62. So what is the ending of the novel?
Sylvia, overwhelmed by the recent harrowing events, had buried her face in the blankets, lying prostrate. Wearing only a soft robe made of silk, she eventually lifted her head for air, whether due to suffocation or the shock from the incident, her face was as red as a ripe apple.
“I must be crazy, really.”
Had Aethernum known this would happen when he asked?
“He said my body would be hurt. He didn’t say anything about feeling ashamed.”
Sylvia grumbled, pounding the pillow with her fist.
“This is driving me mad!”
Then, she sat up abruptly on the bed.
“How am I supposed to face Feli now?”
If he were to return and see her, the events that had just transpired would surely come flooding back.
“Haah…”
As Sylvia sighed, rubbing her eyes frantically, Asta and Poppy fluttered down to her.
[Sylvia! You were so cool! How could you use such magic! It was truly amazing!]
[Asta has fallen for Sylvia.]
Sitting on her shoulders, Asta and Poppy tugged at Sylvia’s black hair with their cute little hands, chattering away.
[Your hair has turned the same color as Felix’s. It’s amazing.]
[No, if you look closely, there’s still a bit of teal left, Poppy.]
As the two fairies continued to pull at her hair, Sylvia asked,
“Eh… Why are just the two of you here? Where’s Eryngium?”
[Eryngium went to the lair for a bit. She’ll be back soon.]
[Sylvia… Asta is hungry.]
“Hungry? Oh, what do we have to eat… Should I make some fruit? What kind of fruit do you want?”
As Sylvia searched for her space bag, she sighed deeply upon seeing the clothes she had carelessly removed.
[Asta wants grapes!]
[I want strawberries and watermelon!]
“Got it. Just a moment.”
Now capable of adjusting the size of plants at will, Sylvia created grapes, strawberries, and watermelon in sizes that were easy for the fairies to eat. She watched the two fairies, sitting on her thigh, eating adorably.
Poppy, with her short bob hair of a vivid red, laughed heartily in her short skirt flared like Poppy petals.
Asta, her long wavy lavender hair neatly tied up, sat demurely in a long skirt made of overlapping Asta petals.
Sylvia, with a heavy heart, pressed down on the fairies’ protruding cheeks with her fingers.
“You’re leaving too, aren’t you?”
It was the third time. She knew. The fairies came to bid her farewell before they left.
[Hehe.]
[Caught us!]
Smiling innocently, Sylvia asked,
“Where exactly are you going? What does it mean to return to your original place, not just disappearing?”
At Sylvia’s question, Asta and Poppy just smiled softly. Having quickly finished their fruits, they fluttered up, each leaving a kiss on Sylvia’s soft cheeks.
[Just like you said, we’re returning to our original place. So, Sylvia.]
Poppy grasped her finger as she spoke. Asta also grabbed her other finger and continued,
[Don’t be sad. As long as you are by Felix’s side…]
Sylvia felt the warmth fading from her fingers and clenched her eyes shut.
[We are with you.]
Although there were no tears in this third farewell, she felt a void in her heart. The fairies said they were returning to their original place, so she didn’t want to cry. But what exactly was their original place? And why did they say as long as she was by Felix’s side, they would be together?
Feeling down after the sudden departure, she lay flat on the blankets.
Like when she first arrived here, only Eryngium was left. She liked the other fairies too, but perhaps because they had been together from the start, Eryngium was special to Sylvia. She already felt claustrophobic and shook her face buried in the pillow vigorously.
Bang!
“Sylvia!”
Feeling something amiss on his way back, Felix had rushed to the room. He was certain the fairies had left. Alarmed that she didn’t respond to his call, Felix grabbed Sylvia’s shoulder forcefully and called out again.
“Sylvia!”
Seeing Felix’s worried expression, Sylvia could no longer hold back.
“Sob.”
If the heroine never escapes the flow of the novel and appears, I won’t even get to see that face. Sylvia, who had been adapting to this world as things went along, only now felt a deep loneliness.
She couldn’t even begin to imagine how to endure if she really became alone from now on.
“Sigh…”
In that moment, Felix, who had been tense, ran his hands through her long black hair and sighed deeply.
“Are you that sad?”
Every time a fairy disappeared, he felt a sense of emptiness, but it was brief. Instead, Felix often felt a stronger sense of fulfillment.
“Aren’t you sad?”
Since he had spent a longer time with them, she wondered. Lying on top of Sylvia, who was sobbing face down, Felix made up a white lie.
“Of course, I’m sad too.”
He added while pecking lightly on her round head.
“But I don’t want to see you cry.”
Felix gently patted Sylvia’s back as he lay down.
“Get some sleep. I’m very tired too.”
He had been enduring with his mental strength, but physically, he was at his limit. His body was covered in minor wounds from enduring extreme pain.
“Okay…”
Sylvia murmured softly in response, and Felix embraced her tightly and closed his eyes. They had finally returned home. And Sylvia was by his side. Just these two reasons seemed to make all the past hardships and sorrows disappear.
***
The two of them slept for a full day before waking up. Felix, who woke up first, gently stroked Sylvia’s back as he felt a sense of languor within his embrace.
Then, recalling the white skin he had seen the day before, he slowly lifted his eyelids. Looking at Sylvia’s body, which was exposed due to the oversized gown she was wearing, Felix marveled.
He traced the black magic circle tattooed on her body with his finger. It was mysterious how the magic circle had been directly engraved on her body. Feeling his ticklish touch, Sylvia’s eyelids fluttered open.
“Did you sleep well?”
Sylvia, seeing Felix’s face smiling brightly with the sunlight coming into the room, immediately closed her eyes again.
“Still sleepy?”
Sylvia’s neck and ears turned bright red from shyness as she closed her eyes. Felix asked again, clearly seeing her reaction.
“Want to sleep more?”
Sylvia could no longer pretend to sleep due to Felix’s natural kisses on her ear and cheek and burst out angrily.
“Stop it, really!”
Sylvia’s heart felt like it would burst every time they naturally engaged in skinship. The more she tried to act like it didn’t matter, the more intense Felix’s skinship became.
Lifting his upper body lightly over Sylvia, who was trying to get out of bed, Felix played with her soft black hair with his fingers and said,
“You’ve become the same color as me.”
Though her black hair had a slight hint of teal, that was enough to satisfy Felix.
He twirled her long hair around his finger and brought it to his lips. Felix caressed his lips with her hair as he embraced Sylvia.
The heavy weight that settled down felt awkward. Sylvia felt strange. Initially, she thought of him as a child, but after realizing her love, she believed she saw him properly.
However, she had never felt him so strongly as a man as she did now. His breath, the thick arms pressing down on her, and his firm chest all made her conscious, and Sylvia wanted to escape. She wanted to say something, anything, to break this peculiar atmosphere.
“Why, why didn’t you say anything when I spoke informally to you?”
“Hmm?”
Felix, who was about to lower his head after gently moving her long hair aside, looked puzzled as he asked back.
“You’re a crown prince, right! But I’ve been speaking informally to you from the start. Why didn’t you say anything to me?”
She had always wondered why he let her informal speech slide.
Even if they became close later, initially, he could have easily threatened her or scolded her.
Even if he was concealing his status.
“Hmm…”
Staring at the white nape of her neck, Felix tried to recall. Then, he blurted out,
“Your defiance was…”
Unable to hold back, he pressed his lips to Sylvia’s neck and then continued,
“Incredibly cute.”
Frozen by the hot and soft sensation, Sylvia’s mind went blank as his lips rubbed against her neck.
Sylvia didn’t see Felix’s eyes gleaming slyly. Frozen solid, unable to respond, Felix gently rubbed her shoulder with his hand, moving from her neck to her shoulder, leaving kisses.
[Wake up! You sleepyheads!]
Then, Eryngium flew in through the window. The fairy, thinking they were still asleep, exclaimed triumphantly.
Sylvia snapped back to reality at Eryngium’s voice.
“Eryngium!”
She reached out with her hand while lying face down.
[Sylvia, are you awake?]
Felix glared at the fairy flying towards her with a murderous look as she called out. He intended to use wind magic to send the fairy flying, but Sylvia was quicker.
She jumped up, grabbed Eryngium with both hands, and ran into another room.
“Sylvia!”
Felix called out, and Sylvia responded.
“You womanizer!”
Felix was dumbfounded as he looked at the roughly slammed door and muttered.
“What did I even do?”