Reincarnated as the mother of an otome game's villainess?!

Chapter 44. They provide the paint for the picture-perfect masterpiece.

—Violett... —I thought I heard someone whisper, in the voice of my mother.

Despite how ridiculous the situation was, I didn't think twice and took a step towards where the voice had come, but I got yanked in another direction.

—Vio, look at that —Julius said, still holding my hand.

I was confused for a moment, feeling as if I had just woken from a dream. Julius was pointing to several branches broken in the cups of the trees on the side of the road, as if something huge had fallen through it.

—Come, let's see what it is! —Julius said, pulling me into the wilderness.

I was worried about leaving the path, but we didn't have to go further. We came across a wounded crow, a rather big one, but certainly not big enough to cause such damage in the tops of the trees.

—Did something fall on top of it? —I asked, but there wasn't any sign of anything aside from the crow.

—We need to help it —Julius said.

I started to ponder the pros and cons of messing up with the delicate balance of the environment, when I felt hands on my shoulders.

—What are you doing here? —someone whispered in my ear.

The scream that came out of my mouth wasn't quite lady-like. When my brain restarted, I was able to recognize it was Alyssa, who was laughing at my reaction. I was so embarrassed, that was not something I wanted Julius to see.

—No, but seriously, what are you two doing here? —Alyssa said once she had laughed enough, trying to look as the responsible adult she was supposed to be.

—We were going to pick up some flowers for Gaius... and we somehow ended up here —I said, a bit embarrassed.

—And we found a wounded crow, we can't leave it here in this state —Julius added.

—Hmmm, well, let's take it back to the mansion. You two got pretty far from it, if it hadn't been for a maid that saw you leaving the garden and called me, you might have gotten completely lost —she said, half nagging and half mocking us.

We held the crow with a piece of cloth, and took it with us as we walked back. The crow was unexpectedly calm through the whole ordeal. I have heard they were smart animals, but considering its wound, and that people it hadn't known before were handling it, I would have expected at least some resistance.

During our return, I noticed the path was more rugged than what I had remembered. And when we crossed the gates of the garden, it confirmed what I had started to suspect. We had somehow left the mansion's property and walked deep into the surrounding forest. I couldn't believe I hadn't noticed the gates on our way out, it was practically impossible to miss them out. I also couldn't believe someone had left them wide open. I was going to mention it to Alyssa, who had been walking behind us all this time, but when I looked back, she was looking back towards the forest. I felt the air becoming charged with static.

—Alyssa, is there a problem?

—Ah? No, don't worry —she said, turning back to us, and locking the door once we had crossed it —I just thought I saw something like a deer.

Her reaction was weird, but Julius was running to the mansion already, and I got distracted and just followed him. We met up with the maid who had seen us get out of the garden, who happened to know a bit about animal's care.

—Oh my, poor fellow, they must have been shot with an arrow. I can't believe even in these remote places there could be hunters, moreover some who would shoot a tiny defenseless bird like this one. Fortunately it only hurt his wing and not any of his organs —she said with a mellow voice, despite pulling the wing of the crow with very little delicacy.