[Episode 128] - The Story from This Point On
“U-uh, wow, so this is...”
Having quietly entered the royal palace, Katarina began turning her head this way and that, looking around the room. As she stared blankly at a place she had never visited before, Veronica stepped in front of her.
“It’s nice to meet you, Katarina.”
“Huh, wha...? W-wait? T-twins?”
“We’re not twins. I’ll explain that later, but...”
Katarina flinched in surprise when she saw Veronica’s face, her shoulders jerking. No matter how she looked at her, Veronica had the exact same face as Titania. No—upon closer inspection, her face was slightly more youthful than Titania’s.
Veronica let out a small sigh and took something out in front of Katarina. A small, golden, glowing oval sphere floated above her palm. This was what Veronica had acquired at auction at the academy—
“A-a fairy egg...? W-wow...! So they r-really exist...?!”
Katarina stared at the ‘fairy egg’ resting on Veronica’s palm with curious eyes, as though a child were looking at a brand-new toy.
As expected, Veronica thought, Katarina would react exactly like this. Smiling brightly, she placed the ‘fairy egg’ onto Katarina’s palm. Then she explained the ‘reason’ she had brought Katarina here.
“Katarina. From now on, you’ll be staying with me and helping me analyze the ‘fairy egg.’ In exchange, I’ll be living with you for the time being.”
“Uh, um... What about Vivian...?”
“...I’ll let you see Vivian from time to time. But for the time being, you’ll have to stay with me. The reason I asked Titania to bring you here is because I need your ‘knowledge’ as a witch.”
At the news that she would be unable to see Vivian for a while, Katarina’s expression fell. When her lips pushed into a pout, Veronica let out a quiet chuckle, took back the fairy egg, and continued.
“Don’t make that face. There are lots of fairies where I live... It’s a real big family. You won’t even have time to feel lonely.”
“Uh, uh... H-how many of them are there...?”
Veronica answered with a wide grin.
“Seven. With you, there’ll be eight. On top of that, they’ll take care of every meal and do the cleaning for you. All you have to do is study the ‘fairy egg’ together with me there. What do you think? Sounds fun, doesn’t it?”
At an answer containing everything she wanted, the corners of Katarina’s mouth began to twitch as though she were trying to hold back a smile. Veronica had known her since her regression, but Katarina truly was the sort of person who suffered terribly from ‘loneliness.’
Even when they had met before the regression, it had been so difficult to part with her...
‘...I should repay her for the help she gave me back then.’
Veronica gave a small smile as she watched Katarina begin to beam. This was simply her way of repaying Katarina, who had saved her when she had nearly been killed by hunters.
‘And while repaying that debt, I can get a little help myself.’
After all, her research on the fairy egg had reached a dead end, and she was beginning to have trouble.
Thinking it was the perfect opportunity, Veronica welcomed Katarina into her ‘cottage.’ For some reason, it felt as if her seven dwarves had become eight, and Veronica smiled brightly.
“From now on, call me Big Sister Veronica.”
*
As time passed, Titania’s coronation ceremony finally began. Since the ceremony commenced in an extremely solemn atmosphere, the interior of the royal palace was so quiet that not even a breath could be heard.
At Titania’s request, Veronica had tied Vivian to a chair. As she gazed at Vivian’s bound figure, Veronica let out a small groan. She had tied Vivian to the chair as Titania had asked, but...
‘...Is this really right?’
She couldn’t help wondering whether it was truly necessary to go this far.
But unless she did at least this much, Titania’s anxiety would surely continue to grow. After learning that Vivian had left, Titania had become so haggard that it was painful to look at her.
Veronica could still see the face Titania had shown her when she had looked up at her from beneath the blankets. Her pale face had looked as if it might be pushed over the threshold of death at any moment.
Her face had been white as a corpse, and the only thing she had cried out with her cracked, dry lips was Vivian’s name. Veronica couldn’t simply leave Titania shut away in her room, living like a wreck.
Titania had acted as if her life had no meaning without Vivian by her side, refusing even to eat and behaving as though she might die at any moment. To save Titania, Vivian was necessary. Besides...
“...This is for your sake, too, Vivian.”
Veronica gently stroked Vivian’s sleeping face and smiled faintly. She had no choice but to bring her back by force like this, but Veronica was a little glad that Vivian had returned to the royal palace.
‘...Though it won’t be easy for things to return to the way they were.’
The reason she had been forced to bring Vivian back, even if it meant doing so against her will, was partly for the sake of Titania, who was gradually falling apart—and ultimately, it was also for Vivian, who had run away.
When Titania had said she would declare Vivian a witch and report her to the temple, it had been frightening enough to send chills down Veronica’s spine. Titania had smiled brightly as she said it was only a joke, that such a ‘method’ existed as well, but there had been nothing joking in her eyes.
‘...I really wonder who she takes after.’
Veronica let out a small sigh and lamented that blood could never lie. At that moment, Vivian’s body twitched and trembled. Her closed eyes began to blink slowly, and soon they met Veronica’s gaze.
“Titan...? No, Veronica...?”
“...Did you sleep well, Vivian?”
Veronica smiled brightly as she looked at her. Perhaps still half-asleep, Vivian glanced around with dazed eyes. Then, realizing that she was in the royal palace, her eyes widened like those of a startled rabbit.
“Huh? What is this...? Wha—?!”
The moment Vivian looked around in confusion and realized that she was tied to a chair, fireworks shot into the sky outside the window. With a loud bang, their colors illuminated the dark room.
“...Vivian, I don’t have much time, so I’ll keep this brief.”
“Huh...? W-wait! Veronica...! Untie me first...”
“...First, I’m sorry. I had no choice but to do this, for your sake and for Titania’s. It was my fault for failing to make the right choice.”
“What...?”
Veronica gazed at the fireworks being launched outside the window. Vivian couldn’t understand what was happening. No—there was no way she could understand. She had opened her eyes only to find herself bound to a chair.
And besides, this place was...
“Veronica... Why am I in the royal palace? Hmm? Explain this properly...!”
“...Don’t think about running away from here for the time being. I’m saying this for your sake.”
Seeing Vivian fidgeting anxiously, Veronica gave a bitter smile and gently stroked her face with her fingertips. She felt sorry seeing her so nervous and uneasy, but there was nothing she could do for now.
“...First, go see Titania.”
*
Click—click—click—
The sound of heels striking the floor echoed through the corridor. Fast and sharp. They were footsteps that sounded as though they were chasing something. Hurry, hurry, hurry. As if urging her own feet onward, Titania walked swiftly.
Before long, Titania arrived in front of the room where her mother was. After taking a small breath, she slowly opened the door. In the dark room, her mother was waiting for her, bound to a chair.
Squinting at the bright light from the corridor, Vivian cautiously opened her eyes and looked at Titania. The moment their gazes met, Titania was swept up in every possible emotion, and her heart began to ache as if it were burning away.
Affection for her mother, hatred for the woman who had left her of her own accord, rage at her departing without a word—and within all those emotions, the fierce love she still felt for her mother.
Unspeakable emotions surged through her all at once, leaving Titania confused, as if a great storm had erupted inside her chest. Slowly, she approached Vivian, who was tied to the chair.
The closer she drew, the first emotion she felt was an unbearably vivid hatred and fury. She wanted to know what on earth her mother had been thinking when she had ignored Titania’s desperate cries and left two years ago.
If only she had shown her face back then. If only she had met her and spoken with her. If only she had comforted her, even a little. Then things would never have gone this far.
Thinking that, Titania glared at Vivian.
Before long, she reached her bound mother. Roughly grabbing Vivian’s chin, Titania forced it upward. She wanted to meet her eyes. She wanted to make sure that this really was her mother.
Titania let out a mocking laugh as she gripped Vivian’s chin tightly. Don’t run away. Look straight at me. Don’t avert your eyes from the daughter you abandoned.
“You really are a witch, aren’t you? A witch who left my side without a word.”
Titania sneered as she called Vivian ‘witch.’ It was a nickname that meant she already knew everything about where Vivian had gone and what she had done after leaving her side.
At being called a witch, her mother’s eyes trembled. She seemed to be trying to avoid Titania’s gaze somehow, searching for an excuse to make. And in the end, the words she managed to produce were—
“I-I only did it because of a ‘promise’...”
Ha. A promise?
That again?
As if she didn’t want to hear it, Titania tightened her grip on Vivian’s chin even further. Her jaw was squeezed, pushing up her cheeks and forcing her mouth open. Even now, in this situation, is that all you have to say to me?
Then what about the promise you made to me? The promises you made to the ministers were important, but what about the promise you made to me with our fingers hooked together? Was it all right to ignore that promise? Just because it was a promise made to a child?
“Ah, so it’s all right to ignore the ‘promise’ you made with me, but you have to keep your ‘promises’ to other people?”
Her mother said nothing. Titania couldn’t tell whether she was unable to speak because of the hand gripping her chin, or whether she remained silent because she knew the answer herself. Either way, Titania couldn’t stop herself from feeling disappointed.
If her mother valued promises so much, why hadn’t she kept the one she made with Titania? She wanted to shout at her to answer immediately, but Titania sighed and released her grip on Vivian’s chin.
“Well, it doesn’t matter anymore. No matter how it happened, the fact that you’ve come back here in the end is what matters.”
“W-why on earth...?”
Why? Why, she asked? How could those words come from her mother’s mouth? Titania pursed her lips and let out a hollow laugh. Her mother’s face looked as though she might burst into tears at any moment, as if she were the ‘victim.’
Ah, I see. Mother doesn’t know anything, does she? You don’t know why I’m doing this, why I brought you here, or why I tied you up. You know nothing at all. That’s why you’re asking me this.
“Why, you ask?”
Titania slowly brushed over Vivian’s lips, as though smearing them apart. Those lips, capable of uttering nothing but such a pitiful answer, were infuriating. Yes, if you don’t know, I’ll have to tell you. I’ll have to make you understand myself. But...
“Because you don’t know, I have no choice but to do this.”
I’m not going to tell you yet. For the time being, you’ll stay by my side, and I’ll teach you one thing at a time. What you did wrong, and what feelings I hold for you. One by one, slowly and carefully.
Titania smiled, her eyes curving gently, and tilted her head slightly as she stroked Vivian’s lips. Her hand moved from her lips to her chin, and from her chin down to her neck, gently brushing over her collarbone.
“If you run away from me one more time, I’ll put a collar around this neck. Keep that in mind.”
No. Later, perhaps it would be fine to put a collar on her. Not some crude, ugly iron chain, but a chain that resembled a beautiful necklace. It would be nice to decorate her mother’s neck with it.
She would fasten a beautiful chain around her beautiful mother, binding her to Titania’s side. A chain carrying the wish that she would never let her go again. A chain she would never be able to remove herself, for the rest of her life.
“Do you understand? My witch? No—”
Titania gently stroked Vivian’s neck, imagining her mother with a chain around it. The sight of that delicate neck wrapped in a chain set with glittering jewels would surely be beautiful.
Titania smiled softly.
“Mother?”