Of All Things, I Became a Crow

*Rainelle’s POV

I was awakened slowly by a gentle caress on my cheek. It was a soothing touch that told me that I could sleep more, but I can’t do that. There was no doubt that I was sleepy, but I have to roll the egg.

"Sorry, did I wake you up?"

[Umnh, no. I have to get up.]

Shaking my head slightly, I blinked my eyes forcefully. Then I saw Karmeut closing in to my face.

I shook my head with a small smile at his gaze that examined me.

[I'm fine, Karmeut. I was just dozing off for a while.]

"Are you just sleepy?"

[Uh-huh. The doctor came and checked my condition before. I'm okay. Really.]

I gently brought my beak to his cheek. Then, as if he had been waiting, Karmeut hugged me.

“At times like this, I have to help…”

[I am reassured when Karmeut is by my side.]

It was just as I said. It was no exaggeration to say that Karmeut was now handling all of his work in my garden.

Even if I pushed his back, saying that it was okay for him to go to the office and work comfortably, his stubbornness could not be broken.

No, on the contrary, it could be said that I was the one who was shaken by the sight of Karmeut almost begging me to let him do this much. I couldn't bear to stop him.

He took care of his work during the day and slept next to me at night in the form of a wolf.

It was inevitable to feel sorry, grateful, and reassured for his behavior.

[It's about time to roll the egg.]

I rolled the egg in my hold, whispering in a sweet voice to ease his worries about waking me up.

"Aren't you tired? You have to keep rolling egg, so you have to worry about it constantly."

[Still, it is necessary. This little one will be born healthy by receiving the warmth evenly.]

I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bothered and tired, but it was something I had to do. For the sake of the child.

While rolling the egg, I stopped.

...............huh?

"What's wrong, Rainelle?"

[No, it just feels a little different than usual...]

Don’t tell me something is wrong?

Startled, I rose from my nest. Karmeut also hurriedly approached the egg, perhaps aware of the seriousness.

The egg appeared to be fine on the outside. However, the feeling I felt at the tip of my beak was distinctly different from usual.

It stared at the egg, wondering if there might be some kind of problem.

It was a kind of stiff and small movement, but the egg swayed weakly from side to side.

[Ah, the egg!]

I was startled and jumped on the spot. As a result, the created wind scattered the feathers I had piled for warmth in all directions, but that wasn't the point right now.

The egg! It moved!!

"Calm down, Rainelle."

I was barely able to come to my senses at the voice.

[Ka, Karmeut, Al, Al moves.]

"......okay. It moves.”

Feeling surprised, I put my wings on my rapidly beating chest and took a light, deep breath. Then I quickly changed into my human form.

If this is because the time to hatch is imminent, the child is likely to regard the first thing it sees as its mother.

When I went to Camut's side and hugged him almost like I was hanging on his arm, a firm hug enveloped me.

What if what I've done so far is wrong? Did I roll the egg properly? Or maybe I should have buried my egg in the ground like an alligator? If I treat the egg wrong, I, I...

"It will be fine."

I was awakened from my thoughts by a muttering voice and a patting on my back.

"It's our child. It'll be fine."

I could see his trembling eyes that still seemed strong.

"It'll be fine, Rainelle. It'll be fine."

Ah, Karmeut is nervous too.

I was feeling that anxiety too. Our child was the first for everything. I was worried about whether our child would be able to break out of that small world, and I wondered if I had done well so far.

There was a faint sound of rustling and scratching from the inside of the egg. The birds, who were usually chaotic, were also staring at the egg in silence.

The movement of the egg, which had been shaking from side to side, got bigger and bigger. At the moment I was worried that the egg might fall over, it suddenly fell to the other side.

Then it started rolling around the inside of the nest.

“……Will, will it be okay?”

"It's okay...... It's okay. Let's watch a little longer."

Karmeut blurted out the words as if he was not sure himself. As I held his arm tight while suppressing my nervousness, I felt something.

“......Rainelle?”

“・・・・・・ It will be fine, Karmeut.”

The tension in my body, which had accumulated, was relieved now. I could feel a look of doubt from the side, but I was able to laugh.

Inside that egg is my child. The child, now grown enough to escape the protection of the eggshell, is moving to come out of the cramped little world.

I felt that.

“Our child says the egg is cramped. So let’s wait…

It was something the child had to do. All we could do was wait for the child to come out of the egg.

Karmeut did not answer. He was just hugging me from behind. His arms were strong, so I leaned comfortably on him and waited for the child to be born from the egg.

***

I've heard somewhere that breaking out of the egg is like breaking out of a small world.

It was a metaphor for how difficult itwas. And I realized that while watching my child hatching.

"...We’re not helping?"

"We can't do that, Karmeut. It's up to the child."

I held onto the impatient Karmeut's arm and stopped him. It was understandable that he was so nervous now.

About two hours had passed since the egg started moving. When the movement of the egg stopped in the middle, Karmeut was startled and tried to run to the egg, but I desperately stopped him.

Saying “It's okay. The child is having a hard time right now, so taking a break is necessary,” Karmeut calmed down quickly. Then he said he was sorry and hugged me tight.

"It is okay."

Actually, I'm also anxious. Even if I can feel the child's presence, I'm also anxious.

Waiting for the child was all we had to do, believing that this was for the best. As painful as it was, this was what we were supposed to do.

It was then.

The shallow cracks in the egg, which can be seen here and there, became thicker with the sound of “Crack”. Then, with a popping sound, a hole appeared.

*Bakbakbak*

The sound of scratching from inside the egg got louder. Then a faint, incomprehensible cry came through the small gap in the egg.

"Come on."

I whispered softly to the child.

"Because Mom and Dad are waiting for you."

Karmeut hugged me and whispered that softly. Perhaps hearing that, the movement of the egg, which had been swaying vigorously from side to side, stopped abruptly.

Then, with a popping sound, the egg shell began to crumble. It looked like gold dust flying.

"Kkiing...!!"

With a small whimper-like cry, the eggshell completely crumbled.

“Kii, khiing, kiing……!!”

And inside, a small golden object was wriggling.

It was really small, soft, and round.

The tip of the child's snout was sharp and hard, like a bird's, as if it was a necessary part for breaking eggshell.

When the child scratched the tip of the snout with its front foot, it simply fell off like taking off something. Then what appeared was a small, moist, black nose.

"Kiingkiingkiing......"

The child was crawling under the eggshell, wriggling. It raised its head and blinked slowly, although he was quite shaky from holding up its neck.

The child's eyes were the color of vivid violets. Our child, who looked like a little puppy with golden fur, was whimpering and crying at us with eyes open and head held up.

"You worked hard, sweetheart."

Such a child was so admirable. Feeling proud, I approached it and held out my hands. Then, as if it had waited, the child crawled over and put its head on the palm of my hand.

I could see very small black wings on the back of the child.

The child whined as it mumbled with its little mouth. Carefully lifting the child up and holding it in my arms, the child then proceeded to bury his head in my arms.

This small, soft, and delicate child broke out of that large egg. I was puzzled that such a small child came out of such a large egg, but I was just proud of it.

"Karmeut."

I turned to call him.

"Karmeut, our child."

He stood there blankly. Blinking in disbelief, he came towards me with stiff, awkward movements, like an unoiled robot.

Karmeut's golden eyes turned to the child in my arms. I smiled at his blank stare and spoke,

"Look. It is our child. It is really small, isn't it?"

"Really, really small."

"Hold the child, Karmeut."

"M, me?"

"Uh-huh."

I handed him the child in my arms. Karmeut carefully received the child, his fingertips trembling.

As the child whimpered at the sudden movement to express its displeasure, Karmeut shrank his shoulders. However, as soon as the child, who was twitching its small nose, dug into his arms in a comfortable manner, Karmeut's mouth twitched.

"Our, child..."

Moisture welled up in his eyes as he blankly muttered those words, and soon water droplets began to drip.

"Karmeut..."

I was surprised by that appearance, so I wiped his cheek with my hand. Then he sobbed quietly while carefully hugging the child.

"Thank you, Rainelle. Thank you very much."

Karmeut rubbed his face with the palm of his hand while continue to shed tears. Feeling my palms getting wetter, I quietly hugged him.

Our child broke through the small world and came out to this world.

***

Translator(s) note: Announcement folks~ There's actually a few more chapters for the special story, but we only got the raw only up to the next chapter... so... it seems that the next chapter will be the last update for this translation... At least there's no cliffhanger! Ah yeah, we will found out the child's gender next chapter! See you again!