28. What Remained in the Box (1)
28. What Remained in the Box (1)
[Chapter 28] - What Remains in the Box (1)
"Frankenstein..."
A name I really, absolutely, completely do not want to encounter.
I shook my head, imagining a man with green skin and scars all over his face. In the first place, why is there a Frankenstein in Snow White? I've jumped genres, and by quite a lot.
However, if that person is the only 'doctor' who can fix Ainsel, I suppose it wouldn't hurt to meet them once. Though if it really is the guy with screws in his head that I'm imagining, I'll have to run away.
And come to think of it, back when it was a game, 'Snow White' did feature 'witches from other fairy tales'. A witch who helps the grown-up princess once. I just thought it was an homage, but...
Are witches usually like this? Do the beings from other novels or fairy tales double as 'witches'? Thinking about the fact that there are 13 of them made me dizzy, to the point of feeling faint.
I slowly opened the Coven's Invitation that the white owl had sent. For some reason, I was scared, so I squinted and opened the invitation cautiously. And when I checked the contents of the invitation—
"Huh...?"
The contents of the invitation were roughly like this.
Gather at an unknown location on the night of the full moon. The invitation had only a single line written on it. As soon as I saw that, a hollow laugh burst out of me.
'I can't even leave the royal palace, so where am I supposed to go in the middle of the night?'
I could leave the royal palace, but at the very least, my position meant I couldn't go out 'alone'. Did I expect too much from the witches? I thought they might borrow power from fairies and move via teleportation or something, but...
'Can't be helped. If I can't go, I have no choice but to call them here.'
I took out some stationery from the desk drawer and started writing a letter. Since Ainsel clearly said the witches know I'm not 'Vivian', I figured it would be fine not to hide it.
I briefly wrote down what had happened so far, but before I knew it, the letter was already over three pages long. I read through the letter I had written one more time and gave a bitter smile at the content.
To summarize the content of the letter I wrote:
It was, 'Something crazy is happening in the royal family here. Please help.'
[The First Queen of this country, Aurora, has worn the corpse of a 'Leanan Sidhe' fairy, and with it, she has been sucking the blood of her husband, the King. Not content with that, she even possessed the King into her own corpse.
The reason is quite absurd. Because they 'wanted to become one', it seems Aurora was deceived by someone. The King is already dead, and according to Silphy, Aurora will die soon too.
In the midst of this, my friend Ainsel has lost consciousness due to the 'Rebound of the Contract'. I need a 'Fairy Doctor' called 'Frankenstein' who can fix Ainsel. Could you please help me?]
I carefully folded the letter with that content and put it into an envelope. Then, I pressed down with the wax seal stamp bearing the royal seal that I took out from the drawer, and fanned it a few times so the seal would dry well.
After confirming that the royal seal was properly stamped on the red wax seal, I glanced over at Silphy, who was sleeping soundly on my bed.
Silphy was hugging a round Magic Candy and sleeping happily on the blanket. I don't know when she finished eating the Magic Candy I made, but there was only one candy left in Silphy's arms.
I scraped together the magic power that had fallen to the floor, made three last Magic Candies, and placed them in front of Silphy. Perhaps smelling the sweet magic, Silphy blinked her eyes open and looked at me.
"Can I ask you one last favor?"
Silphy rubbed her sleepy eyes and nodded.
"Please send this letter to the witch who sent me the invitation. Or, it's fine if you send it to that witch called 'Frankenstein'."
-That much is easy. It might take some time, but I'll be back soon.
Silphy, who stretched her wings upward and yawned, let out a big yawn and picked up the letter I handed her. It was about three times the size of Silphy, but as soon as she folded it carefully, it shrank to the size of a fingernail in an instant.
Silphy accepted the letter with both hands, fluttered her wings, and soon flew up into the sky toward the window. I told her it was fine to stay the night, but Silphy shook her head and urged me to open the window.
-Keep the candy, little one, I'll come to get it soon.
"Be careful on your way."
-Hehe, yes, you be careful too while I'm gone, little one.
As I opened the window, Silphy flew up into the sky like the wind. As Silphy disappeared from view in an instant, I felt sure the letter would be delivered soon.
Watching Silphy disappear into the starry night sky, I let out a worried sigh and closed the window. Now, all I could do was wait.
Waiting for the King's corpse to be discovered, and waiting for a reply to the letter I sent to the witch. Surely, it wouldn't take long, I thought, and turned my head to look at Ainsel's main body.
Looking at Ainsel, who still had no reaction, I sighed again and flopped onto the bed. It was late, so I felt like I should get to sleep.
Because there is a lot to do tomorrow, too.
*
Since then, four days have passed.
During those four days, there was still no word from Silphy, and Ainsel was still unconscious. And, no one had yet noticed the fact that the King was dead.
Vin Chaud, who had been handing over food and paints in front of the room every day, seemed to be catching on, and his expression began to grow increasingly gloomy as he looked at the food piling up and rotting in front of the door.
Looking at him, I felt like I was holding a ticking time bomb that could go off at any moment. A time bomb that was guaranteed to explode soon, at that.
Ignoring the guilt that was creeping up, I continued the princess's lessons today as well. However, the absence of Ainsel, who had been in charge of the princess's party etiquette and other education, was greater than I thought.
I remembered the conversation I had with the princess on the first day I started the lesson without Ainsel. The princess, who noticed that Ainsel, who was usually attached to my ear, was missing, looked up at me with slightly worried eyes.
"Your Majesty... where is Ainsel...?"
"...Ainsel is sick and resting for a while. She'll get better soon, so don't worry."
"Th-then, would it be alright if I went to visit her...?"
At the news that Ainsel was sick, the princess asked me, not knowing what to do. I gently stroked the hair of the restless princess and tried my best to lie.
"Ainsel went to see a doctor for a while. That's why she isn't here... please don't worry. She is with a doctor who is very good at treating fairies."
"Umm..."
I put my hands under the princess's armpits, who was pouting her lips in a sulk, and lifted her up high to hug her, which made her sulky face even more visible. It was a look that wasn't like she was about to cry, but rather like she was pouting.
For the princess, Ainsel must be her first friend, so she must be very worried. Still, it couldn't be helped. Ainsel was still unconscious.
I let out a small sigh and headed to the room where we had lessons while holding the princess. I was worried about Ainsel, but the princess had to worry more about the 'birthday party' that wasn't far off now.
Because my job right now is to make this princess, who has two left feet, dance the waltz perfectly. I looked at the princess held in my arms and smiled.
"Worry about the lesson before Ainsel. Did you memorize all the movements I taught you last time?"
"Yes, yes...! I practiced with Ellie! Ellie said I'm perfect now too!"
The princess showed me one of the movements, lifting both arms high above her head, from within my arms. According to Ellie, the princess dances this routine in her room every day.
At this rate, will she really grow taller than me someday? Thinking that such a day might come, I couldn't help but smile.
"Then let's learn a different movement today. I promised to teach you other movements."
"Yes!"
Perhaps looking forward to the new movement, the princess smiled brightly and started humming the song for the movement.
Like that, today, four days after I taught the princess the new movement.
Clap, clap, clap!
"One, two, three! One, two, three!"
The princess started to do the waltz steps in her own way to the sound of my clapping. Her rhythm is still off and her body is limp like a squid, but it's definitely better than before.
If she was an earthworm before, should I call her a squid now?
The princess's appearance as she continued to dance with awkward steps was still precarious. She was still busy stumbling after stepping on her skirt while spinning in place every other time.
"Ah, ugh...!"
This time, too, the princess, who was spinning around, stepped on her skirt and stumbled. Seeing that, I instinctively tried to catch the princess's shoulder, but the princess stood up straight again and continued her steps.
'Is it because there's no one to lead her?'
The princess still found the turn position, where she spins in place, difficult. I was curious about who would be the princess's dance partner, but if nothing major happened, it was clear that a noble child of the princess's age would take on the role.
Originally, the royal family's first dance partner was the parent, the King. It was also customary for children of the princess's age to take over from the second dance. But since there is no King now...
Since the princess also has to enter the social world after this birthday party, I thought it wouldn't be bad for her to partner with a noble child of her age and make her mark.
They say the social world is like a jungle, with separate social circles for children and adults. I was worried about whether such a fragile princess could survive in that harsh social world.
As I was lost in thought, watching the princess dance—
Snap!
"Haa, haa...!"
The princess, who finished the last movement of the waltz, let out a weary sigh and wiped the beads of sweat on her forehead with the back of her hand. It's still awkward and lacking, but it was definitely a huge growth just to have finished it.
Perhaps moved by the fact that she had finished the dance, the princess looked at me with eyes as clear as a deer's. At that sight, I clapped my hands and lifted the princess up high to hug her.
"You just need to do a little more now. Shall we stop here for today?"
"Yes... my legs hurt so much..."
The princess, held in my arms, tapped her knees and leaned her head on my shoulder as if it were hard. Feeling the princess's weight, which still felt light, the moment I was about to sit her on the bed—
Knock, knock-
Someone knocked on the classroom door. Wondering what was going on, I told them to come in, and Ellie, who entered the room, looked at me with a pale face, her hands trembling.
Seeing that expression, I knew.
"Y-Your Majesty... just a moment... the Chancellor..."
"...I see. I'll be there soon."
That Vin Chaud had noticed the King's death.