Chapter 12
“…?!”
The robed man suddenly barged into the carriage.
The coachman, who had been waiting nearby, rushed over in shock.
“W-Who are you!? How dare you approach Noel Merchant Guild’s carriage—!”
Thud—.
“Ugh.”
Thump.
The coachman was struck on the back of the neck by the robed man and collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
After confirming that the coachman was out cold, the robed man turned back toward me.
I quickly hid behind the cloth covering the cage, trying not to reveal my presence to someone who seemed like the Grand Duchess’s subordinate.
Hopefully, he’d see there was nothing of interest and leave quietly.
But then—
Grab—.
“…?!!”
He suddenly snatched the cage I was in.
‘W-What!? Don’t tell me he’s stealing this right now?!’
The moment I realized it, all kinds of grim scenarios flashed through my mind.
Being captured by the Grand Duchess, tortured, or sold off as an auction item… a far worse fate than being taken by a clueless seven-year-old girl and turned into a pet fairy.
‘Damn it… no.’
I couldn’t end up like this—not before I’d done anything for Sion.
I shouted at the top of my lungs,
“Let go of that, you thief!!!”
I kicked off and flew up, biting down hard on the fingers gripping the cage.
The robed man flinched.
‘How’s that—fairy teeth hurt, don’t they!’
But then—
A deeply familiar low voice fell from above my head.
“What are you doing? Stay still.”
“…?!!”
That calm, smooth mid-low voice—it was one I could never fail to recognize.
I spat out the finger I’d been biting and muttered blankly,
“Sion…?”
Still holding the cage, Sion leapt down from the carriage. Then, moving like a shadow—quiet and swift—he slipped away from the main road.
After walking briskly for a while, he reached a quiet place with no one around and stopped.
Then he pulled off the cloth covering the cage.
Before my eyes appeared beautiful silver-gray hair and blue-gray eyes.
“Sion…!!!”
No way!
Sion actually came to save me!
Overwhelmed with emotion, my body trembled.
“You came… you came to save me!”
“…What kind of mess is this?”
Sion asked, looking utterly dumbfounded—like someone scolding a disobedient dog that had run away from home.
I grabbed onto his finger and burst into tears.
“I thought I’d be taken away and never see you again! Thank you so, so much for coming to find me, Sion!! Sob sob sob!!!”
“……”
Sion, who had been staring down at me coldly, looked slightly flustered by my intense reaction.
“Did it hurt where I bit you? I’m sorry!”
I rubbed the red mark on his finger as if it were a mosquito bite.
How could I dare sink my dirty teeth into hands as precious as my favorite’s?
Worry hit me belatedly—what if it left a scar?
“Seriously…”
Sion started to say something, then stopped, as if giving up.
With a resigned sigh, he asked,
“Fine. Start by explaining how you ended up like this.”
“Uh, well…”
Since I had something to feel guilty about, I forced an awkward smile.
“So… I had some business with the merchant guild that came to the Grand Duke’s castle, so I was hanging around nearby… and then their daughter caught me, haha.”
“……”
Sion stared at me silently. His cold gaze made me hurriedly add,
“I mean, she’s just a little kid, so it’s not a big deal! And actually, I could’ve come back without any problems, but… I couldn’t use my fangirl skill—uh, I mean, my fairy powers—and I ended up stuck in this cage.”
“You can’t use your powers?”
“Yeah. Something came up. If not for that, I would’ve broken this cage and returned to you right away!”
“……”
Sion fell silent for a moment.
Then he set the cage down on the ground.
Shing—.
He drew the sword strapped to his back.
“…Wait.”
‘Me…?’
Seeing my horrified expression, Sion frowned.
“What ridiculous thing are you imagining?”
“Right? Not me, right?”
“Don’t move.”
As soon as he finished speaking, Sion moved in an instant.
His sword cut through the air with a chilling sound—
And then—
Clang!!
The blade struck the cage… and bounced off cleanly.
The cage didn’t even get a scratch.
“……”
“……”
Sion’s face stiffened.
Trying to spare his pride, I spoke carefully,
“I tried a few times too, but it seems this cage is made of some kind of special metal. It doesn’t budge no matter what.”
“……”
Sion’s face remained expressionless, but I could tell his pride had taken a hit.
“…What do we do, Sion? It looks like breaking the cage isn’t an option.”
“……”
He silently stared at the cage.
“I think we’ll have to find another way…”
I trailed off, glancing at the sword still in his hand.
For a moment, I hesitated.
‘Should I say it… or not?’
It was a secret revealed later in the original story—
That Sion was an aura user.
Sion Luxior.
At just 14 years old, he had awakened aura—the youngest in northern history. A once-in-a-generation genius knight.
‘With aura, he could probably slice this cage like tofu.’
But pretending to know that now might trigger a system spoiler warning—and more importantly, I was worried about how Sion would react.
In the original story, Sion had kept his aura ability a strict secret to avoid unnecessary conflict in the Grand Duke’s castle.
The moment he revealed it was—
“To save the heroine in a life-or-death situation near the end.”
I scratched my cheek.
‘…Yeah, that’s not happening.’
To Sion right now, I was just a troublesome fairy he’d known for a few days. No way he’d make that kind of decision for me.
“Okay. Giving up fast.”
I dropped the idea.
Instead, I turned to my last option.
Event Helper: Due to your reckless skill spamming earlier, your fangirl energy has been completely depleted! To use skills, please recharge your fangirl energy! ^0^/
“…Fangirl energy, huh.”
‘Just how do you recharge that?’
It felt like something more than just eating or sleeping—some special condition.
“Hmm.”
I stared at Sion, stroking my chin.
“Hmmmm.”
I felt like I was close to figuring it out.
“…What are you thinking now?”
Sion asked suspiciously.
“Well…”
At that moment, a loud commotion echoed from the main road we had left.
“WAAAAAH!!!”
It was the wailing cry of a seven-year-old girl who had discovered the empty carriage.
Sion picked up the cage again.
“We should leave first.”
“Y-yeah. Let’s go back home.”
I could think about recharging fangirl energy after we safely returned.
Before covering the cage again, Sion looked down at me.
It was the kind of look that said, “Should I really take this troublesome thing back?”
I gave him a bright, innocent smile like a puppy about to be abandoned.
He paused—then rubbed his face with his hand and let out a quiet sigh.
“…You’re really a hassle.”
Yes, I’m sorry.
“This settles the debt from the dungeon incident.”
Yes. Thank you.
With that, Sion tucked the cage under his arm and left.
He moved skillfully through quiet back alleys, as if he knew the city like the back of his hand.
After a while, he spoke again.
“Rin.”
‘Oh—he called my name for the first time.’
“You should’ve realized by now—human society isn’t a place for a fairy’s naive curiosity. Take this as a lesson and go back.”
“…I’m sorry for causing trouble, Sion. This time just had some… trial and error.”
I added quietly,
“And I’m not here because I’m curious about the human world. I came here because of you.”
“……”
After a moment of silence, Sion spoke, his voice faintly troubled.
“I really don’t understand.”
“……”
“Are all fairies like this? Don’t you have somewhere to return to? A family? Responsibilities? A homeland? You must have been born somewhere.”
“…Uh, well…”
I reflected on his question.
I didn’t really have anywhere to go back to—not even a way to return.
Even if I did… it would just be my tiny basement apartment.
And family?
I wasn’t much different from Sion. Mine were all gone.
A simple, unfortunate story.
‘Nothing really applies.’
So I smiled and said,
“Nope, none of that. Because I have something more important to do. I told you before, right? I came here to make you happy, Sion.”
“……”
After that, Sion remained silent the entire way back to the Grand Duke’s castle, lost in thought.
