Collector’s Cage - Chapter 32

Two months was the limit she had set for herself. She decided not to care about means or methods anymore. Even if it meant revealing she was human in the worst-case scenario.

When Froy returned, Hermie scrambled out of the hiding-hut in a rush.

“You’re late!”

“Sorry.”

His apologetic face was full of smiles. The fact that there was someone waiting for him filled his heart with contentment.

Even when he felt sorry for Hermie, seeing her welcome him like this made all thoughts of setting her free vanish cleanly.

A selfish desire to stay like this forever surged. Just a little more, it’s probably okay for now—he pushed concerns about Hermie’s situation to the back of his mind.

“What were you doing?”

“What do you mean? I was waiting for you to come back.”

“Did you wait a lot?”

“I was so bored I thought I’d die… And I missed you.”

Hermie mumbled, looking up at him with doe eyes. Ah—a sigh escaped from Froy’s lips.

Beyond the ticklish sensation, an electric current tingled down to his toes. It was a moment where he understood Hermie’s words about her heart beating so much it hurts.

It was an emotion so profound that saying he had lived for this moment wouldn’t be an exaggeration.

“Hermie…”

He wanted to take that little fairy out and kiss her. Even a violent impulse to devour her whole arose.

“Froy, Froy. Get me out of here. Please?”

Hermie begged earnestly. But as soon as he heard those words, Froy’s face stiffened as if someone had poured cold water over him.

With a bitter smile, he straightened up. Froy, who had been close enough to touch if he reached out, became distant in an instant.

“Froy?”

“Sorry, Hermie. I can’t do that.”

At the firm rejection, Hermie’s heart sank with a thud. Her entire body grew cold as if plunged into icy water.

Seeing Hermie’s shocked face, Froy hesitated and added,

“…I can’t. Not yet.”

Her heart, which had stopped for a moment, began beating again. Warmth slowly returned to her chilled heart. It was a fragile hope.

“‘Not yet’? Then when? When is ‘yet’?”

To avoid giving a difficult answer, Froy turned his back.

“I’m tired, I should sleep now. Good night, Hermie.”

Today, Hermie’s cage was not placed beside his bed.

The distance between the desk and the bed was less than ten steps. But in shrunken Hermie’s eyes, it felt as vast as a great river flowing between him and her.

Hermie watched Froy sleeping before collapsing into a lying position.

Sleep wouldn’t come. Her startled heart pounded thump-thump all night, making her head spin. She felt like she was going to become an idiot.