episode_0123

[Episode 123] – Mirror, mirror.

-…Oh, princess…

Ainsel looked at Titania, who had returned to the room with the support of the maids. She had fallen and broken both her knees, and her palms were chafed, so it looked like she was in pain just by looking at her.

The maids carefully treated Titania’s wounds and left the room. It was because of Titania’s order to stay out because she wanted to be alone.

Ainsel, who thought it was time to give Titania some time to think, left the main body and headed to the powder body. Currently, all mirrors in the castle are ‘powders’ that Ainsel can freely come and go around.

Unlike the old days, now you can go anywhere to the mirror inside the royal castle. The Ainsel that escaped from the main body began to roam around the castle in a powder form. The moment Ainsel entered a room-

“Ouch! Her Royal Highness’s face is in the mirror over there…!”

“…Are you very tired?”

“No! It’s real, sister?! I just saw Her Majesty’s face in that mirror…”

“Okay, okay, let’s go in and get some rest.”

I made eye contact with the maid who was cleaning.

Sometimes it gets noticed by really tired people or babies who can’t speak, but since everyone thinks they didn’t see it, rumors haven’t spread or anything like that yet.

It was merely a source of entertainment for maids and was listed as one of the top 10 ghost stories in royal palaces. It’s like a ghost story about how if you look in the mirror at dawn, you can see Her Majesty’s face.

Ainsel let out a small sigh and passed by the mirror to check the atmosphere of the palace.

The atmosphere in the royal castle was as noisy as Ainsel had expected. Everyone was whispering and talking about Titania’s actions a little while ago.

As he was walking around the hallway, Ainsel caught sight of a group of maids. Ainsel got as close to the group as possible and began to secretly listen to the maids’ story with his ears prickled.

A maid in the crowd asked, ‘Maybe the princess has gone crazy after all…? ‘There’s no way the former queen could be there… After all, you’re looking at nothing,’ he said, trailing off.

Rumors began to circulate among the maids that the princess could not bear her longing for Her Majesty the Queen and eventually went crazy. Ainsel, who saw the maids’ nonsense spreading in the royal castle, shook his head and headed to Vinchot’s office.

Inside the office, Vinchot was confirming with the guard captain that Vivian had indeed visited the royal castle. The security captain who permitted Vivian’s entry was explaining the situation at that time to Vinchot in detail.

“It’s true! Here is the invitation to the Queen Mother’s funeral that Vivian personally gave me! It says that Vivian Liliensol’s visit is permitted…! Moreover, I am not the only one who has confirmed it! There are also testimonies from other guards! ”

“Yes, Her Majesty the Queen’s handwriting is clear…”

Vinchot looked at the funeral invitation he received from the guard commander and let out a long sigh. It was clear that Vivian entered the royal castle, but the problem was that no one saw her leave. Bangchot sighed and began to think about what to do.

Then, the guard captain spoke in a voice that was almost like a shout.

“And there was also an artificial flower that looked like it had just been placed in front of Her Majesty the Queen’s tombstone! Clearly, Vivian-”

“Harmony?”

-Harmony…?

“Yes. I brought it because I thought it would be evidence, but…”

The guard captain took out a small box from his pocket and handed it to Bangchot. The artificial flowers presented at Her Majesty the Queen’s grave seemed to be handled with as much care as possible so as not to damage them. When Vinchot opened the box given to him by the guard captain, there was a small lily flower inside.

Bangchot looked down at the artificial flowers and sighed softly.

“What kind of evidence do you say this is? And you’re arbitrarily taking the flowers placed in front of the tombstone…! Quickly, put them back in front of Her Majesty’s Queen Mother’s tombstone!”

“Oh, I understand!”

The security captain, who had been handed the box with a shout from Bang Chau, began to run away. While Bangchot clicked his tongue briefly and sighed in frustration, Ainsel’s eyes widened after seeing the artificial flowers.

-That…

Ainsel left the office and headed to Veronica to tell her what he had found out. Saying that he had finally found Vivian’s residence, which he had not been able to find out for almost a year, Heinsel crossed over the barrier and ran to Veronica.

*

“…Katharina?”

-yes! Katarina! Katarina the ‘Hermit’, one of Kirven’s witches! Vivian is definitely by Katharina’s side!

“How did you know…?”

-I can feel the magic of ‘Katarina’ in the artificial flowers that Vivian left behind! I remember because we met once before at a rally!

Ainsel, who was catching his breath while running, became very excited and told Veronica what he had found out. Contrary to Ainsel’s expectations, who thought Veronica would be surprised, Veronica only let out a small ‘hmm’ sound.

-…? You’re not really surprised, are you? They say Vivian belongs to another witch…

“Ah… I was surprised. I didn’t know that she would be with that ‘Katarina’. It’s just… I understand that we haven’t been able to find Vivian until now. She was with that ‘Katarina’ so we couldn’t do it.” It’s worth finding, right?”

Ainsel nodded slightly.

Katarina is not called a ‘recluse’ in Kirven for nothing. Katharina was called a hermit because she hid her whereabouts even with magic.

Einsel sighed, saying that the reason he couldn’t find Vivian was because of Katarina’s magic.

There were only two ways to find out where Katarina lived. The first thing I had to do was ask the Archwitch, and the second thing was to ask the Kirven witch who was close to Katarina.

Of course, Ainsel doesn’t know who the witch Katharina is acquainted with is. Moreover, even if he knew, there was no way to contact that witch.

-Ha… I knew he was with someone, but there’s no way to find him…

Ainsel sighed in frustration, but Veronica was a little different. Veronica sat on a chair, crossed her legs, rested her chin, and thought for a moment.

For Veronica, the current problem was that although it was good to find Vivian, the biggest problem was that she was with the witch of Kirven.

Because I can’t get involved with Kirven’s witch.

‘If I go close to Kirven’s witch myself, I might be caught by the archwitch… I can’t help it, but I’ll have to secretly send one of the dwarves to bring Ainsel’s powder.’

After thinking quickly, Veronica stood up and asked Ainsel.

“Did you make the powder last time to put where Vivian is? Where is it?”

-yes? Ah… it’s in the drawer over there. But why? You know who Vivian is with, but you don’t know where she is, right?

“I know where I am.”

-yes?! how?!

Veronica took out a small mirror from a drawer and smiled. After thinking about it for a while, he laughed and said that he couldn’t remember how many times it was now.

“How many times was it? Katarina saved me from almost being killed by a hunter during my last return. I lived with Katarina for a few months back then, so I know where she is. Probably by now, as per her wish, I opened a small ‘bakery in the countryside. ‘He must have opened it? Vivian must be helping him with that.”

-ah…

Seeing Ainsel’s pitiful expression, Veronica let out a short sigh and opened the door to the cabin. The moment she was about to return to the cabin, Veronica lowered her head, looked at Ainsel, and said.

“Ainsel, I told you that even if you remembered my ‘return’ in full, it wasn’t something you should feel guilty about. I’ve said it over and over again, there was nothing you could have done at that time.”

Veronica remembered talking to Ainsel at the Academy. Veronica was so angry at Ainsel’s passive attitude of continuously avoiding her that she became angry and criticized Ainsel.

Why on earth are you avoiding yourself? Didn’t you apologize? Didn’t you say you were reflecting? I know this is a hostile situation, but since we’ll be seeing each other for a long time, I wonder if this kind of atmosphere will be difficult for Titania.

At that time, Heinsel eventually burst into tears and cried out to Veronica. He remembers all of Veronica’s ‘return’ and doesn’t know how to deal with it. I feel so guilty that I don’t know what to do.

This time, I promised myself that I would try my best to protect you, the princess, from getting hurt, but you turned up remembering the hurt from back then. So, so…

I don’t know what to do.

I confessed this to Veronica, shedding tears.

-but…

“Okay, go tell Titania this news. Soon you’ll be able to see your beloved mother.”

-……yes.

Aincel, who made a sound, ran straight to Titania. Veronica gently squeezed Ainsel’s powder and let out a small sigh.

I knew why Ainsel felt guilty. It was true that Ainsel did not provide any help to him in all the regressions.

I was definitely disgusted and angry at the time. I even hated Ainsel, who ignored my pleas for help. However, in all episodes, Ainsel was forced into a ‘contract’ with ‘Vivian’ due to threats.

Now that I know that, I had no intention of saying anything. The bad one is Vivian there, right? Besides, right now, I’m staying by Titania’s side to help ‘me’ here.

Because they always give for ‘me’ here.

That was enough.

I was happy to come here and learn about Ainsel’s sincerity. Veronica felt comforted just by knowing that Ainsel was there for Titania.

Veronica walked out one step and headed towards the cabin. To grant the wishes of ‘me’ here. To make my beloved sister feel better.

*

-princess! princess! Look at me! yes?!

Ainsel arrived at Titania’s room and tried to divert the attention of Titania, who was covered in a blanket. She was jumping around in place and waving her hands, but it was no use to Titania, who looked depressed.

-We found out where Vivian is! Veronica said she’ll be leaving my powder there soon… so I’ll be able to show you Vivian soon!

“Where is mom…?”

Titania poked her head out from the blanket and finally looked at Ainsel. Now, with just a signal from Veronica, it was possible to shine a light on Vivian through the powder. Ainsel eagerly swung his arms around to attract Titania’s attention.

-yes! It’s coming soon! If you wait just a moment…!

Knock knock.

At that moment, Ainsel felt a signal coming from his body.

Ainsel smiled brightly and looked at Titania with joy. I thought I would finally be able to see Titania’s smile. Since Vivian left, you haven’t smiled much. I thought Titania would perk up a little when she saw Vivian’s face.

-lol! There’s a signal! I’ll shine it on you now!

but.

Ainsel and Veronica didn’t know ‘yet’.

Even though Vivian was with Katarina, I didn’t expect them to live together. No, I hadn’t even thought about it. Moreover, the relationship between the two…

‘B-Vivian… are you okay…?’

‘…No, it’s not okay.’

‘Well, if I can comfort you, I will… How about a hug, Po, like last time…?’

‘…Thank you always, Katarina.’

It was something neither of them expected to be this close.

A large mirror hung on the wall reflected Katarina and Vivian. Vivian is sobbing and crying in the corner of a store, and Katarina is comforting her.

Titania just looked at that sight.

“under.”

In the end, I let out a bitter laugh.