Chapter 34
“For various reasons, it became increasingly impossible to find fairies. Moreover, hybrids between humans and fairies are born as humans, not fairies.”
“…….”
“That’s why the high-ranking people are desperate to get their hands on these rare commodities. First, they make people pray. Have you heard stories about fairy prayers?”
“…Isn’t that just a legend?”
“It’s not a legend. It’s true. The strongest… curse related to fairies.”
A curse.
At the word spoken in a lowered voice, Arzeletta flinched.
“Give me your prayer.”
As she listened to the merchant’s explanation, Arzeletta recalled Theogrim’s voice from over ten years ago in the forest.
“When a fairy receives a prayer dedicated to it—something that can only happen once in its lifetime—the fairy blindly obeys only the one who offered the prayer. It becomes a useful tool to fulfill whatever its master desires. There’s no way to take back the prayer. It continues until the fairy’s life ends.”
“…….”
“So, the price for a fairy that hasn’t received a prayer yet is whatever the seller asks. But even a fairy that has lost its prayer still has value. Everything about a fairy can be turned into money. Beautiful wings become jewels for crafting, eyes become ornaments, especially… blood.”
“…Blood?”
Arzeletta blankly asked again.
“Those who drink fairy blood die from their hearts bursting.”
“That’s…”
“Do you remember after the fairy hunt ended, when everyone who ate the crops grown on that land all died?”
Arzeletta nodded. It was the incident most often cited when the temple warned about the heresy of the fairies.
“The taste was very sweet, and no evidence remained, so it was the perfect tool for high-ranking people who wanted to commit crimes.”
“…….”
“And fairies are said to be very beautiful.”
The merchant’s voice lowered subtly.
“They make the fairy dedicate its prayers to themselves, use the blood and wings… They keep the beautiful fairies in their bedrooms or use them as tools in trades.”
“…….”
“This isn’t really something to tell an innocent maiden.”
Seeing the tension on Arzeletta’s face in a different light, the merchant chuckled.
“Anyway, about those wings—I’d like to see them once.”
“…….”
“They say the thin membranes on their backs look like glass and shine like a rainbow when hit by light. They can be used as fabric or as jewels…”
As if dreaming, the merchant’s gaze suddenly fell on the parts of Arzeletta’s back exposed between her worn clothes.
“Now that I look at it, the scars on your back really do look like…”
“……”
“Wing marks… don’t they?”
The merchant frowned. Although covered in ragged burn scars making it hard to distinguish clearly, upon careful inspection, it was definitely a symmetrical pattern over the shoulder blades.
“Unlike normal people, they say fairies are so beautiful it’s hypnotic…”
Muttering to himself, the merchant’s eyes met Arzeletta’s face.
For a moment, he inhaled sharply as if under a spell.
A beauty not of this world. Eyes mysterious like nothing seen anywhere else. As if he might suddenly fall in love…
“……”
The merchant’s gaze, blank and dazed, lingered on Arzeletta.
Startled, Arzeletta was about to rise when—
“Arzeletta! The leper! The cursed Arzeletta!”
“Arzeletta, wife of hunchback Yoseph!”
The tension broke instantly.
The merchant, regaining his senses, glanced at the maid sitting beside him. She wore old, tattered clothes and was the lowest-ranked maid who handled the most menial tasks in the castle.
“…Strange.”
Arzeletta bowed slightly at the suspicious look from the merchant and hurriedly fled inside the castle.
“They say she’s marrying the monster Arzeletta and the hunchback Yoseph! They’re getting married!”
“The wedding hall is a graveyard, they say!”
“You can eat worm stew and boiled maggots until you burst!”
“Juice made from centipedes too!”
Shouting so, the children threw stones, and the maid’s retreating back looked utterly miserable.
The strange rapture Arzeletta had felt just moments ago vanished instantly under the children’s harsh curses.
Left alone, the merchant shook his head briefly, then mounted his donkey and began his journey.
“……”
But the thought stuck in his mind.
‘Those scars.’
They looked suspicious no matter how you saw them.
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