Chapter 79
The very first thought I had upon opening my eyes was…
“…It hurts.”
It was my cheek that hurt.
When I absentmindedly touched my cheek, I could feel heat radiating from it.
Still rubbing my cheek, I looked around.
I was lying on a sandy beach. Every time I moved my arms, grains of sand slid off my body.
I was still wondering where I was when a voice beside me woke me up.
“Oh, you’re finally awake?”
I turned my head to see a woman sitting next to me, looking down at me.
Her face was obscured by shadow, so I couldn’t make out her features.
But her voice alone was enough for me to guess what she might look like.
“You finally got up.”
The voice was familiar—but rather than the déjà vu, a question came first.
“…Were you the one who hit me?”
It was a question of whether she had slapped me.
“Huh? Uh… yeah.”
“Why?”
“You wouldn’t wake up…”
“So you hit me?”
“…Yeah.”
If you want to wake someone up, you shake their shoulder. Who slaps someone’s cheek?
I wanted to scold her for it, but since it was our first meeting, I held back.
Slowly, I sat up.
My body felt heavy—proof that falling into the water hadn’t been a dream.
At my words, she faltered, her lips fumbling for an excuse.
“Uh, I thought humans… all woke up like that…”
“And?”
“…Sorry.”
Well, at least she apologized.
I nodded, accepting it as forgiveness, and looked at her as she sat there politely on her knees.
‘As I thought, she looks the same.’
It wasn’t just the voice.
She had the exact same face as one of my students.
The difference was the tangled white branches woven into her hair, and the peculiar outfit she wore that resembled priestly robes.
Because of that, even though the face was the same, her impression felt completely different.
“Who are you?”
“I’m a fairy.”
“Not that. Your name. I already know you’re a fairy.”
“Oh… really?”
The seal-fairy had said it would bring me to the king, so by the looks of it, she must be the king.
She scratched her head, looking flustered at my reaction.
“That’s not how it’s supposed to go… Um, well, I’m the fairy king. I can’t tell humans my true name, but you can call me ‘Aube.’”
“Alright, Aube. I’m Wilhelmina. I’m the one your subordinate seal kidnapped.”
“Mm, sorry about that.”
The fairy king, Aube, dusted off her clothes and stood up.
“That child really loves songs and food, you see. Because of the songs you sang, it got excited. Then, after eating such delicious food, I suppose it felt it had to repay you somehow.”
“…And bringing me here is repayment?”
Before my eyes stretched an endless ocean, a boundless sandy shore, hills blooming with unknown flowers, a pastel-colored sky… It was a world straight out of a fairytale. It was obvious this wasn’t reality.
“Mm-hm. Do you know of the fairy country? A paradise on earth, where everything is beautiful, where you can meet those you wish to see—an illusory world. I brought you here.”
I had heard of it.
In stories and legends, the fairy country was a place where one never felt hunger, sorrow, or anger, but lived eternally in love and happiness.
But I had never heard of anyone who’d actually been there.
“Well, it doesn’t seem much of a reward to you. You’d rather go back right away, wouldn’t you?”
“…You can read minds?”
“I can, but I didn’t. Your face says it all.”
She smiled mischievously as she studied my expression.
“Let’s see… You’re wondering whether I caused you to dream, why I look like this, where Nata and Rohan are… those kinds of thoughts, right?”
“You’re sharp. So, will you answer me?”
“Hehe, slowly. We have plenty of time.”
She began walking leisurely in the direction of the sun.
When I stayed still, she gestured lightly for me to follow.
Leaving the gentle sound of the waves behind us, we started walking.
“Truth is, I didn’t plan to invite you here. I meant to simply gift you a pleasant dream as thanks for being kind to my child, and then send you back.”
She kicked playfully at a small dune, then sighed.
“But… I definitely sent you a dream of your ‘happiest time.’ Yet, it twisted into a dream of your death.”
“…I didn’t do that.”
“I know. It must be because of the peculiarity of your soul. With two souls overlapping, my dream must have warped.”
So it was because I was a reincarnated soul.
‘And she knows I was reincarnated, too.’
Well, since she had meddled in that dream, it was only natural that she’d know.
“The dreams I give have some influence on reality. If you had finished that dream, you might have met the same ending. So I had no choice but to force my way into it—and in doing so, I brought you here.”
Unconsciously, I touched my chest.
At her words, I felt a faint pain stirring.
The burning sensation spreading from the blade, the warmth draining from my fingertips… Even experiencing it twice didn’t make it any easier to endure.
It wasn’t something easily forgotten.
“I didn’t mean to steal your dream. If it upset you, I’m sorry.”
“…No, if that’s how it was, then I understand.”
Even if the dream was the cause, I couldn’t blame someone who had saved my life.
At my words, Aube grinned sheepishly and continued.
“And as for why I appeared in this form… it’s because my true appearance is harmful to humans. Just looking could blind you. So I took the form of someone from your dream. Her voice also happened to be the key that woke you.”
Indeed, in that fading moment of death, it was Aube’s voice piercing my mind that allowed me to hold on.
‘But to reproduce someone so perfectly just from a dream…’
It made me realize once again how incredible magic was—or perhaps how extraordinary Aube was as a fairy.
“…You’re not surprised?”
“Huh? I’m very surprised.”
Not only at the magic, but at meeting the fairy king herself and being brought into a fantastical world from a fairytale—I was deeply shaken.
Wondering if it didn’t show on my face, I touched my cheeks, but Aube sighed.
“That’s not what I meant. I mean, you’re not surprised by this contrived situation.”
“Well, about this world or the fairies…”
“You brushed off the fact that you nearly died.”
“…”
“A normal human would be shaken, or furious, or relieved to be alive. But you weren’t. The only emotion you showed was… hmm.”
“Human words are tricky,” she muttered, searching for the right one.
“Right—‘lucky me.’ That was the extent of it. You were surprised you survived, but you weren’t afraid. You didn’t feel relief, either.”
She snapped off a twig from the branch in her hair and swung it like a wand.
A faint light flew from its tip and landed on my chest.
The lingering pain vanished instantly.
“That kind of attitude is far too arrogant for a human. You belittle your own life, push away your passion for living, all while worrying excessively for others. And then you give up on your own life so casually.”
“Give up… you say.”
“When unavoidable death comes, you resign yourself with an ‘oh well.’ You tell yourself your life could end anytime, so don’t expect much… you’ve abandoned resolve. Am I wrong?”
Aube swung the branch again, this time pointing it directly at me.
“You mustn’t, Wilhelmina. That sort of composure doesn’t make you strong. Humans must cling desperately and stubbornly to life. A person who doesn’t care for themselves has no right to love others. All the more so if…”
Tap. The branch touched my chest.
“…if you’ve saved another’s life. You cannot become an adult who then abandons your own. I hate adults like that.”
“I hate adults.”
…It was something I couldn’t forget, even in death.
“Was that… your thought, Aube? Or…?”
“Who knows? I only copied her appearance, I can’t know her true heart. But if she were standing here, I can imagine what she would’ve said. Even from just a glimpse, I could feel the bond between you two.”
Aube closed her eyes and, as if becoming her, scolded me.
“If it were that girl… yes, she would’ve said this.”
“…‘I don’t accept novels without happy endings, teacher.’”
It felt less like Aube, and more like I was truly speaking to her. I held my breath without even realizing it.
