The Fairies' Invitation (3)
What are Luinongs made of?
Dreams and hopes, and mysterious purity—as if every color in the paintbox had been poured out, a riot of hues!
What is the village of the Luinongs made of?
Happiness and warmth, and pure white mystery—like the mountain pebbles and ocean sand, an unchanging paradise!
“…….”
Four Luinongs held hands and spun in a circle, singing. Their clear voices rang out, the colorful purity of their nature sublimating into a nursery rhyme. At the same time, a brilliant radiance began to bloom.
Flash—!
Red. Yellow. Purple. Indigo. The light matched the hair of the spinning, singing Luinongs exactly. There was no mistaking it—this was the lost power of mystery, vanished when the age of myths came to an end.
“What in the world….”
“The little ones really opened the gate.”
The various lights blended together like paints, creating a pure, unstained white. A white untouched by anything. The Luinongs’ pure mystery had thrown open a passage to paradise.
Ludmila and Jeblinne, witnessing the sight, stared with wide eyes.
Ultra-long-distance spatial teleportation was a spell that countless archmages had devoted their entire lives to, only to fail. Even after hundreds of years of research, it remained firmly in the realm of the impossible. Yet the Luinongs had accomplished it as easily as a game.
“Can we go now?”
“Yeah, just walk over there.”
When I asked with my head slightly bowed, Rue answered. She bounced on her toes, looking ready to dash forward at any second.
“Rue! Let’s go already!”
“Our friends are waiting so eagerly for Rue!”
The Luinongs, having successfully completed the ultra-long-distance teleportation, tugged Rue along with lively voices. Rue glanced at me and hesitated for a moment.
We were partners. Wherever we went, we should go together.
I held out my hand to the anxious girl. Rue’s face brightened into a smile as she grabbed it.
“You look like a father taking his daughter to meet her in-laws.”
Elizabeta laughed playfully and took the spot opposite Rue, grasping her right hand. Her earlier bold declaration that she wanted to visit the Fairy’s Haven must have been sincere; she clearly meant to come along.
Ludmila tried to stop her, but her tomboyish younger sister simply pretended not to hear. It was the stubbornness of a villainess who had been sneaking out of the imperial palace since childhood. Knowing her all too well, Ludmila let out a heavy sigh.
“With Edan there, what’s to worry about? It’s fine. We’re just going on a little picnic.”
“No one uses ultra-long-distance spatial teleportation for a picnic!”
“Just this once! Please, sister!”
“Haa…”
When Elizabeta clung to her with her whole body, Ludmila exhaled a sigh of pure resignation. At that moment I wondered whether the girl was better suited to be an adventurer than a princess—her curiosity was that insatiable.
In the end, Ludmila nodded at her sister’s pleading. Elizabeta beamed and lifted the hand clasped with Rue’s high into the air.
“Such close sisters. I’m almost jealous.”
“…….”
At Jeblinne’s teasing remark, Ludmila frowned, openly displaying her displeasure.
“We’ll be back shortly.”
I gave a meaningful look to the clearly anxious Ludmila. I will protect Her Highness Elizabeta no matter what danger we face. Understanding the promise in my eyes, Ludmila nodded.
After one last glance at Jeblinne, I stepped forward. Entrusting myself to the pure white light created by the tiny fairies, I began the journey to paradise.
A pure white space without the slightest trace of impurity. The Fairy’s Haven possessed a mystical quality straight out of a storybook. For a moment I wondered if we had stepped into the afterlife—the scenery before us was that alien.
“Hello, everyone!”
“Everyone gather! I brought Rue!”
The Fairy’s Haven, nestled beneath the valley of Frerasia, was as bright as the open sky. Pure white crystals that glowed like moonlight surrounded the entire area.
White crystal pillars rose everywhere. Between them stood cozy cottages blanketed in soft moss. It truly deserved the name paradise. This underground realm of the Luinongs, completely cut off from the outside world, still preserved the solemn atmosphere of the mythic age. It felt as though a god might appear at any moment.
“Edan, are you okay?”
“Of course… I’m fine.”
I had been momentarily entranced by the otherworldly landscape. Rue tugged anxiously at my sleeve, her voice full of concern.
So this is the Fairy’s Haven? There’s no way the mostly empty-headed Luinongs created something like this…. Someone must have made this space for them. It’s incredibly detailed.
I suspected the being the Luinongs called “God” had constructed this paradise. It made sense. After all, it would have been created during the era when the gods ruled the world.
“Rue!”
“What? Rue’s back?!”
The Luinongs who had rushed out to help immediately began running through the village, announcing her return. The space that had been as empty as a ghost town suddenly filled with colorful girls poking their heads out from hiding places, like hermit crabs emerging once the danger had passed.
“Eeeek! A human appeared!”
“Human… it’s a human! They’ve come to stuff the bad Luinong in a sack!!”
Their missing friend had returned. Delighted, the Luinongs came rushing out—only for their joyful cheers to turn into terrified screams. Two outsiders had invaded their closed-off sanctuary.
“Wow! The tiny kids are running around everywhere! They’re so cute!”
“…They’re all foaming at the mouth, though.”
Elizabeta’s cheeks flushed with delight as she watched the Luinongs panic and bubble at the lips. Hmm. This didn’t exactly seem like a situation to celebrate. As expected of a villainess—her perspective was completely different from normal people. She even clapped and laughed at the sight of them fleeing in terror.
“Hey…! Everyone calm down! The pretty princess is here!”
When the chaos reached its peak, Rue stretched both arms wide and shouted. The Luinongs who saw her stopped screaming and blinked in confusion. The situation finally settled. Thanks to Rue’s intervention, we gained a brief moment of peace.
The gazes of the Luinongs who had stopped running turned toward me and Elizabeta. Their wariness toward the humans who had invaded paradise was palpable—the same reaction they’d shown when visiting the Hohenberg family.
“Human…. Those eyes are ridiculously scary!”
“Eeeek! There’s something on their back. They’re definitely going to put us in a sack!”
As expected, the reviews about me were terrible. It was probably the fault of my nasty sanpaku eyes. Even the family servants gave their young master harsh criticism, so of course the Luinongs would be worse.
I saw a girl trembling violently. Another looked on the verge of tears. No, I knew I wasn’t exactly handsome, but… this reaction seemed a bit excessive.
Rue tried her best to defend me, but the Luinongs’ wariness refused to ease. Every time I shifted my shoulders, startled screams erupted from all directions.
“She’s a princess!”
“Yes, a pretty princess…! Just like the ones in the storybooks!”
In contrast, the reviews for Elizabeta were perfect scores across the board. She was the only one who could rival the heroine Beatrice in beauty. The Luinongs, who had always admired the princesses from fairy tales, gazed at her with open longing. They were especially fascinated by her evening dress decorated with beautiful jewels.
“Do Luinongs usually judge by appearance?”
“Edan does look kind of mean. If he weren’t Max’s brother, even I would’ve run away at first sight.”
I muttered, feeling slightly hurt. Rue honestly confessed her first impression of me.
“I guess bribing them with Nong-jjuk Candy is the way to go. My face is a lost cause from the start.”
“I agree. There’s zero chance with looks alone.”
The sharp sanpaku eyes had frightened the Luinongs from the first meeting, but the situation wasn’t hopeless. I possessed the ultimate weapon: Nong-jjuk Candy, something the Luinongs couldn’t resist. Besides, the Luinongs who had mistaken Elizabeta for a fairy-tale princess were gradually gathering around her, making her the center of attention.
Thank goodness the princess who came along was Elizabeta. If it had been Ludmila, every last Luinong would have fled.
I breathed a sigh of relief and set down the bundle. Untying the knot, I pulled out a large quantity of Nong-jjuk Candy.
“Eek! The human put down the sack! They’re going to catch the bad Luinongs!”
“I’m a good Luinong! Take the others, not me!”
The Luinongs, who had barely calmed down, leapt up and began running around in pandemonium. Kyaaak! Kyaaaaak!! Screams echoed from every direction. I quickly unwrapped the Nong-jjuk Candy to silence them. Like children, once the sweets were in their mouths they fell quiet. The only sound left was the soft nom nom nom of licking.
“Nom nom! Nom nom nom!”
“It tastes like heaven…!”
The Luinongs’ reactions were uniform—pure admiration and joy. Having lived on nothing but bland dew and icicles, the concentrated sweetness was nothing short of a taste revolution. It was like watching a savage discover fire for the first time.
“The princess with the kind heart has brought lots of Nong-jjuk Candy for the Luinongs of paradise!”
“Huh?”
I announced it to the sugar-obsessed Luinongs with both arms spread wide. Elizabeta tilted her head at me in confusion.
“Princess!”
“As expected, the pretty princess has a pretty heart too!”
Dozens of Luinongs living in the mystical paradise cheered and swarmed around Elizabeta. Though clearly overwhelmed by their expectant stares, she reached out and gently stroked their heads. The Luinongs smiled like happy pets.
“Your hair is as pretty as snowflakes. What’s your name?”
“Ahem! I’m called Norun Luinong!”
“There are only adorable little ones here. It feels like I’ve come to a kindergarten.”
“Waa! So high, it’s so high!”
Elizabeta lifted a girl with flowing pure-white hair into the air. The girl who had been trying to act grown-up with her clumsy speech burst into giggles, eyes sparkling with delight.