episode_0074

[Episode 74] – For Mom! (2)

When I woke up, I realized that Titania was not by my side.

When I asked the maids who had come into the room to wait on me where she had gone, they just looked at each other and smiled, vaguely explaining Titania’s whereabouts.

“I woke up and Titania wasn’t there… Do you know where she went?”

“The princess looked a little busy. He’ll probably be back soon. Hehehe.”

“that’s right. The princess will be back soon, so would you like to wash your face first? Or tea?”

“Let’s wash our face first.”

Seeing the maids smiling mischievously as they looked at me, I thought nothing bad would happen, so I washed my face with the lukewarm water the maids brought me and then helped me get dressed.

After washing my face and changing my clothes, I sipped the tea the maid gave me and spent the time until breakfast time. As I was drinking tea and thinking about what I had planned for today, I heard a knock on the door.

“Her Majesty the Queen. Can I come in? “I brought you breakfast.”

“Meals?”

A man’s voice I’ve never heard before. Usually, unless I said I would eat in my room, meals always took place in the dining room. But suddenly eating in your room?

“Okay, come in.”

Since it didn’t make much difference whether I was eating in a restaurant or in my room, I didn’t pay much attention and ordered the man to come in. When the door opened like that, I couldn’t help but widen my eyes.

Titania entered the room, groaning, holding a large tray containing a meal for two. My eyes widened in surprise at the unfamiliar scene, and I looked at the man dressed as a chef next to me, and saw that he was also holding another plate of different food in his hands.

Titania put the food down on the table in front of me. Looking at the food on the plate, I could vaguely see where Titania had been and what she had been doing so far. That’s right, the plate Titania brought was piled high with a mountain of sloppy mashed potatoes.

There was a bunch of mashed potatoes on the plate, taking up space for other food. The sloppy mashed potatoes between the mashed potatoes told me who made this dish.

I wondered what the man dressed as a chef was holding in his hand, and it turned out to be mashed potatoes. I looked around to see if there was any other food, but all the plates had were mashed potatoes.

The moment I checked all the plates on the table, the smile slowly started to disappear from my face. Perhaps because he saw my expression or not, the man dressed as a chef cleared his throat and continued his explanation.

“Hmm, Her Majesty the Queen. Today’s breakfast is mashed potatoes made ‘by hand’ by Princess Titania. “We did the boiling of the potatoes, but the princess did all the other processes, including mashing and seasoning the potatoes herself.”

“…I see. “Did Titania make all of this?”

Titania smiled and nodded.

I glanced down and looked back at the mountain of mashed potatoes on my plate. If all the plates were the same, I tried to send back only one plate, but unfortunately the mashed potatoes on all the plates were subtly different.

One plate had bacon mixed in, and another plate had cheese mixed in. Also, one plate had a slightly yellow color, possibly because it was mixed with sweet potatoes. Let’s just laugh out loud at the dizzying mesh potato festival…

“Well… I’ve been avoiding my mom lately… so I’m sorry…”

I felt my heart sink and cry when I saw Titania blushing as if she was embarrassed. I was a little worried that Titania had been avoiding me lately, but I was really glad to know that it wasn’t because she hated me.

Moreover, they even made this homemade food thinking of me…

“I heard that if you cook homemade food, your relationship will improve.”

After saying that, Titania tapped the angel hanging around her neck. Then, ahem! Ainsel makes a sound and makes a proud expression. Yes, it had nothing to do with the idea of making homemade food. But why on earth…

“Thank you so much… but why… is it only mashed potatoes…?”

“Let me explain that.”

The man dressed as a chef standing next to him bowed his head and continued his explanation. When I looked closely, I saw that this person was the royal ‘chef’ whom I had seen from afar before.

“The princess said that she would like to serve Her Majesty the queen with homemade food, so I thought about the menu for a while. Even so, the kitchen is still a very dangerous place for a young princess. “There are cutlery everywhere, and the fire in the kitchen never goes out.”

“Okay… so?”

“So, I came up with a menu that wouldn’t be dangerous for the princess to cook. “This was the only dish that was suitable for breakfast and safe for the princess.”

When it comes to cooking without using fire, isn’t there a sandwich…?

The words rose up in my throat, but I swallowed them with dry saliva and remained silent. Well, it could be that there are no ingredients due to kitchen circumstances, or that the preparation takes a long time. Even though it’s a royal kitchen, it could be…

“And… we really did our best. The princess did her best… and we… really did our best. Her Majesty the Queen. “I hope you know this…”

As the chef continued speaking as if making an excuse, I felt like I knew what this mashed potato tasted like. Seeing the chef say this, what on earth happened?

I smiled and looked down at the mountain of mashed potatoes in front of me. I wanted to eat all of the food that Titania had personally prepared, but realistically, it was simply impossible.

And to be honest, I didn’t really like mashed potatoes…

‘But first… I guess I should eat as much as I can…’

When I took a large spoonful of the mashed potatoes on the plate and put it in my mouth, the lumpy steamed potatoes that were not mashed rolled around in my mouth. Perhaps because there wasn’t enough salt mixed in, when the lumpy salt touched my tongue, I unconsciously looked for water.

One side was crazy salty, and the other side had absolutely no taste.

The sharp taste of salt that stung my tongue and the bland taste of potatoes that had no taste rushed through my mouth, but I tried to smile and look at Titania. When I smiled, Titania’s expression became brighter.

“Titania… doesn’t she eat?”

“This is all food I made for my mom…! And I was full after eating the food prepared by the chefs in the kitchen! Oh, and it was the chef’s idea to add bacon and cheese!”

“Yeah… I see…”

I felt like I knew something…

After Titania ate in the kitchen, she was so full that she did not season the food, and the chef and cooks next to her tried to fix the dish as best as they could, but it was clearly visible that they ended up failing.

The chef must have informed me properly, but since it was a homemade dish, he probably couldn’t interfere completely. Or when the chef tried to touch it, Titania said, ‘I’ll make it!’

When I glanced at the chef, he bowed his head with a solemn expression. It was as if he was saying with his expression, ‘I’m really sorry for not being able to stop the princess.’

Aren’t these various types of mashed potatoes the result of chefs and chefs’ efforts to somehow revive the dish? In the end, I just gulped down water because of the salty taste of the salt.

When I glanced up, Titania looked at me with sparkling eyes. I couldn’t say it wasn’t delicious, and I couldn’t stop eating it either, so I just smiled bitterly.

“Is it because you made it yourself? “Wow, it’s really delicious…”

“lol! “There is a lot, so please eat a lot!”

Really…what on earth happened in the kitchen…

*

I couldn’t eat it all, but I ended up eating a spoonful of all the mashed potatoes. The first mashed potatoes were serious, but was it due to the chef’s efforts? The others were just edible.

As I sat down after eating, Titania glanced at me. As I chuckled and tapped my knee, Titania recognized my signal and ran to my side.

Titania jumped up onto my lap and settled down. I wrapped my arms around Titania’s waist, leaned back in the chair, and sighed wearily, feeling full. I thought it was time to talk, so I poked Titania’s cheek and made her look at me.

“Why don’t you tell me soon?”

“W-what is it?”

“Why have you been avoiding me these past few days? Have I done anything wrong to you? “I don’t think that’s the case if you even cook like this…”

When asked why, Titania’s face got brighter and her shoulders were tense. I couldn’t figure out what kind of reaction this was, so I tilted my head, and Titania muttered in a voice that sounded like an ant crawling.

“…I…join…because…”

“what?”

“Uh, mom… she kissed me on the lips arbitrarily… it was written in the book that you shouldn’t do that kind of thing arbitrarily…”

“…what?”

Titania looked like she was going to cry at any moment, so I didn’t know what to do and was busy stroking her head. So, you hate it so much that I cried when I kissed you on the lips? What is this…

Come to think of it, it was from then on that Titania started avoiding me. From the day after I got drunk and kissed Titania on the lips. These days, I’ve been having a hard time thinking about Snow White, so I completely forgot about it…

“I’m sorry… I didn’t know you would hate it so much…”

When I apologized, Titania was so sad that she held back her tears and trembled. I tried my best to comfort Titania, half shocked and half worried, but her sorrow did not stop.

“Chae, the book said it was precious…! I said I wouldn’t give it to someone I didn’t love…! Uh, mom…!”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. I stole your precious first kiss. How on earth should I apologize… Why don’t you at least stop crying? huh?”

-What on earth are you two doing…?

I ignored Ainsel, who asked as if I really didn’t know, and hugged Titania and comforted her. As if the sadness that had once broken out did not stop, Titania sobbed and shed tears. When I heard that cry, I wanted to cry too.

“Uh, my mom took my virginity…Ugh…!”

“Oh, no, there is no such thing as chastity based on a first kiss… And how on earth do you even know the word chastity…”

A child’s growth is always a joy, but this growth was more embarrassing than joyful. Was it a mistake to postpone sex education? Titania, who had misconceptions about chastity, burst into tears in shock at having her virginity taken away from me. This innocent look was cute, but…

‘Maybe it would be good…’

Here, Titania needed to be instilled with proper sexual knowledge, but comforting her was the priority. And it was funny and cute to see a child crying while being taught chastity.

Later, when Titania grows up, I will tease her with this story. I have to tease her and ask her if she doesn’t remember how she cried in my arms when she was young, saying, ‘Mommy took my virginity.’

I giggled without knowing Titania was crying and continued to comfort her. I was proud of Titania, who had already grown so much, but also a little bitter. From now on, you won’t be hanging out with me as often.

…There are exactly 8 years left before I leave the castle, but I only have about 5 years to spend with Titania.

When Titania turns 15, she will move into the academy dormitory and live there. The plan was to use the three years without Titania to lay the foundation for living outside the castle.

I think it would be okay to live by borrowing money from other witches, and it would be okay to buy a building with the money I received from the castle and live the life of a building owner. Since I have Ainsel, I won’t be lonely.

Thinking about the future made me feel a little lonely. Then, for some reason, I became worried about what would happen to Snow White… and that child too. What would happen if I were caught by other witches…

I thought that Titania would have ended up like Snow White if she had grown up in misfortune, so even though I didn’t want to sympathize with her, I had no choice but to do so. It was an inevitable feeling of pity.

‘…5 years from now.’

I hugged Titania, who was crying in sorrow in my arms. If it’s long, it’s a long time, and if it’s short, it’s just a moment. In that long and short period of time, I couldn’t think of anything other than making Titania a little happier.

I tried to give the dwarfs a place so they wouldn’t be lonely without me… but Snow White took all the dwarfs, so unfortunately, as Snow White said, the dwarfs had to give up.

‘…Can Snow White, who is raised by her stepmother without meeting dwarfs, be called Snow White?’

A question suddenly came to my mind, so I lowered my head and looked at Titania. As Titania makes eye contact with me, she begins to cry even more sadly. I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of him crying bitterly after losing his first kiss to me.

‘What does it matter whether this child is Snow White or not?’

Even if she wasn’t Snow White, Titania was my daughter and my princess. The most precious princess in my life.

My own princess.

I patted the princess and engraved the happiness of this moment deep in my heart. Even if I end up alone someday, I hope that I can remember this memory and smile.

*

Seasons come again and again.

After the fall of 10 years old, winter came. Winter passes and spring comes. Spring passes and summer comes. Summer has passed and fall has come again.

By the time this was repeated about three times, Titania, which had grown to Vivian’s waist, grew taller and reached Vivian’s shoulder height.

Titania’s short limbs became longer, she grew up, and she finally became a ‘girl’. Titania has become such a girl that everyone can no longer treat her as a child.

Just like that, summer is a turbulent season when buds burst and flowers bloom, covering the whole world. It wasn’t just the season that brought turbulence.

One summer day that was hotter than usual.

13-year-old Titania learns about her first love.