Her golden eyes narrowed slightly, gaze drifting upward toward the glowing vines overhead as if searching her memory.
The tapping stopped; her hand dropped to rest flat on the leaf-table, fingers spreading. "Are you referring to... Kurosawa Ren?"
She looked back at me then, head still tilted, braid sliding over one shoulder.
The corner of her mouth quirked upâjust a littleânot quite a smile, more like she was testing the name on her tongue.
"Ah, you knew him?" I glanced at her, fork paused halfway to my mouth. I set it down carefully so it wouldnât clatter. "Heâs my pal in Shishi-no-su, and weâre from the same world. Heâs super strong you know."
I leaned forward a bit on my elbows, forearms resting on the table edge.
Roselynâs expression shiftedâher brows lifted once, then settled. She took a deep breath and exhaled, short and quiet.
"If THAT explosive, apocalyptic weapon called you âextraordinary,â and he meant it," Roselynâs smile wavered a bit, lips pressing together for a second before curving again, softer this time, "then I believe you are the one underestimating yourself more, Benjamin."
She reached out with one handâslow, casualâand flicked a crumb off the table near my plate.
Her fingers lingered there a moment, tapping once more before pulling back. She tilted her head the other way now, studying me like she was seeing something new.
Hm? But wait... Did she just do that reverse card thing on me? How am I underestimating myself?
I opened my mouth, but decided to just shut up.
"About Queen Titania," Isabelle sipped from her cup again, looking all high ranking, professional, and so cool,
She lifted the porcelain with both handsâsmall fingers curled around it like she was cradling something fragile.
Steam rose in thin wisps past her face. She took a measured sip, lips barely touching the rim, then lowered it slowly, setting it down with the faintest clink.
Her posture stayed straight, shoulders relaxed but not slouched, green eyes steady on me.
"she indeed has three major attendants. Tesa, the elder twin with the silver eyes; Tera, the younger twin with the eerie dark eyes... And Vaelora."
She paused after the name, letting it hang. One finger traced the handle of the cup in a slow circleâonce, twiceâbefore stopping.
"Hm? But I didnât see that person, this Vaelora you speak of." I scratched my head in thought.
My nails scraped lightly against my scalp. I caught myself mid-motion, dropped my hand fast, fingers flexing once like Iâd been burned.
Isabelleâs gaze flicked to the movement, then back to my face. A tiny crease appeared between her brows.
"Benjamin, donât scratch your head in the dining," Isabelle lightly reprimanded me, "Itâs not proper."
She folded both hands in her lap now, fingers interlacing neatly.
"let me tell you a bit about our Queen..."
She took another slow sipâlonger this timeâthen set the cup down again. Both palms rested flat on the table, fingers spreading slightly.
And the lore began;
Titania used to be the Superior Spirit of Nature, referred to as an [Emanation]. She was something close to a god and was created by the goddess Elyndor.
Apparently, Elyndor is a literal personality that governs the world of Elyndor.
I wonder if there is an entity called Earth governing Earth too.
Titania used to beâand probably still isâan intermediary between mortals and gods in Elyndor, functioning as something like an administrator of the world or a manager for mortals.
But some millions of years ago, she fell in love with a mortalâa god-touched individual, to be precise. One of the first ones that started coming to the world.
"Oh, so god-touched are something thatâs been happening for millions of years?" I interrupted her.
"Yes," she nodded. "God-touched individuals first came to Elyndor about 500 million years ago. A reckless Originator triggered the phenomenon, I heard."
"Originator? Whatâs that?"
An Originator, Isabelle explained, is a being capable of birthing an entire world on their own. Something that far surpasses a mere god of authority.
Elyndor is one such Originator too.
Due to the first celestial war, the Originator (also called the Time god, Chröma) was wary of the demons who started rebelling, so he summoned overpowered individuals from other worlds to come here and fight for mortals.
Apparently, it wasnât his business to meddle in Elyndorâs affairs, and also the laws of Elyndor would not restrain otherworldly individuals as strictly as they do the native residents, making them unusually strong without consequences.
Anyway, Titania happened to fall in love with this god-touched who first arrived here and apparently even had children with him. They were a loving family.
He eventually died in the second Celestial War, promising to return, but never did.
Traumatized by this, Titania decided to join the mortals and become like them, to look like her beloved.
As an Emanation, simply being in the world for long would cause all manner of affliction and disaster to befall people, so she had to downgrade her existence.
And she did. It was the only way for her to feel close to her dead lover.
She found a way to turn herself into a fairyâsomething that embodies both the mortal and the spiritualâbecoming the first fairy.
This occurred millions of years ago, but also long after her lover had passed on.
In the mortal world, Titania was seen as an anomaly and defective by the system of life.
Her previously eternal lifespan became corrupted: now Titania has a lifespan of 500 years. But she reincarnates every time after her death.
She becomes a spirit when she dies, returning to her former form. Then she turns back into a fairy and is bound for another death 500 years later.
When she came to the surface world as the first fairy, she was hunted down by humans and seen as "an evil creature."
This remained the case for many generations and through lost history. And she could not even return to the divine realm too.