[Episode 70] - The Child You Raised
Black hair like ebony cascading down to her back, and skin as white as snow.
Round tears falling drop by drop from red pupils that looked stained with blood.
How could I not know that face?
The moment I saw it, I unconsciously gripped the shoulder of Titania, who was nestled in my embrace. A face identical to the 'child' in my arms. Seeing what looked like my child grown into an 'adult,' I found myself gazing at that woman and calling out the 'child's' name.
"T-Titania...?"
When I called her Titania, she glared at me with eyes filled with venom. Meeting that gaze, I could vaguely understand why she had reacted to me the way she had until now.
I couldn't understand why this was happening.
My mind was a jumbled mess, to the point that I couldn't even tell if this was reality or a dream. That was how unbelievable the existence of the 'woman' before my eyes was.
But what was unfolding before me now was reality, and no matter how I looked at her, that figure was undoubtedly Titania grown into an adult. That was a face I couldn't fail to recognize.
Why was an adult Titania here?
Had Titania become an adult and come to the 'past'?
I thought again with a slightly cooled head, but it still didn't seem right. If the woman before my eyes were the 'Titania raised in my embrace,' she wouldn't look at me with such hateful eyes.
Then wasn't there only one conclusion?
'The real Snow White who grew up watching Vivian.'
If that were true, I could mostly understand the unnatural actions and words that Snow White had directed at me and Titania. The actions and words of trying to protect a 'princess' like herself while harboring hatred for 'Vivian.'
There were still many things I couldn't understand—what had become of the 'Player' who raised that Snow White, how a different Snow White was here, and so on—but none of that mattered right now.
"Excuse me..."
The moment I tried to speak—
-Master~~!!!
A young girl's loud shout came from deep within the forest. A brown-haired girl kicking up dust as she ran straight here. The moment she arrived, she wedged herself between me and Snow White with a thwack! and shouted at me with her green eyes welling up.
-Don't bully my Master! You wicked Baba Yaga!
At that girl's appearance, I couldn't help but furrow my brows once again.
Dark brown hair like the earth, green eyes like new sprouts. The girl standing before me, huffing and glaring at me, looked exactly like the 'First Dwarf' I had seen in the illustration.
-B-Brownie...?
I had tried to call the girl's name first, but Einzel in my earring spoke up first. Even Einzel the fairy was visibly flustered, as if she couldn't understand this situation either. So was I.
Brownie raised both hands high above her head and huffed, just like a red panda making a threat. Though that appearance was more cute than threatening... what was shocking wasn't that cute display.
Seeing her call the other 'Snow White' before my eyes Master, I felt that every situation I had planned had been completely twisted.
What on earth was going on...?
"...Titania, wait here a moment."
To assess the situation, I stood up and slowly approached Snow White, braving Brownie's threat. As I tried to get a little closer—
-Don't come near! Baba Yaga! If you come near, I'll...!
Brownie bared her teeth and growled.
Far from being scared, I lifted my hands, slipped them under the armpits of the threatening Brownie, and hoisted her up to move her behind me.
Brownie tried her hardest, swinging her fierce little fists wildly to protect her Master, but unfortunately, it was no use against me.
Ignoring Brownie diligently patting my back, I looked at Snow White, who was slumped on the ground. Troublingly, no matter how I looked at her, she looked like nothing other than an adult Titania crying.
-How could something like this happen...?
As Einzel muttered softly while looking at Snow White, Snow White raised only her eyes slightly and glared at me and Einzel. Eyes that shot daggers as if to kill. Einzel let out a squeak and swallowed hard upon meeting those bloodshot red pupils.
I too gulped dryly and asked Snow White.
"...Um, this is really absurd, but... is what I'm thinking right now correct? So you are..."
"What is it that you're thinking?"
The seated Snow White slowly reached out toward me. With both hands, as if to cup my cheeks, a sensation like brushing against down sent a shiver down my spine.
"That child's future?"
Snow White shook her head.
"Or, merely someone who looks exactly like that child?"
Snow White shook her head once more.
Snow White smiled faintly, then wrapped her raised hands around my neck in an instant. With no chance to stop her, she clasped my neck with both hands and very slowly began to squeeze.
"Wrong. Whatever you're thinking, it's all wrong. I'm not that child's future, nor am I another person who looks exactly like that child. I am..."
Since she wasn't strangling my neck forcefully, I simply listened quietly to Snow White's words. However, perhaps my lack of resistance touched a nerve, because she made a choked expression and put more strength into the hands wrapped around my neck.
"I am...!"
Even so, there was still enough room for me to breathe. Her face looking at me seemed truly conflicted over whether to strangle me to death or let me live. But...
'Why does the one choking my neck look so much more in pain than I, the one being choked?'
That sight was so heart-wrenching that without realizing it, I gently brushed the face of the girl grasping my neck with such desperation. Then, thick teardrops silently flowed down her cheeks.
Snow White introduced herself with a trembling voice.
"I am... the child you raised."
"......I see."
Precisely, not 'me,' but 'Vivian.'
Only now did everything truly make sense.
It also meant that Snow White, who didn't know Vivian was dead, couldn't help but hate me. Just as I was at a loss for how to clear up this misunderstanding and let out a sigh—
"Don't bully Mom!!!"
Titania threw herself at Snow White with a bang!
From the impact, the hands wrapped around my neck fell away on their own. While I was bewildered by what had happened in an instant, Titania also raised both hands high above her head and puffed herself up, just like Brownie had done when threatening.
In the meantime, Brownie, who had been hitting my back, also went in front of Snow White and began threatening me as she had before. The posture of a child puffing herself up as much as possible.
The two red pandas growled at each other.
Snow White, who had fallen to the floor from the body blow, let out a small sigh and got up, glaring at me and Titania. I somehow needed to talk and clear up the misunderstanding, but Snow White didn't seem to have any intention of doing so.
Snow White let out a deep sigh and looked down at the threatening Brownie with an expression that said she was fed up with everything.
"...That's enough. Let's return to the cottage, Brownie. Habetrot and Kaeteusi must be waiting."
-Yes! Master! And please don't overexert yourself... Your body is still...
Brownie looked at Snow White with worried eyes. Snow White smiled faintly at that sight and was busy patting Brownie's head. The fact that the familiar names of the 'dwarfs' came from her mouth was a secondary matter.
Feeling that I shouldn't just let her leave like this, I reached out and asked her.
"...You're already going? Could we talk for a moment..."
"Talk? What talk? Do I need to pour out every detail of my past before you?"
Snow White still glared at me with a venomous gaze. I wondered just how she had been raised by Vivian to hate her so much... but it wasn't hard to imagine what her infancy must have been like.
At the sight of Snow White turning around to head deeper into the forest, I shouted at her once more. At the very least—
"Y-your name...! Could you at least tell me your name...? Your name... it can't be Titania, right...?"
At the question about her name, Snow White turned her head and glared at me. She furrowed her brows as if disgusted, let out a deep sigh, and continued.
"I have no name. You, who became Queen, erased my name. After that, you called me whatever you pleased—vermin, maggot."
"......"
It was an act that Vivian was more than capable of, so I could only keep my mouth shut. Just what was Vivian thinking...
When I frowned, Snow White furrowed her brows even more. And with that face, she told me not to pity her, saying my actions were disgusting.
"Don't pity me. Your pity is the greatest insult to me. I don't want to be pitied by you of all people. No matter how much you..."
Crunch. Snow White bit down hard on her teeth and could say no more. Then she let out a deep sigh and patted Brownie's head as if to spite me.
"As you can see, I am already the master of the cottage. You may have planned to raise Titania as a witch, but I will never forgive that. The other dwarfs are already by my side, so don't waste your efforts."
".....Alright. I'll do that."
"Tch. It's disgusting how meekly you speak, so unlike yourself."
Snow White clicked her tongue as if annoyed, then lowered her gaze to look at Titania, who was still growling before me. Unlike the expression she had when looking at me, she gently lowered her sharp eyes and let out a snicker.
"Really, you're bold, unlike me."
With those last words, Snow White turned her back and disappeared into the mist. Brownie beside her also vanished following her, and only me, Titania, and Einzel remained at the picnic site.
While I was staring blankly at the mist where Snow White had disappeared, Titania tugged on my collar and called me. Perhaps because the events that had just occurred didn't feel real to her either, Titania's shoulders were trembling slightly.
"...Let's go back for now."
I needed time to organize my thoughts.
Why Snow White was here, why she was trying to stop Titania from becoming a witch—I thought I roughly knew now. It was a guess, not a certainty.
Most likely...
Wasn't Snow White the princess of the witch ending that I hadn't seen? That would explain her using magic, and gathering the dwarfs.
Unlike the other endings where she wasn't so entangled with the dwarfs, the Snow White who disappeared into the mist seemed incredibly close to them.
Titania, who had been tugging on my collar, asked me with a bewildered expression. Titania must be very confused too. After all, someone who looked exactly like her had suddenly appeared...
"Mom... is that person really..."
"...No, dear. Not exactly, but..."
I picked up Titania in my arms and headed back toward the hunting competition tents. On the way back, I was busy comforting Titania.
Really... what in the world was going on...