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

“No!”

She tried to jump off the wagon before it picked up speed, but was blocked by the holy power again and was thrown into the wagon. As she rubbed her tingling hands, the carriage rattled loudly and sped away.

“Nanny!”

She saw the faces of the people running in contemplation through the wide open door, and the corner of the wagon in front of her just barely passed by. Didn’t this collide? If she remembered well, a lot of people from romance novels died in carriage accidents, but she couldn’t believe…

The moment she woke up, the door that hit the tree trunk slammed shut. The bloody sound of tree branches cracking and cracking against the carriage walls continued without rest. The horses ran into the woods to avoid the carriages that lined the road. 

‘Please, please don’t bump into trees.’

Although there was a shield, there was no way to know if it would withstand high-speed collisions. She got up while barely touching the wall of the wagon that was rolling in all directions like a roller coaster. Looking out through the open coachman’s window, the yeti was gone.

“Stop! There are no more yetis!”

Still, the frightened horses tried to run away from the yeti, dodging the tall trees all over the snowy forest.

“Stop! Stop!”

She tried various magic tricks on the horse, but it didn’t work. 

‘Ah, this ambiguous magic skill!’

She had no choice but to flick her fingers and yank the horse’s reins.

“Calm down.”

She had never ridden a horse. Still, how fortunate she was to learn it over her shoulder every time the children took horseback riding lessons.

“If you pull it enough to raise the horse’s head, it gets excited, so pull it moderately.”

She calmly pulled the reins, recalling the horseback riding teacher’s words.

“Yes. Yes.”

As if it worked, the pace of the horse began to slow down. It was a time when I took a deep breath and wanted to stop.

Rattle.

As if the wheels had caught on the roots of a tree, the wagon soared upwards and landed. As soon as her body, which had been hanging from the window frame, floated upward, she hit her butt on the seat without even having time to prepare her mind.

“Ah!”

At that moment, there was a crackling sound and something broke, and the carriage tilted sharply to one side. She tumbled towards it and sprained her ankle.

“Ouch…”

The carriage could not go any further and stopped.

“Ha… I’m still alive.”

She stretched out on the seat and caught her breath. She was glad she got all the kids out. It would have been a big deal if they had been in. As soon as she was relieved, she had to let out a deep sigh.

‘Seriously, this obscure magic skill…’

The original Wicked Witch was said to have great skills, but why was she like this? If she had known how to control animals or even talk with them, she could have easily stopped the carriage. The only animals she could talk to were the ones the original witch talked to: Daisy and Lady and a few crows.

When she returned to the Grand Duke’s residence, she would have to study magic in her spare time. It was the moment of decision when…

Rustle.

A sign was heard from a distance outside the carriage, and then it got closer and closer. At first, she thought it was the Grand Duke who came to find her, but there was only one sign. Was it a human or an animal? She was terrified. Should she use tickle magic? Turn into a frog?

She had to wait and see, before she could do something. As she stretched her index finger toward the closed door, the rustle stopped in front of it.

‘Please be the Grand Duke.’

It was a time when she was anxiously waiting, swallowing dry saliva. The door burst open.

“Ahh!”

At the same time, he grabbed her outstretched finger.

“What?”

It was a person who pushed his upper body inside.

“Your Highness?”

It was the Grand Duke. As if he already knew what she was trying to do, he wrapped his hand around her fingers as if sheathing a dangerous sword. That being said, normal people couldn’t stop magic with their hands.

“I didn’t hear anything, so I thought you weren’t in the carriage, so I opened it…”

Unintentionally pointing at the Grand Duke, she laughed awkwardly and pulled out her fingers.

“For now, it looks fine.”

The Grand Duke, who had been looking inside with one hand on the door frame, held out his other hand to her. It was unreasonable to stood up alone, stuck in the corner of an inclined carriage. Grabbing the Grand Duke’s hand, she thought it was big again. She barely managed to grasp the Grand Duke’s hand with even a single finger, but the Grand Duke almost completely wrapped her hand around it.

It was new to her that the hands of a person who behaved coldly all the time were warm.

“Oh!”

The moment the Grand Duke pulled her hand, and she screamed out in sudden pain.

“Did I pull too hard?”

When the Grand Duke let go of his hand and asked with a puzzled expression, she shook her head and wrapped her arms around her right ankle.

“I sprained my ankle, and I forgot to try to stand up… haha…”

The Grand Duke’s expression grew serious, so she laughed as if it was nothing.

“Don’t you know any healing magic?”

She shook her head. Although she could make healing potions, she did not know how to cast spells.

“Can’t we go on horseback?”

The Grand Duke looked at her ankles as if he was in trouble, so she pointed to the front where the gurgling sound was coming from.

“I don’t have a saddle.”

“Ah…”

There was no way the horse pulling the carriage had a saddle.

“Didn’t you say you can’t use movement magic because it was difficult…”

Before she could answer, the Grand Duke came inside. The carriage tilted for a moment, then came to a halt the moment the Grand Duke grabbed the door frame to balance his weight.

“Why are you like that?”

The Grand Duke looked at her with eyes as if he was waiting for her to say something, but since she didn’t say anything, he talked first.

“…I have no choice but to carry Miss Hazel.”

It was an embarrassing tone.

“Ah…”

“…Are you okay though?”

“Uh… would it be okay? First of all, His Highness’s rulebook doesn’t say no physical contact with the nanny.”

The Grand Duke laughed lightly at the joke, then he leaned over to her. In an instant, her body floated upward as his solid arms came under her waist and below her knees.

“Oh wait! Wait!”

She hurriedly stopped the Grand Duke from trying to get out of the carriage with her in his arms.

“Why?”

“The wagon has a curtain made of holy power, so I can’t get through.”

“Holy Power?”

The Grand Duke wrinkled his brow as if it were something nonsense.

“This, like Your Highness, people don’t feel it, but as a witch I feel it… wait, what?”

The holy power that enveloped the carriage like a cloud suddenly dissipated and then completely disappeared.

“…I can’t feel it anymore?”

The Grand Duke, who looked down at her with strange eyes, laughed and jumped out of the carriage and muttered:

“Even a witch can lose her senses if she lives for hundreds of years.”

‘Oh wow, that’s silly.’

The only thing she could do was to stare at the Grand Duke.

“If you keep doing that, I will also add a rule against staring at employers.”

‘Sheesh…’

She turned her head to the front. The Grand Duke left the wagon and horse with one wheel broken and started walking towards the forest. There were no roads or people in sight. He had come a long way in that short time. How much did he have to carry her like this? He was sure the hugged posture was comfortable, but what was this feeling that made her body and mind uncomfortable? It was a moment of scratching her tickling cheek.

“Miss Hazel.”

“Yes?”

“If you don’t want to fall to the ground, you should wrap your arms around my neck.”

“Ah yes!”

As instructed, she wrapped her arms around the Grand Duke’s neck. The posture seems to be more stable, but the discomfort has doubled. To think that a witch would be embraced like a princess by a Grand Duke who looked like a prince. It was embarrassing.

“I’ve never been hugged like this before, haha…”

After talking nonsense, she felt more embarrassed.

“…I’ve never hugged anybody like this before.”

“I see… what?”

It was only then that she noticed that the Grand Duke’s hair was wet. She lightly rubbed the Grand Duke’s shoulder with her fingertips. As soon as she washed his body, she faintly felt the water on his black shirt. It’s outdoors in the middle of winter. It wasn’t enough that he didn’t dry his wet body properly, so he was wearing only one shirt. Look how the nape of his neck was red from the cold. She asked, raising the collar of her shirt and wrapping it around the Grand Duke’s neck.

“What about the jacket?”

“…”

“Aren’t you cold wearing only a shirt? Your hair was also wet…”

“Nanny, as I said before, I am not a child.”

For some reason, she shut her mouth at the angry voice. There was an awkward silence for a moment, then the Grand Duke muttered.

“No one has healing powers, so it’s a big deal.”

“There is a healing potion in the wagon, so if you eat it, you will be healed in no time.”

“Then I’m glad.”

After that, there was only the sound of stepping on the snow again, followed by an awkward silence.

“You’re a witch, but you don’t ride a broom.”

Then the Grand Duke broke the silence with another sudden sound.

“Ah, I’m a bit scared.”

It’s scary to have your feet off the ground, but the only thing that supports your body was a thin round stick. Just thinking about it made his knees tremble.

“I don’t think so.”

“Yes?”

“You were not afraid in front of me.”

“When was I?”

“Saying that you were offering the Grand Duke as a sacrifice without fear.”

“That was a joke.”

“Fight the bear fearlessly.”

“Ah, that was a bee fight.”

“Without fear, breaking the rules I set.”

“When did I break the rules?”

“The closet for example?”

“How do you break a rule that doesn’t exist?”

The Grand Duke smiled and lowered his eyes from looking ahead to her.

“A little while ago, you watched a bloody battle without fear.”

Facing his purple eyes, it reminded her of the moment their eyes met through the glass window a while ago.

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