Neverland (1)
The crystals that had been glowing with a soft light now radiated a brilliant radiance once more. Morning had broken. One by one, the Luinong began to appear. They gathered in the clearing with perfect order and started their exercises, stretching their short limbs as far as they could. Their postures synced flawlessly, like a girl group that had rehearsed their choreography for months. One, two, three, four. Two, two, three, four.
“Yaaawn…!”
“Mmmnya, mmmnya.”
The Luinong emerging from the cabins were still half-asleep. Some nodded off where they stood. There was even one snoring loudly while waving its arms. The Luinong were notorious sleepyheads who adored their morning rest, yet not a single one skipped the exercises. Even in their drowsy haze, they kept waving their limbs and continuing the stretches.
“Haaam! I couldn’t sleep a wink because I was waiting for Edan all night. It’s all Edan’s fault.”
A girl with light green hair clung to his leg like a cicada. Apparently considering herself an exception, Rue continued dozing off while still attached.
“Oh no…! They’re just too adorable, these colorful little ones from paradise!”
“……”
Elizabetta stomped her feet in frustration at the sight of the Luinong stretching their short limbs in unison. She failed to see what was supposedly cute about it. Having looked after the tomboyish girl for an entire month as her guardian, she felt no particular sentiment.
“Nom nom!”
“Ugh, it’s so cold!”
Once their exercises ended, the Luinong immediately headed for the area where icicles hung in thick clusters. They snapped off the small ones and popped them into their mouths like candy. The Luinong frowned at the biting chill but sucked on the icicles until the very end. Red ones tasted like strawberry. Yellow like lemon. Green like apple. All fifty Luinong lined up and ate breakfast according to their individual preferences.
It was probably just another ordinary routine for fairies living in paradise. But to an outsider, it looked like starving beggars desperately licking icicles to survive.
“It’s damn cold. And it doesn’t even taste good.”
Suddenly curious about the flavor the Luinong were enjoying, I grabbed a large icicle and put it in my mouth. I gave it a tentative lick, then tossed it to the ground. It had a faint sweet fruitiness, but that was all. It was worse than cheap ice pops.
Rue also broke off a piece, tasted it, and promptly discarded the rest. Having traveled across countless nations on the continent and sampled every imaginable delicacy, she had developed a refined palate that mere icicles could never satisfy.
“Pretty princess!”
“Good morning, Princess!”
Once their daily routine wrapped up, the Luinong swarmed around Elizabetta in a colorful cluster. The goddess Broyan had already departed. Yet traces of her power still lingered within Elizabetta. Perhaps the fairies were drawn to those remnants of their creator. Or maybe they genuinely revered her. It could be both. After all, Elizabetta and Broyan were remarkably similar in both personality and appearance.
“Listen carefully. I am going to take you all to the outside world.”
The beautiful blonde princess spread her arms wide and declared boldly. The Luinong responded by shaping their hair into round question marks. The outside world…? Confusion spread across their faces at the unfamiliar term. Only five Luinong had ever visited the outside world before. And even those four besides Rue had experienced it for merely a fleeting instant. For those who had never left paradise, Elizabetta’s announcement stirred up enough unknown fear to make them tremble. Since they already regarded humans with great caution, it was only natural they would feel the same terror toward the outside world.
“I-I’ll go!”
“The loyal pie Luinong will follow the princess!”
The four who had already tasted the outside world thrust their hands into the air. The chocolate cake that had been unbearably sweet. The Nong-jjuk Candy that had melted over them like a harmonious melody. In just a single day, they had become prisoners of sugar. Seeing their friends leap toward the princess without hesitation only deepened the other Luinong’s inner conflict. They rolled their pebble-bright eyes in serious contemplation.
“Ugh…! I want to go with the princess too!”
“B-but the outside world is scary!”
Anxious excitement clashed with primal fear. Which should they choose? It was an impossibly cruel dilemma for the Luinong. Fairies who had lived in paradise for countless years had never faced such a decision. So the little ones clutched their heads and hesitated.
“Everyone, listen well. I will never abandon my faithful servants. No matter what hardships we encounter… I will protect my servants until the very end. That is the duty of royalty who have inherited noble blood.”
Elizabetta placed a hand over her heart as she made the declaration. Noble pride and grace overflowed from her. Her personality, which placed such importance on duties passed down through bloodline, strongly reminded one of Ludmila. Her resolute voice acted like a vaccine, suppressing the fear that had been spreading like a plague. As if to prove her words, the trembling Luinong perked their hair up into sharp points and stared at Elizabetta with unwavering eyes.
The remnants of Broyan’s divinity have synchronized with Elizabetta. She wasn’t formally granted Broyan’s protection, so she won’t turn into a demon, but… I must make sure this isn’t overused.
Broyan was the goddess who had created the Luinong, but from the perspective of humans who worshipped the Earth Mother as the one true god, she was nothing more than an evil deity. The fact that a princess of the Valtaria Empire had accepted the divinity of an evil god must never become known. Elizabetta’s safety depended on it. So did the future of the Luinong who would now step into the outside world. I would need to warn her about that later.
I watched in silence as Elizabetta led the multitude of fairies away, her back straight and resolute.
As if struck by lightning, the lord’s castle of the Hohenberg Marquisate was engulfed in pure white light. Flash—! An intense burst of brilliance opened a passage connected to paradise. Immediately afterward, a flood of small fairies in every color came pouring through.
“The ceiling is super blue!”
“You dummy, that’s called the sky…!”
Having escaped the closed-off underground space of the valley and arrived in the outside world, the Luinong displayed an intense thirst for discovery. They kept turning their heads in every direction. The blue sky that looked as if paint had been splashed across it. The courtyard adorned with flowers of every imaginable hue. And the grand, elegant mansion they had only ever imagined while reading fairy tales. It felt as though they had stepped into another realm entirely. The Luinong’s clear eyes sparkled brighter than they ever had before.
“How did these little ones get into the courtyard?”
“No idea. But what was that flash of light just now…?”
The servants of the Hohenberg family stood stunned by the sudden burst of light. Their confusion only grew when the colorful Luinong suddenly appeared before them. At that moment, Edanant finally stepped forward and dispelled their anxiety.
“They are fairies I have formally invited, so there’s no need to worry. They will now become members of the Hohenberg family.”
“Those little ones, my lord…?”
I added that I intended to make every Luinong a member of the family, just like Rue. It was an incredibly sudden decision. The servants shrugged with troubled expressions. Yet no one voiced any opposition. Those who genuinely trusted Edanant simply nodded, thinking, It’s the young master’s decision. It will work out somehow.
“You’ve returned sooner than expected.”
“Fortunately, persuasion wasn’t difficult.”
Having heard the news, Ludmila came running to greet him. Edanant answered in a bright voice and gestured toward Elizabetta and the Luinong with his chin. Upon confirming her younger sister’s safe return, Ludmila let out a deep sigh of relief.
“It must be thanks to you watching over Elizabetta.”
“Not at all. There were no dangerous incidents.”
The event where the goddess who created the Luinong had temporarily possessed Elizabetta was something he chose not to mention to Ludmila. It would only make her anxious. Only remnants of the divinity remained now. As time passed, Broyan’s divine power would gradually fade. The real problem was Elizabetta’s unique constitution that could perfectly accept such divinity. Just as the long-slumbering Broyan had been forcibly drawn into her body, other divinities might one day cling to her as well. He would need to carefully consider how to prevent future possessions.
“I’m not doubting your judgment, but… will the Luinong truly be of any help?”
“I will never disappoint you. Please watch their performance with your own eyes.”
Ludmila glanced at the Luinong bouncing around like energetic children and asked her question. Would these innocent fairies, who seemed no different from ordinary young children, really benefit the territory? It was perfectly natural to harbor such doubts. No doubt many of the marquisate’s servants felt the same way. To clear away those heavy suspicions, he would need to produce clear results. And for the Luinong to be recognized as a new race within the Valtaria Empire, the same would be required.