WTBFCY Chapter 19

"Ugh—!"

Noah's breath caught as pain seized his insides with wringing force. Consuming the refined essence of a black faerie would strengthen his faerie power, but what changes might result from the backlash remained unknown. Hybrid fairies were rare births, so documented research was nearly nonexistent. Ezra documented Noah's state with fascination.

"How is it, Noah? Do you feel any changes?"

A hybrid of human and black faerie—in two hundred years, Ezra had never encountered one like Noah. A pregnant human woman transformed into a black faerie and gave birth to this being. Neither human nor black faerie—a 'mixed existence.' A 'tainted being' whose very birth should have been impossible, whose blood, flesh, and even breath became poison to fairies.

A poison carrying a reek so sharp it was sickening.

Ezra suppressed his eagerly racing heart and drew a deep breath. The stench drifting through the air felt thrillingly novel. Honestly, the urge to dissect Noah here and now for research was overwhelming—but he barely restrained it.

'Too precious to waste on simple research and death.'

Besides, killing Noah, who disposed of black fairies, would bring the other light fairies down on him. Ezra briefly recalled the image of those exacting elders, then sighed softly and cast aside his lingering regret.

"…Huh, doesn't seem to be major changes. Just a slight strength increase, maybe?"

As Ezra wrestled internally with his impulses, Noah, having absorbed all the liquid's power, exhaled deeply. He clenched and unclenched his fist, his tone slightly disappointed.

"Yeah. But if you consume it steadily, there should be changes once it accumulates to a certain point. Bring more orbs when you gather them."

Ezra was curious himself. As Noah continued absorbing the refined essence of black fairies, would his power gradually increase until he became something resembling a black faerie, or would the burden destroy him before that, his body dissolving away? Either outcome would be interesting.

Grasping roughly what Ezra was thinking from his warmer tone, Noah said he understood and opened the door to leave the lab. Then he paused and turned back to Ezra.

"By the way, is it possible for fairies to kill each other?"

"…It's impossible. Fairies cannot kill each other. Why ask what you already know?"

Ezra's expression changed instantly. A gentle curiosity gave way to something intensely desiring. Noah's answer came after a brief pause, which seemed suspicious.

"……."

Noah almost mentioned Regina but stopped himself. Behind Ezra, transparent glass tubes lined up in the pale light revealed their contents—dissected fragments of black fairies suspended in liquid. Yet those fragments moved faintly.

"Did you perhaps witness such a phenomenon? Is that it?"

Ezra stepped closer to the suddenly silent Noah and asked again. Pulling his gaze from the tubes that crowded the entire research lab, Noah answered slowly.

"…No. Just confirming something again."

Whether Regina ended up dissected alive by this obsessed faerie hardly mattered to him. He'd been carrying her around with the intention of killing her anyway. Yet he found himself reluctant to tell Ezra about her.

"I see. Well, if you discover anything similar, please inform me immediately. Understood?"

Ezra stood against the moonlight in pristine research clothes, resembling a temple priest. Small lights appeared around him, sparkling like fireflies and dancing through the air. Wrapped in that otherworldly mystery, his repeated insistence made Noah certain Ezra was hiding something.

'He must be in a real hurry to resort to using his power like that.'

The transparent, shining green of Ezra's eyes irritated him. Using illusions despite knowing they wouldn't work on Noah—desperation was showing. Noah regarded Ezra silently, then nodded and left the lab.

'Why is he so desperate? He said fairies can't kill each other, but what if there's an exception…'

Noah's expression darkened as he walked the corridor. He needed to understand what the light fairies were truly hiding.

Click, thud.

Noah had apparently returned to the inn at dawn. Regina heard the adjoining room's door close in her half-sleep, then opened her eyes before closing them again. But that small sound drove away what remained of her rest, and her mind grew steadily clearer. Trying to force sleep, Regina kept her eyes closed, but soon gave up with a sigh.

It was very early morning—nothing was visible in the darkness, but as time passed, her eyes adjusted and the vague outlines of objects began to appear.

"……."

Trying to sleep again, she kept seeing her parents and the nanny crying. She simply couldn't fall asleep. Finally abandoning the attempt, Regina hugged her pillow and thought of them.

"…Did Margaret wake up safely? She shouldn't be hurt…."

She muttered absently toward the ceiling.

"I hope they don't grieve too long."

If she became a monster with memory intact, 'Regina' would truly cease to exist in this world. She hoped those she loved wouldn't mourn her too much afterward. Wouldn't long for her too deeply. She wished she could tell them that. Then Regina suddenly sat up in bed.

"Right! I can just tell them! I can have someone else send a letter! Why am I such a genius? Really, nobody matches my innovative thinking!"

Her face brightening, she turned on the light. Hurrying to her luggage, she pulled out a pen and began writing a letter on the spare memo paper on the inn table. After writing the sender as 'a friend of Regina's,' she wrote everything she wanted to say.

I love you. I miss you. …And be happy.

They might receive this as a prank and get angry, or they might simply discard it. But Regina decided to send it anyway. What started as a lighthearted letter-writing soon had her sobbing uncontrollably—though she was happy nonetheless.

She carefully wiped her eyes so tears wouldn't fall on the letters, and barely managed to finish just as morning sunlight streamed brightly through. Exhausted from crying all night, Regina sat dazed at the table until she heard morning birds singing and blinked. She slapped both cheeks to gather her wits, then stood, washed up quickly, gathered her things, and headed downstairs.

Noah, sitting at a corner table on the first floor drinking tea, turned when Regina came down the stairs. Their eyes met, and Regina wove between tables to approach him.

"Where were you yesterday?"

"I followed the person you saw on the street."

"What? Why?"

Regina sat across from him, looking bewildered. After setting down his empty teacup, Noah answered with his chin propped on one hand.

"There are no red-eyed humans. The one you saw was an upper-tier black faerie."

"Oh…I didn't know that."

"Right. You seemed unaware, so I'm telling you."

"The black fairies I've seen didn't have red eyes…."

"Correct. When ordinary black fairies disguise themselves as human, they can hide their eye color too. But upper-tiers can't conceal the red. That's what I heard, anyway. Next time, you might not be so lucky, so run if you encounter one."

Receiving such an unexpectedly considerate response, Regina was genuinely flustered. When had he ever sounded like he wanted to protect her? She had it written all over her face, because Noah looked at her and let out a small laugh.

"I'm actually kinder than you think."

Regina's expression visibly twisted. She thought Noah was saying something strange in broad daylight and asked what confused her.

"But you said fairies can't kill each other? So even if I met that upper-tier faerie, I'd be safe, wouldn't I?"

"Well, maybe you wouldn't die."

He shrugged and brought the teacup back to his lips. Then came the continuation that blanched her complexion entirely.

"But not being able to kill and not being able to injure are different. Wouldn't dying be better than some alternatives?"

"……."

Without realizing it, she'd been genuinely in danger the night before.

"Fairies hurting each other? The faerie I knew had a gentler image—kind, small, good. Reality's very different. And black fairies seemed more like monsters than fairies at all."

"How much truth dwells in a fabricated story? But supposedly, before black fairies appeared, fairies almost never showed aggression. Maybe the old fairies you know about really existed back then."

"So they all changed when black fairies appeared?"

"The light fairies told me that. Apparently, before, fairies weren't human-sized. As black fairies absorbed humans and became human-sized, light fairies also began adjusting their size as needed—and now it's fixed that way. Plus, fairies used to play pranks but rarely attacked anything."

"I see…."

"But it's all ancient history now. Come on, enough talk. We need to go. We're late for the train."

Noah set down his empty cup, gathered his things, and stood. Regina, wanting to ask more about black fairies, rushed to follow as he left the inn.

"Wait! I'm coming with you!"

The train heading to the Epola Barony would arrive soon.