44. Time to Say Goodbye (2)
44. Time to Say Goodbye (2)
[Chapter 44] - Time to Say Goodbye (2)
"I really hate this!!!"
Whoosh, the wrist Fran had thrown away flew right up. Fran, catching it again as if it were nothing, reattached it to her wrist and looked at the princess, who had hidden behind my legs.
Truly... if anything is typical of Fran, it's this kind of farewell, but...
"Now, Titania. It's not like Fran playing pranks is a one-time thing, is it?"
"......"
Fearing the farewell would never end, I lifted the princess who had hidden behind me and set her down right in front of Fran. The princess pouted and was busy avoiding Fran's gaze.
Every time Fran looked at the princess to meet her eyes, the princess turned her head in the opposite direction. Swish, swish, after their heads turned a few times, the princess wobbled in place as if dizzy.
Seeing no sign of a conversation starting, Fran stared blankly at me.
"Would it be alright if I spoke with the princess alone for a moment?"
"...Sure, I'll be right outside the door, so let me know when you're finished. Ainsel, you return to my earring too."
-Yes, understood. See you in a bit, Princess.
Even as I turned my head to leave the room, the princess didn't say a word, just kept her head bowed low, clutching her skirt tightly. If she really hated Fran, she would have immediately run to me, begging her not to go.
Isn't what the princess really hates the 'farewell' with Fran?
It was a short time, barely a month, but it seemed Fran and the princess had grown closer than I thought. They spent a long time together learning to dance, and the mischievous Fran was always busy teasing the princess.
It's just my thought, but...
The princess has already experienced many farewells at such a young age. So, isn't it painful for her to part with Fran, whom she's grown fond of?
I slowly opened the door and slipped out of the room. Through the gap of the slowly closing door, I saw Fran wiping away the tears that had started to drip down the princess's face.
Seeing that, I thought there was no need to worry anymore.
*
Drip, drip, Fran wiped away the tears flowing down Titania's cheeks with her finger. Crouching in front of Titania, Fran gently raised her head and watched Titania swallowing her tears.
"Princess."
Despite Fran's call, Titania just kept hiccuping and crying. Watching that, Fran stroked Titania's hair and smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth.
"Do you remember the story I told you the other day? About how I dream of harmony between fairies and humans."
Titania nodded slightly. She remembered when she ran away from the harsh lessons, built a secret base in the room, hid there, and talked together.
"The words were grand, but in truth, it's not such a grand dream. I just-"
Fran's hand, which had been gently stroking Titania's hair, slowly descended to brush against Titania's cheek. At that gesture, Titania gently lifted her head and looked up at Fran.
"I wanted to become friends with humans. When I was a fairy, I was a 'House Fairy' who lived hidden in people's homes and helped them."
Fran began to tell the story of her time as a fairy, before she had a human body. Titania swallowed her dripping tears and began to listen to Fran's story quietly.
"A House Fairy is a fairy that lives in an old house and helps the humans living there. They wear white silk dresses, do chores or run errands, and try to be of help to the humans they live with. To become their family or friends."
Fran fluttered the maid outfit she was wearing and showed it off to Titania. With a swish-swish, she shook her skirt, spun around once, stopped in place, and gave an elegant bow.
"However, no matter how hard I tried and how diligently I helped them, they didn't think of me as family. Well, that's because they couldn't see me."
Devotion without reward and effort without compensation.
Fran made a bitter expression, recalling her days as a House Fairy.
"So, I wished to become human. I wanted to truly be 'family' with them. I wanted to be a 'friend'. So I asked. My father, 'Victor Frankenstein'."
Fran took Titania's hand and placed it on her heart. Thump, thump. Feeling Fran's heartbeat, which was no different from a real 'human's', Titania looked at Fran.
"However, even though I possessed a human body, it was difficult to become friends with humans. In fact, I have never been friends with another human until now. Is it because I'm a half-baked 'human and fairy'? Everyone avoided me."
"The other witches...?"
"They are in a 'business' relationship with me. Treating fairies and receiving payment. Because I am the fairies' 'doctor'. To call them friends... is very difficult. At best, they would be 'colleagues'."
Along with the words that everyone avoided her, Fran pulled off her wrist and waved it at Titania. When Titania looked at it with a frown, Fran plugged her wrist back in.
Fran placed the reattached wrist on top of Titania's head and smiled while slowly stroking Titania's hair. Watching Fran, who had been treating her like a child more and more, Titania puffed out her cheeks slightly.
"So... Princess, you are my first friend."
"First friend..."
"Yes, first friend. To me, who has lived a long time as both a fairy and a human, you are the only 'human' who has called me a friend."
Being called 'first friend', Titania smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth at the feeling that seemed to tickle her heart. Fran didn't miss the chance, kneading the princess's cheeks and lifting the corners of her mouth with her fingers.
Fran laughed, looking at Titania's ugly face.
Brightly and radiantly.
"It was written in a book I read that friends smile and send each other off when they part. So, don't cry. Even without an invitation, I will come to see you again."
"...Really?"
"Yes, next time I will bring plenty of delicious food and toys from where I live. Or I have plenty of unique items I received as payment from other witches. So-"
Fran gently hugged Titania and patted her. Then, as if the tears she had barely held back were about to burst, Titania's eyes reddened and tears began to well up.
"Next time we meet, please be sure to welcome me with a smile. Titania."
"Okay...!"
Titania, burying her face in Fran's shoulder, smiled while crying.
"You must keep your promise to come and see me...!"
*
"Are you really sure you don't want anything? I want to give you something in return for treating Ainsel..."
"It's fine. I don't do this expecting such things."
Fran shook her head at my words and slowly opened the closet door. When I asked why on earth the closet door was a passageway, she said this is the 'Fairy's Side Path', a 'path' that ordinary witches use when traveling.
Since they have something so convenient, that's why they can meet even if they are in distant regions... If I could learn that 'Side Path', I thought I might be able to sneak out of this royal palace, so I asked her to teach me, but...
'The Fairy's Side Path is truly complex and treacherous. If you misstep once, you could wander the Fairy's Side Path forever. It's that difficult of a method, so I recommend you learn it later after you've accumulated a bit more knowledge as a witch.'
Fran shook her head and said she couldn't teach me yet.
Fran, having stepped into the closet, turned her head and looked down at the princess. Perhaps still sad about parting, the princess pouted and kept glancing at Fran.
Watching that, Fran reached out her hand, saying let's say goodbye one last time. The princess, nervous that her wrist might be pulled off again, gently took Fran's hand and shook it up and down.
"Hehe, next time I will think of a Fran Joke that will surprise Titania even more."
"...I don't need that."
At the princess's sassy voice, Fran smiled, lifting the corners of her mouth even more. As Fran and the princess's hands separated, Fran stood up inside the closet and looked at me.
"Vivian, Ainsel. I will see you next time."
"...Sure, stay healthy until then."
-Thank you so much for the treatment. See you again next time, Frankenstein.
With that final greeting, the closet door closed. When I opened the closet again, Fran, who had been inside, had disappeared without a trace.
"...It really is a Fairy's Side Path."
*
For about three days after Fran left, it was really hard to see the princess. Perhaps Fran's empty spot was quite large, as Ainsel worked hard to cheer up and comfort the princess, who was drooping and unable to do anything.
Was she sad because she had to part so soon with a friend she had just met? The princess even asked me to perform the Fran Joke that she had hated so much.
I couldn't do things like pulling off my wrist or spitting out screws, so I just showed her things like finger magic... but perhaps that clumsy prank made her miss Fran even more, as the princess sighed instead.
However, they say time is medicine. No, maybe it's just getting used to it, but the princess began to fill the empty spot Fran left behind with memories made with Ainsel and me.
As time passed, the princess gradually found her smile again, and although she missed Fran, she no longer missed her while crying like she did at first.
I don't know what they talked about, but whenever asked if she missed Fran, the princess always answered like this. That it's okay because she 'promised' to come and see her.
Seeing the princess grow up both physically and mentally, I couldn't help but feel happy for some reason. Is this the feeling a parent has watching their child grow? Sometimes I was so happy it was troublesome.
Like this, the princess turned seven, and the Spring's 'Main Event' concluded.
It couldn't be called perfect, but I still thought it was a successful 'declaration'.
Everyone who attended the party venue looked at the princess who had turned seven, and all the kingdom's citizens clearly came to know the princess's name.
That the princess's name was 'Titania Snow White'.
As the time spent with the princess increased, the timid princess gradually disappeared, and she regained her original bright and energetic self, just like in the original work.
Sometimes she was so mischievous, her playfulness was so severe that everyone was troubled.
Like that, 3 years of time passed by quickly in a daze.
"Princess Titania, what hairstyle shall I do for you today?"
"I want to cut my hair, which has slowly grown down to my shoulders... but Mother wouldn't allow it, would she? What do you think, Ellie?"
"Hehe, if it's the Queen, she would grant all of the Princess's requests, wouldn't she?"
"Hehe, I think so too."
Titania, who was seven, became ten, and I, who was twenty, became twenty-three.
The princess's spring passed, and summer approached.