“Are you awake? Take your medicine and go back to sleep.”
“Lira. Haven’t you left yet?”
“Where am I going to leave you? Let’s talk later.”
Lira handed the medicine to Amelie. Maybe the reason her body is heavy is because she is not in good condition. Amelie quietly swallowed the pills and lay down on her bed. She almost fell asleep completely when her head touched her pillow.
“By the way, how’s His Majesty? Is His Majesty okay?”
“I told you to go to bed, and you asked me all sorts of questions. He’s fine.”
Mrs. Enard and Milena looked at Lira with curious eyes.
‘How uncomfortable it must be that the cat I used to love was a human.’
Amelie agreed.
‘If His Majesty is all right— can I get some sleep?’
Amelie fell asleep again.
After that, Amelie woke up from sleep, ate, took medicine, and went back to sleep.
‘I have to go see Serwin.’
She kept thinking, but her body was heavy and everything was bothersome.
Perhaps because she had been thinking about him all the time, she seemed to have seen Serwin’s face in her sleep.
When it was the third day of only waking to eat and take pills, Lira said she could stop taking medicine.
“I’m so glad. You don’t know how worried I was.”
“You’ve been sleeping for three days. I was waiting for Miss Amelie to wake up.”
“Isn’t the medicine strange, and pretending to wait patiently while running around and killing yourselves over nothing?”
Lira grumbled. Apparently, the three’s relationship had irreversibly worsened over the course of three days.
‘Well, I can’t help that.’
Amelie believed that Lira could take care of herself. In any case she said she wouldn’t stay long.
When Amelie stopped taking the medicine, her body became surprisingly relaxed. Rather, she was more energetic than before the hunting day, and her motivation was revived.
“If you don’t mind, why don’t we talk for a while?”
Lira first suggested a conversation. Amelie had thought that they should have a serious conversation.
The two chatted while eating. Amelie was very dissatisfied with her watery chicken soup, but she didn’t want to complain about the side dishes in front of the Lira, so she just ate it.
“About the disaster.”
It was Lira who opened her mouth first.
“Yes.”
“When I thought about it while you were sleeping, I heard a story about the founding of the country when I was young.”
“Is that so?”
“I thought the founding stories were all exaggerated. But I can’t believe the disaster was real—”
Lira no longer doubted the existence of the disaster. What she saw that night was nothing but disaster.
“Why is it on the continent?”
“I don’t know about that. There are very few records left before the empire was established.”
“You said it was a thousand years ago, right? So, it’s an ancient existence— would the Grand Witch keep records related to him? Does ancient knowledge continue?”
“Yeah. Demon gods are ancient gods. Therefore, it will be a long time since we began serving him. They say that the history of witches is longer than the history of the empire.”
Lira was full of pride.
“I see. It was the first time I knew that witches have a longer history.”
“You’ll learn from now on.”
Hmm? Learning?
“I’ll stay here and make you a decent witch.”
“Me?” Amelie blinked, almost dropping her spoon.
“Originally, I was going to take you and leave it to another witch, but I think I’d better stay here.”
It was not easy to find another witch to take care of Amelie anyway. The number of witches was decreasing, and there were many witches who had lost touch because they were scattered. Amelie’s situation was complicated, so she thought it would be better to remain here herself rather than struggle to find the right person.
“Are you really going to help me?”
Amelie’s eyes sparkled. She refused Lira’s previous offer to go far away and learn because of Serwin, but she was deeply disappointed to have to turn down such a tantalizing offer.
“I can’t leave after seeing that. And sometimes the Imperial Palace is better than my house.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much.”
Amelie smiled broadly. If it hadn’t been for the table between them, she would have hugged Lira and jumped.
“Don’t thank me. It’s my job to take care of kids like you.”
“But still.”
“If I hadn’t been asked by someone I owe, I would have quit already.”
“I’ll thank that person too. Please take good care of me!”
Amelie held out her hand. Lira looked at her hand with a distant look, and took her hand while saying, “Oh my.”
“There was nothing to shake hands with. Witches don’t touch each other.”
“I see. I’ll remember that.”
Amelie waved her hand with joy.
“Why don’t you finish eating?”
“Yes!”
Amelie again fought to eat the bland chicken soup.
“By the way, it’s still dark outside the window. Now I get scared when the weather is like that.”
“Haha. It’s been that way for three days. It’s just rain clouds, so there’s nothing to worry about. What were their thoughts on building the imperial palace in such a place?”
“It’s a little strange, isn’t it? There’s a mountain right behind it. Wasn’t it a location to seal the disaster?”
“Well, that’s quite right.”
Lira nodded.
“Right. Let’s start class in a few days. You need to bring your luggage. There’s something to look into.”
“Yes, I’ll sort out the questions in the meantime!”
Amelie gladly replied. She couldn’t stand her anticipation as she looked forward to getting to know about being a true witch in the future.
******
Lira left immediately after eating. While Lira was gone Amelie reviewed her magic book. It was to follow Lira’s teachings. One day passed, two days passed. Amelie had fully restored her original stamina, but the progress in her studies was sluggish.
‘What is Serwin doing now? I haven’t even seen him once.’
Except for seeing him while she was half asleep, she has never seen him since Hunting Day. Including the three days of sleeping and waking like a zombie, it has already been five days.
“Why doesn’t he come to see me?”
Amelie grumbled with disappointment. She has suffered because of him, but how does he not come to find her once? Of course, he would be busy cleaning up after Hunting Day, but it’s not like people do that without having five minutes to spare.
‘Aren’t you worried about me?’
Amelie raised her eyebrows. If Serwin doesn’t come, she’ll go find him.
“Mrs. Enard. Please help me get ready to go out.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“I’m going to see His Majesty. Is it time for him to be at the Imperial Palace?”
“That’s—”
“What’s wrong? No way, did His Majesty tell me not to come? Wow, he’s a really rude person.”
Mrs. Enard blurted out the words.
“It’s not like that!”
“Then?”
“His Majesty has always been by Miss Amelie’s side.”
“When I woke up, His Majesty wasn’t there.”
“He told me not to say this—”
Mrs. Enard spoke with difficulty.
“Why?”
“When Miss Amelie was asleep, he kept looking after you, and when you showed any sign of waking up, he disappeared somewhere.”
Amelie blinked. He was next to her and disappeared when he saw a sign of her waking up?
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!
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“Where did he go?”
“No one knows. That’s why Baron Avery has come to visit Miss Amelie a few times. He asked us to help find His Majesty. But Miss Amelie is not able to be in that situation, so I’ve been refusing it, but I think he’ll come back soon.”
“He doesn’t work at all?”
“Yes. He hasn’t been here since today.”
He didn’t want to be separated from her, so he worked nonstop even though he didn’t go to work. There were things that had to be done only by him, so he didn’t postpone important things and did them on time.
‘And then he suddenly went underwater—?’
The Hunting Day had also ended without making any victims. The nobles who had been taken hostage had no memories of the day. He doesn’t have to feel guilty—.
‘If it’s something that hasn’t been resolved, maybe it’s a fight with me. Maybe because of that?’
Amelie shook her head.
‘If he was angry about it, he wouldn’t have continued to take care of me.’
It was hard for Amelie to imagine what was going on in his head. He had a lot of thoughts and it’s complicated, and sometimes she couldn’t understand him, but today was the most confusing of them all.
“If I shout for His Majesty to come out, will he come out?”
“If he was going to come out like that, he wouldn’t have been hiding in the first place.”
“I see. He’ll come out on his own when the time comes.”
Amelie shrugged her shoulders. Mrs. Enard was very embarrassed by Amelie’s reaction.
“Are you not going to look for him?”
“It’s funny to see a grown-up hiding on his own, and running around trying to make people find him.”
“Yes…”
Mrs. Enard looked disappointed, but she didn’t show it to Amelie.
“I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap. I think I still have some medicine left in my body.”
Amelie crawled under the blanket. She’s in her pajamas anyway, so she closed her eyes and she was ready to sleep right away.
“Would you like me to wake you up when it’s time for dinner?”
“No, I’ll call you if I need it.”
“Yes. Then please take a rest.”
Mrs. Enard put out the lights in the room and went out. Serwin’s aides waited in front of the bedroom, clasped their hands tightly and looked at her.
“What happened! Do you think Miss Amelie can help?!”
“Have you found His Majesty!”
Mrs. Enard put her index finger in her mouth.
“She’s sleeping. Please come again next time.”
“Again?”
“Tomorrow is the sixth day!”
The aides were frustrated.
“Even if His Majesty isn’t there, there won’t be any problems right away. Can’t you wait a day?”
“That’s true but—”
Of course, not everything was paralyzed totally without Serwin. When he had gone on a trip or was suddenly thrown into Amelie’s palace, it was a bit of a problem, but it went well.
“It’s a huge problem that we can’t figure out where he is at all!”
“Everyone’s just saying that they don’t know even if you ask His Majesty’s knights. I don’t know if they really don’t know or are ignoring us!”
No one knows where Serwin is. It’s okay right now, but on the day this fact enters the ears of the nobles, there will be a big problem.
“Still, go back today.”
Mrs. Enard also understood the feelings of the aides. If Amelie had disappeared for three days, she would have tried to find her even if she needed to lie down in front of Serwin.
“I’ll speak to Miss Amelie again tomorrow.”
“I beg you.”
“The fate of the empire is at stake.”
The aides went back with a request. Mrs. Enard’s gaze at their weak backs contained a complex feeling.
‘What happened between Amelie and His Majesty?’
When Amelie heard that Serwin had disappeared, Mrs. Enard thought she would go out to find him immediately. But she didn’t even look for it, let alone worry about it.
‘At first glance, Milena said that His Majesty had done something wrong—. Amelie’s attitude was like that— would it be difficult to be the same as before?’
Mrs. Enard hoped the matter would be settled well.
“Are you awake? Take your medicine and go back to sleep.”
“Lira. Haven’t you left yet?”
“Where am I going to leave you? Let’s talk later.”
Lira handed the medicine to Amelie. Maybe the reason her body is heavy is because she is not in good condition. Amelie quietly swallowed the pills and lay down on her bed. She almost fell asleep completely when her head touched her pillow.
“By the way, how’s His Majesty? Is His Majesty okay?”
“I told you to go to bed, and you asked me all sorts of questions. He’s fine.”
Mrs. Enard and Milena looked at Lira with curious eyes.
‘How uncomfortable it must be that the cat I used to love was a human.’
Amelie agreed.
‘If His Majesty is all right— can I get some sleep?’
Amelie fell asleep again.
After that, Amelie woke up from sleep, ate, took medicine, and went back to sleep.
‘I have to go see Serwin.’
She kept thinking, but her body was heavy and everything was bothersome.
Perhaps because she had been thinking about him all the time, she seemed to have seen Serwin’s face in her sleep.
When it was the third day of only waking to eat and take pills, Lira said she could stop taking medicine.
“I’m so glad. You don’t know how worried I was.”
“You’ve been sleeping for three days. I was waiting for Miss Amelie to wake up.”
“Isn’t the medicine strange, and pretending to wait patiently while running around and killing yourselves over nothing?”
Lira grumbled. Apparently, the three’s relationship had irreversibly worsened over the course of three days.
‘Well, I can’t help that.’
Amelie believed that Lira could take care of herself. In any case she said she wouldn’t stay long.
When Amelie stopped taking the medicine, her body became surprisingly relaxed. Rather, she was more energetic than before the hunting day, and her motivation was revived.
“If you don’t mind, why don’t we talk for a while?”
Lira first suggested a conversation. Amelie had thought that they should have a serious conversation.
The two chatted while eating. Amelie was very dissatisfied with her watery chicken soup, but she didn’t want to complain about the side dishes in front of the Lira, so she just ate it.
“About the disaster.”
It was Lira who opened her mouth first.
“Yes.”
“When I thought about it while you were sleeping, I heard a story about the founding of the country when I was young.”
“Is that so?”
“I thought the founding stories were all exaggerated. But I can’t believe the disaster was real—”
Lira no longer doubted the existence of the disaster. What she saw that night was nothing but disaster.
“Why is it on the continent?”
“I don’t know about that. There are very few records left before the empire was established.”
“You said it was a thousand years ago, right? So, it’s an ancient existence— would the Grand Witch keep records related to him? Does ancient knowledge continue?”
“Yeah. Demon gods are ancient gods. Therefore, it will be a long time since we began serving him. They say that the history of witches is longer than the history of the empire.”
Lira was full of pride.
“I see. It was the first time I knew that witches have a longer history.”
“You’ll learn from now on.”
Hmm? Learning?
“I’ll stay here and make you a decent witch.”
“Me?” Amelie blinked, almost dropping her spoon.
“Originally, I was going to take you and leave it to another witch, but I think I’d better stay here.”
It was not easy to find another witch to take care of Amelie anyway. The number of witches was decreasing, and there were many witches who had lost touch because they were scattered. Amelie’s situation was complicated, so she thought it would be better to remain here herself rather than struggle to find the right person.
“Are you really going to help me?”
Amelie’s eyes sparkled. She refused Lira’s previous offer to go far away and learn because of Serwin, but she was deeply disappointed to have to turn down such a tantalizing offer.
“I can’t leave after seeing that. And sometimes the Imperial Palace is better than my house.”
“Thank you. Thank you very much.”
Amelie smiled broadly. If it hadn’t been for the table between them, she would have hugged Lira and jumped.
“Don’t thank me. It’s my job to take care of kids like you.”
“But still.”
“If I hadn’t been asked by someone I owe, I would have quit already.”
“I’ll thank that person too. Please take good care of me!”
Amelie held out her hand. Lira looked at her hand with a distant look, and took her hand while saying, “Oh my.”
“There was nothing to shake hands with. Witches don’t touch each other.”
“I see. I’ll remember that.”
Amelie waved her hand with joy.
“Why don’t you finish eating?”
“Yes!”
Amelie again fought to eat the bland chicken soup.
“By the way, it’s still dark outside the window. Now I get scared when the weather is like that.”
“Haha. It’s been that way for three days. It’s just rain clouds, so there’s nothing to worry about. What were their thoughts on building the imperial palace in such a place?”
“It’s a little strange, isn’t it? There’s a mountain right behind it. Wasn’t it a location to seal the disaster?”
“Well, that’s quite right.”
Lira nodded.
“Right. Let’s start class in a few days. You need to bring your luggage. There’s something to look into.”
“Yes, I’ll sort out the questions in the meantime!”
Amelie gladly replied. She couldn’t stand her anticipation as she looked forward to getting to know about being a true witch in the future.
******
Lira left immediately after eating. While Lira was gone Amelie reviewed her magic book. It was to follow Lira’s teachings. One day passed, two days passed. Amelie had fully restored her original stamina, but the progress in her studies was sluggish.
‘What is Serwin doing now? I haven’t even seen him once.’
Except for seeing him while she was half asleep, she has never seen him since Hunting Day. Including the three days of sleeping and waking like a zombie, it has already been five days.
“Why doesn’t he come to see me?”
Amelie grumbled with disappointment. She has suffered because of him, but how does he not come to find her once? Of course, he would be busy cleaning up after Hunting Day, but it’s not like people do that without having five minutes to spare.
‘Aren’t you worried about me?’
Amelie raised her eyebrows. If Serwin doesn’t come, she’ll go find him.
“Mrs. Enard. Please help me get ready to go out.”
“Where do you want to go?”
“I’m going to see His Majesty. Is it time for him to be at the Imperial Palace?”
“That’s—”
“What’s wrong? No way, did His Majesty tell me not to come? Wow, he’s a really rude person.”
Mrs. Enard blurted out the words.
“It’s not like that!”
“Then?”
“His Majesty has always been by Miss Amelie’s side.”
“When I woke up, His Majesty wasn’t there.”
“He told me not to say this—”
Mrs. Enard spoke with difficulty.
“Why?”
“When Miss Amelie was asleep, he kept looking after you, and when you showed any sign of waking up, he disappeared somewhere.”
Amelie blinked. He was next to her and disappeared when he saw a sign of her waking up?
LEARN MORE
!
!
!
!
!
!
“Where did he go?”
“No one knows. That’s why Baron Avery has come to visit Miss Amelie a few times. He asked us to help find His Majesty. But Miss Amelie is not able to be in that situation, so I’ve been refusing it, but I think he’ll come back soon.”
“He doesn’t work at all?”
“Yes. He hasn’t been here since today.”
He didn’t want to be separated from her, so he worked nonstop even though he didn’t go to work. There were things that had to be done only by him, so he didn’t postpone important things and did them on time.
‘And then he suddenly went underwater—?’
The Hunting Day had also ended without making any victims. The nobles who had been taken hostage had no memories of the day. He doesn’t have to feel guilty—.
‘If it’s something that hasn’t been resolved, maybe it’s a fight with me. Maybe because of that?’
Amelie shook her head.
‘If he was angry about it, he wouldn’t have continued to take care of me.’
It was hard for Amelie to imagine what was going on in his head. He had a lot of thoughts and it’s complicated, and sometimes she couldn’t understand him, but today was the most confusing of them all.
“If I shout for His Majesty to come out, will he come out?”
“If he was going to come out like that, he wouldn’t have been hiding in the first place.”
“I see. He’ll come out on his own when the time comes.”
Amelie shrugged her shoulders. Mrs. Enard was very embarrassed by Amelie’s reaction.
“Are you not going to look for him?”
“It’s funny to see a grown-up hiding on his own, and running around trying to make people find him.”
“Yes…”
Mrs. Enard looked disappointed, but she didn’t show it to Amelie.
“I’m tired. I’m going to take a nap. I think I still have some medicine left in my body.”
Amelie crawled under the blanket. She’s in her pajamas anyway, so she closed her eyes and she was ready to sleep right away.
“Would you like me to wake you up when it’s time for dinner?”
“No, I’ll call you if I need it.”
“Yes. Then please take a rest.”
Mrs. Enard put out the lights in the room and went out. Serwin’s aides waited in front of the bedroom, clasped their hands tightly and looked at her.
“What happened! Do you think Miss Amelie can help?!”
“Have you found His Majesty!”
Mrs. Enard put her index finger in her mouth.
“She’s sleeping. Please come again next time.”
“Again?”
“Tomorrow is the sixth day!”
The aides were frustrated.
“Even if His Majesty isn’t there, there won’t be any problems right away. Can’t you wait a day?”
“That’s true but—”
Of course, not everything was paralyzed totally without Serwin. When he had gone on a trip or was suddenly thrown into Amelie’s palace, it was a bit of a problem, but it went well.
“It’s a huge problem that we can’t figure out where he is at all!”
“Everyone’s just saying that they don’t know even if you ask His Majesty’s knights. I don’t know if they really don’t know or are ignoring us!”
No one knows where Serwin is. It’s okay right now, but on the day this fact enters the ears of the nobles, there will be a big problem.
“Still, go back today.”
Mrs. Enard also understood the feelings of the aides. If Amelie had disappeared for three days, she would have tried to find her even if she needed to lie down in front of Serwin.
“I’ll speak to Miss Amelie again tomorrow.”
“I beg you.”
“The fate of the empire is at stake.”
The aides went back with a request. Mrs. Enard’s gaze at their weak backs contained a complex feeling.
‘What happened between Amelie and His Majesty?’
When Amelie heard that Serwin had disappeared, Mrs. Enard thought she would go out to find him immediately. But she didn’t even look for it, let alone worry about it.
‘At first glance, Milena said that His Majesty had done something wrong—. Amelie’s attitude was like that— would it be difficult to be the same as before?’
Mrs. Enard hoped the matter would be settled well.
