Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 1 - Chapter 5

Chapter 5

THE SUGAR APPLE IS A DECEITFUL TREE

Anne sank to her knees, clutching the rim of one of the empty barrels.

“No way. Why isn’t it here? When we used the sugar at the Doctor’s Inn, this barrel was more than half full… I checked it. And then I locked the doors to the cargo hold.”

Even if they made it to Lewiston on time, Anne wouldn’t be able to enter the Royal Candy Fair.

If she used any of the remaining sugar, her three barrels would be underweight, and she would be disqualified. But having three full barrels of silver sugar wouldn’t mean much if she didn’t have anything to make candy with.

“…Why…why?! No one has been in here! How?!” Anne shouted.

“What are you fussing about?”

Challe’s voice came from outside the open door.

Anne stood up. Her legs were weak and unsteady. She felt like she was treading on a path piled high with fallen leaves. She staggered as soon as she stepped out of the wagon, then she crouched down in front of Challe.

“What happened?”

“My silver sugar… It’s gone.”

“Gone?”

“…I’ve got three barrels left. But in order to enter the candy fair, I need those three barrels, plus my candy. And the silver sugar I was supposed to use to make it is gone…”

Challe frowned.

“You had it at the Doctor’s Inn?”

“I had it then. I checked. And I know I locked the doors. No one should have been able to go in or out, and yet…”

Yet the silver sugar had disappeared.

Anne’s hands trembled slightly as she gripped Challe’s sleeve. Her vision was blurry.

She didn’t understand how her stores had vanished.

“Anne? Did something happen?”

Jonas must have heard her voice, and he emerged from his wagon with Cathy. When he saw Anne crouched on the ground, he tilted his head quizzically.

Anne feared that her tears would spill over if she tried to speak, so she didn’t answer. In her place, Challe said, “Apparently, the silver sugar is gone.”

“Huh? But your silver sugar was in your cargo hold, right? And the doors were locked; no one could go in or out?”

“…No. It was possible to get in and out.”

The one who broodingly said this was Cathy.

Everyone’s eyes focused on her as the implication behind her words dawned on them.

“What does that mean, Cathy?”

She hung her head at Jonas’s question.

“I don’t want to say something that will betray a member of my own kind, but…I saw it. The night that we stayed at the Doctor’s Inn, I saw it from the window of our room. There are windows up high in the cargo hold of Ms. Anne’s wagon, right? I saw Mithril Lid Pod coming out of one of them. In the moonlight, his whole body looked like it was glittering. He was covered in silver sugar.”

Mithril…?

“What’s going on down there? You’re being awfully loud. And everyone’s here. What are you talking about?”

Rubbing his sleepy eyes, Mithril peered down at them from the roof of the cargo hold.

It couldn’t be. But only someone small like a little fairy could get in and out of the locked cargo hold. Moreover, that night, Mithril was indeed the only one who slept in the dining room.

Anne stared up at Mithril’s face. She wanted to believe he was incapable of having done such a thing.

“Mithril, come down here,” Jonas ordered strictly.

“What the heck? I’m not under your control! Don’t act all important. And don’t abbreviate my name. I’m Mithril Lid Pod…”

“Get down here!!”

Mithril was immediately frightened by Jonas’s sudden intensity. Once he had descended from the roof, he looked up nervously at Anne.

“Wh-what is it?”

“Do you like silver sugar?” Jonas asked.

Mithril nodded. “I do. Are there any fairies who dislike it? What kind of question is that? What of it anyway?”

“The night that we stayed at the Doctor’s Inn, you and you alone slept in the dining room, is that right? Will you deny that you did so with an ulterior motive?”

“Huh?”

“Some of the silver sugar that Anne had prepared for the Royal Candy Fair has gone missing. The night that we stayed at the Doctor’s Inn, Cathy saw you coming out of the cargo hold of Anne’s wagon, covered in silver sugar.”

Mithril blinked in surprise. His mouth opened and closed several times. Then, he immediately lost his cool and started shouting at Cathy.

“Wh-what is this?! What did you tell them? We’re both fairies! And you told them that I did something like that?!”

Cathy hid behind Jonas and said in a feeble voice, “Because I saw you do it.”

“Liar!” Mithril shouted, turning back toward Anne.

He regarded her with fear in his eyes.

“Anne. I was not the one who stole your silver sugar. Cathy is lying.”

“What would Cathy stand to gain by lying?”

“Silence, human!!” Mithril yelled, cutting off Jonas’s reproachful words.

He pleaded with Anne again.

“Anne, don’t tell me you suspect me, too? It wasn’t me. I swear it wasn’t me!”

Mithril strung his words together nervously.

Anne wanted to believe him, but she also had no evidence that would dispel the accusation.

Maybe… No, it can’t be. He wouldn’t do that… But…

Suspicions swirled through Anne’s mind. She wanted to believe Mithril, but on the other hand, maybe…

Anne’s feelings must have shown on her face.

Tears welled up in Mithril’s eyes as he looked at her.

“You suspect me, don’t you, Anne? You don’t believe me…Anne.”

“…I want to believe you.”

“But you don’t, do you?! You doubt me just a little bit.”

Tears spilled from Mithril’s eyes.

“Fine, if you’re going to look at me with those doubting eyes, then…I’ll just disappear from your sight!” Mithril shouted, then he leaped as hard as he could into the air and disappeared to the other side of the wagon.

“Mithril, wai—…”

Anne started calling out to stop him, but her voice broke off in the middle. She didn’t have any business calling him back when she didn’t really trust him. If she tried to tell him she believed him before she could wipe the distrustful look off her face, it would only hurt him more.

Anne’s body gave out, and she lost all strength. She let go of Challe’s sleeve and sat down with a thump on the stairs of the cargo hold. She covered her face with both hands.

“Now…I can’t enter this year’s candy fair…”

Challe was silent and looked off in the direction that Mithril had fled.

Jonas put his hand to his chin. Then after a few moments, he clapped his hands loudly.

“That’s it! Listen, Anne, don’t give up! You only have to make one piece of candy. Can’t we refine just enough silver sugar to do that before we arrive?”

“No way. First of all, I don’t even have sugar apples, the raw ingredient.”

“Oh, we’ve got sugar apples! I heard about this once at a Radcliffe Workshop meeting. There’s a sugar-apple grove that grows alongside the Bloody Highway. Though apparently, no one ever goes there to pick apples, since they would have to spend all their profits paying for protection just to get there. It’s autumn now, so the trees should have fruit!”

Sugar-apple trees are mysterious things.

Trees cultivated by human hands never bear fruit.

Only those growing wild produce fruit.

Because of that, candy crafters are obsessed with knowing where sugar-apple tree groves are located and how to obtain their fruit.

If this grove had been a topic of discussion at a meeting of the Radcliffe Workshop, it was most likely true.

However—

“Even if we get sugar apples, it will take me three days to refine them. I won’t have time to make it to Lewiston and produce my piece for the competition.”

“Well, how about during the three days it takes to refine the silver sugar, you use the sugar you have left to create your candy? You can do both at the same time. Then once your entry is finished and you’ve refined enough silver sugar to replace what you’ve used, all that will be left is to travel the rest of the way to Lewiston.”

“I could never…”

She had been about to say she could never do such a thing, but finally, Anne’s mind started working again.

It just might be possible.

She raised her head and looked at Jonas. He nodded encouragingly.

“You can do it. Cheer up, Anne. I’m an amateur candy crafter, too, so I can help you.”

Jonas put a reassuring hand on her shoulder. She was overwhelmed with gratitude for his kindness and for the information she needed to get out of her current predicament.

“Thank you, Jonas.”

Finally, Anne was able to smile just a little. She then looked up at Challe.

“I’m sorry, Challe. I kind of lost my head. And you were sleeping, too. Sorry for waking you.”

“It’s fine,” Challe said before turning his back coldly on Anne and returning to the fireside.

Anne and Jonas spread out a map on top of the driver’s seat of her wagon.

“If I’m not mistaken, there should be a sugar-apple grove in this area. It’s close to a way station. From there, you can refine the sugar and make it to Lewiston in no time,” Jonas said, pointing to a spot on the map.

The place he indicated was half a day away from Lewiston by horse-drawn wagon. Luckily, it was near a way station.

Ideally, Anne would have liked to harvest the sugar apples, then refine them into silver sugar after they were off the Bloody Highway. That would be safer.

However, if sugar apples are not refined immediately after harvesting, they’ll retain their characteristic bitterness. Sugar apples that spent even half a day jostling around in Anne’s carriage would never become fine silver sugar.

That meant Anne would have no choice but to stay at the nearby way station and refine the necessary quantity of silver sugar there.

From their present location, it would take three days to reach the sugar-apple grove.

It would take another day to find and harvest the fruit.

From there, three days to refine the sugar at the way station.

And half a day to get from the station to Lewiston.

The Royal Candy Fair was eight days away, and that included the day of the fair itself.

It would be close.

But not impossible.

Anne stared at the map with fresh determination.

“We’ll do our best, Anne.”

With that last word of encouragement, Jonas withdrew to his own wagon, accompanied by Cathy.

Anne returned to the fireside.

She had already settled down quite a lot.

She seated herself next to Challe and explained simply what she had discussed with Jonas.

When she finished, Anne hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on top of them.

After silence had descended over the camp, Anne slowly looked around at her surroundings. Mithril was nowhere to be seen.

“Hey, where’s Mithril?”

Tossing some twigs into the nearly extinguished fire, Challe answered, “Gone.”

“Where…did he go…?”

Anne cast her eyes down, tore up some dead grass, and threw it in the fire.

With a crackle, the grass burned instantly.

Even if Mithril was the culprit who had stolen her silver sugar, Anne thought it would have demonstrated real trust if she had believed him when he insisted he didn’t do it. She knew she’d come across like a prejudiced human when she doubted his word.

She felt even more miserable about it because she was just starting to find Mithril cute.

“Was it really him?” Challe muttered.

Anne raised her face. “Was who what?”

“Was it really Mithril who stole from you?” Challe mumbled doubtfully with a slight scowl.

Considering the circumstances, it would have been impossible for anyone but Mithril to have done it.

But Challe had a point. It was hard to imagine why Mithril, who had been so keen to repay his favor to Anne that he’d followed her all this way, would do something so thoughtless. Perhaps he had succumbed to the sweet temptation of the silver sugar.

Or perhaps it had been someone else.

But Anne also didn’t want to think Cathy was lying.

“I don’t know… I don’t know who really stole the silver sugar… The more important thing now is obtaining the sugar apples. I’m going to enter this year’s candy fair, no matter what… I’m sorry. I forgot to make the sugar candy I promised I would make you, Challe. Well, I remembered and was about to make it, but…now I’m going to have to postpone that for a little while. But when I give back your wing, I’ll add some candy as a present along with it. I promise.”

As she said that, Anne crawled into her cot and pulled the blanket up over herself. Challe just sat there quietly.

Will I make it in time? Please let me make it somehow. Please, Mama.

Challe Fenn Challe sat gazing into the fire.

It didn’t make sense. How had the silver sugar disappeared?

Considering the circumstances, the most likely possibility was that Mithril had eaten it.

But Mithril didn’t seem like the culprit to Challe.

He was noisy and annoying, but Mithril was grateful to Anne from the bottom of his heart. Challe did not believe he would have done something so thoughtless, knowing how much trouble it would cause for Anne.

But if it wasn’t Mithril…then who?

For three days, Anne drove her boxy wagon onward, thinking only of making progress.

She hardly even took breaks for lunch.

It was dangerous to travel at night, so they couldn’t move the wagons after dark. They took refuge at the way stations and impatiently waited for dawn.

Fortunately, the party suffered no attacks from bandits or beasts, and a little past noon on the third day, they arrived at the way station that was supposed to be close to the sugar-apple grove.

Another half a day of riding would take them to the royal capital.

The final way station sat atop a small hill. From there, Anne could look out over the wilderness, far into the distance. Past the sparse forest and the big, meandering river, she could see the spires of the royal castle, small on the horizon.

It struck her that Lewiston was close at hand.

But close though her destination may have been, Anne could not leave just yet. She clenched her fists.

I’ve got to get my hands on those sugar apples quickly.

The following day, Anne set out in one of the carriages with Jonas at first light.

They left the highway and rode about checking the many stands of trees that were scattered around the forest, searching for the sugar-apple grove.

Then when the sun was high in the sky, bright-red fruit caught Anne’s eye.

“…Sugar apples.”

Anne felt so relieved that her legs threatened to give out under her.

The sugar-apple trees were short. The tallest of them only reached as high as the top of Anne’s head.

The trees were dainty, with countless branches about the size of human fingers stretching out from their slender trunks. On the tips of those slim branches were deep-crimson fruits, each about the size of a chicken egg. They looked a lot like ordinary apples. They were glossy and red, like they had been varnished with wax.

Anne felt a surge of motivation after their surprisingly quick discovery of the sugar apples.

“I’m going to make it. If I work on my entry while I refine these sugar apples, I can make it to Lewiston with time to spare!”

She leaped down off the driver’s seat and pulled out a basket from her wagon.

Anne tossed one apple after another into her basket, and Jonas helped, too.

When it was full, they quickly transferred the apples to the cargo hold and refilled the basket. After repeating that five or six times, the floor of the cargo hold was so buried in shades of red that there was no place left to step.

Anne cheered up at the sight of the red color of the sugar apples. Emma had often said she felt the same way.

For three days, they had dashed down the Bloody Highway to find this grove.

In her haste, Anne had let the gloomy feelings about Mithril and how she’d treated him fall by the wayside.

She was looking forward, not back. As long as she had hope, she would charge ahead without hesitation.

If she worked hard, she could make it in time.

“Let’s get to work!”

Anne rolled up her sleeves as soon as they got back to the way station with a wagon full of sugar apples.

As she retrieved a huge pot and ladle out of the cargo hold, Anne spoke to Challe, who was lying down on the driver’s seat, dangling his long legs over the side.

“Once I make my entry piece for the candy fair, I’m going to make some candy to give to you right away, Challe. Just wait, okay?”

“Something edible, please.”

Anne laughed off his rude response.

“I told you, I’ll show you my skills!” Anne answered in a lively voice. She started tossing the sugar apples into the big pot, humming as she went.

Challe sat up a little bit and watched Anne happily working away.

The sugar apple tree is said to be deceitful.

It grows bright-red, glossy, delicious-looking fruits. They can be turned into precious silver sugar. However, if one bites into a piece of that same fruit, it is extremely bitter and astringent, completely inedible. The tree grows fruit that betrays all expectations.

In the hands of candy crafters, even that treacherous fruit is transformed into the purest sweetness.

To make silver sugar, one must first fill a large pot with water and add a handful of silver sugar, then place the freshly harvested sugar apples into the pot and leave them to soak for a whole day and night. Doing so removes the bitterness.

Toss out that water, refill the pot with fresh water, and place it over a fire.

The sugar apples fall apart during cooking, so when the seeds and skin come floating to the surface, scoop them out along with any scum and boil down the rest.

When the mixture becomes syrupy, transfer it from the pot to a level stone slab. Spread it evenly, then let it dry for another full day and night.

When it dries, it will change color and form pure-white lumps. The final step is to grind the lumps in a mortar and make a powder.

Then the silver sugar is done. It will be bright white with a slight tinge of blue.

Compared with sugar refined from sugarcane, which has a yellow tinge and a strong taste, the fine grain and powdery texture of silver sugar has a pale color and a fresh sweetness to it, leaving a nice aftertaste. It is truly a sacred food.

Once she was done putting her crop of sugar apples in water to soak, Anne immediately set to work making the candy she would present at the Royal Candy Fair.

One of the requirements was to make a large piece that could be used as part of the festival.

She went into her cargo hold and pulled a sheaf of papers out from under the workbench. The papers, all different sizes and shapes and yellowed with age, were bound together with a string. Anne untied the string and spread the papers out on top of the workbench.

The pages contained notes and designs for sugar-candy sculptures. The sketches had been drawn with a crude quill pen, so the lines were blurry and jagged. The color schemes and explanations of the shapes were written in messy handwriting.

Emma had compiled this collection of designs over many years. Whenever she made a piece of sugar candy, she would first lay out these schematics before choosing one from among them.

“These are your mama’s prized possessions. I made them myself. We can never share them with anyone. I mustn’t let anybody copy me,” Emma had said about the bundle of papers.

While they were on the road, they’d sold the candies Anne made at a reasonable price to customers who wanted cheap sugar candy. She had made her candies according to these designs at Emma’s direction.

Now Emma wasn’t around to tell her which to use.

Anne would have to choose for herself.

After pondering for a while, Anne selected one with a flower motif that Emma had particularly loved. The flower was light pink, and its leaves were light green. White and blue butterflies were perched on the blossom. It was a lovely design.

Just when she’d made her selection, Anne suddenly recalled the words of Hugh, whom they’d met at the Doctor’s Inn.

He’d called her work an imitation.

Well then, what should I make, and how, to avoid another imitation? I don’t know…

As she thought it over, Anne set the yellowed papers down on top of the workbench and pulled out vials of powder colored red, green, and blue.

She chilled her hands with water from a bucket, then picked up a stone bowl and walked over to the barrels full of silver sugar.

She was about to scoop some from one of the barrels, when—

“Anne? Anne?”

—someone knocked on the door to the cargo hold and then opened it. Jonas poked his head in.

“Do you have enough barrels to hold the refined silver sugar? I had an extra in my wagon; do you want to use it?”

Holding one small barrel, Jonas stepped up into Anne’s cargo hold.

Anne smiled wryly.

“The apples are still soaking. It’ll be a while before they’re refined. Besides, I’ve got two empty barrels.”

“Ah, right. Well, I already brought this one over, so I’ll leave it right here.”

When Jonas set the barrel down underneath the workbench, the floor shook. Anne was startled by the quake.

“Are you sure that’s empty? It seems super heavy. Is it made of really thick wood?”

“I brought it from my father’s workshop, so it’s first-rate craftsmanship. It’ll protect your silver sugar from getting damp.”

“Thank you. But why did you bring something like that on a trip?”

“I just had a feeling we might need it. More importantly, have you decided what you’re going to make?’

“Mm-hmm. I’m going to try to finish it before the sugar apples floating in the water are refined into silver sugar.”

“I’m expecting something great.”

Jonas softly approached Anne and put his hand on her cheek.

“Wh-what?!” Anne jumped back in surprise.

With a bitter smile, Jonas approached again.

“Do your best, Anne.”

Jonas placed both hands on Anne’s shoulders and brought his face close to the tip of her nose, so close that she could feel his breath.

Without thinking, Anne held the stone bowl in her hand up to cover her face.

“Wh-wh-what?! Jonas?! Hold on, what is this? Stop it!”

“Don’t be so unromantic, Anne.”

With one hand, Jonas pushed the stone bowl back down, and with the other, he embraced her waist. Jonas smiled.

“I love you, Anne.”

“I don’t feel the same way!”

“I love you.”

He brought his lips toward hers.

“N-no!”

Anne struck Jonas’s cheek with an open hand.

Jonas put his hand to his cheek in surprise, released Anne, and stepped back.

“Why, Anne?”

“I am not in love with you, Jonas!”

“But I love you!”

“Those are your feelings!! They’ve got nothing to do with me!” Anne shouted.

She realized that she didn’t have even the slightest stir of love toward Jonas.

Her heart had fluttered, and she had gotten flustered by his proposals and kind words. But the moment he actually pulled her in for a kiss, what she felt was fear.

Jonas looked like he didn’t believe it. That was probably only natural.

He had been the most popular boy in the village since he was young. All the girls got worked up wanting to be his girlfriend. Jonas probably thought that all girls liked him.

“I see. I was hoping you had fallen for me.”

Jonas smiled slightly, looking hurt. At that point, Anne regained her composure.

“…Ah…sorry. I…kind of…hit you.”

“It’s fine. I was being pushy… Oh yeah! It’d be a waste of time for you to fix meals while you’ve got work to do, right? I’ll bring you something to eat in a bit.”

“Sure. Thanks.”

Jonas smiled again and left. Anne let out a big sigh.

Worrying about her meals even after she’d slapped him showed what a good person Jonas was, she thought.

“If I had fallen in love with Jonas, I doubt I would have ever gone through with anything like this,” Anne muttered, returning to her work.

As she was scooping the silver sugar from the barrel, she heard another knock, and the door opened again.

This time, it was Cathy, dragging a big basket along with her.

“This is from Master Jonas. He told me to deliver some food to you. Where should I leave it?”

“Thank you, Cathy. Put it under the workbench over there. I’ll eat it later.”

Anne kept measuring the silver sugar without looking up. Cathy lightly jumped onto the workbench.

“Let me give you a bit of advice.”

When Anne looked up, she saw Cathy was making a very hostile expression.

“I know you’re feeling pretty full of yourself now that Master Jonas has proposed to you and told you he loves you.”

“Huh? …I don’t remember feeling that way…”

Anne was bewildered by Cathy’s sudden accusation.

“You don’t seriously think that Master Jonas is really in love with a girl like you, do you?”

Anne cocked her head on hearing those hurtful words. She had the feeling she had seen a similar expression and heard similar words before.

Where was that…? I think back in Knoxberry Village…

She suddenly remembered.

“Cathy, are you by any chance…in love with Jonas?”

Cathy’s cheeks instantly blushed redder than her own red hair.

“What did you say?!”

Her voice cracked, too. Cathy acted just like the girls of Knoxberry. The same girls who had been jealous of Anne for renting a room in Jonas’s house. They had often made irrational and nasty remarks toward her.

The realization made Anne smile.

“How nice. You must be happy that the person you love has your other wing. That’s so much better than if it was being held by some jerk who makes fun of you or someone you hate, right?”

“We’re not talking about this! I was telling you not to get conceited…”

“I think it would be wonderful if love between a fairy and a human could be realized.”

“You are really an idiot! I can’t talk to you!”

Cathy squared her shoulders and left the wagon in a huff.

Compared with Cathy, I feel really sorry for Challe. I’m in possession of his wing, and he’s convinced I’m a fool.

Through the gap in the wagon doors, Anne could see Challe’s back as he sat by the campfire.

His wing, draped smoothly over the grass, reflected the brightness of the flames and shone like brilliant rubies.

“Love between a fairy and a human…”

Suddenly, a thought came to her. The human girl, Liz, whom Challe had once bonded with—might they have been in love with each other? The moment the thought occurred to Anne, she felt a sharp pang in her chest.

She didn’t really understand where the pain was coming from. It made her suspicious of her own feelings.

“…What’s going on…?”

For some reason, Anne felt intensely jealous of Liz, the girl in Challe’s memories.

At any rate, I am Challe’s master in the end. The only reason he’s with me is because I have his wing. That’s why I have to keep my promise and release him once we arrive in Lewiston.

When she thought that, Anne felt as if a cold wind had blown across her chest. The wind whispered to her faintly: You’ll miss him…

Anne acted as if she didn’t hear it, shook it off, and got back to work.

Anne added cold water to the silver sugar and kneaded it. The sugar became like soft clay.

She mixed powders into the dough to color it. She repeated this many times over, dyeing each section.

She shaped the dough, shaving it down with a spatula. She flattened some out with a rolling pin and rolled other bits into balls.

Using various techniques, Anne proceeded to create sugar candy out of the powdery silver sugar.

She changed the water for the sugar apples and started the work of boiling them down.

Anne left the door to her wagon standing open and jumped down out of the cargo hold periodically to stir the pot and remove scum and apple peels. Then, she would head back to the wagon and keep working on her candy.

Jonas occasionally peeked into Anne’s wagon, but he never said anything. Once he saw that she was still working, he left silently.

Anne felt awkward, too, so she wasn’t particularly inclined to talk to him, either.

From time to time, she could hear the howling of wolves.

But being inside the way station gave her a sense of security, so she didn’t pay them much mind.

Once the sugar apples boiled down, she transferred the pulp to a flat stone vessel and spread it out evenly.

On the second day, Anne continued working, hardly stopping to rest. She ate her meals while she stirred the pot and only lay down for two or three hours of sleep.

Because of her efforts, her candy quickly took shape.

It looked exactly like something Emma would have made. Anne had re-created her mother’s delicate workmanship from memory.

The color of the multihued flower petals changed in a soft gradient. The fretwork on the butterflies’ wings formed geometric patterns. The molding on the leaves created gentle curves. It was such a large piece of sugar candy that Anne could barely wrap her arms around it. With such an enormous piece, it was difficult to achieve an overall balance. But Anne had managed that brilliantly as well.

On the morning of the third day after she began, Anne’s work of candy art was complete.

The result was good, and Anne was proud. The piece itself was perfect.

But Anne couldn’t shake a vague sense of discomfort.

It was supposed to be exactly the same as a piece that Emma had made. Yet Anne had a feeling her work lacked the magnetism Emma’s always had that captured peoples’ attention.

Blind imitation.

Those words flashed through her mind again and again.

But her technique was perfect. Anne told herself it was fine.

She tied strings around the base of the sugar-candy sculpture, then anchored it in place on her workbench. That way, even as the wagon swayed, it wouldn’t fall and break.

When that was done, Anne breathed a sigh of relief.

After working hard for days, she staggered down from her wagon.

“I’m exhausted.”

She flopped down beside Challe, who was lying in the grass, staring up at the sky.

“Are you finished?” Challe managed to ask without sounding the least bit interested.

Anne nodded and stretched out on the grass.

Studying the withered color of the autumn blades, Anne counted the days.

“Including today, we have two more days until the Royal Candy Fair. This afternoon, I’ll mill the partially refined silver sugar that’s drying now and finish it up. Then if we head out tomorrow, we can get to Lewiston the day before the candy fair. I’ll have my entry and my three barrels of silver sugar all together. Thank goodness.”

The thought made Anne break into a smile.

The wind blew, making the grass rustle.

“I was curious,” Challe said quietly.

“About what?”

“When I first met you in the fairy market, you had the sweet scent of silver sugar. I thought it was strange and wondered why that was.”

“Oh? Maybe it had soaked into my dress.”

Anne sniffed several times and smelled the cuffs of her sleeves. Challe shook his head.

“It’s your fingers. Your fingers have a sweet scent.”

“My fingers don’t smell!”

“I can smell it.”

“Really…? Well, I am always handling silver sugar. I suppose that must be why.”

Feeling peaceful, Anne lay there absentmindedly for a while. Challe’s wing was spread out over the low grass in front of her. It reflected the light of the sun and shone a pale-green color. She was staring at its brilliance when she heard the sound of footsteps on the grass, approaching from behind.

“Anne. Great job. I took a peek inside your cargo hold. That’s really incredible. I’ve never seen such a large yet delicate sugar candy before. There’s no question it’ll earn a royal medal.”

Jonas’s kind words flowed out.

Anne was completely exhausted, so without lifting her head, she simply thanked him.

“Thank you. It was only possible because you knew about the sugar apples.”

“No, thank you.”

Jonas smirked and walked off toward Anne’s wagon.

What is he thanking me for? Anne wondered as she sat up.

She saw that Jonas was hitching his horse to her wagon.

“What are you doing, Jonas?”

“I thought I’d head out now.”

Challe frowned and sat up as well.

“You’re too early, Jonas. The silver sugar isn’t finished yet. We’ll leave tomorrow. Besides, that’s not even my horse,” Anne said.

“It’s fine. My horse can run faster. Good-bye.”

“Jonas?”

Expressionless, Jonas finished hooking up his horse and climbed into the driver’s seat of Anne’s carriage.

Anne thought he was acting strangely, and she got to her feet. She began walking toward him.

“Jonas? What is this?”

“If only you had fallen for me and agreed to be my bride, I wouldn’t have had to resort to something like this. But it’s all your fault. I confessed my love to you three times, you know. And you rejected me.”

That moment—

—the iron doors of the way station’s gate swung open with great force.

Cathy came flying in, looking frantic. She was holding a lump of bloody meat. She came bounding toward Anne at full speed, making leap after enormous leap.

Anne could hear the footfalls of many wild beasts pursuing her.

Challe leaped up, his eyes wide.

“What’s the meaning of this?!”

As he shouted, he stretched out his right hand, summoning his sword. The same moment that Challe’s blade materialized, the beasts, baying and growling, burst into the way station. It was a pack of wolves. Thirty of them.

Anne was petrified.

In front of her face, Cathy shrieked, “I told you not to be so full of yourself!”

She then threw the chunk of bloody meat, aiming directly at Anne’s chest.

The moment she released it, Cathy took an even larger leap. She landed on the cargo hold of Anne’s carriage.

Following the scent, the wolves all rushed Anne at once.

She didn’t even have a chance to scream.

Challe jumped between her and the pack.

With one swing of his sword, he killed three wolves.

The rest quickly spread out, surrounding Anne and growling.

“Challe. What…? This…?”

“They lured them here, those two.”

Those two? Jonas and Cathy? Why would they…?

Jonas whipped the horse. At the sound, Anne snapped out of her daze and realized what was happening.

Jonas is trying to steal my sugar candy!

Anne forgot she was surrounded by deadly predators, and without thinking, she broke into a run.

“Jonas!!”

The wagon had already started rolling. Anne chased after it, trying to jump up on the driver’s seat.

At the reins, Jonas pulled a large vial from his breast pocket. He sent the cork plug flying with his thumb and dumped the contents onto Anne’s head.

She was doused with a thick, foul-smelling, dark-red liquid.

Anne paid it no mind and desperately grabbed the hem of Jonas’s jacket.

The wolves reacted to the liquid covering Anne. They’d surrounded Challe but quickly moved to pounce on her again.

Challe clicked his tongue and slashed through the wolves bearing down on his master, but, frenzied, they charged her again and again with wild eyes.

“Wait!!”

“Bye-bye, Anne.”

The whip came down, aiming for the hand still clutching Jonas’s jacket hem. An intense pain bit into her, and she let go.

Without her hold, the momentum threw her down on the grass, as if the wagon itself had shaken her off as it sped away. The wolves leaped forward, aiming for the fallen Anne. Challe jumped in their path.

Anne shouted at his back as he whittled down the pack.

“Challe! Chase after Jonas! Go! Quickly!”

“If I leave, you’ll be wolf food!”

“It’s fine. I don’t care! Go! Get it back! My candy!!”

“I refuse.”

Bathed in blood, Challe didn’t stop moving even for a moment and continued slaughtering the wolves.

His wing flowed through the air, following his movements. The wolves tried to catch it. The beasts knew about the weaknesses of fairies.

Just before their fangs closed on his wing, Challe twisted his body and dodged, then swung his sword.

“Get it back, get it back!! Follow him!! Please, please, Challe, listen to what I’m saying!”

“Order me, then! Like a master would!!”

I’ll tear your wing. I’ll crush your wing. No matter how she tried, such cruel words wouldn’t come out of Anne’s mouth.

“Please go after him!”

All Anne could manage was to raise her voice.

“Challe! Chase him, chase him!! Please chase him!! Please!! Please!!”

The wagon carrying Anne’s candy sculpture sped away.

Challe Fenn Challe stood stock-still, staring down at the corpses of the slain wolves littered at his feet.

He was out of breath after a hard fight. Blood spattered his lone wing.

He gave it a quick shake, flicking off the viscera.

The wolves had persistently targeted his wing, and several times, he’d felt a surge of fear.

Anne was in a daze, sitting motionless in the sea of blood.

Challe was relieved that his wing and Anne were safe.

With a swing, he dissipated his sword and approached Anne.

“…Why didn’t you go after him for me?”

Anne stared at the open door of the way station where the wagon had passed, wearing a blank expression on her face.

“If I had chased Jonas, you would have been killed and eaten by the wolves.”

“I know that!”

Suddenly, Anne stood up and walked toward Challe.

“I know that! But you made that decision, not me! I didn’t want him to steal my candy, even if it meant getting eaten by wolves. You don’t listen to my orders at all. That’s always been the case since we started this journey. Ultimately, you just do whatever you feel like. Isn’t that right?! You refused to leave my side because I still have your wing, that’s all. Earlier, if you’d chased after my candy sculpture, I might have been killed and eaten by the wolves. And if that had happened, your wing might have been damaged, too, right? So you protected me over my candy. That’s all it was. I get it. I can’t control you! That’s why things ended up like this!” Anne shouted and pounded Challe’s chest with both fists as hard as she could.

Over and over again, she struck him. She kept on hitting until she wore herself out and the strength had left her arms.

Anne’s accusations were absurd. But she believed them. Despite how unreasonable she was being, Challe knew Anne probably wasn’t going to back down until she got out what she needed to say. So he let her do as she pleased.

Finally, Anne’s arms dropped. Her eyes still cast downward, she staggered over to the cargo hold of the wagon Jonas had left behind, and she crawled inside.

She’s right. I haven’t followed her orders, not once.

Challe had saved Anne from danger several times on their journey for no other reason than the fact that she possessed his wing. If she got hurt, so would it. As a result, he had no choice but to protect her.

However, earlier, the moment that the wolves had sprung at her—

—it hadn’t even occurred to him that his wing might be damaged.

His body had moved instantly to shield Anne as she sat there in a daze.

A drop of something cold fell onto his cheek.

He looked up and saw it was a drop of rain, fallen from a darkening sky. Like someone’s tears.