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Chapter 4
“Wow.”
A five-year-old thinking like this already?
This was absolutely not something that could be explained by mere cleverness.
Ailesia’s eyes widened in genuine admiration, while Elenora clenched her tiny fists and continued speaking.
“If Ellie becomes super strong and protects Uncle and everyone else! Then Uncle won’t have to work so much and can rest, right? Right, Teacher?”
“That would be nice.”
“And then Uncle would play with Ellie more… so, so…”
As she spoke, her emotions welled up, and Elenora’s eyes quickly turned misty.
“Ellie.”
Ailesia immediately knelt down and pulled Elenora into a tight embrace, not caring at all if her clothes got dirty.
“You felt sad that your uncle doesn’t play with you much?”
“…A little.”
“But you’ve been holding it in all this time, right? Because you didn’t want to bother your uncle.”
“I was afraid… Uncle might get annoyed with Ellie… hic.”
“Your uncle loves you so much. That’s absolutely not true. It’s okay.”
A small hiccupping sound continued as Elenora tried to hold back her tears.
Ailesia swallowed the warmth rising in her chest and gently soothed the child.
“I’ll teach you magic.”
“Really?”
“Magic, anything. Everything you want, Ellie.”
“Everything…?”
“Do whatever you want, my child.”
For now, she decided to put the original story aside.
The child in her arms right now was simply a five-year-old girl starving for family love.
“Let’s get you strong enough that you can tell your uncle not to worry and just play with you more, okay?”
“Is that… really okay?”
“Yes, really. And even if it wasn’t okay, I’d make it okay.”
Ailesia wanted to protect Elenora. She wanted to make her happy—no matter what.
There would surely be hardships, but she would overcome them all so that in the end, the girl could smile.
She would teach her anything she wanted, give her anything she asked for.
‘Just like my aunt and my master did for me.’
She would create a future where this child would never be separated from the people she loved.
That was what she had been working toward all this time.
“I’ll protect everything. You, your uncle, and everyone you love.”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
Wiping away Elenora’s tears with her finger, Ailesia smiled confidently.
“Because I’m a kind and super strong witch.”
“……Teacher is the best person in the world.”
Still sniffling, Elenora hugged her tightly around the neck.
“But, Teacher…”
“Hmm?”
After a long while, Elenora lifted her head from the embrace and hesitantly asked,
“I love my uncle and grandmother too. They’re also the best in the world. What should I do?”
“……”
“And if I say Teacher is the best, then Grandma might not know, but Uncle will definitely get upset…”
“……Sh-should we think about this together?”
A five-year-old asking a question harder than “Who do you like more, mom or dad?”
And now there were three “best people in the world”?
This is too difficult.
The protagonist is really something.
By the time autumn leaves had nearly disappeared and winter began to creep into the air—
Ten days after the first snowfall, and only a couple of months since Elenora arrived in the forest, one morning changed everything.
“…Who is it? There are quite a few of them.”
It was just after sunrise. Elenora was still asleep.
Ailesia, out for a quiet morning walk, had noticed intruders entering the forest.
‘Not woodcutters or hunters. Not lost villagers either.’
She had always maintained a magical barrier around the entire forest.
It was to prevent people from going too deep inside, and to stop beasts or monsters from going down to the villages.
Most of them were weak in her eyes—but that was only from her perspective.
If even one creature like Whitey or Blancky showed up near a village, it would be total destruction.
‘Don’t tell me…?’
Snap!
With a flick of her fingers, Ailesia summoned a large mirror. On its surface, the forest scene appeared.
About ten men were moving in a group.
Armor covering their bodies, swords in their hands, heavy cloaks over their shoulders.
Clearly knights.
But one man at the front stood out.
He was slightly shorter than the others, but the aura he gave off was completely different.
‘That man…!’
He had black hair—just like Elenora.
When she shifted the angle of the mirror, obsidian-black eyes came into view.
‘Thermion!’
The Northern Grand Duke, known in the original story as the “Demon”—Elenora’s uncle—had finally arrived.
“…What do I do now?”
Ailesia nervously bit her fingertip.
This was the moment she had been waiting for, yet her tension surged through her body at the thought that things might go wrong.
‘I probably won’t die like in the original, but still… just in case.’
What was the best way to make sure Elenora and Thermion met safely—and that she herself wouldn’t be suspected?
Plan A: Drop Elenora right in front of her uncle.
‘Absolutely not! No way!’
Thermion would immediately take Elenora and leave the forest without looking back.
No way she would allow such a sudden separation.
Rejected.
Plan B: Bring Thermion alone to Elenora.
‘What if he just draws his sword instead?’
There was no guarantee he would listen to her explanation. He might even suspect she kidnapped Elenora.
Also rejected.
Plan C: Delay and try to talk things through.
‘If I use a bit of magic, it might work.’
If Elenora were hidden temporarily, Thermion would likely hesitate to act rashly.
But she was alone, and he had knights with him. They might attack first.
“…Sigh. Fine. Let’s go with Plan C.”
There was no guarantee anything would go as planned, but it was the best option.
At this point, she had no luxury for perfect planning.
The most important thing was simple: Elenora must safely meet Thermion and return home.
‘And I just need to prevent the curse from activating.’
It will work out.
She had trained for 500 years for exactly this moment.
Ailesia steadied herself, watching Thermion through the mirror.
After two months of searching for his missing niece—
The tracking artifact finally reacted strongly, pointing directly at a log house in front of him.
‘There.’
Clenching his jaw, Thermion carefully stepped forward.
“Singing while I cook~”
In the middle of the yard, a large pot was boiling, and a woman was humming softly beside it.
Sensing his presence, she turned around and blinked.
“Oh? Who are you?”
For a moment, Thermion froze.
‘…This is the witch they were talking about?’
Golden hair like melted gold. Clear blue eyes like a lake.
Every story said witches were ugly and cruel—but this woman looked like she had stepped out of a fairy tale, even more beautiful than a fairy.
But he quickly sharpened his senses.
“Where is my niece?”
He asked coldly, drawing his sword.
“Suddenly? Why would I have your niece?”
She tilted her head as if genuinely confused, continuing to stir the pot with a ladle, completely unfazed by the sword pointed at her.
It irritated him.
“I’ve heard reports of a five-year-old girl seen in this forest. Black hair, green eyes. Accompanied by an adult woman with blond hair and blue eyes.”
The informant had also added something disturbing:
“It must be the legendary Witch of the Western Forest.”
When he first heard it, his heart had dropped.
His missing niece… with a witch?
In that cursed forest full of monsters?
He had rushed here at dawn with his knights and searched through the maze-like woods.
And then, guided by the glowing tracking artifact, he had found this clearing—and this woman cooking happily by a lake.
“If blond hair and blue eyes are the criteria… that would be me.”
“…Then there’s no mistake. The Witch of the Western Forest.”
