Chapter 275

There are no horses in the Witches’ Forest.

No witch raises horses, rides them, or drives carriages pulled by them.

The reason was simple and clear: raising and handling horses required a certain level of communication skills.

Horses are intelligent creatures that know how to express their emotions.

They can show joy through their expressions, lower their heads in sorrow, cry to convey pain, spit when they’re in a bad mood, and kick those nearby with their hind legs when they’re angry.

Of course, witches, with their bodies half composed of the potions they created, wouldn’t die from a single kick. But the more important issue was that horses, more than expected, expressed their emotions quite freely.

"W-W-Why are there horses in front of the Elders' house...?"

The witches’ timid and nervous nature applied not only to people but also to animals, and since they couldn’t handle emotions well, they didn’t want to bother controlling their feelings around livestock either.

That’s why witches were afraid of horses. And Lara, trembling beside me at the mere sight of them, was living proof of that.

It wasn’t because the animals could physically harm them, but rather, the witches feared upsetting the horses. In fact, witches feared all animals that expressed their emotions freely—dogs, sheep, goats, pigs, deer, and so on.

In truth, witches probably disliked every mammal except cats. If witches kept pets, it would likely be birds, amphibians, or reptiles.

So, the fact that these well-groomed horses and a gleaming carriage were here meant that someone from outside had come to visit the house of the three Elders—other than the royal carriage we had arrived in.

‘The regular delivery from the royal family shouldn’t be due for a while.’

The next scheduled delivery was supposed to arrive two to three weeks after Liria’s event, and it was Seraphine’s turn to handle it. There was no reason for a royal carriage to arrive now.

‘Wait, what’s this…?’

Curious, I inspected the carriage closely, and a crest that seemed familiar caught my eye.

It wasn’t the royal family’s crest. It wasn’t the Church’s crest either, nor was it the Blackwood crest.

I tried to recall all the noble crests I knew, but none of the ones that came to mind matched this one.

‘Well, I can’t memorize every noble family’s crest.’

Still, if it had left an impression, I would probably recognize it once I saw the person. Thinking this, I knocked three times on the door of the Elders' house without hesitation.

Knock, knock, knock.

“Hello~? Elders, are you home~?”

“W-Wait, Rosewood…! It seems like there are guests. Maybe we should come back later…! L-Let’s return another time…!!”

“The Witch’s Trial is in three days. When else would we come? The Elders need to perform a ritual before the trial, don’t they? We need to tell them this as soon as possible.”

“T-That’s true… But I-I’m not ready to meet the Elders yet… And if there are other guests…”

“Don’t worry. I’ll speak on your behalf. If we need to deal with the visitors, I’ll handle it.”

“O-O-Okay… I-If that’s the case…”

Lara nodded while carefully hiding behind me, though her height and similar chest size meant she wasn’t really concealed, but I let it slide.

We waited somewhat awkwardly in front of the house for someone to answer, but even after some time, no one came out.

“……”

“……”

“M-Maybe no one’s home? S-Should we come back later…?”

Knock, knock, knock.

“Excuse me, Elders~? Are you not inside~?”

“Ahhh! Rosewood! What if the Elders get startled from all that knocking?!”

“You just said no one was home, so what’s with the sudden change? If they’re inside but didn’t hear us, knocking again makes sense. And if they aren’t home, there’s no one to be startled, right?”

“M-Maybe they’re pretending not to hear us…!!”

“What?”

“E-Even if they are inside, maybe they’re just not in the mood to meet anyone today…! What if that’s why they’re pretending not to hear…?!”

Considering the witches’ communication issues, it was a plausible explanation. Still, I didn’t stop knocking.

In the original story, a situation like this had never occurred. The Elders never pretended to be out when someone knocked on their door.

“Well, then they should come out faster. Right now, what’s urgent is Lara’s Witch’s Trial, isn’t it?”@@novelbin@@

“Yes, my trial is important, but… The Elders might need some time to prepare themselves…”

Knock, knock, knock.

“Ahhh! Nooo!”

At the third knock, Lara covered her head and collapsed to the ground, as if she were committing some grave sin.

Just as I was wondering whether anyone was really home, the door creaked open slowly, and someone stuck their head out.

It was a familiar face—one with the signature light blue hair of the Auguste family.

“The Elders are currently speaking with the Spirit of the Auguste family. Could you come back later…?”

“Lord Karaham?”

“…Miss Lilith?”

Ah, now I understood. The crest on the carriage—it was the Auguste family’s. No wonder it looked familiar. I’d seen it often during my time with the student council, thanks to Lizzy’s uniform.

⁎ ⁎ ⁎

I realized that the crest on the carriage was indeed the one from the Auguste family, which I had often seen on Lizzy’s uniform during student council activities.

If it had been another witch visiting, Karaham probably would have politely sent them away. But since he recognized me, he couldn’t bring himself to refuse and invited us into the house of the Elders.

Not that it would have mattered—I had a clear purpose, and I would have forced my way in if necessary.

“Lord Karaham, what brings you to the Witches’ Forest?”

“The Auguste family has a regular trade agreement. We conduct transactions with the witches of the forest.”

“Huh…?”

What is this? This wasn’t part of the original story.

As far as I knew, witches were extremely cautious about meeting new people and generally refused to deal with anyone they didn’t already know well.

Witches typically avoided trade relationships that were driven by profit, not because they were particularly shrewd, but because their naturally cautious personalities made it difficult for them to engage with profit-driven groups.

Usually, merchant groups would try to extract as much profit as possible from the witches of the forest by presenting contracts filled with complicated terms and hidden clauses. Their hope was to trap the witches in long-term, unfavorable deals, selling potions at dirt-cheap prices.

But every merchant group that had tried this had left empty-handed. Witches may have communication issues, but they weren’t foolish enough to fall for such tricks.

Being a witch required intelligence. Even a novice witch would have hundreds of potion recipes memorized, and Elders like the ones here had thousands stored in their minds.

Moreover, although they were wary of strangers, witches had a tightly connected network. If one witch rejected a deal, it meant losing out on deals with all of them.

"So, the Auguste family has regular trade with the witches?”

“Yes, though it’s not a fixed trade of specific goods. You could say it’s more of a special arrangement that only my sister manages.”

“…Does Lizzy manage it in the same way Princess Seraphine does?”

“Yes, my sister said she learned a lot from the princess’s methods.”

There was only one way to maintain regular trade with the witches: bring the merchant carriage, but don’t act like a merchant.

Instead of trying to deal in bulk, you had to get to know each witch personally, visit them when they needed something, and offer goods one by one.

It was a time-consuming and inefficient process, so most merchants gave up on it. Only someone as socially adept as Seraphine could pull it off.

And standing in front of me now was someone else with a similar level of social prowess.

“Elders, can I take the Witch’s Trial too~? I really want to be a witch~.”

A charming voice echoed through the house as Lizzy from the Auguste family sweetly persuaded the three Elders. This was my first reunion with her since the summer break had begun.

Though, I hadn’t expected our meeting to happen this way.