A snowy mountain village. Residents were groaning and rolling on the floor. The chief approached through the corpse field, grabbed the hem of Chession's cloak, and begged.
"Sorry, sorry. Your Highness! I am guilty of death!"
"How dare you!"
Chession's lieutenant, Hans, struck the old chief with his sword. The slashed chief cried out.
"We were just holding a real witch! Because of her, there are bad crops every year, old people go crazy looking at ghosts, and young people go missing!"
"You just needed someone to blame for all your misfortunes. A witch. It's not unreasonable."
Chession threw away a look of disdain and left. The sound of iron armor clashing faded into the distance, and the screams of the villagers erupted from everywhere.
The witch hunt that had been raging for 10 years is over. This is because the Chession has abolished the ridiculous bill that would give a reward if a witch is found. Ironically, the people who reported witches disappeared before the compensation money was cut off.
Witch hunts are now clearly illegal. Just claiming that someone is a witch is punishable by the extreme. Unfortunately, the news did not reach such a rural area, and the poor woman was accused of being a witch and being sacrificed.
Chession approached the small hut where the woman was trapped. The door was windowless, and chains were wrapped around it. It was quite impressive to see a strange yard with six locks in a yard where only one woman was locked up.
The lock, which had been used outdoors for a long time, was corroded by snow and rain and was flimsy than expected. As Chession tried to strike them down with his sword, a woman who had fallen nearby crawled up and grabbed him by the ankles.
"Oh, be careful! Never make eye contact! Curse...!"
"Let go."
"I know you don't believe it. But you can be careful! All those who tried to feed her and accidentally made eye contact with her were crazy!"
"I'll ask you one question. Why did you feed the witch when you knew you would go crazy if you made eye contact with her?"
"Actually, that witch... It was a foreign woman who was accidentally killed by the bachelors in our village while trying to rob her. Apparently, the bodies were buried in various places, but one day she suddenly came back to life...! If I kill her, she will be cursed even more, so we have no choice but to lock her up and give her food... Ugh!"
Chession's sword sliced through the back of the woman's back. A dead woman came back to life and became a witch. When they saw a woman who looked like them, they were frightened and went crazy.
The chains with the locks on them fell off. He opened the wooden door with rotten corners and saw the figure of a woman crouching on a pile of straw. There were no windows, so it was dark even though it was daylight.
She was once a woman with black hair, which was once called a symbol of witches, and it hung down to her waist. His face was completely hidden by his bushy hair.
It must have been quite cold, but all she was wearing was a shallow and dirty one-piece pajama. What is the condition of the legs that can be seen under the skirt... It was clear that she would not be able to walk. Judging from the traces of shackles on her left ankle, it seemed that she had gone wrong while trying to escape, and she wouId never be able to use it.
As Chession approached, the woman crouched down. Chession lowered his sword to the ground so as not to frighten her.
"It's okay. I have come to save you."
"..."
"Show your face."
The woman didn't seem to understand at all, and she didn't respond.
Chession saw many unresponsive women. They suffered from years of abuse and were speechless from shock. Or they were born as witches and never learned to speak.
"We have to get out of here. I will draw closer to you."
Even to those who could not speak, Chession always explained his actions. So that they are not surprised.
This time, the woman didn't understand what he was saying, so she crawled into a corner.
"...Fair enough. No longer are they the ones who bullied you. You can get out of here."
Chession carefully placed a hand on the woman's shoulder. The woman surprisingly did not offer any resistance and remained still. Chession picked her up and stepped out of the dirty, dark hut.
The woman's condition from the outside was even more serious. It was dirty, and her whole body was covered in blood.
"Your Highness, did you take him out... Wow, smell. Is your face okay? They usually stab their faces."
Hans covered his nose and approached with a slap in the face. He carefully slicked the woman's hair to the side, crouching in Chession's arms.
"This woman, the snow... My god. If you make eye contact, you will be cursed, so why did you pull it out in the end? There are sharp cuts around my eyes."
"I wasn't selected. The wound is Infected and sick, but the right side is fine."
"...There are tears around her mouth, but she didn't cut her tongue, right? Hey, do you want to try it?"
"She doesn't know the words at all. I'll wash her, feed her, put her to bed, and then check on her."
"Yes. Your Highness."
The woman was taken to a large and comfortable carriage. After finishing their work, Archduke Ethel's knights descended the mountain. The nuns in the carriage wiped the woman's body with familiar hand movements. The worst hair that couldn't be combed was cut as neatly as possible with a single haircut.
The mood of the Knights was not good throughout the descent. It was because of Archduke Ethel of Chession, who was silently exuding life.
Having lost his sister to a witch hunt, Chession became very dark whenever the women were found in a miserable state. In this case, it was best to keep his mouth shut until he felt better.
The dark-haired woman was taken to the mansion of Grand Duke Ethel.
After finishing his workday, Chession didn't visit the woman until late in the evening. The washed and treated woman looked good in it, but it was still miserable. Her head, left eye, and ankle were wrapped in bandages. Her body was full of bruises and scratches. They couldn't wash it because of the wounds all over her body, so it still smelled, but it was better than before.
"Your Highness. I have something to say about her."
The young maid caring for the woman bowed her head respectfully.
"What is it?"
"She takes care of all the healing and washing of wounds, but she never wants to eat, tongue... I think it's because it's cut in half."
"... Damn."
Chession gnashed his teeth. He's sure she had a terrible trauma from putting something in her mouth. So she wouldn't eat until the end, and only on the verge of starvation did she lose her reason and repeatedly crave food.
Like his sister Iris.
"Leave it alone. I'll feed it myself."
"Yes, Your Highness."
Chession tried, but in the end, the woman could not eat anything. He finally tried to give her sugar water, but even that was all she spit out.
***
Gremory, the witch, was on the verge of turning around.
She had been eating well and living well in a comfortable and gloomy village house, but suddenly a Grand Duke appeared and made a mess of the house. As if that wasn't enough, he claimed that she was a poor woman who was accused of being a witch and even kidnapped her.
Oh no. I'm a real witch. The woman who was murdered and buried here was summoned with her soul, a pretty advanced witch!
She messed up her eyes and legs, and she cut her tongue in half. That way, she looks more gloomy and witchy, and the residents are scared. It doesn't hurt. Moreover, it can be fixed immediately with just one stroke.
Gremory, who lived on other people's pain and flesh, kept shoving human food at her. She couldn't eat it at all. She spat it out in annoyance, and everyone looked at her even more pitifully, thinking it was because of trauma or something.
Even Chession Ethel, the damn Grand Duke.
"Now, this is a straw. This is what you use to eat liquids."
He brought sugar water in a transparent cup and demonstrated eating the contents with a straw.
"Or you can eat like this."
He pulled the straw out of the cup, put the cup to his mouth, and gulped down the sugary water. Gremory looked at the man like a monkey.
"Now, I've confirmed that there is no poison. There is nothing wrong with the straw. It's not dangerous. Now drink it."
Chession held out the cup to Gremory. With the straw, he had put his mouth back in.
Gremory nervously threw the cup away. The cup struck Chession's forehead, and the spilled sugary water covered his face.
Now, get angry and kick me out. Before we turn this place into a hell full of pain and pestilence. I will forgive you for the one mistake of kidnapping this body under a misunderstanding.
However, Chession, who had a very good personality, smiled.
"You have quite a bit of energy. I'm glad you did."
"?"
"You're very strong for being skinny, and seeing how desperately you rebel against strangers, I guess you have a desire to live."
"..."
Gremory glared at the man with a shit bite on his face.
What is he really?
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