Cotton Candy Magic
Cotton candy residue. It tasted like food waste. Han Yeoreum sat down next to me, gazing down with a gentle smile.
"Gyeowol, from now on, let's live eating only delicious things with unnie, okay?"
"Delicious things?"
"Yeah. We'll eat fish you like, cotton candy, all that stuff."
Fish. Something I truly loved now. I nodded toward her.
"Yes. Lots of fish."
"Yeah."
Han Yeoreum smiled with her eyes and stroked my head. Just her touch made my tail wag wildly on its own.
Having a normal conversation with people felt so good. As I pondered what else to talk about with her, Levi Nas, who had been playing with her doll, voiced her curiosity.
"Yeoreum, what's cotton candy?"
"Oh... you don't know what cotton candy is...?"
Han Yeoreum glanced back and forth between me and Levi Nas as she spoke. It felt like she was including me in the group that didn't know what cotton candy was.
"Yeah! Levi Nas doesn't know cotton candy!"
"Then should unnie make some for you?"
"Gasp! You can make it?!"
"Yeah. Anyone can make it if they have the machine."
Thrilled at the idea of making and eating cotton candy herself, Levi Nas hopped down from the sofa. She carefully placed the doll she'd borrowed from the department store on the sofa and dashed toward the door.
"Levi Nas wants to eat cotton candy quick! Has the king eaten cotton candy?!"
Cotton candy. I had no memory of it in this life. It was just puffed-up sugar, but it cost thousands of won—a massive luxury I couldn't even dream of trying now.
"I haven't. Cotton candy's for rich people only."
"R-Really...? Then Levi Nas won't eat it..."
Levi Nas's shoulders slumped. I felt bad for saying something unnecessary to a kid full of expectations. Sure, cotton candy was a huge luxury, but not so much that we couldn't buy it. I wanted to let her try something delicious too. And it was fine here, so I should tell her to go for it.
Just as I started toward Levi Nas, Han Yeoreum frantically waved her hands at us.
"Kids, cotton candy isn't that expensive."
"It isn't...?"
"No. Probably just three thousand won each?"
Three thousand won. The price of selling dozens of empty bottles. Levi Nas let out a squeak of shock.
"Th-That's expensive..."
"Well, if you make it yourself, it doesn't cost much."
"Really...?"
"Yeah. Probably less than a hundred won."
That made sense. Just a wooden stick and sugar. The cost had to be negligible.
"So since we're making it ourselves, does that mean we just pay a hundred won each?"
"Y-Yeah! Just give unnie a hundred won!"
A hundred won. An amount even broke me and Levi Nas could handle.
"Levi Nas has lots of hundred-won coins! Four of them! Does the king have lots of hundred-won coins?"
"Yeah. I have plenty too."
"Gasp! Then we can eat cotton candy!"
Hop, hop—Levi Nas bounced high in place. It felt good to give her something delicious without money worries. All thanks to Han Yeoreum. I was grateful she was willing to make it at cost.
Back at the park, we spread out a mat near the pond and sat down. Levi Nas and I stared wide-eyed at the cotton candy machine Han Yeoreum had brought from somewhere.
"This is the cotton candy machine?"
"Yeah."
Han Yeoreum poured sugar into the machine, and fluffy sugar threads sprayed out. She twirled a wooden stick she'd gotten from somewhere, and cotton candy began to form.
"Whoa."
This was my first time seeing cotton candy made up close. Curiosity drew my face near the machine, and a bit of white fluff stuck to my nose.
"Gyeowol, mind scooting back a little? Your face'll get sticky."
"Okaay..."
As Han Yeoreum peeled the cotton candy off my nose, someone approached us. It was Jeong Yu-na, the guild's mage in her red robe.
"Oh my, making something cute?"
"Yeah. The kids said they've never had cotton candy."
Han Yeoreum held out the finished cotton candy. Seeing Levi Nas glance at me, I gestured for her to take it first.
"C-Cot...!"
Was the soft cotton candy just too pretty? Levi Nas stared at it for a good while.
Maybe finding Levi Nas's reaction adorable, Jeong Yu-na chuckled mischievously.
"Levi Nas."
"Yeah?"
"Freshly made cotton candy is dirty, so you have to wash it in water before eating."
"R-Really...?"
Levi Nas turned toward the park pond, and Han Yeoreum pinched Jeong Yu-na's cheek hard, stretching the springy flesh.
"Kids actually believe you."
Kids? Why lump me in? I shot Han Yeoreum an aggrieved look, but she wasn't even glancing my way—focused on chatting with Jeong Yu-na and making cotton candy.
"They're cute."
"True..."
As I watched them bicker, I turned to Levi Nas. She'd somehow reached the pond nearby, completely silent. Being a horn rabbit beastkin, she moved without a sound.
Levi Nas?
Was she really going to wash the cotton candy in the pond? For someone who didn't know what it was, it was plausible. I hurried after her.
"Levi Nas."
As I reached to stop her by the shoulder, she dipped the cotton candy into the pond. She even swished it around like she was cleaning it thoroughly.
"Why call Levi Nas?"
Levi Nas looked up at me, swinging the wooden stick with the cotton candy.
The fluff was already gone.
"Oh no."
Too late, but no major disaster. I crouched beside her to explain that cotton candy dissolves in water.
"Levi Nas, the cotton candy's gone."
"What?!"
Levi Nas blinked at the bare stick, not even grasping where it'd vanished to.
"Did a fish eat it...?"
Thinking a fish had snatched it? So quintessentially Levi Nas—I couldn't help giggling.
"Yeah, a fish ate it. I saw."
"R-Really? Fish like cotton candy too, huh?"
"Yeah, seems so."
I could see why Jeong Yu-na had lied to her. Levi Nas's innocence was utterly lovable. But I couldn't let the fib stand forever. As I opened my mouth to tell the truth, Han Yeoreum and Jeong Yu-na approached.
"Our kids are so nimble. When'd they get to the pond?"
"Yeah. No sound at all... Oh?"
They stared at the stick in Levi Nas's hand, instantly realizing what happened.
"Aigoo, Yu-na."
"S-Sorry..."
Jeong Yu-na scratched her cheek and crouched beside us. Levi Nas thrust the stick toward her.
"Mage, the fish ate all the cotton candy."
"The fish did?"
"Yeah. Put it in the water and it vanished in a flash. The king saw it too."
"Uh, um..."
Jeong Yu-na glanced at me and chuckled awkwardly. She poked our cheeks and spoke carefully.
"It wasn't the fish. It melted in the water."
"Melted? But you said to wash it in water!"
"Sorry. I was just teasing since it seemed like you and Gyeowol were trying cotton candy for the first time."
"Gasp."
Levi Nas's eyes went wide as she looked at me. Mortified, I stared at the pond.
"Well..."
I wanted to say sorry for the prank, but Jeong Yu-na beat me to it.
"Gyeowol probably didn't know either since it's her first time, right?"
"I-I, uh..."
"Cotton candy's sugar, so it melts in water."
"Y-Yeah..."
I'd just watched Levi Nas dip it without intervening, so I had no defense against being treated like I knew nothing.
"Sorry. Instead, unnie'll make you a big one."
"O-Okay..."
Embarrassed, I hung my head. Han Yeoreum patted my shoulder.
"Gyeowol, it's normal not to know at first. If it was unnie's first time, she'd be clueless like you."
"R-Right..."
"Yeah. No need to feel ashamed, and we're not teasing you. Got it?"
"Yes..."
She was comforting me. Such good people. It would've been perfect if it wasn't a misunderstanding. Unjust, but since it was sort of my fault, I'd accept it. Protesting that only Levi Nas was clueless while I knew everything would just embarrass me more.
"Mage, this is the mage's fault, so make the cotton candy super big! Levi Nas lost her hundred won!"
"Okay. I'll make a super big one. Forgive me just this once?"
"Hehe, then Levi Nas forgives you once."
Levi Nas bounced over to the cotton candy machine. She wasn't embarrassed at all about not knowing.
Not knowing isn't shameful.
I knew nothing about this world. I couldn't be embarrassed every time I learned something new. Today, I'd emulate Levi Nas.
Shaking off my shame, I chased after her.
Back at the cotton candy machine, Levi Nas muttered something odd while staring at it.
"If the king makes cotton candy with her tail, she could make way more..."
"Eh."
Her shocking words left me frozen in place.