“Wow, it’s so delicious!”
“Eat a lot, Daisy.”
As promised, Summer took Daisy and Mary out for a picnic.
Perhaps because it was around autumn, the weather was just perfect for a picnic.
Daisy kept exclaiming how nice the weather was and how beautiful the scenery looked.
In contrast, Mary was calm and quiet as usual. In fact, she seemed even quieter than usual.
Summer, concerned about Mary, offered her a sandwich.
“Mary. You should eat too.”
“I’m fine with just this.”
Mary slightly lifted the juice she was holding. Summer observed Mary’s expression for a moment before returning to a cheerful conversation with Daisy.
It was peaceful. Just being out here, chatting without a care, laughing, and eating delicious snacks made Summer feel giddy and she couldn’t stop smiling.
“Oh my, Daisy. This is so much fun.”
“Right? I’m quite the talker!”
“Miss.”
At Mary’s call, Summer tilted her head.
“What is it, Mary?”
“Why do you find this world so painful, Miss?”
“......”
“Mary! Do you really have to say that on a day like this?”
While Summer pressed her lips together, Daisy quickly nudged Mary in the side to stop her. It seemed Daisy was quite upset with Mary for breaking the mood.
However, Mary’s stubbornly pursed lips and unwavering gaze clearly showed her determination to get an answer.
“Well, maybe it’s because this world is so different from the one I lived in. Or perhaps it’s because of the bizarre sights.”
Summer found it hard to pinpoint the exact reason. But she remembered the beginning clearly.
“I think it was when my mother, Lady Lindsay, repeated the same words like a puppet.”
“Miss. The reason we appeared bizarre is that we are the forsaken ones by God.”
“I know.”
Summer understood that feeling. Whether or not there was a God in the original world, when a great misfortune struck like fate, Summer had to feel abandoned.
Some called that fate God, while others called it inevitability.
“To be precise, the God who created the world made it and then neglected us.”
“......Mary.”
“Exactly. Those like us, whom God does not protect, had to live without souls.”
“It’s not that I hate this world.”
While it was true that this world was terrible, what she missed most were the family and friends she had left behind in the original world.
Above all, she longed for the traces of life she had left there.
“Then please help us before you go back.”
“Me? How?”
“......Miss, you underestimate yourself too much.”
“I’m not. In reality, I’m just a stranger. I have no abilities. Julian is the special one.”
At Summer’s words, Mary shook her head.
“I can say with certainty that you are the most special one. In this entire world.”
“Mary. I appreciate the compliment, but I don’t have anything like that.”
“You have more than enough ability to save us. And being special wasn’t a compliment.”
“You’re still so cold.”
Summer said playfully, glancing at Mary. Mary didn’t even blink, as if she was used to Summer’s antics.
“You don’t dislike me anymore, do you?”
“......That’s true.”
At first, Mary’s expressionless face had been creepy and frightening. There were times when she found Mary’s bubbling presence terrifying and unpleasant.
But now, Mary’s existence felt familiar. Even her expressionless face had a comforting quality to it.
The way she spoke her mind with such a weary face was part of Mary’s charm.
“You don’t need to go back, Miss.”
“......Mary. Be careful with your words.”
“Don’t you realize yet? Since you came to this world, I’ve become stronger than a witch.”
Mary raised her voice slightly, as if feeling a bit frustrated.
“A witch, you mean, Fay?”
“Yes. I share memories with you, Miss.”
“What? Why are you only telling me this now?”
Summer jumped up in shock. Juice spilled onto the carpet. Daisy quickly lifted her cup, but the floor was already damp.
As Daisy hurriedly tried to wipe up the juice with the napkins she had brought, Mary and Summer locked eyes without looking away.
“What if I had told you earlier? You would have thought I was even more terrifying, wouldn’t you?”
“......”
“Weren’t you curious? Why witches came to be.”
“How do you know that? You don’t even know the original story.”
She said she shared memories. Summer exhaled sharply, feeling incredulous and angry.
Why hadn’t everyone told her the truth beforehand? It wouldn’t change anything to reveal the truth now.
“Not entirely, but I share fragments of your memories. That’s how I learned that this world is nothing but words.”
“Right. So you know Fay’s true identity? Unfortunately, I don’t.”
“Because it wasn’t written in the text you read.”
Mary was right. Fay’s existence wasn’t in the original story Summer had read. The word witch couldn’t be found either.
How did Fay come to be? She didn’t seem like a stranger who had fallen into a book like Summer.
“Fay was the one who was closest to God, yet also the one most brutally forsaken by Him.”
“Closest to God, you say.”
Mary’s explanation was vague. Summer furrowed her brow and pressed her forehead. Mary seemed to know all of this. If only she had opened up and talked to Mary about the situation earlier, perhaps things would have been different.
“Fay was the first representative of God and possessed the most powerful divine power.”
“......Are you talking about the Pope?”
“Yes. The power Fay wields is actually a remnant of divine power. Suddenly, God abandoned Fay, and the people cast her out. After Fay fled into the forest with the followers of God, some time passed, and suddenly God delivered a new oracle.”
“Why did God abandon Fay?”
“Well, what do you think?”
“Closure.”
It was closure. Unfortunately, Fay must have felt a tremendous sense of loss because she didn’t know that this world was merely a text.
Summer covered her mouth with both hands. So that was it.
Now, the reasons Fay had tried to protect the world and used her strange powers, as well as why she could exist despite not being in the original story, were becoming clear.
“After God neglected this world for a while, a new being with divine power was born. That’s the current Pope.”
“......What on earth is this world...”
“That’s why I told you not to trust witches. They are beings who serve God and the world to their very core.”
But Summer felt uneasy. The Fay who had grabbed her by the nape of her neck last night had clearly been trying to protect her.
“......Mary.”
“You once asked me how you looked, Miss.”
“......Yes. I remember.”
Mary reached out and gently grabbed a strand of Summer’s golden hair.
“I’ve thought for a long time that your black hair is truly beautiful.”
Why? Mary still had an expressionless face. Yet, the way she looked at Summer was kind.
So kind that just meeting her gaze made Summer feel like she might burst into tears.
“You...”
“I’m sorry. I couldn’t say it earlier. I was afraid you would hate me.”
Mary smiled sadly. It wasn’t that Mary wasn’t anxious or scared.
She was afraid. Afraid that Summer would suddenly leave her, and terrified that Summer would hate her forever.
“If only you had recognized me, I wouldn’t have crumbled like that...”
“I’m sorry.”
Mary apologized softly in response to Summer’s complaints. Summer leaned closer to Mary and rested her head on her shoulder.
Mary’s body was warm. A proof that she was alive.
“Mary. Why are you telling me this now?”
Summer mumbled her question.
“I have something I want to ask of you.”
“Anything but telling me not to go back, I’ll listen. Whatever I can do.”
“Please save all those children. At least those who work under the Count.”
Summer lifted her head from Mary’s shoulder and straightened up. Her blue eyes trembled slightly.
“Save... them?”
“You saved me and Daisy, didn’t you?”
“......”
“You are the only being who can extract souls, aside from God.”
Mary’s words struck Summer like a prophecy, sending a shiver through her entire body.
“Me, having such an ability?”
“Did you forget? You can create. The issues the witches talk about regarding the rifts in the world are actually things you could solve.”
“Are you serious?”
“Yes. Please. Save the other children too.”
Mary earnestly asked Summer again, her expression unchanged.
“But...”
“You can create a world for those forsaken by the Creator.”
“......”
“Will you try?”
“Mary. It could be a coincidence. And above all, I don’t know how.”
Summer hesitated. The thought of being able to create like a God frightened her. Was this how Julian felt? Perhaps being special, as Mary said, wasn’t really a compliment.
“It’s easy. Just do the same for the other children as you did for Daisy and me, and they too will be able to have souls.”
“How did I do that for you?”
“You thought of us.”
“I thought of you.”
“Yes. You might think you imagined it, but in fact, you thought of us.”
With wide eyes, Summer stepped back in surprise. Is that really possible? She had done it twice, but she thought it was only possible because Mary and Daisy were special.
She had never even considered trying again.
Caught up in thoughts of whether to go back or not, she hadn’t been curious about this world.
Why was that? What if Summer could give souls to the people of the Lindsay family just by imagining it?
Her heart raced loudly.
“Can I really do that? Just by thinking of you, I can bring you back?”
“Yes. You can create us, who are mere stage props, as supporting characters. It’s entirely possible.”
Mary’s lips curved into a smile. Summer gazed at Mary, feeling a bit dazed.
Mary was smiling brightly, her eyes crinkled. Sunlight filtered through the leaves and fell.
Daisy, who had been wiping up the juice and watching carefully, also subtly lifted the corners of her mouth at Mary’s smile.
The grass swayed in the wind. When the wind stopped, the grass returned to its place.
Summer’s previously closed mouth slowly opened.
“I’ll try. I want to try.”