“Hey? She’s coming! She’s coming!”

Ark, who had been hiding shyly behind Daisy, widened his eyes as Stella approached. He seemed nervous and began munching on his carrot twice as fast as before.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

Watching Ark, who still couldn’t let go of his food, Esta shook his head and sighed deeply.

“This time, don’t run away.”

Esta advised Ark as he prepared to take another bite of his carrot. With a determined expression, Ark chewed and stuffed the last piece into his mouth, mumbling in response.

“You run away! I’m trying to talk!”

Although his pronunciation was muffled by the carrot, Ark spoke resolutely. Each time he spoke, a sweet carrot scent wafted through the air.

Lately, Ark had been so obsessed with eating carrots that Esta worried he might turn completely orange.

“That was because you suddenly fell from the window and scared me. I didn’t know the human had woken up.”

“I didn’t expect her to catch me either. She must be kind.”

“Don’t trust humans recklessly.”

“You said you felt the earth’s energy.”

“Just because you feel the earth’s energy doesn’t mean they can all help us. Remember! Don’t trust them!”

“Okay!”

Ark nodded as if he understood Esta’s warning. Meanwhile, the human who had approached them sent the woman she was with inside first and then looked around.

Ark and Esta took deep breaths, preparing to converse with the human.

Once Stella confirmed there was nothing around, she squatted in front of the two, who were staring at her with wide eyes.

Unlike the previous night, Stella scrutinized the two creatures who didn’t run away upon seeing her.

Since no one knew her here, she felt that conversing with these creatures wouldn’t significantly change her situation.

She had been eager to ignore them, but human curiosity was indeed fickle. More than anything, the subtle differences from the beings she had encountered in Amalrune piqued Stella’s interest.

“Looking closely, you do look different.”

The beings she had seen in Amalrune had darker skin and only black pupils in their eyes.

Moreover, they exuded a gloomy aura, but these kids were different. If the beings she met in Amalrune were shadows, these ones felt closer to sunlight.

Brighter, warmer, and more human-like.

“Different? How are we different?”

Esta, curious about Stella’s muttering, asked while observing her closely. The way he asked, with his round eyes sparkling, was very cute. Every time he blinked, his long eyelashes moved up and down.

“Who are you? Why do you speak so well?”

“We’ve always been good at speaking.”

This time, it was Ark who answered. He had already pulled out a new carrot from his pocket and was chewing on it. Stella, seeing the small carrot Ark was holding, swallowed involuntarily.

The sweet carrot scent was irresistibly enticing. Perhaps because she hadn’t eaten properly at the formal gathering, she found herself craving the carrot as soon as she saw it.

As Stella paused mid-sentence to stare at the carrot she was holding, Ark, looking puzzled, carefully pulled another carrot from his pocket and offered it to her.

“Do you want some?”

Stella quickly reached out her hand. Ark, watching her cautiously, slowly walked forward.

Esta tensed, worried that the human might attack, and was ready to flee with Ark if necessary, carefully checking escape routes.

Meanwhile, Ark approached right in front of Stella’s hand.

Slightly nervous, Ark’s hand holding the carrot trembled.

“Wait.”

Ark waved the carrot in front of Stella as if to show it was there and then dropped it onto her palm. He then scampered back to where Esta was.

“Esta, I did it! I gave food to a human!”

As Ark jumped around in excitement, Esta patted his back and said, “Well done. We might be able to tame the human.”

“Should I bring more carrots? She won’t bite, right?”

Listening quietly to their conversation, Stella couldn’t shake the feeling that something had changed.

Stella looked in disbelief at the two creatures who were engaged in an animated discussion, seemingly ignoring her presence.

“Is that possible?”

“Didn’t you see? She liked it when I gave her the carrot.”

Ark pointed to Stella with his short finger.

Just as Stella was about to put the carrot she had received moments ago into her mouth, she hesitated and slowly lowered the hand holding the carrot. An indescribable feeling crept up within her, but it was difficult to articulate exactly what it was.

After discussing something seriously for a while, the two of them seemed to reach a conclusion. They nodded at each other and approached Stella with determined expressions.

Stella tried to ignore the sweet scent of the carrot as they came closer. It wasn’t fruit or pudding, yet she found herself swallowing hard.

No matter how hungry she was, it felt strange to be so tempted by just a carrot. It seemed this was no ordinary carrot.

“Hey, human.”

“Stella.”

“What?”

“My name. It’s Stella.”

Introducing herself to beings that weren’t human felt peculiar.

“Oh, human Stella. I have a proposal for you.”

Judging by the tremor in her voice, it seemed to be an important matter. Stella was curious about their proposal, but there was something she needed to know first.

“Before that, could you tell me who you are? Are you ghosts by any chance?”

Stella asked the question that had been on her mind all along.

“Don’t insult us!”

Esta shouted, clenching his fists, but Stella didn’t even blink.

To Stella, they didn’t seem threatening. Their unusually sparkling eyes and cute appearance made it hard to feel otherwise.

“Then what are you?”

At Stella’s repeated question, Ark and Esta exchanged glances. Esta nudged Ark’s protruding belly, signaling that it was his turn to speak.

Ark shook his head a few times in refusal but eventually stepped forward reluctantly.

“We are the messengers of the great Earth Goddess, Terra. We are earth fairies!”

Ark said, patting his round belly, while Esta lifted his chin as if to say, “See, now you understand?” Both of them placed their hands on their hips and puffed out their chests. Their synchronization was perfect.

“Earth fairies? Do such beings exist?”

Expecting admiration or awe, the two were instead left gaping at Stella as if she were some kind of uncultured being.

“Haven’t you ever heard of earth fairies?”

“Not at all.”

“My goodness. Of all the humans, why this one!”

Stella couldn’t shake the feeling that they were treating her like a fool. She regretted accepting the carrot, but it was too late. Even now, thinking about the carrot made her swallow again.

“Human Stella, didn’t your mother ever tell you?”

The unexpected and unwelcome word caused a frown to form on Stella’s forehead.

“No. She didn’t.”

“That’s strange. We can definitely sense a strong earth energy from you.”

Esta rubbed his chin, examining Stella with serious eyes. The way he squinted and scrutinized her was reminiscent of a merchant inspecting goods before making a purchase.

“Earth energy?”

“Yes. You can see us, after all.”

Stella nodded.

“Ordinary humans can’t see us. They can’t hear our voices either. But you’re different.”

Stella already knew this much, so she simply listened quietly.

“That means the power of the Goddess Terra is within you. But why does a mere human like you possess Terra’s power?”

“Esta, that’s not important right now. Get to the main topic!”

As Esta seemed to veer off track, Ark, who had been watching impatiently, shouted. Only then did Esta realize his mistake and look at Stella arrogantly.

“As messengers of Terra and earth fairies, we have a proposal for you.”

Esta lowered his voice dramatically and spoke with solemnity.

“What proposal?”

“Well, actually…”

As Stella appeared willing to help, Ark grinned widely and began to speak, but Esta quickly interrupted him.

“It’s nothing major. We just need you to dig up and dispose of something from the ground.”

Esta’s nonchalant tone made Stella narrow her eyes.

“If it’s not a big deal, why don’t you do it yourselves?”

Stella wanted to help them but pretended otherwise as she stood up. Honestly, there was nothing she would miss if she didn’t assist them.

“Carrot!”

Esta’s urgent shout stopped Stella in her tracks. She heard voices behind her saying, “It’s fine, it’s fine,” but she ignored them and turned back.

She could have helped them without a gift, but if they were offering one, there was no reason to refuse. Besides, the carrot was incredibly tempting.

However, she couldn’t accept their proposal for just a carrot, especially since it might be dangerous. No matter how cute and kind the earth fairies seemed, that was a separate issue.

***

The next morning, Stella dressed in her most comfortable clothes and went out to the garden as soon as she woke up.

Fortunately, there were no special plans for the day, so she could take her time exploring the garden.

“Where is it?”

Stella slowly scanned the wide garden, lush with wildflowers, and then quickly walked toward something she noticed.

The sound of her long dress brushing against the overgrown grass was soft and rustling. The hem of her dress might get stained with grass, but there was nothing she could do about it.

“Is this it?”

The earth fairies had said it was under a large stone tower. However, no such large stone tower was visible in the garden. Instead, she noticed a small pile of stones that reached her waist.

Just as Stella was about to reach for the top stone, she heard a voice.

“Be careful!”