“I know that,” she said. “But unless one side takes a risk, relations between humans and fairies will never improve. The fairies’ wings are in our hands, and their position is weak; they can’t afford to be careless. So we humans, who have the power, must make a gamble. If the fairies run away, I’ll take responsibility for it. I’m the one who came up with the idea.”
“How will you take responsibility? You can’t cover the costs. Are you saying you’ll stake your life on it?”
“Yes.”
Anne nodded, and Hugh, who had asked half in jest, looked stunned. Keith, Kat, and Challe all stared at Anne like they couldn’t believe what she’d just said.
“For this round of fifteen fairies, please consider the decision to return their wings, and any consequences, my responsibility and mine alone. If anyone asks you who is to blame, you can give them my name and hand me over.”
“Anne!” Keith shouted, unable to stop himself, and grabbed her by the shoulder. “If it means you have to put your life on the line, then I’m opposed to returning the wings!”
Anne smiled wryly. “So then, Keith, you must believe the fairies will break their promise.”
“Well, it’s a real possibility!” he replied. “If there’s a chance it could make you a criminal, I’m against it.”
“If yer takin’ the fall, then so am I,” Kat interjected, grimacing. “No way I’m lettin’ a kid do somethin’ like that.”
But Anne shook her head. “Among the three of us, I can do the least to help with our current endeavor. So it’s right for it to be me.”
Anne, unlike Kat and Keith, had not been selected for the job because of her administrative prowess or sharp mind.
No, she was chosen simply because she was one of the last pupils of the silver sugar fairy, and because she had a relationship with Challe. In short, Anne was expected to be the mediator between the fairies and the humans.
“Of course, we won’t simply hand them their wings and have them promise to behave. I’ll keep a close eye on the fairies. I won’t be able to watch them all on my own; I’ll probably need Challe’s help…”
She glanced over at Challe, and he nodded silently. Mithril winked at her from his perch on Challe’s shoulder, as if saying to leave things to him.
I’ll get what help I can from the fairy king without putting him at risk.
That was the only thing she could do.
“If the fairies seem likely to run, I’ll persuade them to stay. And if they still try to flee, I’ll get Challe to help me stop them, as much as I hope it doesn’t come to that. We’ll get them to come back to Hollyleaf Castle and continue making candy. If they try to run again, we’ll keep persuading them.”
“Assuming we can give the fairies their wings back,” said Keith, “we ought to take measures to keep them locked in their rooms so they can’t get out, even at night.”
Challe snorted. “You’d return their wings just to imprison them? In that case, you might as well keep the wings. Such a plan is pure hypocrisy.”
Keith shut his mouth. It was like he’d been punched in the chest. He nodded, looking ashamed. “You’re right. That was wrong of me. I…I’m sorry. The thought of Anne taking the fall just…”
“I don’t blame you,” said Challe without a moment’s hesitation.
Anne didn’t sense any hostility from him. He had simply been telling Keith, who was only capable of thinking like a human, how things would really go.
Anne turned back to face Hugh. “And if some of them end up running away despite that, I will pay for as many as I can out of the thousand cress in my possession. If it’s not enough, you can report to His Majesty that I acted alone and present me for punishment.”
Hugh met Anne’s determined gaze with a troubled expression. The atmosphere in the room was bewildering; Anne was like a small child picking a fight with an adult, her argument sound but clumsy.
Challe stood up straight and slowly walked over to Anne’s side. “Put your mind at ease, Silver Sugar Viscount. As long as I am there, not one of those fairies will run. Anne won’t be culpable for anything. However…the fairies’ willingness to learn candy making under those conditions will depend on how the girl handles things.”
“Challe.”
Anne looked up at the fairy beside her. Challe’s profile was as handsome as ever, and she sensed a certain majesty in it. His words were the most reassuring and gratifying thing she could have heard.
Hugh’s face was stern. “So then you end up a criminal, or even if you don’t, the fairies will keep running away and being recaptured, leaving no time for candy making. Either way, this plan won’t go well. When that happens, what will you do?”
“If the plan fails, we won’t return the wings to the next fifteen fairies,” Kat answered casually. “And if they don’t wanna work, we’ll come up with something else. But…to be clear, we haven’t got anything else.”
Hugh gave Kat a piercing look. “Surrender, perhaps?”
“That’s it. We’ll surrender. Would that be so bad? If it was easy to build trusting relationships with fairies, there wouldn’t be any damn fairy markets,” Kat said accusingly. “But right now, we’re tryin’ to make one last wager before throwin’ in the towel. We decided to try givin’ these first fifteen fairies their wings back. If we don’t, the whole plan’s bunk. We’ll get no silver sugar fairies the way things’re goin’.”
“If we don’t try this now,” Keith continued, “the whole endeavor will be meaningless. Obviously, I don’t want Anne to become a criminal, but I’d like to give it a shot.”
Hugh sighed. “So you’re all in agreement?”
“If anything happens, I’ll take respons—”
Anne started to repeat herself, but Hugh cut her off sharply.
“Anne, this is not an issue of whether you lot will take ownership of what happens. If anyone is responsible, it’s me. If I handed you over, as your supervisor, my crime would be even more serious.”
Hugh’s words made Anne realize something.
That’s right. Hugh was entrusted by His Majesty the King with full authority over this operation. And that means responsibility ultimately lies with him.
Anne paled at this belated revelation. They were essentially telling Hugh to take on an even greater liability.
Hugh quietly sat back down and crossed his legs. At this, Kat moved to stand before him and concluded, “If you’re the only one who can take responsibility, then take it, Silver Sugar Viscount.”
“Huh?!” Anne exclaimed, flustered. “Kat?! You can’t just—!”
But Hugh only smirked. “That’s easy for you to say, Kat.”
“You’re the one who picked us for the job.”
Kat’s remark horrified Anne.
Both the chooser and the chosen had responsibilities. They were all in the same boat. It wasn’t a question of who bore the blame. But now that they had reached this juncture, their chances of producing a silver sugar fairy would be very slim indeed if they weren’t willing to return the fairies’ wings.