Alice in the Land of Steam

Chapter 1379 Finally Feeling Sad?

Are you really planning to continue like this?

The sudden question startled Leticia slightly. Her eyelashes trembled a few times, and she took a beat to react. Not quite understanding what the question was trying to express, and unable to discern the complex emotions in Medien's tone, she hesitated, confused: "Is... this not allowed?"

"Sure, of course."

Medine nodded first, then gently shook her head. Her gaze went over Leticia’s shoulder and toward the forest shimmering in the sunlight in the distance. Her voice was soft, like sunlight in the forest: “But I always feel that you should have other more important things to do.”

What's more important...?
The little bat racked its brains but couldn't come up with an answer.

“If you can’t figure it out, just look at me and Shamy,” Medion said softly. “I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how to get more people to accept the Goddess’s teachings. Is proselytizing based on pure faith, or is it about using the power of faith to fight the Witch Society? Or is it necessary to reunite the Church of the Creator Goddess and the Church of the Holy Goddess? These questions are still far off, but they will need to be answered someday. And when that happens, it won’t be Ling or anyone else who solves them, it will only be me. I have that awareness, and I want to make it happen.”

She paused, somewhat lost in thought, as if sorting through the jumbled thoughts in her mind, or perhaps giving Leticia time to process what she had said. The soft bleating of lambs on the grass broke the brief silence.

The girl's gaze cleared and hardened once more. Her emerald eyes, always filled with gentle compassion, now shone with a light that Leticia found unfamiliar yet captivating: "As for Shami, I don't yet know what grand ambitions she has, but she hasn't been out much lately. She's been helping out at the inn and the herb garden. I heard from Little Sun that she's secretly studying the materials left behind by Lady Tree, about how to care for herbs and cultivate plants. For a traveler fairy, a pilgrimage is itself a journey of knowledge and learning; the more one sees, the more one learns. In the past, Shami probably didn't understand what this meant; she only did it because other traveler fairies had embarked on pilgrimages, and her two older sisters wanted her to too. But now, it seems she's found her goal. She'll surely become an excellent traveler fairy like Miss Siesta or Miss Celia in the future, won't she?"

Whether she inherits the inn and continues to provide a place of rest for weary travelers, or emulates Lady Tree and cares for and nurtures countless lives... the fairy possesses a long lifespan and all that she has seen and learned on her journey, she will surely be able to fulfill her wish.

"And what about you, Leticia?" Medine looked intently at her friend and asked, word by word, "Have you thought about your goals, what you want to do next, and what kind of person you want to become in the future?"

It can't be a child who still believes in the childish settings of fairy tales, thinks that werewolves and vampires should be natural enemies, and impulsively challenges a guest he has just met, who is both concerned about his image and unwilling to admit his mistakes...
Under her gaze, Leticia's face, which had gradually cooled, flushed red again. She could almost feel the warmth of the blood rushing to her cheeks. Feeling a little uncomfortable, she turned her head away, avoiding that overly clear gaze, and stammered, "Of course, of course I've thought about it! I want to become the most powerful vampire, defeat those villains from the Witch Society, and then save the world! Hmm, isn't that great?"

very childish.

He's still just a child.

Medion sighed inwardly, but neither denied nor confirmed it directly. Instead, she suddenly asked about something unrelated: "Speaking of which, I remember you went to see Linger before, saying you wanted to ask him for advice on how to become an adult. What happened after that?"

That incident caused quite a stir on Cloud Whale Sky Island, mainly because a certain alchemist lady interfered, mistaking the little bat for Alice. In the end, the truth came out, and everyone except Ling was severely reprimanded by Saint Charlotte. Afterwards, no one investigated why the little bat was in such a hurry to grow up, even going so far as to seek help from the person she hated most (this is questionable).

"That...that..."

The little bat's expression was somewhat unnatural. She subconsciously picked up an innocent pebble at her feet and tossed it far away, watching it roll into the dense grass, as if that would erase the embarrassing memory along with it. She was too ashamed to admit that she felt so embarrassed that she had forgotten it as a dark chapter in her history, or rather, forced herself to forget it. And looking back, even if that wretched Lorena hadn't interfered, could Linger really have helped her become an adult? Most likely, he would have just said a few meaningless words, offering comfort or a lecture, like he would a child.

This is not the outcome Coretticia wanted.

She also longed to one day stand on her own and earn the respect of her grandmother, Medine, Ling, and everyone else...

But aren't children the ones who yearn to grow up with this kind of thinking?

The pink-haired girl, who was her friend, saw through the little bat's thoughts at a glance. She adjusted her posture, hugged her knees, and gently rested her chin on them. This gesture made her appear both childlike and mature beyond her years. She asked, "Leticia, your curse... seems to have not acted up for a long time, right?"

Leticia hummed in response, her voice so soft it was almost drowned out by the wind. She looked down at her outstretched palm; beneath her moonlit white skin, the bluish-red veins were faintly visible. It felt like ages since she last felt that tearing pain.

"Then can I assume that its influence on you has temporarily disappeared? You no longer need to be afraid to move forward because of the fear of the curse, like you used to be." Medion looked up, watching the clouds drift overhead. The meadow where they were standing was sometimes shrouded in the shadows of the clouds, and sometimes bathed in sunlight. The interplay and shimmering of sunlight and shadow created a subtle sense of change. "I think Miss Selena is right about something: life is precious. Everyone only has one, so we must cherish it and use it wisely."

"At that time, did you want to argue with her: 'No, life is more than once for me!' Perhaps you were right, because you are the eternal Maiden Queen, able to return from reincarnation no matter how many times you die. But let's put it another way, what about memories? Memories are also only once for you, aren't they? If you die, you lose all your current memories. When you are resurrected, even if you still meet your old friends and experience similar journeys, the memories you gain will definitely be different from the last time. Leticia, in the past, your life was so short, with death and rebirth every full moon. The memories you could gain during this time were so limited. A short life is destined to be incompatible with long memories, so Miss Neville protected you, intentionally preventing you from contacting the outside world, not wanting you to gain too many memories and suffer more pain of loss before death. But now it's different. If the curse doesn't take effect, you can live forever, accumulating new memories until one day, you have more memories than a person can accumulate in a lifetime. At that time, can't you say that you have become a normal person, able to live a life that you only have once?"

Medine kept saying she wanted to speak her mind, and Leticia listened silently, feeling the concern from her friend that was so different from before, and vaguely realized what Medine was trying to say. She imitated Medine, hugging her legs and burying half her face in her knees, only her ruby-like eyes showing as she gazed at the swaying grass tips in front of her. Her eyes lacked their usual stubbornness and obstinacy, and instead held a hint of bewildered confusion.

Finally, after pouring out her heart, the pink-haired girl asked Leticia another question: "But if the memories you've accumulated during this time are still unchanged from the past—eating, sleeping, playing, being protected by others, doing things impulsively and instinctively that make people laugh and cry… do you think such a life is meaningful?" "Even if you lose such memories, it seems like there's no regret, right? Just like how you always felt that even if you died, you wouldn't have any regrets, since you can come back to life."

"So, Leticia."

If you could only have one memory, what would you want to remember?

She turned her head and stared intently into the little bat's eyes, wanting not only to see her own earnest face reflected in those ruby-like eyes, but also her thoughts and realizations.

However, such reasoning was still too distant for Leticia, and such words were too heavy for her. Even the timing of Medien's choice was so abrupt that the little bat could hardly understand her meaning, let alone give a clear answer immediately. So her lips trembled for a while, but she couldn't utter a single word.

"It's okay," the pink-haired girl said understandingly. "You can take your time to think about it. Anyway, there's still plenty of time."

At least for now, there is still plenty of time.

Leticia quietly breathed a sigh of relief, her tense shoulders relaxing slightly.

“However,” Medion added, “there’s one thing you should remember.”

She earnestly advised her best friend, but this earnestness no longer carried the heaviness of before; instead, it was imbued with the sincerity and genuineness unique to interactions between peers: "Don't believe in fairy tales so much anymore, Leticia. You can still like them, but we're way past the age of believing in fairy tales. And—"

Her eyes dimmed slightly: "The people who used to tell us fairy tales are no longer here."

"..."

This time, Leticia didn't argue that she didn't like childish fairy tales at all. Instead, because of Medien's words, the face of that person suddenly appeared in her mind. Her gentle yet stern eyes, her tone when patiently telling fairy tales to little girls, and the routine question that always accompanied the story: What did you learn from this story?

I learned nothing.

At times like these, the little bat would silently think that she just thought these stories were too long-winded. Why should a happy ending require going through so much pain first? Couldn't there be an absolutely powerful person who could easily defeat all the enemies and then help the kind protagonist achieve happiness? At the time, she didn't realize that her own thoughts were actually the real fairy tale in reality.

But it had been a long time since that person had told her fairy tales, and as Medien had said, it seemed that no one else on Cloud Whale Sky Island would tell fairy tales to little girls besides her. Of course, if she asked seriously, Grandma, Ringo, or Sister Livia would probably agree, but they were all different; their fairy tales weren't as captivating as that person's, and they couldn't keep the little bat patiently listening despite her impatience.

Because they didn't believe it; they thought it was just playing with children.

Only that person spoke with a gentle tone, as if those stories had actually happened, and she was full of hope for the children in front of her, believing that they would definitely be able to learn something useful from them.

She taught a few children to class on time every day; she prepared snacks and drinks for them when they were tired from studying; she carefully assigned homework but never required them to finish it; she caught the children who secretly skipped class to play and told them that skipping class was wrong; but sometimes she would also allow the girls to run around and cause trouble on the Cloud Whale Island...

Perhaps due to the curse, Leticia had always shown such indifference, even apathy, towards death. So, when that person left everyone, going to a place very, very far away, perhaps never to return, she was actually the calmest person on Cloud Whale Sky Island, unable to understand why the others were so grief-stricken. Perhaps subconsciously she still felt that person had only left temporarily and would soon return, just as she used to fall asleep on a full moon night and wake up as soon as she opened her eyes. Isn't that what the young princesses are like? They are the most unique souls in the mortal world, forever reincarnated, never truly dead.

But, for some reason, she finally felt a little...sad.

It really is only a tiny bit.

She tried to convince herself, but couldn't let go, because what's late will inevitably be more turbulent, just as what starts over will inevitably be more unfamiliar.

Give me some cats