Chapter 50: Only You Can See Me

“I’ll try it too.”

Ray stepped forward and tossed the pouch into the air.

But the way he did it looked very clumsy.

I had a bad feeling, and sure enough, after glancing at me, he twisted his wrist slightly to avoid the pouches falling on the back of his hand.

It wasn’t something to be hurt by—it was just a lack of skill—but still, this wasn’t right.

‘Honestly, it would’ve been better not to try to comfort me at all.’

Pout.

My lips jutted out in a sulky pout, and Ray looked startled, as if realizing I’d caught on to his intentions.

This time, my brother stepped up to try to cheer me up.

He repeatedly placed the pouch on the back of his hand, quickly caught it, then placed it again, all the while speaking gently to me.

“Our little Lovey just has small hands, that’s all. Games like this are easier with bigger hands. See? You just wave your hand like this, and you catch them easily.”

“Ari has small hands too.”

“Well…”

“She was catching them just fine.”

“Um…”

With nothing more to say, my brother fell silent.

Honestly, I wasn’t that angry at Ray’s actions.

I’d only pretended to sulk to warn him not to lie just to comfort me.

I figured that should be enough and was about to let it go—

—Haha, you’re really funny.

“Huh…?”

“Are you very angry… Sei?”

As I looked around at the sound of a voice, Ray cautiously asked.

Everyone else just stood there awkwardly.

It didn’t seem like anyone else was talking to me, so I thought I might have misheard.

—Hey, dummy.

Over here.

“Huh?”

Flap!

Flap!

Something sparkled in front of my eyes, moving back and forth, startling me.

I thought it was some kind of bug—maybe a dragonfly—so I instinctively recoiled in fright.

But the sparkling light shot straight at the space between my eyebrows.

—Now you can see me, right?

“A fa… fairy?”

It was literally a fairy.

A tiny person with wings like a dragonfly was flying right in front of me.

Was this real?

I was so flustered I couldn’t even speak, only stammer.

Ray asked, “Fairy? What are you talking about?”

“Right in front of me. Can’t you see?”

Was I the only one who could see it?

When I pointed at the fairy with my finger, it hung from my fingertip, laughing gleefully.

How could no one see it when it was shining so brightly as it flew around?

“I don’t see anything. Not even a light.”

—That’s right. Only you can see me. That’s how it was allowed.

“So it’s really here?”

—Ack! I don’t like you! Go away!

When Ray reached out like he was trying to catch the proud fairy who had declared only I was allowed to see it, the fairy let out a shriek and fluttered into the air.

Ray looked confused when his hand grasped at nothing.

The fairy wasn’t there anymore—it had flown off to avoid him.

I wanted to say that but didn’t, worried Ray would be hurt.

The only relief for Ray was that the fairy had also screamed and shouted “I hate you!” at Ari upon seeing him.

It might’ve been a comforting thing to say, but neither of them would’ve been happy to hear it, so I kept my mouth shut.

—Ugh, what a nuisance.

These things.

The fairy I met for the first time didn’t seem very pleasant.

Saying things like it hated kind kids and calling people a nuisance.

I hadn’t expected much to begin with, but to meet such an ill-tempered fairy by chance…

I was not pleased.

Fluttering irritably, the fairy then turned to look at me and sat down on a colorful yarn ball.

—You brought this for me, right?

“Huh…? I guess?”

But the truth was, I hadn’t prepared it—Ari had.

Before I could say that, the ball vanished completely.

Everyone gasped, stunned to see it disappear right before their eyes.

“It’s a real fairy?”

“I thought Lovey was just making things up because she was upset about not seeing a fairy…”

“So you didn’t believe me, huh, oppa?”

“Gasp…!”

I glared at him, annoyed.

Then the fairy grabbed a lock of my hair and shook it to get my attention.

When I looked down, it pointed at a strawberry on the cake.

I always saved the strawberry for last, so it was still there.

—I want that too.

“Huh? Uh… Isn’t it kind of big? Will that be okay?”

The strawberry was so big it was larger than the fairy’s entire body.

I was worried, but I couldn’t just ignore its pleading.

I gently scooped up the strawberry with a fork and offered it, and the fairy hugged it with all its might.

As a result, all the cream on the strawberry got all over the fairy’s body.

Even though it must’ve been slippery, the fairy smiled in utter satisfaction.

—Haha, nice.

It must really love strawberries.

Since there were still strawberries left on my brother’s cake, I was about to offer one too, when—

I received food from a guest who came to see me, and I even got a gift.

When a fairy receives something, they must repay it.

Now, you are my friend. You have earned the right to enter my world.

Unlike earlier, when it chattered like a mischievous child, its voice now was weighty, and it felt like I was in the presence of something immense.

As I stared with my mouth agape at the sudden shift in mood, a strong wind blew.

“Ahhh!”

“Eek!”

The flowers—no, the entire flower field—shook in the wind.

The drifting petals gathered and began to swirl into a vortex.

Trapped in a storm of flower petals like a snowstorm in the tundra, we shut our eyes tightly and waited for it to pass.

And when the wind finally died down and I opened my eyes—

“Where… am I?”

I had woken up somewhere completely different from the flower field.

It was a truly strange place.

“Why is the sky purple?”

I mumbled to myself as I looked up.

It wasn’t just one shade of purple, either.

Some parts were light lavender, others were bluish-violet.

Purple clouds blended into the violet sky like ink melting into water.

“This isn’t… a glass lamp?”

I had thought it was a chandelier with glass pieces hanging from a long, thick rod, but it was actually a tree made of glass.

What I’d mistaken for glass pieces were actually the tree’s leaves.

And they were all sorts of colors: transparent blue, transparent pink, transparent yellow.

There were so many colors, it was overwhelming.

“Is anyone he—…”

Feeling an instinctive fear from being alone, I called out to someone.

Only then did the lights flick on one by one, as if calling me.

It was obviously guiding me somewhere.

I hesitated, unsure whether to follow or not, but there was nothing else I could do at the moment besides follow it.

Though I felt a bit uneasy walking through an unknown space, I wasn’t too worried.

Because I had a rough idea of who might be at the end of this path.

‘It must be the fairy.’

I ground my teeth.

That damned gnat.

I fed it, gave it a present, and it called me a friend—then it dragged me here without permission?

‘Once I meet it, I’m going to grab it and shake it like crazy.’

Even after spilling everything inside me, I wouldn’t stop until it begged for its life.

It wasn’t some kind-hearted fairy, so I didn’t feel guilty.

‘I should’ve known when it started spouting off at those innocent kids.’

That it was a wicked being through and through.

Learning that fairies actually exist was fascinating—but it wasn’t exactly pleasant knowing this one was evil.

It was while I was following the lights that it happened.

The moment I stepped on a certain spot, my body suddenly dropped downward.

“Kyahhhh!”

The sensation of floating made my knees tingle.

The deeper I was sucked into the dark pit, the further away the purple sky above me became.

I kept falling until the sky turned into a faint light, then a dot, and finally vanished.

Thud!

Eventually, I landed on something soft.

My body was fine, but I was still shaken from the fear of falling.

While I lay there trembling, a voice spoke from above me.

“You’re really funny. You’re more afraid of this than of monsters?”

It was the arrogant fairy’s voice.

I lifted my head, eyes blazing—but to my surprise, the figure before me wasn’t the fairy.

Instead of a tiny gnat-like creature, it was a grown man.

“I’m not a man. I’m a fairy.”

I blinked.

Huh?

Did I say “man” out loud?

“No, you didn’t. I just read it.”

The man—no, the fairy—grinned mischievously.

When he said he could read my thoughts, I instinctively covered my head with my hands as if trying to hide something.

Not that it actually hid my thoughts.

“Exactly. And yet, you still did it—are you stupid?”

“Ugh…!”

Honestly, I did feel stupid, so I couldn’t argue.

Still, I had promised myself that if I met him, I’d grab him and shake him until I puked, but with someone this big… wait!

Cancel that!

I didn’t mean it!

“Hah… I saw you smiling next to a monster, so I thought you were brave. Turns out you’re just simple.”

Tsk tsk.

The fairy clicked his tongue and shook his head, like he pitied me.

That look in his eyes made something boil up inside me.

“There was no monster!”

All I had near me were one dumb older brother and two cute little kids!

As I grumbled internally, the fairy laughed.

“There was nothing else? You’re saying you didn’t see any monsters?”

“I told you!”

Were they hiding in the flower field?

I hadn’t really looked at the flowers, so I didn’t know.

As I answered sulkily, the fairy studied me with renewed interest.

He suddenly leaned in close, and I instinctively tried to back away—but the wall was already behind me.

“I just thought you were a strange and amusing kid.”

“What?”

“So it was you. The former owner of a future that no longer exists.”

I was about to snap back at the fairy for being so cryptic and rude, but his meaningful words shocked me.

A future that no longer exists…

One thing came to mind.

That…

‘No. Don’t think about it. La la la la la~ I sing whenever my mind gets complicated~!’

As I rambled nonsense in my head, the fairy gently cupped both of my cheeks.