22. Let's Draw! (1)
22. Let's Draw! (1)
[Chapter 22] - Let's Draw! (1)
The dawn of the day I taught the princess the dance moves.
Perhaps because my mind has been complicated lately, I couldn't get a proper night's sleep, so I wandered the silent royal palace alone at dawn. I explored the royal palace at dawn, relying only on a single candle in my hand.
Perhaps because it was a time when everyone was still asleep, the royal palace at dawn was incredibly quiet. There were no maids running around working, nor were there any nobles who had come to work at the palace.
The palace was so still that it created the illusion that I was the only one in this huge castle. As I moved along, exploring the palace step by step as if taking a walk, I heard someone sobbing in a room in the corner at the very end of the hallway.
'Again...?'
Since possessing Vivian's body, I've become able to see things I 'couldn't see' before. Ainsel, Silphy, Undine, and other fairies.
I became able to perceive existences that others couldn't see or hear. Especially during the dawn hours when there were no people, I could see many such existences.
I slowly walked toward the place where the sound was coming from, listening to the sobbing. Under normal circumstances, I would have been scared, but ghosts aren't that scary once you get used to them.
-Heuk, heu-euk... heuk, heu-e...
I let out a small sigh and approached the door where the sobbing was coming from. And when I carefully turned the doorknob and entered the room, a 'woman' was sobbing in the corner.
A woman with unkempt, messy black hair, wearing a gray hooded cloak. Her eyes were so red from crying that they looked painful.
If others had seen that sight, they would have screamed first, but a sigh escaped my lips before a scream could. I clearly told her not to cry here...
"...Are you crying here again? Banshee? I clearly told you not to cry here, the maids keep saying they hear a ghost crying and get scared."
-Heuk, heu-e, heu-e... Vivian... heuk, heu-e...
A woman with puffy, swollen eyes from crying turned her head to look at me. Then, as if she intended to cry even louder, she took a deep breath and started to wail—
-Heu-eong, heu-eo-eo! Heu-eo-eo-eong!!
"Haa..."
At the wailing that seemed to ring in my head, I shook my head and entered the room, locking the door. If someone else saw this, they would think I was a crazy woman talking to thin air.
I placed the candle on the table and threw myself onto the bed where the 'crying woman' was sitting. Then, I patted the back of the crying woman as she wiped away her tears with her hands.
"Banshee, why are you crying again? Did the other fairies bully you again?"
-Heu, heu-euk, Leanan Sidhe did it again...
"...I told you. I told you to listen to what Leanan Sidhe says with one ear and let it out the other, didn't I? That girl just finds it fun to tease you."
-Bu, but... heuk, heu-e...
Seeing the Banshee covering her face with both hands and sobbing out loud, a sigh escaped me automatically. This fairy right next to me is, as the name suggests, a 'crying woman,' also known as a 'Banshee.'
Seeing that the Banshee showed no signs of stopping her crying, I patted her back and tried my best to soothe her.
I meant for her to cry somewhere else, at least not here.
"Stop crying, hush!"
-Heu-eong, heu-eo-eo!
As I was diligently soothing the Banshee, I heard giggling laughter from above my head. When I looked up at the source of the sound, a woman floating in the air was wearing a mischievous smile.
"Leanan Sidhe..."
-Hello~ Vivian~ Can't you sleep today either~?
A fairy floating in the air, wearing a flowy white dress.
Snow-white hair and red eyes. Even to my eyes, the fairy had a beautiful appearance, and she possessed a beauty that could bewitch people, to the point where I thought she resembled a 'Succubus' that seduces and devours men.
In the first place, the characteristics of the fairy known as Leanan Sidhe were similar to the Succubus that everyone commonly knows. 'A fairy that gives artistic talent to a man she likes, but receives vitality and blood in exchange as the price.'
That was the fairy called Leanan Sidhe.
Banshee and Leanan Sidhe.
In fact, they are all fairies that appear as enemies in the game, but...
I frowned and asked Leanan Sidhe, who was floating in the air.
"...You clearly boasted last time that you were going to another region because there were no men in the royal castle who looked tasty. Why are you still here?"
-I'm going soon~ I'm just meeting a 'friend' who is here for a moment~
"...Really?"
When I looked at Leanan Sidhe with suspicious eyes, she grabbed my face with both hands and made me meet her gaze. Blood-red eyes, with pupils slit vertically.
They were the eyes of an out-and-out predator.
-Didn't I tell you? There are no men here that I like. Should I say I wouldn't eat them even if they were given to me? And, my 'friend' has already settled here anyway. We usually don't 'eat' in the same place.
So there is already a victim of Leanan Sidhe in the royal castle...
Leanan Sidhe, who was giggling with a mischievous laugh, spun around in the air once and approached the Banshee. The Banshee was still busy sobbing, as if she were wailing.
Leanan Sidhe, who was watching the Banshee cry as if she were wailing, smiled, let out a sigh, and put the gray hood on the Banshee's head.
-Really, I knew you'd be hiding here again. Let's go quickly, Banshee, if we don't hurry, the 'Gate of the Fairy Realm' will close. Come on, say goodbye to Vivian and let's go.
-Heu-eo, heu-eo-eong!
Leanan Sidhe, who smiled as if she had no choice, took the hand of the crying Banshee and floated away into the sky, disappearing somewhere. Since she said 'Fairy Realm,' she must be returning to the land of the fairies.
"...She finally left."
Perhaps because it became quiet once the Banshee's noisy crying stopped, I started to feel sleepy. When I came out of the room and looked out the window, the outside, which had been dark, was getting a little brighter as if dawn was breaking.
I looked at the brightening window with hollow eyes and let out a quiet sigh.
'If I sleep now... will I be able to sleep for two hours...?'
*
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!
It felt like it hadn't been long since I lay on the bed and closed my eyes, but when I opened them, it was already a bright morning. I woke up to the loud sound of something knocking on the window, and I looked up at where the sound came from.
"...? What is that...?"
Hogw*rts?
A white owl was knocking on the window with its beak, holding a letter. When I made eye contact with the owl, it started pecking at the window with its beak even harder, as if telling me to open the door quickly.
Bang, bang, bang! Bang, bang, bang!
I rubbed the mirror with my hand, as if telling Ainsel, who was next to me, to wake up quickly. Then, Ainsel looked at me with a hazy and sleepy expression, as if she had just woken up.
-Good morning... Vivian.
"Ainsel, what is that? Some owl..."
-Eh? An owl?
Ainsel, who was rubbing her eyes, turned her head slightly and looked at the window where the bang, bang, bang! sound was coming from. Then, looking slightly puzzled, she tilted her head and looked at the owl outside the window.
-Oh? Coven's Invitation?
"Coven?"
-Ah, it's nothing suspicious, so it's okay to open it. And that child is not an owl, it's a screech owl. Look closely, the face is round without any tufts of feathers on the head, right?
I don't really know.
Trusting Ainsel's word that it wasn't suspicious, I opened the window wide so the owl could enter the room. Then, the owl looked around and hopped into the room.
Flap, flap, it spread its large wings, circled the room once, then landed on the bed, opened its cute beak wide, and dropped the letter it was holding.
I wanted to stroke the owl's head because it was cute and admirable, but the owl pecked the back of my hand with its sharp beak, as if telling me not to come near it!
"Ouch!"
"Kkureureuk! Kkuaak!"
The owl, which had pecked the back of my hand and spread its large wings as if to threaten me, pecked the back of my hand one more time, made a strange sound, and flew out the window just like that.
I rubbed the back of my hand, which was swollen and red, and picked up the letter lying on the bed. A letter in a very ordinary white envelope on the outside. I examined the letter front and back and asked Ainsel.
"This is the 'Coven's' invitation?"
-Yes, that's right. The gathering of 13 witches that Vivian used to be a part of. It's an invitation sent from there. But it's strange...? Surely, the Coven must know that Vivian is dead...
Ainsel tilted her head, saying she really didn't know why they sent me an invitation. To be honest, I had no interest in the Coven or witches. I had no intention of getting involved anyway.
"...It's fine if I don't go, right?"
-Oh, yes? Uh... that would probably be the case. It's a free-spirited place anyway, so Vivian didn't really do anything there either.
So I was a ghost member of the Coven.
"Then that's fine. I'm not a witch anyway, am I?"
-We-well, that's true, but... will you be okay? It's an opportunity to build connections with other witches.
"Do I need other witches when I have you?"
-Heu, heu-het.
Having no interest in the Coven, I put the letter the owl had delivered deep into the vanity drawer. It felt uncomfortable to tear it up and throw it away, so I decided to keep it, thinking there might be a use for it someday.
I wanted to sleep a little more...
But thanks to the owl pecking the back of my hand, my sleepiness had completely vanished. I lifted both arms to stretch, feeling a bit more refreshed, and started some simple stretching.
For some reason, I started humming the dance moves I taught the princess, which I had become addicted to, and patted my stomach, causing Ainsel to make a disgusted expression.
-Ugh, ah. Doing childish dances with Vivian's face.
"It's not a dance, it's rhythmic movements. It's gymnastics, gymnastics."
Whether Ainsel was disgusted or not, as I was wiggling my waist, I heard someone knocking on the door. It was probably a maid coming to wake me up.
Before the maid could open the door, I opened it first, and the maid looked at me with a surprised expression. I smiled brightly at the startled maid and greeted her.
"Hello, it's a beautiful morning."
"Oh, I greet Your Majesty the Queen..."
*
Today's lesson with the princess, I decided to do something a little special.
After receiving the supplies prepared by Vin Chaud, I moved to the room where I always had lessons with the princess. In one arm, I carried a large drawing paper, and in the other, various tools for drawing, such as crayons and paints.
As I entered the room carrying various materials needed for this lesson, the princess tilted her head, looking at the items piled up in my hands. I smiled brightly and laid out the materials on the princess's desk.
"Your Majesty the Queen...? Today's lesson is..."
"Let's do something a little different for today's lesson. Aren't you tired of party etiquette and dancing every time?"
The princess's eyes sparkled as she looked at the large drawing paper and tools like paints and crayons. She probably had never drawn a picture properly until now.
"Draw what you like on this large drawing paper. Anything is fine. Cake is fine, flowers are fine. And, it's fine to draw His Majesty and the First Queen too."
"Mother... and Father...?"
I planned to put the picture the princess drew today in the room where the King was secluded. If the King was still a human, wouldn't he feel something after seeing a picture drawn by his daughter? I harbored such expectations.
"Yes, and the finished picture will be sent to His Majesty. Since His Majesty likes drawing, I'm sure he will like the picture you drew, right?"
"......"
Please, I just hope that guy called the King feels something after seeing the picture the princess drew...
The princess looked up at me with a bewildered expression. After looking back and forth between the pure white drawing paper and me as if contemplating for a moment, the princess placed her palm on the drawing paper as if she had made a decision.
"Your Majesty the Queen... could you please draw with me?"
"Me?"
"It's... too big for me to draw alone."
The hesitant princess picked up a red crayon and held it out to me. At that sight, I stroked the princess's hair and took the red crayon she handed me.
"...Yes, let's draw a picture that will make His Majesty's jaw drop."
"...Yes!"