IBDFSML 50

From somewhere beyond the haze of consciousness, Sion heard the sound of someone sniffling and crying.

‘…What kind of fangirl fairy is this…? What do you mean you’ll change fate…! If this was going to happen, you should’ve made me into something that could protect Sion instead of a tiny useless fairy like this…!!!’

A small voice that alternated between crying, shouting, and getting angry.

For some reason, Sion felt that voice was extremely familiar.

‘Alright! Don’t worry anymore, Sion! I’ll figure something out somehow…!’

A voice that had suddenly become spirited and determined again, as if nothing had happened.

‘Please get warm quickly…’

And then a tender, affectionate voice.

It belonged to a certain small and eccentric fairy he knew very well.

“…Ugh.”

Amid fragments of memories that felt neither like reality nor a dream, Sion slowly opened his eyes.

The first thing that entered his vision was, surprisingly… pink.

‘…?’

A giant question mark filled his mind as Sion raised his body, which felt as heavy as lead.

No, to be precise, he started to sit up and then froze.

Haa… haa…

Because he could feel someone’s shallow breathing directly above his head.

And the moment he realized that, he also became aware that something was gently wrapped around his body.

In stunned silence, Sion slowly turned his head to see the face of the person embracing him.

There—

“……!”

A woman he had never seen before was sleeping while holding him tightly as though he were a pillow.

Frozen in confusion, Sion unconsciously muttered,

“…What is this…?”

Perhaps because he had been unconscious for longer than expected, a rough voice slipped from between his lips.

To understand this incomprehensible situation, Sion slowly looked around.

Then he froze once more.

Unbelievably, the mysterious woman holding him was practically half-naked, dressed only in lingerie.

Sion’s lips parted slightly in shock before closing again.

“……”

Sion Luxier.

Nineteen years old this year.

Even by his own standards, he could confidently say he had lived a rather difficult life, and only a few hours ago he had fought magical beasts and been caught in an avalanche, facing one troublesome situation after another.

But he could say with certainty that he had never been as flustered as he was at this very moment.

‘…Who exactly is this woman?’

Sion quietly placed the coat he had been holding back over the woman’s body.

Then he rubbed his face with one hand as if washing it dry.

Suddenly, his movement stopped.

“……?”

Sion’s confused gaze turned back to the woman.

A strangely familiar silhouette.

Very familiar pink hair.

Very familiar pink coat.

His brows furrowed.

‘…No way.’

It was absurd.

A ridiculous thought.

Yet as if possessed by something, Sion carefully brushed aside the long strands of hair covering the woman’s face.

At last, her face was revealed.

A round forehead, rosy cheeks, a delicate pale face.

Both unfamiliar and strangely familiar.

‘…This face.’

He was certain he knew a face similar to this.

A much smaller, rounder version.

Sion blinked.

“…Lin?”

As if responding to his call, the woman twitched.

Then—

“…Mmm…”

Wiping the drool from the corner of her mouth, she opened her eyes groggily.

The vivid pink eyes that appeared met Sion’s gaze.

The woman’s drowsy eyes widened like those of a startled rabbit.

“…Ah? Sion…!!!”

[…]

A soft, melodious low voice called out to me from far away.

[…Lin?]

At that voice, my soul, which had been drifting endlessly somewhere, suddenly stopped.

‘Ah, it’s Sion.’

I turned back the way I had come.

‘I have to go back.’

And the next moment—

My consciousness rose to the surface along with a freezing chill that wrapped around my entire body.

“…Mmm…”

Wiping the drool from my mouth, I opened my eyes and immediately saw a pair of beautiful gray-blue eyes looking at me.

My eyes widened and I shouted,

“…Aah…! Sion?!”

“……”

The moment I called his name, Sion visibly flinched.

Seeing that he was safe, relief, joy, and lingering sorrow flooded over me, and I threw my arms around him with all my strength.

“Sion!!! You’re awake!!!”

“……”

“I was really, really worried you might never wake up! Thank goodness! Thank goodness you’re okay…!”

“……”

For some reason, Sion said nothing.

I pulled back slightly and glanced at him.

Then—

“……???”

His face was red beyond description.

Even his ears, visible through his ash-gray hair, were completely flushed.

“…? What’s wrong, Sion?”

When I tilted my head and asked, Sion rubbed his face.

Then, averting his eyes, he asked in a stiff voice,

“…First… put some clothes on.”

“Huh?”

Wondering what he meant, I looked down at myself blankly.

Then my jaw dropped.

‘…Oh no.’

I’d completely forgotten.

After stripping off my clothes earlier to share body heat with Sion, I was currently dressed in little more than sleepwear.

And unlike before, I was in the form of an ordinary human woman, not a fairy.

Only then did I fully understand his reaction.

“……”

“……”

An awkward silence settled between us.

Quietly, I reached out and put on the sleepwear lying beside me.

Then I draped the coat that had been serving as a blanket over my shoulders.

Even then, Sion sat silently with his face turned away.

Glancing at him, I spoke.

“Ahem. You were surprised, weren’t you, Sion? It’s okay now.”

“……”

Sion shot me a sidelong glance before letting out a silent sigh and rubbing his face again.

Apparently, he had been quite shocked.

‘Well… from Sion’s perspective, he woke up to find some strange woman in suspicious clothing hugging him. Of course he’d be confused.’

I could understand completely.

No matter how calm and mature Sion usually seemed, he was still a young man who had only recently become an adult.

And in all nineteen years of his life, he had never even held a woman’s hand before.

Trying to lighten the awkward atmosphere, I cheerfully said,

“Hehe, but thanks to me working so hard to protect you and share my body heat, you woke up safely! Pretty reliable, right?”

“…Yes. Thanks to you, I seem to have avoided hypothermia.”

Sion slowly spoke as he examined our situation and the surroundings.

Then his gaze returned to me.

“…But how exactly did you become human?”

“I used fairy power. It’s an ability that lets me transform into a human like this.”

“That was possible?”

“Yep. I didn’t know either, but apparently it is.”

“…I see.”

Still looking unfamiliar and fascinated, Sion’s gray-blue eyes quietly studied me.

Even I found my transformed appearance strange, so it was no wonder he did too.

Whoooosh—

At that moment, a gust of wind slipped through the gap in the shelter, and I sneezed loudly.

“Achoo~!!!”

“…!”

Sion, who had been observing me the whole time, flinched.

Then, as if pulling himself out of his thoughts, he slowly spoke.

“…For now, let’s recover our strength here before leaving.”

“Yeah, yeah. Let’s do that. Sniff.”

Sion watched me sniffle while pulling my coat tighter around myself.

Then he quietly closed his eyes and slowly regulated his breathing.

At the same time, a hazy, intangible aura began to rise from his entire body.

‘Ooh, aura!’

Curious, I waved my hand through the shimmering aura as though it were alive, but I couldn’t feel anything.

‘He’s probably circulating the aura inside his body to regulate his temperature.’

It was a method Sion and the male leads often used in the original story.

After a short while,

Sion opened his eyes again.

Then he said to me,

“Come closer.”

“…! Okay!”

I immediately scooted over and pressed myself right beside him.

Sure enough, his skin felt wonderfully warm.

“Wow! You’re all warm now, Sion! That’s amazing!”

“……”

“Here, it’ll be even warmer like this!”

I spread the coat I was wearing and draped it over both our shoulders like a blanket.

The air beneath it quickly became warm and cozy.

Smiling proudly, I turned toward Sion.

“Hah, see? This is totally—”

Then I trailed off.

Because our faces were… much closer than I had realized.

Close enough that I could clearly see the confusion flickering in his gray-blue eyes.

“……”

“……”

Sion had apparently not expected me to suddenly turn toward him either, because he froze as well.

Silence fell between us.

‘…W-what is this atmosphere?’

I stared blankly at Sion.

I should have turned away, said something, anything to break this strangely awkward moment.

But for some reason, my body and tongue refused to move.

Then—

Thump.

‘Thump?’

For some reason, my heart skipped.

Thump. Thump.

‘Huh…?’

I stared blankly down at my chest.

Just as I wondered what was happening—

Flash!

Suddenly, my entire body was engulfed in light.

“Huh!?”

“Lin…!”

Startled, Sion reached out while calling my name.

But his hand sliced through empty air.

Because—

“……Huh?”