Hansel’s Enchanted Fairytale: Fill Me Up With Magic! - Chapter 26
Hansel froze just outside the door, staring blankly.
He entered the room first, then turned back to look at her.
Bright afternoon sunlight streamed directly through the arched window, casting a long shadow from where he stood in the center of the room.
“…This isn’t the living room?”
“No. It’s the dressing room.”
He stood on a carpet that covered the dark wooden floor. The carpet was intricately patterned, as if woven by a master artisan.
The towering walls on either side were lined with countless rolls of fabric, densely packed together.
In front of the large window was a wide table that seemed to serve as a workspace.
It was more luxurious and ornate than any dressing room Hansel had ever seen.
But that wasn’t the point.
He gestured for her to enter. Hansel, frozen on the threshold, hesitantly stepped into the sewing room.
Behind her, the door shut with a firm click.
Hansel glanced back at it.
“This is magic, isn’t it? The door leads to every room in the house, doesn’t it?”
Instead of answering, the door suddenly flew open.
It was him, opening it with magic.
Beyond the doorway was an entirely white landscape—a snow-covered garden.
Before she could blink, the door slammed shut.
When it opened again, it revealed the dining room. Then the bathroom. Then the living room. Then the library…
“Alright, alright, I get it. Stop opening and closing it already. It’s making my head spin.”
Even after the door settled, Hansel pressed her temples as if to ward off a headache, remaining silent for a while.
“So if I open the door now, it’ll be the library, right? That’s the last place I saw.”
“Yes.”
“Then what if I want to go to the dining room? How would I do that?”
“I’d have to open it for you.”
“And if I wanted to go alone?”
“You can’t.”
“…What?”
“You can’t use magic.”
The sheer absurdity of it left her momentarily speechless.
The implication was clear: unless he connected the door to the garden and forgot about her, leaving her behind, escape was impossible.
Hansel’s mind reeled.
“This is ridiculous. It’s… wrong! What if I need to go to the bathroom alone?”
Hansel whirled around to face him.
Unlike her pale, flustered face, he simply shrugged nonchalantly.
“So what? It’s my house.”
“……”
“And you don’t know anything.”
I’ve always lived like this. Technically, you’re the intruder here. Letting you wander freely without supervision would be the stranger thing, wouldn’t it? Besides, you still don’t have your memory, so who knows what kind of trouble you’d cause while wandering around?
The unspoken reasoning was perfectly condensed in his words.
Hansel couldn’t help but resent her ability to pick up on the subtext so clearly in moments like this.
Just as nobles ranked above commoners, mages ranked above ordinary people.
Hansel herself was the eldest daughter of Arsinoe, the most noble mage family of them all.
Roughly twenty years ago—eighteen, to be exact—the Herodt family had been the rulers of the mages. But when the Herodt family fell, Hansel had been only five years old. Even as a child, she had lived as the daughter of the most exalted family in mage society.
For someone like Hansel, whose status was higher than even a princess of a kingdom, being unable to move freely between rooms was utterly unthinkable.
Stay calm.
Just because he was loosening his grip a little didn’t mean she could start testing her limits.
He was a powerful mage who could use spatial magic, and he wasn’t keeping her locked in a corner, using her as a tool for s****l relief. That alone was something to be grateful for.
Hansel had to appreciate his peculiar innocence if she was going to endure this maddening situation.
If she didn’t, she wasn’t sure she could handle it.
After gnawing on her lip for a while, Hansel finally let her shoulders slump.
Why am I putting up with all this?
Suddenly, a wave of sorrow hit her.
“If I try to open the door on my own, I’ll just get hurt, right?”
Hansel lifted her head and met his gaze.
His cool, crimson eyes stared back at her from beneath his slightly unkempt ashen hair.
“If you ask, I’ll open it for you.”
His tone had softened slightly, as if he were trying to cheer her up in his own way.
It wasn’t much help for someone aiming to escape, but Hansel forced a smile and lifted the corners of her mouth.
“Fine. Thanks.”
His eyes widened slightly.
Though he quickly returned to his usual doll-like expression, it almost seemed like his cheeks were faintly flushed.
