episode_0071

[Episode 71] – Strange Message

Brownie’s cabin in the fog.

After returning to the cabin holding Brownie’s hand, I sat down in a chair and let out a deep sigh. I had no intention of showing an indecent behavior in front of that woman, but in the end, I became irritated with myself for not being able to control my emotions and even crying.

When I was in front of that woman, my emotions always took precedence over reason.

Although he knew in his head that that woman was different from the Vivian who raised him, he couldn’t think rationally just by looking at her face. Moreover, he even cried in front of that woman. I was so ashamed of that fact that I closed my eyes tightly.

Still, the good news is that we prevented the ‘princess’ from becoming a witch? Anyway, Brownie and the other dwarves made a contract with me first, so it’s impossible for the princess to become the same witch as me…

Still, I thought that since I said to the woman’s face, ‘Don’t even think about raising the princess to be a witch,’ I wouldn’t have to worry about the princess becoming a witch in the future.

‘Well, I don’t know if she will listen to me properly.’

As soon as this thought occurred to me, I became furious and said that I should have just strangled him right then. If I had just killed him then, I wouldn’t have had to worry about such trivial things.

‘As expected, I should have strangled him somehow…!’

As I was trembling in shame, I remembered the expression on Vivian’s face that had strangled me earlier. The look on her face as she stroked my cheek with understanding eyes, as if she sympathized with me, was so disgusting that I couldn’t bear it.

‘…’That woman’, who was already dead, never once gave me that look. Was she a woman who could make that kind of expression in the first place? It must be the same person…’

Really, I couldn’t understand it.

Why is this Vivian so different? Did you come to your senses while raising a princess? That crazy woman? What on earth prompted this? Is the reason she changed because I am a different ‘princess’? What on earth…

Even though I didn’t want to think about it anymore, my mind kept filling up with that woman.

That facial expression that has never been given to me before. An act of sacrificing oneself for the princess rather than for oneself. Every time I thought about all of that, I felt nauseous and queasy. I felt frustrated because I didn’t know what to call this disgusting feeling I was feeling right now.

“it’s annoying…”

-master…

As I sighed and muttered, Brownie looked at me from the side, her eyes sparkling as if she was worried. I made Brownie sit on my lap, and slowly stroked her head and told her not to worry. As I pet the brownie and find peace of mind –

“Oh right…”

-huh?

“I forgot I was Princess Fiona…”

I had forgotten that I attended the hunting competition as ‘Princess Fiona’. A princess who stays in seclusion for a while and rarely comes out. And, it is an identity that can be used because only a few people in the Silver Word Kingdom really know that fact.

The country paid money to maintain dignity every day, and Princess Fiona did not have the right to succeed to the throne, so she did not have to worry about political battles. Even when she travels to other countries, she feels like she is the king’s daughter, so there is no interference from the government. I didn’t want to lose this status because it was easy to do activities like this.

If I disappeared like this without returning to the location where the hunting competition was held, something serious would happen, so I had to go back quickly, but it was clear that if I went back now, I would run into that woman. It’s a bit awkward to meet again after breaking up like that…

Just as I was wondering what to do, the sight of another ‘dwarf’ sleeping loosely caught my eye. A ‘black cat’ sleeping on the bed with its belly exposed and its tongue sticking out. The cat fairy ‘Catsy’ was sleeping so quietly that even if someone snatched her, she wouldn’t even know.

“Katsey. “Stop sleeping and wake up.”

-……

“…brownie. “Could you please wake me up?”

Brownie nodded at my command and patted the cat’s belly as it lay face down on the bed. The cat, startled by the sudden pat, opened its eyes and flailed its hand to throw a cat punch, but the cat’s short-armed hand could not reach the brownie.

In the end, Katsy, who twisted her whole body to escape Brownie’s grasp, looked at her and gave a brief growl in warning. Whether Katsy said that or not, Brownie placed both hands on her hips and snorted happily.

-What are you doing! brownie!

-The owner is calling! Wake up quickly!

Katsy, who had just woken up, blinked and looked at me sitting on the chair and waving my hand. Cathy made eye contact with me and diligently washed the cat’s face, then jumped off the bed and sat on my lap. The loud sound was a bonus.

-Why are you waking me up when I’m sleeping?

“Um… I wanted to ask you a favor. “Is it okay?”

-ask? Does the owner ask me for a favor? Oh really-

When Katsy, who made a sullen expression as if she was annoyed by the request, tried to get off my lap, I quickly grabbed her stomach and made her sit back on my lap. The black cat, sighing for no reason, raised its head and glared at me.

-so…? What favor?

“It’s no big deal… Dress up as ‘Princess Fiona’ and go to the hunting competition instead of me. There’s someone I don’t want to meet when I go there. And… you know? My physical condition right now. “That’s because I don’t want to push myself any further today.”

-Someone the owner doesn’t want to meet? Oh, Baba Yaga? I don’t want to meet that witch either… There are a lot of bad rumors… I don’t want to get involved for no reason…

“…Can I ask you a favor?”

-…Knowing the owner’s physical condition and ignoring it is disqualifying as a ‘familiar’… Okay, I’ll listen.

After muttering for a moment, Katsy sighed as if there was nothing she could do, then got down to her knees and washed her face three times with her dainty hands. Then, Catsy instantly transformed into the appearance of ‘Princess Fiona’. Catsy, who had been muttering that the human figure was annoying, looked down at me with a frown.

– As you know, I am not good at changing into human form. Even if Baba Yaga catches me, I won’t know?

“It’s okay if you get caught. Even if she gets caught, I don’t think she will harm you. “You’ll quickly realize it’s not me in the first place.”

-Is that so? If I don’t have to hide anything, I’m comfortable and fine. So, all I have to do is finish the event well, right?

When I nodded, Catsy put both hands above her head and stretched. Then he muttered that it was annoying again and walked out of the cabin. The moment Catsy was about to go out, I called out to her and stopped her.

“Oh right. “Can you please tell her?”

-What are you saying?

“that….”

*

The moment I returned to the tent for the hunting competition-

I couldn’t help but widen my eyes in surprise when I saw the person in the tent.

“…Didn’t you go back?”

That’s right, because Snow White, who had entered the fog, arrived at the tent before us in the form of Princess Fiona. I was looking at him and wondering why he came back after breaking up like that earlier…

When Snow White made eye contact with me, her pupils were slit vertically. For a moment, the sharp, vertically slit pupil looked like a reptile, but upon closer inspection, it turned out to be a cat’s pupil.

-…I am not the ‘owner’.

Snow White, looking at me with vertically narrowed pupils, frowned, covering her mouth with a fan, and then opened her mouth. For some reason, I felt like I heard a crackling sound…

When the thought of something like a ‘cat’ came to mind, I felt like I knew who the Snow White in front of me was. Now that I think about it, before Snow White left, she called out the names of ‘Harbetlot’ and ‘Katsey’.

There was only one fairy in the game who had cat-like eyes and made a purring sound. Cat fairy ‘Catsie’ is the princess’s pet. It was clear that Katsy was imitating Princess Fiona.

-I am ‘Katsey’. At the owner’s request, I am imitating Princess Fiona.

“…Yes, that’s true as expected.”

When my prediction came true, I burst into laughter.

When I laughed, Catsy frowned and glared at me as if she was displeased. Sorry Catsy, but the cat eyes and purring sound weren’t the only reason I was convinced that the fairy disguised as Princess Fiona was Catsy.

“You hid your ears well, but you couldn’t hide your tail.”

-oh?!

This was because a long tail could be seen extending out of the skirt, with only the tip of the tail fluttering. As I looked at the tail fluttering under the chair, Katsy quickly patted my butt and confirmed that the tail was sticking out.

Cathy, who noticed that her tail was actually sticking out, blushed bright red and was busy hiding it under her skirt. Titania, who was in my arms, must have seen the tail fluttering, and her eyes sparkled as she looked at Katsy, imitating Princess Fiona.

As I giggled and took a seat next to Katsy, she cleared her throat and glared at me. I smiled shyly and asked Catsy as she looked me up and down as if she was evaluating me.

“what’s the matter? “Do you have something to say to me?”

-Yes, a message from the owner.

Message from the owner? When I heard that Snow White had sent me a message, I pricked up my ears and listened to Katsy’s voice. After a moment’s pause, Catsy, who covered her mouth with a fan, smiled and told me Snow White’s message.

-If you don’t keep what he said then, he will kill you.

“…is that the end?”

-Okay, this is the end.

…I frowned unconsciously at the extremely short message. What Snow White said back then was to not raise Titania as a witch. I wondered why he had sent such a message, but when I thought that it was because Vivian’s trust had hit rock bottom, all I could do was sigh again.

“…Then, I also have a message. “Tell your master.”

-…What?

…So, what should I say?

Titania, don’t worry? I will raise Titania well? No, it didn’t seem right to say such things to Snow White, who grew up being abused by Vivian.

What should I say…

I thought for a moment as I stroked Titania’s head in my arms. Because I regretted not being able to talk about it. I felt like I could resolve the misunderstanding with Snow White by just talking to her a little bit.

‘Well… I guess I can enter the castle as I please through the hut. Because the hut is no different from a fairy’s alley… Then the location of the royal castle is the problem…’

In the end, there was only one place in the royal city where I could meet that child. A space where it’s okay not to look at other people’s eyes, and where it’s just me and Titania.

I smiled and asked Katsy to deliver the message.

“…I can’t go see that child, so I can’t visit him…but if there’s anything you want to say to me, please tell me that you can come visit me at any time. He said he would wait in my bedroom. “You can come by any time, morning or night.”

*

-What?

“what? “Did you really say that?”

-huh.

After hearing Vivian’s message from Catsy, who returned to the cabin after the hunting competition, Snow White could not help but frown at the absurd message.

I didn’t mind ignoring the woman’s words to come visit me at any time, but I was suspicious that what she said afterwards could have been said by a ‘female noblewoman’. No, isn’t it?

No matter how much Vivian’s personality changed, her fundamentals were that she was a female noblewoman and queen of a country who had high self-esteem and had to value her own honor.

What kind of woman is at that height? You want to wait in the bedroom? The moment it was discovered that she had told this story to others, it was a remark that would not only destroy her honor as a queen but also her dignity as a female noblewoman. Even if they were of the same sex, it was something that should not have been said.

“what? You want to wait in the bedroom? Why can’t you say something like that…? “Aren’t you crazy?”

For a moment, Snow White became very worried about Vivian.

I wonder if that woman’s personality hasn’t changed, but she’s just become stupid…