88. An Unexpected Guest (3)
88. An Unexpected Guest (3)
[Episode 88] - Unexpected Guest (3)
"Nice to see you, Princess. Has it been three years?"
As I smirked, Snow White's face began to turn deathly pale. She was so shocked that she couldn't even put down the fork she was holding, just opening and closing her mouth like a goldfish.
As I wondered how she would react, her pale face instantly flushed red again. She put down the plate of food she was holding and whipped her head away to avoid my gaze.
"...You've mistaken me for someone else."
"I doubt that."
A snort of laughter escaped me at such an absurd excuse.
Even if I might mistake someone else's face, there was no way I could mistake that face. No matter what mask she wore, the distinct facial structure, features, and the placement of wrinkles and moles were exactly the same as Titania's.
And the reason I could recognize her for sure was that, for some reason, Snow White's face hadn't changed. It was as if she didn't age; it was the exact same face I had met three years ago, so there was no reason I wouldn't recognize her. As I tilted my head and stared intently, Snow White let out a deep sigh and glared at me.
"I told you, you've mistaken me for someone else."
"If you wanted to be mistaken for someone else, you should've done a better job with your disguise. Or come dressed as Princess Fiona like last time."
"...Haa."
For a moment, Snow White's eyes narrowed even sharper. But I wasn't wrong. Snow White's outfit was all off-the-rack. It was too sloppy to be a masquerade costume, and she hadn't even bothered to take on Princess Fiona's appearance.
As I carefully approached her side, her face was full of annoyance as she glared at me. She opened her mouth to say something, but eventually, she just let out a deep sigh and rubbed her wrinkled face.
"...I cast a spell on the mask to interfere with recognition, so how did you recognize me?"
"Who knows...? You just caught my eye."
"Why don't you just say you don't want to tell me?"
Snow White glared at me, asking if that made any sense and demanding a straight answer, but what could I do when it was the truth? I just shrugged at her murderous glare.
To be honest, I didn't have the skill to tell if a spell was cast on a mask. Since the princess told me, 'Don't raise Titania as a witch,' I hadn't tried to learn magic either.
I really had kept magic away from Titania ever since then. I didn't teach her the magic I had intended to, and I told her to avoid fairies as much as possible.
Of course, I also avoided magic whenever possible and avoided meeting fairies, except for Ainsel. It felt like the right thing to do. A thought suddenly occurred to me, and I whispered into the princess's ear.
"I am keeping my promise."
"What?"
"What you said. You told me not to raise that child as a witch. I'm keeping magic and fairies as far away from her as possible. The only fairy near her is Ainsel."
"...Yeah, I see."
Snow White seemed lost in thought for a moment, staring blankly at the plate of food. I don't know how much cake she intended to eat, but there was a mountain of various kinds of cake piled on the plate. I smirked at the sight and teased her in a slightly mischievous voice.
"If you keep eating only cake like that, you're going to get fat and chubby, you know?"
"...I don't gain weight, so worry about yourself—no, wait, who are you? Why are you talking to me so naturally? Don't you remember I said I hate you?"
"Who knows? I forgot."
I hadn't forgotten. How could I? The things Snow White said to me and the look she gave me. Disgust, contempt, etc.—the expression on Snow White's face when she looked at me with those various negative emotions was still vivid.
But that look wasn't exactly directed at 'me,' was it? What Snow White hated was 'Vivian,' not me. Maybe if we talked later, the misunderstanding would clear up? Though that might be wishful thinking.
As I smiled at her, Snow White frowned at me as if I were absurd. I sipped the drink in my hand and asked her another question I was curious about.
"So? Why didn't you come to my bedroom?"
"What?"
"I asked Cait Sith to pass the message along, didn't you hear? I told you to come to my bedroom anytime, didn't I? There's also Brownie's hut, so you can come anytime."
"...I did hear about it, but hearing it directly is even more ridiculous."
Snow White let out a deep, frustrated sigh.
I tilted my head, wondering if I had made a slip of the tongue, and Snow White glared at me as if she wanted to kill me, clearly wondering if I was truly that oblivious. Frustrated, I stabbed a piece of cake on the plate with my fork, tore it off, and gulped it down in one bite.
"I know your personality is very different from the Vivian I know. But do you know how much more twisted it makes me feel when you say innocent things with that face? You're a Queen. How can a human who is a Queen talk so lightly about inviting someone to her bedroom? You do know what it means to invite someone to a bedroom, right?"
I couldn't help but burst into laughter at Snow White's words, which she delivered earnestly as if giving advice. What on earth was the kid imagining? Certainly, unlike 13-year-old Titania, Snow White seemed precocious. Imagining weird things...
"It's not like I use my bedroom alone, so what does it matter? Besides, you're not even a man? Has the kid been possessed by a dirty-minded demon..."
"? What is that supposed to mean? You don't use the bedroom alone?"
"? I share a room with Titania. That's why I said to come over so the three of us could talk. What kind of things is the kid imagining?"
Twitch. Snow White's eyebrows shot up even higher.
She glared at me as if demanding an explanation for what that meant, and I let out a small sigh. Would Titania also become this precocious when she got a bit older? Come to think of it, I had forgotten that Snow White also liked romance novels, just like Titania.
"...How old is that child?"
"Thirteen now. Almost fourteen."
"Do you think it makes sense for a fourteen-year-old to sleep with her foster mother...? She's almost an adult...? Fifteen is the age for a debutante...?"
"Then what can I do? That child can't sleep unless she sleeps in my arms."
"Ha...!"
Snow White let out a dry laugh as if she were dumbfounded.
"You are really...!"
She tried to say something to me for a moment, but soon just opened and closed her lips, sighed deeply, and began shoveling the cake on the plate into her mouth. I chuckled at the sight of her chewing the cake aggressively, as if taking out her anger on it. Is Snow White the same as Titania, unable to sleep alone?
"Alright, alright. If you can't sleep alone either, come over anytime. The bed is wide enough, so it won't make much difference whether it's two or three."
"Even if I were to die from a disease that makes me unable to sleep, that will never happen."
I kept chuckling at Snow White clicking her tongue.
Still, I was glad she wasn't refusing to listen to me like last time. If we got a little closer, maybe I could bring up my story? Right now, if I said, 'I'm not Vivian,' she would definitely treat me like a crazy person.
I calmly wet my lips with my drink and tapped Snow White's shoulder with my finger. I smirked at Snow White's reaction of shrugging off my shoulder, telling me not to touch her, and whispered in a very small voice into her ear.
"It's really okay to come over anytime. I want to hear your story, and also my story-"
The moment I continued speaking-
A small, buzzing voice came from my chest. It was wrapped in clothes, so I couldn't hear it properly, and wondering what was going on, I lowered my head. Ainsel's voice, shouting, rang out between me and Snow White.
-Vivian!! Hur! ry! Come back!! The Great Witch has suddenly arrived!!
At the news that the Great Witch had arrived, I was startled and lifted my head to look at Snow White. The moment I did, Snow White's eyes, which had been a little relaxed, narrowed again, and she clicked her tongue and whipped her head away.
It was a reaction as if she were about to run away right now.
At that reaction, I instinctively grabbed the princess's wrist. It was an unconscious reaction because I felt like if I let her go now, I would never see Snow White again.
Snow White, whose wrist I had grabbed, glared at me as if to kill me-
And then whispered to me in a coldly sunken voice.
"Let go."
"W-wait! Wait, can't you just wait? At least listen to my story..."
Snow White, who clicked her tongue loudly, glared at me.
She tried to shake me off, telling me to let go of her hand immediately, but I held her wrist tightly and wouldn't let go. I just wanted to say my last words, but that seemed to irritate the princess, and Snow White sneered at me.
"Ah, right. You were a witch of the Coven, weren't you? Your skills are so pathetic I forgot. So? Are you trying to hand me over to the Great Witch? You must have figured it out, right? That the one the Great Witch is looking for is me."
"N-no! That's not it, just listen to my story for a second...!"
"Or did the Great Witch already know? So the Great Witch told you to bring me? Did she order you to find me? No wonder, I thought it was strange that I met you at a ball like this, which you wouldn't normally attend. If this is acting, you're really amazing. As expected, you were a bitch with a knack for toying with people, weren't you?"
"Please, just listen to me...!"
"I thought it was strange from the moment you kept clinging to me despite me telling you to get lost. Was recognizing me also the Great Witch's magic? How long do you have to deceive me to be satisfied-"
"Please!! Listen to me first!!"
When I shouted, only then did Snow White calm down.
But she was only calm for a moment; if I let go of her wrist, I felt like she would run away from here without looking back. I sighed for a moment and looked up at Snow White.
This wasn't the Snow White I had been talking to a moment ago. I was momentarily speechless at her gaze, which looked at me with distrust, disgust, and various mixed emotions, just like last time.
"...Really, it's not what you think."
"......"
"I have never met the Great Witch until now, and I really don't know why she came this time. Besides, you could easily escape using the hut right now, couldn't you? So, before you run away, just listen to my story for a moment-"
"I can't use it."
"What...?"
"I can't use magic. If it's true that the Great Witch is here, it's obvious she'll come to catch me the moment I use magic. Are you really a witch? This basic common sense-"
She can't use magic right now?
Then how was the princess planning to escape from here?
...My mind felt like it was turning blank.
What on earth should I do?
Why did the Great Witch arrive so suddenly? And what should I do with Snow White? According to Ainsel's deduction, the one who turned Aurora into a fairy was none other than Snow White.
And Fran had said that the Great Witch had been searching for the culprit for seven years. If so, the reason the Great Witch came here must be to find the culprit, Snow White.
Then, is it right for me to take Snow White to the Great Witch? What will happen to Snow White if I take her to the Great Witch? What if she really is the culprit?
Furthermore, Snow White's reaction to avoiding the Great Witch really told me that the princess was the culprit of that incident. Rationally speaking, the correct answer was to take Snow White to the Great Witch first.
But my feelings...
"...Follow me."
"What?"
"I'll hide you, so follow me. You could escape by carriage, but the ball is still in progress, so there are no carriages leaving this place. If just one carriage leaves from here, it'll be too conspicuous. Don't you think?"
I forcibly grabbed Snow White's arm and headed to a corner lounge where there were no people. The lounge was a place where no one would enter if there was an 'In Use' sign, and since food and water were provided, it was a convenient place to hide.
"Stay here quietly and hide. I'll try to send the Great Witch back somehow. And, when the Great Witch leaves..."
I shoved Snow White into the lounge almost forcibly and looked at her, who was glaring at me, dumbfounded. Surely, this wouldn't be the correct answer. But, at least-
"When the Great Witch leaves, talk to me."
At least, after I hear your story.
I thought it wouldn't be too late to judge then.