episode_0078

[Episode 78] – Once upon a time, in a certain world (5)

A spell that grants the caster’s earnest wish.

Catherine began to read the last page as if possessed by something. Sadly, as soon as she read the word ‘desperate’, Trisha came to Catherine’s mind first.

If I use this magic, how will my wish come true?

Does Trisha love me?

Will you stay by my side without remarrying?

Thinking about it, Catherine trembled with an inexplicable emotion slowly rising from a corner of her heart. What if this magic her mother had left behind was real?

Catherine returned to the Count’s house with the book and letter her mother had left behind, and began to study the magic that grants wishes written on the last page.

Locked in her room and never coming out, just learning about magic, deciphering it, studying it, Catherine was obsessed with magic.

As long as Trisha could be by his side, he didn’t care if this was some witch’s trick rather than a fairy’s magic.

If what was written in the book was true, Trisha would come back to her, so who would care where the magic came from? Catherine was crazy about magic.

As a result of her obsession with magic, Catherine eventually perfected it. She was able to perform the magic written on the last page, which was ‘a magic that grants the caster’s ardent wish’, right now.

But he could have used his magic right away and brought Trisha by his side.

Catherine couldn’t do that.

The day before the magical preparations were completed and Catherine was determined to execute them, she received the long-awaited letter. The words written in the letter from Trisha, who wanted to meet her, shook Catherine’s heart.

Why come now?

You haven’t even replied to my letters until now.

You want to see me now?

Catherine wanted to ignore the heartbreaking letter with its sad message, but she simply could not ignore the letter Trisha sent her.

Who could refuse when their loved one desperately asks to see them? Catherine began to write a reply to the letter with a hint of anticipation.

Yeah, maybe Trisha changed her mind? Maybe she just realized that it would be wiser to accept my offer than to remarry.

No, it must be so. If Trisha came to me of her own accord, I wouldn’t have to use magic like this to ignore her feelings. But what if that doesn’t work this time?

Catherine’s brow furrowed as doubt and anxiety crept up her toes, but she shook her head and decided to trust Trisha one more time, one last time.

Just in case, Catherine tore off the last page of the spellbook, folded it up, and put it in her pocket. If Trisha betrayed her again, she planned to use the spell on the spot.

So Catherine turned to Trisha with a complicated mind, mixed with doubt and anticipation.

*

“Thanks for coming, Catherine.”

“……Because you said you wanted to meet.”

Catherine and Trisha met at a secret bar on a red-light district.

On the surface, it was just an ordinary bar in a red-light district, but if you asked the owner, he would guide you to a secret space, and it was often used as a place for nobles to enjoy secret meetings.

“So…? You changed your mind now?”

Catherine slumped down in her chair and asked Trisha in a matter-of-fact tone. Her words came out as if she was not interested, but her heart was full of earnestness.

“……”

But Catherine soon realized that Trisha’s mind had not changed at all, and that nothing this meeting could change.

“……I’m sorry, Catherine.”

“……ha.”

“The reason I wanted to meet you this time is… I don’t want to end it like this, fighting with you, my precious friend.”

Catherine clutched the magic page in her pocket so tightly that it almost crumpled at Trisha’s words. Trisha, whom she had not seen in a long time, had not changed at all.

I was thinking about opening the magic page right away and making my wish come true, but Trisha’s expression was so bad that I listened intently to hear her story.

“…If it were you, you would have found out about my second marriage partner, right? ”

“…Yeah. I know that guy has a daughter and that he’s running a business that doesn’t seem like a business.”

“Then the story will be quick.”

Haha, Trisha, who had been laughing in vain, had a bitter expression on her face. No matter how I looked at it, it seemed that Trisha also knew that this remarriage was not the right answer. Then why on earth?

“Why on earth are you obsessed with remarrying that guy? Do you hate me that much? Do you like that guy so much that you would remarry him instead of me?”

Finally, Catherine couldn’t stand it anymore and asked in a sarcastic tone. Trisha’s lips moved for a moment after hearing Catherine’s question, and then she answered in a trembling voice.

“…That man offered an absurd amount of gold to my father, no, to Baron Sergio, in exchange for a noble title with me.”

“…what?”

“The Baron has already spent all of those gold coins. If I say I won’t get married, he’ll ask me to give him all of those gold coins. What on earth should I do?”

The trembling in her voice grew louder and louder, and she began to sob. Trisha wiped away the tears that were streaming down her face, took a deep breath, and continued speaking.

“It’s common for women to remarry as if they were being sold to men. Even I have two daughters. No, if I get married, I have three daughters now. He has a daughter too.”

“……”

“I don’t know what he’s thinking, but it’s clear what I’ll gain from this remarriage.”

“… He’s a man with enough wealth to buy off a baron with money, so with that much wealth, he should be able to send his children to good marriage places. You, poor man, are remarrying only for that reason, right?”

“…As expected, Catherine knows me well.”

Tsk, Catherine clicked her tongue strongly at Trisha’s words. No matter how much she listened to the story, she still didn’t understand it in the end. If money was the problem, she could solve it all herself.

“I told you. If money is the problem, I will solve it. I can help you even if it means using the Count’s fortune. There is an easier way without this kind of remarriage that seems like selling you out. But why are you..!!”

Trisha shook her head in response to Catherine’s words, which were raised in a voice filled with emotion. Catherine could not understand why she was so stubborn.

Trisha smiled bitterly and held Catherine’s hand as she looked like she was about to burst into tears. This behavior, which seemed to be soothing a child, was the only habit of Trisha’s that Catherine disliked.

Trisha took a deep breath and tried to calm her trembling heart. After a moment of silence, Trisha looked at Catherine with a faint smile and asked.

“If I accept your favor and become the count’s concubine, you will help me with everything. From what I eat to what I wear, and even where I live, you will decide. Right?”

“Of course. I can do anything for you.”

Trisha smiled even more bitterly at Catherine’s immediate answer. Trisha, who was smiling as if this answer was wrong, let out a small sigh.

“Catherine, I am not your pet.”

“…what?”

“I said I’m your friend, not your pet. I’m not a dress-up doll that eats the food you give me and wears the clothes you give me.”

Catherine was speechless for a moment. She had never imagined that Catherine would interpret the favor she was sending in such a way. Catherine laughed bitterly and retorted.

“I… never thought of you that way, Trisha.”

Catherine’s fist trembled slightly as she held the paper with the spell written on it tightly. Catherine wondered whether she should ignore Trisha’s opinion and use the selfish spell to just ask her to come by her side, which was her ‘desperate wish’.

However, if she continued to use magic and ignore Trisha’s opinion, the thought began to creep into Catherine’s head that she would be treating Trisha like a pet, just as she said.

“I know. I know you don’t think of me that way. It’s not that you think of me that way, it’s just that I feel that way. If I leave everything to you like this, I’m no better than your pet.”

“…..I just wanted to help you as a friend.”

“Friendship is a give-and-take relationship, right? You say you’ll give me everything I want, but I have nothing to give you. How can you and I remain friends then?”

“……”

Catherine really couldn’t say anything. If she used magic to keep Trisha by her side, it would be like admitting that she thought of Trisha as a pet, just like she said.

But I don’t even have the confidence to convince Trisha with words. How can I tell her so firmly that her thoughts are wrong and that coming to me is the right thing to do?

In this way, Catherine’s persuasion, magic, and everything she had prepared to bring Trisha back to her side had all ended in failure. Feeling that everything was in vain, Catherine let out a hollow laugh.

“You’ll regret it.”

“I know.”

“You will regret it terribly. You will regret it bitterly, thinking, “Why didn’t you listen to Catherine back then?” Even if you come to me and ask me for help, I won’t help you.”

Finally, she tried cursing at Trisha, but it was no use. Finally, feeling that she could not break Trisha’s stubbornness, Catherine raised her head and sighed deeply.

Catherine, realizing that she would never be able to fulfill her ardent wish, took the crumpled piece of paper with the spell written on it out of her pocket and handed it to Trisha.

Trisha tilted her head and asked what this paper was.

“What is this?”

“Anyway, with your personality, you wouldn’t accept a jewel as a wedding gift, right?”

“Yes, that will happen.”

“So, please accept this. When you are really having a hard time, when you think of this note, open it. It might help you. Can you accept this much?”

Trisha hesitated for a moment, deciding whether to accept it or not, and reluctantly put the paper Catherine handed her into her clutch bag.

The magic was made so that it could be activated simply by executing it, so it was clear that Trisha would be able to use the magic easily if she just unfolded the folded paper.

A fairy magic that grants the ‘caster’s fervent wish’. The magic left the hands of Catherine, who inherited the fairy blood, and passed on to Trisha, an ordinary person.

Catherine handed over the paper and made a wish. If only Trisha had been the one who desperately wanted to be with her when she was having a hard time, if only Trisha had come back to her.

Thinking the story was over, Catherine got up from her seat and walked towards the door leading out. As she was about to turn the doorknob and go out, Trisha called out to Catherine in a loud voice.

Trisha hesitated for a moment, then grabbed the hem of her skirt and opened her mouth. Trisha, who was contemplating what to say, smiled with the corners of her eyes raised, and said her final goodbye.

“…Thank you. For liking me.”

“Me too.”

“You should be happy. More than me.”

“You too.”

After exchanging greetings, Catherine turned the handle and opened the door. She wanted to turn her head to see what expression Trisha was making, but Catherine did not look back and just headed out.

Not knowing that this meeting would be his ‘last meeting’ with Trisha.

Later on, he may regret to the death that he gave ‘magic’ to Trisha.

Catherine just waited for Trisha to make her wish and come back to her side.

I just, just, waited.