"Um, hey, Eddy….""Mm. Keep talking."Uncomfortable being held, Angela called to him timidly as if to slip free. But Edgar, with no intention of obliging, only adjusted his arms and drew her in tighter.Seeing he had no plans to loosen his hold, Angela gave up quickly, blinked quietly while nestled against him, and stayed still. As her long black lashes fluttered, the revealed gold of her eyes struck him as the prettiest eyes he had ever seen."Mm… After that, the humiliations I got on the street dropped off a lot. If Edgar hadn’t helped me then, I think it would’ve just kept happening.""When you say ‘dropped off a lot’—""Hm?""Doesn’t that mean it didn’t go away completely?""Ah…."Angela hesitated a little, then answered with an awkward smile."Still, getting hit with an egg—that was the first and the last time. So I guess I should say I’m all right…."Edgar caught that Angela didn’t want to go into detail and let it drop. What kind of indignities had she endured, and how had she lived through them?He felt irritated at himself for the past—those days he’d dismissed the whispers calling her a witch as merely pathetic and moved on without a thought."Eddy, you’ve got a wrinkle here."While he tamped down the unpleasantness, Angela’s slim forefinger lightly pressed between his brows. When he smoothed his expression, Angela lowered her hand with a satisfied smile he could see plainly."Angela.""Mm…."At Edgar’s call, Angela answered small, face flushed. She tucked her already small body even smaller, like a tiny, skittish animal."Why are you embarrassed?""J-just… you saying my name makes me feel embarrassed…."He liked how her white skin took on a soft blush as if emotions seeped up from underneath."Is that why you came to like Edgar? Enough to make me?"He wanted her to keep talking about herself. It made all his past indifference—to how anyone thought of him or held him in their hearts—feel pointless. He was acting like a child starved for attention, and it felt strange. If Timothy saw him now, he would undoubtedly drop his jaw to the floor and stand there slack-faced."After he helped me, I kept thinking of him. Then I found out he was Edgar of House Grace. Do you remember how I showed you the newspaper articles he was in? From then on, while I was trying to learn about him, I caught myself searching for him."From that, Edgar realized she had known nothing about him before he helped her.He’d only jumped into a commotion he would normally have walked past, on impulse—and yet that small favor had become the seed of her feelings. He felt a fond, pitying warmth at once.People around him always crowded close, praising his rank, wealth, and looks, trying to tempt him or wring something out of him. Angela alone had admired Edgar himself and wanted to draw near.There would likely never be another like Angela. His name, his looks, his background would prevent it."Actually, Edgar and I have the same birthday. Maybe it’s because I hold a baronetcy, but every year on my birthday an invitation to Edgar’s birthday party arrives. It felt like a gift to me. Someone like me could be left off without any trouble, but he kept sending them—I guess I was grateful.""That’s…""I know—it isn’t because I’m special. He was being fair to everyone. Still, that fairness felt gentle to me. At least to him, I didn’t seem like a witch—I felt like an ordinary person he should treat fairly, just like anyone else."The extra trouble he’d taken—only because he didn’t know what the future would bring—came back to him magnified into something grand, and Edgar’s feelings tangled.He ought to feel proud and pleased, but lacking the right to feel clean about it, he couldn’t."Eddy, the truth is, the feelings I have right now are mostly for Edgar."Edgar didn’t know what she meant yet and simply watched her."But when I’m with you, I think those feelings for Edgar might move over to you, a lot. That’s part of why I made you…."She was honest enough to confess it and felt sorry that she couldn’t give her whole heart to Eddy alone."So you plan to throw Edgar away now?""H-huh?"He knew what she meant, and still a strange displeasure surged up. Why would she give her heart to a doll while the real me is right here? Why on earth am I having such petty thoughts? The knot of it annoyed him."How could I throw him away…. You’ve seen the articles—he’s an incredible person. He has tons of lovers, and he’s very popular…."Her small, wilted murmur made him wince. If she’d read everything about him, then she knew the gaudy past in all its excess.Suddenly he wanted to strike the past version of himself who’d treated tawdry gossip—no matter how false—as free advertising and let it run."Here, look at this picture. That’s Violetta Schulten, a very famous and popular musical actress. She’s stunning, isn’t she?"Following Angela’s fingertip, Edgar looked—and bit back a curse in dismay. Of all things, there was a heavy headline splashed above a photo of him alongside Violetta, claiming a secret tryst.It bothered him that she hadn’t just clipped out his image but kept the headline and article whole. Most likely, when it came to Edgar, she couldn’t bear to cut anything away."She’s Edgar’s most recent lover. Unlike someone like me, who gets called a witch, she’s dazzling and beautiful.""Her dress is vulgar and her makeup thick; she looks cheap. And Edgar has nothing to do with that woman.""Huh? How do you know?""I just do. I have the fairy’s power.""Mm… I see. Either way, it doesn’t change that she’s someone who can stand beside Edgar. And Eddy, ‘vulgar’ is a nasty word—you shouldn’t use it. That kind of dress and makeup suit her, so she’s just styled herself that way.""…All right."Even with Edgar’s curt answer, Angela gave him a little smile as if grateful for his understanding, then continued gently:"Edgar and I live in worlds that are far, far apart. Even if I had money to buy a dress, the clerk wouldn’t show me any. So how could I keep holding on to this feeling and make it grow?""Angela….""Still, I heard that clerk was punished for unjustly picking and choosing customers. I worried Edgar might be like the people there—might find me horrible or disgusting—but I’m relieved it doesn’t seem so.""He would never do that.""…I felt horrible every day. Why on earth did I do that? Why did I reach for something so unlike me? What if even Edgar points at me and calls me a witch….""Angela…."Hearing her voice start to wobble, he hated himself for not grasping the incident faster back then. If he’d known sooner, he could have dealt quickly with the employee who broke policy and spared Angela the time she spent in despair."You must be disappointed your maker is this pathetic. And I feel like I’ll only give you more things to be sorry about from now on.""What are you talking about? What could you possibly have to be sorry for?"Angela fell silent at his words. Uneasy at her lack of an answer, Edgar glanced down at her. Then her voice came, glistening with wetness."…Seeing that you’ve come to have life, I think I really might be a witch.""No, that’s—""I didn’t even know, and all this time I resented and hated the people who called me a witch. I was just hearing exactly what I deserved…."The tremble in her voice made Edgar feel like he was going to lose his mind.This wasn’t the reaction he’d wanted. He’d thought she was simply happy that Eddy had truly gained life.He’d thought of her as a girl full of childlike wonder and purity—he had never imagined she would blame herself like this, and the urgency in his chest spiked."You’re not a witch. You said it yourself—if you pour your heart into a doll with sincere care, sometimes a fairy breathes life into it. That heart is what lets me live. It isn’t because you’re a witch."Angela asked back in a tight, small voice."Do you really think so…?"Not wanting to see her sad, Edgar answered with real fervor."It’s true. If you were a witch, I wouldn’t be turning back into a doll again. A witch’s power wouldn’t be that feeble."Tears beaded faintly at the corners of her eyes as Angela sank into thought.He had kept the tears from falling, but to make her abandon the idea completely, he needed something a bit more convincing."Your voice and ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ your wish reached the fairy. Thanks to that, I can take human form like this—for a little while.""Is that how it is…?""More than anything, why would a fairy answer a witch’s wish? You’re not a witch—you’re just a very, very skilled dollmaker. I’ll stake my word on it.""I see….""Right. So don’t cry—believe me. Just think about the wish to be with me.""Okay. Thank you, Eddy. I’m so happy I can meet you like this."Only when Angela finally stopped wavering did relief wash through him.Edgar, who had never felt much of anything just because someone cried, found himself flustered by a few tears from Angela and thought it a little absurd. But it didn’t feel as bad as he expected, and he let the anomaly pass without making much of it.

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