Chapter 137

For a moment, the queen just cried silently, a sight that would make anyone’s heart ache. Then she started muttering in a small voice.

“Ten thousand years. Do you understand? For ten thousand years, I’ve been cooped up in this cramped Fairy Realm, working non-stop and unable to think about anything else.”

“…”

Jun-sang and Henes didn’t react, but the queen continued talking to no one in particular.

“I worked so hard. But you know… at some point, I started to wonder. What am I doing all this for?”

“…”

“I still had pride. I worked hard while others were playing and built the Fairy Realm to what it is today. But then some kids said, ‘What good is a ten-thousand-year-old spinster if she doesn’t even have that talent?'”

Although she was still young and didn’t fully understand, Henes felt a little sorry for the queen after hearing her words. After dedicating ten thousand years to the Fairy Realm, if that’s the kind of remark she got in return, honestly, anyone would find it hard to endure.

“Yes, I’m a ten-thousand-year-old spinster. Do you think I wanted to be a spinster? At first, I didn’t even know what a spinster was. I didn’t have time to care about anything else because of my work. It’s so bad that even in this situation, I can’t abandon the Fairy Realm, so I’m protecting it in this frozen state.”

“…”

“But… what? Irresponsible? Are you talking about me? Huh? I worked my fingers to the bone for ten thousand years and only slept for a thousand years, and you call me irresponsible?”

“Only a thousand years…” Jun-sang couldn’t help but click his tongue and reply. He felt a contradiction in the queen’s words, who spoke of ten thousand years as a long time, but then called a thousand years “only.” But his muttering provoked the queen’s anger.

“Yes, only! I worked for ten thousand years without a single day off! Even if I had taken a day off every ten days, it would have added up to a thousand years. But what’s the problem with that? Huh? Tell me! Was I wrong?”

“…”

Jun-sang felt like he had hit a sore spot and kept his mouth shut, but the queen was already half-blind with rage.

“Fine. You, girl. Do you like being in his arms so much? Does dating make the world look all rosy to you? If it’s so much fun, let me try it too. I hate everything now! I hate being the queen and all of it! So you be the queen. I can’t do it anymore! AAAAH!”

Jun-sang felt that the queen’s mood was not good and quickly dismissed Henes. The queen snatched off the small circlet she was wearing on her head, watched it with a look of anger, and then turned her gaze to Henes. But by then, Jun-sang had already dismissed Henes.

“Where did she go?”

“…”

“Where did that girl go? Where did that damn girl who was so happy and looked at a ten-thousand-year-old spinster with pity go!”

Of course, Jun-sang didn’t answer that question. So the queen turned her gaze to the child next to Jun-sang, who was sucking her finger, unaware of the atmosphere.

“Aha, you’re a girl too. That’s good. Well, anyone would be fine. As long as it’s not me, right?”

Jun-sang, realizing his mistake, reached out his hand to the child, but the queen made a light gesture, and the child instantly disappeared from in front of Jun-sang. In the next moment, she was already in the queen’s arms.

“This is…”

Jun-sang was surprised. It was completely different from Telekinesis or Teleportation. The child had not been moved or transported. To put it another way, it was as if the spatial coordinates where the child existed had been rewritten in an instant.

Jun-sang finally realized that the queen’s existence in the Fairy Realm was not just that of a ruler. At least within this frozen, gray-colored space, the queen was a being on par with a god.

But while Jun-sang was having those thoughts, the queen didn’t even bother to wipe her tear-stained face. Instead, she was talking to the child, showing her the small, beautiful circlet she had been wearing, as if trying to soothe her.

“Isn’t this pretty?”

“…”

Of course, the child didn’t answer. It wasn’t that she couldn’t understand the queen’s words. The queen also had the ability to convey her intentions to others, just like Jun-sang or Henes. The problem was not the method of communication, but the meaning of the words. To the child, who had been living disconnected from the civilized world for so long, the adjective “pretty” was a meaning that was difficult to understand.

But the queen continued as if such a small problem didn’t matter.

“If you wear this on your head, you can become the most noble being in this world. What do you say, don’t you want to try it on?”

It wasn’t a simple circlet. It was a symbol of the queen of the Fairy Realm, and also a holy object that condensed her power. Because it was such an object, it could never be transferred without mutual consent.

The child was captivated by the circlet, which was emitting a brilliant light.

“Come on… touch it. Just by doing that, this beautiful toy will be yours forever.”

“…”

Led by the queen’s tempting voice, the child reached out her hand toward the circlet. Jun-sang, who had been pushed to a corner of the room at some point, was shouting something, but his words were already being blocked by the queen’s power and could not be conveyed to the child.

“Come on… hurry.”

With the queen’s urging again, the child finally touched the circlet. At that moment, a brilliant light burst forth from the circlet. The queen was even more delighted when she saw the circlet reacting to the child.

“You… you have fairy blood! Ahahaha! Of course! This is fate! Ahahahaha!”

The queen burst into laughter and placed the circlet on the child’s forehead. The moment the circlet was placed on her forehead, a ripple spread from the child toward the gray-colored Fairy Realm.

The ripple spread, returning the color that the gloomy, monotone Fairy Realm was supposed to have. Along with that, the residents of this world, who had been asleep until now, began to wake up one by one and stretch.

“Good! Very good! Why didn’t I think of this sooner! Ahahaha!”

The queen, no, the now ex-queen, laughed heartily with joy.

“…”

Jun-sang was now silent. Although he didn’t understand the entire situation, he was certain that it was too late for him to do anything.

After a while, other fairies rushed in from the passageway.

“Queen, you’re finally awake… huh?”

“Ah… you’re finally awake… what?”

“What’s going on? Why is everyone… huh?”

The fairies were fussing and trying to greet the queen, but they froze when they saw the circlet on a child’s head they had never seen before. The fairies, who had frozen as if under a petrification spell, finally came to their senses after a long time.

“D-don’t tell me… this is…”

“N-no, you’re joking, right? My queen?”

But the fairy who had been their queen replied with a laugh, “Joking? This is reality! I’m not the queen anymore! Ahahaha!”

‘Ah…’

Did she really hand it over? The fairies were in a state of confusion, unsure how to make sense of this absurd situation.

But the ex-queen wiped her tear-stained face with her hands, then approached Jun-sang flirtatiously, linked her arm with his, and declared again, “I’m going to marry this man now! So you guys can do whatever you want with this damn Fairy Realm!”

The fairies were horrified again at her words.

“But that’s!”

“W-we’re sorry. My queen, we were all wrong, so please, not that kind of vicious joke…”

But the queen shrugged off their pleas as if they were not worth a second thought. “What joke! And again, I’m not the queen anymore! The queen is that child over there!”

The fairies looked at the child who was sitting alone on the bed and sucking her finger, and as if they had all practiced, they simultaneously held their foreheads and groaned.

“This, this can’t be…”

“How could this happen…”

But the queen didn’t care what the other fairies were doing. She pressed her beautifully full chest against Jun-sang’s arm and said, “I’ve given up everything now. Please, accept me!”

“…”

Jun-sang looked at her face in silence, then said quietly, “Have you really given up everything?”

The queen answered immediately, “Of course! I’m just a normal fairy now!”

“Really?”

“Really!”

Jun-sang asked again, “Do you really intend to follow me?”

The queen declared as if it was a matter of course, “Of course!”

At the queen’s firm words, Jun-sang nodded and took out a leather necklace in front of her eyes.

“If you really intend to follow me, then accept this.”

“What is this?”

“A token that you will be mine.”

“…”

Hearing that, the queen gave a bright smile and immediately nodded. As soon as she consented, the leather necklace was immediately fastened around her neck.

After the procedure was successfully completed, Jun-sang immediately gave the queen a command.

“Get inside.”

“Huh?”

The queen looked bewildered, wondering where she was supposed to go, but before she could voice her question, she instantly disappeared from Jun-sang’s sight.

“Phew…”

After the queen disappeared, Jun-sang finally let out a deep sigh. In the end, he had tricked the queen, but Jun-sang, who had just realized the extent of the Fairy Queen‘s power when she put the circlet on the child, knew this was the best choice. It was lucky that the word “marriage” had blinded her. If the queen had truly been angry and attacked them, it would have been difficult for even Jun-sang to survive.

The fairies, seeing their queen suddenly disappear in front of them, were flustered again and asked Jun-sang, “W-where is the queen?”

Jun-sang looked at the flustered fairies and replied, “She’s right there.”

“Huh?”

Jun-sang pointed to the child who was still sucking her finger, looking confused and unaware of the situation.

“D-don’t joke.”

But Jun-sang said again, “Isn’t this for the better? A naive child is much easier to handle than a slightly crazy queen.”

“That’s…”

Jun-sang’s words were very sweet, but the fairies soon shook their heads. “We can’t do that. She suffered so much all this time… We haven’t even properly repaid her yet.”

“Hmm…”

Despite being a bit out of her mind, it seemed she had earned a decent amount of respect. ‘Did she at least do her job well?’

With that thought in mind, Jun-sang spoke to the fairies again. “Then how about this?”

“Please speak.”

“For the time being, you guys take care of the Fairy Realm‘s affairs with that child. It’ll be a bit difficult at first, but if you want to create a new system, I think this is a good opportunity.”

“Then… what about the queen?”

“I’ll take her with me for a while to show her the outside world. I’ll give her a vacation and some re-education at the same time.”

“Hmm…”

It was a very tempting offer. If any other ordinary human had made such a proposal, they would have been suspicious first. But regardless of his intentions, Jun-sang was a human with the kiss marks of over a hundred fairies all over his face.

The fairies whispered among themselves for a moment, then agreed to Jun-sang’s proposal.

“We will do as you say.”

“Good thinking.”

After finishing his conversation with the fairies, Jun-sang looked at the newly born queen of the Fairy Realm. The quest completion condition was to grant the queen’s wish. But the condition did not specify what kind of queen she was.

“Now… it seems the time has come to end this quest.”

Jun-sang muttered to himself and approached the new fairy queen.