The Dreaming Sisters and the Snow Fairy
Author:
This is the story of Sieg’s nieces.
——A fairy visits if a jar of honey, handmade cookies and a white flower is placed on the windowsill.
The sisters Edelgard and Adelgard moved to their grandfather’s place half a year ago. The reason was because they were suffering from bronchitis.
The doctor recommended that they should live in the countryside for a while, so the sisters’ father wrote a request for transfer and moved back to his hometown which was rich with nature.
In the new town, the sisters did not have any friends, and the number of stores were less. The environment was very different from before, that they were in a state of disorder.
To the sisters that were living in the city, living in the mansion surrounded by the deep and dark forests was a scary experience, that they holed up in their room.
Their grandmother could not just sit by and watch idly.
She read to them the fairytale of the forest that she read when she was young, to make them more used to the land of Thüringen.
“So, dearest grandmother, will a fairy come in winter?”
“Yes, he will.”
The sisters became deeply interested in the spell to summon a fairy, leaving food that a fairy likes on moonlit nights.
“However, you can’t see the fairies and they only appear in disguises. In addition, you can’t see the small wings when you grow up.”
“Really!?”
“Yes.”
Fairies likes honey, cookies, sugar sweets, and winter flowers.
“You will be able to find it when you walk outside.”
From grandmother’s story, a glint sparked in Edelgard’s and Adeltraud’s eyes.
Thus, the two of them started strolling the garden, searching for a fairy.
“Oneesama, would fairy-san be small?”
“……I don’t know. Grandmother also said that it might disguise itself.”
Edelgard said that it might not look liked the winged appearance in the picture book.
Even when the season changed and the snow started falling, the sisters did not find a fairy yet.
“So, we have to make the cookies ourselves?”
“……Baking, that’s too hard for us.”
They thought that it would be hard without the cookies, but they could not give up.
The next day.
The sisters went out on a stroll to the forest lightly covered with snow with their grandfather.
“Edelgard, Adeltraud, is it not cold?”
“It’s alright, dearest grandfather.”
Edelgard also nodded to show that she was okay.
The two was at the forest to find a winter flower.
“Dearest grandfather, are there really flowers?”
“Aa, I think there are, or maybe not.”
The sisters’ grandfather proceeded through the forest relying on his fuzzy memory.
The further they went into the forest, the darker and thicker the forest grew. Their breaths were white, and Adeltraud even started coughing.
“Should we return soon.”
“I’m still fine!”
“Even if you say that.”
If they stay in the forest any longer they might catch a cold. Thinking that, their grandfather suggested to return to the mansion, but they did not nod.
If it’s like this, I should lift them up and take them home, as he thought that, he found Edelgard crouching down.
“Is there anything wrong, Edelgard!?”
“O-Oneesama!?”
When Edelgard turned around, she had a frail white flower in her hand.
“……Found it.”
“Waa!”
Underneath the overgrown vegetation, white flowers peeked out.
“These are snowdrops (schneeglöckchen).”
“How pretty!”
The flowers Edelgard found was onethat bloomed in early spring, but for some reason they were blooming in this period.
The sisters decided to pick only one flower.
Night.
They placed the flower they picked in a vase placed it on the windowsill, along with a jar of honey.
“I wish that fairy-san will come!”
“……I want to see, even if only once.”
As they looked out the window, the moon was getting full. They also heard that the full moon bolstered the power of fairies.
They looked at the white flower glistening from the moonlight. Even as their hearts fluttered, the sisters went to sleep.
Morning.
“Waa!”
“……Amazing.”
When they opened their eyes, they were greeted by a snow-filled world. It had snowed greatly in the middle of the night that the garden was coated by a carpet of pure white.
“Oneesama, snow fairy-san definitely cast a spell.”
“……Eh?”
“Like I said, fairy-san cast a spell.”
Edelgard murmured, “……really, a fairy?” with a vacant look.
“Oneesama, did something happen?”
Adeltraud peered in at her older sister, and knocked her older sister’s hip.
Edelgard pointed to the garden with trembling hands. Then, Adeltraud peeped at the white world of snow.
“——Eh!?”
In the garden, there was a person that was white from head to toe.
His white hair was braided, he had clear white skin, and even his clothes were white, made from fur.
“Oneesama, is that snow fairy-san?”
“……Y-Yes, indeed, it seems so.”
The sisters could not believe what they were seeing that they opened their eyes wide.
They opened the window to see if he was the real thing, and the figure of the fairy did not disappear.
Edelgard grabbed the snowdrop flower and ran outside. Adeltraud followed closely behind.
Even as the servants told them to stay indoors because they would catch a cold, the sisters insisted that they will go outside. One servant brought coats and put them on to the sisters. Once they were protected against the cold, Edelgard started running again.
When they panted their way, they met with the white fairy from before in front of the door.
Edelgard caught her breath and looked up at the fairy.
Like the picture in the fairytale, he had shining white hair, clear and soft blue eyes. The fairy with the beautiful appearance saw the little girl and tilted his head in a lovely manner.
Adeltraud caught up to her sister, and was jumped up from surprise from seeing the fairy.
“W-Waa, fairy, mugu!”
Edelgard hurriedly covered her little sister’s mouth.
“Mugumugu!” What are you doing, the little sister protested, but the older sister said, “……If his ident.i.ty is revealed to the adults he will disappear,” quietening her sister down.
“You are?”
From receiving a question, the two fidgeted about.
“They are my nieces. The calm one is Edelgard, and the energertic one is Adeltraud.”
“I see~. ——Nice to meet you, Edelgard, Adeltraud.”
They did not even question why it was their aunt that brought the fairy to their home.
“Nice to meet you!”
“……Erm.”
“What is it?”
Edelgard held out the white flower in her hand for the snow fairy.
“……This, if you’d like.”
“Waa, what a pretty flower.”
Edelgard bowed as Adelgard smiled refreshingly.
“……Thank you for coming.”
“I should be the one saying thank you.”
The fairy took the flower from the sisters and showed it to their aunt.
“Then, now, enjoy your meal~!”
“Eh!?”
Adeltraud offered the flower she likes to the snow fairy.
The fairy made a surprised expression.
Unlike him, Sieglinde who figured out the situation whispered something to the fairy that was standing with a vacant look. That it was a delicious meal prepared as a gesture of welcome.
“Ah, s-so, that!”
Having understood the meaning of the flower he was given, the fairy enjoyed the fragrance and swallowed his saliva. He then downed the frail white flower in one gulp. *mogu*
“……I-It was delicious~. Thank you. It was hard finding such a flower in the snow, right?”
“Yes, oneesama found it!”
The fairy crouched down and said words of appreciation, to which Edelgard and Adeltraud felt dreamy at.
Then, when the fairy was introduced as the husband of their aunt, the two became even more excited.
A fairy that fell in love with a human, how wonderful, they thought and returned to their room in an excited state.
The fairy that was their uncle was to stay with them for some time.
The fairy called Ritzhard was very knowledgeable, teaching the sisters the names of flowers and vegetations on their forest strolls, and even taught them how to make tea and snacks.
Edelgard and Adeltraud were fascinated by the blessings of nature, that they brought went out to the forest with their servants even when their uncle was not there.
The gentle forest of spring, the refreshing air of summer, the fruitions in autumn, the beautiful snowy plants of winter, their hearts were captured by the forest.
Before anyone realised it, they came to love the town rich with nature.
That did not change even after five years, or ten years.
While antic.i.p.ating the visit of the snow fairy once a year, the warm life of the sisters continued.