episode_0020

“Lena and I met at the orphanage. I only found out later that the head nun there was a monster.”

The story flowed to the woman who shook her head.

Setting aside expectations, folding them again and again, the heart crumpled into tiny pieces wrapped around her hands.

“From the first time I saw her, Lena looked as pretty as a doll, catching the attention of all the orphanage kids. Of course… you could say she had quite a rough personality. She would stand up to the nuns who bullied us, rebel, and got severely beaten by the whipping winds.”

There was a hint of darkness in her clear blue eyes.

A faint scar showed on her slightly turned cheek.

“I also got hit a bit. But Lena was truly – hmm. Her temperament was fiery. She got so badly hurt, until she completely lost her mind. That’s when she came to me with a book. Asking me to read it.”

“…Did you become close like that?”

“Yes. She tended to my wounds and fell asleep in my bed; I couldn’t bring myself to wake her up, so I let her sleep a few times. From then on, she clung to me whenever she could, calling me ‘big brother.’ Even after seven years, she’s still the same.”

Her blue eyes did not turn towards Hilde.

Thus, the woman shrouded in shadows lowered her chin.

Because she knew that kindness was meant for everyone.

“You two seem very close…”

“Lena was the first one to call me a hero. She was the first one I saved. I received the holy sword from the sky. On the day when the head nun tried to beat Lena to death.”

It wasn’t the first time.

Nor was it the only time.

“We’ve been inseparable since then. Whatever we do, wherever we go, we do it together. Thanks to that, I don’t have a single close friend. Except for the judge and the prosecutor who came to see me.”

“Do you have a relationship with the judge…?”

Hilde’s violet eyes wavered at the boy who affectionately called someone with names more fearsome than his own.

To the witch surrounded by enemies on all sides, the ‘hero’ clad in white smiled.

“Yes. He came to confirm whether I was worthy of the holy sword. Since then, he has occasionally taught me. So, don’t worry too much. It’s just to inquire about my thoughts, nothing more.”

“What if… being a heretic? What if you were wrong? What if you’re not a hero? If someone says that because of me -”

“Well, if that were the case, wouldn’t God have punished me already? If I were evil, wouldn’t the holy sword and flame have consumed me long ago?”

With a shrug of his shoulders and an innocent smile, a deep sigh rattled the desk.

Hilde’s worry deepened as she looked blankly, as if not understanding English, her concern growing.

“Calling what I tried to save a curse, saying the grass I gave to help is poison, seeing the scythe I wield to protect and calling me a reaper. Always haunted by those things – could it be you? Seeing you, embracing me, wouldn’t they call me a heretic?”

“Yes.”

A bizarre certainty.

An almost absurdly short answer.

The pressure on the woman’s neck increased for a moment before releasing.

Unlike the gazes of others filled with fear and disgust, the person in front of her was illuminating herself clearly.

Far from being cold, he greeted her with warm words.

“Why are you being so kind to me?”

“It’s something I should naturally do.”

“It’s not natural.”

The black-haired woman couldn’t forget the passing time.

The tears she shed while running, chased by thieves.

With a sword stained with the blood of all those known, driven by malice into the cursed forest’s entrance.

A situation where one had no choice but to grasp the hand of a messenger.

Followed by moments of solitude that ensued.

“Of course, it’s not obvious. So give me a reason. Why are you pushing yourself so hard to help me like this?”

His own position, teetering on the brink of crisis and downfall, uncertain if he would overturn his fate.

The emotions of a beautiful girl who referred to herself as a younger sister.

Despite leaving everything behind, a man named Lian stood before the woman called a witch.

“Is it because I seem pitiful? Because I look troubled? Or maybe, or…maybe.”

His hand trembled.

The woman, who had forgotten kindness, clenched her heart in anticipation.

“Do you think there was a special reason why I saved Lena that day?”

And it shattered.

Like solid ice shattering into pieces.

Turning cold like chilled water, extinguishing the ember she had held even a little.

“Of course, there aren’t many who do the obvious things.”

“Yeah, that’s true… huh?”

However, the following words became a stumbling block.

The small ember she believed in was already turning into a clear flame.

“That’s the hardest part, they say. Summoning the courage to do the obvious.”

“…How does one find that courage? Duty?”

“Well, that’s one way, but Miss Hilde… Well, it’s like… a similar feeling to Lena.”

Embracing each other, their heads so close that their lips seemed almost to touch.

If the emotions harbored for the beautiful girl were the same, what could they be?

“I just couldn’t leave it alone. Of course, Lena asked for my help – maybe the difference is that Miss Hilde tried to push me away.”

“So, you reached out simply because you saw the need for help? That’s why you extended your hand?”

“It’s not that—”

Her blue eyes lingered for a moment.

Then, they shifted from the warrior battling evil spirits…

To something else.

“Well, um… It left quite an impression, becoming purple eyes. Even the eye sockets seemed important…”

The flowing words were undeniably warm.

Beyond warm, they were hot.

As if swallowing her heart like the white flames that roared in the forest –

“That’s right. It’s about smiling.”

“Smiling?”

“When we first met, you looked so tired, leaning on a pole, but now you’re beaming. I wanted to see that…smile.”

Her face flushed.

Very intensely.

She knew that if you get too close to a fire claiming not to be warm, your face will surely heat up.

As lonely as the witch who shivered alone in the cold.

“This, this story has gotten strange. Anyway, I wanted to help. You seemed precarious. Yes, because you seemed precarious! Like Lena -”

The rest of the story couldn’t be heard.

Her heart was pounding.

Pounding like a drum, causing her body and ears to throb uncontrollably.

Breathing became almost impossible.

“…I-I didn’t make a mistake, did I?”

“Oh, no. No, you didn’t. I…understood.”

The woman’s mouth was lying.

She couldn’t even bring herself to face the truth.

The hands clasped together to endure the pain, for some reason, were desperately trying to hide the pulsating heartbeat.

“Your hands have turned red. Are you hurt somewhere?”

“Huh?!”

As if static electricity had sparked where they touched, Hilde pulled her hands close to her body.

Forgetting to hide her flushed face.

“Was the night air very cold? Did you catch a cold?”

Before she could evade once more, this time, his hand touched her forehead.

The warmth of a person, the gaze filled with warm concern, and…

“You needn’t worry about the Judge’s visit so much. I’m here.”

Lian, who even went as far as naturally brushing aside her hair, finally made contact.

In the heart of a witch who avoids getting close to anyone.

– Knock, knock, knock.

Interrupting that moment was a polite knock three times.

The warmth that had reached the woman in an instant disappeared, replaced once again by coldness.

“Lian, are you inside?”

“Oh, yes. Come in.”

Even her gaze vanished, the breath Hillde was holding swirled in her mouth.

Unbearably cold, drying up even the inside of her mouth… something unpleasant.

The warmth that had come to the loner left.

To the nun speaking calmly at the door.

‘Huh?’

With that, the witch’s questioning began.

Why was she feeling tormented?

Towards the nun with no expression, why were these uncomfortable emotions arising?

“Hillde, I’m sorry to disturb you. Lena is calling for a mission report. It seems like you need to write a report….”

“Oh. Oh?”

At the sigh uttered unconsciously, the lady of the manor hastily closed her lips.

Then she nodded her head.

“Don’t worry. Once that’s done, I’ll be back soon. We can figure out how to respond to the judge later.”

“O… okay.”

As the door closed, only the fading heartbeat remained.

As the blood that had rushed in one moment drained away, a sense of emptiness crept over Hillde.

Tick, tick, tick….

The salt placed by the window.

Beyond it, an unpleasant laughter drifted on the wind.

“Tsk.”

Pulling out the sickle nervously, the window fell silent.

Yet, that did not fill the woman’s heart.

“This is… unprecedented.”

The witch recalled Lian’s smiling face from their first meeting.

Pointing to her clothes, outlining her chest with her hand, blushing with innocence.

Yet, this innocent kindness that came so close.

She pondered over it, again and again.

Alone in the room.

Sweetness swirled in her mouth.

A lingering subtle sweetness that far surpassed the bitterness of juniper berries.

Thus, her gaze turned to the empty space.

“What could it possibly be…?”

The outcast did not easily accept that answer.