Chapter 173: Live only for this moment

“So this is basically your birthday, isn’t it?!”

More importantly—

“That means… over all these centuries, you’ve never actually celebrated your own birthday even once?”

“…Mm.”

Olivia lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes.

“Because I’m the future new king. I have to mature as quickly as possible and become capable of carrying that responsibility.”

“The festival belongs to all elves to celebrate. It’s not meant to commemorate me personally.”

Pff.

Perletti failed to hold it in and burst out laughing.

Olivia was completely stunned by the sudden laugh.

She had imagined Perletti offering comforting words or encouragement.

She had imagined sympathy for the heavy fate she carried.

But she had never expected—

Laughter?

“Y-You…”

“What are you laughing at?” she asked helplessly.

“What else?”

Perletti’s eyes curved brightly as she pointed at Olivia.

“Isn’t it completely obvious that you don’t like being some princess or future queen at all?”

“When you talk about these things, your whole mood turns lifeless. You’re practically screaming ‘I’m forcing myself’ to anyone looking at you!”

Having her disguise exposed so directly, Olivia froze.

Then her shoulders, tense for who knew how long, finally slumped slightly.

She raised her head and looked into Perletti’s azure eyes that seemed capable of seeing straight through people.

The emotions she had suppressed for centuries finally found a tiny crack through which to escape.

“…Yeah.”

“I don’t like it.”

Her voice was very soft, yet carried a strange relief in its honesty.

“But what does it matter whether I like it or not?”

“Can you understand what it feels like to have the expectations and future of an entire race forced onto your shoulders from the moment you’re born?”

“Can you imagine millions upon millions of gazes fixed on you? Every single one like an invisible arrow reminding you that you must move forward, must excel, must not disgrace the title of Child of the Divine Tree…”

“It’s a suffocating kind of weight.”

Her speech gradually quickened, emotion long suppressed beginning to spill out.

“So many times… so, so many times…”

“I thought about simply giving up and running away from everything.”

“But whenever I saw the pure hope in my people’s eyes—saw the light that appeared in them because of the birth of a new hope…”

“Those gazes became the sharpest arrows imaginable, pressing directly against my heart until I no longer even had the courage to take a single step backward.”

“These burdens are crushing me to the point I can barely breathe! This fate is awful! I hate it!!! I never wanted to become this princess!!”

In the silent forest path, Olivia finally screamed out the words she had buried in her heart for centuries.

Her voice echoed through the trees, startling several birds into flight.

“Why?!”

She turned toward Perletti, tears of unwillingness and grievance shimmering within her emerald eyes.

“Why was my future decided for me from the moment I opened my eyes?! Why were all other possibilities sealed away from me?! Why?!”

“I never wanted to walk this path! Not even once! It was them—responsibility, this cursed bloodline—that forced me into it! What else was I supposed to do?!”

Seeing her emotional outburst, Perletti not only failed to panic—

Her eyes actually lit up.

Suddenly, she grabbed Olivia’s hand excitedly.

“THEN! LET’S! DO! SOMETHING! HUGE!”

Without another word, she dragged Olivia into a run through the forest.

“D-Do something huge?”

Olivia stumbled after her, utterly bewildered by the sudden burst of action and strange phrasing.

“What does that even mean?!”

“It means—”

Perletti turned back while running, white hair flying in the wind, her smile dazzlingly bright.

“Don’t rewrite your own life just to fit a script someone else prepared for you!”

“Your life is unique too! Since you’ve already drawn this one-way ticket that can’t be refunded, then live this one and only life in the way you want to waste it!”

As though suddenly remembering something, she abruptly stopped and turned toward Olivia, who still hadn’t fully processed things.

“Wait here! I’m gonna give you a ‘surprise’!”

Before Olivia could react, a soft yet unmistakable platinum-white glow suddenly bloomed in Perletti’s palm and pressed against her face with lightning speed.

“Wah?! T-Titi, what are you doing?!”

Olivia was caught completely off guard. A warm sensation flowed across her face—not unpleasant, but Perletti’s sudden action startled and embarrassed her all the same.

“You’ve been acting weird this whole time!”

“I told you, it’s a surprise! Look!”

Like a magician revealing a trick, Perletti produced a small silver mirror and held it before Olivia.

Reflected within it was no longer the elegant elven princess with golden hair and emerald eyes.

The girl’s hair had turned a soft ash-gray.

Her eyes had become the same clear, brilliant golden color as Perletti’s own.

The outline of her features still remained recognizable, yet they had been subtly softened and made more ordinary. The flawless refinement of royalty had faded, replaced with the approachable warmth of a girl next door.

At this moment, she looked less like Princess Olivia and more like Perletti’s similarly-aged sister.

“A disguise spell? No…”

Olivia touched her own face. The sensation felt real, but the flow of magic was unfamiliar.

“This isn’t the continent’s standard transformation magic… this is cursecraft?”

“Bingo! Correct!”

Perletti snapped her fingers happily.

“From now on, you’re no longer Princess Olivia. Instead…”

“Mmm, let me think…”

She held her chin dramatically in thought.

“You always call me Titi, so I’ll give you a nice, close-sounding name too! Let’s call you Aya! Yep, perfect, decided!”

“Aya…”

Olivia—or rather, Aya now—subconsciously repeated the familiar-sounding name.

“Aya!”

Perletti placed both hands on her shoulders and leaned forward slightly, grinning brightly.

“Do you like the name?”

“Your identity…”

“…Just this once, live only for yourself in this very moment!”

“Live… only for myself in this very moment?”

Aya repeated the words softly. Her golden eyes were filled with confusion—and a deeply hidden longing even she herself had never noticed.

“Exactly!”

Perletti nodded forcefully, her words flowing quickly and clearly like spring water pouring into parched earth.

“Don’t try to please people you dislike. Don’t force yourself through meaningless social interactions. Don’t live according to other people’s opinions or judgments!”

“Don’t ignore what your heart actually wants. Don’t regret a past you can’t change. Don’t complain about your current circumstances. Don’t obsess over people or things that were never truly yours—or only bring you pain!”

She tightened her grip on Aya’s hand, her eyes sparkling with encouragement and mischievous excitement.

“Throw all of that away for now! Abandon every restraint!”

“Today, just selfishly and recklessly live for this moment alone!”

“Even if it’s only to avoid leaving yourself with regrets, you should go all out—no, completely without restraint—and do whatever you truly want to do!”

“After all, who even knows who ‘Aya’ is? Once today ends, this gray-haired, golden-eyed elven girl will disappear completely from the world. Even if they tried searching, they’d never find her!”

The forest wind blew gently past, stirring both their hair.

Aya stared blankly at Perletti’s radiant smile, as though the girl herself carried light within her.

Then she lowered her gaze toward the unfamiliar yet strangely lighter version of herself in the mirror.

And deep within those golden eyes—

A faint yet genuine spark called anticipation quietly ignited.

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