episode_0157

[153rd Episode] – A Brief Farewell (1)

“…Vivian, how do you think you would feel if I were to leave your side?”

“…What?”

Leave?

I widened my eyes and looked at Veronica. I knew this journey held some significance, but I never imagined it was a trip to prepare for ‘farewell.’

Veronica is leaving.

I mulled over it in my mind several times, but it still didn’t feel real. Perhaps because she was still smiling in front of me. I didn’t know what to say, so I bit my lip and quietly lowered my head.

Tap, tap.

Silence fell between Veronica and me.

Only the sound of distant waves and the crackling of the campfire continued to fill the air. I couldn’t overcome the silence, so I hugged both of my knees and glanced at Veronica with a fleeting gaze.

Though I never expressed it to Veronica, I thought of her as a ‘daughter’ born in my heart, just like Titania. After numerous regressions, I finally came here so that the child could smile by my side.

The fact that such a child could smile beside me brought me immense joy and happiness. Veronica’s smile was evidence that I was able to help this child.

She considered me a true mother and helped me even in difficult times. She was Titania’s sister, Eincel’s princess, and my daughter. Veronica was no longer just someone else; she was our family.

And now, Veronica is leaving my side.

I wished she wouldn’t, but I felt as if I had become a barrier.

Well, I had already left these children once.

Now, I felt like I might understand a little bit about how Titania and Veronica felt when I left. Until now, I thought I understood it intellectually, but I didn’t understand it at all.

The emotions of a family member leaving one’s side are not something that can be understood intellectually. I wanted to hold on right away, express my anger, ask why. I wanted to shout for a proper explanation.

But I couldn’t do that.

I held back my choking throat and forced a smile as I asked Veronica, “Can I hear the reason?”

At my forced cheerful question, Veronica awkwardly smiled.

“Actually, I wanted to stay by your side until your curse was lifted. But… it seems my body can’t hold on any longer. It feels like I’ll disappear soon.”

With a wry smile, Veronica showed me her fingertips. Like a ghost, they blurred and then returned to normal, like a match about to go out.

“…There’s no time. Can you endure for a year?”

Veronica said, touching my hand. There was no more time left. If she said that, I couldn’t hold on or plead. But there’s the “Fairy’s Egg,” right? If I use that, somehow…

“…The Fairy’s Egg? It’s the egg to heal your body, isn’t it? Why wouldn’t that work?”

“You can use the Fairy’s Egg right away. But…”

The reasons for not being able to hold on kept increasing.

“Even if you use it, it will take decades to heal your body…”

“Decades…”

The reasons for having to let you go kept increasing.

“If it takes that long, we won’t be able to stay by your side… Surely, if you leave, Titania and Ainsel will be sad. And I-”

“Forget already, I’m a fugitive. I killed Aurora, I killed the mermaids, I’m being chased by the witches. What if the Grand Witch comes while I’m healing?”

That reason prevented even pleading.

My heart crumbled, and I felt like my feet were shattering into pieces.

Once again, unable to speak, I could only hang my head. Was this how Veronica felt? Unable to hold on when I said I was leaving. Even her powerless self became hateful.

“Is there nothing I can do for you?”

At my worried voice, Veronica’s eyes widened, then she hesitated. After swallowing dry saliva, she finally spoke with a bitter smile.

“There’s just one thing. Only you can do it for me.”

“Well, what is it? If it’s something I can do, I’ll do it!”

At the mention of what I could do, I crawled on all fours across the sandy beach and approached Veronica. She covered her mouth and chuckled at the sight.

“So you’re saying you’ll do anything because you can do it for me?”

I sat close to Veronica, lifted my head, and looked at her. Then, with a gentle smile, I patted Veronica’s back.

“You’ve never really asked me for anything. So it must be something you’ve thought about hundreds of times, hesitated over, and finally decided to ask me now, at the last moment. You don’t want to bother me, so you must have struggled to find the right words. Do I know you?”

Veronica blushed as if she had been caught revealing her inner thoughts and avoided my gaze. Seeing her embarrassed expression, I chuckled and took her hand like I hadn’t seen her in a long time.

“That’s why I’ll definitely help you, because it’s not just someone’s request but your own struggle.”

“Why are you going to such lengths?”

“Because, well-”

It was a story I had wanted to tell Veronica for a long time.

The child who had cried and vented his anger to me at the hunting competition. The child who seemed impossible to get close to at that time had become part of my family. Surely, at that time, Veronica had said this to me.

“Do you remember when you first revealed your true identity? It was at the hunting competition when we went with Titania.”

“Oh… back then…”

“At that time, you told me this, didn’t you? That you were the daughter I raised.”

Perhaps Veronica also recalled that memory, as she blushed and avoided my gaze. It was as if she didn’t want to say more out of embarrassment. I chuckled and held Veronica’s hand, continuing to speak.

“That’s right, you’re the daughter I raised. Even though the time we spent together was short, you are now my daughter. You are Titania’s sister and my princess, Einzel’s lady.”

This was an unchanging truth, even if Veronica were to leave. She and I are “mother and daughter.” I am this child’s mother. So, I…

“As your mother, I have to grant your wishes no matter what. You are my daughter.”

“…”

Veronica squeezed my hand that I held. I, too, held onto Veronica’s hand tightly. As we held hands, I felt a slight tremble, and soon Veronica asked me in a hoarse voice.

“It would be a bother to you.”

“But it’s okay.”

“It’s not a normal request.”

“I’ll listen and then decide.”

“It’s really an unreasonable request, isn’t it?”

“…I’ll grant anything except a love confession.”

“Haha, oh dear!”

Upon hearing that, Veronica burst into laughter. A love confession, she said, still overly self-conscious, she began to laugh while holding her stomach. Seeing tears welling up in her eyes, I felt my face flush.

Is this something to laugh about? How much trouble did Titania cause with her confession! When I pinched Veronica’s back of the hand, telling her to stop laughing, Veronica finally stopped laughing and said with a grin.

“…Something more than a love confession?”

“Why do you keep teasing?”

“Really, it’s so unreasonable, and it’s a request that shouldn’t be made to you. If you grant my request, I can truly stay by your side. But then you might be in pain, suffering. Yet you…”

Smiling bitterly, Veronica caressed my cheek. Looking at my face calmly, she slowly lowered the hand that was caressing my cheek and gently rounded my belly.

“Will you really grant my request?”

“…”

I grabbed Veronica’s hand that was gently caressing my belly and shook my pinky finger up and down. I forcibly spread her thumb and marked it with ink.

Veronica seemed puzzled by this action, as if she didn’t understand its meaning, but then she smiled knowingly and began to entwine my pinky finger even more.

I looked up at Veronica with a look that said, “Is this enough now?”

“Okay, I’ll listen. Anything.”

“…Sure. Thank you. Mother.”

It had been a long time since Veronica had been called “mother.” As I smiled contentedly, Veronica, who had slipped her hand into my arm, lifted me up and sat me between her legs.

“So, what’s the favor-”

“It’s hard to talk about it now. I really don’t have much time left.”

“Huh?”

“I’ve made up my mind. I want to do it before I change my mind.”

“So what-”

Veronica, who had seated me between her legs, raised her hand high into the sky and cast ‘magic.’ Flames shot up from Veronica’s fingertips into the sky.

Bang! Whoosh!

Then, after the sound of the flames bursting, colorful fireworks exploded in the dark night sky. As I gazed at the flower-like fireworks in the night sky, my mouth opened slightly in awe.

So magic can also be used for fireworks. As I absentmindedly watched Veronica shooting fireworks into the night sky, I suddenly remembered the thought I had before going into the sea.

Veronica, using magic so casually.

It made sense that she could use magic without being a fairy, given that she was starting to transform into one. However, Veronica usually refrained from using magic outside the cabin.

If Veronica were to use significant magic, the witch would come straight for her. So, outside, Veronica only used small-scale magic from the cabin.

So-

“Veronica… Is it okay for you to use magic like this? If you use magic like this-”

“It’s okay. Rather-”

Just as Veronica continued speaking.

Crack-

A strange sound, like thin ice breaking, came from above our heads. In this incongruous situation, both Veronica and I naturally looked up at the night sky.

“…Huh?”

The fireworks disappeared, and the night sky turned dark again.

As we looked at the hazy smoke remaining in the night sky, I couldn’t help but let out an astonished sound. Well, it didn’t feel real.

Crack- Thud-

-The night sky is shattering.

As cracks began to form in the night sky, a faint green light seeped through the fissures.

The light resembled the color of a forest bathed in morning sunlight and the green aurora spread across the night sky. Initially, what seemed like a crack gradually widened, and the light began to burst out.

Crack!

As the light burst out, the glass window of the night sky shattered into pieces, pouring down onto the sandy beach. The green light grew brighter and soon turned into a pure white light.

Within the white pupil formed in the night sky, someone began to walk out. With each step she took, a thud, thud sound echoed as her bare feet stuck to the ground and then lifted off.

The woman who descended from the white pupil had snow-white hair and eyelashes. Beneath those white lashes, her ice-blue irises emitted a cold light, like icy river water.

“…I really can’t understand.”

The woman who descended from the white space to the sandy beach covered her mouth with a fan and furrowed her brow irritably. She exuded a completely different atmosphere from when I last saw her.

“Morgan…”

Unintentionally murmuring her name, Morgan, upon meeting my eyes, looked down at me with a wry smile. Somehow, her smile seemed to be telling me not to blame myself.

“Dear, don’t call her that with those eyes. Didn’t she clearly tell you back then?”

Morgan folded the fan with a snap, glanced irritably at Veronica, and then grimaced as if she couldn’t understand it at all.

“…There won’t be a next time.”