Etiquette Training (2)
Etiquette Training (2)
A brief silence.
The children in the kitchen all turned to look at the fairy who had tumbled onto the floor.
All except Baek Ha-na.
"Woo-jin......!!"
As if the fairy had completely ceased to matter, Baek Ha-na shot up from her seat and flung herself at me. My body moved on its own; my arms opened slightly, catching her gently.
"You're all done? You're not leaving again? Are you okay? You didn't go anywhere dangerous, right? Right?"
"One at a time, Ha-na."
She'd always been a little chatty when talking with me, but the Baek Ha-na in my arms was far more wound up than usual. Still, every word was filled with worry for me, so I felt no irritation at all. If anything, I thought I wouldn't mind letting this clamor continue for a good while today.
"...Welcome back."
The girl hesitated a moment, then spoke with a shy smile.
"Yeah."
"Ah, uh......?"
All I did was brush the stray hair from her face and stroke her cheek like always, but her eyes went wide and her shoulders flinched.
Thwack─!!
"Agh?!"
She looked so unbearably cute that I flicked her forehead to reset the mood. If I hadn't, she likely would've clung to me forever.
The fairy's emotions, seeping through the Void, seemed to have amplified the feelings I already held for Baek Ha-na.
I stroked the head of the girl now clutching her forehead with a pout.
"Enough. Go outside and do what you were supposed to be doing."
I moved past Baek Ha-na, who still wore a dumbstruck expression as she leaned into my hand, and looked toward Claire standing in the corner.
"Ahem...! Everyone to the garden."
The children clearly wanted to say something, but perhaps because I was present, they all wore sullen expressions as they obediently rose from their seats and filed out of the kitchen.
"You too."
"Just a little longer~"
Her fluffy white beast ears twitched as her long tail coiled around my thigh.
"Don't push it."
"Tch......."
I raised my hand as if to deliver another forehead flick, and she let out a little huff before following the other children out of the kitchen.
My gaze naturally settled on Claire, who remained alone.
"Claire."
"......Yes."
She flinched as she carefully cradled the unconscious fairy in both hands and stood, glancing up at me. I approached her without a word.
As the distance closed, her head tilted further downward. We had been holding each other just this morning, yet seeing her like this made me want to feel her warmth all over again.
Thwack─!!
"Ahk......?"
Claire covered the top of her head with one hand and looked up, slightly startled. She clearly hadn't expected me to rap her on the crown.
I bent down toward her, her expression now resembling the one Baek Ha-na had worn moments ago.
"Ah, uh......."
She squeezed her eyes shut and lifted her chin, expecting something.
Close enough to feel each other's breath. I picked up the fairy resting in Claire's hands and straightened my back.
"......?"
Sensing something amiss, Claire cautiously opened her eyes. The instant her blue eyes registered me pulling away, her earlobes began burning bright red.
"Ah, that, th-this is......."
Her lips moved, struggling to defend the action she had just taken. A feeling slightly different from what I felt with Baek Ha-na.
I took a step closer and bent down again.
Claire's voice fell silent.
"Uh......."
When I straightened up, she was staring at me blankly, having had no chance to even close her eyes. I reached out with my left hand and wiped her lips, which were now a bit too wet.
"If you don't leave soon, the children might start poking their heads through that window."
"Ah, r-right......."
She tried her best to feign composure, but Claire's face was already in full, brilliant bloom.
Claire moved past me, her limbs jerking awkwardly like a broken marionette.
"Once a day."
"......?"
She paused, one foot on the threshold.
"We'll do that until you get used to it."
"......!!"
Her shoulders jolted, and then she fled from the kitchen.
Alone now, I took the creature still unconscious in my palm and retreated to the study.
Thwack─!!
-Byak?!
Not with mana—just a simple finger flick to the forehead. The fairy came to with a short shriek. No reason to hold back now that she wasn't about to die.
-...Peep?
Rubbing her slightly reddened forehead, she blinked awake and swiveled her head around, taking in her surroundings. Probably looking for Claire. Whenever this cunning little creature caused trouble, she'd often hide from me in Claire's hair or pockets.
But what she did next was completely unexpected.
-Benefactor!!
She looked up at me and said it.
"Benefactor, is it."
-Peepang!!
Apparently that was correct. She beamed and nodded.
-Thank you!!
And then, just as Claire had taught her before, she stood up and gave me a deep bow.
I had been planning to finally fix her rotten manners, but it seemed that would have to wait a little longer.
"You. You met Oberon."
-Peepang!
Seated back on the desk, she nodded.
Oberon was a being who had died and vanished long ago. That alone made the story impossible, but this world was a place where such impossibilities occurred with some regularity. More importantly, Oberon's lingering regrets and the will to protect had been embedded at her side all along.
"What did you talk about?"
-Uung......!!
The smiling fairy suddenly scrunched up her face at my question, then began pressing her tiny hands firmly against her own head.
-Can't 'member well.......
After struggling for a long moment, she looked up at me with a somewhat dejected expression.
-Jus', uung...... like this, like this...?
Eager to tell me something, she stood up again and began moving her small body this way and that, trying to convey meaning. The effort and intent were admirable, but unfortunately, I couldn't make sense of a single thing she wanted to say.
'Her speech is still clumsy, but her vocabulary has noticeably expanded.'
It was only conjecture, but it appeared Oberon's knowledge had been passed down to her. One thing nagged at me, though: if succession was possible, why hadn't it been done sooner? If it had, she wouldn't have needed to burn through her own lifespan.
"Forget it."
-Uung.......
The fairy, who had been squirming like a child trying to act cute, sat back down on the desk with an even more downcast expression.
"...If it comes back to you later, tell me then."
-Peepang!!
As if she had never been gloomy at all, she beamed and nodded. I decided to return to the main topic.
"Playing pranks is fine, but going too far is forbidden."
-Peep?
She tilted her head, not understanding.
"Riding on someone's head is fine. But I'm telling you not to pull their hair or cause a ruckus up there."
-Whyyy?
She asked, blinking her utterly innocent, emerald-green eyes with no trace of malice.
"Friends are equals."
-Fwiends...... But I'm a queen though......?
"...Queen."
-Queen!!
As if to boast, she stood up again and puffed her chest out toward me. All this sitting down and standing up was making me dizzy.
'The succession seems correct.'
I could take the time later to figure out exactly what had been passed down. For now, warning and cautioning this now more energetic creature took priority.
"If you don't want to be thrown out, you'll follow my rules inside this house."
-Peep?! Benefactor, throw me out......?
Was hearing only what she wanted to hear a talent? Perhaps it was.
I sighed at the creature, who looked like she'd start dripping bead-like tears if I so much as poked her.
"If you don't listen, this is what happens."
-I'll, listen to benefactor......!!
Clasping her tiny hands beneath her chest, she bobbed her head repeatedly.
-An' also... an' alsooo... I can do sparkly-sparkly!!
"Sparkly-sparkly."
-Peepang!!
She fluttered her small wings and lifted into the air.
Unlike before, three pairs of wings now shimmered with a mysterious light.
The fairy flew closer on those tiny wings.
And pressed her little lips to my cheek.
Ssssss-
The light of her wings seeped into me.
Once the light had fully absorbed, she pulled away from me.
-Peepheehee~
Folding her wings back to their ordinary state, she giggled softly.
'A Blessing, then.......'
It had never been properly described, so I had no idea what effect it granted. But it had been mentioned several times that fairies could each bestow a Blessing upon those they held favor with.
-Tha'! A suuper amazing one!!
"What do you know about it."
-Uung...... I-it's still super amazing!!
I had suspected as much from the moment she mentioned "sparkly-sparkly," but she didn't seem to fully understand what she had given me either. Like when she had instinctively drawn out her lifespan, she must have acted on pure instinct.
'A Queen's Blessing....'
Whatever its effect, it was something I had no need for. If she awakened properly before it was too late, I would have to discuss reclaiming it and granting it to Baek Ha-na or Claire instead.
-S-so... Benefactor, can I live here......?
"Haa."
-Pee, peep.......
She flinched and hunched her shoulders at my sigh.
"Did I not say you won't be thrown out as long as you behave?"
-Peep...? Not throw out?
"...Yes."
Watching her only register and react to the part she wanted to hear, I simply nodded.
-Peepang!!
True to her emotionally volatile fairy nature, she beamed again and chirped happily. I lightly tapped her tiny head and spoke.
"However, if you cause trouble, no more chocolate."
-Peep?!!
The jubilant creature collapsed onto the desk as if she had lost everything in the world.
'No major problems, it seems.'
Aside from being a little more impudent, she was still the same little imp.