After she mustered up all her courage, she grabbed the creature between her tangled hair and took it out. Several strands of her hair were torn off when she did it.
âOh, thank you. I thought I was going to die in there. Boohoo...If I had not had your help, I would have been caught in that nasty spiderâs web and eaten. Boohoo.â
A girl with her dark yellow hair caught in a sticky spider web dropped big tears, fluttering her hands. The girl soon clung to her finger as if it was hard to keep her balance.
She was about the size of three knuckles of Oliviaâs finger.
Olivia swallowed while looking down at the little girl wiggling her limbs. Although she cried so much that her eyes were swollen, she could clearly see a ridiculously small human wriggling on her hand.
âBoohoo...The spider web wonât get off me!â
The girl sadly grumbled as she could not move freely as she wished. Olivia looked down at the little girlâs sticky body and felt sorry for her, so Olivia used her other hand to clean up the spiderâs webs and tangled hair. The girl flinched a bit at Oliviaâs touch but remained still after noticing her intention.
âWho the hell are you?â
âMy lady, Iâm Juasonette. Boohoo...Iâm a forest fairy who has come of age this year.â
The girl introduced herself, breathing faintly. When Olivia pulled out the cobwebs, she revealed her silver hair. Olivia opened her eyes blearily and stared at it for a while. She had never seen the girlâs hair with such a golden color.
Olivia couldnât believe when the girl introduced herself as a wood fairy, but she thought that the girlâs claim might not be false given her tiny little body and shiny hair. In fact, it really didnât matter to Olivia whether the girl was a fairy or not. In other words, it didnât matter whether it was a fairy or a jewel before her eyes in this situation.
âOh, lady! Donât look at me like that...Okay. Itâs next year, not this year when I come of age. Boohoo...Iâm sorry for lying.â
Looking at Olivia, Juasonette flinched a bit and confessed that she was a minor.
Olivia just nodded a couple of times nonchalantly.
âYou have saved my life. Twice!â She sniffed, âAt first, you saved me caught in a spider web then you saved me from almost dying while I was caught in your tangled hair. Boohoo...Thank you so much! I have to repay your favor, swearing on the name of the fairy because Iâm a fairy who knows how to repay someoneâs help! Boohoo.â
At that moment Olivia felt bad for some reason and narrowed her eyebrows.
She felt the girl seemed to treat the sticky webs and her hair equally. Olivia unconsciously stroked her tangled hair and vowed to keep her hair spick and span.
âOh, I see. Iâm glad I have helped you out, too. By the way,â¦how did a forest fairy like you get caught in a web and couldnât move at all?â
In response to Oliviaâs suspicious tone, the fairy wrapped her blushed cheeks with both hands and said, âNormally, I would have removed spider webs without any problem, but today I couldnât use my strength because I was hungry...â
The girl muttered and looked down with a sullen expression, scratching Oliviaâs finger gently as she was embarrassed.
âDid you say you were hungry?â
Looking at the fairyâs sloppy outfit, Olivia tilted her head. The girl was not neat and clean enough to be called a forest fairy.
âDid youâ¦Did you run away from your house? â
âPardon? How did you know that?â
Juasonette sat down on Oliviaâs palm with a stunned look. Whether it sat or stood, the fairy weighed the same. But the fairy soon got up again, saying that she made a mistake on Oliviaâs palm.
âPlease, donât get me wrong. I didnât run away from my house but went out briefly to see the forest. Boohoo. How can I leave the house alone when I am not an adult? So, donât misunderstand meâ¦â
Looking at the fairy crying again, Olivia made a suggestion to persuade her to stop crying, âOkay, got it. If youâve been out for a long time like you said, you must be hungry⦠Is there anything you can eat around here?â
âBoohoo. Anything to eat?â
Charmed by her suggestion, the fairy stopped crying and looked around quickly. Then, the fairy began to guide Olivia, gesturing with her hands cutely in excitement.
Although Olivia felt uncomfortable because of her torn shoes, she silently moved her feet as the fairy led her. On the way, her legs were scratched by burweeds and bled a bit, but she didnât care. She didnât know how long she walked, pretending not to notice the fairyâs noisy words.
Finally, she saw an incredibly open place before her eyes.
Olivia frowned because of the strong sunlight that came through the trees suddenly. The place the fairy guided her was a beautiful place with a brook and strawberry trees surrounding it.
Olivia approached a strawberry tree with a sour scent and picked up one that looked delicious. Looking at the fairy swallowing saliva, she put a strawberry on her palm. Juasonette hurriedly began to eat it.
Thinking the fairy must have been very hungry, Olivia, too, put a strawberry into her mouth.
âDelicious! Miss, thank you so much for picking it for me. I donât know how to repay your favorâ¦â
The fairy put lots of strawberries into her mouth and politely thanked Olivia while chewing on them. Thinking the fairy was well-mannered, Olivia put another strawberry on her palm.
âThanks, Miss! By the way, what kind of gift would you like ? As a fairy, I have to repay you, so please make yourself at home and tell me. A fairy who doesnât repay oneâs favor canât be called a fairy!â
Juasonette exclaimed cheerfully as if she would grant any wish.
âGift?â
âYeah! Let me grant your wish with the power of a fairy!â
The fairy put her lips on another strawberry and drank its juice. Funny enough, Olivia recalled the countess at that moment, who blamed her for being uncultured. At the same time, the images of Dylan and Francis kissing each other filled her vision. She wanted to get even with them by obtaining a higher status than them.
ââ¦Make me reborn as a woman of a noble family⦠Can you do that? For example, a daughter of a duke...or a princess of the royal family...Can you help me to be born like that? â
When Olivia said her wish, the fairy opened her mouth, dropping a piece of strawberry that she was eating, as if she didnât even dream of Olivia making such request.
âOh⦠Donât you want to see a fairyâs dancing that lets you feel good or fairy powder that helps you feel refreshed?â
âI donât want that.â
At her resolute reply, the fairy almost cried and stuttered, with her face stained with strawberry juice.
âWell, how about a fairy spell that can get you your love?â
âLove? Gosh! I donât need anything like that. â
Olivia shouted in a strict manner. The fairy flinched at Oliviaâs shouting and flopped down on her palm. Olivia sadly dropped her sharp eyes after seeing the poor fairy who was about to cry.
âOh, Juasonette, just forget what I told you a moment ago. My wishes of being born a woman of a noble family...Yeah, whatâs the use of anything like that? I just feel ashamed to have such a shameful hope at this point. â
Olivia said with a heavy heart, glancing at the stream sparkling brightly. Her dark green eyes sounded lonesome like the empty sky.
âAhâ¦Miss, I donât know whatâs going on but having a dignified status is nothing good. I was born from the blood of a queen, but Iâm having a hard time every day because of that. The reason I came out of my house was because I found it too hard to get by in a tightly scheduled daily life. Ahhh! No matter what, a dignified status isnât good.â
Stuttering like that, the fairy looked up at Oliviaâs green eyes, âInstead, Iâll give you something really helpful to you.â
Junasoantte raised her body, shouting âUsha!â cheerfully, and wiped her hands which were red with strawberry juice. Then, she began to rummage through her pocket. After groping around for a while, the fairy pulled out a small bead.
The bead seemed to reflect various colors, depending on the angle of view. The fairy held the bead and agonized for a moment before passing across Oliviaâs palm to her index finger with a determined look.
âMiss, donât be surprised!â
After quickly glancing at Olivia, Junasonette pressed the bead in her hand onto the pad of Oliviaâs finger. Olivia felt it tickled her fingertip a bit, but the fairy seemed to be using all her energy to do it.