Chapter 125

In the Fairy Kingdom of Arciel, the sound of bright laughter never ceased. It was a kingdom composed solely of fairies, naturally cheerful and pure-hearted, so this was only to be expected. However, the recent atmosphere in Arciel was far from bright and sunny. The streets, once filled with the laughter of fairies, were now tense with unease. The fairies, who used to laugh and chatter about trivial matters, no longer smiled and only spoke of something serious.

“It’s all because of that foolish and incompetent queen that the chef quit cooking!”

“Greedy queen!”

“Down with the queen!”

This was the hatred directed at the queen, who had monopolized the tea parties, disappointed Kurt, and caused him to disappear. When the tea parties were first monopolized by the upper class of the kingdom, there were complaints, but hope was not entirely lost. The queen, who had always been wise and selfless for her people, was expected to eventually restore the tea parties to the citizens. They believed in her.

Especially since Kurt had rolled up his sleeves and vowed to persuade the queen, they were convinced that the upper class’s monopoly on fruit tarts would soon end. However, when Kurt disappeared the next day, disillusioned by the fairies, and it became clear that they would never taste his tarts again, the fairies were heartbroken. They wept as if they had lost a dear friend, as if a part of their soul had been torn away, and as if their companion had abandoned them. The kingdom was engulfed in sorrow.

And what remained was hatred. The fairies blamed Queen Vivian’s foolish decisions for this tragedy. When faced with unbearable tragedy, people often shift the blame outward and cope by hating the cause. The fairies were no exception.

As days passed, the fairies’ anger grew. Having once tasted Kurt’s fruit tarts, they shared their rage and nurtured the red embers of hatred in their hearts. Eventually, they decided to express their emotions in a more significant way.

Countless fairies gathered in the square, once filled with laughter during daily tea parties. Now, it was packed with fairies pouring out their hatred for the queen.

“The queen must come out! This corrupt queen!”

“We demand accountability for the collapse of the tea parties, caused by the upper class monopolizing delicious desserts!”

“The corruption and extravagance of the bourgeoisie have reached their peak! This is a sign of the kingdom’s downfall! Our Kingdom of Arciel will be reborn today by overthrowing the corrupt leadership!”

“A nation where all citizens can enjoy desserts made with sugar! A nation of sugar, by sugar, for sugar!”

“Revolution! Revolution! The fairy nation of Arciel demands the royal family’s sugar! Revolution grows by eating sugar!”

They no longer addressed the queen with honorifics, and no one in the square pointed this out. Instead, it seemed they found it entirely justified. What began as discontent over the tea parties gradually escalated into dissatisfaction with the social structure.

As the atmosphere grew increasingly volatile, even the royal guards prepared for violence, their faces tense. Then, the palace gates opened, and to everyone’s surprise, Queen Vivian of Arciel appeared.

“How insolent! Daring to utter such treacherous words in the queen’s presence! Do you not fear my wrath?”

Her voice roared as she spread her seven-colored wings, a truly intimidating sight. Though she hadn’t shown her anger publicly like the citizens, Vivian was far from calm. In fact, she was furious.

Vivian had spent more on the tea parties than anyone else, using the finest fruits from the royal family’s private orchards, carefully selected for their exceptional sweetness. She had generously shared them with the people, yet they had contributed nothing, only indulging in the tea parties and leaving without cleaning up. Now, their jealousy had ruined everything.

At least, that’s how Vivian saw it.

She had the right to select participants for the tea parties as the one who had invested the most. But that right had been trampled by the jealousy of those who had contributed nothing, leading to this disaster.

“How dare you ruin the queen’s tea parties and shamelessly show your faces in the square!”

But the citizens were equally angry, and Vivian’s rage fell on deaf ears as they began to vent their own frustrations.

“She’s here! This wicked queen!”

“We want a revolution! A nation where all citizens can enjoy sugar! Today, we will rise as a sugar-communist nation!”

“Arciel demands a revolution! A pure, sugar-like revolution!”

“If we overthrow the evil queen, the chef will surely return!”

Unable to contain herself, Vivian shouted back, “Isn’t it because you betrayed Kurt like cowards? How can you blame me for the collapse of the tea parties? You shameless fairies!”

“Then should we not eat desserts with sugar? Don’t make us laugh!”

“Ha! What nonsense! If there’s no cake, eat bread!”

The tension between the queen and the citizens escalated to extremes.

“Now that I think about it, I never liked how the royals and the wealthy monopolized the land where fruit trees grow!”

“Exactly! We, the poor citizens, are stuck near fields where only beans and peas grow, while the rich enjoy the sweet-smelling lands!”

“My land only grows agar, with no scent or taste!”

“Let’s seize the royal fruit trees and share them with all citizens!”

“What!? You dare touch the royal trees? Those trees are precious treasures, grafted with care by my ancestors! You settled near bean fields because it suited your bean farming!”

As they began to bring up even the smallest grievances, Vivian’s patience finally snapped when they targeted the royal trees, her pride and joy.

“All this time, the royal family has enjoyed more because we bore greater responsibilities! We led the dangerous missions to harvest honey from beehives guarded by fierce bees, shielding you from their stings! While you flew around carefree, we studied the art of ruling from a young age! And even as you slept, we fought monsters and managed the kingdom! You bear no responsibilities, yet you covet the fruits of our labor!”

As she spoke, her wings grew larger, and by the time she finished, they were taller than most humans. But it wasn’t just her wings that changed. Mana began to gather around her, creating a whirlwind. This was not the result of casting a spell but simply the concentration of mana, a feat only Vivian, the queen and the most powerful mage in the Fairy Kingdom, could achieve.

Her golden hair waved in the wind, and her eyes began to shimmer with a rainbow hue. Only then did the fairies in the square begin to realize the gravity of the situation. Though each fairy possessed magical abilities akin to a skilled mage, they were untrained in combat, mere ordinary citizens. In contrast, Vivian was not only the kingdom’s most powerful mage but also a royal who had always fought on the front lines against monsters.

As Vivian’s menacing presence grew, the fairies began to feel fear. While they could be genuinely angry about sweet desserts, they weren’t willing to risk their lives for it. No matter their numbers, they were no match for her.

“Ahhh! The queen is using violence!”

“Oppression! Everyone, run!”

“I don’t want to die!”

In an instant, the fairies scattered in panic. The citizens’ grievances remained unresolved, and the gathering that had seemed on the verge of exploding ended just like that.

…

Though Vivian had been ready to unleash her magic in anger, her heart was uneasy upon returning to the palace. Despite the recent deterioration in her relationship with the citizens, they were once people she had truly loved and devoted herself to. The thought that she had almost resorted to violence against them left her feeling as if a heavy stone had been placed on her heart.

It was like the feeling of a parent who had just yelled at their child for the first time.

Vivian tried to suppress her gloomy mood, deliberately showing her anger to hide the fact that she felt like crying.

“How insolent! After all I’ve done for Arciel…!”

She sat down and began to devour snacks aggressively. When angry, she needed to bite into something sweet to calm down. So, she took a bite of a fruit coated in rainbow honey.

As she ate, memories of the past came to mind.

“Back when we discovered the rainbow beehive and went to harvest the rainbow honey, I led the way, risking myself to protect the citizens from the bee monsters…!”

Crunch, crunch.

She savagely bit into the fruit as if taking out her anger on it.

“…”

After a while of angrily chewing, Vivian suddenly slumped her head like a toy whose battery had died and muttered, “The rainbow honey back then was so sweet… But now, it’s not sweet at all.”

Drip, drip.

Tears began to fall onto the fruit she held, and she whispered in a truly sorrowful voice, “Why… has it come to this? This isn’t what I wanted… I just wanted to share delicious food with my people.”

At that moment, a man’s voice came from outside her room.

“Then reconciliation would be best. I’ll help you.”