Chapter 315: Task Progress is 0
No matter what, sticking close to the main characters had to be the right move. Faye Yardley decided she couldn’t let Faye get separated from the group again.
Her personality had changed so drastically after being alone just once; it was definitely not normal.
But the path to Grandma Hayes’s house wasn’t normal either.
’I guess only Little Red Riding Hood and Faye can find it without fail.’
After all, Faye Yardley had looked in the direction of Grandma Hayes’s house during the day, and she couldn’t see a path at all.
As they were leaving the village, Ace nearly bumped into a hunched-over old woman dressed in black, but Clementine yanked him back. Faye glanced at the old woman and said, "Ma’am, if you’re unsteady on your feet, you’d be better off staying home and enjoying the sun."
"Ahem... Ah, it’s Faye. You’d best keep a close eye on the boy you found for yourself."
Faye Yardley’s gaze swept across the four of them. ’Perfect,’ she thought. ’Ace, the guy we rescued, is definitely a Prince. I just don’t know from which kingdom.’
’Ace, you better step up. Hurry up and fall in love with my sister, Faye, and then make Clementine fall in love with you.’
With Faye by her side this time, Faye Yardley had no trouble leaving the village.
’So the key to the mission really is Faye, not Clementine.’
However, this Fairy Tale World was supposed to have started with Clementine’s story, yet she had absolutely no idea what that story was about. It was maddening.
’Clementine’s real form couldn’t actually be a clementine fruit, could it? Could I... eat her?’
The moment the thought surfaced, Faye Yardley felt like she was going crazy.
’What’s been wrong with me these past two days?’
"Faye, what are you dawdling for? Hurry up."
"Oh, coming!" Faye Yardley jogged a few steps to catch up with the three in front of her, then asked Faye, "Sister, why don’t we ask The Frog Prince for help? We could go a lot faster if we had a carriage."
"You have a point, but how would we contact him? We can’t just shout into the air."
Faye Yardley let out a little "ah." She had assumed they all had some special way of communicating.
’So The Frog Prince is the exception?’
"Faye, if you wanted a fast carriage, you could have asked that old woman for help. Legend has it she’s a Wizard," Clementine said, suddenly turning around with a smile.
’An old Witch?’
’So there are people with such hidden depths living in the village.’
’So who knows what really happens in Clementine’s story?’
Then again, most of the fairy tales she knew of had Witches in them—some good, some bad.
Faye Yardley prayed silently in her heart, ’Please, let me run into a Veridian who actually knows this story.’
’A carriage... She did have that pumpkin carriage she’d gotten before, but it would be too weird to just pull it out now.’
’If she made Faye suspect she wasn’t her real sister, Faye Yardley felt it would be a major disaster.’
Fortunately, Ace’s family was very concerned about him. They had sent several search parties to the nearby coastline, worried that he might have been washed ashore only to find himself in danger again in some deserted spot.
There were even several salvage ships searching the area where he had fallen overboard.
Thus, the small party that ran directly into Ace became the lucky ones who would receive the reward promised by the King.
Now that his family had found him, it was natural for Ace to return with them.
Ace gave the three of them a long look, then turned to Faye Yardley and said, "Your reward will be delivered. Goodbye."
"Goodbye."
The reward arrived swiftly. That very afternoon, a crew arrived with a large shipment of construction materials and began renovating Faye’s house.
The house was also filled with new furniture.
Then, a gardener planted a border of roses around the small yard.
Soon, the dilapidated house was nothing more than a memory.
Gazing at her brand-new home, Faye couldn’t help but turn and ask Faye Yardley, "Is this the reward you wanted?"
Faye Yardley shook her head and answered honestly, "I thought he’d just give me two Gold Coins as a reward."
PFFT—
Faye burst out laughing at her answer. "Two Gold Coins is a lot, but it’s not worth as much as renovating our house. And I love how the yard is filled with roses."
"I thought you’d prefer the yard to be full of mushrooms," Faye Yardley said. She had genuinely thought so.
"Hmph, do I look like the kind of person with no appreciation for romance?" Faye ran into the flowerbeds, a happy butterfly flitting through a sea of blossoms.
Faye Yardley wasn’t sure how long she was supposed to stay here, but a sense of urgency was building inside her. It felt like her mission progress was still at zero, but half the allotted time had already passed.
And she had absolutely no clue how to advance the mission.
’This is killing me.’
’She had to marvel at the construction speed—truly the super-speed of a Fairy Tale World, changing the house completely in just half an afternoon. But so what?’
’It’s not like she was going to live here for the rest of her life.’
"Your new home is really beautiful."
Hearing the sigh of admiration beside her, Faye Yardley turned slightly. "Clementine? Which rose do you like? I’ll give it to you."
"I like every single rose. Are you going to give them all to me?"
"Can’t do that, which is why I offered you one."
Clementine looked at her and said very seriously, "You really are different from how you were before your fall."
Faye Yardley could only play dumb. "I did hit my head and forget a lot, but I seem to remember that you’re supposed to know Magic. You haven’t used it at all these past two days, though."
Her words were mostly a bluff, but Clementine reacted instinctively, "You actually remember that?"
’Holy crap, she really knows Magic!’
A torrent of unspoken curses flooded Faye Yardley’s mind.
On the outside, though, her expression didn’t change one bit.
Clementine smiled. "You know I mean you no harm."
"Mm, I know. That’s why I hang out with you."
Even as she said it, Faye Yardley was thinking, ’You must have it in for Faye, otherwise you wouldn’t have deliberately gotten close to her sister.’
’But why?’
Whatever the reason, Faye Yardley was now worried about how to advance her mission.
’And it looked like Mission 1 was actually progressing?’
’At least Faye seemed stable enough, showing no signs of wanting to make a move on Clementine.’
’If anything, it was Clementine who seemed to be planning a move against Faye.’
’So the one I need to deal with is actually Clementine?’
"Faye, hurry, hurry! This swing is perfect for us sisters. What are you doing standing at the gate?"
"Oh, coming!"
Clementine didn’t go in. She stood outside the yard, watching the two sisters, her expression unreadable.
The hunched-over old woman slowly approached, stopping not far from Clementine. She too looked into the yard, then let out a raspy cackle. "Faye’s good luck has returned," she said, her voice hoarse. "Which means your bad luck is not far behind."
Clementine snorted. "This has nothing to do with you."
Heh heh heh...
Sitting on the swing, Faye Yardley saw the Witch in black walk past Clementine. The old woman’s withered hand patted Clementine’s shoulder, seeming to take something away from her.