Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 2 - Chapter 3

Chapter 3

CASTLE BY THE SEA

The capital of Rockwell Province is Hielburg. And the current governor, the Earl of Richards, is known to be a sworn ally of the Earl of Downing.

Rockwell Province is bordered by the ocean. Its port has been important since antiquity, and it has historically flourished through trade with the continental mainland.

And the port city of Philax serves as the gateway of that trade.

Philax is under the direct jurisdiction of the royal family. In addition to its being the site of a military base, this gives the nobles a monopoly on the wealth gained through international commerce. It also means that the governor of the city is chosen by the crown. The governor is always a relative of the royal family and is granted an appropriate title that includes the region name.

The man holding the title of the Duke of Philax was William Alburn.

And he was recruiting candy crafters.

“What was that saying…? ‘The wealthy settle down while the poor wander forever’?” Anne muttered to herself as she steered the horse from the driver’s seat.

Mithril, sitting between Anne and Challe, looked up at her and tilted his head in confusion. “What’s that?”

“A proverb from the people who live on the distant continent. Or something like that anyway. I heard it a long time ago.”

“And it means?” Challe asked, prompting her for more.

“Nothing special, it’s just… I’m always on the move, you know? I guess it just hits home.”

“Certainly, you do wander about,” Challe immediately affirmed.

“And you’re definitely broke!” Mithril loudly added.

Anne knew the fairies were right, and they weren’t trying to make her feel bad, but she still felt glum.

“I know… I’m one of the wandering poor… Putting it in a proverb makes it sound kind of cool, but in plain words, it’s anything but, huh?”

Anne and the fairies had set off the day after she heard about the Duke of Philax from the innkeeper at the Weather Vane.

It would take a day and a half to get from Lewiston to Philax. They had stayed overnight in a farmer’s barn along the highway. The next morning, they had set off in the horse-drawn wagon at daybreak.

Thanks to their early start, they arrived in Philax before noon. The city spread out before them, following the gentle arc of the bay. Redbrick houses were clustered together along the coast.

“Whatever. I like traveling, so I don’t mind. But I would like it if I could at least spend the end of the year hunkered down somewhere warm, you know? I’ve got to do something to make that happen.”

Ahead, Anne could see Philax Castle.

The castle stood on a small peninsula that jutted out into the sea on the eastern end of the bay. It was enormous and built to look imposing.

It was about three times the size of Silver Westol Castle and had a defensive wall with parapets on top. The towering keep, the watchtowers, and even the gates did not have the slightest bit of decorative design. It looked like a fortress.

Anne could tell at first glance that the castle had been standing for a long time, and that it had survived many battles.

Since the structure had been built on the tip of a peninsula, it did not have a moat. The polished castle walls occasionally caught the sunlight reflecting off the sea; the shiny, mottled blue light dancing on its surface was mismatched with its forbidding form.

Anne drove her wagon up to the imposing castle gate.

The entrance was open. Anne announced her occupation and her purpose to the guard keeping watch.

“Do you have a piece of sugar candy that you have made?” the guard asked. When she replied that she did, he peeked into her cargo hold to check.

As soon as the guard saw that she had sugar candy, Anne was quickly allowed to pass through.

She was certain that other candy crafters had been arriving from all over the country, answering the duke’s call for sugar artisans. She didn’t want to be caught empty-handed when meeting the Duke of Philax.

It made sense. The duke couldn’t allow every single crafter who arrived at his castle to stay and make candy there. Only the candy artisans who clearly showed a certain amount of promise would be granted the chance. To demonstrate eligibility, one would have to bring an example of their work.

Anne was instructed to leave her wagon in the outer keep of the castle. Challe and Mithril had to wait with the carriage.

Alone, Anne proceeded forward with her sugar candy in hand. A soldier led her into the inner keep and toward the castle tower.

Then she was shown to a small waiting room, which seemed to continue to a reception hall.

There was already someone there, a single man who looked like a candy crafter. The miserable-looking fellow didn’t say one word to Anne.

Before long, a door on the opposite side of the room opened quietly.

A young boy in a page’s uniform appeared. He announced to the two, “Please bring your candies this way.”

The reception hall, like the exterior of the castle, had a rustic air to it. The arrangement of the stones was plainly visible on the surface of the wall.

The walls were not plastered like they were in Silver Westol Castle. But the very positioning of the stones told of the history of the place. It was not shabby by any means. Rather, it seemed like its proprietor took pride in its simplicity.

At the very end of the reception hall was a raised platform, behind which hung a finely woven tapestry. In front of the tapestry was an imposing chair like a throne, and before it was a woolen cloth spread out on the floor. It seemed like they were to kneel there and wait.

“The Duke of Philax will see you soon,” the page announced before withdrawing to the side of the hall. Anne knelt on top of the woolen cloth.

The air was damp at the floor level. Neither of the large fireplaces, one at each end of the reception hall, was lit.

Anne felt lonely in the chilly space and glanced around restlessly at her surroundings.

As she was looking around, she got an uncomfortable feeling.

Something is off about this castle. What could it be? What feels wrong? It’s somehow different from Hugh’s castle and from the city.

“H-hey!! You!” the man kneeling beside Anne whispered to her. He sounded panicked.

“Huh…? Me?”

Anne looked in the man’s direction. He was hanging his head. She tilted her head, confused as to what could be the matter.

“There is no need to bow.”

A voice came from above. Startled, Anne looked forward.

A young man was sitting on the throne before her. Despite having surveyed her surroundings, she had not noticed him when he had quietly entered the room. The fellow next to her had been trying to alert her to his presence.

She had been told there was no need to bow, but Anne hadn’t been doing that to begin with. All she’d done was turn pale and stare at the young man before her. But he didn’t appear bothered by her rudeness.

The man did not strike her as magnanimous; he seemed more indifferent than anything else, really. Anne couldn’t find anything resembling emotion in his deep-green eyes.

He looked to be about in his late twenties. His pale-blond hair was neatly coiffed. His simple tunic had exquisite embroidery and looked clean yet elegant. His overall presence seemed gentle.

Except he was cold. Anne could sense that from his eyes, which betrayed absolutely no emotion.

“I am Duke Alburn of Philax.”

His voice was devoid of inflection.

Anne was a commoner, so she wasn’t that knowledgeable about the politics of the kingdom. Nonetheless, she did know the name and standing of the Duke of Philax. His was such a famous story that anyone who lived in the Kingdom of Highland knew about it.

Everyone was aware that the Alburn family was the last seed of conflict in the kingdom.

Three great houses had been started by the three sons of King Cedric, the hero who had fought the fairy king and led the humans to victory.

The Millslands, the Chambers, and the Alburns.

When Highland was unified a century ago, House Millsland had ascended to the throne. The other two houses had become retainers to it. But House Chamber and House Alburn owned enormous swaths of territory, so the authority of House Millsland did not extend to their domains.

Two extraterritorial regions had persisted within the Kingdom of Highland.

That state of affairs had become a point of conflict fifteen years earlier.

When the previous king, Edmond I, passed away, his successor, Edmond II, was only twelve years old.

The head of House Chamber at the time, Stuart, was an ambitious person.

“A twelve-year-old monarch is far too unreliable. The three houses originate from the same bloodline. So shouldn’t someone better suited to be king step forward from among the three families?”

Stuart insisted upon it, and the nobles who were uneasy with the idea of such a young king supported the idea.

That was the start of a civil war, known as the Chamber Rebellion.

The war ultimately ended in victory for House Millsland.

House Chamber was eradicated and every member put to death, even the infants. The family tree was cut down.

After the civil war, the leading figure to arrange a solid government system under centralized rule was the Earl of Downing, who had been a canny politician since the reign of the previous monarch.

Of the three great houses, only one truly remained.

The Alburn family had supported House Millsland during the rebellion. However, the Earl of Downing had insisted that one country could not have two rulers, so he had the Alburns stripped of their landholdings. Their private armies were dissolved, and only a few knights had remained with them as guards. The head of the Alburn family was also made to live in Philax as governor.

The Alburns had been treated very poorly. But the Earl of Downing is said to have counseled Edmond II to take even more drastic measures.

He wanted Edmond to exile the head of House Alburn.

The earl asserted that blood relations might become a spark for conflict at any time. Even if the Alburns themselves weren’t so inclined, there was a possibility that treacherous retainers might try to elevate them to power. He emphasized that it was the right time to sever ties, as sad as that might be.

The head of House Alburn at the time had been Thomas, the father of current Duke of Philax, William.

Thomas is said to have been a very peaceful and intellectual man.

Edmond II adored him. For that reason alone, Edmond ignored the Earl of Downing’s proposition and refused to exile Thomas.

Instead, he imposed two obligations on House Alburn.

The first was to remit all the trade taxes collected in Philax to the crown. Only a set percentage of that money would be given to the Alburn family. It was humiliating, akin to receiving table scraps from the king.

The second obligation was for the head of House Alburn to journey to the royal capital, Lewiston, once a month and address the king. This was intended as a constant affirmation of the house’s continued loyalty.

When Thomas’s son, William, succeeded him as the head of House Alburn, he continued to solemnly perform those duties.

Regardless of how Edmond II felt, however, the retainers who served House Millsland were still eager for an excuse to consign House Alburn to oblivion. The Earl of Downing was said to be at the forefront of that movement.

Anne had met the Earl of Downing before. She had gotten the strong impression that he was an agreeable old man. She had expected the Duke of Philax to be a fiercer-looking character, given that the Earl of Downing was looking for a chance to obliterate him. Contrary to what she had imagined, the young man before her was very calm.

However, he did have a strange coldness about him.

“Show me the sugar candies that these two brought with them.”

At his order, the page took the sugar candies from the hands of Anne and the other man. Then he held them out in front of Duke Alburn.

The duke glanced back and forth between the two that the page presented in his left and right hands, and picked up the candy that Anne had made. Then he announced, “The man may leave. The girl will stay where she is.”

The other candy crafter looked stunned by the abrupt ruling. The page gave him back his candy and politely urged him to leave. The man seemed reluctant to go and kept turning to look over his shoulder as he went.

Duke Alburn stared fixedly at Anne’s candy in his hand.

It was a sculpture of Mithril that she had made to amuse herself. The fairy had refused to eat it despite her insistence, saying it was too much like cannibalism. Anne had been disappointed at the time, because she’d thought it was a particularly good piece.

Anne and Duke Alburn were left alone in the huge hall, facing each other.

The room felt even colder than before.

“Why did you make this?” Duke Alburn asked suddenly.

“That model is of one of my friends, who is traveling with me. I thought I would make him a candy and give it to him.”

“This is a fairy, is it?”

“Yes.”

“Very good.”

Duke Alburn slowly stood up, came down from his platform, and walked over to Anne. He held the sugar candy out to her and gave a look that told her to take it. Once she took it back, Duke Alburn announced, “I give you permission to stay at the castle. Make sugar candy. A candy sculpture that satisfies my desires.”

“What sort of things should I make?”

Duke Alburn suddenly straightened up and walked behind Anne.

Anne remained kneeling but turned around, following his movements with her eyes. He headed for the wall opposite where he had been sitting.

A large piece of cloth hung from the wall. It looked like a curtain, and beside it was a decorative cord, which seemed to be used for opening and closing the curtain. But behind that wall was a corridor. There couldn’t be a window there.

Without hesitation, Alburn pulled the cord.

The curtain slid open to reveal a single portrait.

“Wow…beautiful!” Anne said thoughtlessly, forgetting she was in the presence of a noble.

It was a portrait of a young woman. It looked life-sized, just a little bit shorter than Duke Alburn. Pale skin. Silver eyes with a mysterious shine. Straight, flowing hair that was pale-blue like shallow water. The woman had handsome features and a striking expression. She wore a slightly sad smile.

But what caught Anne’s eye the most was what was on her back.

“Two wings… She’s a fairy, isn’t she?” Anne asked without thinking.

Duke Alburn nodded. “I want you to sculpt the fairy depicted in this portrait. Are you up to the task?”

I can—something like confidence was born inside Anne.

She felt a stirring in her chest. It was the desire to capture the beauty of something so lovely in a sugar candy. She knew that the urge would grow greater bit by bit as she earnestly confronted her work.

“I am.”

Duke Alburn closed the curtain and returned to his chair. “There is a workshop for the crafters in the inner wards of the castle. Make your sugar candy there. I will have someone show you the way. If you want to examine your subject, there are many paintings depicting the same fairy within the East Tower of the outer ward. Go look at those,” he explained matter-of-factly.

“All right.”

Anne nodded and looked at Duke Alburn. As before, she couldn’t get a read on his emotions. It was as if something was missing from his eyes. He was talking to Anne and staring right at her. Yet he wasn’t truly perceiving her; rather, he was indifferent to her existence. She shuddered a little.

Once Duke Alburn left, a young man who gave his name as Dale appeared in his place to act as her guide. He said he was Duke Alburn’s valet. He had a bundle of keys attached to the belt around his waist. The keys jangled loudly as he walked.

Challe and Mithril had also been given permission to stay. Apparently, when Dale had confirmed this with Duke Alburn, the duke had said it would not be a problem.

The castle was right on the very tip of the peninsula. The sound of breaking waves could always be heard without pause. A salty breeze constantly swirled above the ramparts, and when Anne looked up, she could see seabirds leisurely circling in the sky.

Anne and the fairies were shown to the castle’s inner courtyard.

There the space opened up into a broad plaza. A series of simple row houses lined the castle walls that encircled the courtyard. Those were the rooms provided for the candy crafters, which doubled as their work spaces. The majority were two-story wooden buildings with shingled roofs.

In the very back of the inner courtyard stood two towers. Beyond them was a dead end, as the spires were at the very edge of the castle’s boundaries.

The tower to the east was supposed to be decorated with portraits of the fairy.

“How many candy crafters are here now?”

When Anne asked this of Dale, who was walking in front of her, he turned around and answered.

“Including you, there are six right now.”

“That’s all?”

“Every day one or two come in, but at the same time, every day two or three are dismissed.”

“That many?”

“Yes. The duke views all the candies as soon as they are completed. The majority of the crafters are sent away at that point.”

“And not even one of the candy crafters have made a sculpture that satisfied him?”

“If there were, the duke would have already stopped gathering candy crafters.”

“I guess that’s true. But what does the duke want this sugar candy for? Some kind of celebration, or a festival?”

Dale answered her question stoically. “You’ll have to ask the duke yourself. We don’t know since we follow his wishes without question. We retainers have sworn our loyalty to House Alburn since the time of the duke’s father, you see. We do not serve House Millsland; we work for House Alburn.”

Anne was surprised by Dale’s assertion. Everyone living in the Kingdom of Highland, noble or commoner, was supposed to recognize the authority of the king of Highland. Even the retainers serving their respective nobles ultimately answered to the monarch reigning over them.

Yet Dale had declared that he was not a servant of the king’s family, House Millsland.

Ordinarily, those words would be regarded as treasonous.

Yet when it came to House Alburn, they were apparently permitted. If not, the valet would never have been so careless as to tell that to an unfamiliar candy crafter.

Anne felt she’d gotten a glimpse of why House Alburn was said to be the last seed of conflict in the kingdom.

“You must feel proud to work for House Alburn.”

“Of course I do. By the way—” Dale looked at Challe, walking by Anne’s side, and Mithril, sitting smartly on her shoulder. “You own two fairies? What a luxury!”

“They are my friends. I do not own them; they are just traveling with me.”

People often made that comment, so she responded with a hint of exasperation in her voice.

When she did, Dale nodded in sudden understanding. “Ah, so that’s why the duke gave you permission, even though you had two with you.”

“What does that mean?”

“The duke hates the idea of using fairies. There’s not a single one working in this castle. However, he accepts that candy crafters inevitably employ them, so he permits them to bring one worker fairy apiece. That’s why I thought it was strange when the duke said it was no problem that you were accompanied by two.”

“Oh, I see! No fairies. That’s why—”

Now she understood why she’d felt something was out of place, a feeling that had persisted as they walked through the plaza.

The castle was devoid of fairies. In other cities and manors, in inns and shops, there had always been fairies everywhere Anne had gone. But since entering the castle, she hadn’t seen a single one.

Dale came to a stop in front of a row house standing against the eastern wall of the castle.

“All right, then, this building is for you. Five young crafters from the Radcliffe Workshop have been staying in the one next door since yesterday. Try to get along.”

Anne let out a little sigh when she heard that there were crafters from the Radcliffe Workshop there. They had to be Jonas and his buddies.

“Sure. I’ll get along with them the best I can.”

Dale left, so Anne went into her row house.

The interior was pleasant. It had a wooden floor, so it wasn’t penetratingly cold. When she went up a simple set of stairs, built without kickboards, she found that there were five beds lined up in a row on the second floor.

The building seemed to be a vestige of wartime. A place where long ago, during the war, artisans and technicians—sometimes even livestock and farmers—would have been quartered.

The guards lived in barracks in the central castle keep, which meant that there wasn’t anyone living in the houses in the inner courtyard at present. Because of that, there were no signs of human activity, and the place had a lonely atmosphere.

“So I need to make a sugar candy modeled on the fairy depicted in that portrait,” Anne explained as she carried her things from the cargo hold of her wagon into the row house.

Challe and Mithril were also helping her with the luggage.

“She was a really beautiful fairy.”

“But did you memorize the picture after only seeing it once?” Mithril asked as he carried in the cooking pot.

“The duke said there are several paintings of the same fairy decorating the East Tower over there. Do you two want to come with me to look at them once we’re done carrying in these things?”

“No way, I’m tired. And we’ve got beds for once, so I’m taking a nap.”

Mithril set the pot down near the hearth and yawned. Then he bounced up the stairs, humming on his way to the second floor. They had slept in a barn the night before, and he seemed happy to have a bed for a change.

Anne was certain that she was the only one interested in seeing those portraits, since they were important for her work.

“You too, Challe…?”

Challe set down what he was carrying and jerked his chin in Anne’s direction.

“Let’s go.”

“Huh?! You’ll tag along?”

“You’re the one who invited me, so why are you surprised?”

“I mean, I just didn’t expect you to go with me.”

Challe looked a little displeased to hear her say that.

“I’m just curious.”

“Why?” Anne quickly replied. “Why are you interested?”

But Challe ignored her. He promptly exited the row house.

“Ah! Wait, Challe!”

“Hurry up.”

Challe began to stride away, and as she was chasing after him, Anne realized something. There was no way that he was interested in seeing some paintings. He was simply accompanying her. The thought made her happy.

When she caught up to him, she look up at Challe and flashed him a smile.

Challe glanced down at Anne and said bluntly, “You’re making a dumb face.”

“I don’t care. I’m happy.”

Anne didn’t even mind Challe’s words of abuse.

They headed straight for the East Tower.

From the direction of the tower came five young men walking in a group. Anne froze.

It’s Jonas. And I remember seeing the other guys, too.

Anne’s rage was revived when she saw them coming. But it did not end with simple anger. Her growing rage slowly hardened into resolve. By the time the men got close enough that she could see their faces clearly, Anne was eager to confront them.

The men were laughing together as they walked. However, as soon as they realized there were people walking toward them and that those people were Anne and Challe, each of them stared with his mouth gaping open.

Anne was so calm she surprised even herself. “Jonas! What a coincidence,” she said in a cheerful voice.

Jonas made a face like he had seen something terrifying. “Wh-why are you here, Anne? Did you follow me? Don’t tell me you’re here for revenge!”

“Not that I think anyone would blame me if I was, but I don’t have that kind of free time.” Anne stuck out her tongue childishly and walked past them.

“Why the hell did you come here?!” one of the young men shouted at her.

Anne stopped in her tracks. She glared back at them sternly. “I’m here because somebody totally trashed my reputation as a candy crafter in front of the whole world. So I answered the call from the Duke of Philax to clear my name.”

Then she declared, “If it’s a contest of true ability, I won’t lose.”

The men’s faces were bright red with anger, but at the same time, there was enormous anxiety in their eyes.

Each one of them must have assumed Duke Alburn had deemed them worthy. Anne had no doubt that they all had secretly sworn to gain glory for themselves, regardless of whether their companions were defeated. But now the men were looking at a new and capable rival. They couldn’t hide their agitation.

This was a place where true ability would win the day. Even they should have known that. It wouldn’t be as easy as ganging up on her in the middle of town and harassing her.

Anne saw straight through them, saw their fear, and felt foolish for getting upset.

“Well, let’s all just do our best.”

That was all she said before walking off toward the East Tower with Challe.

Challe snorted with laughter. “You sure are confident,” he remarked.

“It was eighty percent bluffing. I mean, I don’t want to lose. As you know, there’s a thousand cress on the line. That kind of money would really set me up for an incredible New Year, and you and Mithril, too.”

The following day, Anne set about her work.

The first thing she had to do was decide on the size of her sculpture. Sugar candy sculptures used for celebrations were typically quite large, about half her height. Taking into consideration that she was making the sculpture at the request of a duke, she figured bigger was better.

The portraits of the fairy hanging in the East Tower all had a similar composition. The subject was sitting in some and standing in others. Nearly every portrait was painted in light blues. It gave the impression that she was as graceful as flowing water. Anne took that impression seriously.

She decided to sculpt the fairy in a standing pose with both arms reaching gently out in front of her, and that she would avoid modeling the fairy’s face too closely. She thought the subject of the painting would end up looking eerily lifelike if she tried making the face too detailed.

Anne instead prioritized capturing the overall impression of the fairy.

She placed the stone slab she used for working on top of a table that was already on the first floor of her row house. Once she arranged her spatulas and rulers around it, the top of the table was full. She set up her vials of colored powder and her cold water bowls on the floor.

Mithril proved an unexpected boon while Anne was working. He drew cold water from the well and brought it to her, scooped up silver sugar from the barrels, and handed her colored powders. They were little things, but they were enough to improve the efficiency of her work.

By the third day, Anne had finished the basic shape of the sculpture.

“Thank you, Mithril Lid Pod. You’re really a big help.”

Anne thanked him as she shook blue powder out of one of the vials.

Mithril laughed. “This is how helpful I can be if I really give it my all!” He sounded rather proud of himself. “But little stuff like this doesn’t amount to paying back my debt to you, Anne. I still aspire to return the favor in some grand way, you know!”

“Oh, you can forget about that stuff, all right?”

“I cannot. It’s a matter of my pride as a fairy.”

“I didn’t realize it was such a big deal…”

“It sure is! By the way, just where did that Challe Fenn Challe get off to?”

“Who knows?”

Unlike Mithril, Challe had abruptly left the row house as soon as Anne began working. He had wandered outside every day for the past three days and had not come back until Anne was finished for the day.

Anne figured he had been going for walks or the like. She wasn’t particularly concerned.

She closed the lid of a vial of colored powder and set it down on the table. As she kneaded color into the silver sugar, Mithril grumbled and complained.

“What’s with that Challe Fenn Challe? Off having a good time by himself.”

“I mean, you’re here helping me. There’s nothing for Challe to do, is there?”

“Well, maybe you’re right. With me here, he’s got no role to play, I guess.”

Mithril seemed to be in a good mood as he tidied up the vials.

“I guess even a coldhearted, callous guy like him is sentimental about things. It’s probably good for him to bask in it.”

“Sentimental? Challe?”

“I think it was three days ago? When we first got to this castle, yeah. You had us wait with the wagon, right? While we were waiting, Challe Fenn Challe said something. He said it brought back memories. When I asked him what he meant, he told me he used to live in a castle like this one a long time ago.”

Anne stopped kneading the silver sugar for a moment.

Nostalgia? For the castle? Or for Liz, who lived in the castle?

Perhaps Challe’s beautiful black eyes were at that very moment gazing and reminiscing about the face of a girl long gone. Maybe that was why he had been going out for walks alone. Thinking about it made Anne feel as if she were suffocating.

“He didn’t seem to have felt the same way about Hugh’s castle, since it was too new. This place is old, right? It sounded like the castle that he lived in was old as well. I wonder if he was employed by nobles at some point? He didn’t tell me all that much, but… Anne? What’s the matter?”

“Ah, no, it’s nothing.”

When she realized she had been staring into space, Anne smiled and looked at Mithril.

The moment she did, he burst out laughing.

“Anne! The tip of your nose is bright blue! You’ve got powder on it!”

“Huh?!”

She touched the end of her nose in a panic.

“It’s even bluer now!”

Anne started to feel a little embarrassed with Mithril laughing at her.

“I’ll go wash it off at the well.”

She left the row house and ran to the well. She scooped up some water in a basin and peered at its surface. Sure enough, the tip of her nose was blue. More importantly, she was disappointed by her own plain appearance.

“We were always together. After fifteen years, Liz’s hair turned golden blond, her freckles faded, and she became a beautiful young woman.”

Challe had spoken those words to Anne previously.

After fifteen years, he said. That means around of the age of twenty, Liz had golden hair and was gorgeous, right? I’m fifteen, so will I become pretty after five more years?

Anne did not think so. If things stayed as they were, she was liable to become a skinny, scrawny, childlike twenty-year-old with bad posture, one who looked like a scarecrow.

Challe is so beautiful. Of course he would like attractive women. Women like Liz.

Following that line of thought brought Anne to a realization. She recognized the source of the emotions she felt every time she heard about Liz.

Am I jealous? Of Liz?

She felt like a fool for being envious of a girl she’d never even met, a girl who was no longer even alive. Anne was disgusted with herself.

She drew up fresh water in the basin and desperately scrubbed her face, washing it over and over again with water so cold it felt as if it were cutting into her skin.

I’ve got to stop getting distracted. I’m supposed to be making sugar candy right now!

“Your nose will fall off if you scrub that hard.”

A voice from above her head surprised Anne, and she lifted her wet face.

“Challe.”

Drops of water trickled down her chin. Challe frowned.

“Your dress is getting wet.”

When he said that, Anne realized that she had forgotten something.

“Ah… I forgot a towel…”

Her shoulders drooped at her own stupidity.

Challe suddenly extended a hand and gently stroked Anne’s face from her chin up to her cheek with his fingertip. His finger was cold. She knew that he was wiping away the water droplets for her, but in spite of herself, she was startled and pulled away.

The place where he had touched her suddenly grew hot. She suspected her whole face was turning red.

“What’s the matter?”

Challe tilted his head, looking puzzled. From the way he was acting, she could tell that he wasn’t making fun of her like he always did. He had actually been innocently wiping away the water for her.

She had to say something. But her mind was blank.

“Scarecrow?”

Challe’s expression was one of sincere curiosity. His black eyes were staring straight at Anne.

She didn’t want him to figure out why she was overreacting.

“I-it’s nothing!”

It was all she could do to say that much. Anne turned on her heel and ran full tilt back toward the row house.

If his fingers are that cold, why are his breath and his wing so warm?

Her cheeks grew even hotter as she recalled his breath and the warmth of his wing, which she had touched once.

Anne found it somehow difficult to meet Challe’s gaze over dinner that evening.

But she didn’t feel any awkwardness the following morning. She was grateful that she had slept well. For better or worse, her feelings had somewhat settled down, at least for the time being.

She finished her breakfast and was about to start working when there was a knock at her door.

Anne couldn’t think of anyone who would go out of their way to come visit her, so she opened it with confusion.

“Yes?”

Standing there was Jonas. He was grinning.

Anne hardened her visage.

“What are you doing here? If you’re looking for some sugar candy to steal, I haven’t finished mine yet.”

Jonas’s expression soured a little at her scathing remark.

“How terrible. There won’t be any use for your little candy sculpture. I finished mine already, you see. All five of us completed ours yesterday.”

“Huh…?”

Anne was surprised to hear that he had completed his candy the day before.

But she didn’t want Jonas to look down on her, so she put on a brave front and replied, “Is that so? Well, has the duke taken a look at them?”

“He observed them last night. The other four are leaving this morning.”

At that point, Jonas couldn’t contain himself anymore, and a smirk spread across his face.

Over Jonas’s shoulder, Anne noticed the other four candy crafters leaving with their luggage in hand, looking dejected. They were staring reproachfully at Jonas’s back.

“The duke saw my work and said, ‘It has promise. Improve your precision.’ Then he permitted me to continue staying in the castle. Unfortunately for you, it seems the Duke of Philax will be awarding the thousand cress to me.”

“We don’t know that yet.”

“Didn’t you hear? I’m the first person to show the duke their work and be allowed to stay at the castle. I’m the only one! Dale told me.”

“Well, I’ll be the next!”

“I’m moving to a room in the castle tower now. That’s a privilege for the duke’s chosen candy crafter. Give it your all, Anne,” Jonas said triumphantly. He waved his hand flippantly and went back down the stairs outside her front door.

Anne slammed the door shut. She stomped back over to the table.

“What did he come here for, that jerk?! What was that? A ploy to kill my motivation?!”

Challe was sitting at the table, holding a dried berry in the palm of his hand. The berry in his hand got smaller and smaller, then finally disappeared. That was how fairies ate. He seemed to be enjoying himself. Eating the berries one by one, Challe said, “I doubt that simpleton put that much thought into it.”

“Then what was he doing?!”

“Probably just bragging. It’s not like he could boast to his departing pals, after all.”

“If that’s really what he was doing, it really got on my nerves. He should go somewhere else if he wants to brag, seriously.”

Anne cleared off the top of the table in a huff. Then she moved her partially finished candy sculpture, which had been sitting in a corner of the room, onto the table. She removed the cloth covering the candy.

“But I think your candy sculpture is turning out really well, too, Anne,” Mithril said with admiration as he looked up at the sugar candy sitting on the tabletop.

“Really?”

“Yeah. It’s beautiful. Right, Challe Fenn Challe?”

He looked up at the candy, too. After gazing at it for a minute, he nodded and gave his opinion.

“It looks good.”

Anne felt simply delighted by the praise. She composed herself and began to work.

She’d come to love making candy sculptures of fairies since becoming acquainted with Challe and Mithril. She enjoyed her work and felt confident in the result that was steadily taking shape.

“I think it’s done.”

Anne heaved a sigh. Too exhausted to remain standing, she then flopped down in a chair.

It was the evening of the third day since Jonas had moved into the room in the castle tower.

There were two lamps burning on the table. Anne had been working deep into the night.

Mithril had long since fallen asleep. Challe was sitting with his back to Anne. He had been keeping the fire burning and was trying to stay out of her way.

For the past several days, he had gone out on walks in the afternoon and avoided interrupting her work. Sometimes, when Challe was by her side, Anne’s mind seemed to be thrown into disarray.

Challe had deduced that his harmless words and actions seemed to be the cause, but he had no idea which had set her off. He’d concluded it would be best for him to stay away so that he did not disturb her concentration.

“What do you think, Challe? Will you come take a look?”

She called out to him, and he got up and went behind her chair.

Like cascading water, the fairy’s hair flowed from the top of her head down to her waist, gradually transitioning from dark to pale blue. Her wings fluttered gently, like silk caught in a breeze. Her arms, extended in front of her, looked very delicate. Her features were represented with only the slightest modeling. Even so, they gave the impression that she must be smiling. The whole piece had a gentle aura.

“It’s well-made,” he answered, after looking it over carefully. But there was no response from Anne. “Hello…?”

It suddenly occurred to him that Anne might be having another strange reaction, and he peered over at her face.

“…What the…?”

Anne was breathing heavily, asleep in her chair.

She had been working nonstop for the past three days. She must have been exhausted.

Challe moved the completed candy sculpture and placed it on the floor in the corner of the room. He protected it by placing a soft cloth on top, just as Anne always did.

She stayed fast asleep during the whole process. He wondered whether he should wake her and send her to bed on the second floor.

He stood in front of her, looking down. Her peaceful, sleeping face was completely defenseless. It made him hesitate a bit. He recalled how she had looked when they first met, nervously trying to sleep, clutching his wing to her chest.

Now she had given Challe back his wing and seemed to trust him as a friend.

But still, she’s too vulnerable.

He wondered if she thought of him as some sort of guardian.

Perhaps she had forgotten that Challe had been alive for over a hundred years and that he was a hardened warrior. He had done all sorts of things over the course of his life, things Anne couldn’t even imagine. If she knew even a fraction of what he had done, she would probably be terrified of him and turn her back on him.

He picked up the sleeping girl. She was thin and light.

Challe went up the stairs and laid her down in the nearest bed. He pulled the blanket up over her.

The sea breeze was whistling over the castle walls as always. He could feel a draft around his feet.

He looked down at Anne’s face. She showed no signs of waking.

“Why are you so concerned with Anne?”

Like the sound of the wind, Hugh’s question suddenly resounded in his ears.

Anne could have secured a safe and comfortable life for herself by taking Hugh up on his offer. That was perfectly clear. But for some reason, that didn’t interest her.

I don’t want to entrust her to Hugh.

Challe found his own thoughts bewildering,

Entrust? She’s not my property.

Even though she didn’t belong to him, he didn’t want to hand her over to someone else. He wasn’t sure where this selfish feeling was coming from.

The moment Duke Alburn beheld her candy sculpture, Anne thought she saw something waver just a little bit in his expressionless eyes.

Duke Alburn stared intently at Anne’s sugar candy. But that glimmer of emotion died out slowly. In its place was something that sounded like disappointment as he muttered, “…Wrong.”

Anne paled at the word.

That morning, Anne had told Dale she had finished her candy sculpture. She was then instructed to bring her candy up to the reception hall in the castle tower, whether or not she was finished with breakfast.

Unlike last time, she was hardly made to wait after entering the reception hall.

Duke Alburn arrived in a hurry, tore off the cloth covering the sculpture with his own hands, and examined her work.

Then he muttered that word. “Wrong,” he said.

Duke Alburn sat in his chair and was silent for a minute.

He doesn’t like it…even though Challe and Mithril both told me it was well-made…

She couldn’t help but feel depressed.

“But the overall feel of it is just right,” Duke Alburn added.

“Huh?”

Reflexively, Anne raised her head. But Duke Alburn wasn’t looking at her. He was still staring at the candy.

“It has a better presence to it than the one Anders made. Improve your precision. Work until I’m satisfied. You will move to a room in the castle tower.”

After saying that much, Duke Alburn said to Dale, who was waiting off to the side, “We have two candy crafters. I don’t suppose we need any more than that.”

After giving this simple order, Duke Alburn left.

Anne was flabbergasted, but Dale tapped her on the shoulder with a smile. “All right, you,” he said. “Gather your things from the row house, and go get your friends. I’ll prepare your room in the castle tower.”

“Um…does this mean that the duke likes my candy sculpture?”

“I think we can say he’s fairly pleased with it. He seemed just as fond of it as Anders’s candy, at least. It seems he will be leaving the candy sculpting up to you and him, since he said we don’t need any more crafters.”

“Ah…thank you so much.”

For the time being, Anne felt relieved to know she had been approved.

But she couldn’t feel completely happy, probably because Dale had said the duke liked her work only “fairly well.”

She wondered what that meant, exactly. How was she supposed to improve her precision?

Anne had too many doubts to be elated.

For now, she collected her things from the row house and moved to the new location.

Anne was assigned a room in one of the four castle spires. She was on the top floor of the southwest tower, and Jonas was on the level below.

As she ascended the stairs, she passed his room. The door was closed, and she couldn’t see inside.

The layout of the castle was too complicated for Anne. She would be hard-pressed to roam about it on her own. To go from the reception hall to her new room in the southwest tower, she had to walk up and down several flights of stairs. She turned down countless narrow corridors. Just walking to her room was enough to disorient her.

Not long after Anne had arrived, several barrels of silver sugar were brought up to her. Evidently, the duke didn’t care how much candy she made.

On the other hand, Dale had instructed her to set about her work immediately.

Whenever she thought she had finished a sculpture, she was supposed to pull the cord hanging in her room. This would ring a bell in the servants’ quarters, and they would inform Duke Alburn that a piece was complete. That was the arrangement.

Unlike at Hugh’s castle, Anne was being treated as an ordinary worker, not a guest. Her room was plain, and its stone walls were bare. There was only one bed. The space was also smaller and less convenient than the row house

On the other hand, there was no need for them to fix their own meals.

Morning and evening, twice a day, food was brought up to them from the castle’s kitchen. Hot water for tea would also be prepared if requested.

Anne set her candy sculpture on the workbench and started looking it over as soon as she settled in.

“So he said the overall feel was good, right? And that I need to work on my precision. I wonder if I could polish up the details without ruining the whole composition? But it’ll get too busy if I add in too many elements there…”

Challe had left the room, as he always did.

Mithril was sitting by the window, waiting patiently until he could assist Anne.

“Anne?!”

A horrified voice came from behind her back.

When she turned around, she saw Jonas sticking his face through the door.

“I thought I heard noise from upstairs. Why are you here?”

“They told me to move in here.”

“You too…?”

Jonas was overcome with surprise. Speaking for him was another voice from somewhere around his feet.

“As if someone like you is a worthy rival for Master Jonas! Right, Master Jonas?”

It was Cathy. She was glaring at Anne. Jonas smiled stiffly, apparently encouraged by her support.

“W-well then. I won’t lose to you.”

“I’m not inclined to lose, either,” Anne answered resolutely.