Chapter 4: The Curse
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 4: The Curse
The first morning as her assistant.
I overslept on the very first day.
“…I’m fucked.”
The morning sun pierced through the window, casting a thin ray of light. I lay in bed for a moment, enjoying the sunlight, before heading to the bathroom with sleep still in my eyes.
I lightly washed my face with the water I’d drawn the night before, shook the moisture from my hands, and went straight to the kitchen.
I chopped the ingredients laid out in the kitchen into bite-sized pieces, threw them all into a pot just as the witch had done yesterday, and lit the fire.
Surprisingly, the witch’s mansion had a magical ignition device similar to a gas stove.
‘Back at the village chief’s place, I got the shit beaten out of me for letting the fire go out.’
This was something unimaginable in the village. Thankful for the boons of magic, I started making the stew.
I didn't have to worry about it tasting bad. All I had to do was add a pinch of the seasoning the witch had taught me about, her secret recipe, and any dish would become delicious.
She called it the power of love, but I still didn't understand what magic and love had to do with each other.
“Let’s see…”
There was no need to taste it, but I put a little in a small dish to try anyway. As expected, it was amazing. The seasoning alone didn't have this kind of savory flavor when I tasted it by itself. It was a mystery.
Once the cooking was done, I straightened my clothes and cautiously approached the witch’s room. It was my first time entering a woman’s room in my life, so I was a little nervous as I knocked on the door.
“…Witch?”
There was no response from inside. Thinking she might still be asleep, I knocked again.
I heard a faint mumbling sound. Taking that as an invitation, I opened the door and stepped inside.
And then I froze, seeing the witch in her defenseless state.
“…Witch. Um, you need to wake up now-.”
“Ughhh… Not witch, Eva…”
“Right. Eva. I get it, so could you please put on some clothes…”
She was wearing a very short lingerie one-piece and a hood. It must have gotten twisted while she was tossing and turning in her sleep; one shoulder strap had slipped down, and the hem of her skirt was bunched up high on her hip.
Through it all, it was amazing how her face-covering hood remained perfectly in place. I subtly adjusted my trousers, walked over to her, pulled down her skirt, and fixed the shoulder strap.
‘She’s not even wearing underwear…’
On her chest, small nipples poked through the fabric, and I couldn't see any straps on her hips other than the one-piece itself.
There was no way something like a C-string existed in this world, which was barely medieval. That meant she was braless and panty-less.
To be honest, for a young man in his twenties who hadn't had a proper release in a month, the scene was overwhelmingly stimulating.
“Come on, hurry and get up.”
“Hnngh… sleepy…”
Whether it was intentional or natural, she let out an incredibly lewd moan as she sat up, then naturally collapsed toward my lower body, pressing against me.
Startled, I jerked my hips back and grabbed her shoulders with both arms to support her.
“A-Are you okay?”
“…Why did you move away?”
“Huh? What?”
“I asked why you moved away. Are you hiding something there?”
Evangeline said this as she fiddled with the bulge in my trousers. Beneath the fabric, my cock began to feel so sensitive it was on the verge of cumming.
I let go of her shoulders and subtly stepped back. Seeing my reaction, Evangeline paused for a moment before starting to stretch.
“Ughhh… Right, time for breakfast.”
“…Let’s go, Eva.”
“…What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s nothing. Um, may I use the restroom?”
“The restroom? You seem to be in a hurry.”
I was. When I nodded, she gave me permission to go. With her approval, I ran to the restroom and unleashed a month’s worth of pent-up lust.
It was my first time in nearly a month.
Although Evangeline had taken Yohan as her assistant, she was still afraid to show him her face.
Circumstantially, she knew he had a unique constitution that made him immune to her curse, but what if she was mistaken?
The moment she got her hopes up, only to have him look at her face and be disappointed—the moment the curse took hold and he began to hate her.
This time, her heart would surely break.
She needed definitive proof. Proof that he wouldn't change even after seeing her face.
‘…Come to think of it.’
She vaguely remembered something she’d heard from another witch. That men were creatures whose brains were in their dicks, and that they would sometimes try to sleep with a witch even knowing they’d be cursed.
There were even men with peculiar sexual tastes who enjoyed continuously bedding a witch while harboring feelings of disgust for her.
‘Sh-Should I try to seduce him with my body first?’
As it happened, she had an amazing figure. In fact, a few people who didn't know she was a witch had occasionally hit on her after seeing her body alone.
Of course, the moment they realized she was a witch, they would scowl and click their tongues.
‘Yohan didn’t hate me even after knowing I was a witch… so he won’t reject my body…’
However, having lived for hundreds of years without ever even holding a man’s hand, there was no way she would know how to seduce one.
She went to her wardrobe and pulled out her shortest nightgown. It was an outfit she rarely wore because it was too revealing.
It was so skimpy that it could come off just by tossing and turning in her sleep.
‘With this…’
Having made her decision, Evangeline swallowed hard, pulled on her hood, and got into bed.
She cast a spell on the hood to ensure it would never come off. Even if a typhoon raged around her, the hood would remain in place.
Reassured, she closed her eyes with a pounding heart. But her heart was beating so fast that she couldn't fall asleep easily.
She lay with her eyes closed for an hour, two hours… After who knows how many hours, she finally drifted off without realizing it.
………
……
…
“…Witch?”
A man’s voice echoed in her ear. Waking to the sound, Evangeline whined that she didn't want to get up, held captive by the bed’s magical pull.
“Uuungh… five more minutes…”
“Um, Witch. You need to wake up now…”
“Not witch, Eva…”
“Eva. I get it, so could you please put on some clothes…”
Clothes?
At Yohan’s voice, Evangeline slowly sat up and checked her attire. Just as she had planned, her clothes were all bunched up.
More than half of her upper chest was exposed, and the hem of her skirt had ridden all the way up past her butt.
Now, all that was left was for Yohan to pounce on her as she had planned.
‘…Why isn’t he pouncing?’
She peeked at Yohan. He was looking down at her with a flushed face. Even a three-year-old could tell that Yohan was aroused.
Sure enough, it wasn't long before Yohan’s hand reached out to her. She pushed out her chest and twisted her hips to make it easier for him to touch her.
‘Here it comes, here it comes, here it comes…’
She thought she was about to lose her virginity, but Yohan simply fixed her shoulder strap, pulled down her skirt, and then quickly backed away.
Wondering what on earth he was doing by not touching her, Evangeline sat up. Then she naturally fell toward Yohan.
“Ugh-!?”
Yohan let out a strange groan and jerked his hips back. Having avoided her, he supported her with his hands, a troubled look on his face.
“A-Are you okay?”
“…Why did you move away?”
“Huh? What?”
“I asked why you moved away. Are you hiding something there?”
Hurt that Yohan had avoided her, Evangeline stared intently at his waist. There was a bulge, as if he were hiding something.
She immediately began to fiddle with the protruding area. Something hard twitched every time her hand touched it.
‘…What is this?’
She didn't know what he was hiding, but Evangeline took her hand off Yohan’s trousers. This was a witch’s cabin. If he’d never met a witch before, there were probably many fascinating things he’d want to have.
There was nothing particularly valuable in the rooms Yohan was allowed to enter, so she figured it wouldn't be a problem to give him one little thing.
“Right, we should have breakfast.”
“…Let’s go, Eva.”
“…Are you sick?”
“No, it’s nothing. Um, may I use the restroom?”
“The restroom? You seem to be in a hurry.”
She nodded at Yohan, who suddenly wanted to go to the restroom, and sat down at the dining table first.
There were two sets of tableware on the table. Hers and Yohan’s. It had been a very long time since she’d eaten a meal sitting across from someone, and she began to feel a surge of anticipation.
‘Why is he taking so long?’
However, Yohan didn't return from the restroom until well over five minutes had passed. He carried with him the slightly sweet scent of night-blooming flowers.
“Hmm… I think the house smells a little strange.”
“Wh-What?”
“Why are you so surprised?”
“No, it’s just that cleaning is my job.”
After barely managing to cover my tracks, I brought up a completely unrelated topic to divert her attention.
“By the way, Eva, may I ask you something?”
“What is it?”
“That hood… why don’t you ever take it off?”
Hearing my words, Evangeline pressed her lips together and began to stare at me intently. Fearing I might have touched a nerve, I kept my mouth shut and looked back at her.
With more than half of her face covered by the hood, it was hard to guess what she was thinking. For an assistant who needed to read his master’s expression to act, it was quite a predicament.
“Are you curious?”
“To be honest, yes.”
“Heehee─ You’ll get hurt if you know.”
A witch’s signature laugh. The cackling sound echoed in my ears. It was an incredibly ominous voice.
But a human’s unique curiosity and the slavish mentality ingrained in me over the past month desperately wished for that Pandora’s box to be opened.
As soon as I nodded, she fiddled with her hood and spoke.
“If you see a witch’s bare face, you get cursed.”
“What? What do you mean…”
“Didn’t you hear me? People who see my face get cursed. Without a single exception.”
I didn't have the luxury of asking what the curse was. Hadn't I already seen her bare face…?
And at that moment, the word “curse” coming from the mouth of a witch who could make a modern-like life possible in a fantasy world worse than the Middle Ages was terrifyingly dreadful.
Feeling my limbs tremble, I slammed my head onto the table.
A time ruled by quiet stillness.
Sacred moonlight pierced through the small window, pouring into the room.
The moonlight shone on the witch, who was sitting on a small chair in front of the bed.
Her silver hair, spilling out from under her robe, shimmered in the moonlight.
‘Ah…’
Seeing that indescribably beautiful sight, I realized the situation I was in.
Pathetically, I had fainted after hearing I was cursed. It was an embarrassing thing for a 21st-century person who didn't believe in divine beings.
To distract myself from the shame of having fainted, I scanned the witch dozing off in front of me.
Even with more than half of her face, including her eyes, covered, her beauty was still terrifyingly stunning.
So much so that my heart would pound just looking at her.
‘…Is this the curse?’
I carefully reached out and pulled back the hood covering her head, revealing a dazzlingly beautiful face.
Looking at that face, I thought that I was definitely cursed.
I would never be able to escape from her.