"What... what are you doing?"
Seeing Shien having such a great time playing with a group of fairies, Carol finally spoke up.
Only then did Shien notice Carol's arrival.
"What, it's you."
Shien responded with a curl of his lip, not stopping his play with the fairies.
Hearing Shien speak as though he really did not want to see her, Carol instinctively wanted to get angry.
But immediately afterward, Carol gave up. She took several deep breaths, suppressed the irritation in her heart, and walked toward Shien with a grim expression.
"Children, go play on your own for now."
Carol spoke gently to the numerous little fairies around Shien.
"—"
The fairies stirred slightly, seemingly unwilling.
The sight made Carol's gaze toward Shien rather complicated.
"Don't look at me like that." Shien immediately clarified, "They came here to play on their own. I didn't kidnap them."
"...I know." Carol said speechlessly, "I never said you kidnapped them."
"Really?" Rather than feeling reassured, Shien asked, "Given how you Elves are, shouldn't you first suspect that I, a male outsider, did something?"
"You..." Carol truly felt that this man was exceptionally good at provoking people. She had clearly been deliberately restraining herself, yet he had still nearly stirred her temper.
All Carol could do was force out a stiff reply.
"I already told you that the magic power and aura you emit are extremely attractive to our Elves and these fairies. So, not only did I anticipate the fairies coming here, Her Majesty the Queen anticipated it as well."
In other words, they were not surprised by it.
Of course, Carol did not say that while she had guessed the fairies would be drawn to Shien's magic power and aura, she had not expected these naturally timid, shy fairies to gather around