Chapter 97
As expected, she had dispelled the black magic that had been cast on the fairy.
But Cheshire couldn’t simply rejoice.
She glanced sidelong at Kierne.
As anticipated, his face was ferocious.
“…Ha.”
He let out a short laugh.
It was a laugh that hid the whisper of how he should have killed her.
Kierne wore an expression that suggested he might commit murder at any moment, but upon feeling Cheshire’s gaze, he immediately smiled.
“Cheshireee.”
Drawing out her name long, he asked in a voice dripping with honey.
“What did you just do?”
Just as Kierne had done earlier, Cheshire feigned ignorance and replied shamelessly.
“She looked like she was in pain, so I healed her.”
“Mm, is that so.”
Kierne’s eyes narrowed.
Since attempting mind control again would be pointless, he was pondering what to do next.
His gaze fixed steadily on the fairy was eerie, like a snake’s eyes.
From the look in his eyes alone, he had already torn the fairy to shreds and more.
‘Why go so far as to use mind control to hide something.’
The fairy didn’t seem in a normal state.
As she gradually regained consciousness, despair clouded her pale green eyes.
The fairy looked at Kierne with fearful eyes.
And upon seeing Cheshire nestled in his arms, she despaired.
“How is it that Her Majesty is with such a man…”
Cheshire tilted her head.
‘Did she just call me Her Majesty?’
Wondering if she had misheard and feeling bewildered, the fairy glared at Kierne and spat out words in a voice thick with blood.
“You vile wretch. You’ve blinded Her Majesty’s eyes and blocked her ears.”
The fairy bit her lip, then pleaded with Cheshire.
“Please, come with me to the kingdom. Everyone is desperately awaiting Her Majesty.”
Her face looked as if she might burst into tears at any moment.
“The throne has been empty for far too long.”
Queen? Throne?
Without realizing it, Cheshire’s mouth fell open.
In the history of the continent, there was only one official record about a fairy queen.
Hundreds of years ago, the queen had offered her crown to the Holy King of the Holy Empire.
That was all.
The rest were nothing but fairy tales, legends, and unofficial histories fabricated by humans according to their whims.
Thus, Cheshire had vaguely assumed that after offering the crown to the Holy King, the queen had hidden away in the kingdom created by illusions, along with the other fairies.
To be suddenly called the queen herself was bewildering.
In this unexpected development, Cheshire was at a loss for words and could only blink her eyes.
“The fairy’s spouting strange nonsense…”
Saying it must be because she’s in so much pain, Kierne whispered while holding Cheshire closer.
“Don’t listen, Cheshire.”
The fairy, whose eyes had been welling up all this time, finally let the tears fall.
“You don’t believe me.”
“No, it’s not that…”
At her words filled with sorrow, Cheshire flailed her hands, even more unsure of what to do.
She quietly shed tears and requested.
“Please, listen to my story.”
Kierne scoffed with a smirk.
To prevent the ill-tempered man from tormenting the fairy, Cheshire firmly grasped his forearm.
And she listened to the fairy’s story.
Hundreds of years ago, the fairy queen was captured by humans.
The fairies struggled to retrieve their queen.
In the process, countless fairies were injured, disappeared, captured, and annihilated.
They gave up their efforts when they learned of the queen’s death.
Fairies are beings made of spirit, and the center of that is the queen.
Since the queen and the fairies are connected to each other, they felt her death and wept in grief.
There was no time to compose their sorrow.
Because a new queen had been born.
The fairies wanted to protect her at least.
However, for some reason, even though the birth of the new queen was clearly felt, not even a trace could be found.
Despite all their efforts, the fairies who ultimately failed to find the queen hid from the humans.
In the kingdom created by illusions, the fairies lived without a queen.
Just as their power was gradually weakening due to the queen’s absence.
Strange things appeared in the human world.
Things that were neither human nor fairy.
Their energy grew stronger over time, to the point where it could be felt even by the fairies hidden in the illusions away from the human world.
The situation where the world was shaking could no longer be ignored.
The fairies began to venture out of the kingdom little by little a few years ago to investigate.
She, too, was a fairy conducting investigations in the human world.
She had been fully focused on the investigation when…
Suddenly, her consciousness cut off.
When she came to and opened her eyes, she was on an unfamiliar street.
With no memories at all, like a blank sheet, her wrists and ankles scarred as if she had been bound somewhere and barely escaped.
Having lost all her memories, at first she thought herself human.
Wandering the human world, she became a target for evil people, and just before suffering something terrible, she used her fairy power, and some memories returned.
Once revived, the memories came back quickly.
But misfortune began from then on.
For some reason, her mind was damaged.
She could feel herself going mad, but she couldn’t recover on her own.
She simply continued to mentally collapse.
In the midst of that, the fact that she was a fairy became known, and she began to be fully pursued by slave hunters.
In the end, even her consciousness was unclear.
She lost all reason and moved solely on instinct.
Then, at some point, she felt a certain pull and chased after Cheshire.
Unfolding the illusion was the last of the power she harbored.
“Meeting Your Majesty was fate.”
The fairy said, filled with joy and certainty.
Her eyes shone with hope that all the misaligned and twisted things would be set right.
“Come back with me to the kingdom.”
So much information poured out that it felt like her brain was paralyzed.
Cheshire calmly pointed out to her, who was rejoicing in hope for a rosy future, the fact that her own mother couldn’t be the fairy queen, since the previous queen had died hundreds of years ago.
“The queen’s blood must have continued somewhere. If you return to the kingdom, you can learn the details…”
The fairy gazed quietly at Cheshire and smiled.
“Logic isn’t important. You felt it too, didn’t you? The intuition that we are connected.”
The fairy, desperately trying to persuade Cheshire somehow, was frantic.
However, Cheshire couldn’t grant the fairy’s plea.
“Not yet.”
“Why…”
“There are things left to do.”
With the firm answer, the joys and sorrows of human and fairy crossed paths.
But a promise was a promise.
Cheshire had to hand over the fairy queen’s crown to Kierne.
‘And even if I really am the queen, it’s ridiculous to suddenly poof off to the kingdom overnight and play queen.’
Cheshire was far removed from such an elegant position.
Because Cheshire’s true nature was the witch Lichesia.
Cheshire patted Kierne’s forearm with her hand, as he was busy grinning happily.
Because it was now time to say something he would hate.
“But someday, I’ll definitely go.”
Once again, joys and sorrows crossed, and this time the fairy wore an expression of utmost joy.
Anyway, it was a place she had to go to resolve her body being stuck as a baby’s.
‘Of course, even if I go there, I won’t stay in the fairy kingdom forever.’
She swallowed the words that didn’t need to be said right now.
All this time, the shadow at Kierne’s feet had been unusual.
It kept writhing and lengthening, poised to rampage fiercely at any moment.
There were still many things she wanted to ask, but it seemed she should quickly release the innocent fairy and send her far away before she was annihilated.
‘She said they’ve been coming out of the kingdom starting a few years ago, so she probably doesn’t know about Mom.’
The specifics could be asked later when she visited the fairy kingdom.
Having finished her thoughts, Cheshire summoned her power.
Vines and flowers bloomed from the floor, entwining the Chains of Condemnation.
The holy relic infused with divine power emitted a white light as it was wrapped in flowers.
However, with its owner Hailon far away, it couldn’t withstand Cheshire’s power.
With a clear clang, the chains shattered into pieces.
Amid the scattering chain fragments, Cheshire gazed steadily into her eyes and firmly vowed.
“I’ll definitely come. It’s a promise.”
The freed fairy’s body floated lightly in the air.
In the room where not a single breeze blew, her hair fluttered.
A small flower bloomed at the fairy’s feet.
Not as splendid as Cheshire’s, but peaceful like a meadow full of wildflowers.
She clasped her hands together.
Light swirled around her enclosed hands.
The fairy carefully offered the flower she had created.
It was a bright yellow sunflower.
“I’ll wait.”
Having placed the single sunflower in her arms, she left a kiss of reverence on the back of Cheshire’s hand.
Cheshire’s eyes widened roundly.
A butterfly pattern shone on the back of her hand.
The pattern sparkled briefly, then immediately vanished without a trace.
As if to prevent anyone from touching it.
“It’s a token to find your way to the kingdom.”
The fairy whispered after glancing sidelong at Kierne.
“Anytime… When you wish. May the time of parting be short, and the moment of reunion eternal.”
The fairy’s body was enveloped in small flowers and butterflies.
Just before completely disappearing.
“Beware of that man.”
The fairy left her final warning.
“He is cunning and vicious like a black viper…”
She vanished from sight.
What remained was only the fragrance of flowers.
Kierne had said nothing until then.
He licked his dry lips with his tongue, then grasped Cheshire’s hand.
And he gazed quietly at the small back of her hand.
As if searching for something already invisible.
