[Episode 107] - A Time to Part (1)
Squeak-
“What? Why are you so late? Do you know what time it—”
When the terrace door opened, Veronica, who had been lying on the bed, raised her head with an annoyed expression. It was already late at night, and she had been about to scold them for taking so long, but seeing Vivian appear leaning on Titania’s shoulder, she was rendered speechless.
Vivian was completely disheveled, her face so flushed it looked more like a ripe apple than mere redness. At the sight of Vivian entering the room with staggering steps, clearly drunk, Veronica couldn't help but sigh. She hadn't thought they'd drink alcohol while taking Titania along, no matter how enjoyable the festival was.
“...Forget it. What could I say to a drunkard?”
“Ehehe...”
Titania looked at Veronica, who was sighing deeply, and gave an awkward smile. Unlike the frustrated Veronica, Titania twitched the corners of her mouth to hold back a smile. After all, she had achieved almost everything she had wanted on today's date.
Veronica placed the book she had been reading onto the bookshelf and asked Titania.
“...Well, you must have had fun. Did your wish come true?”
Titania grinned and nodded.
A date alone with her mother, holding hands with her mother, and even a kiss at the end. The kiss had been different from what she had imagined... but still, their lips had touched. If the act of touching lips together was a kiss, then that was a kiss too. Titania decided to think of it that way.
“I had something to tell Vivian for a moment... but in her current state, that’s impossible.”
“Mmm?”
“'Mmm?' What do you mean 'mmm?' Just sleep. It’s not urgent.”
Vivian, who had been looking at Veronica with bleary eyes, completely drunk, let out a slurred sound. Veronica sighed briefly, then looked at Ainsel’s mirror with sharp eyes. Still, nothing was reflected in the mirror.
Veronica could find Ainsel if she tried, since the fairy had left her post, but she didn't want to force a conversation. Ainsel was already avoiding her; if she dragged the fairy back to talk, their already strained relationship would only worsen.
Veronica tried to quickly return to her cabin, saying her work was done since both had returned, but as if remembering something, she turned her head and looked at Titania.
When she turned, she saw Vivian lying on the bed using Titania's lap as a pillow. At that drunkard-like appearance, Veronica felt a brief surge of emotion and irritation, but after sighing, she continued.
“Ah, right. I have business to attend to for a while, so I can't come here. I should be able to return before you enter the Academy.”
“What kind of business?”
“It’s not that big a deal... I got a message from somewhere I know and have to go. Tell Vivian on my behalf. Even if I told her now, she'd forget by tomorrow anyway.”
“...It’s nothing bad, right?”
Titania looked up at Veronica with worried eyes. Since Titania had heard all about Veronica's past, she couldn't help but worry when Veronica said she was leaving. Could she be turning people into fairies again?
She had promised she wouldn't do it anymore... but still.
Seeing that worried expression, Veronica let out a snicker.
“It’s not what you're thinking. There's someone I borrowed an identity from when I was active outside.”
“Like Princess Fiona?”
“Right. Someone like Princess Fiona contacted me asking for help again, so I'm going to see them. I have to avoid the Archwitch's gaze, so I can't use large-scale magic, which is why it'll take a while. It's far, too...”
Veronica said so and gently stroked Titania's head. The two years had been quite long after all. She had progressed to the point where she could exchange such warm words with Titania. At first, the girl had been like a wild cat that rejected human touch...
When Veronica ruffled her hair, Titania puffed her cheeks slightly. Veronica looked at the puffed cheeks and giggled, then took out a comb from her pocket and gently tidied Titania's hair. After finishing to some extent, she lowered her head again to look at Vivian and sighed.
“So, you tell this drunkard. Got it?”
“Okay. I'll tell Mother. So...”
Titania smiled brightly and looked at Veronica.
“Have a safe trip. I'll wait for you.”
At those words, Veronica gave a bitter smile. How long had it been since she'd heard such kind words in her repetitive life? Being here always felt like she was having a sweet dream. Vivian, who kept treating her like a daughter, and cute younger sister Titania. She always denied it with words, but somewhere in her heart, she was beginning to see these two as family.
Veronica moved her lips slightly for a moment, then smiled with her eyes curving and answered.
“...Yeah, I'll be back. Wait for me.”
*
The festival ended, and time passed quickly.
It was the season when the snow piled in the garden melted away, and the early sprouts beneath it began to appear one by one. Each time the buds sprouted, time flowed on indifferently.
The roughly ten years that had passed since meeting Titania had been as fast as the blink of an eye, but the day they would part seemed to have arrived in an instant as well.
“Titania, is this all your luggage? They said the Academy dormitory isn't this spacious, so just some clothes, uniforms, and...”
I lowered my head and looked at Ainsel's main body contained in the large luggage bag.
“Yes, you've packed Ainsel well too.”
-Vivian...
“...Are you really going?”
-...Yes. I thought about it a lot... but I want to stay by the Princess's side after all. The reason I remained here was all for the Princess's sake...
In the end, Ainsel chose to follow Titania to the Academy rather than staying with me at the palace.
It was regretful and bitter, but since I thought it would be fine for Ainsel to stay by Titania's side, I couldn't hold her back.
On the wall where Ainsel had always been, the color had faded in the shape of Ainsel's mirror. Now that Ainsel's mirror, which had kept this spot until the wall's color faded, was gone, I truly felt bitter.
'To think the day would come when Ainsel, who I thought would always be by my side, would finally leave.'
While I was making a bitter expression, Titania was packing reluctantly with a sulky face. She openly showed her unwillingness to go to the Academy, repeating the process of putting an item in the bag and sighing, then putting another item in the bag and sighing again.
There were still about three days left until departure for the Academy, but she had to pack now to leave without any issues. She would be living in the dormitory for three years and wore uniforms, so clothes weren't really needed, but there was still much to prepare since she was a girl.
'And... there's something I need to tell Titania before she goes to the Academy.'
Although the original story had been completely twisted, there was an 'item' I wanted Titania to obtain at the Academy. The main event of the original story's 'Autumn' arc: an event to retrieve the 'Fairy Egg.'
'Fairies are born from nature with their own concepts, so they aren't born from "eggs," but...'
Anyway, the Fairy Egg wasn't an item only witches could use; it was an item ordinary people could use as well. Moreover, it was a single-use consumable item. The item description read as follows:
[It is an egg containing a fairy, and it is impossible to know which fairy is sleeping inside the egg. However, it must not be awakened, nor can it be awakened normally. Existing as a massive clump of magical power, there is a superstition that this egg grants the user's 'wish.']
The user's wish.
The wording was ambiguous, but in the game, it was the only item that allowed one to avoid a 'Bad Ending' once. As Vivian's assassination attempts increased in the latter half, it was easy to fall into a Bad Ending, so this had to be obtained at the Academy.
I didn't know how it would work in reality, but if Titania obtained it, it would surely help somehow. Since it was an item even ordinary people who weren't witches could use.
Unlike the game, I couldn't directly interfere at the Academy, so I had no choice but to tell Titania. To find and bring back something called the Fairy Egg.
Looking at Titania, who was grumbling while packing, I thought I should tell her tonight while sleeping together. If I brought up Academy matters now for no reason, she would likely listen with one ear and let it out the other. Just as I let out a sigh like that.
“I'm here!”
The terrace door burst open and Veronica appeared. A strange smile hung on Veronica's face, who appeared after almost three months. Moreover, the outfit Veronica was wearing...
“...What is this, showing up after so long... no, more importantly, what kind of outfit is that?”
“Why? Doesn't it suit me? I think it suits me.”
At the outfit Veronica was wearing, Titania and I couldn't help but open our eyes wide. It suited her. No, it was an outfit that couldn't help but suit Veronica's face. After all...
“What I want to ask is... why are you wearing an Academy uniform.”
“? I'm wearing it because I'm enrolling in the Academy too, obviously.”
“What?”
When I looked at her in bewilderment, Veronica grinned, linked arms with Titania, and began spinning round and round in the room as if dancing. Titania too seemed flustered by Veronica's outfit, opening and closing her mouth without being able to say anything.
“Someone who used another identity requested it from me. Said they needed an Academy diploma for their reclusive daughter. The contact came last year originally, but I forcibly postponed it for a year. So I could enroll with Titania.”
“W-with me...?”
“Yes, with you. It's not entirely for you... I had a reason to go to the Academy anyway. Since I'm going anyway, I thought it'd be nice to enroll with you. How about it? Surprised?”
“A-ah, I-I am surprised, but...”
Titania was so surprised she could only open and close her mouth like a fish. She probably hadn't expected Veronica to come to the Academy with her. Honestly, neither had I.
I watched the two spinning around for a moment, then recalled Veronica's words and frowned.
'What's Veronica's reason for going to the Academy? Could it be...'
When I beckoned Veronica to come closer, she clicked her tongue and approached me. In a voice small enough that Titania couldn't hear, I whispered into Veronica's ear.
Surely not, right?
“Could it be... the reason you're going to the Academy is because of the 'Fairy Egg'?”
Hearing my whisper, Veronica's face scrunched up completely. That scrunched face turned my suspicion into certainty, so I couldn't help but frown slightly as well. Of all people, Veronica too...
“How do you know about that? There's no way you could know about that...?”