The Prince and the Witch (2)
I watched as Joshua carefully tipped the right potion into the patient’s mouth and asked in a hesitant voice, “Mom, what do you think?”
I had already sent mana flowing through the man’s body to check his condition. Whether external or internal injuries, he was far healthier than before. There didn’t seem to be any problems at all. On top of that, the curse I had engraved on his heart—after quite a bit of trouble—had settled in perfectly. It was flawless for any future situations that might arise.
When I first tried to plant the curse, it had resisted fiercely and given me a hard time. Judging by the trace of holy power lingering in his body, he was clearly someone from the Holy Kingdom. There was no way a Heresy Inquisitor would have fought orcs alone. He was probably a preacher or a pilgrim of some sort.
I had made sure that if he ever tried to harm Joshua, assault her, or report her, his heart would burst without mercy. So there was nothing left to worry about. At this point, whether it was nursing or cursing, the least he could do out of gratitude was twitch a finger.
“The medicine you gave him before didn’t cause any complications, and every measure you’ve taken so far has been excellent. As for the rest…”
“The rest…?”
“Just believe and wait, dear. You’ve done more than enough. From now on, it’s up to this man’s own will.”
If a person had no will to live, even the greatest doctor in the world couldn’t save them. There was nothing more I could do as a healer. All that remained was to believe and wait.
Honestly, the fact that Joshua—who wasn’t even a proper doctor or priest—had managed to treat him this far using only herbs and potions was impressive enough. I gently stroked her hair, careful not to mess it up, trying to comfort the girl who always shrank back whenever she stood in front of a patient.
The man woke up three days later, right when I was worrying about how to restock the medicine storage that was now more than half empty. Food could be gathered through self-sufficiency, but medicinal herbs and monster byproducts had to be obtained directly. Things like a gorgon’s eye or a mimic’s tongue—I’d have no choice but to head into a dungeon soon and sweep the place clean. I had prepared the necessary potions in advance, but there was no telling when or what kind of situation might arise.
Ever since I’d grown especially close to Joshua, I found myself worrying about things I never used to care about.
“Mom!!! Mom!!!!!”
Joshua’s urgent cry echoed from far away. I stopped my thoughts and stepped out of the medicine storage. She didn’t need to shout that loudly—I could hear everything. Just from her voice, I could tell how frantic she was.
“What’s the matter?”
There was only one thing that would make her this worked up. Even as I asked, I already knew the answer.
“He finally woke up…!”
She came running over, grabbed both my hands, and looked up at me with an expression that was both utterly serious and overflowing with joy. It might have been the sense of accomplishment from finally succeeding on her own, as if rewarding all the hard work she had put in until now.
I still needed to properly thank that man for many reasons, so dying now would be rather inconvenient. Thanks to him, Joshua had not only opened up her heart to me but had even started calling me Mom.
Letting Joshua pull me by the hand, we arrived at the sickroom. The man had raised his upper body and was looking at us with half-lidded eyes, still heavy with sleep. The eyes that had been half-hidden between his brows now glowed with a bright golden light.
It was an unpleasant gaze that seemed to strip me bare, examining every corner of my body as if measuring my soul. A instinctive wave of disgust washed over me.
Holy Eye
A divine blessing that allows the user to see the truth of souls and perform miracles. Awakened by Leo and possessed in a fake form by Lucia.
The Holy Eye. The ability to distinguish good from evil in a person’s soul. It was said to be a blessing granted only to the most devout in the Holy Kingdom. There were even famous legends about angels descending in dreams to breathe upon the eyes of the chosen, granting them sight. And of course, in every series, the possessor of the Holy Eye would either become the protagonist’s ally or their enemy.
Should I kill him now?
The thought that I might have drawn the short straw out of the four possibilities crossed my mind, and I began silently chanting a spell. It didn’t matter to me since I was a witch, but the moment Joshua was branded as a witch, her ordinary life would be over forever.
I reached out my hand, ready to unleash dark magic in one swift motion so Joshua wouldn’t notice—
“Ugh…”
“You still need to rest.”
The man frowned in pain, probably from overusing the Holy Eye. Seeing Joshua hurry to support him, I couldn’t go through with it. There was still plenty of time. If I wanted to kill him, I could do it anytime. Besides, I didn’t want to turn all of Joshua’s devotion into nothing.
I canceled the spell and walked over to Joshua, who was fidgeting anxiously, to check on the man’s condition. Even though he must have realized I was a witch through the Holy Eye, he had simply fainted as if it were nothing. I had to give him credit for his guts.
“W-what should we do!? He lost consciousness again!”
“Calm down, dear. He’s only fallen asleep.”
It was probably because he had just woken from a long coma and immediately used the power of the Holy Eye. This was actually good timing. I needed to give Joshua a heads-up in advance.
Whether he was a Heresy Inquisitor or not, the fact that he was closely connected to the Holy Kingdom was something Joshua—a victim of the witch hunts—needed to know. So that she wouldn’t have any regrets about her choices later.
It was Joshua who had saved him, after all. It wouldn’t be right for me to decide on my own whether to kill him or let him live. In the past, I would have gotten rid of him long ago. I let out a small, inward sigh. This is all because of Joshua.
“Joshua, come out with me for a moment.”
I took her hand and led her out of the sickroom. While organizing my thoughts on how best to explain this, I ran simulations in my head of how she might react. She definitely wouldn’t say we should kill him. But a Heresy Inquisitor might still be a source of trauma for her.
“What is it, Mom?”
“There’s something you need to know about that man.”
Still holding her hand, I looked into her covered eyes.
“That man… he might be connected to the Heresy Inquisitors.”
I felt her hand tremble and gripped it even tighter.
“What? How do you know that, Mom…?”
“Those eyes that glowed so brightly earlier are the mark of a messenger of God.”
The white eyes that Heresy Inquisitors possessed had no special ability beyond their symbolism. But the power of the Holy Eye was a true privilege granted only to those who carried God’s blessing. He might even be a saint. Or perhaps just an exceptionally devout believer.
“That man possesses the Holy Eye, which can see straight through souls. Those eyes are bestowed by God through angels. He’s probably of quite high status in the Holy Kingdom. Whether directly or indirectly, he can’t help but be connected to the Heresy Inquisitors.”
“……”
“Mom will respect whatever my daughter chooses. Joshua, what do you want to do? They hate witches more than anyone, and witches hate them just as much. If we let him live, it could come back to bite us. Even so…”
He might be the very person who killed your real parents.
Even knowing that, do you still want to save him?
I didn’t say the rest out loud, but Joshua probably understood it vaguely. That the same tragedy could happen again. That this time, she might not be lucky enough to survive. No matter how much I knew the original story and had made preparations, there was a limit to how well I could protect her while fighting.
It felt heartbreaking to put a fifteen-year-old girl in such a cruel position—like I had become the wicked stepmother forcing a terrible choice on her—but it was something she needed to hear.
“You told me before, Mom. That even good people can’t always be good, and even bad people can’t always be bad. That applies to everyone, not just witches.”
“That man might be a terrible Heresy Inquisitor who killed innocent people. But even if that’s true… I want to ask him why he had to do it. And maybe he isn’t the same Heresy Inquisitor from back then, right? Hurting someone based only on speculation… that would make me no different from them. So what I’m trying to say is…”
In the end, after she had poured out every honest thought in her heart, I pulled her into a tight hug. I had been hugging Joshua a lot lately. It was starting to become a habit. Anyone would want to hug her after hearing such beautiful words.
“But what if he really is a Heresy Inquisitor? What if he suddenly attacks us…?”
She had spoken so nobly, yet only now was she worrying about that part. I barely managed to hold back a laugh.
“Then~ Joshua will have to scold him.”
“Ehh!?!? You said you’d help me, Mom!”
People really do only hear what they want to hear. The way she shamelessly assumed I would help her made me feel playful.
“I said I would respect your choice. I never said I would help.”
“That’s so mean…”
What can you do? That’s what adults are like. Even though she said that, the moment it actually happened, her body would react first. She knew my words weren’t sincere and was deliberately puffing out her cheeks. What a sly little thing.
Assuming he doesn’t cause us any real harm, once he’s fully healed… then what?
Joshua seemed completely focused on saving him first and didn’t appear to have thought about what came after. We couldn’t let him stay here forever. My plan was to send him away the moment his treatment was over, but I knew Joshua would insist on escorting him all the way to the village.
Escorting him to the village would be fine if I went along too. But that meant we’d have to keep him in the house until then. They say the closer two bodies are, the closer their hearts become. What if that man started flirting with Joshua…? Or worse, what if Joshua ended up developing feelings for him…?
Sex education… is it too late to start now?