“Uhm... Miss Marianne? I think that wasn’t very nice to say.” Alpheus said cautiously, not knowing how to handle the sudden shift in the atmosphere.

  “Was it?” Marianne asked with a voice that suggested genuine confusion. “I think it’s a perfectly reasonable one. I’m sure you had the same question in mind, Alpheus.”

  He couldn’t deny that. However, that wasn’t exactly the first question in mind.

  Additionally...

  And so, the one to whom this question was addressed exclaimed, offended. “But didn’t you think that this might be a sensitive question!? Maybe I have a severe condition, and I just felt hurt unprovoked! For all you know, this could have been very hurtful!” Coincidentally, the current voice belonged to what Marianne could only call a whiny child.

  “Well, I wouldn’t know that unless you told me.”

  The fairy pouted at the uncaring woman.

  Casually, she carried on.

  “Now then, would you enlighten us? Is that whole voice changing a fairy thing? You did tell us that you would answer any question.”

  “Correction: I would answer anything to the best of my abilities. That doesn’t mean everything... buuuuut I guess that one is fine!”

  He was lying on Alpheus’ head like a makeshift bed but ended up sitting cross-legged.

  “I wouldn’t exactly call it a ‘fairy thing,’ but I suppose it’s not totally inaccurate.”

  The fairy stood up, took flight towards the campfire, and levitated over it. The heat beneath his feet didn’t seem to bother him in the slightest.

  “I, Arclann, protector of our one and only Alpheus, am what you mortals call... a fairy!” His wings fully opened, and he dramatically raised his arms to the sky. At that moment, the fire erupted and swallowed him whole. The color of the pyre changed to the mesmerizing color of the rainbow.

  Alpheus shrieked.

  “Arclan?!”

  Even Marianne’s eyes widened at the sight, and she was ready to step in until a voice emerged from within the flames.

  “Don’t worry, guys! These are just special effects! Just for theatrics!” The flames died out, revealing him to have no burn marks whatsoever.

  Alpheus sighed in relief.

  “I fear my heart would prefer you to keep the special effects down.” She looked genuinely distraught, and he smiled smugly at her.

  “I’m elated to see you worry for me so!”

  Marianne didn’t humor the provocation and instead asked.

  “So, what were these special effects? You can control fire?” Marianne asked, crossing her arms.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  “Hmmmmm, who knows!” He looked away in mischief.

  “I assume you would.” She replied dryly.

  “That is indeed a possibility, yes!”

  “...”

  “Oh, fine! No, these flames were not real. I just magically made them seem that way.”

  “That’s... interesting.” Marianne processed the question before continuing.

  “Then I would like you to refrain from doing that, especially at night. I would prefer us not to attract attention right now.”

  “Why? Because of the humans? Or the Behemoth?” Arclan asked innocently.

  Alpheus let out a sharp breath as he was reminded of the threats they had previously been exposed to. He looked at Marianne with guilt.

  Marianne didn’t reply, prompting him to continue his own.

  “Don’t worry! These flames may have travelled far into the sky, but only you two could see them.”

  Before Marianne could ponder on what was said, he carried on.

  “Oh, and I wouldn’t worry about the humans! They’re busy right now. The behemoth is of no concern to us either. In fact, right now, the fellow is...” He shot the concerns down with such finesse that his sudden pause was startling, to say the least.

  He carried on.

  “... the fellow is harmless now!”

  Marianne narrowed her eyes. She remembered the elven woman who made short work of the beast that almost claimed her life.

  Did she slay that monster?

  Unlike Marianne, Alpheus sighed in relief.

  For his sake, she decided to drop that topic for now. It didn’t seem like he was lying.

  “In that case, we can carry on. But please, don’t startle me with those flames again.” Her heart could only take so much.

  “Would you be okay with more... harmless effects?” He asked with a boyish voice.

  Irritated, Marianne gave him the green light. “Carry on...”

  He beamed a bright smile as clouds of green glitter shot forth from his hands, enveloping their cave like a cage. Their light illuminated the interior like a sun, reducing the campfire to nothing more than a heat source. Marianne had to admit that this was a stunning sight.

  “Starting again from the beginning, I, Arclan, am a member of the sacred fairies! Or rather, I belong to the mystical Fae! I once descended from my kingdom, our land of eternal youth, to fulfill my duty of taking this poor soul under my wing!” He stretched a hand towards Alpheus, and the glitter around him brightened further, highlighting him as the target of their attention.

  He was startled and froze like a deer in headlights.

  A moment of silence ensued until Marianne interjected.

  “Would you mind elaborating?”

  “Elaborating what? That’s the whole story!” He smiled brightly, leaving a very annoyed sigh for Marianne before moving on.

  “Then would you be willing to answer my original question?”

  “What question?”

  “The one about your voice.”

  “Oh, that one! I won’t get into the details, but we Fae lack physical bodies, so we must conjure vessels to interact with the rest of the world. Since we lack the organ for voices, we must magically recreate them, which is tricky, mind you! So anyways, yadayadayada, too many boring details! Anything else?” He babbled without even missing a beat, his voice changing with every word as though to hammer in the point that it wasn’t natural, so Marianne barely caught everything until he addressed her again.

  “You use magic to create your voice? The books did mention something like that!” Apheus spoke with beaming eyes. It seemed like it was very fascinating to him. Childish wonder overtook him as he forgot anything else that might worry him.

  “Indeed! Fascinating, isn’t it?” He puffed his chest out in pride.

  “So then...!” From that point onward, Alpheus threw question after question at the fairy, who answered every single one with his dramatic flair, as Marianne retreated into silence.

  From questions regarding the fairy kingdom to ones about his magic tricks, every single one was inconsequential, just like Marianne’s first question.

  Marianne sat silently, watching the innocent banter between these two as her eyes narrowed on the fairy. At some point, she was reminded of Alpheus's current state when his head began drooping. Eventually, he fell into slumber again.

  “Alpheus? Helloooo?” Arclan looked at the sleeping boy in confusion as he flew towards his ear to wake him up.

  “I would appreciate it if you didn’t disturb his rest. The boy needs it more than anything right now.” Marianne said, glaring at him.

  “Is that so? Man, those bodies of yours are a real inconvenience, aren’t they?” He said flippantly as he flew away from the youngling.

  “I should thank you for keeping him company until he could finally exhaust himself. I fear he wouldn’t have such a peaceful slumber otherwise.” Marianne said with heartfelt gratitude.

  “Oh, stop it, I’m blushing!” He said bashfully, flying next to her. Suddenly, his voice shifted. It was a young boy's voice, yet the tone differed from the other variations he’s shown.

  Despite the joviality of his tone, the voice itself could only be described as cold.

  “Now that he’s out of the picture, how about you ask me your actual questions, Lady!”