Hansel’s Enchanted Fairytale: Fill Me Up With Magic! - Chapter 99
The realization jolted her into awareness, especially as she thought about how sloppy she had appeared in front of her mother. Snapping upright like a spring, Hansel straightened her back and sat properly.
Margaret simply stared at her daughter in silence. After a few seconds, she opened her fan with a snap, covering her face and diverting her gaze from Hansel.
“Rest comfortably. Preparing for a wedding is always exhausting.”
Hansel’s eyes widened. Her mother was the type of person who would unleash a torrent of scolding if Hansel so much as slouched a little.
Cautiously, Hansel leaned back against the chair, watching her mother for any reaction. She didn’t dare fully recline—doing so would surely earn her a harsh reprimand.
Margaret quietly watched Hansel’s hesitant actions before rising from her seat. Gracefully gathering the hem of her dress, as she always did, she turned away and glanced back briefly at Hansel.
“Then rest well.”
If her daughter was to rest comfortably, Margaret realized, she herself would need to leave the room. Though unintentional, Margaret had spent her life troubling Hansel, and expecting her daughter to feel at ease around her now was asking too much. Margaret was not so foolish as to misunderstand this.
From that day onward, the tension between Hansel and Margaret eased slightly.
Margaret no longer imposed her opinions on her daughter. Similarly, Hansel stopped responding to her mother with sharp defiance as she had in the past.
It was as though the incident that had occurred between them had both existed and not existed. Though ambiguous in nature, the air between mother and daughter had undeniably softened.
That said, people do not change so easily, as if flipping a coin. Both Hansel and Margaret were clear about what they wanted, stubbornly so.
As the wedding preparations progressed, Hansel clashed with Margaret numerous times—hiring decorators, giving instructions, and organizing the invitation list.
Margaret insisted on being involved in every aspect of the wedding preparation, which stifled Hansel to the point of a full-blown outburst. Hansel had stormed out of the house, only to be fetched and calmed down by Dante.
In the end, a dramatic compromise was reached, Hansel would take the lead in planning the wedding, and Margaret would only step in when Hansel explicitly requested her input.
That compromise had been made just two days ago. Now, Margaret recalled herself giving meticulous directions about the dress earlier and frowned slightly.
She shouldn’t have done that. Old habits were hard to break.
As Margaret made to leave the dressing room, Hansel’s voice stopped her.
“Um, Mother!”
Margaret halted in front of the ornate white door, adorned with golden embellishments. Turning back, she faced her daughter, who awkwardly scratched her cheek and avoided eye contact.
“The dress… thank you for looking over it so carefully. And for putting so much care into the wedding preparations.”
Hansel fidgeted with the tip of her shoe.
“Also… I’m sorry for yelling at you a few days ago. I know you must find me unreliable, but I realize you’ve been holding back for my sake.”
In the past, Hansel would have assumed her mother’s controlling nature stemmed purely from a concern for the family’s image. Now, she understood differently.
She knew her mother’s desire to make the wedding as beautiful as possible was born out of love for her only daughter. When a child truly feels their parent’s love, their own heart begins to change.
“I’ve never thought you were unreliable.”
Hansel cautiously met Margaret’s gaze. Her mother looked down at her with the same stoic expression she always wore.
“You’ve done well. Your eye for the dress and your planning of the wedding are both remarkable. The reason this mother of yours keeps adding her opinions to your decisions isn’t because you’re lacking in any way but…”
Margaret lowered her gaze briefly. Her voice softened, escaping through her crimson lips.
“It’s because I am greedy. Correcting one’s nature is not an easy task. I’ll keep reminding myself and trying again, so don’t mind me and do things as you see fit. You are…”
“……”
“Perfect just the way you are, Hansel, without even trying.”
Margaret’s words made Hansel smile despite herself. Noticing her daughter’s laughter, Margaret raised her eyes.
“Mother.”
“……”
“I’ll go with the dress you chose.”
After days of clashing with her mother, Hansel had come to a realization about her own personality, her subtle fussiness was inherited from Margaret. Add a touch of charm to Margaret’s exacting nature, and you had Hansel.
In a way, Hansel might even have been the more difficult one. Having lived with her traits for twenty years longer than Hansel, Margaret’s discernment was always impeccable—more than perfect.
So, for one dress, at least, Hansel decided she could go with what her mother had chosen.
Margaret’s lips softened into a gentle smile as she looked at her daughter.
