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

“Pick up the shell with your foot like this then the seed will pop out.”

She taught the girl how to pick chestnuts safely without hurting her hands, and Luna quickly complied. Luca kept missing the round chestnut because he was still immature at using his feet. Eventually, he gave up and started picking up the chestnuts that popped out of his sister’s chestnut bunches.

The little ones suck and divide labor, and they were so cute.

“Whew, home at least!”

As soon as she got home, she made a campfire in the backyard and roasted chestnuts.

“I’m hungry! I’m hungry!”

“Luca’s hungry too!”

“You’re hungrier when you run.”

The children, who had been running around the campfire chirping about being hungry like baby birds, quietly sat down as they pulled out their first army night. As the charred skin crunchy and crumbled, steaming steaming rose to reveal deliciously ripe chestnuts. The yellow kernels were peeled and blown to cool them appropriately for the children.

“Eat slowly.”

“Wow, the chestnut tastes sweet.”

“Drink!”

It was already dinner time after washing the blac soot around the children’s mouths and doing some housework. That night dinner was grilled sausage that she made herself and served with a mushroom omelet.

The children watched with curious eyes while she cooked. As I was picking out fresh mushrooms, the two approached her and rummaged through the mushroom basket.

“Did I pick up this?”

“This, this one is mine.”

Each of them made an omelet with mushrooms of their choice, and they both ate it without leaving a bite.

‘Just yesterday, the kids said mushrooms were weird, they didn’t like them…’

She sliced thinly and covered the mushroom flavor and feel with an egg, but it must be because of the fact that they sweat to obtain the mushrooms.

‘Oh… Shall we feed carrots this way next time?’

Carrot cake honestly didn’t taste like carrots at all, so it could help her to make them eat carrots. So the next day, they picked carrots from the garden. The children enjoyed holding shovels and taking carrots out of the soil.

‘No, didn’t you have a field in the house?’

The little ones said it was their first time digging crops in the fields. 

‘Why weren’t you able to do almost anything at home?’

Stealing a frowning eyebrow, she vowed. She’dl let them do everything they haven’t done before. 

She dug up the carrots and had them wash the soil off. It was dangerous, so she made them peel and trim the skin instead of using a knife.

“Have you baked a cake?”

“Nope.”

‘Work to do… I don’t know who your real parents are but I have an idea.’

“So Luna and Luca will be baking their own carrot cake today. What do you think?”

“Alright!”

“Joa!”

Dry ingredients, such as flour and salt, were placed in a large bowl and placed in front of Luca. Luna, who used her hands better than Luca, was given a bowl of liquids such as eggs and oil.

“Be careful not to overflow.”

She gave them a small whisk and taught them how to mix the ingredients. Luna had never beaten an egg, but she was persistent. She was glad to mix slowly as she was told. Luca, still young, spilled flour everywhere, and the table was in early winter. The two children mixed the ingredients together and added chopped carrots and walnuts.

The round cake molds into which the dough was poured soon went into the oven. The little ones huddled together in front of the fire pit. Seeing their clenched hands near their chin made them look like they were praying to God to make the cake deliciously baked.

“Come on, pick a carrot for lunch.”

She made a beef stew with ‘pretty’ carrots that the kids carefully picked.

“What? It’s like a potato.”

“Ugh!”

It was finely chopped and cooked thoroughly, so it wouldn’t have the characteristic taste of carrots. At first, the children, who were rummaging through the stew with a spoon and avoiding the small carrots, accidentally took a few bites of the carrots mixed between the potatoes, and without hesitation, they began to scoop them up.

“Then we should reward the good kids who ate all the carrots.”

When she brought out the carrot cake that had been cooled by the window, the children clapped their hands excitedly.

“Big bro will also value this, right?”

As he rummaged through the cupboard for the tea leaves, she heard Luca whispering behind her.

‘Brother? Do you have a brother? In classic fairy tales, there are no other siblings.’

“Shhh. Don’t talk about big brother, what if we are sent back to him?”

After all, was it a lie to say that the house was burned down?

“But big bro is shy… If big bro also lived here, I’dl like it.”

“Living here with that nagging Great Demon King?”

“Yes…”

“He abandoned us.”

‘…Abandoned?’

When she thought about inviting their brother, she was overwhelmed with mixed emotions. She felt so bad that he had abandoned his younger siblings, but she wondered how bad circumstances he would have had to do so. But what was most unfortunate of all was the abandoned children.

She poured milk into their glasses and affectionately stroked their round heads.

“What if we don’t go back?”

Luca, who has already opened her heart to her, was sure to do so, but Luna, who has always been wary of her, wanted to live there. It was heartwarming.

No one wanted to stay with her, an evil witch. She understood, but she still couldn’t help feeling sad. Maybe the reason why the kids didn’t want to leave there was not her, but the delicious cakes and animal friends.

But maybe they saw her with those innocent eyes as something more.

Next day, after a long time, she got out of the forest and headed to the village. Luna and Luca ate so well that in a few days they ran out of flour and meat. So she walked into the village hand in hand with the little ones, and everyone sneaked away from her, but they couldn’t take their eyes off them. Maybe it’s because a young witch who lives alone suddenly took small children with her.

Fearing that, she tried to leave the children in the cabin and go alone, but they both insisted that they would follow her, so she couldn’t help it.

‘I have Daisy and Lady, but I’m nervous about leaving the two little ones at home…’ she thought while paying for things like flour, sugar, and honey.

“How do witches make money?”

Luna was really sharp, wasn’t she? Even adults who are wide enough to be interested in witches never asked her questions like that before.

“Oh… Just sell jam and mushrooms.”

She was sorry for Luna, but it was a lie. Who would buy what the evil witch sells? She was actually incredibly rich. In the basement of the hut, there were mountains of bags and jars full of gold coins.

In that life she was rich. It was like a dream, but she decided to live a simple life. 

‘What the hell was the original owner of this body making money from?’

She hadn’t forgotten the picture she drew. A witch counting gold coins. That witch was a villain, so it’s definitely not a gold coin earned for good.

It was not allowed by her conscience to spend money that others might have earned for some bad thing. So she spent the minimum amount of money she needed to eat and live, but now that her family had grown, she decided to spend a little more than usual.

A pork hind leg the size of Luca, to a lump of cow loin. Butchers bought large quantities of meat of all kinds.

She felt like she wouldn’t be able to carry everything alone and in the moment she was trying she heard.

“The Grand Duke is crazy.”

The chatter of the ladies gathered in the bakery next to the butcher’s shop reached her ears.

‘The Grand Duke is crazy?’

She tilted her head. There was only one Grand Duke in that empire.

Archduke Elliot Blaine.

A man who inherited the title at a young age in place of his parents, who died early a few years ago. He was the master of this Grand Duchy where she lived. Despite the sudden death of his parents, the Grand Duke flourished without being embroiled in a quarrel or being hit. It was all praised everywhere as a virtue of the young Grand Duke’s abilities. Moreover, he was also a natural swordsman who had already made a great mark in demon warfare and war.

How was he? Everyone said he was a handsome man and that nobody could take their eyes off him once they saw him. Everyone described the Grand Duke’s appearance that way. Silver hair that seems to have been carefully plucked by a fairy in the moonlight. And purple eyes that look like they have been meticulously carved from the clearest amethyst in the world. Legend has it that the greatest sculptor of their time failed to transfer his face to marble and became a hermit. In addition, since he was an imperial family member who was third in line to the imperial throne, aristocratic families were eager to marry their daughters to him.

She had heard such rumors even if she was dull to the news of that world. But how could such a handsome man go crazy?

“How can he be crazy?”

Fortunately, one of the ladies asked what she wanted to say.

“It’s because of that little princess and prince, you know?”

‘Heh, did the Grand Duke have a kid? When did you get married?’

However, no one asked about all the news of the Grand Duke’s marriage.

‘Wow…’ She really didn’t know anything about the world going on. Now that she had children, why didn’t she come out a little more often? Parenting was a battle of equipment and information.

While she thought to herself, the ladies’ chatter continued. 

“The Grand Duke is very troubled.”

“Yes, that’s right. The nannies can’t last two days? The rules are tricky, and the kids are so picky.”

“Tsk, they are originally from a well-behaved and well-haired family, but how did they become like that?”

“But they still haven’t found one?”

What were they looking for? A nanny? She heard people say that the amount was astronomical. Were they talking about the salary? Her jaw dropped when she learned the exact astronomical amount.

—————————————————————

Translator Note: