14. Great Teacher Vivian (1)
14. Great Teacher Vivian (1)
[Episode 14] - Great Teacher Vivian (1)
The time system of the 'Parenting Simulation Game Snow White' was largely divided into four parts. It was a system where Snow White grew up in the order of Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter, named after the seasons.
Spring from age 5 to 10.
Summer from age 10 to 15.
Autumn from age 15 to 20.
And, after age 20, the ending, Winter.
Thus, excluding the ending 'Winter', the standards were set every 5 years, named after the four seasons.
In each season, there were things called 'Main Events' that had to be cleared, and the way to play 'Snow White' was to grow up while aiming to clear those events.
Currently, the Princess is 6 years old.
She's even turning 7 soon for her birthday.
The Spring 'Main Event' opens on the Princess's 7th birthday, but I didn't really need to worry about it. Since it was an event in the very early season, it was clearable regardless of the training stats.
It was closer to a 'declaration' than an event.
What's more worrying than that event right now is...
The Princess's 'timid personality'.
In the original game, she was a tomboyish princess who would get thorns on her body if she didn't play a prank once a day, but the Princess's personality I've seen so far didn't seem like that.
Perhaps due to the overlapping of the unusual situation that didn't exist in the game and the Marchioness's oppression, the Princess's 'timid personality' seemed worse than I thought. I want to make her a little less timid before 'Summer', which starts after age 10, but...
"Princess, it's not scary, so hurry and get on."
I held out my hand to the Princess after getting on the boat for a boat ride, but the Princess shook her head violently and was busy hiding behind Ellie's skirt.
Usually, if the Princess disliked it this much, I would have given up, but I couldn't do that today. This lake was the most suitable place to test what I had practiced with Ainsel all night long.
The Princess, burying her face in Ellie's skirt, didn't even try to make eye contact with me as if she really hated it. Seeing that, I let out a small sigh, got off the boat, and approached the Princess.
"Princess, do you dislike going for a boat ride with me?"
"N-no..."
"Then, are you scared of the boat? Or the lake?"
The Princess glanced at the small boat at my question. Perhaps because she was scared of riding in the small boat, her hand gripping Ellie's skirt tightened— tight.
"Can't be helped."
"E-eek!"
I put my hands under the Princess's armpits, who was gripping Ellie's skirt, and lifted her up in an instant. For a moment, the Princess's eyes widened in great surprise.
"I, I don't want to..! Ellie! Ellie..!!"
The Princess, dangling from my hands and kicking her feet, called for Ellie with teary eyes. Hearing the Princess's frail cry, Ellie flailed her hands behind her, not knowing what to do.
"Y, Your Majesty the Queen... do you really have to go on the boat..?"
"What will you do if you're just scared forever? And don't worry too much, we won't go that far today."
Since the dangling Princess was struggling so much, I had no choice but to hug her.
The Princess, resting her two legs on my hand which I used as a chair for her bottom, was busy wrapping her arms around my shoulders as if to choke me.
She buried her face in my shoulder and sniffled, covering her face as if she didn't even want to look at the lake. I could feel my shoulder getting wetter every time the Princess sniffled.
Having boarded the boat while hugging the Princess like that, I sat in the middle of the wooden boat and sat the Princess between my legs. Usually, we would ride facing each other, but since the Princess was so scared, it couldn't be helped.
"Ellie, I'll be back, so please prepare something for the Princess to drink later."
"Are, are you really sure you'll be okay with just the two of you..?"
I looked at Ellie's worried face, chuckled, and lowered my head to look at the Princess. The Princess, sitting between my legs, curled her body up like a pill bug and wouldn't move.
"Princess, you should wave goodbye to Ellie."
At my words, the Princess didn't lift her head, but she lifted one hand that was hugging her knees and waved salang-salang at Ellie. Ellie also looked at that and waved her hand slightly at the Princess.
"Alright, then let's set off."
"Heu-"
Deol-keong.
As I moved the oars, the wooden boat shook significantly. I started rowing to a position that wasn't too far from land, but far enough that our conversation wouldn't be heard by others.
As I rowed slowly, cutting through the lake, the shaking subsided a lot. I glanced down and asked the Princess, who was tucked between my legs.
"Princess, try lifting your head. The scenery is beautiful."
The Princess, who had soaked her dress with tears while coming here, slowly lifted her head. Perhaps because she couldn't see properly from crying so much, the Princess shook her head back and forth.
"Slowly, it's okay. It's not scary."
I carefully wiped the corners of the Princess's eyes, which were filled with tears. She had cried so much that my palm was quickly getting damp, to the point where I needed a handkerchief.
The Princess took a slow breath, straightened her back, and looked at the scenery unfolding from the boat. The scenery viewed while sitting on a boat cutting through the wind.
It was a small lake in the royal castle, but it was still beautiful enough.
Cool lake breezes hit her body, and the sound of the wooden boat cutting through the waves reached her ears. The slowly moving scenery and the clear sky were engraved in her wide-open eyes.
The Princess no longer hugged her knees.
Slowly straightening her knees, the Princess leaned against me and lifted her head high to look up at the sky. As if trying to capture the scenery moving slowly like the clouds in her eyes.
"How is it, not scary, right?"
I smiled brightly and lowered my head to look at the Princess. Perhaps a bit embarrassed that she had been crying until just now, the Princess turned her head without a word and started looking at the surrounding scenery.
As I rowed like that, I arrived at a suitable location before I knew it. It wasn't the dead center of the lake, but I stopped rowing in that ambiguous spot, a bit far from land.
Then now... it was time to start the lesson.
"Princess, don't lean your head out of the boat, just look at the lake well."
-You remember what we practiced yesterday, right?
I recalled what I had learned from Ainsel all night, and nodded slightly. And slowly, I reached my hand out to the outside of the boat and touched the calm surface of the lake with my finger— tok.
Chal-lang.
I felt the sensation of something circulating in my body escaping through my finger and seeping into the lake. Every time something escaped, ripples formed from the finger touching the lake, and the sky on the water's surface fluctuated.
Chal-lang. Chal-lang.
As the chal-lang sound repeated and echoed, I felt the sensation of something crawling up over my finger. Kkul-leong, kkul-leong. The water making the sound crawled up my arm and slowly formed a small shape.
The thing that crawled up my hand had the appearance of a cute mermaid, with the lower body of a fish and the upper body of a human.
-Called me? Called me?
"Yes, I called you. Undine."
When I stroked the Undine with my finger, the Undine laughed kkyareureu and started rolling around on my palm. When I placed such an Undine on the Princess's palm, the Princess looked up at me blankly.
"A, as expected. Is Your Majesty the Queen a witch..?"
"E, eh?"
At the question I hadn't even imagined, I tilted my head and looked down at the Princess. Usually, if I showed something like this, I expected her to say, 'Your Majesty the Queen can see them too!' or deny it by saying, 'I, I don't know anything about that.'
The Princess looked up at me with a slightly anxious gaze. Looking at that gaze, I smiled gently, folded the Princess's hands, and looked at the Undine playing on the Princess's hand.
"Why do you think that?"
"B, but... the Marchioness said so... that I see things like this because I'm cursed by a witch... that Your Majesty the Queen cast a curse on me... a, and so... that's why I see things like this..."
"......"
You're holding me back until the end. Marchioness.
I gently stroked the hair of the anxious Princess and continued speaking.
"First of all, you seeing things like this is not because of a curse."
"R, really..?"
"Of course. It's more like a blessing. These 'existences' aren't something anyone can see. In this vast royal castle, you and I are probably the only two who can see these children, right?"
As if to say my words were true, the Undine on the Princess's palm started jumping up and down. The Princess, finding that Undine cute, looked at it and smiled bashfully.
"And, there aren't only bad witches in the world. There are plenty of good witches too."
"...I can't imagine that."
Actually, me neither.
I've never met other witches, and the witch that appeared in the game was also a person with a bit of that kind of personality. Still, there must be at least one good witch somewhere.
Ahem. I cleared my throat, smiled brightly again, and looked at the Princess.
"Anyway, being able to see things like this is neither a curse nor anything else. And, why would I cast a curse on you? I wouldn't bully a child like you, would I?"
"B, but you called me a damn brat last time... you said..."
Damn Vivian.
She really says things she shouldn't to a six-year-old. I was at a loss for how to get through this situation since it wasn't even something I said, so my breath caught for a moment.
I let out a small sigh and turned the Princess's body to face me. The Princess's cheeks started to puff up, as if the memory of that time was truly a wound.
"I, I'm really sorry about that time. Won't you forgive me?"
I apologized while pressing my finger into the Princess's plump, puffed-up cheeks. Then, pish- air escaped from the Princess's mouth. At the same time as the air escaped, the Princess's expression crumpled pak!.
The Princess, who lifted her head, furrowed her brows as if she had a lot to say, but as if I wasn't interested in that expression, I tapped and smoothed out the wrinkles between the Princess's brows with my finger.
Perhaps because my touch was just ticklish, the corners of the Princess's mouth, which had been furrowed, started to relax slightly. I didn't miss that moment and asked the Princess.
"Will you forgive me?"
"...Just this once."
"Hehe, thank you."
The Princess, though unwilling, turned her head and forgave me as if she had no choice. The Princess turned her back to me again, sat between my legs, and looked at the Undine on her hand.
The Undine, perhaps trying to cheer the Princess up, was busy showing off on the Princess's hand. Doing somersaults, or spinning around on her palm. Anyway, she was spinning around diligently.
I pointed at that Undine with my finger and talked to the Princess.
"To talk about it again... what do you think this child on your palm is, Princess?"
"I don't know... The Marchioness said it was something like an evil spirit or a demon."
At that answer, I put my hand back on the lake and scattered the 'magic power' circulating in my body into the lake. Then, unlike before, the Undines gathered in drops climbed up my arm and swarmed onto the boat.
One, two, three. As over ten Undines gathered and showed off, the Princess was busy exclaiming 'Wow, wow' while watching them.
"These children are fairies."
One Undine, jumping pongdang-pongdang on the boat, climbed onto the Princess's shoulder. The Princess seemed too distracted looking at the Undine while listening to my story.
"From now on, in my lessons, I'm going to teach you about 'fairies'."
Until you meet the 'Seven Dwarfs'.