episode_0072

[Episode 72] – Full Moon Ritual

When we arrived at the castle after successfully completing the hunting competition, it was late at night, just before midnight. I arrived at the bedroom, hugging Titania, who was exhausted from her first trip and had fallen asleep, changed into my pajamas, and sat down with my back on the bed next to Titania.

Did they say that the most beautiful thing in the world is a sleeping child? The sight of Titania sleeping beautifully made me smile. Sadly, when puberty comes in such a cute childhood…

Considering that she threw herself at Snow White to protect me, it didn’t seem like she hated me that much. I guess I did something wrong to Titania and she is avoiding me. Otherwise, there was no way the child would hate me.

It must be my fault.

I stroked Titania’s sleeping face and closed my eyes for a moment.

‘…First, I have to organize things.’

Was the reason why the events of the original works were distorted until now was the fault of another ‘Snow White’? I was lost in thought, recalling the ‘different things’ I had experienced so far from the original.

‘First of all, the incident where the first queen Aurora became ‘Lyanansi’.’

An incident where a certain ‘witch’ took advantage of the first queen Aurora’s obsession and turned her into ‘Lyanansi’.

It was definitely the biggest incident in which the original work itself was greatly distorted. Because of this incident, the king, who was originally the ‘player’, died, and I, the ‘stepmother’, took his place.

Obviously, according to Fran, the investigation of this case was decided to be carried out by the witches’ coven, ‘Kirven’. It is said that the witches began an investigation because the victims were not only Aurora but also the ‘Little Mermaid’…

Since then I have heard nothing of the progress of the case.

I had no way of knowing whether the witch had been caught or if she was still turning humans into fairies. I thought it would be okay as long as it didn’t cause any more harm to me, so I didn’t pay much attention, but…

‘The second was not the prince’s visit, but the visit of Princess Fiona and her delegation.’

It was also the second event where I felt that the original work had been ruined.

An incident where the prince who was originally supposed to come did not come, but Princess Fiona suddenly came. Of course, the visiting Princess Fiona was ‘Snow White’ in disguise.

It seemed like he had probably come to talk to Titania. There was an incident where the two had a conversation and Titania went into hiding. And he even said strange things to me.

‘And… the third thing happened at this hunting competition.’

I realized that after what happened at this hunting competition, everything I had planned collapsed like a sand castle. Everything from trying to introduce Titania to the dwarves and what Titania would do at the academy all fell apart.

From the beginning, I had no expectation that everything I had planned would fall into place as if the gears were turning, but in my mind, my plan was like a sand castle that I worked hard to build. However, it was not without shock that the plan completely collapsed as if it had been kicked.

And the person who kicked the sand castle…

“Another… princess…”

I let out a deep sigh, removed the earrings from my ears, and tapped them. Then, the surface of the mirror shuddered, and an angel with a face identical to mine appeared, poking his head out from the end of the mirror.

“Ainsel, what do you think? After all, don’t you know?”

-I don’t know… I can’t even believe that something like this happened. But… if it’s a hypothesis, there are a few things that come to mind. It’s really just a hypothesis, though.

Heinsel, who was wearing glasses that I don’t know where he got them from, touched his chin and started talking about his ‘hypothesis’ about how Snow White appeared.

-First of all, do you remember? This is the ‘ritual’ that Vivian did.

As for Vivian’s ritual…

Was it a ritual to steal Aurora’s body? Clearly, the method of execution was so bizarre that I still remembered it. It was clearly a suicide ritual by tying one’s body to a lake illuminated by the full moon and going there.

“Yes, I remember.”

-That consciousness is not originally a consciousness used to enter another person’s body. You can enter another person’s body through that ritual, but that’s only a side effect.

“…? “Then, for what purpose is the ritual originally used?”

-Before I tell you that story, first of all… do you know this story?

The Ainsel reflected in the earrings turned to the ‘body’ hanging on the wall next to the bed. It seemed like it had been quite a while since I had seen Ainsel’s size expanded after entering the main body. As I was staring intently, Ainsel cleared his throat and continued talking.

-The story is that there is another world in the mirror.

“…?”

It was a story I vaguely knew.

It was a setting that often appeared in fairy tales and novels. The self reflected in the mirror is the self from another world, or there is a world in the mirror that is completely opposite to reality. It was a story that appeared in a famous fairy tale. Something like Alice in Wonderland.

-That’s true. A mirror is also a door that connects to another world. And within the mirror of that mirror, another world exists within the mirror of that mirror. There are more worlds in the mirror than you can count.

As I looked at Ainsel in disbelief, Ainsel puffed out his cheeks and snorted happily, saying it was real. ‘Am I a mirror fairy for no reason?!’ He shouted, and continued talking about ‘consciousness’ again.

-The ‘ritual’ is a ritual that uses the moon reflected in the lake as a ‘mirror’ to change the world you live in into the world you want. In fact, the world in the mirror overlaps with the world she lives in… Anyway, the ‘world’ that Vivian entered into Aurora’s body also exists in the mirror.

“If such a world exists, why did Vivian fail?”

-I said it a long time ago, but the premise was different. Vivian hoped to enter ‘Aurora’s empty body without a soul’ through the ritual, but the king was in Aurora’s body at that time.

“…That’s right, it was like that.”

-The consciousness was supposed to enter Aurora’s empty body as Vivian had hoped, but there was no room for Vivian because the king’s soul was already in Aurora’s body. Because of the wrong premise, the world did not change, and Vivian’s soul had no place to go, so it died.

Even thinking about it now gives me goosebumps. The image of the king, his rotting body screaming and desperately searching for Aurora, still seemed to linger before my eyes. I frowned unconsciously at the scene that still appears in my dreams sometimes.

-Of course, Sylphy and I knew that, so we stopped Vivian. Until then, I had not been forced to sign a contract with Aurora. However, Vivian did not believe us and carried out the ritual. And, for some reason, you came into Vivian’s empty body.

“……I see. “That’s how it happened.”

I wasn’t particularly interested in my coming into Vivian’s body. Because it had already happened and I couldn’t go back anyway. It seemed appropriate to say that I just gave up out of desperation. So I didn’t really want to know why I came into Vivian’s body.

And one of the reasons I didn’t want to hear this story was, wouldn’t I be able to return to my original body if I used that ritual? It was because I thought about it.

I didn’t really have any attachment to my original body. My beloved family was no longer there. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want to meet my close friends…

I turned my head and looked down at Titania, who was fast asleep next to me. Titania is asleep, clasping my fingers in her sleep. The sight made me smile.

After all, Titania is more important now than my old life.

-Anyway… What I want to say is, didn’t that princess… come here through a ritual? I think so. I don’t know why I came over as the ‘original body’ rather than as a soul… I don’t even know if it’s possible to go over the world through a mirror with a body in the first place.

“So… that’s why you said it was a hypothesis?”

-yes that’s right. It’s just a hypothesis. Perhaps the only person who knows better is Kirven’s ‘Great Witch’. The old woman, or rather the witch, has lived a long time, so she must know.

Now that I think about it, whenever Ainsel talks about Kirven, one of the names that always comes up is ‘Great Witch’. I tilted my head and asked Ainsel, wondering who the ‘Great Witch’ was and why she kept getting mentioned.

“Who on earth is that great witch you always talk about? “Can’t we meet once?”

-If you want, we can meet right away. But, uhm… I mean… what kind of person is the Great Witch… a wild old woman? Worse than the Queen Mother?

“Do you think he’s a bad person?”

-Umm… I don’t know? Among witches, there are some who are reluctant to become archwitches. Once you get involved, there is too much interference. Imagine that the Queen Mother always comes to nag you. And there is no malice in that nagging.

“…I might dislike it a little.”

To be honest, it wasn’t a good feeling to think that the Queen Mother was chasing me and nagging me every day. In addition, if it was a nagging comment that I didn’t have any ill feelings towards, I remember hearing it in a past company at a company that made my ears tingle. So, in other words, the Great Witch…

“Are you saying I’m an old guy?”

-Uhm… Anyway, the Great Witch lives in Fairy Village. If I open the fairy road, we can meet right away… but don’t get involved unless it’s really important. That human’s concept of time is like that of a fairy, and he will nag you until you die.

I promised myself that I should not get involved as much as possible, recalling the nagging of my old boss in the past. I wanted to see how the story about Snow White would come to an end, but-

-And… this is also my hypothesis…

Ainsel, who was fretting as if he was wondering whether he should say this or not, finally sighed and continued.

-Perhaps… I think the ‘witch’ who turned Aurora into a fairy is also that princess… I was so distracted at the time that I didn’t realize it, but… I told you that my body was kidnapped by ‘someone’, right? The person who kidnapped me back then…

“…is that the princess?”

-Well, it’s just a hypothesis! Maybe it’s just my imagination! Ha, but… maybe…

Ainsel hesitated and could not continue speaking. I’m sure, but it’s like I don’t want to believe it. He shook his head and seemed to be trying hard to deny it.

I also suspected that Snow White might be the ‘witch’. I can understand if the reason witches can’t catch criminals is because they live in hiding in huts.

but…

‘Even if Snow White came from another world as hypothesized, Aurora is her real mother. If she is really the culprit, then why is she doing this? ‘What are you thinking, turning people into fairies?’

This was a story that could not be known unless one heard it directly from Snow White.

What is she thinking when she acts like that, and what reason is she making such a mistake? If I thought any more about it, it was just my delusion.

I sighed in frustration for some reason and closed my eyes, holding the sleeping Titania in my arms. As if he had already entered Titania’s necklace, Ainsel also took a seat on the necklace and sighed just like me.

I smiled and stroked Titania’s head while she was sleeping, as if the three of us were lying in bed together. Titania frowned in her sleep, perhaps because it tickled her to be patted on the head.

That sight was also lovely, so I placed a small kiss on Titania’s wrinkled forehead. Then she hugged me even more tightly and felt Titania’s warmth.

As I was doing this, I felt the tightness in my chest subside a little, just a little. Contrary to me, Titania tried to turn over in frustration, but…

I hugged Titania even tighter and didn’t let her go from my arms.

‘For now… let’s just think about Titania. Just think about how this child will grow up in the future. Now… there are only five years left until Titania enters the Academy. When that time comes, I…’