“Baaa... Baaa...”
I pushed through the lake, flailing my fore and hind legs. For some reason, my body suddenly felt light, and I managed to get my head above water. I was desperate. If I stopped moving my legs, I’d die!
“Baaaaaaa!”
With all my strength, I somehow climbed onto the shore on my own. I was out of breath, completely exhausted, but when my forelegs found solid ground, the relief was such that I wanted to cry.
I-I made it!
Adrenaline was amazing, I thought. It worked even for me! I wanted to pat myself on the back for how hard I’d worked at dog-paddling it out of the water.
Something feels weird, though...
Though I was standing on all four of my legs, my eye level seemed lower than usual.
Wait, all four of my legs? No, no, I didn’t have four legs. I had two arms and two legs. Also, what were these sounds I was making? They weren’t very ladylike.
What’s wrong with me...?
I shook the water off of my head and body before deciding to look at my reflection. I peered into the lake.
A strange creature peered back.
“Baaa?”
It had small horns atop its head and gentle, drooping eyes. Soft-looking, curly fur covered its entire body. I knew that shape.
A sheep.
“Baaa?!”
I spun around, shocked, but the flock that had come barreling out of the woods was nowhere to be seen. Spooky. But I had other priorities right now! Such as the fact that the only thing reflected in the clear surface of the lake was a sheep.
I’m... I’m a sheep!
I panicked. Never before in my twenty-eight years of life had I been a sheep. Actually, wait. Judging by my size, I looked more like a lamb. Either way, having never been sheep nor lamb, I was greatly bewildered.
“Baaa,” I said. Then froze. I couldn’t speak human words anymore! “Baaa!”
Even my attempt to scream “Nooo!” had come out as a bleat. I flipped over onto the muddy ground and sloshed about, flailing my short legs.
How could this happen?! What did I need to do to be human again?!
I kept anxiously thrashing until a clear voice reached my ears.
“Evelyn! Evelyn, where are you?! Can you hear me?! Say something!”
Lord Theodore!
Why was he here? I had no idea. But I did notice Kira near him, also searching for me. Prince Oz and Prince Igna were instructing the knights to place an unconscious Lady Mamaropa onto a stretcher. She seemed uninjured, so I figured she’d only fainted as usual rather than falling victim to a sheep-and-run.
“Theodore, this place is dangerous,” I heard Prince Igna say. “We don’t know when those sheep might attack again.”
“I understand. Please go ahead and evacuate, Your Highness,” Lord Theodore replied.
“What about you?”
“Isn’t it obvious? Evelyn fell in the lake! I need to rescue her!”
As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Lord Theodore broke into a sprint, heading straight for the lake. He looked like he was about to leap in.
“Baaaaa!” I called out at the top of my lungs.
I wasn’t in the lake! Besides, falling into the lake had turned me into a sheep! What if he became a sheep too?
Lord Theodore stopped, looked around for the source of the bleat, and when he finally spotted me, his anxious eyes went wide. Somewhat dazed, he slipped his hands underneath my forelegs and picked me up.
“Huh,” he muttered, brow furrowed. “This is the cutest sheep I’ve ever seen. I love it. I want to hold it forever.”
“Baaa!”
What was that? How embarrassing! My cheeks grew hot, but this was no time to be bashful. I had to make Lord Theodore realize I was the sheep!
Lord Theodore! It’s me, Evelyn! It’s me!
I tearfully bleated at him, and he stared at me for a while.
“Oh well. A sheep is a sheep is a sheep.”
It didn’t wooork!
I had expected too much of the bumbling detective.
“Kira, you take care of this sheep,” he said, holding me out to Kira. “Take it and evacuate the premises.”
“Wait,” Kira said. “This sheep...might be Evelyn.”
Kira!
“How do I put this?” he continued. “That pathetic expression, the teary eyes... I don’t know, it reminds me of Evelyn.”
Kiraaa!
What amazing intuition he had! I loved him.
But Lord Theodore sighed, placed a gentle hand on Kira’s shoulder, and declared seriously, “Think logically, Kira. How would a person become a sheep?”
“I mean, I don’t know, but...”
Nooo! You incompetent, foolish sleuth!
I screamed frantically, but all that came out was, “Baaa baaa baaa.”
Between Kira and Lord Theodore, Karin was anxiously fidgeting. She must’ve tagged along in the search for us.
“Brother, I think that cute floof might really be Ms. Saint...”
“What?” Lord Theodore asked, astonished.
Karin clasped her hands together and nodded firmly. “The Cradle of Jewels has a legend tied to its name.”
“What legend?”
Karin went on to tell the tale.
✦ ✦ ✦
Once upon a time...
Sometime, um... I’m not really sure when specifically... Oh, it doesn’t matter? Okay. I’ll continue, then.
Once upon a time, near this lake, lived a beautiful princess. There was a tall tower on the lake, and that was where she lived.
How beautiful was she? Um, I’m not sure. Ms. Saint is prettier? Yes, I agree, brother. Ms. Saint is very pretty. She heals hangnails really prettily too.
Wait, where was I? Eh heh, I got confused, sorry. Oh, right! Thanks, Kira. Okay, um...
Right, the story about the princess who lived near the lake.
She was bored every day. Until one evening, a mysterious voice spoke to her.
“This lake is called the Cradle of Jewels, baaa. You should try collecting the jewels at the bottom, baaa.”
The greedy princess jumped from the tower into the lake right away! She thought she’d find jewels and make a fortune!
But then, right after diving into the cold water, she heard someone sing: “One sheep, two sheep, three sheep, baaa, baaa baaa, baaa...”
And when the princess emerged from the lake, to her surprise, she’d turned into a sheep!
So what happened was that, every year in the village near the lake, they sacrificed a fat sheep to the lake to pray for a good harvest. The collective grudge of the sheep against humans kept getting bigger and bigger until it was really huge! So they’d mark a human as prey, lure them into the lake with cunning words, and turn them into a sheep! Scary, right?!
The cursed princess insisted she was human, but all anyone heard was, “Baaa baaa.” The villagers were so happy that they’d found a sheep with such great wool! And so they decided to make the princess-sheep that year’s tribute.
Oh, how the princess cried from sadness! I’m sad for her too. But I kind of think she did it to herself, so I’m only a little sad.
Maybe she looked really pitiful, because the voice that had lured her into the lake said, “The only thing that can break the curse is true love’s kiss, baaa!”
But that didn’t help the princess! You see, she was at an age where she was in love...with love! She didn’t love any specific person, nor did anyone love her.
And then, the night of the festival came.
The princess-sheep was about to be placed on a small boat filled with fruit. She tried to fight the villagers, but an even-toed ungulate couldn’t possibly win against featherless bipeds.
Just then, a handsome young man who lived on the outskirts of the village passed by.
“Oh, what a nice, plump sheep. What a waste to sacrifice it! Man, I wish I could eat it...”
The young man had a healthy appetite, you see! He was a huge fan of grilled mutton. He was, in fact, the one who loved sheep more than anyone else.
And the princess noticed this! So she leaned in and kissed him, right on the lips! That was smart of her!
The curse was then broken, and as soon as the princess was human again, she pointed at the young man and said, “You claimed my lips, so you must marry me!”
She was very pushy about it. And then she took the confused young man as her groom.
The moral of the story is that aggressive women find handsome men and live happily ever after.