Sugar Apple Fairytale - Volume 6 - Chapter 4.2

But Elliott only gritted his teeth, glared at Keith, and yanked his collar with everything he had.

Then Kat approached them. With calm blue eyes, he said flatly, “This is a candy workshop. The proxy maestro shouldn’t be defiling this sacred space. If you’re gonna fight, take it outside.”

At Kat’s words, Elliott’s grip loosened. He swiftly removed his hands from Keith’s collar. Keith dropped to his knees on the floor, coughing violently, and Kat knelt and rubbed his back.

Elliott just stood there for a minute, hanging his head.

Once Keith was breathing normally again, Elliott looked down at him and muttered, “…You okay? That was wrong of me.”

Keith shook his head, still massaging his throat.

“No… I’m the one who should apologize.”

His cheeks burned. He had never been so embarrassed.

He had lost his cool when he heard that Anne had been abducted, but now he understood how thoughtless he’d been. The crafters of the Paige Workshop were already doing the best they could for Anne. It had taken Elliott’s shouting for him to realize it.

The Paige Workshop crafters had, without the slightest hesitation, acknowledged Anne as their head crafter. Neither faction membership nor the fact that she was female mattered to them.

Keith hated the idea of following in his father’s footsteps. The thought of receiving special treatment as the son of the former Silver Sugar Viscount was suffocating.

And because he had been so concerned with that, he had failed to notice how the others felt. He was the one with all the shameful hang-ups.

“I understand completely. I…was being thoughtless.”

His head was still spinning a little, but he stood up.

I don’t want to do anything shameful.

Keith always tried to be fair. It was not in his nature to be dishonest or dishonorable. That was simply who he was.

He thought of his father, who had served for more than twenty years as a wonderful Silver Sugar Viscount. Young Keith had always been treated like an accessory to his father, but his pride had made him work to be his own person—to do something for himself that he could be proud of.

“I’ll lend a hand, as well. The hole that Anne left must be gigantic. If this is the best we can do for her, then I’ll help. Besides, I want the Paige Workshop to go on. I care about this place—the workshop where my father trained. So I will help you.”

“Are you sure that’s all right, Keith?”

Mithril had been standing with his mouth hanging open. But now, startled by Keith’s words, he hopped up and landed on his shoulder.

“I see you’ve been helping them out, too, Mithril Lid Pod. I’ll join you. It’ll be fine.”

This little fairy who had traveled with Anne and Challe ought to have been more worried about the two of them than anyone else in the castle. But he was holding steady, quietly working away. Mithril understood exactly what he needed to do.

Keith felt he should take a page out of the fairy’s book. He needed to forget about foolish things like factions and personal pride.

“What do you mean, ‘it’ll be fine’?” Mithril asked, looking concerned. “If you help us, won’t that old man at the Radcliffe Workshop get mad at you?”

“It’s all right. I’ve got an idea.” Keith gave the fairy a gentle smile, then turned back to face Elliott again. “Mr. Collins. Please give me a job.”

It had already been three days.

That morning, Anne had Challe open the high window, too far up to see out. The rays of the setting sun streamed through, casting a square of light on the wall. From time to time, a cold wind blew in, but she kept the fire in the hearth ceaselessly burning, so the room was warm. There was plenty of firewood piled up beside the hearth.

Anne was sitting in front of the fire, hugging her knees.

She wasn’t exactly imprisoned; she could leave her room as she pleased. Lafalle was well aware that Anne couldn’t run away. Here in this wilderness, far from the Bloody Highway, if she ran off by herself, she would only end up dead in a ravine somewhere.

Thinking it would be useful to check out her surroundings, Anne had walked through the fort several times to learn its layout, but that was all she’d done. The interior was gloomy, cold, and depressing—hardly a good spot for a stroll.

I wonder what’s become of our work, she thought, head resting on her knees.

The Paige Workshop had finally started making decent headway, but with Anne out of the picture, they would be shorthanded again. She wondered how the other crafters were handling it. Elliott and Orlando were injured and probably couldn’t do anything too strenuous.

Starting the day after she, Challe, and Lafalle arrived at the fort, Challe had been going out on excursions with Lafalle. They went out early in the morning and came back after sunset. And each time, they brought back several new brawny warrior fairies. Challe didn’t talk about what he was being made to do. But he seemed gloomier with each passing day, which worried Anne.

Someone knocked at the door. For a moment, she thought Challe had come back, but—

“Hi there, Anne.”

—it was Lafalle, carrying a small barrel on his shoulder. He stepped right into the room without asking and lowered the barrel to the floor near the wall.

“It’s silver sugar. I prepared it for you. Won’t you make some sugar candy for me?”

That year’s silver sugar wasn’t something that just anyone could refine on their own. Anne wondered where and how he had gotten it. She knew he had probably stolen it from someone, but thinking about the circumstances of how it had been taken filled her with dread.

“Anne, I have great expectations for you. Craft something for me, my darling Silver Sugar Master.”

Lafalle smiled. His whispering voice was sweet like the scent of flowers. His skin was pale, and his hair and eyes were a vague, phantomlike blend of colors. He was beautiful, though in a different way from Challe.

“No. I won’t make anything,” she replied, glaring at Lafalle.

“You won’t? What a troublesome girl. Well, then you’re just an ordinary, useless human. Don’t complain when that gets you killed. Once you’re dead, I’ll just have to fetch that male Silver Sugar Master from the same workshop to replace you.”

Though his voice remained sweet, the words he spoke were cruel. Anne’s face drained of color.

“Stop! Don’t touch Mr. Collins!”

Elliott was supposed to become the next maestro of the Paige Workshop. He was the only one to whom Glen could confidently entrust his legacy. She couldn’t allow Lafalle to take him.

“Well then, who will make my sugar candy?”

Biting her lip, Anne hung her head.

“…I will.”

“You should have just said that in the first place, my darling Silver Sugar Master. I’ll treat you well, so long as you obey.”

Lafalle quickly closed the distance between them. Anne felt a chill of dread, like something cold had touched her back. Without thinking, she stood up and fled toward the wall.

Lafalle followed, seeming to enjoy the chase.

“What about Challe?!” she asked. “Where is he?!”

“Washing himself,” Lafalle answered. “Understandably, he was worried that if he appeared before you in his current state, you might feel unwell.” Then he chuckled and smiled happily. “Though he says he doesn’t wish to use his sword, he is magnificent in battle. And how much more splendid he will be once he no longer hesitates! It’s a delight just imagining it.”

“What are you making Challe do?”

“Oh, nothing much. I’m just having him remove certain…obstacles for me. Are you worried about him? Do you love him? Of course you do. But if you love him enough to worry about him, you’d be better off keeping your distance.”

Anne slowly backed away along the wall as Lafalle approached.

“If you love Challe and he returns your feelings, your happiness is secure. You could keep him by your side and enjoy his company for the rest of your life. But after you are gone, he’ll be left alone again.”

Anne was startled. She recalled how lonely Challe had looked when he spoke about Liz. It had been shortly after they first met.

Liz had been killed, and Challe, who was left behind, had experienced unbelievable isolation and loneliness. She could see it plain as day in his eyes.

“Humans with humans, fairies with fairies. We are all happiest living with members of our own kind, don’t you agree? If you truly care for Challe, don’t you think you ought to do everything you can to help him live with his fellow fairies? Right now, he finds happiness in protecting you and your friends. That’s because you all rely on him and are happy being around him. But suppose you were to reject him? He would have no reason to stay with you. If you did that, I’m sure he would eventually wish to return to his own kind. But as things are now, you’ll only make him unhappy.”

Anne loved Challe. And Challe had pledged to always protect Anne and stay by her side.

To Anne, this was the greatest happiness she could imagine. But what about Challe? Perhaps Challe’s kindness actually brought him sorrow.

For now, Challe was with humans, but sooner or later, they would all disappear. She hoped that Mithril would stay with him when the time came, but they didn’t even know how long Mithril would live.

If Mithril also passed away, Challe would be alone again.

“At least I’ll never disappear and leave him behind. And it doesn’t have to be just me. Someday soon, we can go looking for fellow gemstones. If you were to reject him so that he would consider living here with us, I wouldn’t even mind setting you free.”

The color of his eyes as he pressed in on her was beautiful, and she found herself unexpectedly drawn in by his words.

But Lafalle is a liar. He fooled Bridget. He fooled everyone.

“If you set me free, will you simply kidnap a different Silver Sugar Master?”

“That’s not for you to worry about.”

“I can’t believe a single word you say!” she shouted as she slipped past him and rushed out of the room.

She continued to run, searching for Challe. She couldn’t help worrying. She knew Lafalle wasn’t to be trusted, but she also knew that there was some truth in his words.

Lafalle had said that living with one’s own people was the way to happiness. That could very well be true. Anne wondered if taking advantage of Challe’s kindness and wanting to be with him might make him unhappy.

While she was haphazardly running around the castle, Anne discovered a room with an open door and light shining out.

“Challe?!”

Excitedly, she peered inside, then stiffened.

It was a large room. In the center was a long table, at which the brawny fairies sat in rows. They looked like they were in the middle of a meal. All at once, their eyes gathered on her, and she was so frightened, she couldn’t move.

Then from the very back of the room, something small came bounding toward her.

It was a tiny female fairy, about the size of her thumb. She stood on the edge of the table and looked up at Anne with tender eyes.

“This is where us fairies eat our meals. It’s not a place for guests.”

“I’m so sorry. I was looking for someone.”

Anne tried to explain, but the little fairy’s eyes suddenly opened wide, and she shouted, “Oh! Is it you? The young lady who gave birth to me?! It’s me, Lusul El Min! Do you remember me?”

“…Oh!”

A little over a year earlier, Anne had traveled down the Bloody Highway. At the end of that trip, she had stared at a berry, and a fairy had been born. That fairy had called herself Lusul El Min, and at Challe’s recommendation, she had flown off to a place where human hands could never reach her.

At that time, she had wanted a dress, but now she was wearing makeshift clothes fashioned out of bits of cloth. And on her back was only a single wing.

“What happened to your wing?! Were you captured by humans after you left us?!”

“No. Nothing like that.” Lusul smiled, looking amused. “I removed it so I could offer it to Lord Lafalle.”

She removed her own wing?

Once she understood Lusul’s words, Anne was overcome with surprise.

“You removed it…? By yourself?”

“Of course not. You can’t remove them yourself, not with how badly it hurts. Lord Lafalle removed it. And it’s not just me. Everyone here has offered one wing to Lord Lafalle. Though the others simply handed over what the humans had taken from them. We give it as a pledge of loyalty, you see.”

“A pledge of loyalty? Why? Why would you pledge allegiance to him?” Anger welled up in Anne’s chest like something simmering to a boil.

“Lord Lafalle is the first fairy king to appear in five hundred years. Our own king. He will grant fairies their freedom. He promised it to us.”

“…How awful.”

Anne’s lip trembled. Lusul, visibly confused, cocked her head.

The sublime moment of the fairy’s birth was still clear in Anne’s mind. Her two wings had been so beautiful, and Anne had understood then that those wings were a fairy’s life force—something she mustn’t meddle with.

Then at Challe’s advice, Lusul had fled to a place where human hands couldn’t reach her.

Challe had said that the life span of a fairy born from a berry was only about one year. Lusul should have been able to enjoy her freedom, even if it was only for a year of life.

The sight of a fairy being born had gently soothed some of the wounds in Anne’s heart. And now the fairy who had shown her such beauty had lost one of her wings and wound up in a place like this.

It had been just over a year since then. Her life would soon come to an end. And yet here she was, in this awful place and missing a wing.

Awful, awful.

Even though she hadn’t been captured or enslaved by humans, a fellow fairy had removed her wing.

“I knew Lafalle was a liar!” Anne shouted. “He promised you freedom, then made you give him your wing?! If that’s true, he’s no different from the humans who want to control fairies, is he?!”

“Oh, no. He is our fairy king, so it’s only right that we offer him our wings.”

“It’s not right! He’s your king? I refuse to believe that. He’s nothing but an impostor!”

Lusul looked up at Anne in bafflement. “Why are you crying, miss?” she asked. “Are you sad?”

Anne only noticed the tears spilling down her cheeks after Lusul pointed them out to her.

“I’m angry!” she replied. “There was absolutely no reason for you to give away such a beautiful wing. Even a king doesn’t have the right to steal something so lovely. Why did you give it to him?!”

“‘Beautiful’…?” Lusul repeated the word as if it was the first time she had ever heard it in her life. Then her expression grew even more bewildered. “Are you crying for me?”

The warrior fairies were also watching Anne curiously as she wept. They couldn’t seem to understand why she was angry or why she was crying.

Then from behind Anne, a pair of hands softly came to rest on her shoulders. When she looked up, she saw Challe.

He was wearing a black jacket and trousers, but they were different from his usual clothes. Lafalle must have prepared them for him—elegant garments that resembled his own, decorated with beads. Challe’s hair was wet. Droplets of water glistened at the tips. He seemed to have washed himself, and his fingertips were even colder than usual.

Lusul looked at Challe, now even more surprised. “Aren’t you that kind person from before? You’re here as well?”

“Does no one understand the reason why this girl is angry?” Challe asked quietly.

The warrior fairies all frowned. Some of them exchanged looks.

“Lusul El Min, you don’t understand, either?”

“…Not really.”

Challe heaved a small sigh, put his arm around Anne’s shoulders, and urged her to start walking.

“Wait,” said Lusul. “Aren’t you going to tell us the reason the young lady is angry?”

Challe answered flatly, “This girl returned my wing to me. Lafalle stole it. Think about what that means.”