ITK C359: Sleeping Beauty

“I’m going to do a play!” blurts out Veil.

“A play?”
“Yeah! I’ll entertain Junior with a play!”

I see.
That sounds like a good idea.
A play seems like something children would enjoy and a good way to cultivate aesthetic sense.

I could tell Veil really cared about Junior, planning such an activity.

“Sure, we’ll watch too.”
“Agreed.”

Platy and I decided to watch it with Junior.

The only problem is that he might not understand the play.
We, as Junior’s parents, will comprehend it instead.
He sits on his mother’s lap, looking around, wondering what’s going on.

“The show is about to begin! This play is titled ‘Sleeping Beauty’!”

Oh, it’s the same story I once told Veil.

It’s an orthodox story about a princess who falls asleep due to a curse and wakes up with the prince’s kiss.
I’m surprised Veil chose such a romantic piece.
In the first scene, fairies will give gifts to the newborn princess.

A small, cute group comes rushing in.

“We are faiwies!”
“Yes! Faiwies!”
“We give bwessings!”

It’s the earth spirits.
They are spiritual beings that control nature’s activities, but they have materialized in the form of cute girls.
A swarm of them have gathered today.

“I see, you’re the fairies.”

There’s something peculiar about spirits playing fairy.
What even is the difference between them, anyway?

“We are acting the role of the faiwies as wequested by Lady Veil!”
“So, here we are as faiwies!”

Okay, okay. I get it.
Their role in the story is to give various gifts to the princess to celebrate her birth.
The gifts are beauty, virtue, and so on.

“Here’s a gift for Junior!”
“A birthday gift!”
“We bwess you with good wooks and a beautiful voice!”

Wait, why are they flocking to Junior?
That’s not how the story goes. They should be flocking to the princess.
Oh, there’s no one to play that role!

“Hahaha! Did you see that, Master?”

Veil lets out a loud laughter.

“This is the highlight of the play! The star of the show is none other than Junior!”
“What?!”
“We’ve chosen a story that has a baby so Junior can be the main character! This way, he can experience the unique feeling of being the star!”

She used the play as an excuse for this admirable plan!
While it does sound a lot of fun for the kid…

The main character in Sleeping Beauty is a princess, right?
Junior is a boy!
I think it’s a fatal mistake to have the wrong gender for the character!

“Hehehehehehe!”

Where is that creepy laugh coming from?
What is it this time?!

The spirits react as per the script.

“Hm? Is that…”
“What’s our next wine?”
“It’s the witch!”
“The witch is here!”

Witch?
Some spirits forgot their lines, though.

The character cloaked in black who appeared in time with the scene change is…

“…Garra Rufa?”

She’s one of the mermaids who work on our farm and is called the Witch of the Plague.
She’s part of this play, too?

“What’s she doing?”

Platy, who is watching the play next to me, has a surprised look on her face.

“Hehehe… H-How dare you not invite me…” says Garra Rufa in a monotonous tone, as if she’s reciting from a book.

“Wait, she’s the witch? She’s always been called one, though?”
“I guess that’s why she’s well-suited for it. Though I must say, she sounds…flat.”

Garra Rufa’s monotonous voice is enough to keep me and Platy in suspense.

“I’m going to put a curse on that boy as payback for shunning me. For making me an outcast…”

This is the role of the witch in Sleeping Beauty, who curses the princess out of anger for not inviting her to the party.

With Garra Rufa so into her role, it makes the atmosphere eerie.

“The princess is cursed to die… Eek! This may be a play, but I can never allow myself to do such a horrible thing to Lord Saint and Lady Platy’s child! How about… Ah, a mellower curse!”

She randomly changed the story on her own.

“Yes… Let’s do this instead! I’m going to put a curse on baby Junior that will make him the favorite of all bacteria! If anything, I’d be happy if they swarm him! Phooey, this isn’t even a curse anymore. It’s a gift!”

Her love for bacteria came out.
As the only one who knows about the existence of bacteria in this otherworldly fantasy, Garra Rufa’s love for them knows no bounds.

“Ahh! What kind of curse are you putting on him?!” screams Platy. “I know bacteria can cause diseases and are dangerous! If someone as vulnerable as Junior gets swarmed with it, he’ll dieeeee!”
“Calm down, Platy. It’s just a story…!”

Garra Rufa creates the ultimate curse with the intention of making it mild.
As expected, her title of the craziest of the Six Witches isn’t just for show.

Once she finished her part, Garra Rufa left the scene.
It was quite a peculiar yet strangely fascinating performance.

“Now, it’s my turn!” says Veil.

Don’t tell me, she’s the last fairy who will fight off the witch’s curse in the story?
She went and took the best role for herself.

“Curse that witch actress, she had the nerve to ignore my perfect script and do an adlib. In that case, I’ll improvise better than her to save face as the leading role!”

You’re the lead?

“I will give you a blessing that far surpasses the witch’s curse: power, magic, and the lifespan of a dragon!”

Just before Veil releases her dragon magic in a made-up story…

“Don’t get serious in a play!!!”

Platy sends her flying with a kick.

“Don’t I always tell you not to toy with Junior like that?! You’re just going to repeat what the gods did!”
“Gah… You’re right…”

The gods of the earth and sea once caused an uproar when they tried to give Junior ridiculous blessings.

---

In the end, Veil’s play was canceled.
Since our Junior was chosen to play the princess’ role, there was no way to proceed any further.
How should they act out the princess’ development over the years?
And I’ll say it again, Junior is a boy, so he can’t be a princess.

“Hmm… I thought it’d be interesting to include Junior in the play… I didn’t foresee such setbacks!” trembles Veil at how poorly she had made the script.

Well, she did plan the play to entertain Junior, so I still appreciate her sentiments as a parent.

“The pway was fun!”
“Let’s do it again!”
“We’ll put on a spectacle filled with wove and emotion!”

The earth spirits seem to have enjoyed acting.
The play itself was a good idea, so maybe we can try it again when Junior is older and can make decisions on his own.

“I chose that story because I wanted a baby character Junior could play. I should’ve been more careful in my selection… And at the very least, the main character has to be the same gender!”

Veil is still reflecting on the situation and then says, “We’ll just have a play with a boy in it next! In other words, Momotaro! Master! Put Junior in this guy!”
“Hi, I’m Momochitanba, a peach spirit.”

Veil presented a large, talking peach.

“Let Junior experience the exhilaration of cracking open this thing and coming out! I bet he’ll feel like the hero Momotaro!”
“No.”

Don’t expect too much out of Junior. He’s still young.

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