“Where am I?”
When she opened her eyes again, Rosedale was standing in an unfamiliar place.
Fortunately, there was no trace of the sticky, filthy swamp on her body, and this pure white space was too clean, almost close to being holy.
“I’m not in the swamp. Did I safely make it to the human world?’
Rosedale paced slowly, scanning her surroundings.
A mythical scene was painted on the soaring ceiling. The immaculate floor, covered in white marble, seemed to stretch endlessly, and at the far end, there was a colossal statue that was too large to take in at a glance.
It was a statue in the shape of a bow with a golden arrow.
“This is…”
“My Temple.”
Rosedale turned at the sound of the man’s voice. But all she saw was still a vast, empty space.
“Here!”
“……?”
She bent her head toward the source of the sound and saw a small bird perched on the floor. It was a fluffy pink bird similar to a bearded reedling.
The bird chirped, “Welcome back, my child. It’s been a while.”
“Eros..?”
As she asked in disbelief, the pink bird fluttered its wings. It was a delicate, fluffy ball that looked like it would fly away with the wind.
Seeing the bird, which seemed to express joy at meeting her again, a spark of excitement lit up in Rosedale’s clear eyes.
“How did you… get so small?”
They said that as humans’ beliefs diminished, the power of the Gods weakened day by day. Did Eros also lose his strength and become this tiny bird?
My God turned into a bird. Such a small one at that!
Feeling sorry for the shrunken God, Rosedale bit her lip to suppress the tears about to burst.
“I’ll do my best, Eros.”
She mustn’t cry. It would make the little God feel even sadder about himself.
Rosedale swallowed her tears, trying to force a smile.
“I’ll do a great job, so that you can get your form back.”
“Hahaha.”
The little bird laughed at Rosedale’s words. Then it started hovering around her.
“This bird is a medium. Since I can’t go to the human world due to my weakened power, I sent this bird to you instead..”
“So Eros is…”
“Yes. I am in the divine realm. Just as I was when you saw me.”
“Thank goodness…”
As soon as she was relieved, the tears that had been pooling in her eyes fell drop by drop. The little bird soothed her as she wiped the beady tears away with her hand.
“Are you disappointed that I have turned into a little bird?”
“Of course not, I was just saddened to see your powers waning, Eros.”
Now that it was okay, she reached out both hands. The small bird hopped onto them as if hugging.
“But faith has indeed weakened, to the point where I can no longer manifest in the human world.”
A thousand years ago, after ending the war against the demons that plagued the human world, humans gradually forgot about the existence of God.
The stories of the Gods who had vanquished the demons and sealed the demon King became mere legends, and faith weakened.
There were only a few countries left that still had Temples and worshipped the Gods, and it was painful to see it in person after only reading about it in books.
“Yes.”
The little bird let out a soft sigh.
“A thousand years ago, God made Temples for His excessive devotees. And now desolate Temples remain, and God can’t reach.”
“…….”
“So you have no idea how long I’ve been waiting for you, my child.”
The small bird wrapped itself around Rosedale’s shivering hand.
Its fluffy fur covered her hand warmly. It was a soothing sensation that calmed her nervousness due to escape.
“Elpis wouldn’t have allowed it after all. You came here through the swamp, right?”
“Yes. How did you know?”
“I knew you would come. Long ago I connected the gates of the swamp to my Temple. And judging by the way you appeared here, my prediction was correct. Do you realise how long I’ve been waiting for you?”
Rosedale smiled as the little bird winked at her.
Her God was still as sweet as he had been twenty years ago.
Maybe that was why Rosedale had wanted to come to the human world so badly.
In the fairy realm, there were only her stern father and guards who wanted nothing more than to make her King, but here she had a God who loved her, and humans, the fantastical beings she had only read about in books.
I’m here, too. I came here to be validated, to be useful and valuable.
“What can I do now, Eros?”
Rosedale asked eagerly.
The little bird blinked its round eyes and smiled, looking into those sparkling red eyes.
“Firstly, I think you should erase your fairy aura and take human form, so you can avoid being tracked by the elves, and most of all, humans are afraid of anything that is different from them.”
“Yes. I will.”
Rosedale closed her eyes and began to work her magic, then opened them wide again.
“By the way, what do humans look like? I’ve only ever seen them in picture books, so I don’t think I’ll be able to do them justice.”
Do humans really look like Gods? I’ve heard they’re not much different from fairies.
Is it true that unlike fairies, who wear thin dresses woven from plants, humans like to dress themselves up like peacocks?
“You should see for yourself, my child. Here they come.”
The little bird flew over and perched on Rosedale’s shoulder.
“W-Wait I haven’t cast the invisibility spell yet…!”
“Shhh. It’s okay. Look.”
From the entrance Eros had pointed out, a dozen humans entered with slow footsteps.
A grey-haired human led the way, the others were following him holding objects in their hands.
As if they hadn’t seen Rosedale, they put their items in front of the podium and proceeded to knell.
“The humans cannot see us unless you deliberately reveal yourself and give them permission.”
While listening to Eros’ words, Rosedale admired the humans she was seeing for the first time.
The grey-haired human had a wrinkled face, but his actions carried a deep sense of composure.
“It’s because he’s older. Unlike us, humans have a short lifespan and experience aging, which causes their hair to turn gray and wrinkles to increase. Gradually, they face death.”
“I’ve read about it in books, but it’s not the same as seeing it in person. It feels strange.”
The appearance of the humans prostrating before the statue was indeed not dissimilar to that of the high-ranking fairies and Gods.
The only difference was that they had no wings and were dressed in multiple layers.
All fairies are born with wings. Lesser fairies have small wings, like dragonflies, and high-ranking fairies, like Rosedale, have large wings, similar to Angels.
But unlike the lesser fairies, who flap their wings freely, the higher fairies hide their wings, for they consider wings to be unworthy.
Elpis also frowned in disapproval when she saw Rosedale take out her wings.
“Do you want to slap wings like those uncultured fairies?”
Rosedale hadn’t taken out her wings since then.
Humans didn’t have wings to begin with, and they looked a lot more like high-ranking fairies with their wings hidden.
While Rosedale kept watching the humans with awe. Suddenly the older man spoke up-
“Eros, I am Duke Frederick of the Everia Empire. Please, bestow the blessing of love upon our Emperor.”
“Listen carefully, my child, for this will be your first task.”
The little bird whispered in a husky voice in her ear. A nervous sob escaped Rosedale’s throat.
“Everia has been a precarious lineage for generations, and currently, the only bloodline of the imperial family belongs to Emperor Lucas Daniel de Everia.”
The Duke was fervently kowtowing in his desperation.
“And yet His Imperial Majesty has no interest in marriage or the succession of the imperial family, maKing it the greatest concern for peaceful Everia Empire.”
“For heaven’s sake, look at him nagging like my father.”
Rosedale sighed at the sight of Frederick, who looked just like Elpis, the Fairy King who sang songs of her becoming the heir every day.
The little bird climbed on her shoulder and let out a chuckle.
“I dare to hope that you will graciously bestow your favor upon our Emperor, His Majesty Lucas.”
“So, you’re asking me to shoot a golden arrow at an emperor named Lucas of Everia?”
Rosedale whispered to the small bird, almost inaudibly, even though she knew that humans couldn’t hear her voice.
“That’s right.”
After finishing the prayer and receiving guidance from the priest, the party of Duke Frederick hurriedly left. The small bird spoke to her again.
“Follow them to Everia, my dear. You know how to draw your bow and arrows, don’t you?”
“Yes, I do. I’ve been practising without my father’s knowledge.”
“Very well, then go. Don’t forget to hide your fairy aura.”
“Oh, right!”
Rosedale, with a fluttering heart, was about to follow the humans again when she quickly stopped.
Just as she was about to assume human form, her eyes caught sight of a woman with long black hair. She wore the robes of a priest.
With no one to refer to, Rosedale hastily followed her into human form.
Her pink curls turned to long black locks, and her dazzlingly white skin darkened a shade to a subdued glow.
She grew a bit taller, her eyelashes shortened slightly, and her cute bunny-like appearance turned into a fresh, cat-like charm. Completely transformed to the point where it was hard to recall her previous appearance.
The only thing that didn’t change was her ruby-red eyes, as the eyes were vessels of the soul and couldn’t be altered.
“Well, then, Eros. I’ll be back!”
“Yes, my child. We’ll meet again.”
“Oh, by the way!”
Rosedale whirled around again, like a student who forgot something on the first day of school.
“Is there anything you need to be careful about when you shoot arrows?”
“None…”
There was a slight slur in the little bird’s words, but the excited Rosedale didn’t notice.
Waving her hand to the bird, she energetically went on her way, leaving behind the smiling Eros with a tender smile.
Eros’s smile faded as he saw Rosedale slowly disappear from his sight.
“I hope you don’t get hurt, my child.”
Forgive this little God, for all I can do for you is pray.
Carrying Eros’s wish with her, Rosedale took her first step toward the human world.
With anticipation, not fear.
With her own will, not someone else’s coercion.
***
And here-
A man stood with a sword, unaware of what was about to happen to him.
Jet black hair and emerald eyes that shone as serenely as the frosty moon in midwinter.
His thin, sharp jawline and delicately sculpted features could be mistaken for those of Apollo, the sun God.
But the man with such a mesmerisingly beautiful face was staring down at the mass of people at his feet with an astonishingly cold and cruel gaze.
A trembling voice cried out.
“Your Majesty, please have mercy.”
“…….”
The person who stood there with an aura of indifference was none other than Lucas Daniel de Everia.
He was the Emperor of the Everian Empire, ruler of the continent.
