“……?!”
A silence so profound that even the sound of ants crawling could be heard descended in an instant.
It was Heukya… It was definitely Heukya…
But there were things attached to it that shouldn't be.
Something like a fairy, or something…
While everyone was silent, doubting their own ears, Cory, who had barely regained his composure, spoke.
“……The guild name is too long to register.”
“Then, 'Heukya, who follows the shining fairy Kynemia Leon.'”
"Teacher, that's only two characters shorter."
“That’s also…”
“Then, ‘Sparkling Milky-Colored Kynemia Leon Fairy.’”
"Except for 'Kynemia Leon' and 'fairy,' it's completely different. What happened to Heukya?"
“That’s also…”
At Cory’s words, Low bowed his head with a troubled expression.
“This is difficult.”
"How is this difficult?! Just call it Heukya!"
Cory wasn’t the only one feeling frustrated to the point of madness. Everyone in the guild management headquarters rallied behind Cory at the desk.
Cory had to wrestle with Low over the guild name for a while.
The guild name that marked the end of the long battle was this:
[Kynemia's Fairy Heukya]
It was the result of compromising and compromising again with Low, who insisted on including “sparkling.”
After persuading him that “sparkling” was synonymous with Grand Duchess Kynemia and didn’t need to be included, he finally relented.
“Kshan Low. When registering a new guild, the rank of the previous guild will disappear. Is that okay?”
“Of course.”
It seemed that even if he had to give up his rank, he absolutely couldn’t abandon the Fairy Kynemia.
‘I don’t know what it is, but—amazing, Grand Duchess…’
She must be an incredible fairy. Cory, wiping away his cold sweat, found himself inexplicably developing a growing respect for the Grand Duchess.
Because of this, the words “Kynemia” and “fairy” stuck like glue in the minds of everyone at the guild management headquarters.
And so, Kshan Low founded a new guild.
‘Kynemia's Fairy Heukya.’
Ryan lifted a strand of hair, fine as a golden thread.
“Hahaha! Hahahaha!”
He was so elated and thrilled that he could barely contain his excitement.
He had found it.
Eyan’s weakness.
Since the person in question wasn’t present, a lot of preparation was needed to cast the spell, but he had already taken care of all that.
Ryan, as if dancing, moved the strand of hair toward the prepared ritual circle.
It was a ritual circle mixed with the mana and blood of over a dozen mages. Even if he tried to fail, it would be impossible.
He placed the strand of hair in the center of the ritual circle.
He planned to show the girl Eyan cherished so dearly a horrifying illusion. To drive her completely mad.
As Ryan began to draw up his mana, light started to rise from the ritual circle.
“Kheh!”
He tried to suppress the laughter that threatened to burst out like a sneeze. It felt as if new eyes were filling his empty ones.
"That bastard. Watch him suffer like crazy beside the girl wasting away!"
Just as Ryan was about to manifest the magic—
Without any warning, the light suddenly faded.
‘What?’
No matter how many times he repeated it, the result was the same.
Ryan, pale with shock, checked the strand of hair.
If the magic had succeeded, the hair should have burned away, but the golden thread showed no reaction at all.
‘The magic didn’t work?’
‘Why?’
Ryan slammed his fist down on the blood-drawn magic circle, frustration evident in every movement.
‘The magic didn’t work…? Why!’
He frantically brought more offerings, but the ritual circle showed no response. The conclusion was clear: no magic could affect the Grand Duchess.
‘Did Eyan do something?’
That was the most plausible hypothesis, but even that didn’t quite fit.
Nullifying all magic?
‘That’s impossible…!’
Ryan clenched his jaw tightly, frustration boiling within him.
It was impossible. Such magic didn’t exist, nor could it.
‘But…’
He had already seen the impossible with his own eyes that day.
The memory of that day flashed vividly before Ryan’s eyes, as if it had just happened.
Over a dozen mages had drawn the ritual circle with blood and offerings. But even after blocking Eyan from using magic, a pitch-black shadow had swelled up.
The darkness writhed like a living entity, silencing the mages by severing their tongues mid-scream.
Ryan unconsciously rubbed his arm, which had broken out in goosebumps.
‘…Right.’
That monstrous… It wasn’t magic, that power.
The moment he saw it, Ryan had lost even the will to live. Kill that thing and become a Rikasha? That was utterly hopeless.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
Ryan stood up, scratching the desk with his nails in a fit of irritation.
The agonizing sense of defeat began to eat away at him again.
Eyan had spared him for this reason. To make him feel this pain for the rest of his life. To mock his struggles.
Scratch— Scratch— Scratch—
His nails dug deeper into the desk.
‘No way. Do you think I’ll leave so easily?’
He had thought about suicide, but Ryan didn’t want to leave without leaving anything behind.
He would make Eyan regret not killing him that day.
He would make that smiling face twist in agony, no matter what it took.
The fact that Eyan had gone to such bizarre lengths was proof of how much he cherished the Grand Duchess.
“Bring me someone else’s hair. The person closest to the Grand Duchess.”
Ryan ordered the familiar flying beside him. Then, he continued to another familiar.
“And gather all the mages under my command.”
He needed to buy time.
Chapter 11: Black Butterfly
Inside the dressing room, the maids Shane and Lirine, who had been spinning Kynemia around like a doll to change her clothes, spoke quite seriously.
“Miss, you know you have to share the candy you get with us this time, right?”
“You have to bring back a lot!”
“Yes, yes!”
Kynemia nodded, her ears and tail twitching.
“Kyaa— I did it, but she’s so cute!”
“Too cute! What do we do?!”
“Kyaaaa!”
As Shane and Lirine made a fuss about how cute she was, Kynemia tilted her head slightly.
“Cute?”
“The best! The best!”
“Our Miss is the cutest in the world!”
They say praise can make anyone dance with joy. Kynemia’s lips curled up as she replied, “Really?” But soon, her expression turned sad.
“I shouldn’t be cute. I need to be scary.”
“You’re scary, too.”
“Well, well. It’s like a scary aura blooming within the cuteness.”
"Her expression doesn't match that description at all." Kynemia pouted as she looked at their wide-open mouths.
Today was the day of the costume festival.
It was a festival akin to Halloween from her past life, where people dressed up in scary costumes and went out to collect sweet treats.
Kynemia had been too young and at risk to participate before, but now that she was 12 and had a munchkin friend to accompany her, she had been given permission to join.
“Here you go.”
Kynemia took the basket Lirine handed her and stood in front of the mirror with Shane.
In the mirror, a girl with round tiger ears and a tail, wearing a leopard-print dress, was reflected.
Hoooooo!
‘So cute…!’
Kynemia placed her hands on the mirror with sparkling eyes, then frowned.
‘…Not!’
Kynemia decided to voice her opinion that she needed to look scarier.
“Like smearing blood around my mouth?”
But Shane and Lirine insisted that this was enough and simply pushed Kynemia out of the room.
As Kynemia was pushed out of the room, someone called her.
“Mia.”
Turning around, she saw Eyan blinking slowly.
‘…!’
Kynemia’s mouth fell open as she saw Eyan, impeccably dressed in a uniform with epaulettes.
She had occasionally thought he was ridiculously handsome, but today he clearly looked even more striking.
Kynemia, who had been staring blankly at Eyan, snapped out of it and frowned.
“Why are you a prince?”
“I’m a ghost ship captain.”
“There’s a concept like that?!”
“He’s the fifth descendant of the royal family who fell in love with a mermaid he met by chance as a child, wandered the seas, and eventually sank his ship to the mermaid’s song. Cursed by his crew, he became a ghost, wandering the seas even after death, searching for his beloved mermaid.”
"That’s so detailed! You didn’t give me such a detailed setting…! I’m just a hungry tiger emerging from its den!"
“What about Mia?”
“I’m—”
“A meerkat?”
“A tiger!”
As Kynemia pouted, Eyan laughed and kept praising her, saying she was cute.
"Do you think I’d be swayed by your insincere flattery?"
“If you’re a ghost ship captain, shouldn’t you be missing an arm? Usually, one hand is a hook.”
Dressing up like a prince for no reason… With all those plausible settings. Kynemia, feeling unnecessarily annoyed, considered tearing off his sleeve—
“...What are you doing?”
She asked Eyan, who had suddenly grabbed her ear. Eyan smiled slyly.
“Your ear was twitching.”
“Let go. Idiot.”
Kynemia, freeing herself from Eyan’s grip, turned sharply.
Then Eyan muttered softly.
“...If only there were a magic to attach animal ears.”
"What?!"
Kynemia felt a chill run down her spine as she turned to see him tilting his head innocently, as if he hadn’t uttered a word.
“What?”
“Didn’t you say something?”
“What?”
“Something creepy…”
“I didn’t say anything.”
“Really…?”
“Let’s go now.”
“Ah, okay.”
As Eyan took the lead, Kynemia followed with quick steps.
