“?!”
The man in the robe suddenly barged into the carriage.
The coachman, who had been waiting nearby, rushed over in shock.
“Hey, who are you?! How dare you approach the Noel merchant guild’s carriage—”
Thud—
“Ugh.”
Thump.
The coachman collapsed to the ground after being struck in the back of the neck by the robed man.
After confirming that the coachman had passed out, the man turned his attention toward me.
To avoid being discovered by someone likely under the Grand Duchess’s command, I quickly hid behind the cloth draped over the birdcage I was in.
I hoped he’d leave quietly after realizing there was nothing important inside the carriage.
But then—
Grab—
“……?!!”
The man abruptly snatched up the birdcage I was hiding in.
‘W-What the heck! Is he seriously trying to steal this right now?!’
As soon as I realized what was happening, all kinds of horrible scenarios played out in my mind.
Roughly speaking, I imagined being captured by the Grand Duchess, tortured, or sold off as an auction item. A fate far worse than being dragged around as a pet fairy by some clueless seven-year-old brat.
‘No way, absolutely not.’
I hadn’t even properly helped Sion yet—there was no way I could just let things end like this.
So I yelled at the top of my lungs.
“Put me down, you thief!!!”
Then I sprang up from my position and bit down as hard as I could on the man’s finger that was holding the cage.
The robed man flinched in surprise.
‘How do you like the bite of a fairy, huh?!’
But then—
A deep, familiar voice echoed from above my head.
“What are you doing? Stay still.”
“……?!!”
That calm and sweet baritone—it was like someone had coated my eardrums in gold. There was no way I wouldn’t recognize that voice.
Still dazed, I spit out the finger I had bitten and muttered.
“Sion…?”
Sion, still holding the cage, leapt off the carriage with ease. Like a shadow, he quietly and swiftly disappeared into a side street.
After walking briskly for a while and reaching a secluded area where no one was around, Sion finally stopped.
He swept aside the cloth covering the cage in one motion.
Before my eyes appeared his beautiful silver-gray hair and blue-gray eyes.
“Sion…!!!”
I couldn’t believe it!
Sion had come to rescue me!
Overcome with emotion, I trembled from head to toe.
“You came to save me!”
“…What kind of mess is this, seriously.”
Sion looked at me in disbelief—as if he were scolding a runaway Maltese that wouldn’t listen no matter what.
I clung to Sion’s finger and burst into tears.
“I thought I’d be taken away and never see you again! Thank you so, so much for coming to find me, Sion!! Sob sob sob!!!”
“……”
Sion, who had been staring down at me with his usual cold expression, looked slightly flustered by my overly emotional outburst.
“Did it hurt when I bit you earlier? I’m sorry!”
I started rubbing his finger, which now had a red mark like a mosquito bite.
I couldn’t believe I had the audacity to sink my filthy front teeth into my beloved Sion’s elegant hand.
I suddenly began to worry—what if it left a scar?
“…Seriously…”
Sion opened his mouth to say something, then sighed in resignation and gave up, closing it again.
After a deep sigh of acceptance, he asked.
“Alright. First, explain how you got yourself into this situation.”
“Uh, um, well…”
Feeling guilty, I gave a sheepish smile and began to explain.
“Well, uh… I was hanging around near the Grand Duke’s castle because I had some business with the head merchant who came to visit… but I ended up getting caught by his daughter, hehe.”
“……”
Sion stared at me in silence. His icy gaze sent chills down my spine, and I hastily tried to explain myself.
“No, I mean—she’s just a little kid, so it wasn’t a huge deal or anything. And actually, I could’ve just come back without a problem, but then I couldn’t use my fangirling pow— I mean, fairy powers anymore, and then I ended up trapped in this cage.”
“You couldn’t use your powers?”
“Yeah. Something happened, and I just… couldn’t. If it weren’t for that, I would’ve broken out of this cage and come running back to you!”
“……”
Sion remained silent for a moment.
Then, he gently placed the birdcage on the ground.
And—
Sching—
He swiftly drew the sword strapped to his back.
“…Wait. No way.”
‘Is he… going to cut me down?’
Sion frowned as he caught my horrified expression.
“What kind of ridiculous thought are you having?”
“So… you’re not?”
“Don’t move.”
With that, Sion moved in a flash. The sword in his hand cut through the air with a chilling sound.
And then—
Clang!!
The blade struck the cage… and bounced right off without leaving a single scratch.
“……”
“……”
Sion’s face hardened.
Trying to spare him from the embarrassment, I gently offered an explanation.
“I, uh, actually tried a few times too. It seems like this cage is made from some kind of special metal. It won’t budge no matter how much strength you use.”
“……”
Sion’s expression was neutral, but I could tell—his pride had just taken a hit.
“…What do we do now, Sion? I don’t think we can break this cage.”
“……”
Sion stared silently at the cage with an expressionless face.
“I guess… we’ll need to find another way.”
I glanced at the sword still in Sion’s hand, my voice trailing off uncertainly.
For a moment, I hesitated.
‘Should I act like I know… or not?’
It was about a secret revealed only much later in the original story—
That Sion was actually an aura wielder.
Sion Luxior.
The youngest person in northern history to awaken aura at the age of fourteen—a one-in-a-million genius knight.
‘If he uses aura, he could probably slice through this cage like it’s made of tofu.’
But… revealing that I knew about this now made me anxious. Not only because of the system’s spoiler warning risk, but mostly because I was worried about how Sion would react.
In the original novel, Sion kept his aura abilities a deeply guarded secret.
Especially while living under the Grand Duchess’s watchful eyes in the Grand Duke’s estate, he avoided unnecessary conflict and friction at all costs.
The one and only reason Sion eventually broke that vow and revealed his power was—
“To save the heroine during a desperate crisis in the later part of the story.”
I scratched my cheek.
‘…Yeah, this is a bit too much to ask for.’
To Sion, I was nothing more than a noisy, troublesome, insignificant fairy he’d known for just a few days.
There’s no way he’d go that far for someone like me.
“Okay. Giving up—swiftly.”
I gave up cleanly.
And so, I pulled out my final card once more.
[Event Host: Due to your reckless, mindless spamming of skills earlier, your Fangirl Energy has been completely depleted! Please recharge your fangirl energy to use skills again! ^0^/
The fangirl skill—that absurdly overpowered force strong enough to destroy the cage.
My goal now was to fulfill the condition necessary to activate it.
“…Fangirl energy, huh.”
‘What could that be? How do I recharge it?’
I had a gut feeling it wasn’t something as simple as just eating and sleeping. It had to be something more special.
“Hmmm…”
I stared directly at Sion, rubbing my chin in thought.
“HMMMM…”
Something was starting to click in my mind—but not quite.
“…What are you thinking now?”
Sion asked, clearly suspicious.
“Well, you see…”
Just then, we heard a loud commotion from the avenue we’d left behind.
“WAAAAAAAH—!!”
It was the wailing of a seven-year-old girl, having just found her empty carriage.
Sion picked up the cage again.
“We need to get out of here first.”
“Y-Yeah. Let’s go home.”
I could figure out how to recharge my ‘fangirl energy’ after we safely made it back to the annex.
Before covering the cage again with the cloth, Sion looked down at me quietly.
It was the kind of look that said, ‘Am I really taking this troublemaker back with me?’
Like a clueless puppy about to be abandoned, I smiled at him with bright, innocent eyes.
Sion hesitated, then sighed deeply as he rubbed his hand across his face.
“…You really are a nuisance.”
Yes, I’m very sorry.
“This repays the debt from the underground prison. We’re even now.”
Yes. Thank you very much.
Holding the cage under one arm, Sion walked away.
He moved through the backstreets of the city like someone who knew every twist and turn, choosing quiet, secluded paths with practiced ease.
After a while, he finally spoke again.
“Lin.”
‘Oh! He used my name for the first time!’
“After all that’s happened, you should realize by now—this human world isn’t a place suited for a fairy’s ignorant curiosity. Take this as a lesson and go back.”
“…I’m sorry for causing trouble, Sion. It was a bit of a learning experience.”
I added quickly.
“And it’s not like I’m here out of curiosity for the human world or anything. The only reason I came… is because of you, Sion.”
“……”
Sion fell silent for a moment. Then he spoke again, his voice faint but tinged with an unusual heaviness.
“I really don’t understand.”
“……?”
“Are all fairies like this? Don’t you have a home to return to? No family to be responsible for, no duties to fulfill? You must have been born somewhere—don’t you want to go back there?”
“Well, um, about that…”
His question made me pause and reevaluate my own situation.
As far as ‘home’ went, I didn’t really have one.
Or more accurately—I didn’t even know how to go back.
I assumed the system would return me automatically once I fulfilled this fangirl event’s objective, but that was just a guess.
‘Even if I go back… it’s just to my tiny semi-basement apartment.’
And family?
Honestly, I wasn’t much different from Sion. I’d lost everyone I could call family when I was a child.
A predictable and unhappy backstory.
‘Yeah… none of that really applies to me.’
I smiled brightly.
“Yeah, I’ve got none of that. Because I’ve got a much more important mission, remember? I told you many times—I’m here to make sure you find love and happiness.”
“……”
Sion said nothing for the rest of the journey back to the Grand Duke’s estate, as if lost deep in thought.
