TWFLLYM Ch 89

I Am Not a Fool

He continued his explanation.

[Hailey] "I borrowed this briefly from another jeweler I know. You might have seen it, but this crest of the moon and lily belongs to the House of Merve. The contents state that the House of Merve is ordering moonstones in bulk. They mentioned sending a messenger to collect them. That jeweler sent thirty-eight moonstones. Several other places received similar letters, which explains why every moonstone in the capital vanished."

[Kalart] "A suspicious turn of events. The revival of a fallen house."

Roserikta took the letter and whispered just loud enough for Kalart to hear.

[Roserikta] "This doesn't feel like a coincidence."

[Kalart] "I agree. Perhaps the move to the south was a lure, and they actually headed east?"

[Roserikta] "I'm not sure."

She shook her head. Her fingertips traced the sharp edges of the Merve family seal.

[Roserikta] "I can't tell from the letter alone. However......"

Strangely, the seal weighed on her mind. The design didn't suit a Black Witch at all. Furthermore, a Black Witch would likely target a territory with a large population to provide life force, rather than a land frozen solid by a blizzard.

The moon represented the beginning and end for witches—it was the source of life and the origin of power.

A moon (*the seal of the House of Merve) can't appear where a witch goes without a reason.

She nodded.

This moon is searching for me.

The moment that thought took hold, her vision blurred. Her body floated as if weightless.

[Clobell] "Rosie!"

Clobellina noticed the change first.

Clobell.

Roserikta reached out toward Clobellina. Then, she witnessed a terrifying sight. Her fingers were gradually vanishing.

[Roserikta] "......Clobell!"

---

How much time had passed?

She must have lost consciousness for a moment as her hand disappeared.

Roserikta shouted for Clobellina.

[Roserikta] "Clobell! Your Highness!"

[Unknown] "No, no. Those children aren't here. I didn't call them."

[Roserikta] "......What?"

Roserikta spun around. To her shock, she stood in a completely foreign place. A space so strange it felt like a lie.

Everything sparkled with a brilliant white light. No, it was so bright she simply assumed it was white.

Upon closer inspection, the room held a vast array of colors. It looked like a kingdom of shimmering opals.

She couldn't tell if she was indoors or outside. However, the air felt warm and refreshing. It was mysterious and beautiful.

[Roserikta] "Ah......"

As she frantically scanned her surroundings, the same voice spoke again.

[Unknown] "Why don't you sit down?"

The shimmering, bright space transformed into a cozy interior. Roserikta now sat in a room with a view of a beautiful greenhouse through the window. A tea set had appeared before her.

Sitting across from her, sipping steaming tea, was an elderly lady.

Roserikta's mind raced.

Where on earth am I? Is this mysterious place real? Am I dreaming?

[Roserikta] "Who...... are you?"

[Old Lady] "Take a guess."

Who could it be?

Roserikta sat as the lady suggested and studied the face across from her.

[Roserikta] "Are you the one who called me through the letter?"

[Old Lady] "Yes."

[Roserikta] "Then......"

The lady offered a gentle smile. She looked unfamiliar, but her smile felt like home.

[Roserikta] "Ah......!"

She cried out, her throat tight with emotion.

[Roserikta] "Grandmother!"

But it wasn't her. It wasn't her grandmother. If it were her, Roserikta would have recognized her regardless of any change in appearance.

The smile had simply reminded her of the woman who raised her. That alone made her heart skip a beat.

[Old Lady] "Oh dear. It isn't good to be so shocked. You have a baby to think about."

The lady pulled Roserikta's hand toward her and placed a warm teacup in her grip.

[Old Lady] "Take a sip first."

[Roserikta] "......"

She took a sip with trembling hands.

Why did I think of Grandmother when I looked at this woman?

[Roserikta] "Oh......!"

Her eyes widened after tasting the tea. The lady saw her reaction and winked.

[Old Lady] "It's delicious, isn't it?"

[Roserikta] "This is the tea made at our pharmacy......!"

[Old Lady] "Exactly."

The lady took another sip of her own.

[Old Lady] "The tea you usually drink always tastes the best. Well, even if it weren't, Versaryl's tea is excellent."

The lady knew about the Versaryl Pharmacy.

[Roserikta] "Is this...... the Witch Kingdom?"

[Old Lady] "Does it seem that way to you?"

[Roserikta] "I don't know. But since you called me here like this, you clearly aren't human."

[Old Lady] "Hmm...... true. However, the Witch Kingdom isn't a place you can visit just because someone calls you. A witch must find it on her own. That is why our world is called the Witch Kingdom. Those who are not witches can't go there. That is why you could never go, Rosie."

[Roserikta] "That......!"

She nearly dropped her teacup in shock.

[Roserikta] "My name...... only my family calls me that."

Only her grandmother and Clobellina used that name.

[Old Lady] "Oh my. Is your name not Rosie? That's what I heard."

[Roserikta] "From whom?"

[Old Lady] "Don't you already know without asking?"

Click.

The lady set down her cup and looked at Roserikta.

[Old Lady] "You speak like a human, Rosie. When witches talk to one another, they don't use words to repeat facts they both already know."

[Roserikta] "I am......"

[Old Lady] "Accept things as you see them, as your heart tells you. You know who I am. You know what this place is."

An elderly witch who resembled her grandmother. The place where that witch had summoned her. It wasn't the Witch Kingdom, yet it didn't feel like the human world either. Only one thought came to mind.

[Roserikta] "The Versaryl Pharmacy's......"

[Old Lady] "Correct."

The lady opened her mouth and laughed silently.

[Old Lady] "I am the Third Witch of Versaryl. This is the Versaryl Pharmacy, and the gateway to the Witch Kingdom that exists within the human world."

Before the birth of Raquelman I, the first emperor of the Kriye Empire, witches traveled freely between the human world and the Witch Kingdom.

Humans needed the witches' medicine, and witches helped humans build their foundations on the continent.

Humanity's joy, anger, sorrow, and pleasure served as the witches’ greatest delight and value. It was a time when love, parting, sadness, hatred, and longing flowed freely.

[Old Lady] "Even during Raquelman's time, we got along well. That was why the Versaryl Pharmacy was established here. Raquelman himself gave this land to the witches of Versaryl. It was a symbol of friendship, coexistence, and prosperity between our two races."

[Roserikta] "Ah......"

This was a story absent from human history books.

[Old Lady] "Those were fun times. Magic advanced greatly back then. As you know, materials from the Witch Kingdom only exist under the moonlight, right? The human world has many things that aren't like that, so researching here was rewarding. Miraculous magic popped up everywhere. It was so exciting."

Joy sparkled on the old witch's face as she recalled those days.

[Roserikta] "Then why did the witch hunts happen?"

[Old Lady] "Hmm...... if I had to pick one answer, I would say human ignorance and greed. Foolish humans simply couldn't understand high-level beings like witches. It took very little time for admiration and envy to turn into fear."

The friendship built during Raquelman I's reign soured rapidly after his death. In fact, signs of decay appeared even before then. The biggest incident involved the suicide of Raquelman I's eldest son, the Crown Prince at the time.

[Old Lady] "That boy loved a witch. The witch became intoxicated by the power and wealth he offered. They became poison to each other. Perhaps it's because the two races are fundamentally different."

To humans, witches were too beautiful. Too tempting and too complex. Falling in love was easy, but escaping that love was nearly impossible. The price was usually death.

[Old Lady] "Raquelman tried to uphold the treaty between our races, but it wasn't easy. Human politics are unnecessarily complicated. So, the witch of Vilakas, who fell in love with Raquelman's son, was burned at the stake."

[Roserikta] "How could they......"

Roserikta turned pale. The Third Witch of Versaryl patted the back of her hand.

[Old Lady] "Yes. A terrible story. My goodness, telling such things to a pregnant woman is too much, isn't it? I’ll stop there. So...... ah, where was I?"

[Old Lady] "Right. The witch of Vilakas. After she died, there was an uproar among the witches. They argued that a witch shouldn't be held responsible for a human's death. Many agreed. I was very angry back then, too."

A look of bitter regret crossed the old witch's face.

[Old Lady] "Looking back, we can't say witches were entirely innocent victims. Intoxicated by the variety of human emotions, they churned out medicines that should never have been made."

Roserikta understood.

[Roserikta] "You mean...... things like love potions."

[Old Lady] "Yes, exactly. To a witch, everything in the world is just a game under the moonlight. Something that vanishes after a single night. But humans aren't like that."

The wounds the two races inflicted on each other were endless. It was impossible for beings so fundamentally different to fully understand one another. Humans hated witches, and witches used humans as sacrifices for magic.

The ruin of both races was perhaps inevitable. Or, they simply needed more time to understand each other.

[Old Lady] "Then the witch hunts began. The Versaryl Pharmacy closed its doors to humans. Since then, no witch has traveled freely to the human world."

Only a few witches chose to stay in the human world. It was sad that their reasons varied so much. Some loved humans, some vowed revenge. Some wanted to continue enjoying the same pleasures as before. Others, like Roserikta, were born as half-bloods. Regardless of the reason, all witches who remained in the human world had to hide their identities.

[Old Lady] "Now, that's enough about the past. Now it's your turn to tell me—"

[Roserikta] "No, wait. Just a moment."

She hurriedly stopped the lady as she tried to change the subject.

[Roserikta] "What exactly is your relationship with my grandmother? Was it she who told you my name?"

[Old Lady] "My goodness, Rosie. Do people often tell you that you're a bit slow?"

She heard that often from Clobellina. But she firmly believed Clobellina only said it because she was angry.

[Roserikta] "No. Not really."

The Third Witch shook her head as if that were impossible.

Now that she looked closely, the Third Witch didn't just resemble her grandmother—she looked a lot more like Clobellina.

[Old Lady] "Your grandmother was the Second Witch of Versaryl. I am the Third Witch. And if you follow the order...... oh, wait. You can't come to the Kingdom yet. So that's a story for later. Anyway, what do you think that means?"

Was grandmother the Second Witch of Versaryl? What does that number mean?

[Roserikta] "I...... don't know."

[Old Lady] "Tsk, tsk. Poor thing. How can a witch be this slow?"

The Third Witch looked genuinely sorry for her, so Roserikta couldn't bring herself to say she was actually quite clever and calm.

[Roserikta] "I'm not that slow."

[Old Lady] "No, you are. Why do you think I called you?"

[Roserikta] "To give me moonstones?"

[Old Lady] "Hmm? Oh, no. I used up all the moonstones already."

No way.

[Roserikta] "All of them?"

[Old Lady] "I had no choice. Melting the snow that froze this place solid requires an enormous amount of magic, and I’m old and lacking strength. Then again, that woman placed the spell with such absolute determination when she was in her prime, so it's no wonder."

Somehow, she knew who "that woman" was.

[Roserikta] "Was that...... my grandmother?"

[Old Lady] "Yes, that's right."

[Roserikta] "Then being the Second Witch means......"

[Old Lady] "Exactly what it sounds like. She was the second of the three witches who founded the Witch Kingdom."

[Roserikta] "What? She...... founded the Witch Kingdom?"

[Old Lady] "Three witches with the strongest blood founded the kingdom. The kingdom was created with the first witch's power, and the second witch protected it. The third witch...... well...... she had talented older sisters, so the third witch lived a comfortable life until she was finally pushed out here."

[Roserikta] "O-Older sister......?"

The Third Witch smiled. It was a nostalgic, kind smile, like one sent from the far side of the moon.

[Old Lady] "Yes, Rosie. I am your grandmother's sister."

[Roserikta] "Ah......"

She now had a great-aunt who felt like a perfect blend of her grandmother and Clobellina. She wanted to say how happy she was to meet her, but tears fell first.

Clobell.

We have a grandmother. What should I do?

I want to say something wonderful, but I can't think of anything. I can only cry.

What if my grandmother thinks I'm a fool?