Chapter 22: Spring Day Passes (5)
Primundi blinked her large, distinctive eyes at Cain.
Swoosh-!
Cain’s cloak and mask, which had been concealed under the unfolding “Winter of Night,” scattered into glittering dust.
And a face that resembled dawn.
The violet eyes and black hair that fluttered like the wind were a perfect match.
Primundi raised her head, nodding as if recalling something from the past, and looked up at Cain’s face.
“A promise is a promise.”
Thud.
She lifted her arm.
Arna appeared at the end, running towards them.
Whoosh-!
“Keugh━.”
Arna rolled on the floor while clutching her chest.
At the same time, a thick, dark green light began to slowly leak from her entire body.
The dark green power that flowed out was absorbed into Primundi’s palm, turning her skin green.
However, it quickly returned to its original state.
Primundi shook her hand, which had absorbed Glumiêm’s curse that was attempting to erase her stench, and said,
“Glumiêm’s curse is gone now. However, there’s nothing I can do about the body that has been damaged until now.”
Far away, Arna lay on the floor, gasping for air, but her complexion appeared to be improving.
Cain nodded his head.
“A clean, witch.”
“Why would I deceive someone who has fulfilled my wish?”
“It’s a bit strange because your speech is like a line from an old play.”
Cain knelt on one knee and met Primundi’s eyes.
A witch that was hundreds of years old.
However, when they met, she appeared to be only a few years older.
Primundi extended her arm.
Cain didn’t avoid it.
Her white fingers brushed Cain’s rough cheek.
“To live a pitiful life and walk a compassionate path like ‘him’.”
Cain took her hand and pulled it away, saying,
“You lost to such a guy.”
“Defeat?”
“Yes.”
“You still don’t know what you’ve done. You’re talking about victory or defeat.”
Cain frowned.
He’d accomplished his goal of breaking Arna’s curse.
However, when he heard Primundi’s strange words, he became uneasy.
She looked at Cain with an indifferent expression, but tears welled up in her eyes.
Then they fell, one drop at a time.
Ting-!
The witch’s sincerity, as it touched the ground, transformed into a sparkling jewel.
“Do you know why witches are born?”
“Because you make them.”
“I wish it were that simple.”
Primundi smiled bitterly.
Even so, her jewel tears would not stop.
At the same time, she beckoned Oleciren, who had been watching the situation from afar, to come closer.
“Remember, witches can’t cry.”
As she spoke, she picked up the jewel that had fallen to the ground and presented it to Cain.
Even though it was night, it appeared to have a cold glow as it reflected the stars.
“Not all witches’ tears turn into jewels like this. However, only one person, the first witch, Karen Myer, was able to shed tears.”
“Surely the Witch’s Tear isn’t real tears……”
Oleciren, who had approached, spoke in a trembling voice.
When Cain looked back, she continued:
“It’s a mysterious jewel whose origin is unknown. It looks like ordinary glass during the day, but it’s especially shiny at night, so it’s popular.”
“The most delicious part of a party usually happens at night?”
“You know well.”
“Is it expensive?”
“Quite. They’re jewels that only appear on the market one or two at a time, so only two marquises in this country have them.”
Cain picked up one of Primundi’s tears, which were rolling on the floor.
Swish.
He then threw it at Oleciren.
“Now there are three.”
Oleciren looked at the jewel and Primundi with a sour expression.
“It’s a bit……to receive the tears of someone who is crying right in front of you.”
“But it’s expensive.”
“What should I say to you? Sigh.”
Primundi turned to face Cain and Oleciren, each with her characteristic white-rimmed eyes.
Then she gave a faint smile and said,
“Young Ethelred has become quite close with the young witch.”
“This?”
“That.”
“……”
Cain closed his mouth.
He waited for Primundi to explain the witch’s origins.
She looked at Cain with the eyes of a woman who had given up everything and opened her mouth.
“It is true that I am the second witch to appear, but I do not know much about my mother.”
“Isn’t your mother Karen Myer?”
Primundi continued to speak with an ambiguous smile that was impossible to understand.
“And becoming a witch is simple. You just have to drink a single drop of your mother’s tears.”
Oleciren blinked.
If it was the tears of the first witch, no matter how much she wanted to forget, she would have to remember.
Regardless of how much Oleciren searched her memory, she had never drunk tears.
Primundi pointed to the sea, which had recovered its color.
“Rivers, seas, rain, wells. Mother’s tears seep into all of those places.”
Cain immediately understood what she was saying.
“Surely you’re not saying that it’s just a matter of luck?”
“If it’s luck, it’s luck, and if it’s fate, it’s fate.”
“Then, if Karen Myer’s tears happen to be there while drinking water, then you become a witch?”
Oleciren inquired again, surprised, and Primundi nodded.
She discovered the truth about the witch for the first time.
Cain was momentarily stunned, not knowing what else to say about the flimsy story.
The probability that the water one drinks throughout their life will contain the tears that a woman shed hundreds of years ago is high enough to be called fate.
What if it was your business rather than someone else’s?
Cain turned back to face Oleciren.
She, who had struggled to awaken as a witch, was looking blankly at Primundi.
“Those who are chosen like that each take on one of the negative aspects of the world. In my case, it was ‘despair,’ and you, who will become the new witch, should be ‘lament.'”
Primundi looked back at Cain.
A monster who completely destroyed Witch’s Night with the sole purpose of saving Arna.
She hesitated a little, unsure where to begin or what to say.
Primundi’s eyes continued to reflect Cain.
Of course, she was not looking at Cain, but rather, it seemed as if she were trying to conjure up the image of someone else from Cain’s face.
“You look a lot like him, young Ethelred.”
“Who?”