A soft, knowing smile flickered in Grin's eyes. He didn't expose her transparent need for company, but instead skillfully pulled a chair over to the side of Beatrice's princess bed and sat down. He gave the mattress a light pat, suggesting she settle in.
"How could I possibly refuse your request, Beatrice?" he murmured.
Seeing her prideful facade crumble, the Great Spirit looked away, her cheeks tinged with a faint, embarrassed glow. She lowered her head to avoid his gaze and crawled beneath the covers, shuffling from the foot of the bed until she was tucked firmly against the headboard.
Grin summoned the Dark Fairy Tale Book and allowed it to fall open in his lap. The page dedicated to Little Red Riding Hood had already been saturated with color.
[Margaret, the Half-Wolf Girl (Core Illustration)]Unlock Condition: Dissect the bellies of one hundred canine creatures. Status: Unlocked.
The count had been fulfilled by the canine monsters Grin had previously torn apart during the battle in the forest. To his surprise, this "Core Illustration" lacked any description of special abilities or items. Instead, it displayed something far more bizarre:
Ceremony Requirement 1: Thousands of tons of flesh and blood.Ceremony Requirement 2: Sing the nursery rhyme "Grace Before Meals" aloud.
The rhyme itself was etched in tiny, cramped script at the bottom of the page.
"Is it not ready yet, Grin?" Beatrice's voice carried a barely perceptible tremor of impatience as she turned her head toward him.
Grin snapped out of his trance, his fingertips brushing across the parchment as he turned to a new section. Two fresh tales emerged from the shadows of the page: Jack and the Magic Bean and The Little Match Girl. The book never failed those who yearned for stories; it presented epics to the curious with a strange, generous gravity.
Seeing Beatrice lying there, her eyes wide and expectant, Grin cleared his throat and lowered his voice to a cinematic hum.
"Long, long ago, on the ragged outskirts of a forgotten kingdom, there lived a boy named Jack..."
He described how Jack had traded his family's last cow for a single magic bean, much to his mother's fury. He spoke of the vine that grew overnight, a twisting ladder connecting the earth to a floating island in the sky.
"...But the giants who lived above descended along those vines, bringing ruin to the world below and devouring humans alive," Grin continued. "To atone for his folly, Jack faced the Giant King. In the final, desperate second of their duel, Jack hurled a magic bean into the King's open maw. The bean sprouted instantly, bursting from the King's belly as the royal crown tumbled to the earth. That crown, forged from the heart of the first giant, granted the power to command them all. Jack used it to drive the monsters back to the clouds, saving his people..."
[Giant Catcher Jack]Unlock Condition: Capture a giant.
Beatrice didn't fall asleep. Instead, she frowned, her tone dripping with confusion. "This is entirely illogical. Do vines capable of reaching the sky truly exist, I suppose?"
Grin straightened the blankets for her and leaned in to whisper near her ear. "Fairy tales are all lies. Of course, I won't lie to you. If such a vine ever truly exists, I will take you up there to see it myself."
Beatrice scoffed, clearly unconvinced. "Want to pinky swear on it?" Grin teased.
"I do not," she refused resolutely, pulling her hands back under the covers to hug her Book of Wisdom tightly against her chest. She turned over, presenting her back to Grin to avoid his earnest stare.
"Betty cannot leave this place..." she said, her voice muffled by the pillow.
"Someone is talking nonsense again," Grin smiled helplessly. Noticing the blanket had loosened, he reached out and tucked her in once more, ensuring she was snug.
Beatrice fell silent, the only sound in the room being the soft, rhythmic rustle of the fairy tale book's pages. After a long pause, she spoke again. Her tone was heavy with a disappointment that had been accumulating for four hundred years.
"Grin, you have shared so many stories with me... In exchange, I will tell you a story of my own..."
Grin paused, his gaze softening. "It would be my pleasure, Beatrice."
The lonely Great Spirit curled deeper into her blankets, gathering her courage as if it were a physical weight she struggled to lift. Her voice was soft, carrying a faint, brittle tremor.
"Four hundred years ago, I was created by Mother. I lived a life that was carefree and happy. But one day, someone destroyed everything I had. Mother sent me away, leaving me in a room that exists nowhere, guarding a library of endless books. She made a verbal agreement with me—I was to wait for That Person. She said the Book of Wisdom would guide me, and I only needed to wait patiently."
She paused, her breath hitching.
"That was my initial thought. But later, the book became blank. Mother is gone. My elder brother has left to stay with that Half-Elf. People come and go in this mansion, but only the wind of the Forbidden Library blows through these pages year after year!"
Beatrice's fingers clenched the Book of Wisdom so hard her knuckles turned white. "Those days were eerily quiet," she whispered. She recounted how she had memorized every wormhole in every book, and how the Gate of Opportunity had frightened away or repelled the greedy.
"None of them are 'That Person.' Their names never appear in the book. When will this endless waiting finally reach its end?"
Beatrice suddenly turned around, her eyes misty with tears, staring intently at Grin.
"Grin... are you 'That Person'?"
Grin's heart skipped a beat. A thousand words jammed in his throat, and he desperately wanted to blurt out the answer she wanted to hear. But he knew that if he nodded now, he would only obtain an empty shell bound by a stale contract. To truly save the girl trapped in this dark room, he had to drag her soul out of it.
"If you want That Person to be me—if you follow your heart and firmly choose me—then I can be," he replied.
Beatrice's pupils trembled. "Why? Why didn't you just agree? If you were That Person, all the books in this library would belong to you! You would obtain a contract with a Great Spirit! My strength is nearly equal to my brother's! I could be your weapon!"
Grin shook his head, his gaze fixed on her reddened eyes.
"I am not interested in heavy knowledge," he said firmly. "And what I want is never a lifeless puppet."