CH 26

I laughed in response to his question. It was so obvious that he must have imagined we rode a giant jewel like a horse. It was a pretty funny idea, but unfortunately, it just wasn’t the case.

“You and my husband keep forgetting, but I’m a witch. Of course, I can’t use magic now, but in Kartelle, I was flying around.”

Now I was living close to the ground, but a few months ago, I had my own pair of wings. Oh, not the feathery ones birds had, but the actual power to fly.

“You… must feel very uncomfortable.”

“Well, I got used to it.” It was a shame that I couldn’t use mana, but there was no other way. “A promise is a promise.”

Humans were said to be a race that didn’t take promises seriously, but not witches. For a witch, a promise was very precious.

“In that case, shouldn’t we walk faster? Miss Betty is waiting.” I promised I’d be back soon, but it took quite a while.

The biggest reason was that the old bookstore was far away from the bakery, and the other reason was that there was an unexpected conversation we had.

“At this rate, we’ll miss our turn.”

“I can buy it myself.”

“No! There’s a set of limited-edition cookies, and you can only get one per person!”

When it was implied we’d get at least three boxes, his pumpkin-colored eyes shook.

“I have to go in as well?”’

“Of course.”

A dark shadow was cast over Evan’s face when I said it as if it was obvious. Now that I think about it, there were mostly women in dresses lined up at the bakery.

They’d appreciate seeing a fit knight like Evan there.

“Miss Betty!”

“Oh, my lady, you’ve returned.”

It was then I hurried to thank her for waiting.

“My lady!”

Suddenly, Evan called out to me. When I looked back in surprise, Betty was staring at me with a startled look on her face. What’s wrong?

Something rushed toward me at a rapid pace. I couldn’t avoid it, so I could only brace myself.

“Ugh…!”

I fell and groaned from the pain. There was something shaking in front of me. It was a little boy.

“Are you all right?”

“Oh, yes, I’m fine…”

The knight who quickly approached us then pulled me up. He checked carefully to see if I was hurt, but I wondered why he was worried about me in the first place.

“How many times do I have to tell you? If you get hurt, I’m going to die!”

Right, he wasn’t worried about me. He was worried about his neck.

“Don’t worry, I just fell down. I think the kid is more surprised. Please check to see if he’s hurt.”

The knight’s gaze fell on the person who I mentioned. The kid’s head was lowered. Fortunately, I wasn’t injured. I thought the child was trying to raise his head. His green eyes widened.

Hmm? I wondered what surprised him.

“Are you all right? I’m so sorry. My son didn’t watch where he was going…”

“It’s fine.”

“I’m so sorry…” A woman, probably the mother of this child, appeared and apologized.

I also ran without looking at where I was going, so I was at fault too.

“Mother, her eyes are red!” The child, who had been silent until now, cried out.

Then I understood what was going on and why the people around me were surprised.

There was bewilderment in the growing crowd.

“Hey kid, what are you talking about?”

“I saw it! Her eyes are a really pretty red! Her hair is as white as snow!”

The child’s innocent observations changed the atmosphere. The ones who were surprised began to notice. And at that moment, someone screamed.

“My lady!” Evan came running quickly to shield me. But it was too late.

“Wait, it’s a witch!”

“The witch has appeared!”

People scattered in all directions. Some grabbed the nearest object made of iron, such as crochet needles and sickles.

“Why is a witch in the town?”

“A witch! A witch touched my child! Somebody help! Please! My son… My son!”

“She might have put a curse on him. Take him to the physician now, ma’am!”

“What happened… My child!” The parent of the child who bumped into me a while ago cried out for help. The people looked at them with pity. Only the child tilted his head as if he didn’t know what was going on.

It was then.

“Everyone, step back!” Evan, who had gotten serious, quickly intervened and shouted. “Iwill not allow anymore to be said!”

“Sir Evan! Why are you, a knight of Havel, protecting a witch?”

“That’s right. You have to protect us!”

The people who recognized him screamed as if they were in desperation. I didn’t actually do anything.

He continued to shout. “This is Havel’s duchess! She may be an evil witch by nature, but she is married to our lord. You cannot do anything to her!”

I was annoyed he sneaked in that comment about my personality, but Evan out of all people was still taking my side. I wondered where that came from.

So I watched the situation in silence.

“A witch is a duchess! How could you do this to us?”

“Yes! Let’s meet with our lord! Our lord will listen to us!”

“We must kill that witch right now! Or else the curse on Havel’s land won’t be lifted!”

“We have to burn her right now!”

“That’s right!”

The young boy’s eyes, which had been stained with fear just a while ago, became filled with anger.

I didn’t understand. What made them so angry? I didn’t do anything.

However, it wasn’t possible to complain about injustice here. Typically, there should be someone to listen to my grievances. But no one would listen to me. In the first place, they covered their ears.

“Sir Cross, we should return to the castle before things get worse.” I didn’t achieve my goal, but currently, Evan and Betty might be in danger.

I reached out to them.

“Go away, you wicked witch!”

I heard a loud cry from somewhere, and soon a large stone flew at me.

“My lady!”

Maybe I was going crazy. I heard Betty’s voice, but strangely, I didn’t move. I could see someone grabbing my shoulders ad shaking me, but it was still the same.

It was a strange phenomenon in which I thought I heard a strange sound in my ear for a moment. Then I didn’t hear anything. How much time passed? As my mind started to become clear, the surrounding noise, which I hadn’t heard, swirled around me.

“Get a hold of yourself!”

I came to my senses and looked up at Evan who was in front of me. His face was pale, perhaps uncharacteristically frightened.

“Miss… Miss Betty. Sir Cross…”

“Are you out of your mind?!”

I nodded slowly to the question. Then, I felt something sticky trickle down from my forehead. Instinctively, I wiped it off. It turned out to be blood. Blood was on the back of my hand.

“Ow…”

The pain was next.

“My lady! Oh, goodness, the blood! I’ll stop the bleeding first. Don’t move, my lady.” At a loss, Betty took out a handkerchief and pressed it on my forehead.

The burning pain made me frown.

“How does it feel? Are you okay?”

“Oh, this isn’t good… I think you’ll need stitches… It’s impossible to treat it here…”

Before I knew it, Betty, who was looking at her bloody hand, began to tremble. Evan was also shaking. Two of them, clearly unsure of what to do, looked pitiful.

“I’m fine,” I said.

“What do you mean you’re fine?”

Ah, of course it wouldn’t work.

“If my lord knows you’ve been hurt, we’re all dead!” Even in this situation, he was worried about himself. Evan was truly the Annoying Pumpkin Knight.

I was touched he took my side. That feeling evaporated.

“If you return to the castle, you’ll get in trouble. And not just you, but also me!”

I frowned at Evan’s words. He was worried my husband might find out about this. I couldn’t believe he was going to scold me here, let alone help.

He must be really angry.

“M-My lady…”

“Miss Betty, I’m really fine. See, I’m not sick or anything either.”

Looking at Evan, I quickly comforted Betty. I told her to stop crying because I was fine but of course, it was all in vain. On the contrary, she cried and her tears fell onto the bloodstained handkerchief. Betty and Evan weren’t the only ones. When I suddenly bled, I saw the people around us were also somewhat embarrassed. What? Were they scared?

“Get out! Make way!” Evan yelled and drew his sword.

The crowd seemed not interested in budging and looked around.

“How could you…”

“If our lord finds out about this, do you think he’ll stay still?”

“Ah…!”

They seemed to be frozen on the spot. It seemed not only the soldiers of the enemy were afraid of my husband, known as the Black Reaper.