How Can You Pay Back The Kindness I Raised With Obsession?

Her vision blurred as she followed their cloudy eyes.

The only thing that was clear in it was the childhood she tried to bury deep in her memory. She still remembered it vividly. It was the day her world fell apart.

She was in second grade. For Mother’s Day, she ran excitedly home with a hand-folded carnation made by herself during art class.

“Mom!”

She was going to present it to her mom who was waiting for her at home. But all that awaited her was five ten thousand dollars and a letter on the table.

From mom, I’m sorry.

I took care of the money, spent it only when you needed it, I put your favorite side dishes in the fridge, so make sure to eat them.

Mom will pick you up later, so be a good girl and listen to dad until then.

But even if she wanted to listen to her dad as her mom said, she couldn’t. Her mom had left the house, but her dad didn’t come home either.

These children, like her, were abandoned by their parents.

‘Oh my God…’

It was heartbreaking. Why the hell did you abandon such beautiful children…

‘What?’

As she revived her past story, she tilted her head at the sudden realization.

‘Are they really Hansel and Gretel?’

Although the children’s names weren’t Hansel and Gretel, could the names of the book’s protagonists have been different?

‘You don’t have to kill me to end this book or anything like that, do you?”

She wanted that fairytale to end in a heartwarming and desirable way, not like the classic cruel fairytale. So she decided on her role in an instant.

As “Good Witch Hazel’, who raises her children well until one day their wrongful father comes to find them.

“But Witch…”

While she was lost in thought, Luna, who had eaten a piece of apple pie, called to her.

“My name is Hazel, not Witch.”

She wiped the stewed apple from the corner of her mouth with a napkin and gave them her name.

“Hazel.”

“Yes.”

“Are you trying to fatten us up and eat us after then?”

“Huaang-.”

At Luna’s suspicious question, Luca immediately burst into tears.

“Now you’re going to wash us up and roast us in the oven. Right?”

Even as she fed and washed the children, Luna’s doubts didn’t stop. Luka, who had barely stopped crying, sat in the bathtub and whimpered again while playing with his hands.

“Guys, did you see anybody dressing up the chicken when you grill it?”

After bathing, she soothed the children who were wearing towels. But there was no proper clothing for the children. She hurriedly put her shirt on and tied it around her waist with a ribbon.

“We have never grilled chicken”

‘Oh dear. They were very poor children. I’m going to have to grill chicken tonight.’

“I’m going to clean up this mess now, so play with Lady and Daisy.”

She left the children with the furry temporary nannies and went about to do chores. She washed their charred clothes and hung them up before sunset, and she blocked the walls they had ripped off again. In the meantime, her fingers occasionally teased as she cleared the table.

The little ones watched with their mouths open as the leftover cake flew through the sky by itself into the cellar, and the dishes went into the dishwashing bin and bathed themselves.

“Huang, I’m scared.”

“Is this a man made of a broomstick? But why don’t you have eyes, nose, and mouth?”

Luka dodged his broom through the mess of small mud footprints, while Luna followed and poked her.

For dinner, she made grilled chicken with mushroom sauce for the first time in a long time. The mushrooms had been thrown away by the girl who had eaten her house during the day. She had left the basket in front of the house so the girl could take it back, but she still hadn’t taken it. Hazel didn’t want it to go bad, so she was forced to eat it.

“You want to make us pay for the ginger cookies, huh.”

The little ones devoured the chicken as if it were a crab, leaving all the mushrooms behind.

“Uh-huh, delicious. The mushrooms taste the same as chicken, right, Mr. Ginger?”

“This looks weird…”

“The mushrooms are moldy. We don’t eat mold!”

‘Oh dear.’ Unfortunately, that time, the trick with Mr. Ginger and the carrot cake did not work.

As she cleaned up the dinner table and prepared for tomorrow, the night soon came when the owl was crying. Sadly, the only bed in that small cabin was her single bed. It was cramped for the three of them to sleep together, and the kids were still scared of her, so she decided to put them to bed and sleep on the couch in the living room.

“Good night.”

She came out with a blanket over the children, who were still wary of her even with their sleepy eyes. Then she lay down on the couch and thought about what was going to happen step by step.

“You two are picky eaters, aren’t you?”

Picky eating wasn’t the only thing that needed to be fixed before the kids’ dad picked them up.

“Luna, you have to be respectful to an adult.”

“We don’t need to be respectful, do we?”

Luna made a face as if she had just heard the nonsense that kissing a frog would turn it into a prince. Without any hesitation, the girl looked at her as asking what was wrong, and she was taken aback.

‘Aren’t children supposed to be respectful to adults here? Am I misunderstanding the manners of this world?’

The sound of an owl leaking in from outside the window stopped. She was overwhelmed with excitement as the sound of someone who wasn’t her, Daisy, or Lady wafted into the quiet living room.

She was so lonely.

She listened to the whispering through the half-open bedroom door.

“Sister.”

“What?”

“It’s scary.”

“The witch who eats people?”

“Um…”

“Oh, hurry up and sleep, Luca.”

“But what if it attacks us while we’re sleeping?”

“… Then I’ll stay awake.”

‘Oh dear. Sleep soundly, I’m not going to eat you.’

She’d be caught eavesdropping on it, but she couldn’t help but interject.

“I’m full. Did you see that I ate all the mushrooms you left over for dinner? There is no room for you in my stomach… Heh!

She chuckled at the sound of her mouth shutting in surprise.

“… So rest assured and sleep well.”

It wasn’t long before she heard the sound of regular wheezing breathing in the dormant bedroom. She closed her eyes as she ended the day with a smile. Little did she know that the morning that was always peaceful would start the next day with an accident and a cry.

“Huaang-.”

“Shhh! Be quiet.”

She had been sleeping sweetly for a long time and suddenly her eyes lit up to the sound of a sudden cry.

‘Uh… Why am I sleeping here?’

She stared blankly at the ceiling, unable to grasp the situation for a moment, and then she remembered yesterday and jumped up from the couch.

“Why? For what? What’s going on?”

She ran into the bedroom where Luca’s whines never ceased, and Luna saw her and jerked something behind her back. But with that small size she could not hide a large bed sheet.

“No, it’s no big deal.”

Just by looking at his sinful and sullen face, she knew it’s a big deal.

“Huh-.”

Luca was standing by the bed, rubbing his eyes with his tiny fist and crying. On my bed between the two little ones was a large pee stain drawn on it. Under the circumstances, that was probably Luca’s side while sleeping. 

“The water fairy left a lake in the bed again.”

She made up an excuse and Luna tilted her head. Luca’s eyes widened, as

if he thought she was going to beat him with a broom like an evil witch. 

“Ma, that’s right. The water fairy did.”

Unlike Luna, who was seven-year-old and quick-witted and countered, Luca was still naive.

“Huh, but…”

“It’s okay, Luca.”

“I’m sorry. I tried to change the blanket but…”

Was it a frequent occurrence? If he was five years old and had never been scolded for peeing in sleep, there was no way such words would come out of a child’s mouth.

“No, it’s not. The change of bed made Luca nervous?”

It was common for children to make that mistake when they were psychologically anxious. She stroked Luca’s head and accepted a wet sheet from Luna. Meanwhile, Luca, who had been glancing at her, hesitated, grabbed the hem of her skirt and shook it.

“It’s because I miss Lulu.”

“You normally sleep well when you are with Lulu.”

“Who is Lulu?”

“My rabbit.”

“It’s a stuffed bunny. He forgot it and left it at home.”

“Hmm, Lulu… Schifer.”

“Where’s your house? I’ll bring you Lulu.”

She knew how to use movement magic. Of course, she couldn’t move big things yet, but if she knew exactly what it looked like and where it was, she could put it in Luka’s arms with a snap of a finger.

“Really? My house is …!”

But for some reason, Luna shut Luca’s mouth as he tried to answer excitedly.

“We don’t have a house anymore.”

“Don’t you?”

“No, it’s burned.”

“… Really?”

“Yes, very roaring. If not, why are we here? We would have gone home.”

That somehow sounds… Something was fishy.

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Translator Note: