episode_0206
by fnovelpiaArphia and Assis sat facing each other.
Assis was sitting quietly, staring blankly. On the other hand, Arpia was arrogant, crossing her legs and folding her arms.
I still remember the nonsense I was spouting off when I first met Narsha.
Of course, her opponent was Young-ae, who survived in the harsh aristocratic society with only her talent for talking, and the next head of the household, while Arphia was a country bumpkin who knew nothing about the ways of the world.
It was nearly impossible to beat Narsha with words.
But not anymore.
Because I’ve been working with Narsha and have built up my inner strength.
“My name is Arphia. As you can see, I’m an elf.”
“Tinkerbell… .”
“So stop talking about Tinkerbell. I don’t even know what Tinkerbell is, I’m just an ordinary elf.”
Assis lowered his head sullenly.
“What’s your name?”
“AS.”
“Yes, it’s Asia. Nice to meet you?”
The most important thing in a first meeting is to take the initiative.
It was the truth that Arphia realized.
Especially when it’s a woman, a slave. In terms of time, Arphia is Assis’s senior. As a senior slave, she has to maintain discipline.
“Are you also a slave to your master?”
“Rami… ?”
“Rami?”
“Rami.”
If it’s Rami, then it must be Karami’s name.
It’s a nickname that only lovers would use.
On the other hand, the terms Alphia uses to call Karami are ‘hey’, ‘you’, and ‘master’.
… .
Compared to Assis, there was no trace of affection.
“Okay. You win. I’ll admit it.”
It was a clear defeat.
‘Isn’t it easy?’
A poker face better than Narsha.
I can’t tell what he’s thinking.
To be able to use that level of expressionlessness.
Not your average opponent.
But Arphia did not back down.
He immediately took off the top he was wearing and exposed his back.
“See? This brand? It’s proof that I’m that person’s slave. It’ll never be erased? You don’t have anything like this, do you?”
Arphia’s ultimate skill.
The brand engraved on Karamiga’s back. While some people would want to erase the brand by cutting off their flesh, to Arpia it was an invaluable symbol.
Even Narsha couldn’t do anything in front of this brand.
It wasn’t because I was an exhibitionist.
No, it might be exhibitionism.
At any rate, it was at a time when Arphia was certain that she had seized the opportunity to win. Assis fumbled around and took something out.
“What is that?”
“What Rami gave me.”
Snow White fairy tale book.
“What am I saying? It’s just an ordinary book, right?”
At those words, Assis’ eyes twitched.
This is a fairy tale book that Karami made for Assis. It is a one-of-a-kind treasure in the world that cannot be exchanged even if all the treasures in the castle are brought.
It is unforgivable to disparage that.
“An ordinary book… no.”
“It looks fancy, but you can mass-produce those at a printing shop. You can even have an ugly goblin.”
“… No.”
“It’s no use denying it. Compared to that, my mark is only mine? I can’t even mass produce it. This is what they call a real treasure.”
It was a one-sided attack.
Assis’s speech is on par with Karami’s power.
He was weaker than anyone in the world.
“It’s on a whole other level than the fairy tales that children read──”
Bam!
Assis jumped up from his seat.
Arphia flinched.
“Why, why are you getting up so scary? Are you going to fight? I’m confident in fighting too?”
Are you too caught up in the atmosphere?
I think my words may have been too harsh.
Assis, who had been staring at Arphia as if he was going to pull out lasers from his eyes, moved briskly. He approached Arphia and sat down next to her.
“Huh?”
Creak.
Kirik.
She winds up the music box on the table and starts playing a song. She places the storybook between her and Arpia’s legs and starts turning the pages.
“Once upon a time… In a certain winter kingdom, there lived a beautiful and white princess named Snow White.”
Assis also knows that he is weak in speaking. The method that Assis chose is to read fairy tales directly.
What a precious treasure this fairy tale book is.
So that Arphia can convey her feelings.
That was the best choice Assis could make.
Assis read the book more clearly and forcefully than ever before. Arpia had no choice but to listen without being able to argue.
***
“… The prince and Snow White lived happily ever after.”
Tub.
Assis covering the book.
“Hoo… .”
I took a long breath.
Yeah, I did well.
I read it perfectly without any mistakes.
I think this much will convey my feelings.
It was a sigh of relief with that kind of meaning.
“When?”
He turns his head and stares at Arpia with eyes filled with tension. A faint sense of anticipation seeps out from within.
Pure to the point of being excessive.
A look that makes it impossible to tackle.
Arpia, who found that gaze burdensome, eventually couldn’t bear it and averted her eyes. She moved her lips and reluctantly answered.
“Well… It’s a good fairy tale.”
Then Assis’s expression brightens. It’s as if the ice crystals that touched his hand melted in an instant.
“Yeah, yeah.”
Continuous nodding of joy.
Arphia completely lost his will to fight. Unlike Narsha, he felt guilty because his opponent was Assis.
I feel like I’m bullying a little puppy.
It seemed like I was the only one being a bad person.
“Sigh.”
I decided to stop arguing there.
It doesn’t seem like we can even get along with each other.
“Yes, I know how precious he is to you, and how precious that storybook is to you. But where did he go and leave you?”
I already noticed.
In this castle, no, in this vast kingdom, there is no one but Asies.
Karami is not here.
“ went. To another place.”
“Where?”
“Holy Country.”
“Aren’t you chasing?”
“He said he’d be back soon.”
As expected.
He said the same thing to Arphia and left.
No, he was worse than Assis, since he just left her a letter and disappeared without saying a word.
‘This guy was a total repeat offender, wasn’t he?’
Maybe what he said about coming back was a lie. It was the right decision to find it myself.
“Then what were you doing here alone?”
“Rami… wanted to see the kingdom bustling with people.”
“So you were making a statue?”
“Yeah.”
“All that by yourself?”
Assis nodded.
To Arphia, who had no idea what the meaning of making ice sculptures was, it seemed like nothing more than an odd taste.
Enough to make it seem like madness at first glance.
“I’m on a journey to find him now. He said he’s in the Holy Land, so I’ll go there next time. What do you think, do you want to go too?”
To Arphia, Assis was a rival, but at the same time, he felt compassion for her.
She was also a slave who had left Karami just like him. I felt sorry for her, who was making a statue alone in this wide place with no one to talk to.
But Assis shook his head.
“I’ll… wait here.”
“I don’t know when I’ll be back?”
“Rami said she’d be back soon.”
Arphia projected her past self onto Karami, showing her boundless trust in her.
I’ve been like that too.
But no matter how long she waited, Karami did not come. Alphia, an elf accustomed to waiting, could no longer bear it.
However, Karami did not return, but went further away and played around with pretty slaves.
“I’m still lonely even though I have people by my side. I said I’d be back soon, but who knows how many years might pass.”
“It’s okay. I’ll be fine now.”
“Are you sleeping?”
If it were the previous Assis, I wouldn’t have cared about being bored or lonely. I thought I could be fine on my own even if Karami left.
But it was a big mistake.
Because from the moment he left, an inescapable loneliness had taken over Assis.
It was the first cold that Assis had felt. It was a loneliness that was different from the dragon’s curse.
Assis felt a little regret.
If I had known this would happen, I would have followed Karami.
I should have held Karami’s hand then.
It’s already too late.
Assis woke up and immediately lay down on the bed, covering himself with a blanket.
I finished all the work Karami gave me.
He filled the kingdom with people.
There is nothing more for Assis to do.
Just waiting for Karami to return.
Assis opened the page of the storybook, placed it on the table, folded his hands together, closed his eyes, and began to slightly freeze his body.
The cold heartbeat gradually slows down and eventually stops. The shallow breathing that had been continuing disappears, and all life activities cease.
Until the day the prince comes and kisses her, the princess who has been cursed by the witch will not wake up.
forever.
Arpia, who had been watching the entire process, burst into laughter without realizing it: “Heh heh heh heh.”
“Wow. This isn’t your average Torai, is it?”
I’m not in a position to say anything myself, but I never thought I’d choose to become a cryogenically frozen human because I didn’t want to wait.
It’s a groundbreaking method. If it were that, it would feel like falling asleep for a short time and then waking up, no matter how long it took.
Of course, if Karami doesn’t come, I will never wake up and will just die.
“I really hope you get the ending you want.”
I got up from my seat.
There was no more business for the Prussian kingdom.
Arphia, who received information that Karami had gone to the Holy Land, moved towards the next destination.
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