Chapter 15:
Marmel lowered his eyes as if lost in thought. Then, suddenly, dry vines sprouted from the ground, tangling together to form a throne covered in thorns. He leaned back deeply into it and let out a quiet sigh.
“Are the things you talked about really that important? I’ve never considered them beautiful.”
Frankly, just judging by his behavior so far, she had already assumed as much. He had gone so far as to create a hellish flower in place of a freesia. Sonidor tried to understand and nodded.
“Well, standards of beauty vary from person to person.”
“No. That’s not it. I didn’t leave them as they were because they were beautiful.”
In fact, I don’t really know what ‘beautiful’ even means. Why do people assign value to such things? He furrowed his smooth forehead slightly. His voice grew lower, almost to a whisper. The wren flapped her wings and hovered closer to hear better. Amused by her actions, he let out a brief chuckle.
“I do know what moves people and what they admire. It’s what you just said.”
“That’s usually the case.”
Sonidor replied, and Marmel laced his fingers together and rested his chin atop them.
“I just didn’t find any of it useful.”
“The flowers in the garden?”
“Everything.”
Everything? She repeated his words and fell silent. From his words, she could sense a deep void. The wren parted her beak slightly.
“…Is that why your world lost its color? Because it was all useless?”
Marmel glanced at her, then curled his lips into a charming smile. He didn’t answer, but that smile was a silent affirmation. She was left speechless. His nihilism ran far deeper than simply saying, He’s crazy, He’s depressed, or He’s in a coma because he resented his childhood and feared his father.
“Don’t demand too much from me.”
He firmly drew a line.
But Sonidor wasn’t the type to back off when a line was drawn. If there was a wall, she’d break through it. Pretending not to hear him, she stopped hovering and settled on his knee. She hopped closer and tilted her head, blinking her beady eyes. Marmel froze with a smile. Slowly, he bowed his head and covered his eyes with one hand.
“Stop. I think I’m going to have arrhythmia.”
“So wrens aren’t useless, huh?”
“They’re cute.”
“…That’s a narrow view.”
Even someone steeped in pessimism had something they liked. If Marmel didn’t even like cute animals, she would have no idea how to wake him. Sonidor watched as the crown prince slowly clutched the fabric over his heart and spoke up.
It was sweet talk, yes, but it was also her honest sentiment.
“Your Highness may say it’s useless, but I always thought your eye color was beautiful. A vivid cherry red. It sparkled like morning dew. I’ve only seen it in portraits, but I’m sure it’s even more beautiful in real life.”
“…And you think saying that will bring color back?”
Marmel frowned slightly. She thought she saw a faint flash of red pass through his eyes.
The crown prince is weak to compliments! No, he’s weak to wrens! Realizing this, Sonidor’s eyes lit up as she began to shower him with praise—mostly about his looks. It was enough to make anyone cringe. It reminded one of a salon owner flattering a noblewoman getting a custom dress.
“It’s like you’re a spirit or fairy of snow straight out of a fairy tale…”
“Enough.”
“Yup.”
Too much was never good. Marmel, now calm thanks to the chatty bird, cut her off firmly. He lightly tapped the sulking wren’s head with a finger. Sonidor let out a whiny chirp as her head tilted back slightly but didn’t move.
“You keep getting off track. Do these beautiful landscapes and colors you mentioned really help find the source?”
“Of course. Your Highness’s… um…”
Insanity-like… no, that won’t do.
Sonidor paused, mentally filtering her words.
“…Your original artistic sensibilities are interfering with recreating memories. This is clearly a place of memory, but there’s hardly anything resembling one. So I think the urgent task is to restore this place to resemble the outer world.”
It was a massive renovation project. First, she had to restore the color. Then prevent hellish plants from growing. And most importantly, she had to put the heads back on the people above ground. If the beheaded former empress showed up before Marmel, it would be more of a horror scene than a touching family reunion. Even if she recreated such a memory, it was unclear how effective it would be.
But could that really be done? Sonidor, usually overflowing with confidence in her abilities, couldn’t be sure this time. The man was deeply entrenched in nihilism, and the only method that seemed to work was using cute animals. She’d try, but…
“That might be hard.”
Unexpectedly, Marmel was the one who shot the idea down.
“First of all… my memories are a mess.”
“Pardon?”
“There are things I remember, and things I don’t. When I try to recall them, it’s like someone poured white paint over everything—it turns hazy.”
“Ah. It seems you may have erased them yourself. That can happen after a major trauma.”
Sonidor nodded, speaking as if it weren’t a big deal. Though it wasn’t normal, she remained calm, like a doctor diagnosing a patient. Tilting her head left and right, she eventually sighed deeply. No matter how she analyzed the situation, it was worse than she thought.
“Maybe instead of clinging to memories, we should focus on your hopes—your future.”
“My hope?”
“Yes. What Your Highness truly desires.”
Marmel stayed silent for a while. The gentle smile on his lips vanished instantly. A sudden emotional shift. He grabbed Sonidor’s round little body as she bounced on his knee. The pressure shocked her, and she let out a muffled squeak. It didn’t hurt, but she couldn’t move at all inside his grip.
“Do you even know what it is that I want?”
Rising from his thorny throne, Marmel asked with a lazy gaze. His tone was flat, but it rumbled like an untamed beast. The weight in his voice made her entire body tremble. The wren froze, like prey caught in the predator’s sight.
“Ah, of course. How could you not? You’ve seen everything.”
You know what I want. He leaned in closer, whispering. His pitch-black eyes gleamed with madness, like a fallen demon. Sonidor remembered the moment Marmel had slaughtered a dragon in one blow. She wavered briefly but then steadied herself and opened her beak.
“Squawk!”
“…”
“Squeak…”
“…”
But her body was too squished to speak properly. Marmel stared down at her for a long moment, then seemed to realize something. Slowly, he loosened his grip. Like a squeaky rubber duck in a bath, every time he squeezed and released, little noises escaped her beak. His expression gradually softened, and soon, as if nothing had happened, he returned to his usual calm demeanor.
…Is this guy for real?
It was weirdly infuriating. After feeling like a plaything for a while, Sonidor was finally released. She fluttered away, putting as much distance between them as possible.
She hovered for a while before eventually settling on top of Marmel’s head. Digging her talons into his hair was her small act of revenge.
“Really, is there anyone who hasn’t at least once wanted to kill someone like that guy? Of course, there are saint-like people out there. But most people aren’t like that.”
“What nonsense are you spouting now?”
“I’m in no place to speak casually, but I mean Your Highness has every right to feel that way.”
“…You really do speak carelessly. What do you know?”
His voice dropped again.
“Well, sorry if I offended you. I won’t bring it up again.”
Sonidor thought back to the first time she saw Marmel in the dream. He was like a dormant volcano on the verge of eruption—like the calm before a storm. He was so unstable, two conflicting images overlapped. Originally, her mission ended the moment he awakened. What came after wasn’t her concern. But the more they spoke, the more she felt sympathy. She wasn’t a heartless puppet, after all.
“Anyway, what I meant is—escaping this place using deep hatred won’t work. Hatred burns bright and strong, but it has a short life. It quickly fades into emptiness.”
Though they were now talking at close range, Marmel was the empire’s only crown prince, and she was a lowly dream crafter. If he woke up, he wouldn’t even look her way. Or she’d be dead before that. Still, she hoped that what happened in this dream would influence him in a positive way.
“There’s a reason I called it ‘hope,’ Your Highness. There’s a reason I spoke of beauty. Those things are subtle and easy to overlook, but they always light a small spark in the heart. There are many ways to nurture that spark, but the surest way is through bonds between people.”
That’s where the source lies. Faith, belief, affection, and desire—all stem from that. Just as she added those words, Marmel once again grabbed the wren perched on his head. He looked down at her with a dissatisfied expression as she trembled, unable to make a sound.
“You’re an optimist.”
“What more can you expect from a dream crafter?”
“Hah. Bonds between people, huh. Fine. Let’s say you’re right. Where in this dream do you expect me to form such bonds?”
“Well… I guess there’s only me.”
Sonidor responded in a trembling voice, though tinged with a smile.
