Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 6 - Chapter 2.1

Chapter 2

THE STATE CHURCH’S ANXIETY

“Anne! Come on—get up!”

The following morning, a lively voice called out to Anne, and the curtains in her room were suddenly thrown aside, allowing bright sunlight to stream in.

Anne groaned and squirmed, trying to crawl farther under her covers.

Thanks to the previous day’s work, she had not made it to bed until after midnight. If it had been an ordinary day, she still would have been able to rouse herself somehow. But the previous morning, she had won a contest against the Silver Sugar Viscount, and she’d barely slept a wink preparing for it. She had meant to take a nap after the dreary all-nighter, but then the incident with Lafalle had happened.

That had taken quite a psychological toll. And afterward, she’d gotten more and more panicked about Orlando losing his ability to work and no longer felt like she could take time to rest. Ultimately, she had continued working past midnight along with the other crafters.

“Get up, Anne! And Mithril Lid Pod, too. And Challe!”

The blanket that Anne had been trying to crawl under was ripped away from her. She shivered and curled into a ball as the chilly air swept over her body. Mithril, who was sleeping in the same bed, snored loudly beside her.

She heard the sound of more blankets being thrown aside. Someone must be trying to wake Challe, who was sleeping on the couch.

The night before, Challe had started sleeping in Anne’s room as a precaution against Lafalle. Then Mithril had whined that he was jealous and wanted to sleep in Anne’s room, as well.

Though the arrangement was meant to keep her safe, it seemed silly for all three of them to be sleeping in one room when they were staying in such a large castle. But it also made Anne happy somehow.

“All right, come on! Breakfast is ready. Hey, you too, Challe!”

Who could have so much energy this early in the morning?

It wasn’t the injured Orlando or any of the exhausted candy crafters. It wasn’t Glen, and it certainly wasn’t Bridget. Danna or Hal would have been more reserved.

Finally, Anne remembered.

It was the adorable fairy with pale-purple hair, who, until just the day before, had been so weak that he seemed ready to vanish at any moment. But from evening on, he’d steadily grown more energetic, until his complexion was positively rosy. It was Noah.

Noah was incredibly disappointed to hear that the candy fyffe set Hugh had made for him had been stolen. But when Anne promised to seek guidance from the Silver Sugar Viscount once the First Holy Festival was over and make something similar, the young fairy’s face had immediately brightened. He had his own room now, too—the one Mithril had vacated the previous night.

How wonderful. He’s feeling so much better.

Anne thought about saying something to him, but her eyes refused to open. Even though she was incredibly cold, she just couldn’t get up.

“Starting today, I’ll be helping Danna and Hal around the castle! My first duty is to wake everybody up. I decided that. It’s the one thing I’ve always been able to do properly since long ago. After all, you just have to be persistent and keep saying, Get up, get up. Master Herbert was a terrible oversleeper, but I woke him up every morning.”

Noah was so cheerful, he seemed like he might start dancing around the room.

“Quiet down. It’s still early.”

Noah had managed to rouse even Mithril. He sat up in bed, rubbing the sleep from his eyes.

“…You seem well, Noah,” Challe said, sounding incredibly displeased.

“I am well! I wonder how many years it’s been since my body was in such good shape. I’m so full of energy, I could leap right into the air! Want to see?”

“…That’s great to hear…but I’ll pass,” Challe answered wearily. Then Anne heard the sound of rustling clothes nearby. It seemed Challe was approaching her bed.

“Anne. Get up,” he said.

“…Sorry… I can’t. I can’t get up… Just a few more minutes…,” she answered in a thin voice.

“I think you’d better get up anyway. It doesn’t bother me, but I can see your underpants.”

“…………Huh? ……Wh-wha—?!”

It took a few moments before Anne realized the meaning of Challe’s words. Then her eyes snapped open like she had been struck by lightning.

She leaped up and sat on top of the bed, pulling the hem of her nightgown down in a panic.

“Y-you saw?!”

Flushing bright red, she looked up at Challe, who was standing beside the bed.

Anne’s underpants were fluffy, poofy things that covered her down to the thighs, decorated with a lacy cotton trim where the hem narrowed. They weren’t anything to be particularly embarrassed about…or so she thought. That’s what she wanted to think.

However, she was troubled that she’d been rude enough to let them show. It also meant that her legs had been in full view.

“Scarecrow-brained as always, Anne. Of course Challe Fenn Challe saw them. That’s why he told you about it, right?” Mithril said, sounding exasperated.

“So you did see… And Mithril… You too…?”

“Don’t worry about it! All we saw were your legs and your underpants!”

“Doesn’t that mean you saw everything?!”

Anne turned even redder, and Challe snickered.

“Properly embarrassed?” he teased.

“Of course I am…”

“Don’t worry. It wasn’t a particularly exhilarating display.” Challe was so cool about it that Anne was a little disappointed.

Once Noah had woken Anne and the fairies, he bounced out of the room, saying that he was going to wake up Elliott on the third floor next.

After that, Anne got changed behind a curtain. As she was braiding her hair, she heard King shout from the first floor.

“Hey, isn’t that Kat?! It’s Kat!”

“Kat?!” Anne couldn’t help but smile. “I didn’t think he would be here so early!”

She quickly braided her hair and dashed out of her room with Challe and Mithril in tow. On the stairs, she ran into Elliott.

“Oh, good morning, you three.”

Elliott seemed happy as he hurried down the stairs, smoothing his sleep-mussed red hair. Nadir, who had come halfway up the stairs to meet them, impatiently pointed at the window facing the garden.

“Anne, Elliott! I saw a wagon pull into the garden. A man got out with luggage and headed up to the front door. I don’t know what Kat looks like, but the man I saw had exactly the kind of presence Elliott described. It’s gotta be him!”

“Did he have a small fairy with him? One with green hair?” Anne asked.

Nadir nodded energetically. “There was a green-haired fairy about the same size as Mithril Lid Pod riding on his shoulder!”

“Then that’s definitely him!”

Everyone went downstairs and headed for the front door. Anne, unable to suppress her excitement, got there first and opened it.

“Whoa!!”

As soon as she opened the door, the man who had been standing on the threshold leaned back in surprise.

“Kat!” Anne cried loudly, overjoyed to see him.

The man was slender, with silvery-gray hair and slanted blue eyes. He wore a stylish jacket decorated with lace at the wrists, and a shirt adorned with embroidery at the collar. He had a noble air and seemed surprisingly stylish and genteel. At least until he opened his mouth.

“Oh my god, what a gloomy place you people are working in. What is this, a joke? Look at this castle.”

The moment he saw them, Kat skipped the greetings and went straight to complaining.

“This is good work.”

Kat was looking at the tower of snow crystals that Anne had partially constructed the day before. She had only finished about a third of the tower, but when he saw it, Kat crossed his arms and praised her handiwork.

“But something like this takes a ridiculous amount of time. And if you don’t craft your snowflakes well or if you handle them clumsily, it might break while you’re building it. You have to be a little clever about the kneading, too, and that will take more time than usual.”

“Yes. That’s why we need you, Kat.”

After breakfast, Anne and Elliott showed Kat the workshop on the first floor of the east wing.

Challe accompanied Anne, of course, but he stayed in the hallway. The workshop where they made sugar candy was a sacred place. Challe knew that, too, and tried not to enter the workshop thoughtlessly.

Kat had received Anne’s letter the previous afternoon and immediately set out, arriving in Lewiston as the sun was setting. He’d spent one night at the Weather Vane inn there, then left in the morning for Hollyleaf Castle.

Since he’d checked out of the inn quite early, Kat had not eaten breakfast, so he ate with the other crafters at the castle.

During the meal, Anne introduced the other candy crafters and filled Kat in on Orlando’s injury and the situation with Lafalle. Then she gave him a brief overview of the state of their work.

“I’ll start with grinding some silver sugar,” he said. “After all, if we can’t use the sugar, nothing else matters.”

From the workshop, they could hear the sound of millstones coming from the second floor. Nadir, Valentine, and King had already started their work. Mithril was with them, too, and they had entrusted him with the task of scooping the powdery silver sugar into barrels.

Elliott scratched his ginger hair. “We’re counting on you. I mean it.”

Kat snorted derisively. “Well, I suppose looking at your dumb grin is better than being ordered around by that dim-witted bastard Hugh. Besides…” He looked down at the half-finished candy sculpture again and grumbled, “This’ll be worth working on. It’s an interesting piece.”

Elliott’s expression softened in relief. “I think so, too.”

“Please help us,” Anne said, bowing.

“I will. That’s what I came to do. There’s no time, so I’m gonna get straight to work. But before that, take this one into the kitchen or somethin’,” Kat said, indicating the little green-haired fairy named Benjamin, who was currently dozing on his shoulder. “He’s a pest. The only thing he can do is cook. If he ever wakes up, that is…”

Sounding annoyed, Kat picked Benjamin up by the belt and thrust him at Anne.

Benjamin was very clear that he didn’t want to do anything other than cook, and he was always sleeping anyway, so he was basically useless. It was hard to understand why Kat kept the little fairy around.

Anne accepted him with both hands, amazed that Benjamin was still sleeping soundly, even pinched between Kat’s fingers.

“I’ll show Kat to the second floor,” said Elliott. “Anne, you take Benjamin into the kitchen, then report to Glen and Orlando. Tell them Kat’s started working.” At that, the two men headed off.

Anne and Challe took Benjamin, who still hadn’t woken up, to the kitchen and left him in the care of Danna, Hal, and Noah. The three hardworking fairies were surprised to see him dozing away despite being moved all over the place.

After that, Anne headed up to the third floor and made her report to Glen. When he heard that Kat had joined them, Glen let out a deep sigh.

“I see. Some good news for now… If only Orlando’s injury would heal.” He grimaced, as if in pain.

Sometime the previous evening, Elliott had reported to Glen about Orlando’s injury and about Lafalle. Glen was bedridden, and all he could do was listen to their reports. It must have been frustrating.

“Glen, have you seen Bridget?” asked Anne.

Bridget had been shut up in her room since the previous day and hadn’t taken any meals.

Anne was certain that Orlando’s injury had also hurt Bridget. She hoped that, if she could get Elliott or Glen to speak to her, it might ease her grief a little.

But when he heard Bridget’s name, Glen frowned.

“I have not.”

“I think Bridget is hurting, too. But if you would see her and talk to her—”

“Anne. I know what you’re trying to say. But right now, I don’t want to see that girl’s face. I said this to Elliott, too, but for the time being, please don’t let her into my room.”

“But—”

“I really don’t feel like seeing her. Through her foolish actions, Orlando lost one of his eyes, something vital to his work as a candy crafter.”

Glen turned to face the window, as if refusing to hear any more talk of Bridget.

Anne didn’t want to accept his attitude, but considering Glen’s feelings, she couldn’t argue the point any further, either. Glen loved both Bridget and Orlando. The situation was probably unbearable for him.

Ultimately, Anne said only that she would be back with another report later, then left the room.

Out in the corridor, Challe was waiting for her, leaning against the wall.

“I suppose Orlando’s room is next,” he said, straightening up.

Since the previous day, Challe had been with Anne constantly. She felt a little bad for taking up all his free time.

“I’m sorry. It must be boring following me around like this.”

As they descended the stairs and headed toward Orlando’s room, Challe sighed.

“It’s because of me that you’re in danger,” he said.

“But it’s only natural that Gladys—I mean, Lafalle would come after me, since he was targeting Silver Sugar Masters in the first place.”

“It’s because of me that he’s after you instead of Elliott or Glen.”

Challe’s face held more than just anger. There was a hint of confusion there, as well. He was probably thinking about Lafalle, who had fled.

Challe had said that Lafalle was born in the same place as he was. Anne wondered what meaning that held for the two fairies. If they were human, they would be brothers, relatives, or something similar.

She’d also heard that Lafalle wanted to make Challe his comrade, though even Challe didn’t seem to know what he meant exactly. But without a doubt, the two of them had to mean something to each other.

What is their connection?

Fairies had their own thoughts and feelings, and Anne was sure there were some things that only they could comprehend.

It might be something I can’t even understand.

That thought was a little frightening. Challe was always by Anne’s side, and he had pledged to protect her. But she got the feeling that he might disappear suddenly because of some factor she couldn’t grasp.

It wasn’t that she doubted Challe’s words. But she sensed there was something going on that the two of them didn’t have the strength to fight.

When Anne and Challe entered the first-floor hallway, they found someone unexpected standing in front of Orlando’s door.

Surprised, Anne stopped short.

“Bridget?”

Hearing her name, Bridget looked over at them, startled.

“Are you here to visit Orlando?” Anne asked. “In that case, your timing’s perfect. I was just about to let him know that Kat has arrived, so he doesn’t need to worry. Why don’t you head in with me?”

Smiling, Anne trotted over to the other girl.

Bridget had probably come because she was concerned about Orlando.

Up until then, whenever something unpleasant happened, Bridget simply locked herself away in her room. She’d never left out of her own volition before. The fact that she had done so now seemed like a positive change, and Anne was happy to see it. Even if her actions were motivated by feelings of guilt, it was definitely an improvement.

Bridget hung her head and let her gaze drift.

“I don’t know how I can face him. I envy you, Anne. You’ve never been excluded like me, so you can do anything you want without hesitation.”

Anne blinked, taken aback by the unexpected statement.

“Well, things are different here,” she said. “But in the past, I was an outsider everywhere. That was even true when I was at the Radcliffe Workshop. I used to travel alone with my mother, and every place we went, I was shunned by the children there. Well, it’s no wonder. I suddenly showed up one day, and nobody knew who I was.”

At last, Bridget raised her head. She looked straight at Anne, confusion on her face. Her jade-like eyes were beautiful, and she wore a lovely, feminine dress with lots of pleats in the skirt. It suited her well. Anne found it hard to believe anyone would ever exclude such a pretty girl or treat her harshly.

“But you know,” Anne continued, “sometimes, I wasn’t being left out on purpose. In one village, I remember being jealous of all the kids playing together. I spent the whole day watching them from a distance. Then one little girl noticed me and asked me if I wanted to play with them. When I told her that I did, she laughed and said, ‘You should have said something earlier. We didn’t see you.’ Then I understood. Everyone was absorbed in their games or whatever else they were doing, trying their best in their own way. At times, that made them miss things. After that, I summoned my courage and started inviting children I didn’t know to play. Sometimes, they excluded me anyway, but…but I was left out a lot less often.”

Anne wasn’t strong, and she wasn’t particularly clever. She was just an ordinary candy crafter, not some hero.

But even she needed courage to make it through her daily life.

The courage to call out to an unfamiliar child and ask them to play didn’t amount to much. But for Anne, it required enough bravery to quash the fear of her own world ending.

Anne felt sure that for Bridget, entering Orlando’s room and expressing words of sympathy would require a tremendous amount of courage. That much was clear.

But if she didn’t back down, there was a chance that something would change.

“I thought about going in together, but I’ve changed my mind. Bridget, please tell Orlando that Kat has arrived and that everything is fine. Please. Let’s go, Challe.”

“W-wait!”

Ignoring the other girl’s panic, Anne turned her back on Bridget and quickly walked away with Challe.

“Anne!”

Bridget called after her, but Anne pretended not to hear. Then she called out to Challe, seeming even more flustered.

“Challe. Wait, Challe! Bring Anne back. I—!”

Challe glanced over his shoulder and said, “This is your job, assigned to you by the head candy crafter.”

My job? What does that mean?

Bridget was confused by Challe’s words and a little angry that she didn’t understand them.

“This is hardly a job,” she grumbled peevishly.

Sure, Anne had asked Bridget to let Orlando know Kat had arrived. But calling that a job was a joke, a pathetically transparent ploy.

That said, since she had been asked to do it, there was no avoiding it. It wasn’t like she could simply not tell him.

“Well, since this is my job…,” Bridget said, justifying to herself what she was about to do as she stood in front of Orlando’s door. After several deep breaths, she knocked boldly.

The door immediately opened, and a fairy with orange hair poked her head out.

“Ah, my lady.”

It was Danna. She was probably tending to Orlando. Her eyes widened at the unexpected visitor.

“Anne asked me to do something… It’s my job. I can’t get out of it, so I have to give Orlando a message.”

“Oh, of course. Master Orlando is awake now. Please come in.”

“That’s all right. If you could just tell him…”

Before Bridget could finish, Danna opened the door wide and called out into the room, “Master Orlando, the young lady is here. I will bring some tea.” Danna then invited her in and hurried away.

Danna, who had been entrusted with the housework, was shy and liked to avoid the attention of the Paige family and the other candy crafters as much as possible. In this situation, she probably didn’t want to intrude on Bridget and Orlando’s conversation. But personally, Bridget would have preferred that she stay.

Danna was gone, however. What’s more, she had already told Orlando that Bridget was there. There was no going back now.

Reluctantly, Bridget entered the room. There was a fire in the hearth, and the interior was warm.

Orlando was sitting up in bed, leaning back against the headboard. He seemed listless, though his expression was dignified.

He looked at her in surprise. Half his face was covered with bandages.

It’s true. His eye…

When she saw him like that, Bridget felt a dull shock, as if her head had been struck by a clod of earth.

“Bridget? What is it?”

Orlando sounded surprised, and his question startled Bridget back to her senses. She had been asked to deliver a message, and she had to tell him what she’d come to say. But for some reason, her chest hurt, like something was squeezing it.

“I was given a message for you. From Anne. So…I’m here to…”

She started to speak, and as she did, her chest tightened even further.

He’s a candy crafter, and yet… Orlando—he’s a crafter, but…

She felt something rise up in her throat.

When they were young, Bridget and Orlando had often played together. They had innocently vowed that they would both become candy crafters, and behind Glen’s back, they had asked Grandpa Jim to give them scraps of silver sugar so they could pretend to make sugar candies.

Around that time, Elliott was also coming and going from the main house. Just as in the present day, he had been something of a joker as a child.

But he had clearly held a different attitude toward sugar candy than Bridget and Orlando.

He wasn’t playing when he touched the silver sugar. Instead, he was always working on the tasks he was given as part of his training, silently toiling away. And he would watch the other crafters intently even as he did his own job.

Perhaps influenced by Elliott’s behavior, Orlando gradually began to treat his sugar candy sculptures more seriously.

And then around that same time, Bridget’s father told her that she could never become a candy crafter.

The two boys left Bridget behind and started down their chosen path. But Bridget had always known how serious they were. Because she had seen it from the very start.

“Kat has come to help. So don’t worry…”

She couldn’t bring herself to say any more. Suddenly, her vision grew cloudy, and something hot ran down her cheeks. She covered her mouth with both hands, but they couldn’t hold back her sobs.

“…I’m sorry.”

The rest poured out of her. It was like a dam had broken, and the words came spilling forth one after another.

“I’m sorry, Orlando. I’m so very sorry. I’m sorry I brought a fairy like him to the castle. You’re a candy crafter, but your eye… I’m sorry. It’s all my fault. Anne told me not to think that way, but still—still, it’s my fault this happened.”

Orlando looked at her in surprise.

“I’m sorry, Orlando,” she said again. “I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”

“It’s all right, Bridget.” Orlando shook his head softly. “Even if my left eye’s useless, I still have my right. It’s no problem. And my fingers are fine. More importantly…I’m glad you weren’t hurt. Your face is your best feature. It would have been awful if you’d been left with a scar.”

My face is my best feature? What a cruel thing to say.

Even though her tears were spilling over, she had a strange feeling like she wanted to fly into a rage, or do the opposite and burst out laughing.

But Orlando’s words were genuine. He had never been one to manipulate or lie. He’d been that way since they were kids. He must have truly thought that Bridget’s face was her best feature.

What an oaf. How infuriating. But he did say he was glad I wasn’t hurt.

He had been worried about her.

Her feelings, which had seemed so certain, melted down into a hodgepodge, and she wasn’t sure whether she was angry, happy, or sad. Adrift in a sea of indistinct emotions, she remembered Anne’s words.

“Everyone was absorbed in their games or whatever else they were doing, trying their best in their own way,” Anne had said. “At times, that made them miss things. After that, I summoned my courage and started inviting children I didn’t know to play.”

Bridget had always thought that everyone at the workshop was excluding her, that no one paid her any mind.

But maybe that was only to be expected. Everyone, including her father, was a candy crafter, and they were always, always absorbed in sugar candy alone. They didn’t have the wherewithal to concern themselves with anything else.