[Episode 71] - A Strange Message
Brownie’s hut amidst the fog.
I returned to the hut holding Brownie’s hand and sat in a chair, letting out a deep sigh. I’d had absolutely no intention of showing such unsightly behavior in front of that woman, yet in the end, I couldn’t overcome my emotions and even shed tears; irritation welled up at myself.
Whenever I stood before that woman, my emotions always overtook my reason.
Though my head knew that woman was different from the Vivian who had raised me, the moment I saw that face, I simply couldn’t think rationally. And to think I even cried in front of that woman. That fact was so humiliating I squeezed my eyes shut.
If there was anything fortunate, it was that I had prevented the ‘Princess’ from becoming a witch? Anyway, Brownie and the other dwarves had contracted with me first, so it wasn’t as if the Princess would become the same kind of witch as me, but…
Still, since I had told that woman to her face not to even think of raising the Princess as a witch, I figured I wouldn’t have to worry about the Princess becoming a witch anymore.
‘Well, I don’t know if that woman will listen to me properly, though.’
The moment I thought that, frustration surged through me—I should have just strangled her then. If I had just killed her back then, I wouldn’t have had to fret over such trivial worries.
‘I really should have strangled her somehow back then…!’
As I trembled with such humiliation, the expression of Vivian, who had strangled me earlier, came to mind. That woman had stroked my cheek with a gaze that seemed to understand, as if pitying me—that expression was so nauseating I couldn’t stand it.
‘…The woman who is already dead never made such an expression to me even once. Could she even make such an expression in the first place? We’re clearly the same person, yet…’
Really, I simply couldn’t understand it.
Why was this Vivian so different? Had she come to her senses while raising the princess? That crazy woman? What on earth triggered it? Could the reason that woman changed lie with a different ‘Princess’? What in the world…
Even though I didn’t want to think about it anymore, my head kept filling with that woman.
That expression she never once showed me. The way she spared no effort for the princess over herself. Every time I recalled all of it, my stomach churned and turned. Not knowing what name to give this foul emotion I was feeling now, I felt suffocated.
“How annoying…”
—Master…
As I muttered with a sigh, Brownie, who was watching me from the side, blinked her eyes as if worried. I sat that Brownie on my lap and slowly stroked her head, soothing her not to worry. As I petted Brownie and found some peace of mind—
“Ah, right…”
—Hm?
“I forgot I was attending as Princess Fiona…”
I had completely forgotten that I had attended the hunting contest under the identity of ‘Princess Fiona.’ A princess who rarely appeared outside because she was practically in seclusion. And an identity usable because only a select few in the Silverwood Kingdom knew this fact.
The nation provided a daily stipend for maintaining dignity, and since Princess Fiona held no right of succession to the throne, I didn’t need to concern myself with political strife. Even if I traveled to other countries for leisure, it felt like a daughter the king had put forth, so the nation didn’t particularly interfere. There were hardly any identities more convenient for moving about, so I didn’t want to lose it.
If I disappeared without returning to the hunting contest venue, quite a commotion would likely occur, so I had to go back quickly; but if I went back now, I would definitely run into that woman. After parting like that earlier, meeting again would be a bit…
In the moment I was worrying about what to do, my gaze fell upon another ‘dwarf’ sleeping sprawled out. A ‘black cat’ sleeping with its belly exposed and tongue sticking out on the bed. The cat fairy ‘Cat Sith’ was sleeping so obliviously, as if she wouldn’t notice even if someone snatched her away.
“Cat Sith. Stop sleeping and wake up.”
—……
“…Brownie. Could you wake Cat Sith?”
At my command, Brownie nodded and roughly petted the belly of the cat lying sprawled on the bed. Startled by the sudden petting, the cat snapped her eyes open and flailed her paws, throwing a cat punch, but the cat’s short arms couldn’t reach Brownie.
Eventually, Cat Sith twisted her entire body free from Brownie’s grip, looked at her, and let out a short hiss in wariness. Regardless of Cat Sith’s reaction, Brownie put both hands on her hips and snorted haughtily.
—What are you doing! Brownie!
—The master is calling! Hurry up and wake!
Cat Sith, just awakened, blinked her eyes and looked at me sitting in the chair, waving my hand. Making eye contact with me, Cat Sith diligently washed her face like a cat, then hopped from the bed onto my lap and settled in. The purring was a bonus.
—Why’d you wake me while I was sleeping?
“Um… I wanted to ask a favor. Is that okay?”
—A favor? The master asking me a favor? Ah, seriously—
When Cat Sith made a sullen expression at the word ‘favor’ and tried to get off my lap, I quickly grabbed her belly and sat her back down. The black cat sighed deeply as if regretting waking up, then lifted her head and glared at me.
—So…? What favor?
“It’s nothing big… Disguise yourself as ‘Princess Fiona’ and go to the hunting contest in my stead. There’s someone there I don’t really want to see. And… you know, right? My physical condition right now. I don’t want to overdo it anymore today.”
—Someone the master doesn’t want to meet? Ah, Baba Yaga? I don’t want to meet that witch either… There are so many bad rumors… I don’t want to get involved for no reason…
“…May I ask this of you?”
—…Ignoring the master’s physical condition despite knowing it would be disqualifying as a ‘familiar’… Fine, I’ll do it.
Cat Sith grumbled for a moment, then sighed deeply as if she had no choice. She climbed down below my knees and washed her face three times with her dainty hands. And just like that, Cat Sith transformed into the appearance of ‘Princess Fiona’ in an instant. Cat Sith, who had been muttering that human form was annoying, frowned down at me.
—You know as well, master, but I’m not good at transforming into human form. If Baba Yaga finds out, I know nothing, got it?
“It’s fine even if you’re found out. Even if discovered, that woman doesn’t seem like she’d harm you. She’ll realize immediately that you aren’t me in the first place.”
—Reeally? Well, if there’s no need to hide, that’s easier and better for me. So I just need to finish the event and return?
When I nodded, Cat Sith raised both hands above her head and stretched languidly. Then, grumbling once more that it was bothersome, she moved toward outside the hut. The moment Cat Sith was about to exit, I briefly called out and stopped her.
“Ah, right. Could you deliver a message to that woman?”
—What message?
“That is….”
*
The moment I returned to the tent at the hunting contest—
I couldn’t help but widen my eyes in surprise at the person inside the tent.
“…Didn’t you leave?”
Of course, because Snow White, who had definitely gone into the fog, had arrived at the tent before us in the form of Princess Fiona. Wondering why she had returned after parting like that earlier, I was staring—
when the pupils of Snow White, who had made eye contact with me, split long and vertically. For a moment, the sharply vertically slit pupils looked reptilian, but upon closer inspection, they were a cat’s pupils.
—…I am not the ‘master.’
Snow White, looking at me with pupils constricted thin and vertical, frowned while covering her mouth with a fan and spoke. For some reason, I thought I heard a purr, purr…
The moment I thought she seemed like a ‘cat,’ I felt I knew the true identity of the Snow White before my eyes. Now that I thought of it, before Snow White left earlier, she had called the names ‘Habetrot’ and ‘Cat Sith.’ There was only one fairy in the game with cat-like eyes who made purring sounds. The cat fairy ‘Cat Sith,’ in the position of the princess’s pet. It was clear that Cat Sith was impersonating Princess Fiona.
—I am ‘Cat Sith.’ I’m mimicking Princess Fiona at my master’s request.
“…I see, just as I thought.”
When my expectation proved correct, a chuckle escaped me. When I chuckled, Cat Sith glared at me with a frown, as if displeased. Sorry to Cat Sith, but the reason I was certain the fairy disguised as Princess Fiona was Cat Sith wasn’t only because of the cat eyes and purring.
“You hid the ears well, but you couldn’t hide the tail.”
—Huh?!
Because I could see a tail stretched out long from beneath the skirt, with only the tip swaying. When I looked at the swaying tail beneath the chair, Cat Sith quickly patted her own bottom and confirmed that her tail was sticking out. Realizing that her tail was indeed sticking out, Cat Sith flushed bright red and busily tried to hide her tail under the skirt. Titania, nestled in my embrace, also seemed to have seen the swaying tail, looking at Cat Sith impersonating Princess Fiona with sparkling eyes.
When I giggled and took a seat beside Cat Sith, Cat Sith cleared her throat and glared sidelong at me. At her blatant gaze that looked me up and down as if evaluating me, I smiled awkwardly and asked Cat Sith.
“What is it? Is there something you want to say to me?”
—Yes, a message from my master.
A message from her master? At the words that Snow White had sent me a message, I perked up my ears and listened to Cat Sith’s voice. After a brief pause, Cat Sith unfurled her fan to cover the corner of her mouth, smiled broadly, and relayed Snow White’s message to me.
“She says she’ll kill you if you don’t keep your word from then.”
“…That’s it?”
—Yes, that’s all.
…At the overly brief message, I frowned without realizing it. Snow White’s ‘words from then’ were probably about not raising Titania as a witch. Wondering why she sent such a message, then thinking it was because ‘Vivian’s’ trustworthiness had hit rock bottom, I could only sigh again.
“…Then, I too have a message. Deliver it to your master.”
—…What is it?
…Indeed, what should I say. Don’t worry about Titania? I’ll raise Titania well? No, it didn’t seem right to say such things to Snow White, who had grown up suffering abuse from ‘Vivian.’
What words should I convey…
I gently stroked the head of Titania nestled in my embrace for a moment, thinking. Because it was a shame we couldn’t talk. I felt that just a little more conversation with Snow White could clear up the misunderstanding.
‘Well… she can probably enter the royal castle freely through the hut. The hut is practically a fairy’s byway… Then the issue is the location in the castle…’
In the end, there was only one place in the royal castle where I could meet that child. A space where we wouldn’t have to worry about others’ gazes, where only I and Titania stayed.
I smiled broadly and asked Cat Sith to deliver the message.
“…Tell her that since I cannot go to meet that child, I cannot seek her out… but if she has something she wishes to say to me, she may come find me anytime. Say that I will wait in my bedroom. Morning or night, she is welcome to come anytime.”
*
—She says?
“What? She really said that?”
—Yes.
Snow White, who heard the message Vivian had left from Cat Sith returning to the hut after the hunting contest, couldn’t help but furrow her brow at the absurd message.
She didn’t particularly care about that woman telling her to come anytime, but she doubted whether the words that followed were something a ‘noblewoman’ could say. No, rather, they weren’t.
No matter how much ‘Vivian’s’ personality had changed, fundamentally she was a noblewoman and the queen of a nation who should have high self-esteem and value her honor.
A woman of such standing saying what? That she’ll wait in her bedroom? The moment it was discovered she had said such a thing to another person, it was a statement that would send not only her honor as queen but even her dignity as a noblewoman crashing to the floor. Even if they were the same gender, it was something one shouldn’t say.
“What? She said she’ll wait in her bedroom? Why would she say such a thing…? Is she crazy?”
For a moment, Snow White was deeply worried about Vivian.
Thinking that perhaps that woman’s personality hadn’t changed, but that she had simply become an idiot.