For You In The Cage

the kind of person who can honestly say things like that.

He picked up the hood that was hung loosely on the chair again.

「I’m going out.
Call me when you’re done.」

「It was because the feathers will start to fly all over.
This is Yulif’s resting place, so I shouldn’t dirty it.
It’s cumbersome to clean up… No, I’m not saying I won’t clean it! I mean I’m not going to hand it over to Yulif to clean! What if it gets to a place you can’t see even if you clean it hard? Anyway, Yulif, don’t go out.」

Canaren’s cheeks reddened as she poured out her words like a whirlwind.
She clenched his sleeves, lest he leave while she was speaking.

Yulif put down the hood.

「Okay, calm down.」

「Aren’t you going?」

「It’s okay.
And you don’t have to worry about cleaning up.」

Yulif flicked his finger.
The firewood left in the fireplace was wiped out.

「Leave the troublesome work to the wizard.」

Canaren’s eyes, which had been wide open, folded gently.

「Yes, Wizard!」

As soon as the powerful reply resounded, her wings spread out on her back.

*******

Canaren was lying on the carpet with her two pairs of wings, that were much larger than her body, spread out.
The afternoon sun shone through the window and rippled above her.
Wings whiter than sunlight shone even whiter in the light.
There were quite a few feathers scattered around her, probably because she had cleaned her feathers after a long time.

She fell into a deep sleep with a relaxed face.

Yulif removed all unnecessary furniture so that Canaren could comfortably organize her feathers.
She was a little shy, but as soon as she started tidying up her feathers, she became focused.

Yulif stepped away to a suitable distance and watched her moving wings, and the sight of her feathers falling from those wings into the air.

「Hey, Yulif.
I have one request…」

Canaren, who sat with her two pairs of wings spread out, looked back at him.

Yulif thought that her peach-red face was due to the sun.
He needed to draw the curtains.
It was when he got up thinking like that.

「How did you know I needed wind? A wizard must be different.」

「Wind?」

「Huh… … Didn’t you get up to open the window?」

It wasn’t.
When Yulif shook his head, Canaren laughed as if embarrassed.

「Where the arms cannot reach, the wind helps.
There were times when I climbed a tall tree because it needed a bit of a strong wind.
The wind is pretty strong today, so you can just open the window」

「If you open the window, there will be a gap.」

Yulif moved his hand lightly.
A fairly strong wind blew up and brushed Canaren’s wings.

The old feathers hidden between were blown away by the wind.
The feathers that swayed as if dancing were like petals and white snow.

「Thank you, Wizard.」

Among her white feathers, Canaren smiled brightly.

Would it be like this if a winged goddess from a myth he read someday appeared?

As he painted this picture, he wanted to leave it alone forever, but his possessiveness was fierce.

It was such a beautiful and enchanting sight.

His heart raced.
In Yulif’s mind, she was much more sacred than the goddess.

Even if he put together all the beautiful things that exist in this world, they wouldn’t be more beautiful than her.
He could put all the lovely things together and nothing could be more lovely than her.

Why did he realize this simple yet clear fact so late? Along with his overwhelming emotion, an unavoidable sadness came over.

He felt he didn’t deserve to love her.  Even looking at her like this was too much for him.
So Yulif slowly turned his head.

As soon as Canaren finished tidying up her feathers, she fell asleep.
She was exposed to sunlight throughout, and as the tension relaxed, fatigue seemed to have come all at once.
Yulif didn’t move her to the bed, lest he wake her from sleep.

No.
It’s simply because he couldn’t overcome his desire to have her fully in his eyes.

Yulif once again raised the wind.
This time, the wind was so weak that the sleeping Canaren could not feel it.

A feather rose and landed gently on the palm of his hand.
He carefully grabbed the feather.
It was a very careful touch, in case it broke.
The soft feather tickled his palms pleasantly.

He sat where she could see her, held his breath and closed his eyes.
In the landscape where time seemed to stand still, the sound of steady breathing was heard.

He inhaled and exhaled according to the sound of her breath.
His heart pounded at the sweet scent that gently mixed in the air.