I Raised Snow White!

After finishing my conversation with the Princess, I returned to my room and looked at Ainsel’s main body that I had hung on the wall earlier.

I was worried since Ainsel, who had been unresponsive since I left the room, still showed no signs of activity.

‘…She said it would be fine with just a duplicate.’

I let out a small sigh and gazed at the mirror, which used to be Ainsel’s duplicate in my room.

Like the earrings, fragments of the mirror were scattered messily across the floor.

Come to think of it, what on earth was that image reflected in the mirror when the King touched Ainsel?

As if it showed past moments or times of happiness, Ainsel seemed to be reflecting scenes like that for the King.

Just as the King had touched Ainsel, I spread my palm and swept my hand over Ainsel’s main body.

However, the mirror showed no response and only reflected my own image standing in front of it, like any ordinary mirror.

“Sigh… What should I do?”

I was at a loss for what to do with Ainsel.

As I kept sighing in frustration, Sylph, who had been fluttering around in the air, sat on my shoulder, crossing her legs and resting her chin on her hand.

I stroked Sylph’s head with my finger as she sat on my shoulder, thinking that perhaps Sylph, a fellow fairy, might know what had happened to Ainsel.

“Sylph, do you happen to know why Ainsel is like this?”

-Of course, I do.

“Then—”

When I turned to look at her, Sylph gazed at me with a look that seemed to expect something.

Ah, that’s right. Fairies don’t help witches without compensation.

Following what I had learned from Ainsel, I gathered magic power and formed it into a round, candy-like shape.

Handing it to Sylph, she accepted the large candy, smiling shyly as she held it in her tiny hands.

-Hehe, yes, that’s it. When you ask a favor of a fairy, always have a payment prepared. Something made of magic power, or something else that fairies like.

Licking the large magical candy with a blissful expression, Sylph held her cheek with one hand in delight.

Then she floated gently into the air and approached Ainsel.

-The reason Ainsel ended up like this is due to something called a ‘rebound’ from the contract. It’s like a punishment for fairies or witches who fail to fulfill a contract.

“So it was because of the contract…”

-For instance, even now, if I were to say nothing despite receiving candy from you, I’d receive a ‘rebound’ like Ainsel’s. The specifics would be a little different, though.

Sylph, who had been licking the large candy intently, came close to me and looked at me.

Then she let out a small sigh before settling back down on my shoulder.

-In this case, usually she’d regain consciousness with time, but no one knows when that will be. Fairies perceive time differently than humans do, so it might be after you’ve died by the time she opens her eyes.

For a moment, a sinking feeling weighed on my chest.

Now I understood why Ainsel had tried so hard not to speak of the First Queen.

Ainsel must have known that if she lost consciousness due to a ‘rebound,’ she wouldn’t know when she would wake up.

Suddenly, I recalled what Ainsel had said just before I entered the room.

“…Are you really okay?”

-…Yes, I’m fine. Besides, I have you, don’t I?

…I couldn’t just stand by and do nothing.

I had to find a way to restore Ainsel’s consciousness somehow.

Ainsel had trusted me and taken responsibility, so I needed to do something for her in return.

I created another large magical candy and handed it to Sylph.

Understanding what I was about to ask, Sylph nodded broadly and looked at me as she held the candy.

-There are two ways to heal Ainsel.

Sylph glanced toward Ainsel and sighed softly.

Then she turned back to me and continued her explanation.

-The first is the ‘death’ of the other party. If the ragdoll that placed the contract on Ainsel dies, Ainsel would eventually wake up, though it may take some time.

That phrase, “it may take some time,” felt like a fishbone caught in my throat, making me uncomfortable.

Fairy and human perceptions of time differ, so no one could say how long that time might actually be.

And what did she mean by “ragdoll”?

Now that I think of it, Sylph had called Aurora in that room “a ragdoll stitched together with the corpse of a Leannán Sidhe.”

“Ragdoll?”

-You know, the woman who strangled you. It’s what we call her, someone who has forcibly stitched her soul into the corpse of a Leannán Sidhe. What else could you call her? She’s already rotting and will soon die on her own, so the first method might be the best option.

“W-Wait, what? Die on her own? Stitched her soul forcibly?”

As I continued asking questions, Sylph gave me an annoyed, sulky look.

Earlier, I had been too overwhelmed to notice, but now I couldn’t ignore it.

I needed an explanation for what exactly she meant.

This time, I made two more magic candies and offered them to Sylph.

In response, she glared at me with an even grumpier expression.

“…One more?”

“…Two more.”

It was the first time I had used so much magic, and I felt dizzy, but I gathered my remaining strength to create two more large candies in the shape of round sweets.

Sylph, delighted at the four candies in my hand, let out a giggle, spun in the air, and then nestled herself between the candies in my palm.

-To start, about that ‘ragdoll’—that woman isn’t actually a fairy. She’s something like an ‘artificial fairy,’ created as a result of someone’s twisted hobby. She’s a creature stitched together from a Leannán Sidhe’s corpse and a human soul, so I call her a ragdoll.

…Aurora had mentioned a “certain someone” as if referring to a third party.

Could it be that someone had taught Aurora about fairies? And that this someone had turned Aurora into a ragdoll?

As I pondered, Sylph, perched in my palm, grabbed one of my fingers.

The warmth, texture, and scent of her tiny hand were all vivid as Sylph continued her story.

-At that time, you couldn’t touch that woman, right? That’s the difference between fairies and spirits. Witches can touch fairies, but they can’t touch spirits, which are beings of the spirit world.

So that’s why I couldn’t grab Aurora’s arm back then, even though I flailed my hands.

Now that I understood, I automatically nodded in agreement.

-And besides, those “ambiguous beings” don’t live long anyway. She may have been sustaining herself with blood and energy in the way that Leannán Sidhe feed, but that, too, will come to an end soon.

Clicking her tongue, Sylph licked her large candy and let out a sigh.

-The idea of “becoming one” was likely a lie spun by some malicious person. Pooling blood and energy together to “become one?” What a ridiculous notion.

“…So, there was no way for them to truly become one in the first place?”

At my question, Sylph let out a mocking laugh.

-The Leannán Sidhe’s way of feeding is just that: a “meal.” Just as you eat when you’re hungry, a Leannán Sidhe consumes the blood and energy of her chosen prey. It’s merely a basic “meal,” nothing more and nothing less.

“Then, what happens to the soul in the body after a Leannán Sidhe finishes feeding?”

Sylph stood up and flew around me in circles, mimicking a gagging sound as if disgusted by the very thought of it.

-The Reaper would take them to the underworld. There’s no chance they’d stay with the ragdoll.

At that, I frowned.

So, as Aurora had mentioned, they would never truly “be together.”

She had been deceived by someone’s sweet lies and ultimately played the fool.

Seeing my frustrated expression, Sylph patted my furrowed brow as if telling me not to look so irritated.

She gently smoothed out my frown and gave me a small smile.

-Now then, the second way to heal Ainsel.

Sylph fluttered over to my dressing table, opened a drawer, and pulled out an envelope from the depths, handing it to me.

It was the ‘Coven’s Invitation’ delivered to me by the white owl.

-I’ve heard that there’s a “doctor” in the Coven who treats fairies. I haven’t met them myself, but other fairies have bragged about going there and having their injuries healed.

“A witch…who acts as a doctor for fairies?”

So far, my image of witches had been cemented as malicious beings like Vivian.

But a witch acting as a doctor for fairies?

Could it be possible that truly good witches actually existed?

-The witch’s name is…

I leaned closer, focusing on Sylph’s words.

If a kind witch really existed, I wanted to meet her at least once.

However, when I heard the witch’s name, I couldn’t help but open my eyes wide in surprise.

-“Frankenstein.”

“…What?”

The “Frankenstein” I know?

*

Inside the King’s secluded chamber, Aurora was preparing her final meal.

Finally, the time for the last meal had come, and Aurora hummed a tune as she ran her hand up the back of the King’s neck, who had been possessed by her corpse.

If she could just sink her fangs in one last time and drink his blood…

“Haa… At last, we can be together, Your Majesty.”

Aurora wasted no time.

Opening her mouth wide, she bared her fangs and sank them into the neck of the King, possessed by her corpse.

Even though his skin wasn’t pierced, somehow blood flowed up through her teeth.

It was cold, lifeless blood, without any warmth or passion—a tasteless, repugnant meal.

But Aurora greedily drank, determined not to let a single drop remain.

With each swallow, her body trembled.

The corpse, growing colder and as frigid as it could possibly get, lifted a trembling hand to touch her face.

Ah, finally.

Finally, His Majesty is looking at me.

Overwhelmed with emotion, Aurora continued drinking his blood.

Just one more mouthful, the final sip, and she would have drained every last bit of blood and energy from the corpse.

With her mouth full of blood and energy, she pleaded in a cracked voice, as if leaving her last will.

“…I can’t… see you… Aurora…”

Gulp.

Aurora swallowed the last of the energy, then looked down at the lifeless corpse with closed eyes.

She wept in joy, believing that, as ‘he’ had promised, this was the moment she would become one with His Majesty.

But…

“Your Majesty…?”

Even as time passed, no voice answered her.

There was no warmth, no gaze, no sound from him.

Aurora looked down at her own decaying corpse lying on the ground.

She could even feel her body starting to dissolve.

The arm that had touched the corpse rotted and, suddenly, thudded to the floor.

“What…? Why…?”

The decay spread across her body, expanding with each passing moment.

After her arm fell, her foot crumbled and broke away as well.

Realizing something was terribly wrong, Aurora called out in desperation.

“Your Majesty…! Your Majesty…! Where are you? Your Majesty…!”

According to ‘her’ words, His Majesty was supposed to be by her side.

‘She’ had assured her: if she drained all of His Majesty’s blood, they would live happily together forever in the Fairy Realm.

“No, no! This isn’t right! Your Majesty! Your Majesty!!!”

Both her hands had already fallen away, and now, with only her left foot intact, her legs were crumbling.

Cracks began spreading across her body, and she could no longer float in the air, forced to crawl along the ground.

“No, this… this isn’t what I wanted…! You said so! You said we would truly become one…! You said you supported our love!”

Aurora crawled along the floor toward her own corpse, wailing.

She wept, rolling on the ground, insisting that this couldn’t be happening, that it was all a lie.

“You were the one who helped me all this time… so why… why is this happening…? All I wanted… was to be alone with His Majesty…”

Dragging herself along the ground like a caterpillar, Aurora lifted her head and cried out.

As her body decayed and crumbled, she curled up over her corpse.

“Your Majesty, Your Majesty… Please, please, open your eyes. Please, just—”

As she spoke, her jaw fell off with a clatter.

Realizing she could no longer call out to her beloved, Aurora shed only tears.

Her jaw dropped, and the root of her tongue was torn out.

Crumbled, and crumbling.

As Aurora disintegrated into particles, the last person she thought of was not her beloved nor her enemy, but ‘that person’—the one who had deceived her.

The woman with hair as dark as the night sky.

Eyes deep and dark like an abyss and red as blood.

What had she done so wrong to deserve this punishment?

Unable to understand, Aurora shed tears.

Thus, Aurora, whose body rotted and crumbled away, died with her fading consciousness, lamenting her love for His Majesty and the injustice she felt.

There was no longer any living soul left in the room.

Only two corpses remained, lying in the chamber.