“I really like fairies too! So when Seiana said she believed in fairies that day, I got excited and asked her about it like I was pressing her~!”
“Ah……”
Was that so?
Listening now, I could understand why the princess’s reaction that day was a bit much…
The princess continued explaining.
The picture book was a collection of fairy paintings drawn long ago by some artist, and the odds and ends were things actually made based on what the fairies mentioned in Miskit’s writings were interested in.
Only then could I let my guard down a little.
Those sharp behaviors were due to excitement at finding a friend with the same taste.
‘But I don’t really believe in them…?’
I was about to say the truth because I felt lying was wrong, even though it might cause disappointment.
Just then, Raymund, who had been quietly watching us, smiled shyly.
“Actually, I prepared a gift too.”
Then he casually took something out from his pocket.
It looked flat and not very big—maybe a scarf or a handkerchief?
Princess Esteban’s eyes looked very hostile toward Raymund.
It was like she wanted to smack him.
Feeling puzzled, I took the gift from Raymund, and at his signal, removed the wrapping paper—and was surprised.
“Huh…?”
I was experiencing disappointment twice today.
The item inside the wrapping wasn’t a beautiful scarf.
Instead, it was folded yellowish leather.
“Parchment?”
Since it was folded, I couldn’t see what it contained, so I looked at Raymund as if to ask for an explanation, but he just looked at me expectantly.
What the…?
Hesitating, I took out the parchment and unfolded it.
The parchment, which had seemed small when folded, was quite large when spread out.
“A map?”
This, drawn with black lines showing roads, mountains, and rivers, was definitely a map.
Why was he giving this to me?
And looking closely, it didn’t resemble the surroundings of the county at all—it was from some unknown region.
I was about to ask because I didn’t understand the meaning when suddenly, the blocked thoughts in my mind burst open the moment my gaze touched the gifts given by Princess Esteban.
I realized what kind of map this was.
‘No way…?’
It can’t be, right?
Please say it’s not.
I looked at Raymund with trembling eyes, silently asking him to say it wasn’t the famous map from my previous life.
But Raymund betrayed my hopes.
“It’s a map to the fairy kingdom.”
There’s no such thing… I cried silently inside.
I thought about whether the royal family had also been victims of a fairy kingdom scam in my previous life, but nothing came to mind.
When I found out back then, the rumors were so mixed up it was hard to know what was true, and since the nobles who were both victims and perpetrators hushed everything up, the truth was hidden.
“Please don’t tell me there’s another one of these…”
I asked with a worried heart, fearing they might have scammed other nobles starting with this map.
Saying it out loud made it sound like I was accusing them of monopolizing the fairy kingdom, and I felt embarrassed, blushing.
Seeing me like that, Raymund smiled broadly.
“This is the only one. The emperor ordered that no copies be made.”
Oh… so that’s possible too.
So the royal family might be the only victims of the scam, if I don’t copy this map.
I felt relieved but also awkward.
There was no way I could say “I don’t believe in fairies” in front of the kids who seemed to expect me to be happy.
At that moment, Princess Esteban, who had been holding back her displeasure, suddenly shouted!
“He’s a thief!”
Suddenly?
The sheer audacity made my head spin.
Raymund looked at the angry Princess Esteban with a sad expression, tears welling up in his eyes.
“You despicable! That map should have been mine!”
Ah, since the princess liked fairies too, it seemed she coveted this map.
“I should have gotten it first and gifted it to Seiana!”
No, that wasn’t it.
The reason she coveted it wasn’t for herself, but because she wanted to give it to me as a gift.
Her reason was so ridiculous that when I looked at her, she seemed to think this was comforting herself, and began tattling on Raymund.
“I thought of it first! He stole my idea! Using his family’s power, no less!”
Putting together her excited ramblings, it was like this:
The princess misunderstood that I liked fairies, and while she was pondering a good gift, she came up with the idea of a fairy kingdom map.
Then Raymund heard that and intercepted it.
She even said that although she went to Miskit at the same time, Raymund used the royal family’s power to oppress not only the Esteban family but also the author with an imperial decree and stole it.
…Knowing the whole story, I thought it wasn’t such a bad thing.
Thanks to that, the Esteban family didn’t get scammed.
However, the princess wasn’t ignorant.
Judging from innocent Raymund’s expression, it seemed he didn’t steal it on purpose.
It was just that he happened to think of a gift at the same time after hearing from the princess that I liked fairies.
From an outsider’s perspective, that seemed to be the case, but the angry princess was only focusing on what was taken and was rampaging, while Raymund looked helplessly at her.
“Grr! Despicable!”
“Aries.”
Thinking I might actually hit Raymund, I urgently called the princess, Aries.
She was raging but immediately stopped when she heard me say my nickname and opened her eyes wide in surprise.
Then those eyes softened nicely, and Aries broke into a sly smile.
“Mm, Seiana.”
“Who gave you the map doesn’t matter. What matters is that I got it. Anyway, we’re all going to the place on the map together.”
Together?”
At those words, Aries’s face went blank.
She looked like she hadn’t thought of that suggestion.
What was even more surprising was that Raymund had the exact same expression.
‘Why you again?’
Could it be that the gift meant I should go alone?
I was embarrassed.
I don’t even believe in fairies, so why would I go there alone?
If more people go, it would feel like an outing or a trip, but if it was just me, it felt like they wanted to make me suffer, which made me feel resentful.
“You… will go with me?”
“Really?”
“If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to.”
The blank faces suddenly brightened.
When I said they didn’t have to go if they didn’t want to, both of them eagerly shouted,
“No way!”
“We’ll definitely go!”
Then they glared at each other.
Their expressions showed they liked going with me but didn’t want to go with the other guy, so I quickly added, “We won’t go unless it’s the three of us.”
Only then did they reluctantly back off from each other.
The two didn’t look at each other at all; with sparkling faces, they only spoke to me.
“Then, when do you think would be a good time to go?”
“Hmm. Considering there needs to be time to prepare and investigate, maybe next month would be good?”
“Is it not necessary to become friends with the fairy? You said last time, right? That we’d become friends with the fairy and get invited.”
“I… Ah, well. Then should we go there first?”
“I’m fine as long as I can go anywhere with Seiana! And, oh! I told you to speak casually, right? Why are you using polite speech while calling me by my nickname?”
Ari puffed her cheeks and complained.
Indeed, it probably looked funny to call someone by their nickname and yet speak so formally.
I nodded.
“Then I’ll speak casually from now on.”
Unlike Ari, who smiled shyly at my words, Ray glared at Ari with a sullen face.
Ari thoroughly ignored Ray and sneakily reached out to grab one of my hands.
Seeing that, Ray raised one eyebrow crookedly and grabbed my other hand, locking our fingers together.
‘They really like holding hands, huh.’
Both Ray and Ari grabbed my hands whenever they had the chance.
Well, I didn’t mind holding hands, but there was one problem.
“Guys. I can’t drink tea like this.”
Both my hands were held, so I had no hand free to hold the teacup.
I couldn’t pick up the cake either, and though I politely asked them to let go, they didn’t seem to understand and only looked at me with pitiful faces.
“Oh no, then I’ll hold your teacup.”
“Then I’ll take the cake.”
If they’d just let go of my hands, there’d be no need for that.
I was flustered, but the teacup and the fork with cake were already approaching my mouth.
Reflexively, I took a sip and a bite of cake, but they kept trying to feed me something so my mouth had no time to be empty.
They even competed to feed me more, so the pace kept speeding up.
‘Is this what torture with food feels like?’
With my cheeks puffed out and feeling dizzy, I hurriedly pushed their hands away.
Startled by my sudden refusal, they looked at me with wide, trembling eyes, but I was focused on something else.
‘You guys should try it too.’
I took the fork with both hands, scooped some cake, and offered it to them.
They looked surprised as the cake approached their mouths, blushed, and opened their mouths.
As soon as they finished the bite, I scooped more cake and offered it again.
The two quietly accepted and ate.
I started this to let them feel what it was like to be on the receiving end, but thanks to their competitive eating, the two ended up finishing almost a whole cake that day.