The Villainess Princess Wants To Live In A Gingerbread House ​

Phoebe laughed heartily until she almost lost her breath, then she stopped laughing when a feather almost fell off Asha’s hand. The Spirit of Time seemed to pause for a moment.

<That… that, I mean. There had to be a strong will to change time, not a desire to talk to me, a spirit.>

Only then did Asha release the grip on her hand.

“But Karnov has turned back time many times before.”

The Spirit of Time, who had been sitting and conversing with Asha, glanced around in response to her question.

<That wasn’t his own desire.>

The spirit quietly added that Karnov needed a strong desire to turn back time. Karnov furrowed his brow as if sensing something.

“But he has done it before, several years ago…”

“That was too trivial. A few years ago…”

“He’s made alcohol many times.”

<Strictly speaking, it was not his desire back then to turn back time but because the peach…>

Suddenly the Spirit of Time closed its mouth.

“…What’s wrong?”

Asha looked puzzled as she alternated between looking at Karnov and the spirit, but no answer came.

<Ha, anyway, that’s why it became possible this time.>

“Yeah, but how did this ‘this time’ happen?”

Asha looked a bit worried as she glanced at Karnov. Using power on the battlefield was probably not something Karnov wanted. Even when making alcohol, it was Asha who urged him, not something Karnov desired.

The fact that he had been doing things he didn’t want out of obligation weighed on her mind, but it was also worrying that he suddenly started to desire something he had never wished for before.

“Did something happen?”

“No, nothing like that. Just…”

Karnov’s words trailed off. Asha’s expression became even more concerned.

“Just?”

“It’s just that it’s too hot these days. I wish it would hurry up and be autumn.”

“What! Summer is the season when my birthday is.”

Asha deliberately pouted, but still, she carefully considered Karnov’s feelings. She didn’t think Karnov’s words were entirely true.

But Karnov seemed to be in good spirits. Soft particles rising from Karnov brushed Asha’s cheeks and hair.

“Asha, you don’t like summer either. Your face is all red from running around. Where did the fan go?”

“I don’t know, maybe I lost it while running.”

Despite Asha’s words, Karnov sighed as if resigned, but there was a hint of a smile on his face. Asha put her hand on her waist with a relieved expression.

“Well, now we need to name this little one.”

“A name?”

“You can’t keep calling it the Spirit of Time.”

The Spirit of Time, in the form of a five-year-old child, vigorously nodded his head. Seeing that, Phoebe, who had just stopped flapping, fluttered up.

<If you leave the naming to those barley stalks, you’ll regret it.>

<Was your name chosen as Phoebe? You always used to say things opposite to your heart…>

In an instant, the Spirit of Time’s words were buried under the vigorous chirping of a yellow chick. Asha protected the Spirit of Time, giving Phoebe a stern look.

“Phoebe! You can’t bully a child.”

<Child? I’m the smallest and most pitiful person among us. What nonsense are you talking about!>

“You said you were already grown up.”

<Ah, I’m still far from it!>

“Really? Then are you my cute little chick forever?”

<What… What kind of books are you reading these days!>

Feeling embarrassed, Phoebe didn’t know what to do and puffed up her feathers as she fluttered up. While Asha was smiling, Karnov, who was still looking at his spirit, decided.

“Kairos.”

“Kairos?”

<Kairos…>

The name was met with a fit of resistance by Phoebe.

<Don’t make me laugh! I got named Phoebe and he’s Kairos? Are you kidding me!>

<I like it very much.>

The Spirit of Time, Kairos, replied without pretending to listen to Phoebe. Asha looked at the delighted Kairos for a moment before realizing something new.

“Now that I think about it, Kairos looks quite similar to Karnov.”

“Is that so?”

Karnov looked unsure. Asha looked alternately at Kairos’s eyes and Karnov’s eyes.

“That’s right! Their eyes are the same shade of purple.”

<Manifestations are influenced by the contractor.>

All eyes in the room turned to Phoebe as she threw out those words. Asha remained silent for a moment before speaking.

“…There’s no connection between me and the chick.”

<You’re small! I’m like this because you’re only a little chestnut!>

Ignoring Phoebe’s grumbling, Asha glanced around before suddenly placing Phoebe in Karnov’s hand and then lifting Kairos up in her arms. Although he had a human form, Kairos was weightless like a stuffed toy in Asha’s embrace.

“He really looks just like Karnov. Exactly like Karnov when he was five.”

“When I was five, you hadn’t even been born yet. Even if you held a fork, I held it five years earlier.”

“I held the piping bag first?”

Karnov snorted at Asha’s pouting. In the meantime, Asha swept away Kairos’s black hair.

“But is Kairos visible to others? Like how everyone sees Phoebe as a chick?”

<That’s right.>

“You can’t see Shamal though.”

<How dare you compare us to mere breezes?>

Whether Shamal gave up responding to Phoebe’s words or focused solely on playing with Asha’s hair, he didn’t say anything else.

“So what do we tell others? It would be weird if suddenly we say Karnov has a younger brother.”

<Since we are spirits, we can create and erase our forms.>

Phoebe, who only poked her head through the gap in Karnov’s hand, shouted. As if to agree with that, Kairos nodded and disappeared from Asha’s arms in an instant.

Asha clenched and opened her fist, perhaps a little disappointed that the boy in her arms had disappeared, and sighed with an enlightened face.

“Ah! So that’s why Alyosha and Fafnir have yet to speak to each other, even though they’ve been trying to do so for so long.”

<Ah…>

<Oops. Little Fafnir must be crying.>

Shamal kicked his tongue. Wasn’t Fafnir the Spirit of Fire? If one had to consider incinerating everything to converse with spirits, it was almost impossible for Alexei.

<If it’s the landlord’s grandson, well… What if you make him really angry?>

“Alyosha never gets mad at me.”

This time, Phoebe looked at Karnov. As Karnov looked down with a grim expression, a black chick the size of Phoebe popped out of the air.

<Don’t you dare eye our Karnov!>

<Ha, what a funny thing to say! Who’s eyeing him?>

Another aspect of Kairos, who thought human forms made Karnov uncomfortable.

‘Looks just like a silkie chicken…’

Asha watched the two bickering chicks quietly for a moment, then smiled contentedly before tilting her head at a sudden thought.

“But when will you two grow up?”

At her question, the two chicks jerked and turned to look at her.

<We need to plant more World Trees. Haven’t we only planted one so far?>

“Oh! In purified Prasti?”

<Yes! It’s all because you’ve been lazy! Not only lazy about growing but also lazy about purifying Prasti. It’s truly astonishing!>

“Well, Phoebe also forgot about it…”

<Forgot? My body has been waiting for the purification of Prasti to ripen. The time is near. Do you understand?>

“Don’t speak as if you’re prophesying. It’s probably just because Lyuda ate too much of my snacks.”

<Ahem! Ahem! That’s… that’s not the point! Until complete purification, you shouldn’t stray too far. Do you understand? You need to diligently feed them!>

“Okay, okay.”

Seeing Phoebe’s awkward expression and her futile coughing, the chick with violet eyes burst into laughter. They sat together like that, teasing each other for a while longer.

━━━✦❘༻༺❘✦━━━

<Why didn’t you tell the peach honestly?>

When Princess Anastasia’s birthday celebration ended and Karnov returned home, it was already past dusk. It was this time after Princess Anastasia helped to comfort the sulky Lord Nellin and even the maid, Lise, who was stunned by the fact that she ran through the garden barefoot.

Karnov undid the buttons on his sleeve and glanced at what appeared to be a five-year-old boy sitting at the bedside narrow table. Kairos’s clear purple eyes were rolling.

“What do you want me to tell her honestly?”

<Why you wanted to speed up time.>

“I was just thinking about it, not planning to act on it.”

Karno sighed. Patience had a rather bitter taste, and it was a moment’s anxiety to see that someone was only going to take the sweetness in front of him.

So, despite knowing it was frivolous, Karnov had entertained fantasies. Who would have known it would turn out like this? As Karnov changed into his nightclothes, Kairos asked again.

<Why didn’t you plan to act on it?>

The spirit looked like a spirit. He hadn’t expected to be questioned about his decision not to go through with his resolution to wind up three years of time.

“Just because I didn’t talk about it doesn’t mean you didn’t know my situation.”

<That’s right. I’ve been watching all along.>

Kairos nodded. Karnov leaned back against the pillow, running his fingers over the onyx pendant on his wrist, and let out a short sigh.

“When I… when I turned seventeen and until I turned twenty.”

It was something he had never told anyone before. Anastasia probably knew, though.

“All right.”

<All right?>

“Yeah, all right. It was enjoyable. Turning from seventeen to eighteen was nice, and so was turning from eighteen to nineteen. Turning nineteen to twenty… was really… nice.”

Karnov slowly counted that time. If he were to gaze into the Milky Way with his hand, it would probably feel like this. His past memories were filled with meticulous and dense happiness and beautiful things, without any gaps.

<So?>

“That time should be given to her too.”

Because there must be a time that is beautiful, flawless, and filled only with happiness and joy.

<That’s difficult.>

“Yeah.”

<Still, I’m glad I can hear your explanation.>

Having come this far without communicating in any way for so long, Kairos, a little boy, said that and laughed before quickly turning into a black chick with purple eyes.

Then, with careful movements, the black chick settled next to Karnov’s pillow and sat down. Karnov chuckled and gently stroked the chick’s forehead. It was the same gesture Princess Anastasia made to her chick.

“We’ll have to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Early?”

The black chick buried its head in the pillow with its purple eyes becoming blurry.

“Before the sun rises…”

The black chick trailed off as it spoke, falling asleep right then and there. Karnov sighed and covered it with a handkerchief.