(EP-305.2) Princess #3
305 – Fairy Princess #3
Then she’ll definitely praise me a lot.
With that thought, I hid inside something like a large jar and closed the lid.
I didn’t like tight, dark spaces. But the thought of the praise I’d soon receive made me feel better so that I could endure it.
And so, time passed slowly, one by one...
By the time my count had reached several hundred, I suddenly realized—what am I doing right now?
Rustle.
Just then, I heard something move beside me, and with a heightened sense, I opened my eyes. Instead of the cramped jar, I saw nothing but the worn ceiling of the old cabin.
“A dream?”
It felt too vivid to be just a dream. There was a strange sense of nostalgia. Was it a memory from my childhood? I got up as I cleared my body stained with emotions.
Now I saw that Stella’s spot was empty.
When I stepped outside, Stella was meditating in a strange yoga pose in the forest. It was before dawn, and the sun had yet to rise.
I couldn’t help but admire her dedication, but it also made me feel like I couldn’t just sit idly by. Even though it was summer, the early morning air in the north was cool, and I immediately felt awake.
I sat down lightly and tried meditating myself.
They say that in learning immortal arts, it’s good to sometimes empty your thoughts and mind like an unmoving rock.
Of course, meditation was like a muscle that you need to train. For a beginner like me, my thoughts often wandered.
What came to mind was a memory.
The warmth and scent of Elga or Mirna’s soft skin, or perhaps the taste of the soap that had covered Aira’s body.
Seriously, I licked the soap off someone’s body.
Even though it was edible soap, thinking back now, it was an odd but funny situation.
“Theo-kun, it’s lunchtime. Meditation is good, but do it after lunch.”
“Lunch?”
I realized that the sun was now high above my head. It had been early morning when I first started meditating. I was taken aback by how quickly time had passed.
A wolf then approached us and nodded. It meant one thing.
Seuk.
I handed the apple I had been eating back to Stella and entered the cave where the white wolf was lying down.
━Little fairy child, let me tell you one last story.
The white wolf Tasagan paused for a moment before slowly beginning her tale. The story she shared went like this:
━Even for the most beautiful lovers, fate can be cruel. The man began to grow weak, slowly marching towards death.
The man—Isaiah’s health gradually deteriorated, and his once confident face became gaunt, his cheekbones sharply protruding.
Eventually, it seemed his mind began to falter as well. He wandered the forest at night like a madman, sometimes rambling nonsensically at the empty air.
Pehaps it was the curse that plagued the Angmar family. As I formed my own guesses, the wolf concluded its story.
━Not long after, the man disappeared. No one knew if he had gone back south where he had come from or where he had gone. The nymph was heartbroken, and we were worried.
It was said that all living creatures felt concern for the nymph who was now left alone, as losing a mate was devastating. But the nymph wasn’t entirely alone.
━The nymph had a child. A very small child. I still remember the scent—the smell of grass and wildflowers... It smelled just like you, half-fairy, Theo Gospel.
The nymph and the small child were said to be a happy mother and son.
They would look for streams.
They would draw pictures on pebbles, and even built a small cabin and play hide-and-seek inside.
━But the world is often cruel. Death comes without regard for order. One day, the child fell ill. Even Angala-nim’s medicine didn’t help.
“So, what happened next?”
━The nymph knew the answer. She knew what she had to do. She decided to challenge the master of the north.