FSW Chapter 8

Fairy Tale

"Joy, Sir Hilton."

"Yes?"

"You called?"

The gazes that turned simultaneously overflowed with affection.

Joy was strict about anything related to Nishina's health, but if she acted even slightly dejected, Joy would reluctantly grant her requests.

Hilton was the same. If she clutched his sleeve and gazed at him earnestly, he'd pluck stars from the sky. Surrounded by such warm affection, Nishina only grew sadder. She wanted to love him as much as she was loved and happy.

But he would thoroughly refuse. Not because the emotion made him uncomfortable, but because the source of that emotion made him uncomfortable.

"How do you become close with someone who dislikes you?"

"Are there people in this world who dislike Your Highness?"

When Nishina spoke with a deep sigh, Hilton's eyes widened as he replied. His face was too sincere—it left her speechless. But what she wanted to know now wasn't the thickness of Hilton's rose-colored glasses, but how not to be hated.

"I'm serious!"

"Mm, if someone truly dislikes you, wouldn't they like it best if you just disappeared from… disappeared from their sight?"

Hilton, after agonizing, delivered the harsh truth. That figured, didn't it? Nishina's face immediately turned gloomy. Noticing Nishina's change, Joy hastily elbowed Hilton's ribs.

"Ugh."

Barely containing his pain, Hilton quickly changed his tune.

"Ahem! It depends on why they dislike you, but what if you showed them Your Highness's good points? They might see you differently?"

"What good points do I have?"

"Well…."

Blue eyes sparkled as they gazed at Hilton. Feeling slightly pressured, Hilton examined Nishina.

Her peach-colored cheeks, her bright eyes—everything was lovely.

"Your existence itself?"

When Hilton answered with a serious face, Nishina's expression cooled sharply. Abandoning this unhelpful doting fool, she turned her gaze forcefully on Joy instead.

Joy seemed to have guessed who they were discussing, having previously consulted about her awkward relationship with her older brother. With a considerably more serious expression, Joy thought carefully before answering calmly:

"The way you hurt over others' wounds more than your own. I don't think much of it myself, but… for someone who can't show pain, wouldn't it help?"

"Would that person hurt less?"

"No. Hurting for them won't stop their pain."

"Then…."

"But they'd be less lonely."

She recalled descriptions from the original work. He was like a child abandoned in the middle of an endless desert, it had said. Shivering in cold and scorched by sun, the loneliest thing was walking that path alone.

If she could only walk beside him as he crossed the sand barefoot. If she could become his small shade.

Aiden hurting but not alone. Not entirely satisfying, but if that was enough, there was certainly value in her taking wounds in his place.

With renewed resolve to hurt alongside him, Nishina accepted this.

After a full week and three days, her steps toward the training grounds felt wonderfully light. In contrast, the basket in her hands was nothing but heavy. Even though she wasn't distributing to all the knights, it was packed full of desserts. She'd brought all her overdue bribes at once.

Should she say, "I didn't know what you'd like, so I prepared everything"?

While selecting appropriate bribes, Nishina had regretted not asking about his dessert preferences.

'Well, I can ask when I get there today.'

Nishina quickened her pace, her new shoes making crisp sounds—tap, tap. But the cheerful rhythm didn't last long before stopping. Aiden was approaching from the far end.

The distance closed as she advanced. Her clenched fists grew clammy. Would he cast that contemptuous gaze again? She wanted to flee. But she'd resolved to hurt. Mustering courage, Nishina grabbed hold of him.

"Brother, are you returning from training?"

Her voice trembled badly. Disastrous. The moment Nishina despaired, their eyes met. An emotion-less, cold gaze swept over Nishina's outfit before looking away. Her body instinctively shrank, but Nishina desperately continued speaking.

"I'm just heading to train now too…."

"How noisy."

Aiden spat out the cold words and walked away without lingering. Watching his retreating back, she suddenly felt déjà vu.

This was a scene she'd read in the original work. Not on the way to the training grounds, but when they'd met in the imperial palace, Aiden had said exactly this and ignored Nishina. After that, the intimidated Nishina never dared speak to him carelessly again.

Only after falling silent like the girl in the book did she seem to understand why that Nishina had avoided him. Not because she feared being hurt by him. Because she didn't want to hurt him.

She'd hoped her very existence wouldn't be a wound, but regrettably, her existence appeared to be a weapon to him. If the one who'd stabbed hurt this much, she couldn't even fathom how much pain the one who'd been stabbed felt.

But Nishina couldn't back down. Even if this meant poking at his wounds.

Better a fairy tale with wounds than a tragedy without them.

Looking down at her new shoes diligently rolling across the dirt ground, Nishina furrowed her brow deeply.

The custom-made leather shoes were definitely comfortable. Running was easier than before. The design was quite nice too. The ribbon knot tied with thin straps was the highlight. She'd only bragged that the new shoes suited her well. Why that had concluded with one additional lap, she still didn't understand no matter how much she reconsidered.

Panting, she struggled to chase after Lavis. His flawless posture was simply astonishing. Meanwhile, Nishina's bent waist was ready to form a right angle any moment.

She was out of breath. This was hard.

Thanks to the comfortable shoes, she was safely completing her third lap, but that didn't mean her stamina had improved at all—sweat poured down like rain.

She roughly wiped her sweat-soaked forehead. Good thing she'd tied her hair up; if she'd left it loose like the first day, she'd have looked like a complete mess. But anyway, she'd said she wanted to learn swordsmanship, not that she wanted to learn running. Though this was only the third lesson, she still hadn't caught even a glimpse of a sword.

"Haa… When exactly can I hold a sword?"

When she managed to ask through ragged breathing, his steps ahead stopped abruptly. The gaze that turned back was utterly serious.

"When you can complete ten—no, five laps, I'll teach you."

It seemed like a reasonably realistic answer to him. But the moment she heard it, Nishina gave up.

'Not happening within a month.'

Having grown instantly dejected, Nishina barely dragged herself through the remaining distance.

"Let's rest, haa, just a bit… now."

She dragged her thousand-pound legs under the shade of a tree. Spreading a linen mat roughly on the grass, she plopped down any which way. An action that would make Joy faint, but in the vast training grounds, there were only Nishina and Lavis.

"Sir Russell, come here."

She patted the spot beside her with her palm, calling to him standing vacantly under the sun. His face looked reluctant, but he sat down without complaint.

"Do you like sweet things?"

Nishina asked as she pulled the large basket close. She planned to offer desserts according to his preferences.

But he couldn't answer easily, as if facing a difficult problem.

"…I'm not sure."

After hesitating for a long time, Lavis answered uncertainly. Not sure. It struck her anew that his life had been so bleak there'd been no room to consider things like tastes or preferences. Sweet desserts, leisurely tea time—such things must have been foreign concepts to him.

Swallowing the sigh that instinctively rose, Nishina declared firmly:

"Then you'll know after trying some today!"

Because today's bribe—no, token of thanks—was on another level entirely!

She pulled out the desserts neatly packed in the basket one by one. His eyes widened at the endless stream of treats. Starting with the sweetest would dull his palate. Having judged this, Nishina handed him a green tea canelé first, the least sweet option.

"Here, eat!"

"…Thank you."

Even after bowing his head in thanks, he only stared at the treat in his hand. Instead of urging him, Nishina took a bite first. The green tea fragrance filling her mouth felt like it was chipping away at her fatigue.

When Nishina smiled with satisfaction, she heard cautious chewing sounds beside her. She poured the herbal tea Joy had insisted on packing and glanced at him.

'Does he like it?'

His expressions changed so little it didn't show, but his cheeks seemed oddly redder than usual—he must have found it quite to his liking.

The bite-sized canelé disappeared into his mouth quickly. Next she handed him a financier with hazelnuts. This was the pâtissier's masterpiece he'd boasted about confidently.

This time his eyes widened slightly without hesitation as he took a bite. It seemed more to his taste than the previous one—it disappeared even faster.

'This should make up for things, right?'

Watching him eat so thoroughly felt oddly rewarding. The agonizing with the pâtissier had been worthwhile.

Looking at his deeply focused face, Nishina couldn't help grinning. He was the one eating sweets, but somehow Nishina's mood seemed to improve more.

Was this why her mother had always yielded various things to her? Though the basket held plenty for Nishina's share too, if he wanted it, she could give it all to him. Delighted, Nishina personally explained each dessert and kept handing them over endlessly.

"This is a lemon éclair. It has lemon custard cream inside, so it tastes refreshing!"

Starting with savory nut cookies, gradually moving to sweet muffins and cakes. Enough to make anyone tired of sweetness, yet each time he tried something new, his cheeks flushed as he ate deliciously. Happy at this, Nishina lost sight of even her purpose and pressed desserts into both his hands.

Only after letting him taste all the desserts she'd brought evenly did Nishina lift her teacup. The bitter herbal tea paired wonderfully with the sweet desserts.

Pouring him another cup, Nishina asked lightly:

"Which was most to your taste?"

When she asked, gesturing at the desserts still abundantly remaining, his face became the most serious in the world.

After agonizing deeply, he chose the brownie. The one with so much chocolate it was sweet enough to make your tongue ache.

"You like sweet things."

"So it seems."

His indifferent answer made him seem like he was hearing about someone else—unfamiliar. Information not recorded in the original work, likely remained unknown even until the moment he died.

Smiling bitterly, Nishina decided to engrave this precious information deeply.

Not as a bribe to earn his sympathy, but as a gift for a precious teacher.