Chapter 52
Ariella touched her forehead.
‘What’s going on?’
Just a moment ago, she had a slight fever.
‘The fever’s completely gone?’
The change happened the moment she drank Phily’s tea.
A cool feeling spread through her body, washing away the muscle aches. The refreshing energy even brought her slightly high temperature back to normal.
‘I feel completely fine.’
Her stuffy nose was clear, and her heavy body felt light again.
It was almost like magic.
She exclaimed in surprise.
“Phily!”
The fairy jumped at her voice. By then, Phily had already eaten half of the cookies on the plate in front of her at incredible speed.
With cookie crumbs all over her mouth, Phily stammered,
“Uh, I-I ate too much, didn’t I? Should I… bring more cookies?”
Phily looked guilty, but Ariella wasn’t paying attention to cookies at all.
“This tea, what is it? It smells different than usual. Did you add something?”
“Oh! You noticed?”
Relieved, Phily smiled brightly.
“I mixed in some medicinal herbs with the tea I served today.”
“Medicinal herbs?”
“Yes! You didn’t look well today, so I added some herbs that fairies drink when we feel sick.”
“But… can herbs really work this fast?”
Even back when she was a princess, palace doctors would carefully choose herbs and brew them, but nothing had worked this quickly.
It was the same here in the Demon Realm.
The plants were different from the human world, but their effects were about the same.
However, the tea Phily made was on a completely different level.
“These herbs only grow in the Fairy Forest. Demons can’t easily get them.”
“The Fairy Forest…”
Ariella repeated the name seriously.
Phily had said she took many dried plants with her when she left home. Fairies could carry several times their body weight with ease, so it hadn’t been a problem for her.
“So this can’t be found outside the forest? Not through normal trade routes?”
“Probably not. I heard they only have this effect when they grow inside the Fairy Forest.”
Ariella could guess the reason.
“Because they grow in the soil near the World Tree?”
“Exactly!”
The Fairy Forest was not under any Demon King’s rule. No magical sun rose there, and it was night all year round.
Even so, plants grew there, animals lived there, and the land stayed bright enough for life to thrive.
That was thanks to the World Tree in the forest’s center.
The World Tree served a role similar to the magical sun in a Demon King’s Domain. Instead of spreading heat and light from the sky, it spread magical power through the ground.
The forest, blessed with this mystical life force, was richer and denser than any jungle nearby.
That was why its plants held incredible power and mystery.
“So… the herbs I drank are rare, even for you fairies?”
“No?”
Phily blinked, thinking for a moment.
“I’ve never had trouble finding them. They grow everywhere near the streams.”
She even said they grew like weeds—pluck them, and they’d grow back again and again.
That too was because of the World Tree’s power.
“Honestly, if I pick some and turn around, they’d already grow back. It’s almost like that.”
To fairies, these herbs were just a common, overflowing resource.
Ariella’s eyes grew thoughtful.
“Then why don’t you sell them outside? If they can’t be found anywhere else, that means there’s no trade at all, right?”
“Oh? You’re right…”
The Fairy Forest never traded with the outside world.
Phily admitted she had never thought about it; it was just too obvious to her.
“I guess… it’s because we don’t have a reason to.”
Trade usually began with exchanging surplus goods between groups, then later involved money.
“But fairies don’t care about money. We’re self-sufficient inside the forest.”
“So the forest is so abundant that fairies don’t feel the need to reach outside?”
“Yes. And the bigger problem is… even if demons wanted to trade, they can’t enter the forest. To buy or sell anything, you need to meet, and that’s impossible.”
It was a rule fairies had protected for a long time.
“Demons aren’t allowed inside the forest, right?”
“More precisely, ‘any race that uses fire’ is banned. A protective barrier keeps them out.”
It was a law to protect the World Tree, which could never be risked. Fairies never lit fires, even in daily life.
“Races that use fire… so basically everyone except fairies?”
“Yes. Even orcs use fire to cook their food.”
Anyone from outside who entered would be cursed.
Not even the strongest Demon Kings dared to invade the Fairy Forest.
“Then… couldn’t fairies come out to trade with demons instead?”
Phily’s expression clouded a little.
She hesitated before answering.
“But… ‘normal’ fairies never leave the forest.”
There was a hint of shame in her voice, as if she saw herself as a failure for leaving.
It almost sounded like she was saying she wasn’t a “normal” fairy.
“Fairies believe they must live in the forest. If you even mention leaving, they treat you like you’re crazy. So… I guess I’m abnormal for living here.”
Phily saw herself as an outcast, pushed away from fairy society.
Ariella watched Phily’s downcast expression for a moment before speaking in a firm voice.
“Then you had the courage to think of something no other fairy thought of, and to do what no other fairy has done.”
“Huh? Uh… I-I guess so?”
Phily’s face twitched slightly.
The same words sounded completely different when Ariella said them with such warmth.
After sipping her tea again, Ariella said in admiration,
“I’ve thought this for a while, Phily, but you’re really a special fairy.”
“Special?”
“Yes. Anyone can live the way others live. New things are always scary, and most people avoid them. It takes courage to break through that fear. But you did it.”
“…Courage.”
Phily whispered softly, almost shocked.
Ariella was the first person who had ever said something like that to her.
The human and fairy sat across from each other, silent for a moment.
Then Ariella spoke again.
“I’ve had an idea. Something for the future of this land.”
“What is it?”
“It’s something only you can do, Philie. You’re the only fairy who’s chosen to walk and fly through the outside world.”
The Demon Realm and Fairy Forest had been completely separate worlds.
But now, Ariella saw the one person who could connect them.
The one fairy who could cross both worlds.
Ariella gently took Philie’s small hands in her own.
“Please, Phily.”
A few moments later, Ariella was on her way back to her room from the library.
“Huh? What’s going on?”
Ludwig was standing in front of her door. He had never come all the way to her room before, so Ariella was surprised.
“Were you waiting for me? Why?”
“…”
“If it was urgent, you could’ve come to the library. Why wait here—”
Suddenly—
Ludwig’s long arm stretched out toward her before she could finish.
“Take this.”
She instinctively opened her hand, and he placed something in her palm.
It was a small, red berry that looked like a cherry.
“It’s good for colds. Eat it whole before you sleep. It works well. A little bitter, though.”
So… he had been waiting just to give her this?
He must have remembered how sick she had looked during their meeting.
‘Wow… This guy never pays attention to things like this.’
But he was a little late.
Phily’s tea had already cured her completely.
“…Oh. Thank you.”
Instead of telling him she didn’t need it, she just thanked him.
Ludwig didn’t reply. He simply turned around and walked away.
“Huh? He just says what he wants and leaves.”
Back in her room, Ariella put the berry in her mouth and carefully bit into it.
It was bitter at first, just as Ludwig had said, but a faint sweetness followed.
“…Not bad.”
A few days later.
Ariella and Ludwig left the Demon King’s Domain.
“Oh, is that it?”
The forest’s edge was finally in sight.
Ariella asked, and a voice answered from her backpack.
“Yes! That’s the place.”
Flutter!
Phily flew out of the bag.
The human, demon, and fairy all stared at the forest ahead.
It looked nothing like an ordinary forest; a faint, star-like glow surrounded its borders.
‘Humans or demons who enter will get lost… and maybe die.’
Even Ludwig would be in danger, unless he burned the whole forest down.
That was why Ariella had brought Phily with her, despite the fairy’s dislike of leaving the library.
“Phily, I’m counting on you. Like I said, this is important for our Demon King’s Domain.”
Phily’s face turned serious.
“Since you’re asking me personally, Lady Ariella… I’ll succeed and come back safely!”
She spread her wings and flew toward the forest.
