On a sunny and beautiful day in May, it was said that the May Fairy gave presents to good children.

But there was no fairy as kind and convenient as that.

“Claire, what did you do to make Eciel cry like that?” Mother asked, smoothing out her anger with a calm voice. I had no intention of beating around the bush, so I answered obediently.

“I called Eciel a fool.”

“Why did you call her that?”

“Eciel was trying to  write another letter to the May Fairy, saying she wanted to talk about the gift she wished to receive again.”

“And?”

“Eciel got angry because I said it was a lie, there was no May Fairy and all the gifts received so far were from Mom.”

“….”

“Even though I showed her that the letter was in Mom’s drawer, she still got upset.”

Mother’s green eyes blinked perplexedly. While Eciel lifted her head, crying loudly.

Her green eyes were filled with tears and her lovely platinum blonde curled in disarray. She looked pitiful and miserable, like a little angel who accidentally fell from the clouds.

Yet, I shrugged nonchalantly.

Today marked exactly a week. Eciel has been dragging me into her absurd attempt to send a letter to the May Fairy for a week.

I cooperated quietly for the past 6 days, but …

‘I can’t keep doing this unproductive thing all week long. It’s boring.’

If there had been even a slight change in what she wanted as a gift, or if there was a new reason why she had to receive a gift, or if there had been any progress …

I would have endured it.

But Eciel’s letter remained unchanged for 6 days, and her  writing skills decisively remained the same every day.

She got yesterday’s letters wrong again. It was even more serious because it was the same letters I had taught her last time.

Mother alternated between looking at Eciel and me, then finally touched her forehead.

“… Why are twins so different?”

A sigh, a lament that didn’t need an answer.

Eciel looked at me with teary eyes. The eyes of a child who believed in the May Fairy were so clear and innocent that it made it difficult for Mother to answer.

I sighed slightly.

Well, I guessed I would lose again today.

“Eciel, I’m sorry. I lied. Mom isn’t the May Fairy.”

Eciel’s eyes widened. Tears that were still lingering rolled down her cheeks.

Then, she smiled brightly.

“I’m sorry for being mad too, Claire.”

Eciel wiped away her tears and stood up, taking my hand.

Even when she was covered in tears, she was still adorable, especially when she smiled like that.

It didn’t matter if she cried when things didn’t go her way; it wasn’t a flaw for Eciel.

“Everyone was like that as a child, and they grow up to be adults.”

Following Eciel out of the house, I glanced back at Mother for a moment.

She looked at me with an inscrutable expression. Her mind seemed so full of varied thoughts and emotions that it appeared confusing.

Especially, her pure green eyes, just like Eciel’s.

“We won’t be gone for long.”

I reassured her, bid her goodbye, and opened the door.

Eciel still held my hand tightly. Smiling warmly when our eyes met.

Eciel and I had been together since we were in Mother’s womb. Maybe that was why. She really liked me and wanted to do everything with me.

But we were different in every way.

“… And that’s because I’m too peculiar, not because of Eciel.”

At the edge of the forest behind the village, wildflowers bloomed messily on a small hill.

Eciel finally let go of my hand when we reached our destination. My sister started picking pretty flowers among the grass.

“I’ll make a crown for Mom.”

“Yeah. Make one for me too.”

“For Claire? Okay!”

… No, if it was me, I would have told her to do it herself.

It was a joke. Let’s not bother with it since it was too much trouble. She might cry again if I mess it up.

Many words crossed my mind, but I kept silent. Eciel seemed excited to have something to do.

Unlike me.

“I’m bored …”

I sighed again, feeling drained.

 Spring in May was so beautiful that it could give rise to unbelievable fairy tales. I admitted that.

But did almost every kid believe in the May Fairy?

No, seriously, why? What was the reason for believing that there was a fairy who only gave benefits to young children? Was it just because they wanted to receive gifts and pretended to be oblivious to all the illogical and irrational aspects?

” … As soon as I heard about it, I thought there couldn’t be such a thing.”

Anyway, I, who was born on the same day as Eciel, was very different from the other kids I had met so far.

Most children didn’t remember anything before they were born. There might be many children who were sad because they didn’t have a father, but not many worries about being traced during short intervals between moves and long travels.

… Above all, there weren’t many children who could do ‘this kind of thing’.

I sent a gust of wind towards Eciel.

It tickled her cheek lightly; I chuckled as she burst into laughter.

“Stop it, Claire!”

The flowers Eciel was holding scattered in all directions.

White, pink, red, blue, yellow … a scatter of countless colors, scents, and textures. Things I could handle and things I couldn’t, and my twin sister.

I experienced the world through sensations that were difficult to express in words.

“Claire, gather them up!”

Responding to her call was simple.

I quickly gathered the scattered flowers as if scooping them up with a net, collecting them into a bundle.

Eciel, accustomed to giving such tasks, went to find other flowers, skipping over the small hills.

Although no one else was in sight, I instinctively checked once more, feeling a vague tension.

The world was sometimes too easy and too difficult at the same time.

Pushing aside a withering wildflower with my finger, I laid down on the grass.

When would the next move be? Was it just my imagination that we were being tracked? Why was I different from others …?

“I wish someone would tell me.”

Three months after my ninth  birthday,  spring came, bringing thoughts that didn’t suit the season.

As my thoughts grew heavier, I absentmindedly twirled the wind into tiny, delicate whirlpools with my fingertips.

A habit when I had a lot of things on my mind.

If I accidentally let go, it would immediately turn into a mess, so I focused on controlling it, allowing my mind to empty comfortably.

So, I noticed the presence a beat later than I should have.

There were about six people approaching Eciel stealthily. Whether Eciel was their target or if there was another intention, they seemed to be sturdy-looking well-armed men.

… It was a configuration that chilled me to the bone.

I tried to summon the wind reflexively to push them away, jumped up in horror and screamed.

“Eciel!”

Before I could even think to shout ‘come back,’ I realized. In my haste to protect Eciel, I had neglected to pay attention to my own surroundings.

“…Ah.”

Behind me, too, there was a man.

I stood frozen, showing my back to the man. My head spun as I realized.

‘We were actually being tracked…’

The man didn’t say anything. I didn’t turn around to look at him. We were frozen in a strange standoff.

It was my sister who broke the icy silence.

“Claire! Why did you call me?”

Eciel’s voice was as bright as always, and her innocent smile remained. But that smile didn’t last long.

Eciel stopped in her tracks. Atop the hill, her mouth hanging open in surprise as she looked back at the man behind me.

The surprise rippled across the face of the little girl, alongside her pretty eyes, cute nose, soft cheeks, and small mouth.

In response to the little girl’s surprise, the man behind me chuckled with a breathy laughter.

It wasn’t friendly laughter.

I clenched my fist tightly and turned around abruptly. If necessary, I had to create an opportunity for Isiel to escape, even if it meant fighting.

‘ … Huh?’

But I, too, gasped in surprise.

The man had a very unusual appearance.

His face was almost perfectly split in half, making it impossible to guess his age. His smooth face still bore traces of chilling laughter. His eyes, looking at me, were a very vivid crimson, making them even more bizarre.

Even when he was smiling, his lips were still cold, and his eyes were cold as well. His features were sharp like carved sculptures. It was very chilly.

An impression akin to a cutting cold wind on a deep winter night.

But what was more surprising than his perfect appearance was …

“You look like me,” the man said briefly.

… His words were true; his face was almost identical to mine.

There was an obvious difference between a young girl and an adult man. The skeletal structure and features were clearly different.

‘But it’s still similar.’

In other words, excluding the obvious difference, we were fundamentally the same.

The cold face, the vivid crimson eyes. Skin so pale it seemed untouched by the sun even on such a warm day.

What other words were needed?

I felt perplexed, searching his face for any differences, and he, too, scrutinized my face carefully.

‘But no matter how many times I see…’

Quietly, the gap between us closed.

With each passing moment, the distance narrowed.

Instinctively, I tried to summon the wind to push him away, but the man raised an eyebrow and ‘eliminated’ the pushing force entirely.

‘How?’