Chapter 16
Chapter 16
“Are you feeling better?”
When Leo opened his eyes, the girl’s face was right in front of him.
Déjà vu.
It felt like he had experienced something like this just moments ago.
He remembered trying to sit up on the sofa and thank her.
‘If you touch hands, you’ll get pregnant!!’
That desperate attempt to pull him away flashed through his mind, and for a moment the royal education he had received all his life felt like it was collapsing.
But getting pregnant just from holding hands…
Do witches get people pregnant just by holding hands?
He didn’t feel the same oppressive presence he had felt from the witch earlier.
Without realizing it, his gaze drifted down to the girl’s hand.
It was a delicate, beautiful hand, though slightly marred by scars that spoiled its porcelain-like skin.
A butterfly resting on the back of her right hand seemed to notice his gaze and slipped back under her sleeve.
“Um, if you keep staring at my hand like that… it’s a bit…”
“I-I’m sorry!”
He hurriedly bowed his head in apology. He did not want to faint again.
The way she hid her hand inside her sleeve looked oddly cute, but the memory of those vines from earlier made cold sweat run down his back.
Based on how the witch treated her, the girl might actually be more dangerous than the witch herself.
I want to live. But how?
He looked around. The witch was nowhere in sight.
If there was ever a chance to escape, it was now. He had to act while the girl wasn’t paying attention.
“You’re royalty, right? A prince…? Or maybe, Lord Leo…?”
Prince. It had been a long time since he heard that word, and for a moment it sounded almost pleasant.
But it was always followed by words like idiot or incompetent.
“Just Leo is fine.”
For now, he would go along with her. There would be a chance later.
“I’m Joshua. I’m really sorry about earlier… I was just so surprised I didn’t think.”
“No, I should be the one thanking you. You saved my life.”
Joshua bowed repeatedly, apologizing for what happened earlier, and Leo instinctively bowed back.
Despite his desire to escape, the gratitude he felt was genuine.
Without Joshua, he could not even imagine what would have happened to him.
“….”
“….”
An awkward silence hung between them.
What should I say?
This place defied common sense.
If he said or did something wrong, he might be attacked again like before.
Joshua also seemed like she had something to say, fidgeting with her hands and avoiding eye contact, but she didn’t speak.
If this awkward silence continued, the witch would return.
He wanted to go home.
There was no one waiting for him, no family or friends.
Even if he failed to become an inquisitor, perhaps they would still acknowledge him now that he had awakened the Saint’s Eyes.
At least he would have proof of faith as a prince, as a believer.
‘Then they’re not welcoming me. They’re just welcoming the Saint’s Eyes.’
And people like that might even try to remove them.
They might say he was unworthy of such power.
That he should hand it to its rightful owner.
Leo felt hollow.
A useless prince who had achieved nothing.
He failed to join the inquisitors.
He was captured by orcs.
And then saved by a witch.
Leo Patrick Florencia felt like he might not even be necessary as a person.
His head felt heavy.
“Here, it’s tea that makes your heart feel warm.”
While he was lost in thought, Joshua handed him a cup of tea.
It was a strange bluish color, with a calming scent.
He took a sip.
“How is it?”
“It’s… good. The taste and smell. It feels warm, like you said.”
“Right? I made it from flower petals that grow on my body. I tested it myself in case it was poisonous, but it was fine.”
Joshua touched the butterfly-shaped flower on her right eye.
Only then did Leo realize the flower that had been on her shoulder earlier was gone.
She really made tea from her own body…
As he took another sip, something clicked in his mind.
Wait.
The scent. The taste.
It was familiar.
The same calming scent he had felt when he woke up in this place.
The same feeling he had when he was asleep here.
Then this tea was basically…
bathwater made from Joshua’s body.
“Never serve this to anyone else.”
This was dangerous.
If anyone learned what this was, Joshua would be forced to spend her entire life brewing tea.
“Is it… bad?”
“It’s not about taste. It’s about you taking care of yourself!”
Who would serve their bathwater as tea?
“Um… Mom said not to give it to anyone else…”
“Mom?”
“That lady you saw earlier.”
“She’s the one who took me in after I was alone.”
Joshua smiled softly as she spoke of her.
Leo felt a pang of envy.
Most orphans should be miserable, yet Joshua looked so happy.
A witch should be hated.
A witch should bring suffering.
But Joshua, living with a witch, looked happier than he, a prince blessed by God.
“…Do you hate witches, Leo?”
Leo knew the answer before he even thought.
“Yes. I hate witches.”
Witches defied order.
The Inquisitors existed to eliminate them.
That was the truth he had been raised with.
But as he said it aloud, something inside him felt strangely dull.
“How was the conversation?”
When I returned after reinforcing the barrier, Joshua was lying face down on the bed.
From the state of the man tied up in vines and Joshua’s expression, I could guess how it went.
It hadn’t gone well.
“He seemed like a good person…”
“A good person, hmm?”
“…I’m not sure anymore.”
I sat beside her and let her rest her head on my lap, stroking her hair.
“Why do people hate witches?”
“You used to hate them too, didn’t you? Quite recently, in fact.”
I laughed a little, remembering how she used to reject affection as a child.
And how she eventually grew up to put poison in tea.
Joshua tried to lift her head, but her face was gently pushed back down by my chest.
“That’s… different…”
“Is it? The important thing was whether he’s connected to the Inquisition.”
“So what do you want to do now?”
“I just need a little more time.”
“Alright.”
I tucked her into bed as she fell asleep.
I didn’t know what Joshua wanted yet.
But it was clear things would not go smoothly.