt very surprised, as it was expected of the one whod been described as leaving trails of pools of blood behind him.

It was typical of a tyrant, wasnt it?

Hed cut down anyone who disagreed with him in court, if his temper was roused, hed turn them to dust..in other words, there was nothing good that came from being near that character.

But its said in the days when he was crown prince, he would visit the Winter Palace every once in a while, escorting the late Emperor and Empress..

Winter Palace?

Yes. Not just here, but every province of the empire has its own royal villa. But among all of them the Winter Palace of our Northern Lands is the best, so much so that the late Empress would always make a trip to the Winter Palaces

Selene raised her wings and indicated towards an area beyond the lake. Though I hadnt ever been to that area before, I caught sight of a vague shape in the hazy mist.

But since the two have passed away, the visits dont happen anymore, of course. But why do you ask about him?

Ah ah, doesnt the emperor have a younger sister?

Is that so? Hm. Now that I think about it, I do believe Ive heard about something like that. )

What. You dont know for sure?

I suddenly felt a surge of emotions and looked at the baby swan.

My god, for her to be a princess that no one was aware of.

I wanted to groan at the sight of the pitiful little swan that was paddling in circles, still waiting for me to call her name.

How can you not even know that? Its the empires one and only princess!

But Your Ladyship, werent you asking because you yourself dont know?

Ah

Thats true, but still.

Even though Selene was usually staring off into space, shed hit the bulls eye every once in a while.

When I calmed down and stealthily turned my head back to her, Selene energetically spoke.

To be honest, the emperor has many younger siblings. You see, every time we eventually heard a rumour, it was usually of the late Empress being pregnant.

..Loo, looks like the late Emperor and Empress lived in conjugal harmony

Indeed. Thats why they must have passed on almost at the same time.)

Tap tap, when I turned around at the tap on my foot and looked at the baby swan and saw how delighted it was to get my attention, my nose soured.

I mean, its not like the child did anything wrong.

If just one of the two parents had stayed behind, this child wouldnt be subject to such a horrible life.

Child, your fate isnt so good, either.

I cant believe that, with so many brothers around, you would end up being thrown to a cursed and widowed black swan.

I wrapped my stinging chest with my wings.

This situation was definitely a red flag.

But my heavy heart felt at ease as soon as I looked at the baby swan.

Even so. If shes the one and only princess of the empire, wouldnt she get some kind of special treatment? Ah ah, is she perhaps a concubines daughter? Perhaps its like that because she doesnt share the same mother as the emperor

Of course not. The late Emperor was only ever with the late Empress. He had no concubines.

Wait what. So theyre even blood-related siblings?

Id be able to understand if she was a stepmothers daughter instead.

Their birth mother had suffered so much giving birth, but did they not even feel pity for that last child?!

They have money, they have power! Frankly, as long as they had the heart to, they could take care of the child as much as they wanted.

I felt enmity flare up at the tyrant I hadnt even met.

That doesnt make sense. How can a brother treat his sister like that?

Its probably because the late Empress passed away. At least for the other princes, their names had been officially announced and had a festival in celebration of their birthday. The last commemoration was 8 years ago for the twin princes, so its been a very long time. I even remember that the duke offered up a present for the celebrations

And for the little princess?,

Originally, before a prince or princess reached 2 years of age, they should have had their names and titles put up on temples all over the continent, but some people said the princess was sick, and other s said that the princess had died early.

Died, who said she died!

. Wait. Your Ladyship, why are you yellingu

Do you think I cant not yell in this situation?

She had perfectly fine webbed feet and an adorable little beak!

My kid might be cursed, but that doesnt mean shes lacking in other ways!

Ho-onk!

I flapped my wings, trying to cool off.