Chapter 10
“…Well, if you really want, there might be another way.”
Noah, who had seemed ready to kill the troublesome Regina at any moment, held back his impulse once more. There were too many uncertainties about killing her right away. Regina was unlike any other Black Fairy he had encountered before. Noah wanted to observe this intriguing subject a bit longer.
“What way?” Regina asked urgently at Noah’s suggestion. She was convinced that this man had done something to steal Emma’s memories. Regina looked up at Noah with desperate eyes, hoping for a solution.
“An illusion is a power that a newly born Black Fairy instinctively uses. To control that power freely, you need to acknowledge that you are a Black Fairy. And for that, you need to… consume a human.”
“I am human!”
“Well, then that method is impossible.”
At the mention of consuming a human, Regina screamed in horror. Noah shrugged and immediately gave up on that idea. It had seemed too easy anyway. As Noah muttered under his breath, Regina anxiously asked again.
“There must be another way to restore Emma’s memory, right?”
“Look, Regina. Your maid hasn’t lost her memories. The illusion you cast has just broken. You don’t seem to understand, so why don’t you see for yourself?”
“See what…?”
Noah, tired of repeating himself, snapped his fingers lightly in front of Emma, who was standing blankly beside them. Regina tried to stop him, but Emma reacted before she could.
“Oh my! What am I doing here? I need to get back quickly!”
“Emma?!”
As soon as Emma regained her senses, she hurriedly climbed into the carriage without even glancing at Regina. Shocked by this strange behavior, Regina looked back and forth between Noah and Emma. Noah gestured for her to follow.
“Your maid is heading to your mansion. You should follow her. I’ll come by after I clean up here, so don’t think of escaping.”
Noah smiled slyly, revealing and then hiding his sharp fangs. Regina gulped nervously and glared at him before quickly turning around to chase after Emma. Desperate to get away from Noah, she climbed into the carriage as if fleeing.
As soon as Emma and Regina sat down, the coachman and guards, who had been sitting idly nearby, awkwardly rose to their feet. They, too, seemed dazed, as if under a spell.
Soon, the carriage started to move slowly. Only then did Regina let out a deep sigh of relief. She saw Noah standing outside, watching them, and hastily pulled the curtains shut. The carriage interior grew dark, filled with an eerie silence.
“…Emma?”
“…”
Regina cautiously called out to Emma, but received no response. Emma sat upright, staring blankly ahead like a doll.
“What on earth is happening, Emma? Everything will be back to normal when we get home, right? Right?”
“…”
Regina hugged her shoulders tightly, trying to comfort herself. She leaned her head against the shaking wall of the carriage and gazed at the expressionless Emma. She desperately hoped that all of this was just a dream. Closing her eyes slowly, Regina wished with all her heart that things would return to normal.
* * *
The cold wind made her shiver. Regina, who had dozed off, woke up, unable to withstand the creeping chill.
“…What?”
When she opened her eyes, Emma, who had been sitting opposite her, was gone. So were the coachman and guards. The carriage door was open, and Regina was left alone, having fallen asleep. Startled, she stood up and got off the carriage, finding herself at the mansion’s carriage storage area.
“Ah, finally, I’m home!”
Ignoring the fact that everyone had disappeared without her, Regina hurriedly ran inside the mansion. She just wanted to see everyone’s faces as soon as possible.
“Father, Mother! Nanny!”
The mansion was dark. If silence had weight, it would feel like this. Regina felt uneasy at the unfamiliar appearance of the mansion and quickened her pace.
“Butler! Emma? Is anyone here?!”
As she passed through the unlit hallway, calling for people, there was no response. Regina felt her breathing quicken. Barely able to steady her trembling legs, she climbed to the second floor and opened her bedroom door.
Anyone, please come out. I’m scared.
– Bang!
As she opened the door, someone was sitting on the floor, hunched over and sobbing. The room was dark, so she couldn’t see their face well, but Regina quickly realized who it was.
“Nanny!”
At Regina’s voice, the hunched figure flinched and raised her head. It was the nanny, her face streaked with tears. She looked at Regina with a shocked expression.
“Nanny, why are you crying?! What are you doing here? Where is everyone else?”
“…”
Regina approached the crying nanny.
“Nanny? Why aren’t you answering? And why are you holding my dress?”
At Regina’s question, the nanny looked down at her hands. Only then did she remember that she had been clutching Regina’s dress and started to cry even more.
“Ah, Miss!”
“Nanny?”
The nanny, without answering Regina’s questions, clutched the dress tightly and sobbed uncontrollably. Startled, Regina took a step closer, but the nanny shook her head while crying. In the darkness, Regina’s eyes glowed a vivid violet.
Ah, this girl before me is not human.
“…You’re a fairy, a Black Fairy. Please go back. Return to the forest. Don’t make us sadder.”
“Nanny, it’s me!”
“Come here, Black Fairy. I’ll show you your true self.”
When Regina called out, the nanny stood up and approached her, tears still streaming down her face. She gently took Regina by the shoulders and led her to the dressing table. The faint light from the room dimly reflected Regina’s image in the mirror.
“Our Miss Regina had lovely brown hair. Her eyes were a clear green, like new sprouts, and she had cute freckles on her nose. She always wanted to hide those freckles, but I found them so endearing.”
Regina’s violet eyes widened as she looked in the mirror. The reflection showed someone entirely different from the Regina described by the nanny. The person in the mirror had wavy black hair, amethyst-like violet eyes, and clear, freckle-free white skin.
“That’s a lie!”
Regina hastily pushed away the nanny’s hands from her shoulders. With a thud, her dress fell to the floor. The nanny bent over to pick it up and held it tightly against her chest.
“Our Miss Regina died in a carriage accident a week ago. You must have come from the Fairy Forest. My grandfather told me about it. It’s a place where Black Fairies live, imitating the appearance and voice of the dead to deceive the living. Your voice is just like Miss Regina’s.”
Tears continued to stream down the nanny’s deeply wrinkled cheeks.
“Why, why are you saying this, Nanny! Don’t say strange things! It’s me, I’m Regina!”
Regina felt trapped. What was this? Was she still dreaming? It didn’t feel real.
“That’s right, I went to Maggie’s mansion today and saw a monster. And I saw a strange man tampering with Emma’s memory! It’s because of that man. Nanny, wake up, it’s me! Please recognize me!”
Regina desperately explained, clutching the nanny’s arms, but the nanny didn’t listen. She buried her face in Regina’s dress and resumed crying.
“Don’t do this, Nanny. It’s scary, please don’t do this to me!”
Unable to hold back her tears, Regina clung to the nanny’s arm and sobbed. She pulled at the nanny’s collar like a child throwing a tantrum, crying out of fear. The nanny, despite her tears, raised her head and spoke gently.
“…Little fairy, go to the basement. The master and madam are still clinging to the lady there. See the truth there. Don’t cry here, return to the forest.”
The nanny’s warm, rough hands caressed Regina’s cheeks, wiping away her tears.
“Nanny!”
As Regina sobbed and called out to her, the nanny shook her head quietly.
“You are not my little lady. Here, it’s cold, so wear this.”
The nanny took out a coat from the pile of Regina’s clothes and draped it over the young girl who looked and sounded like her young mistress. The nanny wasn’t afraid of this bizarre situation. The sight of the black-haired girl crying somehow overlapped with Miss Regina, making her heart ache. She shook her head to clear her thoughts.
When the Black Fairy calls you,
It means a loved one has left your side.
Determined not to be deceived, the nanny steeled her heart, but every time the black-haired girl called out to her, her heart felt like it was being torn apart, and tears flowed endlessly.
“My dear little lady.”
As she fastened the coat on the black-haired girl, the nanny hugged her tightly. The warmth comforted the girl, whose face, filled with confusion and fear, relaxed a bit. That was enough for the nanny. She gently pushed Regina’s back.
“Thank you for letting me say goodbye, little fairy. Now, go back carefully.”
“Nanny!”
Regina, who had been embraced in the familiar warmth of her nanny, was gently pushed away. She reached out with an anxious expression, but the nanny’s touch was firm, refusing to let her cling to her again.
“Go to the basement and see the truth.”
The nanny repeated this, guiding Regina out of the room. Regina resisted, saying she didn’t want to go, but the nanny didn’t give her the answers she wanted. Eventually, the door closed firmly in Regina’s face as she stood in the hallway.
“Nanny, Nanny! Please open the door, Nanny!”
Bang, bang, she pounded on the door, but there was no answer. Regina, who had started crying again, called out desperately, but the nanny did not respond to her voice.
“I’m scared. Don’t do this!”
Even when she grabbed the doorknob with both hands and shook it violently, it didn’t budge. Regina cried loudly. After a long time with no response, she had no choice but to head toward the basement, as the nanny had instructed.
Wiping away falling tears with the back of her hand, Regina walked down the hallway. No matter how hard she tried to stop crying, sobs kept escaping her lips. The dark, cold hallway felt unlike the mansion she knew.
She wished someone would come running out and hug her tightly. As she walked, trembling and crying, her shadow stretched long down the hallway.
If this wasn’t a dream, then what was it? What had happened to her?
Nous_Defions
I’m already hooked! The cover is just like any fantasy, romance novel… But what’s inside is truly a gem!