chapter_0628

628 – Play

628 – Play

“Pyonnonno.”

Gaeul practiced something with the Divine Beasts until the sun set.

She spun around in her seat, and pretended to play the piano with a serious expression.

What on earth was Gaeul preparing?

With Cinderella and acting involved, it seemed like she was preparing for a play.

As I pondered this without reaching a conclusion, Gaeul handed me a piece of paper.

“Ju-in, Ikgu.”

“This is…”

[Festival Invitation]

The handwriting was crooked, and the spelling was incorrect.

Still, I didn’t point it out.

I knew how hard Gaeul had worked on it.

‘She even drew stars and cats.’

Gaeul diligently distributed invitations not just to me but to other family members as well.

Each family received a different drawing, making it fun to look at.

On the back, the location and time were written, and seeing it written correctly, it seemed like Haneul had written it.

“Master, you have to come for the festival in two days…!”

“Okay. Got it.”

I had a feeling that Haneul and Gaeul were preparing something.

Were they preparing for the festival that would be held in two days?

Just hearing about it made me start to feel excited.

What if I couldn’t sleep at night because of the anticipation?

“Hey, Haneul, I’m looking forward to the festival. Gaeul too.”

“Yes…!”

“Cool!”

**

Perhaps because of the high expectations, the two days passed very slowly.

But eventually, time moved forward, and the long-awaited festival day arrived.

“Okay, kids, buckle your seatbelts.”

“Yes!”

We each got into our cars and headed to the festival grounds.

It seemed Gaeul had handed out quite a few invitations, as there were a lot of people at the festival.

Most of the guild family participated in the festival, and among them were guild members who weren’t family.

“Hey, you didn’t get an invitation from Gaeul.”

“I didn’t get one because I was in the Dungeon; I would have received one otherwise.”

“Are you sure?”

With so many guild members participating, it felt like a guild picnic.

Since many of our guild members were present, the attention of those around us was drawn to us.

“What? Looks like they came to watch the festival from Dawn.”

“Wow, there’s Kang Jinho.”

As expected of our Master.

No matter where he goes, people’s eyes are drawn to him.

It was a moment that made me feel a bit proud.

As Ensia looked around, she asked me with a slightly excited tone, caught up in the festival atmosphere.

“Winter, may I ask what festival it is today?”

“Yes. It’s the Fairy Tale Festival.”

“······!”

Ensia’s ears perked up.

Seeing her tail wagging, it seemed she liked the Fairy Tale Festival.

‘The atmosphere is nice.’

It wasn’t as grand as our park, but it was a reasonably large square.

Various fairy tale characters were showcasing themselves around the stone-paved square.

The Little Princess selling cotton candy.

The Frog Prince’s stone throwing game.

And…

“Wanga! Wanga!”

“Yes?”

“Can I try that, Levinas?!”

Levinas pointed to one end of the line.

It was a booth for Snow White’s face painting, and the line was quite long.

I figured we would have to wait about thirty minutes.

“Sure. Shall we wait and get face painting?”

“Yay!”

I stood in line for face painting with the kids.

Since several people were painting, the line moved faster than I expected.

“What kind of picture do you want, friend?”

“Um… I want a cat.”

“Levinas wants a lion!”

“A lion?”

Everyone, including me, family, and the painter, was puzzled by Levinas’s choice.

Everyone knew how much Levinas loved the Horned Rabbit.

“Levinas, it’s a lion, not a Horned Rabbit?”

“Yeah! Today I really want to feel very, very scary! But the Horned Rabbit is just cool, right?”

“Oh, that’s true.”

Sometimes you want to be a scary presence instead of a hero.

It seemed everyone accepted this, and no further questions were asked.

Thus, we took turns getting our faces painted.

Bomi chose a fish painting, and upon seeing it, Saebyeok licked her lips.

“That fish looks delicious.”

“…You can’t eat my face, can you?”

“I’ll try.”

“What?!”

In the playful banter, Levinas came back with a lion painting on his face.

“Roar.”

He cutely roared, borrowing the majesty of a lion, but unfortunately, the lion drawing wasn’t very scary.

It was a cute character lion.

“Wanga, what do you think? Is Levinas very scary?”

“Um…”

How should I answer this?

After some thought, I decided to give a vague response.

“Not as scary as a tiger?”

“Yeah! It’s not easy to be scarier than a tiger!”

“Right.”

If Haneul weren’t part of our family, she might have cried when she exuded her wildness.

It was embarrassing, but it couldn’t be helped.

Haneul’s wildness was powerful enough to paralyze monsters.

“Ugh.”

If I, as family, felt this way, how much more terrifying would it be for enemies?

I shivered at the thought of Haneul’s wildness and checked the time on my smartphone.

“Ah, it’s about time for us to move.”

“Is it already that time?”

“Yes. We need to go see what Haneul and Gaeul prepared.”

There were many sights and activities at the festival, but there was a priority.

I gathered the family members scattered around the festival grounds.

And I called all the guild members as well.

I wanted everyone to see what the two had worked so hard on.

**

At the festival, a fairy tale play was also being performed.

The play took place in a makeshift theater built in the square, and only then did I realize what Gaeul and Haneul had been practicing.

‘So it was a play after all?’

Gaeul and Haneul acting.

Just imagining it made my tail wag.

I waited for the play to start while eating snacks with the kids.

Clack-

As time passed, the lights in the makeshift theater went out.

The play that began in the dark theater was none other than Cinderella.

“Cinderella, hurry up with the laundry.”

“After finishing the laundry, clean your room.”

Although the kids were acting, the main audience was younger children than them.

Thanks to that, quite a few kids were immersed in the play.

“They’re bad sisters!”

“That’s right!”

The story of Cinderella unfolded just as I knew it.

The torment from the stepmother and sisters.

The misery of wanting to go to the ball but being unable to.

In such a heartbreaking scene, the magician appeared.

“Now that you’re dressed, you’ll need a carriage, right?”

Pyorong-

I couldn’t help but be surprised at the magician’s magic.

I realized that this was the scene Gaeul had practiced for two days.

As the mouse touched the sparkling magic, it suddenly transformed into a huge horse.

The mouse that was hit by the magic powder was none other than the Mouse Divine Beast Jjigji, and the horse was the Horse Divine Beast Hihihing.

“Wow! It’s a horse!”

“The mouse turned into a horse!”

“I didn’t expect much since it was a play by kids, but this is quite professional…?”

The scene using magic surprised not only the kids but also the adults.

I wondered what Gaeul was doing with Jjigji and Hihihing.

She was teaching them how to act.

‘That’s amazing.’

Even though she couldn’t play the role of the magician, it was still so cool that she had practiced acting with the Divine Beasts.

Thanks to that, I could immerse myself even more in the play.

The play continued, and the ball scene began.

In that scene, we could finally meet Gaeul.

Dun-ta-ta-

Gaeul played the piano beautifully and elegantly.

Becoming a sweet-sounding pianist, she moved her body gracefully.

‘Wow.’

In a corner of the stage far from the main character Cinderella.

In that spot, which might not catch people’s attention, Gaeul earnestly pretended to play the piano.

That was all there was to Gaeul’s appearance.

Even so, it was enough to excite me and my family.

“Wow! Gaeul the puppy is on stage!”

“Yes! She just played the piano!”

Even after the play ended, we talked about Gaeul rather than Cinderella.

The Master who came with us also had a quite satisfied expression.

“Did you record it?”

“Yes, I recorded it in high definition. I’ll send it to you later.”

“Okay.”

After the stage greetings ended, Gaeul and Haneul rushed over to us.

Seeing the happy expressions on both of their faces made me smile too.

“Master, how was the play…?!”

“It was fun, but why didn’t Haneul come out in the play?”

“I was in charge of special effects…! I handled all the magic and lighting…!”

“Wow, you did all that?”

“Yes…!”

Thinking that Haneul had done all the effects that amazed the audience made me feel so proud.

“Haneul is amazing. Like a professional.”

“Hehe…”

Haneul beamed a happy smile.

As Haneul received praise from the family, Gaeul rushed over.

“Chwiing, how was Gaeul?”

“Gaeul was…”

In a corner of the stage where people wouldn’t notice.

A short time that occupied only a tiny part of the play.

I knew how much Gaeul had practiced for this.

I felt so proud that my heart swelled.

“You were so amazing that Gaeul seemed like the real protagonist of the play!”

“Really?!”

“Yes!”

“······!”

Yay!

Gaeul, who smiled brightly, jumped up with joy.

Seeing her so happy, the kids also started jumping around.

We sent countless applause to Gaeul, who had shown a wonderful play.

A word from the author (Author’s note)

Thank you so much for reading today, PIA1747014585384!

Thank you for the comments and recommendations! They always give me strength!

Even though she was invisible, Haneul fulfilled her role…!

And Gaeul, who did her best for a fleeting moment…! Everyone is amazing…!

───

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