2. You Will Always Belong to Me (Happy Qixi X)

This was the first time the queen could hardly believe her ears.

After all, just when she had regarded the Scroll Artist before her as a cold, unapproachable yet irresistibly wicked man, she witnessed the complete shift in his demeanor after the “record” was finished, even though he seemed to have done nothing at all.

Because this was a change that the fairies could not perceive; only the queen herself had keenly caught it! An unprecedented tension and anticipation made her forget her current desperate situation, leaving only the presence of the Scroll Artist in her vision.

“My king, your escape does not require desperate measures. The fairies can find you entirely because of their connection to you. So, as long as you sever all these connections, escaping will be effortless. Once you leave this place, there will always be a moment for your resurgence. So… would you allow me to arrange this for you?”

The queen… did not hear a word of it. She reached out in surprise towards the Scroll Artist, only to be startled by the sound of explosions again and again in the next moment!

There is no longer time for the queen to express her deep feelings, and when she awakens in surprise, what the painter has done leaves her even more astonished!

“Fairies of the king, I need each of you to take a part of the king’s memory and leave, then… go to different places, disguise yourselves, and wait. I will use my power to assist you, allowing you to regain almost everything you have forgotten about the ‘king’ when he comes to find you. All you need to do is wait for the king to seek you out.”

“Prepare yourselves, fairies.”

The queen knows that the painter possesses a “power” that has grown strong enough under various influences to bring about disaster; his “recording” can, to some extent, make many things “come true”! More importantly, the painter is aware of this power! However, he has never used it, still merely recording history according to the queen’s actions.

That is why the queen must always protect his existence, preventing this ability from leaking out!

Although… from the outcome, the queen feels it should be she who apologizes to the painter at this moment. If she cannot even fulfill a simple promise, how can she talk about the qualifications of “love”?

In fact, the first time the painter actively uses his ‘ability’ is for himself, which leaves the queen even more at a loss.

Then, everything begins.

【Fire Fairy Jiasu, take a part of the queen’s memory and leave.】

This is the painter’s power, strong enough to… change reality…

With a flash of fire, the queen suddenly feels a part of her memory being “dug out.”

【Dark Fairy Ignis, take a part of the queen’s memory and leave.】

The black mist disperses, and the queen feels her memories of the empire, her memories of the fairies, slowly fading away.

【Wind Fairy Magnus, take a part of the queen’s memory and leave.】

Green light points fly away.

As long as she forgets all her memories, indeed… those pursuers will no longer come. However, the queen always feels that something important is being overlooked, something she could never agree to!

【Chaos Fairy Claudilus, you do not need to forget the queen; hide with the queen’s remaining memories. The queen’s awakening needs you as the ‘key’.】

“Why… didn’t you do this for the master sooner!?”

“……”

The purple light point disappears, and at that moment, the queen finally remembers: why deep down, she does not wish for the painter to help her in this way!

Because, even though the scroll artist relied on his abilities to let the fairies escape with their memories, there would still be one thing that absolutely could not be agreed upon by the queen at the very end, after all the fairies had left!

A thing that the queen could never accept!

The queen, regaining her senses, immediately tugged at the sleeve of the man before her!

“Heartless man… your response is too late! Why now? Why only this little time…”

“Because I am your scroll artist. Before… yes. My queen, time is running out.”

After trying in vain to break free, the scroll artist gave up his struggle, allowing himself to be held by the queen’s grip on his sleeve, and then he embraced himself.

“My queen, next I will erase all your unrelated memories, and then send you far away. Please, protect yourself with your instincts, for… you will surely return with a heart full of vengeance, back to the corner of Rodmar that Claudilus has preserved for you. You are the hope of the fairies; you are their queen. And ‘they’ aim for me. I will find ways to evade them by my own means, regardless of success or failure, you need not concern yourself with that. After all, my existence has already implicated you once; there’s no need to involve you and your empire a second time.”

“Wait! Scroll artist, wait! You can’t take away…”

By the time the queen, who had lost her usual rationality, thought to cover the mouth of the man she was holding, it was already too late.

The scroll artist had already uttered the “record” that the queen dreaded to hear the most.

“So… [Leave this place, forget me, Nilu.]”

“!”

Her body felt as if it were being pulled by some force, but what the queen found even harder to accept was the immediate sensation that everything left in her mind related to the man before her was gradually fading away! No matter how hard the queen tried to remember, she could not stop the most important things from slipping away bit by bit.

Her grip gradually loosened, but just as the scroll artist was about to turn away, the queen clutched him tightly again, a rough kiss even biting into the scroll artist’s lips!

In that moment, as her vision began to dim, the queen erupted in her final madness.

“Don’t… don’t be smug, heartless man.”

“I will remember! I will find you! You are mine; you can only record me… never think of escaping from me.”

Blood seeped from the queen’s lips.

“When we meet again, I will give you everything I have… if you forget me, I will be angry, scroll artist…”

“I must forget you, or you won’t escape.”

“Then I curse you to remember! No matter if you are surrounded by flowers or beautiful women… don’t you dare forget me…”

“Theoretically, no one of the opposite s*x would like me.”

“Playboy men always say that… right, Hui…”

“The Queen of Rodma had better not cry… sigh, I won’t guarantee anything for you, Nilu.”

With a sigh, I averted my gaze. At the moment when the look in the queen’s eyes began to grow increasingly bewildered, the painter laid down the final line on the paper before her.

[Nilu escaped from Rodma.]

The last glimmer of light flew far away.

——

This technique is truly nostalgic; it was a style I used to love. I hope it doesn’t come off as awkward. In truth, I don’t feel the need to write anything particularly dark or grim.