005
When the platform disappeared, I felt a terrifying sensation of floating. Realizing that something had gone wrong, I hurriedly tried to grab onto the leg of the table, but it was already too late.
Unable to resist gravity, I fell straight down.
So it wasn’t an adventure. It was a grave.
I squeezed my eyes shut at the dizzying sensation of being suspended in midair.
Just as my brain began to feel mushy and my vision started spinning.
My fall abruptly came to a stop.
‘……Huh?’
I had been prepared for something to break, but there was no pain.
I wiggled my fingers and toes. They all moved perfectly fine.
However. Perhaps because of the impact from the fall, my head was spinning.
My vision spun so badly that I could barely see properly.
While waiting for my senses to return, I groped around to check whether I had landed somewhere safe.
The first thing my hand touched was something hard and flat.
I carefully felt around it with my fingertips.
It was soft like velvet and cold like ice.
The texture felt like the skin of a living creature, or like stroking a python.
“What on earth is this?”
I couldn’t tell because I couldn’t see anything right now. Since it wasn’t biting me, it didn’t seem to be a snake.
When I boldly squeezed and kneaded the unidentified thing, it flinched as though it were alive.
Come to think of it, something was strange.
The impact was far too slight for me to have fallen onto the floor.
Something was supporting my calves and back.
Yes. It was as if a living person had caught me in their arms as I fell.
Wait, a living……. person?
The thought that it might be a person sent a chill down my back.
Just then, my blurred vision from the impact of the fall cleared.
The first thing that caught my eye was dust floating through the air. The dust that had fallen with me glittered like diamond powder in the moonlight.
And blue jewel-like eyes, shining no less brightly than the moonlight, were staring intently at me.
“Ah.”
I knew who he was the moment I saw him. He was the boy from the cover of the novel my younger sibling had given me.
The male protagonist of this novel, Theodore Lindal Francis.
With my vision finally back in focus, Theodore filled my field of vision, and somehow, he looked incredibly eerie.
And it wasn’t because Theodore had a burly build or because he looked vicious like a back-alley thug.
It was because Theodore, as reflected in my eyes, looked far too unreal.
While the Theodore on the cover had a more mature young-man feel, the Theodore before me was closer to an immature and unstable boy.
Since I had unintentionally ended up in his arms, I was able to see Theodore from even closer up.
‘I never thought I’d ever have a reason to use an expression like this for a man in my entire life…….’
Theodore was so beautiful. So beautiful that my inadequate vocabulary couldn’t possibly express it all.
The person who had been crying irritably until just moments ago must have been Theodore, because tears he hadn’t had the chance to wipe away were still clinging to his eyelashes.
I quietly traced the clear tear marks with my eyes before realizing.
That scream just now. It was Theodore who had screamed it.
But no matter how beautiful he was, disturbing the neighbors was still a grave sin that could not be forgiven.
I was about to ask him if he could please be a little quieter when Theodore spoke first.
“I’ve heard about you.”
Who? Me?
Could this be an advanced version of, “Have we met somewhere before?”
When I furrowed the bridge of my nose as I tried to understand what he meant, Theodore suddenly brought his forehead close to mine.
“I know everything, so you’d better tell me the truth.”
“What do you know……?”
I played dumb as skillfully as possible. I still didn’t know what he knew.
“I know that you’re a fairy.”
“What? A what?”
“You. You’re a fairy banshee (bæn? i: A wailing fairy from Celtic mythology. It appears in various forms, such as a young girl, an old woman, or a young noblewoman. There is a belief that it appears and cries when someone who is about to die is famous or of noble birth.). I read about it in a book my nanny read to me.”
What kind of fairy was he talking about? As I stared at him in disbelief, his angelic face twisted terribly.
“Are you trying to deceive me, too?”
“Wait a moment. First, this isn’t a suitable position for having a conversation, so let go of me and then…….”
This position was uncomfortably close. I could feel his cool breath in full, so I leaned my back as far away as I could.
But the moment I tried to escape from his arms, he suddenly became angry.
“I can’t let you go. No, I won’t let you go! How could I let go of a fairy I finally caught? I’m not an idiot.”
“W-wait!”
“You’ll abandon me and fly away the moment I let you go, won’t you? Don’t make me laugh. Do you think I’m going to let you go?”
“Ugh!”
Theodore hugged me so tightly that I could hardly breathe. As a result, we became even closer, making the distance I had managed to maintain meaningless.
The firm expanse of Theodore’s chest pressed against mine through a single layer of cloth.
I could feel Theodore’s heartbeat. Perhaps because he was startled, his heart was beating so fast that I could hear it.
Well, I’m not a fairy. How am I supposed to explain this?
I first tried to escape from Theodore’s arms so I could properly explain myself.
However, despite having slender arms, Theodore’s strength was absurdly powerful.
As though I were some kind of stuffed toy, he wrapped his arm around my neck and shouted.
“Do I look that ridiculous to you? Are you saying I look like an idiot who can’t even tell whether I’m dealing with a fairy or a human?”
Considering he couldn’t tell the difference, he really was an idiot.
I struggled to somehow remove his slender arm.
Where did he get this much strength without any muscles?
Despite looking like a refined young master who seemed like he had never kicked a ball in his life, his arm strength was ridiculously strong.
“I don’t know what made you misunderstand me like that.But I.”
Theodore cut me off.
“You’re a fairy.”
“No, I’m not.”
“You’re a fairy.”
“Wow. This is seriously driving me insane! I’m telling you, I’m not!”
Unlike his appearance, Theodore had a completely pointless stubborn streak.
He’s pretty on the outside, but he’s nothing but a stubborn brat.
When I frowned, Theodore furrowed his brow just as fiercely.
We glared fiercely at each other beneath the moonlight.
“Fine, fine! I’ll show you undeniable proof that you’re a fairy.”
Then that should settle it, right?
Perhaps he was incredibly happy to have found a fairy, because Theodore’s jewel-like eyes sparkled brightly.
I wondered how old he was to still be going on about fairies, but he looked more like a boy his age than before, so it was nice to see.
“When I do, you’ll honestly admit it, too. I’ll let it slide just once.
Because you’re a fairy.”
I take that back. He only looked nice.
Perhaps Theodore was afraid I would run away, because he began explaining while holding me tightly, like a goose brooding over its eggs.
“Every night before bed, my nanny used to tell me legends about you.She said you banshees appear when someone is on the verge of death and wail.”
Who? Me?
“You wail while screaming in a sharp voice, so you’re also called wailing women rather than just banshees.”
I thought fairies were supposed to sprinkle magical stardust or something, but what they actually did sounded rather terrifying.
“Wait a moment.”
It was fascinating that such fairies existed, but as I listened, something seemed a little strange.
“But can that really be proof that I’m a fairy?”
“You were screaming until you fell into my arms.”
Anyone would scream if they were falling from a high place.
I thought a secret passage would appear, but the floor collapsed.
How many people could possibly remain silent in that situation?
“That was a real coincidence.”
Ha, Theodore responded with a cold scoff.
“When you appear, you wear a green dress,”
At the words “green dress,” I checked the clothes I was wearing.
Even if you gave it the most generous description possible, it was more like a sack of rice than a dress.
I had simply chosen the first thing my hand touched from Gretchen’s trunk, and interpreting it like this was certainly a talent in its own right.
“With long, disheveled hair,”
After briefly glancing at my tunic, Theodore gently took hold of the ends of my hair.
I could feel his pale, slender hand quietly stroking my hair.
Although he casually toyed with the ends of my hair.
His fingers were trembling slightly.
Theodore’s touch was awkward, as though he were petting a person for the first time.
“And your eyes are red from wailing every day.”
Still holding the ends of my hair, Theodore met my eyes.
When he confirmed my bloodshot eyes, his expression became filled with certainty.
I parted my lips, then closed them again.
I was at a loss for words.
I didn’t know where to begin correcting his misunderstanding.
My hair was simply loose because I had undone it to dry it, and my eyes always became bloodshot whenever I was tired.
And I had no idea how he had mistaken this ridiculous tunic for a green dress, but all of it was a damn coincidence.
It was a coincidence, I tell you.
They say the interpretation can be better than the dream itself, and this was exactly that kind of situation.
