After secretly sneaking out, Aurora had been running along the only road leading away from the estate.
Her ankle was red and swollen, and her silver hair was streaked with dirt—she must have twisted her foot when she jumped from the window.
Why did it come to this?
It’s all my fault…
She had only stayed by Lorabelle’s side for a short while, and yet the girl had suddenly become a completely different person—twisted, obsessed, and sick in the head.
She kept calling Aurora her sister!
But Aurora would never, ever accept someone who had forcefully kissed her as her sister.
It must be the curse I brought with me.
As long as I leave Lorabelle, she’ll return to normal, won’t she?
Even if Lorabelle had forgotten everything, as long as she wasn’t harmed by Aurora’s presence, Aurora had no complaints.
Everything that happened was the result of her selfishness.
If only she had left earlier, gotten married earlier, maybe Lorabelle could’ve lived a peaceful life with her parents.
But she stayed—stayed because she selfishly wanted just a little more time by her side.
And now Lorabelle had suffered because of that.
She didn’t know how long she ran.
Only when the pain in her ankle became unbearable did she finally stop.
Looking back and confirming that no one was chasing her, she finally allowed herself to breathe again.
“I need to take care of this injury first.”
She spotted a large rock by the roadside and sat down on it.
Lifting the hem of her skirt, she exposed her ankle, now swollen nearly to the size of a fist.
It was a jarring sight, especially in contrast to the soft, fair skin around it.
Unfortunately, she didn’t know any healing magic—and her time magic couldn’t be used to affect living beings.
“I need to figure something out…”
She turned her gaze toward the woods on her right, wondering if there might be wild medicinal herbs hidden there.
After searching for a while, she discovered a small patch of grass under a tree, glowing faintly with green light.
That glow was the mark of a plant nurtured by elves.
Elves would infuse certain plants with their magic, and once fully grown, those plants could transform into new elves.
In a way, this was how they reproduced.
Elven magic was inherently healing in nature.
So, herbs imbued with their magic were considered top-grade remedies.
Aurora felt guilty about it, but the pain in her ankle was growing unbearable.
She really needed this herb.
“I’m sorry about this…”
She reached out to pick the glowing sprig.
But as she did—she noticed her own hand becoming translucent.
The faint green light passed through her fingers and cast a soft glow across her pale, delicate face.
Realizing what was happening, Aurora quickly pulled out a green leaf from the pocket of her dress and placed it in her mouth.
Within moments, the leaf turned yellow, then withered completely.
Her gradually transparent body slowly returned to normal.
“I used up too much energy running all this way…”
She looked down at the only green leaf left in her pocket.
Once she used this final one, she had decided—she would disappear forever.
“There’s not much time left…”
If that was the case, did she still need to take this budding, life-nurturing herb?
Even if it healed her swollen ankle, she would vanish by tomorrow anyway.
Using it would only spare her a day of pain at most.
“Forget it.”
With that thought, Aurora gave up on picking the herb.
Just as she was about to stand up and leave, the little sprout suddenly let out a faint cry—“Oowyaa!”
Aurora’s attention was caught by the unexpected sound.
She crouched down again and looked closely at the herb.
To her surprise, the little sprout swayed gently, and from the base of its stem, a pair of tiny eyes peeked out.
So it had already transformed into a spirit!
It must have just been born. Seeing a giant like her must have frightened it too much to come out earlier.
“Sorry I scared you, little one.”
Aurora extended her index finger and gently stroked the tiny sprout.
It seemed to enjoy the touch—its small eyes closed in contentment.
“Gula!”
Half of the spirit’s body was still buried in the soil.
It wiggled and squirmed, as if trying to climb out, but the soil was too tightly packed.
No matter how it struggled, it couldn’t loosen the earth around it.
Watching this, Aurora began to feel anxious for it as well.
“Want me to help you?”
“Gula!”
Although Aurora couldn’t understand its words, she felt that the little fellow was saying yes.
Aurora immediately rolled up her sleeves and carefully began to dig away the soil around the sprout, afraid she might accidentally harm the little creature that had just come into the world.
Once she had loosened enough soil, the spirit was finally able to stretch out its tiny arms.
A pair of pink hands reached toward Aurora, gesturing for her to give it a pull.
Aurora felt a bit hesitant.
She looked at the newborn spirit—its arms were as thin as bean sprouts, as if a single tug might break them.
“If it hurts, let me know, okay?”
Gently, she pinched the spirit’s tiny hands with her thumb and forefinger, then slowly applied force.
Pop!
The little creature finally came free from the earth.
It shook the soil off its body, revealing delicate white wings like those of a dragonfly.
Its body was a soft pink, small and dainty.
Its long pink hair fluttered like falling cherry blossoms.
It tried flapping its wings—whrrr whrrr—and green glowing dust kept falling from them.
“Mmmrrr…”
The little one seemed to be trying its hardest to flap, its cute little face turning red with effort. Its tiny wings buzzed rapidly, and before long, its feet left the ground as it started to rise.
Atop its head was still that little sprout, and as the creature slowly floated up, the plant swayed gently, throwing off its balance.
“Wah!”
The sprout tilted left, shifting the spirit’s center of gravity. It immediately lost balance and veered off toward the left.
“Got you!”
Seeing this, Aurora reached out her palm and gently caught the falling spirit.
She could feel the spirit’s tiny wings still flapping inside her hand.
Carefully opening her fingers, she saw her palm was now covered in green glowing dust.
The little creature was still happily rolling around inside, making Aurora sigh in relief.
“It must be the sprout causing the problem.”
Aurora gently plucked the sprout from the spirit’s head and softly placed it on the ground.
“Try again.”
As if understanding her words, the little one flapped its wings once more—and this time, it was finally able to fly steadily.
It floated lightly in front of Aurora, then gave her nose a tiny kiss.
Seeing this, Aurora broke into a joyful laugh.
“Gulu, wula!”
The spirit pointed in a direction, then tugged on Aurora’s thumb, trying to lead her that way.
“You want to take me somewhere?”
“Gulu gulu!”
Aurora had a great fondness for cute things—one could say she had absolutely no resistance to this kind of adorable creature.