Chapter 150: The Witch of Time
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 150: The Witch of Time
“Pregnant lady kick!”
“...Hey, you fucking bitch! I told you to stop!”
“Nope~ Can’t hear a thing from a pathetic witch who can’t even get pregnant~.”
“You’re a real fucking bitch!”
Watching Evangeline laugh and joke with Hekaterina, Margaret quietly rested her chin on her hand, lost in thought.
Everything had changed since Yohan arrived.
The witches, who had lived lives cut off from the world, began to rediscover their social nature.
He began to give a family to the witches who were destined to live their entire lives alone.
In an age where, on the kingdom's outskirts, witches were still called sinners who bore the world’s evils and should be killed on sight—Yohan was a man far ahead of his time.
‘Disciple, I can’t even imagine the time before you were here anymore.’
Margaret let out a hollow laugh at the thought. The idea of a witch becoming dependent on a single human was absurd.
What was even more absurd was that she was beginning to genuinely accept the death he spoke of.
Dying is frightening. But the eternity she would have to live on, left behind after Yohan's death, was far more terrifying.
‘Ah, I see now.’
The Witch of Space finally understood the preciousness of this time. A witch who had lived for eternity, letting every minute and second pass by meaninglessly, had come to understand human time.
The concept of time, more precious than a mountain of gold, more precious than anything else.
─...Ah, can you hear me?
Just then, an image played in Margaret’s mind. A mind-link using magic power. Since there was no one who would send such a thing to her, Margaret furrowed her brow slightly and focused on the telepathic wave.
A moment later, the mind-link flying toward her began to receive an even stronger signal.
─You still can't hear me? Hmm, was this not the right time either?
‘...What are you.’
─Ah, you can hear me. I knew it—this is the right timeline.
The witch in the vision chuckled. But hearing that laughter, Margaret could not laugh herself.
The voice ringing in her ears was one she had heard somewhere before. A voice that was unpleasant to hear.
─Now, then—shall we switch?
It was Margaret’s own voice. Slightly older than her current one.
Clap─!
The sound of a clap. And something leaps across space, coming toward her. Coming. Coooooming───
───
──
─
“Yohan! I’ve come to see you!”
317 years.
115,705 days.
2,776,920 hours.
166,155,200 minutes.
10 billion seconds.
Once every second, I thought of you.
Ten billion times, and now I can barely remember the sound of your voice.
Do you still remember me?
*
The Witch of Space understood the spatiality of time.
The witch who became the Witch of Time met her future self.
Her past was stolen by her future self.
Stolen.
Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen. Stolen.
Give it back.
That time is mine.
It belongs to me, not to ‘me’.
The Witch of Time smiled gently at her past self.
─I'm sorry. But you'll have to yield it to me.
And time closes.
The Witch of Space drifts within the closed time.
Until someone comes to save her. Forever.
*
One day, Yohan realized that Margaret had started acting strangely.
“Yohan, Yohan. What do you think?”
“Huh? Oh... you cut your hair.”
“Yep! Does it look good?”
“Yes, it looks great.”
The first thing he noticed was that her hair had been cut short, reaching her shoulders.
Yohan preferred long hair. He remembered telling Margaret that before.
So why cut it short now? Did she no longer need his love?
Tilting his head in confusion, Yohan tried to focus on his cooking, only to be startled as Margaret wrapped her arms around him from behind.
“...Margaret?”
“Just a moment, just let me stay like this for a little while.”
“Ah, okay.”
Since it was common for the witches to show psychotic obsession, Yohan decided to let it slide and allowed Margaret to hug him.
But she couldn't just hold onto him forever. He had to prepare their meal, and if the other witches saw them like this, they would rush over in a fit of jealousy and a fight would break out.
“Margaret, it’s about time you let go.”
“Just a little more...”
“No, it’s getting really dangerous─.”
As Yohan turned to pry her off, he realized something was wrong. His body wouldn't move.
He sighed, assuming Margaret had fixed him in space again, but even when he tried using magic nullification, he couldn't move.
Besides, when his body was fixed in space, there was always a sense of dissonance, but he felt nothing of the sort now.
‘What is this?’
Yohan darted his eyes toward the pot he’d had on a rolling boil. The pot, which should have been bubbling furiously, was still.
To be precise, it had stopped mid-boil. The bubbles rising to the surface of the water were proof.
And what about the flame beneath it? The flame that should have been dancing and licking at the pot was also completely frozen.
It was as if time itself had stopped.
“...Who are you.”
“Who else? It's Margaret. Your lover, who loves Yohan more than anyone.”
“Lover?”
At that, Yohan let out a hollow laugh and shot back at her.
“Margaret isn't my lover. In fact, I've never been in a relationship.”
“Hmm? After all that sex we've had?”
“It wasn't sex for the sake of getting pregnant. It's not much different from masturbation.”
“That can't be... Yohan should be in love with me, right? Hmm?”
Of course—he knew something was very wrong. The problem was what she called him. Margaret didn't call him by his name.
Plenty of people already called him by his name. She used the title ‘Disciple’ to remain someone special.
But this woman, this witch impersonating Margaret, was calling him by his name as if she were his one and only lover.
“Who... are you...?”
“...Why don't you recognize me, Yohan.”
“Ugh─!”
Squeeze...!
The imposter Margaret's hands gripping his waist tightened. Feeling the intense pressure, Yohan let out a groan and began to tremble.
“Ghk, ugh...!”
“After you were gone—I endured, and endured, and endured some more. I thought only of you, held back the urge to die. I stayed strong, I thought of you, I loved you. I did all that...!”
“Huu, huk! Huuuk-!”
“But you've forgotten me. Yohan doesn't need Margaret anymore.”
Yohan didn't listen to whatever the imposter Margaret was muttering. Escaping this situation was his top priority.
If this woman wasn't Margaret, and if she was a witch he could kill without consequence—he hoped that was the case.
“Ugh─!?”
Yohan used his Awakening magic to erase the magic around him. The frozen hands of the clock began to tick once more.
Sensing the flow of time with all five senses, Yohan immediately shouted for help.
“Tea—cher—!”
From a distance, he heard Evangeline’s frantic footsteps as she came running at the sound of his cry. The footsteps grew closer in an instant, and soon Evangeline arrived in the kitchen, clicking her tongue at the sight of Margaret hugging Yohan.
“What, what is it, Yohan? Why’d you call?”
“Ugh—Teacher...!”
“What are you trying to do, showing off your lovey-dovey stuff? For your information—I'm the ultimate main wife, pregnant with your child, so something like this won't shake my resolve—!”
“This person... is a fake...”
Hearing Yohan’s words, Evangeline realized he wasn't just having an intimate moment with Margaret.
The moment she understood, Evangeline beheaded the imposter Margaret without a shred of hesitation.
Even though the imposter looked 100% identical to Margaret, who could be called her best friend, there was no hesitation in her actions.
Because Yohan—her beloved disciple, future husband, and the father of her child—was more important than some best friend.
“Yohan! Are you okay!?”
“Cough-! Cough! Ugh...”
“H-hold on—Regina! Reginaaa! Healing, we need healing, quick!”
As Evangeline belatedly ran off to call Regina, she didn't see the imposter Margaret's severed head smiling.
But Yohan saw it. He tried to call out to Evangeline, but unfortunately, she didn't look back.
“─I'll keep doing this, forever.”
From the severed head, Margaret’s chilling voice echoed.
And─ Yohan realized that an infinite amount of time had passed.
*
“Yohan! Yohan!”
“...Huh?”
Margaret, her hair cut short, looks up at him.
Only then did Yohan understand why her hair was short.
‘The spot where her head was cut...’
The length of her hair now was the same as where Evangeline had cut her head off.