Chapter 126

In fact, Kurt and his companions had been watching everything from afar since the fairies gathered in the square.

It was only natural.

After all, the root cause of this incident was deeply connected to them.

Although Vivian’s greed was the direct trigger, it didn’t mean they were completely free from responsibility.

And among Kurt’s group, there was no one who didn’t feel responsible or who could turn a blind eye.

So, as they watched the fairies gather in the square and vent their frustrations from a distance, Kurt’s group was ready to intervene and mediate if necessary.

When Vivian’s patience reached its limit due to the citizens’ harsh words, it was a tense moment, and they were about to step in, but Kurt managed to hold them back, preventing a direct confrontation.

Fortunately, the fairies, frightened by Vivian’s anger, all fled, avoiding a violent outbreak. However, in another sense, the situation in the Fairy Kingdom was heading towards disaster.

Unable to stand by any longer, Kurt’s group carefully approached Vivian after confirming that the commotion had settled.

Startled by Kurt’s sudden voice, Vivian jumped up and shouted, “Who… who’s there!?”

“It’s me. The chef.”

Realizing that the owner of the voice was Kurt, whom she thought had already left, Vivian hurriedly ran to the window and opened it.

But what filled the window was the massive eye of a giant reptile.

Seeing this, Vivian stiffened her wings like a cat puffing up its fur and let out a girlish scream.

“Kyaaaah! A… a dragon!”

“Ah, sorry. I thought I’d take a peek since you weren’t coming out… Are you okay?”

“Haah… Haah… It was you. Don’t worry. I was just a little startled.”

Though her scream, complete with the polite ‘yo’ ending, clearly showed she was more than just “a little startled,” Kurt didn’t point it out and continued.

“It seems your conversation with the citizens didn’t go well.”

“Th-that’s none of your concern! Everything is fine!”

“Really?”

“…”

Vivian, hit where it hurt, snapped back but soon fell silent when Kurt asked again with a worried tone.

Her face, no longer that of a queen but of a worried ordinary girl, showed her distress.

“…Actually, nothing is fine. I just wanted to create a kingdom where citizens could share delicious food and smile together… But at some point, my goal turned upside down, and it became all about eating sweets myself. What’s so great about sweets anyway…?”

For fairies, sweets are more than just a treat; they are essential items that determine their quality of life.

But now, Vivian was downplaying those sweets, even the tarts Kurt made, as if they were nothing.

This showed how much the citizens meant to her and that her spirit, momentarily clouded by the fruit tart, had returned.

“It’s all my fault. From the beginning, I couldn’t share the sweets and tried to keep them all to myself, so the citizens are disappointed in me…”

“Vivian…”

“It’s all over now. The citizens must be completely fed up with me after today… I no longer deserve to be queen.”

“No, it’s not too late.”

“Not too late…?”

“Yes. It’s not too late. Even close friends fight, but they can make up and reconcile. Isn’t your relationship with your citizens strong enough to overcome this conflict?”

“That’s…”

“If your relationship is that strong, then apologize and reconcile.”

“But I tried to use magic against them. How can I face them after that?”

“I’ll arrange a reconciliation meeting. For now, just do what you can.”

“What I can do…?”

At Kurt’s words, Vivian looked at him with trembling eyes, and Kurt, meeting her gaze, smiled as if to say, “Trust me.”

And the next day.

Thanks to Mari, Karina, and Serena touring the Kingdom of Arciel and gathering the fairies, the square was filled with numerous fairies.

Their mood, unlike yesterday, was joyful and filled with laughter.

“The chef is back!”

“Then we can continue our tea party!”

“Now we can have a tea party without the bad queen!”

This was because of the news that Kurt, the original cause of this situation, had returned.

In reality, Kurt’s group had never left; they had just been hiding in the forest, observing. But to the fairies, that didn’t matter.

Behind the palace, where the square was, stood a fairy with a tense expression, different from the citizens.

That fairy was Vivian.

Her hands were covered with tiny band-aids, showing how much effort she had put in the previous day.

“W-will it be okay…?”

“Yes. You even prepared a gift to apologize.”

“But I couldn’t even finish it properly…”

At Kurt’s words, Vivian hung her head in doubt.

Indeed.

The numerous band-aids on Vivian’s hands were traces of her efforts to make a gift for the fairies as an apology.

Kurt’s plan was this:

A conflict born from food should be resolved with food.

Thus, Kurt provided Vivian with a recipe for a special dessert.

However, there was an unexpected obstacle in this plan.

Sadly, Vivian had no talent for cooking.

Though she was the kingdom’s top mage and had ruled Arciel wisely with excellent political sense, her cooking skills were disastrous.

Moreover, the fairies loved sweet desserts, which require much more delicate work than ordinary cooking.

Even with poor cooking skills, consistent practice and effort usually yield results, but time was the issue.

The fairies’ dissatisfaction was growing daily, and they risked missing the golden time for reconciliation.

So, Kurt offered to cook instead, but Vivian insisted on making the reconciliation gift herself. Thus, she managed to complete the dish by the next day.

However, the dish’s quality was poor, simplified to make it easier for Vivian, and barely qualified as cooking.

It was understandable that Vivian was hesitant and unsure.

Vivian, unable to move forward, fidgeted nervously.

But Kurt tapped her back with his finger and pushed her forward.

“Why, why are you doing this?”

“Stand tall, Vivian. You’re the queen, aren’t you?”

“You… thank you. I feel braver now.”

Encouraged by Kurt, Vivian smiled and used magic to float the dish she had made.

Hiding her trembling heart, she confidently opened the palace doors.

Soon, Kurt appeared.

“Look, the chef is coming out!”

“Wow! Chef! Please make us tarts!”

“Let’s have a tea party without the bad queen!”

Seeing this, the fairies cheered enthusiastically, welcoming Kurt’s appearance.

The square’s atmosphere was like a festival.

After days of gloom and hatred, laughter finally returned to the Fairy Kingdom.

But the fairies’ mood soon changed completely.

This was because Vivian slowly flew in behind Kurt.

“Kyaaaah! The bad queen is here!”

“The queen is trying to ruin our tea party!”

“She’s definitely trying to take the chef away from us again!”

Seeing the queen, the fairies erupted in hatred.

Vivian flinched and stopped flying, but encouraged by Kurt silently pushing her back, she moved forward.

Standing before the fairies, Vivian spoke in a trembling voice.

“Citizens. I am deeply grateful that you have gathered here today. In fact, I have come here to give you a gift.”

With that, Vivian used magic to bring forward an object wrapped in white cloth.

It was the handmade dish she had worked on late into the night.

Though crude by culinary standards, it was a precious dish filled with Vivian’s sincerity.

However,

that sincerity didn’t reach the fairy citizens.

“Kyaaaah! The queen is using magic!”

“She’s definitely planning to massacre us and monopolize the tarts!”

“That’s clearly a weapon of mass destruction the queen has hidden!”

“The queen is seeking revenge for yesterday!”

To the fairies, who had built up hostility towards the queen, the object she brought seemed like a sinister weapon rather than a gift for reconciliation.

“L-listen! This is something I made late last night…”

“Before the queen attacks us, we must destroy that thing!”

“Together, we can do it!”

But the fairies didn’t listen to the queen and only saw what they wanted to see. In the end, feeling threatened, they gathered and fired magic.

“St-stop…!”

The queen tried to shout something urgently, but the fairies’ magic bolts were faster, striking the object wrapped in white cloth.

Thud

Roll roll

But of course, the object wrapped in white cloth wasn’t a weapon of mass destruction.

“…An apple?”

It was a translucent, rainbow-colored apple.

No, not just an apple.

Green grapes, melons, and more.

Countless fruits, sweetly coated with rainbow honey, began rolling weakly across the square.

What Vivian had brought.

It was a basket of fruits soaked and hardened in rainbow honey.

But the fruit basket, meant as a symbol of reconciliation, fell helplessly to the ground, rolling in the dirt.

The once beautiful fruit basket was now completely dirty.

Utterly ruined.

No different from trash.

Even the fairies, who had been pouring out hatred, were speechless, frozen like statues.

The square fell into complete silence.

And what broke the silence was the sad cry of one fairy.

“Sniff… Sniff… This is too much. We worked so hard…”

Plop plop

Vivian’s tears fell like small beads to the ground, and soon she turned her back and fled to her palace.

“…Was she really trying to reconcile?”

“W-we…”

“This is what we did…”

Finally realizing their mistake, the fairies turned pale, but no one could apologize.

The fairy who should have received the apology had already left.

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