Chapter 3: Scholar and Fairy ~The Island at the World"s End~ (Part 1)
~Father’s secret~
The pure white veil seemed to have been directly woven using snowflake petals.
This lace veil was cut out from cloth filled with kind feelings, carefully sewed one st.i.tch at a time using embroidery thread, with many hours spent to create it. Whether it was the warm white color or texture, it did not have the slightest feeling of it being old.
Just by slightly touching the delicate lace made it sway like waves. If she wore it and let the veil gracefully cover her hair, would even the slightest gestures seem both elegant and dignified?
“Yes, this was from your mother...... she also received this veil handcrafted by your grandmother.”
“But grandmother was still willing to bless the marriage, despite Father and Mother eloping?”
Even though this veil was fairly short, weaving such a lace presumably cost a lot of time, so grandmother must have begun weaving it bit by bit ever since Mother was young.
She barely knew her mother"s relatives, partly because her mother had died young, so she had no opportunity to ask about matters relating to her home or family.
Despite that, she knew that her parents didn’t hold any grudges against her mother’s relatives, also including the old friends recalled in their hearts that no longer existed.
“Well...... yes, your grandmother was the only person to truly pray for your mother"s happiness.”
Lydia, who just accepted a marriage proposal, held the bridal veil and thought of her mother.
When she pressed the veil close to her cheek, Lydia seemed to sense the odor of the cold sea breeze from the Northern country.
Up until now, Lydia had asked him several times, but he had always evaded the question. Now that his daughter is engaged, he may be willing to answer. Lydia asked, full of expectations.
“Oh dear, that is a thing of the past.”
“Ah, Mrs. Cooper, how are dinner preparations coming along?”
Tonight, the Carlton family was going to host a dinner party for Lydia’s fiancé, who was invited to come and eat. Having said that, only a total of three people, her father, Lydia and her fiancé will be dining together.
Thus, this dinner will not be regarded as an ordinary meal, because Lydia’s fiancé was an aristocrat.
Now that he was invited to dinner, they had to entertain him using the formal mannerisms of dining.
Father anxiously stared at Lydia.
The Carlton family wasn’t of the upper cla.s.s, but was still regarded as well-off and had a certain social status; with regards to the middle cla.s.s people, this house’s dining hall was quite popular. It was only natural that the Carlton family hired a chef, but all in all, she was a chef who wasn’t an expert in formal dinners or in banquet dishes.
“Is that so…… Ah, perhaps it is, in any case, the Earl probably isn’t interested in the cuisine.”
With regards to Father, the time to invite his only daughter’s fiancé to come and dine simply wasn’t a time to enjoy the cuisine.
I’m not a delicacy. Lydia thought, while her father nodded, urging her to get up.
Not knowing when, Nico came to their side and stood on his hind feet.
He was a cat-type fairy who originally came from the distant Northern lands with her mother, yet he considered himself as a gentleman; apart from always fastening his bowtie, he was also quite particular about food and wine and always put on an act.
Lydia asked Nico as they walked up the stairs side by side and returned to her room on the second floor.
Ultimately, Lydia was still unable to inquire about how her father proposed.
“Generally, I think it isn’t the problem of being embarra.s.sed, as even the talkative Aurora had never let it slip.”
“Anyways Lydia, why did you want to ask this?”
Although Lydia already decided to get married, her sense of reality in being married into a n.o.ble family was getting stronger, thus confusing her more.
So she wanted to know how her father’s words supported her mother’s spirits, and how having that made her determined in marrying him.
Because her father intended to bring this to his grave.
(1) The encounter
Fairies only existed in fairy tales. Frederick Carlton used to think that.
Therefore, Frederick was deeply interested in all kinds of incredible legends pa.s.sed down for generations and was not the kind of person who would laugh at people when they claimed to see fairies.
Nevertheless, whether or not it was the fairy’s doing, it wasn’t clear to him. Because he was left with rather vague memories, he was only able to see it as an illusion.
The hazel crystals were like a gla.s.s of Scotch whisky, and was the finest smoky quartz through its high transparency. Such huge crystals stood tall, side by side on the ground.
The ray of light was reflected upon the sky.
Frederick did not understand why he had such an intuition.
He seemed to have forgotten something important there.
It was probably a dream.
He remembered that no matter how much he walked, the village was unseen. Since he wanted to take a little rest, he sat down on the gra.s.s.
The inn owner said he got caught up in fairy illusions.
He encountered fairies. In that case, that felt very nice.
However, there was only one thing Frederick could not understand. At that time, he seemed to have picked up a small fragment of smoky quartz, and after a long period of time had pa.s.sed, he accidentally discovered this fragment at the bottom of his coat pocket.
It happened when he was still a student. One day, Frederick went with his Professor to a remote island to a.s.sist in the geological survey. As Frederick had not returned after having been sent to work, he wandered outside for several hours, so he was questioned by his seniors on where he ran off to enjoy himself, and they considered his wonderful experience as a clumsy excuse.
His friends said that the smoky quartz standing stones were too conspicuous; if they truly existed, a thief would have certainly stolen it by now. He thought his friends were right, and did not confirm if the island existed and left. Despite having this stuck at the back of his mind, he was swamped with work later on as a university student later on; he banished the matter of the smoky quartz to the corner of his memories.
The reason why he suddenly remembered those past events was because he just had a chat with his colleagues about England producing smoky quartz crystals.
The crystal on the island that was placed in some clan head"s mansion was an item carefully safeguarded by their ancestors for generations. According to legends, it was a gift from the fairies, and the clan head also claimed that there still ought to be similar things on the island.
If that were truly the case, then the standing smoky quartz stones that Frederick saw were real.
He was going back to that island once again. Although he had decided this, he could never spare the time.
The island was located at the far end of Scotland. In all likelihood, the English had difficulties having other impressions of this island. The sea breeze that blew from the Atlantic Ocean directly swept across the islands, making it a barren land difficult for vegetation to grow on.
However, Frederick once again arrived at an island within the Hebrides archipelago.
The carriage continued to travel along the wilderness where there were no human figures, no livestock, no decent roads, and nothing similar to a forest with any plants growing. The standing stones suddenly appeared on the empty horizon, making Frederick feel strangely curious as if he were entering a different world.
In any case, the standing stones were filled with mystery, as no one knew what they were.
It was probably always like this for hundreds of years.
“Excuse me, are there any rooms available?”
Just then, Frederick remembered that only the boss’s eldest son was able to speak English fluently in this inn. He couldn’t understand Gaelic.
“He said to please wait a little more if you wanted to stay, as they prepare the room first.”
She had a Scottish tartan scarf covering her hair, and was wearing a gray skirt without any decorations. Because her clothes were honestly too simple, he couldn’t help but feel she was an older lady. But upon turning around, her features were quite young, approximately twenty years old.
The inn owner handed him a beer and went up the second floor. Then the girl approached and sat next to him.
Full of interest, she appraised Frederick, probably thinking that he was a dull man rather than a strange one.
Since Frederick was twenty eight years old, his mentors, colleagues, his parents and relatives were concerned over marriage, and so at parties and other occasions women had been introduced to him. But the women who were introduced to Frederick at parties and other occasions would a.s.sess him in a split second for the most part, a.s.suming an att.i.tude of wanting to leave as soon as possible.
Therefore, Frederick couldn’t help but be confused at her intense gaze.
“Someone from the lowlands? The people in this region think that as long as you’re not a Highlander, then you’re English.”
The more one advanced towards the Northern islands, the more one would frequently see tall, blonde haired, fair skinned people who bore conspicuous characteristics of the Nordics.
“I am Aurora McKeel. Pleased to meet you.”
“Ah...... h.e.l.lo, I am Frederick Carlton.”
“McKeel” is one of the family names among the major clans on this island. In the Scottish Highlands, clan heads act as landlords; therefore, due to the clan hiring tenant farmers, they would also have the same family name. But from her speaking English, it seems that she isn’t a tenant farmer, but rather a relative of the clan head.
“Umm… to see the standing stones.”
“No, I like stones.”
“Because I’m performing mineralogy-related research.”
“Mineralogy? That seems quite complicated.”
Frederick suddenly got ahold of himself and shut his mouth. This was already a common occurrence, as long as he mentioned stones, he would forget about the time and situation. He was also very bothersome.
“Strange? What’s strange about it?”
“Hey, can I ask you a question?”
“Are you single?”
“Single, right? If you had a wife, she would help you sew b.u.t.tons and mend the frayed spots.”
“Shall I mend it for you?”
“There’s no need to hold back.”
If he took off his coat, she would surely discover that there were ripped seams all over his s.h.i.+rt. Overall, he thought the clothes on his body would be taken off.
“I’m sorry! You being considerate is enough, truly...”
“Then, can I ask you another question?”
“How long do you plan to stay here for?”
“What kind of stones are those?”
She, who was asking a barrage of questions, what was she doing here anyway?
Was it her cat sleeping on the chair? It was an unkempt gray-haired cat.
Was she so unoccupied? But this person was quite friendly.
A woman carrying a baby had entered.
Aurora stood in response and spoke with her.
Just like magic, the baby suddenly stopped crying. Frederick couldn’t help but feel that perhaps it was some kind of spell.
“I apologize, I suddenly have urgent matters. I have to go and pick some exorcism herbs now.”
Frederick tilted his head and thought to himself, has he misheard that? After all, as the regions are different, sometimes discrepancies in the use of English will appear.
She turned around in a hurry and called to the cat sitting on the chair.
The gray cat immediately got up, picked up the book on the table and walked out step by step using his hind legs.
How was that possible?
While gazing at him, Frederick did not know why, but when he kept blinking nervously, the cat’s figure disappeared.
Without a doubt, he used his four legs.
“Having said that...... the herbs, what kind of person is she?”
The person holding a basket filled with fish and walking behind the front desk was the inn owner"s eldest son. Frederick still remembered him. Compared to five years ago, he had gained a little weight and already had the dignified manner of a young boss.
“A fairy doctor...?”
Hearing the tone of his voice, it seemed that this was a common and trivial matter.
*
A fairy doctor. It was only natural that Frederick had heard about the existence of such people. When his grandmother was a young girl, it was said that they tried to find and consult with a fairy doctor as a last resort because she once had incurable ulcers.
Fairy doctors were very close to fairies and were proficient in their magic. Not only were they responsible for solving troubles between fairies and humans, but they also did their utmost in order for both sides to coexist peacefully.
The southwest area of the ancient city had already become one of United Kingdom’s few industrial cities.
Fairies, these ambiguous, unseen existences were thus gradually forgotten.
The Northern island’s night was like day. Since Frederick couldn’t sleep, he looked out the window. Only the strong winds were whistling past the empty horizon.
Aurora could see fairies? Could she talk with them?
Due to being unable to fall asleep for a long time the previous night, it was already quite late when Frederick got out of bed the next morning.
What kind of dispute was it? Even if that was the case, he shouldn’t bellow to a feeble young woman like that.
As he dashed down the stairs, the man had grabbed Aurora’s hand and pull her into the pub.
“I heard that you’re a lecturer in Cambridge.”
He did not give details when he introduced himself to Aurora, but he talked a lot with the young boss and the people in the pub last night. With regards to this small village, he was a rare traveller, so the substance of conversations had spread throughout the entire village in one night, which wasn’t unreasonable. As soon as he thought this, it wasn’t strange that the red-bearded man knew of his ident.i.ty.
"I don"t know how distinguished you are in England, and it has nothing to do with us, so I advise you to not have presumptuous desires towards this girl of this remote area.”
“Father, please stop, you are mistaken!”
“It isn’t this person.”
Frederick realized that she mentioned this matter to the young inn owner. He said that he also remembered Frederick, the youngest among the students, who was travelling with the Professor at that time.
“Well, yes…”
“I don"t care whether or not it was the temporary whim of a youngster, but a man casually pursuing the local girls on a trip, saying that one day he will come and take her, absolutely can’t be a good thing.”
”By no means do I believe that you purposely came in order to fulfill the promise with my daughter. Anyways, you forgot the promise because of recalling some matters at an earlier time, right? If you simply came to tease a simple country girl, then hurry up and go home. For now, I can let it pa.s.s.”
“I said it wasn’t him! The one who made the promise with me… was a different man! Mr. Carlton, hurry and say that you don’t remember this matter at all.”
“……Um, please calm down a little, let’s talk......”
Frederick truly did not remember this matter, but the man seemed to have no intentions on listening to his explanation.
The inn’s senior boss had been watching this unfold from behind the counter; perhaps he was unable to understand the contents of the English discussion, so it most likely brought about a misunderstanding.
This matter will immediately spread throughout the village.
Oh well, let it be. In any case, I won’t be staying here.
Only one spectacular rock, tall enough to require one to raise their head, towered over the plains.
As Frederick quickly held down his hat with one hand from almost being blown away by the wind, he pressed his face close to the rock.
No matter how many hours he looked, he certainly wouldn’t feel tired of it.
At that time, a female’s voice that was gentle and soft unlike the wind, pa.s.sed by his ears; thus, he promptly turned his head over.
It was Aurora. Her eyes looked very wet; was it because the color of her eyes were light blue like the water?
She softly shook her head.
“As long as he’s stubborn, he won’t listen to what other people say.”
“I don"t want to talk about getting married. I can’t help but say that there is a person outside the island that I promised to marry without permission.”
She smiled slightly.
So to say, she came and left the inn’s pub, and should be waiting for her lover to visit. If she wanted to receive the villagers’ trust, wouldn’t remaining at the village chief’s house, that is, her own home, and waiting for the people to come to her door, be better, as it wasn’t necessary to purposely go out?
There weren’t many people who would visit this village several times, thus Frederick’s second visit had taken the inn owner by surprise, as it seemed that the possibility of Aurora’s lover from then not returning was very high.
Even if he met a maiden full of charm during the trip and agreed to pick her up one day, forgetting about the matters of that time after returning to everyday life, such cases were common.
Although it was none of his business, Frederick was still worried and therefore asked.
“Uh, no that...”
“Five days?”
It turns out her matters were very urgent.
“So...... what are you going to do? If he doesn’t come within five days, do you plan to get married to him?”
“I plan..... to leave this house. ”
“I want to confirm my feelings toward him.”
Escaping the marriage her parents had decided for her, leaving home for the sake of another man, such behaviour was not acknowledged by the world, and people will secretly say that she became an unrestrained girl. This was especially true, as the clan’s binding force on this land was exceptionally powerful. Then perhaps, as a result, she would not be allowed to set foot into the family again.
Of course, she had decided to leave home after making up her mind considerably.
“Aurora, what are you doing here?”
“Didn’t your father repeatedly make it clear to not leave home!”
“Having said that, my fiancée was unexpectedly alone with another man, I cannot idly sit by.”
“……Kenneth, you are not my fiancé.”
The second? What was going on? Frederick looked at the two of them, back and forth. She has several fiancés?
Aurora spared no effort to shout loudly.
“So you"re the Englishman who made a move on Aurora?”
“Disappear from me, you eyesore.”
“Umm... I understand how you feel, but when it comes to being eyesores, we are the same.”
“What did you say, did you want to fight?!”
Seeing that he may take a beating in a moment, Frederick promptly appeased him, as he lifted both of his hands up as if to stop him.
“What...?”
“I’m different from you, I’m…...”
G.o.d will only allow a man to marry one woman; if believers went as far as to say that it was possible to violate G.o.d’s decree, this would be an extremely terrible matter.
“Miss McKeel, I’ll take you home.”
Even though the man’s figure already couldn’t be seen, she remained tight-lipped and Aurora grabbed onto Frederick’s arm, and quickly walked refusing to slow down. Frederick vaguely thought that perhaps the person who slapped her was not her father, rather it was that man.
Frederick asked after walking for a while, and Aurora regained her composure, lifting her head.
She quickly withdrew her hand from Frederick.
“In any case, it seems like the misunderstanding won’t be resolved, and I am a carefree traveler, so it doesn’t matter.”
“You really are a kindhearted person.”
“My home is in the other side of the hill, sending me off here is just fine.”
Frederick had an urge to bring her to the warm suns.h.i.+ne of the south.
He couldn’t help but call out to Aurora.
“Then, will you marry me?”
“You see, you’ll be taken advantage of if you’re too kind to a troubled woman.”
Even if he was taken advantage of, women are those who choose their partners. Although Frederick thought this, the feelings in his heart and the thoughts in his head were different, and his heart beat wildly as he was astonished.
Aurora was quite beautiful. Just her display of kindness to him was enough to make him feel uneasy.
So, even if it was due to her taking the initiative to find him, perhaps it wasn’t such a reckless matter.
Aurora said and continued walking.
How did she know that I came here to look for smoky quartz?
Do those huge smoky quartz crystals truly exist? Has Aurora seen it before?
Hebrides - the world’s end.
She was a girl who frequently laughed and smiled as a child. When she saw lively fairies walking, which seemed more like leaping, she would laugh without restraint, and even when her grandmother scolded her, she would laugh because she thought her grandmother’s angry face was very funny. In the end, her grandmother would feel both angry and amused.
After she became aware of the reason, she also gradually became unable to laugh sincerely in front of her parents.
Fairies who stole human infants and placed rocks, wood or a fairy baby in exchange for it, this was a changeling. It was said that Aurora’s family and fairies were under a contract, so they had been exchanging for several generations.
A clan who lived in the fairy world yet possessed human blood, and constantly exchanged babies of relatives in the human world; the fairy blood possessed by the McKeel clan thus became increasingly stronger, and people who possessed fairy doctor abilities were never severed.
Aurora wasn’t her parents’ genuine daughter, as their child was taken to the fairy realm, no longer able to meet.
As they had given up their own child and decided to raise Aurora, she had to also comply with the clan’s traditions.
All of this came from the will of the clan.
During that time, Aurora’s brother, whom she had a big age difference with, was born, and she thought the atmosphere at home would somewhat change, but the situation wasn’t as she had thought.
As long as this home had a changeling, the situation wouldn’t change, and whenever her parents looked at her face, there was probably a sharp pain in their chest. Their grief was incurable.
The fairy cat sitting by the window anxiously asked.
She also didn’t know whether or not she really wanted to do this. It was just that the fairy blood and magic bound her tightly to this island, so wanting to leave the island wasn’t simple at all.
“That Cambridge lecturer doesn’t remember you at all.”
“Which also means he’s only interested in stones.”
The moment he met Aurora in front of the smoky quartz standing stones before did not exist in his memories.
“You don’t have time to wait for him to remember. That said, Aurora, even if he remembered that, he depended on your help to escape from the fairy realm that he had mistakenly entered, he’ll probably say thank you and it’ll be over like that when the time comes.”
As for the promise, he promised at most that he would come to this island the next time he took a vacation, Aurora would lead him to see the smoky quartz standing stones and then...
-- Yes, of course.
However, Frederick thought Aurora was a fairy at the time. Although he made a promise in his dream to bring a carefree fairy to a place far away, he surely hadn’t seriously thought about it as he over-promised.
He said that he would come on his next vacation. If he remembered, they would be able to meet again. Aurora thought that when the time came, she would decide whether to leave the island or not.
But if an outsider was willing to help, and that person was him, Aurora believed that she would be able to come to a decision.
“Those are all your favorite foods.”
“Hey Nico, if I’m not here, could I trouble you to take care of my mother and younger brother?”
“I know, but at this point, you should readily promise for your close friend.”
“Well... I will find fairy doctor work.”
“What place would trust a foreign, outsider, fairy doctor?”
“I’m sorry, Nico.”
Aurora stood up and walked out of the room alone.
The pale light s.h.i.+ning through the window made her look unusually haggard. She sat on the bench with cus.h.i.+ons laid out and was intently weaving a cutwork lace.
Mother had come from the Orkney islands to get married, and heard that the first time she saw Father was on their wedding day.
Although Aurora’s mother was very gentle to her, she heard her relatives say that her mother’s woven lace was for her daughter in the fairy realm.
Mother had prayed that the real “Aurora” could grow up safely into adulthood and looked forward to the day she got married, as she knit the lace seam by seam.
Because exchanging children was very painful.
The herd of livestock on the narrow pasture, the wilderness of acc.u.mulated peat, the smooth earth surface’s without ups and downs in height, the sun that won’t set, these things were practically masked by the gloomy sky. As she slowly walked, the scenery of the island was seared into her memory.
But from the moment Aurora met him, she considered leaving even more.
Perhaps her desire was merely very simple.
This feeling became a sigh, which slipped into the wind.
Once she discovered that it was an unpleasant person, she subconsciously frowned.
“Where are you going?”
Although Aurora sped up the pace, he snickered and caught up with her.
As he was a member of the McKeel family, even if his abilities were insufficient to become a fairy doctor, he should at least be able to feel the fairies’ presence, but he treated them like bugs. And because he knew how to avoid the fairies’ vengeance, he definitely wasn’t afraid of fairies making this kind of person even more difficult to deal with.
Frederick was an ordinary person, yet he would unconsciously avoid the fairies that were invisible to him.
Even if he couldn’t see fairies, as long as he held reverent feelings toward them, then he won’t step on them.
“Hey, wait. I was entrusted to look after the house while Uncle isn’t here.”
As he approached Aurora, strong winds blew across the wheat field, which made howl-like sounds.
Aurora wanted to push him away, but he didn"t relax his grip one bit. He narrowed his eyes, staring at Aurora.
“I’m not your fiancée!”
“I know that. The changeling’s fiancé is the Prophet from the legends. I heard that guy will awaken and come to marry his fiancée, right? He won’t come. Although this legend was from hundreds of years ago, this man had never appeared. In any case, there are still four days, if the man from the legends doesn’t appear, you’re mine.”
“Do you intend to violate the customs?”
Aurora was suddenly kissed on the lips.
At that moment, a small figure jumped out of the bushes.
“Ah! ....that d.a.m.n cat….!”
As his ear was bitten, he let go of Aurora. Nico wanted to escape, but he was one step too late and his tail was caught by Kenneth.
Kenneth shook the constantly struggling Nico, and then forcefully tossed him aside.
Just then, the haystack rustled as a group of mice rushed forth, gathering at Kenneth’s feet, climbing up.
Aurora took advantage of the time while Kenneth recoiled and escaped from his grip.
“……I clearly called those mice to follow behind me…… to go as far as to make me charge in alone……”
“Ahh, actually forgetting their grat.i.tude of me saving them from stray cats… truly a group of heartless guys….”
“Nico, are you hurt? Is it painful?”
“Hang in there!”
The disgusting feeling of being violently kissed made her constantly clean her lips, rubbing them so much that it hurt. As she was holding a motionless Nico, she was full of anxiety. With this feeling, she trembled as she ran.
(3) The elopement
“The smoky quartz? I’m not sure, I’ve never heard of it being mined on the island before.”
“However, if it is a very small fragment, each family household should have it. Ahh, the clan head should have more beautiful crystals.”
“Legend has it that smoky quartz are able to repel evil things. Our ancient ancestors, the Celtics, seemed to have also used smoky quartz to predict the future.”
The smoky quartz standing stones Frederick saw had a brighter color like amber, was not cloudy, and was clear enough to see through to the other side.
In short, he had to confirm the nearby historic ruins one by one. Frederick originally had such an intention, and Aurora was willing to lead the way, which made him more grateful.
She might have seen them, so she might know the right place.
Nevertheless, the thought of new discoveries, made him feel very excited as a scholar.
Frederick tried to recall the smoky quartz he had seen five years ago, but he did not know why he could only think of Aurora’s face.
There was such a lucky man in the world, but he hadn’t discovered his own good fortune.
He wanted to drink whiskey to clear his head, but he was a little drunk and so he walked out of the inn’s pub. As he was planning to wander about in the vicinity by himself, he noticed a figure discreetly sitting within the shadows of a building.
As soon as Frederick called out, she suddenly raised her head.
Just barely after Aurora finished speaking, she suddenly clung onto him.
“Take me away from here. Please, right now....”
“I’ll make everyone miserable like this… so please take me with you, anywhere is fine, as long as it is away from the island. ”
“I’ve been waiting for you for a long time, I am certain that you came to pick me up. As long as I am with you, I can have the courage to leave the island even if I have to live in a strange land, that is what I believe, that’s why…”
“That person... is definitely not me.”
As if she lost her strength, she lowered her eyes and slowly backed away. Frederick saw her dejected expression and could not help but feel sorry for her.
“Oh no, I’m sorry. I don’t know why my mind is in such a mess.”
She wiped her tears off her cheeks with the palm of her hand and gently held the shawl beside her feet.
“Nico wanted to save me yet he became like this…”
“Kenneth, he……”
“And so your cat is injured?”
He stole a glance into the shaw