episode_0143

[Episode 139] – Fairy’s Egg

“The ‘Fairy’s Egg’ that Pr, Prhup, Katarina, and Einsel decoded together.

It’s a prison to suppress the ‘fairy’ who committed a sin in the fairy realm. Normally, there are no fairies who rebel against Morgana, the grand witch who made the laws of the fairy realm, but if there were, they would probably be made like this.

Morgana locks the guilty fairy in this small ‘egg’ to make them receive punishment. It’s speculated that the fairy trapped in this ‘Fairy’s Egg’ was imprisoned by Morgana at least several hundred years ago.

Based on Einsel and Katarina’s investigation, the last Fairy’s Egg was created 600 years ago. Even assuming it was that fairy, it’s been 600 years. If we talk about fairies before that, it’s hard to estimate when they were made.

Anyway, once trapped in this egg, the fairy’s essence slowly dissolves over time. Since these fairies usually live as immortal beings unless someone kills them, we can still consider the fairy inside to be ‘alive.’

As the essence dissolves, only the fairy’s magic continues to accumulate within this ‘egg.’ Over time, it becomes denser and more potent until it becomes a ‘magic’ that can grant any wish for the user.

Do you have any questions about the explanation I’ve given so far? Little child?”

With Veronica’s teasing tone, I trembled and clenched my fist. I wanted to reach out and give that annoying Veronica a good slap on her backside, but my hand couldn’t reach her.

If I hadn’t shrunk, just bending over would have reached her, but in my current state, my hand fell short. As I floundered in the air, Veronica raised the corners of her mouth even more and chuckled.

“Come here!”

Unable to contain my anger, I burst out with a childish voice, a short sound. It sounded cute, almost like Titania’s voice from childhood.

As my body leaned forward, Titania, who had been sitting me on her knees, pulled my waist to prevent me from falling. In an instant, as I was pulled into Titania’s arms, my legs dangled in the air.

“Mother, it’s dangerous to bounce on your knees.”

“No, but…!”

I felt like crying. I had moved as usual, but to Titania, it seemed like a perilous act. Too bewildered to speak, Titania gently stroked my head as if to calm me down.

Somehow, I wanted to cry right then and there. Veronica, who had been watching me being comforted on Titania’s lap, giggled and asked me.

“It seems like you have no questions, so I’ll continue.”

As I nodded, Veronica began explaining about the fairy egg again. Why I had changed like this, why I had changed without even making a wish. She continued to explain patiently.

“They say it’s magic that can grant anything, but if that magic isn’t purified, it’s hard to use properly. Magic is a power that blends well with ’emotions.’

Think about it, what kind of emotions do you think are trapped inside these fairies? It may vary for each fairy, but they’re usually filled with negative emotions. Since fairies love freedom, they hate being confined.

Especially, since they are guilty fairies, they won’t harbor good emotions while being trapped.

Magic made from negative emotions becomes a ‘curse.’ Wishing with cursed magic won’t come true properly. The wish will likely have some ‘flaw.’

So, Katarina, Ainsel, and I were researching how to ‘purify’ the magic contained in the fairy eggs. Researching how to turn cursed magic back into pure magic.

With the purified magic, we were planning to heal my body.”

Veronica continued her explanation, then placed her palm on my chest and smiled brightly. There was only one reason why Veronica was meddling with the fairy egg. It was to gradually turn the body that was becoming more and more like a ‘fairy’ back into a ‘human.’

“If we go back to the story, the purification of magic is not yet complete. Although we’ve reached the final stages, we haven’t purified all the ‘curses’ that remain in the egg. So, there were still ‘curses’ lingering in the magic contained in the egg.

It’s not certain yet…

The deterioration of your body is likely due to the problem of the remaining ‘curse’ in the egg. It probably intended to parasitize your body by taking the joke-like words ‘I want to deteriorate’ as a ‘wish,’ unwilling to be completely purified.”

“So… what will happen? Will I stay like this for the rest of my life?”

As I patted her cheek with both hands, Veronica chuckled softly. While the person being hit felt like the world was crumbling, Veronica found my appearance cute and burst into laughter.

“Don’t worry. I told you, it’s not a wish but a curse. It might take some time, but I can undo the curse. And there is a way to do it. For example-”

Gulping, focusing on Veronica’s tense words, I wrapped my cheek with one hand and smirked at Veronica, who laughed wickedly as she continued speaking.

“In fairy tales, there’s often a ‘kiss’ from the destined partner that breaks the curse.”

“What?!”

“That’s how curses are originally. A deep kiss from the destined partner is one of the many ways to break a curse. It’s already famous among witches, isn’t it? There are precedents for it.”

“Precedents…?”

“There was a fairy tale-like incident in the past, right? The witch who had turned into a frog was released from the curse by a deep kiss from her destined partner.”

As I stood dumbfounded, only managing to move my lips like a goldfish, a heated gaze settled on my forehead. Raising my head to meet Titania’s unsettling gaze, I couldn’t help but swallow dry saliva.

It was clear what Titania was thinking. If the curse were to be broken by Titania’s lips, there would be nothing more serious than that. I jumped off Titania’s lap and grabbed Veronica’s hem as if pleading.

“V-V-Veronica! So, there must be another way to break the curse besides a kiss, right? Right? Isn’t that so?!”

“Of course. However, extracting the curse from a person’s body is a difficult task and may take some time. It could take at least a year, even if it’s a short time, I suppose?”

“It doesn’t matter! It doesn’t matter! I’ll wait for it! Huh?!”

“…Alright. Since that’s what you intended anyway.”

Veronica glanced at Titania and nodded slightly, exhaling softly as if to say she understood. Unconsciously, a sigh of relief escaped me at her response.

“Anyway… come to the cabin once a week from now on for an examination. We still don’t know how the curse might affect your body. You need to be careful for the time being.”

“Got it… So, can’t I just live here until the curse is lifted…? The cabin is quite spacious anyway…”

“Sometimes I wonder, do you have a talent for digging my grave? Just kidding… No, forget it. What am I saying to someone so clueless.”

“What…? What did I do…?”

Veronica sighed as if bewildered, looking down at me. When I grabbed Veronica’s sleeve and shook it, she closed her eyes tightly for a moment before speaking.

“For now… let’s start with a simple examination today.”

“Oh, okay…”

“And as for where you will stay, it’s better to discuss that with Titania rather than me. Even if you’re feeling weak, the dwarves who dislike you won’t allow you to stay here.”

“Understood…”

As I dropped my head, Titania lifted me up again and hugged me. Using her arms as the chair and her chest as the backrest, I let out a deep sigh.

After the minor examination to remove the curse, I arrived in the room where I had spent my time in the Star Palace, still nestled in Titania’s embrace.

Only when I jumped up and down in the middle of the room after asking Titania to put me down did it finally sink in. The realization that I had shrunk to around seven or eight years old at thirty-three.

“I really have become small…”

All the furniture in the room was large, and the room felt too spacious. As I struggled onto the bed, it felt like the mattress had almost tripled in size.

It was a size that made me think I could even jump around. I put pressure on my knees and jumped on the mattress from where I stood. Indeed, I felt incredibly light.

Was it because I felt so light? Even when I jumped on the bed mattress, the bed didn’t shake much. Lying down on the bed, I felt like a dwarf entering a giant’s world.

As I lay on the bed, staring blankly at the ceiling, Titania came up onto my bed and looked down at me as if she had something to say.

“Why are you…?”

“Is it that you really hate kissing me?”

“Huh?”

Titania spoke with a slightly dissatisfied expression.

“What Veronica said about ‘kisses’ being a way to break the curse is not a lie, but it was partly to tease you. Finding one’s destined partner is not an easy thing.”

“I guess…?”

“At that time, you could have just laughed it off. But after looking into my eyes, you begged Veronica as if to escape from me. That… hurt me a little.”

Titania brushed my cheek and bit her lip as if pouting. But what if I were to kiss Titania and the curse were actually lifted? I was just scared of that.

“I’m sorry… I…”

“…I know. I know very well that the possibility of your curse being broken by my kiss is extremely slim. But still… can’t we at least try?”

“Huh…?”

Titania pressed her lips together with her thumb, wearing a bitter expression. It was as if she was seeking permission to make an attempt. But no matter what…

I smiled awkwardly, turned my body to the side, rolled away from Titania’s touch. I stood up straight, tidied my disheveled hair, and rejected Titania as gently as possible to avoid hurting her.

“Can’t we do it later…?”

In response to my suggestion to postpone, Titania smiled and replied with a curled lip.

“…Sure. Later.”