#108
“Riyekan said last time. That the fairy is targeting me, so be careful…”
“Hmm, I did say that I liked you enough to make you into a fairy. But that was just meant to cherish you. It wasn’t meant to force you if you didn’t like it.”
The queen continued to defend herself.
“That child tormented you too much. That’s why I said that.”
After pondering, Jin-ha eventually decided not to kiss the queen’s cheek and just stood up again. A look of regret crossed the queen’s face.
“I already know what kind of relationship we had.”
“Did your memory return that far already?”
“Yes.”
He didn’t expect her to know that he was gradually regaining his past memories. Thanks to that, Jin-ha could be sure that what he thought was correct.
“I was in a family-like relationship with Master Senistry for a while, and you were close to her, so we must have met often.”
“Uh… yes?”
“That was once the case.”
“Once…?”
Jin-ha nodded heavily.
“Yes. I’m sorry. My father did something terrible to your friend.”
“…Hmm.”
“Still, my mother is the only one who gave birth to me. It seems Master Senistry took care of me for a while, but I can’t think of her as my mother.”
He couldn’t think of another woman as his mother when his mother had given her life to protect him. In his childhood memories, Master Senistry had taken care of him with affection. But even so, it was difficult for the current Jin-ha to feel anything other than guilt.
What had his father done to that excellent magician? Adultery, no less.
The queen, who had been silent as if choosing her words, cleared her throat.
“Hmm, can I correct one thing?”
“Yes, please do.”
“I am not Master Senistry’s friend.”
“Yes? Then…”
“We met here for the first time. Her parents thought she was crazy because she was born with high magic and a fairy’s soul, different from ordinary children, so they locked her up and raised her on this island.”
“Locked up and… raised her?”
He knew that Master Senistry was sent to the tower because she had the ability to communicate with fairies and was considered ominous. But he had thought she had lived in the royal palace before that, but that wasn’t the case either.
Indeed, this retreat island was a suitable place to hide the royal family’s disgrace. Only those who had served the royal family all their lives and came to spend their old age, with outstanding loyalty, lived here.
They would have served the princess with care. But after all, they would have only served her as a princess. A life of being served only as a blue-blooded princess in a place without family or friends, it must have been lonely.
“At first, I tried not to approach her. It’s not good for humans to get close to fairies. But I couldn’t bear it when I heard her crying in loneliness, so I decided to take her in and love her as my daughter.”
Jin-ha unconsciously opened his mouth. Master Senistry was the adopted daughter of the fairy queen?
Come to think of it, it was strange that such a vast space was allowed to be woven inside the Noon Moon Tower, and that so many portals could be opened with borrowed power, just for a simple friend.
Master Senistry, the adopted daughter of the fairy queen…
Jin-ha bowed in shock.
“Ah, my father did something terrible to your daughter…”
Jin-ha didn’t know what to do and apologized, but the queen suddenly burst into suppressed laughter. When he looked at her in bewilderment, she seemed to be trying not to laugh, taking a deep breath. But her efforts were in vain as she looked at Jin-ha and burst into laughter again.
“I’m sorry… Ahem! Anyway, there’s no need to apologize. Of course, at first, I didn’t like Seung-jun either. I even thought about killing him. But what can I do if our child likes him?”
“Yes, I’m sorry…”
“It’s okay. I’m already thinking of you as my grandchild… Would that be okay?”
The queen asked in a trembling voice. Knowing that she was a fairy who had lived for a long time, but considering her young appearance, what his father had done, and the affection Master Senistry had shown him, it was hard to refuse. Moreover, the queen’s reaction was a bit suspicious, but it didn’t make him feel hostile, so it was even more difficult.
After much deliberation, Jin-ha finally nodded. Seeing the queen who seemed to be overjoyed, Jin-ha couldn’t hold back the strange question he had been wondering about and asked.
“…By the way, have you ever… No, not when I was young, but recently, have you seen me?”
“Yes.”
At the immediate answer, Jin-ha asked again in surprise. He had a vague feeling and asked, but he didn’t expect it to be true.
“You have?”
“You came to the fairy world with the guy you’re dating now. The day you came for a picnic, took a nap, and rummaged through my daughter’s cottage.”
“Ah, I’ll return that. I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”
“Huh? Not grandmother?”
“That’s a bit… I’m sorry.”
It was a bit uncomfortable to call her grandmother. Jin-ha resisted to the end, avoiding the disappointed gaze.
“Hmph, I bet you’ll call me grandmother soon?”
“I’m sorry.”
“Anyway, you don’t have to return the cottage. Who would say anything if a child took their mother’s things? It was just a prank.”
“But…”
“If it helped you, then it’s fine.”
The queen, who had giggled, continued.
“That day, I was very curious about you. The other children all bragged about seeing you, but I was the only one who hadn’t. So I went to see you, but… At that time, you were a being that couldn’t face me, so you tried not to be noticed, but accidentally, our eyes met. I’m sorry for startling you.”
Other children. Maybe she was talking about the fairies he had met while touring the dungeon with Riyekan. Jin-ha recalled the fairy who had played peekaboo with him on the fairy’s path, cooing like a baby. Maybe that fairy had also met the young Jin-ha. There was a possibility that she had come to see the queen’s daughter and saw Jin-ha. She didn’t know that human children grow up and don’t need to be cooed at like that.
“It’s okay. I had forgotten that our eyes met until just now. More than that… Can I ask a few more questions?”
“Go ahead. I’ll answer anything.”
“Is the reason I have fairy blood because of Master Senistry?”
“Hmm, you could say that.”
The queen gave a mysterious answer with a smile. Jin-ha had a hunch that depending on how he asked the question, he could get a truthful answer or a completely irrelevant one. It seemed that even if she was the fairy queen, she had the same mischievousness as any fairy.
Jin-ha pondered for a moment and then carefully asked.
“Is the fact that I suddenly have fairy blood related to the memories I regained on this island?”
“Goodness.”
The queen covered her mouth and looked at Jin-ha.
“How did you figure that out on your own? Our grandson must be a genius!”
“No. A genius, absolutely not.”
“You must be very proud…”
Jin-ha tried to ignore the queen, who seemed to be genuinely moved to tears. It was hard to understand her sudden emotional changes, but what was even harder to understand was that he didn’t feel repulsed by such a sight. He looked at the queen in confusion and silently waited for her to regain her composure.
After making a fuss, the queen pointed to the forest beyond the window next to the wall and said.
“Why, you once swallowed that child’s soul to save him.”
“Yes.”
“Our child must have thought you could handle it, but there was one thing she misjudged. Your soul was bigger than she thought.”
The fact that the queen also called Riyekan “Riri” meant that during the time Jin-ha called him Riyekan, the queen had also called him that occasionally. Jin-ha thought that maybe he had been quite close to the queen.
Realizing an unexpected fact, he looked at her blankly for a moment, and the queen quickly defended herself as if she had misunderstood something.
“That brat is a great magician’s material. Our child was an excellent magician, but she couldn’t have known when she first saw him that day. It’s definitely not because our daughter was incompetent, right? Isn’t that so?”
“Yes. That’s very possible.”
“Phew, right? Thank you for understanding.”
Relieved by that reaction, the queen nodded and continued.
“Anyway, it overflowed more than expected. The fairy and memories inside you.”
“Was there originally a fairy inside me?”
“Yes, there was.”
So, it wasn’t just the memories, but the fairy that had seeped into his body now was something he had originally possessed.
How did he come to have a fairy? Jin-ha looked at the queen in bewilderment, and she nodded as if she knew what he was asking. She had a look that said she would answer anything if he asked.
But Jin-ha wasn’t without his suspicions. Master Senistry was of the Abon royal bloodline, and although she was not related to the fairy queen by blood, she was said to have been born with a fairy’s soul. So, it wouldn’t be strange if Jin-ha was born with a bit of fairy mixed in. Maybe Master Senistry had been kind to him because she felt a kinship.
“…Yes, I understand.”
“Aren’t you curious about how all those pieces remain on this land?”
Author: Hyacinthus B
Hyacinthus
