TWFLLYM Ch 65

Like Snow Falling Briefly in Warm Spring

[Countess] "Where are you going? Are you trying to run away now?"

She walked through the air with ease, trailing Roserikta.

Roserikta yanked the broom, suddenly changing direction and picking up speed. Even in a massive castle, the corridors felt cramped for flying. The constant turns and obstacles made her stomach churn.

[Countess] "What are you doing?"

The Countess showed her irritation. Though she appeared calm, the constant movement drained her mana.

[Roserikta] "I’m trying something."

She flew dangerously close, blew a handful of Axaca powder, and immediately retreated. The Countess flicked her fingernails, brushing the powder away.

[Countess] "How annoying. You are like a fly. How long do you plan to keep this up?"

The powder showed no effect.

[Roserikta] "Until it works."

She blew another handful. The Countess flicked her fingers again, but grew bored with the game.

Thud!

A decorative shield ripped off the wall and hurtled toward Roserikta. She jerked the broom aside, dodging the metal by an inch. Her heart hammered against her ribs.

[Countess] "Just die. I am tired of this."

Objects flew from the walls indiscriminately. Spears, picture frames, and stag antlers became deadly weapons. Roserikta gritted her teeth and wove through the barrage.

[Roserikta] "Eek!"

A sharp edge nearly clipped her. If the broom had slowed for even a second, she would have lost more than just a lock of hair. However, the risk paid off.

[Roserikta] "Now... it’s done! La Bla Esa Ba Kenun!"

She chanted the spell and blew all the remaining Axaca powder at the Countess. A shimmering, transparent wall formed in the air.

Facing a cloud too thick to brush away with one hand, the Countess snarled. She threw Kalart aside like trash.

[Countess] "Fine! I will deal with you properly!"

She didn't care if he shattered upon hitting the floor; she only needed him to breathe. But Roserikta had planned for this.

[Roserikta] "Give the witch’s power to the human."

As soon as the Countess let go, Kalart vanished. The powder turned him invisible, just like Clobellina.

[Countess] "What? Where did he go?"

[Roserikta] "Ugh... caught you!"

Roserikta lunged and grabbed him. Even with a witch’s strength, lifting a man as tall as Kalart with one arm was nearly impossible. The weight nearly dragged her off the broom.

[Countess] "Your tiny brain has finally snapped."

The Countess chased the wobbling broom. Roserikta banked sharply, desperate to escape.

[Countess] "Do you think I’m letting you live because I can’t kill you?"

The Countess accelerated. The broom, burdened by the weight of two people, felt sluggish.

Rip!

The Countess’s nails caught the hem of Roserikta’s skirt, tearing the fabric.

[Countess] "I should have torn your ankle instead."

The witch realized the broom had slowed down. She surged forward, closing the gap instantly.

Roserikta had no choice but to fly upward toward the ceiling, where the largest chandelier hung. She flew straight toward the crystals, then suddenly turned her head and shouted.

[Roserikta] "How old are you this year?"

[Countess] "......What?"

[Roserikta] "......I thought so."

She whispered the last part. The comment was ridiculous enough to ignore, but the Countess was incredibly sensitive about her age.

[Countess] "What did you say!"

[Roserikta] "I said you look......"

[Countess] "Speak up!"

The Countess screamed in rage.

[Roserikta] "Clobell!"

Now!

Clobellina sat perched atop the central chandelier. As the Countess shouted, the clever cat caught the signal and dropped the bottle of Water of Life.

Drip.

The liquid soaked into the witch’s lips.

[Countess] "What is this...... wait!"

[Clobell] "No waiting!"

The liquid poured down. The Countess, frozen in mid-air, suddenly plummeted.

Crack!

The heavy sound of the impact made Roserikta flinch. She imagined a gruesome sight below. She squinted and looked down.

The Countess lay on the floor, her body twitching. Blood pooled around her.

Is she... dead?

Probably not. A Black Witch didn't die that easily. However, the violent convulsions suggested a fatal blow.

Black mist rose from The Countess' body, scattered, and vanished. A strange, thick, transparent blood flowed in circles. Within that pool, her hair began to turn white.

[Roserikta] "She is aging."

The magic that held her youth captive had broken. Nature finally took its course. She wasn't dead yet, but death was coming. Not just from the fall, but from the weight of time.

[Knight] "Ugh......"

[Knight] "Where... where am I?"

The Royal Guards began to wake up.

Roserikta descended on her broom. She laid Kalart down and whispered a spell to make him visible again. With trembling hands, she touched his cheek, where the witch’s nails had left deep gashes.

[Roserikta] "I will heal you."

A bit of Axaca powder remained on her palm. She rubbed his cheek gently and whispered into his ear. The wounds vanished. Before standing up, she pressed a brief kiss to his cheek.

This is goodbye.

Be well. Once the witch dies, the curse will break.

Live a happy life. Love and be loved as much as you want.

Goodbye, my first love.

Kalart’s eyelids flickered. Roserikta pulled away, relieved that he was waking up.

From the ceiling, Clobellina called out.

[Clobell] "Rosie! Can you catch me? I got up here, but I can't jump down!"

[Roserikta] "Wait, Clobell. I'm coming."

[Clobell] "Hurry. I'm scared."

Roserikta reached for her broom.

[Kalart] "Don't...... go."

A hand yanked her skirt. Roserikta turned, startled.

[Clobell] "Rosie! Watch out! He’s awake!"

The warning came too late.

[Roserikta] "Your Highness."

The wounds were gone, but blood still stained his face. The marks of chaos and pain from the witch remained.

He looked exhausted and confused, yet his grip on her skirt was firm.

[Kalart] "Don't say...... goodbye so easily."

She frowned, trying to stay firm.

[Roserikta] "Let go, Your Highness. I can't stay here."

Everyone had seen it. They saw her fly on a broom and use magic. They all knew she was a witch. She had to leave immediately.

[Kalart] "I can't be without you."

[Roserikta] "That isn't true."

She leaned down and met his gaze. Her reflection appeared in his dark eyes. She wanted him to see her as someone ordinary.

I don't want to look sad. I don't want to look regretful. I don't want him to know I love him.

He needs to forget me. He will forget me.

[Roserikta] "Your eyes will return to normal. With those eyes, you can see many beautiful people. You don't need Clobell or me anymore."

[Roserikta] "The curse just clouded your vision. Once it breaks, everything will return to its proper place. You will live a normal, happy life like everyone else."

A life where he could love someone and be loved in return.

[Roserikta] "I only stayed by your side to break this curse. Now that the job is done, it is right for me to leave. Let me go, Your Highness."

[Kalart] "This was a curse?"

[Roserikta] "Yes, Your Highness."

[Kalart] "Then don't break it."

[Roserikta] "Pardon......?"

Kalart struggled to his feet. Roserikta moved to help him, but he refused her hand and stood stubbornly on his own.

[Kalart] "Don't judge me so easily. You say it is a curse, so it must be broken? You say things will return to their 'proper place'? What was my proper place to begin with? Who gave you the right to decide that?"

[Roserikta] "Your Highness......"

He didn't look like a man happy to be free from a lifelong curse.

[Kalart] "I only wanted one thing from you: to stay by my side. Why do you offer me something else and call it the right answer?"

He paused to catch his breath. His body and mind were still a mess from the black magic. She could hardly believe he found the strength to stand.

[Kalart] "No, you are wrong. That is not the right answer for me. It might be for you, but not for me. The first time I felt I found my place was next to you. You are where I belong."

Her heart ached. She felt his pain as if it were her own.

[Roserikta] "You are just confused, Your Highness. The curse isn't entirely gone yet. The feelings you have for me are just a mistake created by the curse and the potion. Soon, you will forget everything without any pain."

[Kalart] "What does the reason matter!"

He shouted, his voice cracking.

[Kalart] "A curse, a potion—the reason doesn't matter. The point is that I want you by my side. I want you to accept me. I want you to stay with me without force or pressure. That is how I feel. Is that so hard to understand?"

[Roserikta] "It will vanish. Very soon. Like snow falling briefly in the warm spring."

[Kalart] "That doesn't make the fact that it snowed a lie."

She knew he was right. Even if the snow melted, someone would remember it fell. Just as she had decided to remember him even if he forgot her. It hurt. She wavered.

Snow melts eventually anyway. Can't I just enjoy the snowfall until then?

No, I can't. I am a witch.

The Royal Guards began to gather around Kalart. They kept their distance, but they held their swords, their eyes sharp and wary. To humans, a witch was a monster. And she had been caught.

[Roserikta] "Even if it isn't a lie, you must make it one."

She kept her voice calm despite the agony in her chest. It stung that she had to calculate the distance to the guards while holding her broom, planning her escape.

[Roserikta] "A Crown Prince can't love a witch."

The knights gasped. Some whispered that they hadn't been hallucinating. One guard bit his lip and raised his sword. This was the reality.

[Roserikta] "If you know I have not harmed you, then please let me go. I don't want to hurt you or your knights any further."

But to Kalart, this answer remained wrong.

[Kalart] "No. A Crown Prince can love a witch."

[Roserikta] "......"

The knights and Roserikta shared the same shocked expression.

[Kalart] "Because I am already doing it. Even knowing you are a witch, my feelings haven't changed."

She shook her head.

[Roserikta] "Wait...... Your Highness. You knew I was a witch? Since when?"

[Kalart] "Since you told me I ate something I shouldn't have."

[Roserikta] "......"

[Kalart] "It was probably a love potion. I thought that a woman who handles a black cat and potions, and who is more beautiful than anyone else, might be a witch."

One of the knights tilted his head. Was the cat maid that beautiful?

[Roserikta] "I never...... handled a love potion......"

[Kalart] "I don't know about magic or curses, but I know my eyes. They don't just block my sight; they block my emotions. They made it seem as if I shouldn't love anyone. If something could change that, it had to be a potion."

His eyes showed him living things as ugly and horrifying creatures. Naturally, he felt disgust. But that wasn't normal.

Kalart had never seen a creature that wasn't ugly, so he shouldn't have known what ugliness was. Yet, he had always felt that instinctive hatred.

He realized this contradiction when he fell in love with Roserikta. Even if she looked distorted like everyone else, he didn't hate her. He couldn't look away.

[Roserikta] "Then...... why did you ask me to stay......"

[Kalart] "I told you. Because it didn't matter."