TJTPBFB 13

Chapter 13

The Fairies Who Protect the Prince

“W–What?!”

“You’re Lady Eris’s granddaughter, right?
Then you should be able to use magic.
Start learning—right now!”

“Huh? You’re telling me, a grown woman,
to become a magician now?”

Ruri’s startled voice rang out in disbelief
at the purple-haired girl’s words.

“Witches have always been grandmothers,”
said the blond-haired boy matter-of-factly.
“In our kingdom too, all the great magicians
are little old ladies.”

“I am not a grandmother yet,” Ruri muttered,
irritated.

“But by the time you learn,
you might be one,” Lapis teased, laughing.

“…”

Ruri puffed out her cheeks, sulking a little.
Then she said,

“By the way, something’s been bothering me.
How is it that I can talk to you all so easily?”

“You’re speaking the language
of the Jewel Kingdom right now,”
the purple-haired girl explained.

“What?”

“Yup—your brain’s automatically processing it that way.
That alone proves you’re Lady Eris’s granddaughter.

And that necklace—
wearing it helps amplify magic power,
so you should keep it on.”

Ruri looked down at the gem,
a stone sparkling like a diamond.

“Still,” she murmured,
“this kid isn’t growing at all.”

She glanced at the little prince in her arms.

“He’ll probably start growing normally from here,”
the pink-haired boy said.

“What?! That’s going to be a problem!”
Ruri panicked.

She’d never raised a child before—
what was she supposed to do with one this small?

What did he even eat?
And wait—was she supposed to hide him here?
If anyone found out, wouldn’t that make her a kidnapper?

“Hey, Prince,” she said half-jokingly,
“hurry up and grow up, okay?
Then maybe you can get a part-time job or something!”

“What outrageous words!” cried the orange-haired boy.
“You dare suggest such labor
for the noble Prince Phos?”

“I don’t even know what else to do!” Ruri shot back.
“I’ve never taken care of a little kid before!”

She turned toward the orange-haired fairy again.

“Then raise him as your own child,”
the purple-haired girl said bluntly.

“Huh?!” Ruri gaped.
“If someone who’s never been pregnant
suddenly shows up with a kid,
that’s just going to make people more suspicious!”

“Why? In our world,
it only takes a single minute to make a child,”
the white-haired boy said casually.

Ruri was speechless.

Right—there were no men
in the Jewel Kingdom to begin with,
so they had no concept of human reproduction.
Of course they wouldn’t understand.

All it took in their world
was a single drop of blood to create life.

“Oh, but what about you fairies?”
Ruri asked, noticing that some of them were male.

“We’re not humans,”
the red-haired girl explained.
“Fairies of the Fairy Stone Isles
are born from stones themselves.”

“I see…” Ruri murmured.

Her gaze softened
as she looked down at Prince Phos,
who was starting to doze off.

It wasn’t that she lacked maternal instinct—
it was just that she’d never had the chance to use it.
And now, she couldn’t bring herself
to abandon this small, innocent child.

“In this country—or rather,
in the human world,” she said gently,
“people carry babies for ten months
and then give birth to them themselves.”

“Give birth…?”
The fairies grimaced,
their faces twisting in confusion and mild disgust.

“Anyway, never mind that,” Ruri sighed.
“You all can use magic, right?”

The fourteen fairies nodded in unison.