The One Who Always Returns to Me #7
Their eyes met.
Emil quickly tried to avert his gaze.
This was clearly a breach of etiquette. He must have wandered into the wrong place. He had intruded without permission into someone’s private space—and of all things, while they were bathing.
And yet,
Emil could not look away.
Because the other person’s reaction was equally strange. Instead of screaming or getting angry, she simply stared back at him in silence.
How long had they stood like that?
“You are…”
The moment the woman opened her mouth, Emil could no longer endure it and spoke first.
“I’m terribly sorry. I have committed a grave offense! I had no idea anyone was here!”
Emil bowed his head in haste.
Damn it, how stupid could he be? Was he really the fool Pidea always called him?
He should have immediately admitted his mistake and apologized, yet he had simply stood there staring.
There was no room for excuses.
But the woman’s reaction was unexpectedly calm.
“Ah… that’s right. You wouldn’t know my face…”
She muttered something, but Emil couldn’t quite catch the words.
She seemed to choose her next words carefully before speaking again in a refined, elegant voice.
“Who are you, and what brings you here?”
Her voice was composed.
Neither cold nor startled.
Instead, there was a strangely languid quality to it.
Emil scratched the back of his neck awkwardly.
“To be honest, I lost my way. The Myrdin palace is… rather excessively large. If I may be so bold, I’m not sure whether this is a garden or a primeval forest.”
“A primeval forest… how amusing.”
He heard what sounded like a soft laugh from the woman.
Even her laughter was neat and gentle. Though she spoke from a distance, it felt as though she were whispering directly into his ear.
“Hehe, you’re right. This place is less a garden and more a forest I come to when I wish to hide. When I want to be unseen by anyone… when I wish to forget my mistakes. Ah, you may raise your head now.”
Emil lifted his head.
The woman had already slipped on what looked like a robe and was wringing the water from her hair.
Of course, her alluring figure was still faintly visible through the thin fabric, but Emil did his best to ignore it as he continued speaking.
“…Then it seems I wasn’t the only one who lost my way.”
“No. I came here on purpose. You are the only one who is lost.”
“Ah, I suppose that’s true.”
A brief silence fell between them.
Emil sat down on a rock a short distance from the water’s edge.
At this distance, it shouldn’t be considered rude. She didn’t rebuke him either.
“By the way… who are you?”
For a moment, she didn’t answer.
Then, with a familiar indifference, she asked in return.
“Who do you think I am?”
“Hmm… well, if I answer honestly, I fear I’ll be accused of flattery, so it’s difficult to say. In any case, you look like something out of a dream.”
Emil let his words trail off.
The woman’s voice returned, now carrying a faint hint of playfulness.
“Something out of a dream… do you mean an angel?”
“No, a fairy. A priest would never call an angel a creature of imagination. Ah, were you an angel by any chance?”
Even as he spoke, Emil was careful not to sound like he was merely flattering her.
Fortunately, the woman laughed.
“Hehe, you’re even more interesting than I expected. Ah, in truth, I am indeed a fairy. Every year around this time, I secretly come down to the Myrdin gardens to bathe. And then I blind the eyes of those who secretly steal glances at my naked body.”
“Oh dear, how terrifying.”
Emil pretended to shiver in fear.
She laughed again.
It was a short, faint laugh, yet there was something strangely tickling about it—something that stirred the heart.
“More importantly, you said you were a priest, correct? This may be an impolite question, but… are you perhaps the one who cured the princess’s curse?”
Emil narrowed his eyes.
Just who was this woman?
How could she know that?
“I had no idea my rumors had spread even among the fairies… Yes, that’s correct. I am Priest Emil, the one who serves Princess Irenie.”
“My goodness. Then have you met the princess? What about the queen? Though I am a fairy, I have great curiosity about the human royal family. Please tell me. What were they like in your eyes, Priest?”
Wait, was she serious about being a fairy?
Emil pondered that for a moment before changing his mind. In a world where demons existed, why shouldn’t fairies?
Perhaps this woman truly was one.
Feeling as though he had fallen under some kind of spell, Emil began to speak whatever came to mind.
“Well, I’m not sure if I should say this to a fairy, but… I just came from meeting the queen, and it was not a pleasant encounter. To be precise, I was disappointed.”
The woman subtly tilted her head.
“Disappointed…?”
“Yes. I told Her Majesty that the princess wished to see her older sister. That now that the princess’s curse had been lifted, she would be overjoyed if the queen would meet with her. Do you know what the queen replied?”
Emil spoke with rising agitation.
“She said it was none of her concern. In other words, she was telling me not to overstep my bounds and to mind my own business.”
“…That…”
Her voice trembled slightly.
“Perhaps that wasn’t what she meant.”
“Not what she meant? Then what on earth could those words possibly mean?”
“Well, for example… perhaps she meant that since the princess cherishes you, what she needs most right now is your care. So please take good care of her… Couldn’t it have been something like that?”
Emil let out a dry laugh.
The woman’s tone was so utterly sincere that he nearly burst out laughing at her innocence.
Instead, he shook his head.
“That interpretation is possible, I suppose. But I simply cannot see it that way.”
“Is… that so?”
She spoke cautiously.
Emil let out a quiet sigh.
“I knew how desperately the cursed princess longed for her sister… Even while receiving treatment, she would smile and say, ‘Now I can finally meet my sister.’”
She said nothing.
Emil continued without raising his head.
“And do you know how painful the process of curing that curse was for the princess? Without knowing any of that, the queen simply brushed off my report and said it was my job and that I should handle it well. After all that, can you truly say the queen cares for her younger sister?”
“Just a moment… perhaps…”
The woman interrupted again.
“Couldn’t it mean something like this? That since she knows nothing about curses, it would be better not to interfere recklessly, so she would entrust everything to you, trusting in your abilities?”
At that, Emil let out another dry laugh.
This woman really might be a fairy after all. Her head seemed filled with nothing but flowers.
“I doubt that’s the case. You haven’t seen the queen, so you wouldn’t know, but her voice and tone were truly cold and emotionless… There wasn’t the slightest trace of affection in her words.”
“So that’s… how it sounded. I see…”
She muttered something again, but once more, he couldn’t catch it.
Emil sighed and lamented.
“Of course, the position of queen cannot be taken lightly. The responsibilities must be heavy, and perhaps she cannot even express her emotions freely. But still…”
Emil paused for a moment.
“Even so, if one uses such a position as an excuse to turn away from someone’s love, what right do they have to call themselves one of the ‘highborn’?”
Emil stopped speaking there.
Because the woman—who called herself a fairy—seemed to be wearing an uncomfortable expression.
“Ah, I’m sorry. It seems I’ve spoken unnecessarily. If you don’t mind, please forget everything I said here.”
“Oh, of course.”
Only after saying that did Emil realize what he had done.
What on earth had he been talking about?
Whether this woman was truly a fairy or a noble lady staying in Myrdin, he had blurted out far too much unnecessary information about the queen and the princess.
The usual Emil would never have acted so carelessly…
For some reason, this woman seemed to possess some mysterious power. A strange, powerful magic that made it impossible to hide one’s true feelings.
The more he thought about it, the more Emil began to suspect that she really was a fairy.
He also felt a sudden urge to peek beneath her robe to see if she had tiny wings hidden there.
She spoke softly.
“Thank you for sharing such an interesting story. I… should be going now. Ah, could you turn around? It would be inconvenient to walk around in just a robe.”
Emil did as she asked.
Soon after, he heard the rustling of fabric, followed by the sound of footsteps moving away.
At that moment, a strange emotion surged within him.
For some reason, he didn’t want to let her go like this.
If he let her leave now, it felt as though this moment would haunt him for the rest of his life—like a single day spent with a fairy from a fairy tale.
“Um… may I ask your name?”
Emil gathered his courage and called out to her.
The sound of her footsteps stopped.
And after a very brief silence, she answered.
“…Elaine. My name is Elaine.”
Emil raised his head,
but she had already vanished without a trace.
“Hah…”
He truly felt as if he had been enchanted by a fairy.
“Well then…”
Emil looked around.
And then he realized something new.
“Now how the hell do I get back?”
Damn it all.
He had forgotten to ask for directions.
* * *
In the end, it was only after a long time that Roen found the lost Emil and guided him back.
Even so, Emil could not shake off his dazed state.
Roen seemed to notice something was off and tilted her head as she asked,
“Lord Emil, did something happen?”
“Ah, Roen. It’s just that…”
Emil knew this question would make him sound like an idiot, but he couldn’t hold back.
“Roen, have you ever seen a fairy in Myrdin? One that bathes alone in the garden.”
As expected, Roen looked at him as if he had lost his mind.
“Ah… it seems you must be very tired, Lord Emil. If you have no other plans, I will escort you to your quarters right away.”
Could you stop looking at me with such concern? Damn it.
I knew this would happen.