“Sinner, listen.”
The moment the Grand Duke called her ‘sinner’, she could no longer deny it.
‘I was discovered.’
As soon as the witch began to wonder when and how she had been caught, she realized.
‘I was caught from the beginning.’
The reason she was so persistently monitored and oppressed was because he knew from the beginning that she was not that ‘Hazel’. Her hands were shaking as she was so angry at the people who so easily deceived her with the lie that they were like that.
“Not only did you murder my parents, but you also stole the body of my lover.”
The witch hid her trembling hands and looked back at the prince, a surprised expression plastered on her innocent face. As if that were some kind of absurd statement.
“Your Highness, what are you talking about?”
It was not an attempt to deceive the Grand Duke. This was to deceive the audience gathered here. No matter what the Grand Duke said, she would continue to pretend that she was her. Then the Grand Duke would become a devil trying to kill his poor lover.
“It’s me. Hazel, Your Highness’ lover.”
“You’re so shameless.”
As the Grand Duke made a disgusted expression, the witch became even more enthusiastic about her pitiful pretense.
“Your Highness, why are you doing this to me? If you don’t love me anymore, you can just tell me to leave. Do I have to be falsely accused of such a terrible crime?”
It was a time when she was just waiting for him to scold her, bringing up her tears so that she could win their sympathy.
“It’s not a false accusation!”
The Grand Princess standing behind the Grand Duke shouted. No, she, the Grand Princess, did not open her mouth at all. Besides, this wasn’t the Grand Princess’ voice.
“You bad witch!”
The stuffed rabbit sat on the Grand Princess’ shoulder, pointing at her with her stubby arms.
“Give me my body back!”
She was the woman who thought she was already dead. She was saving her life by going into a rabbit doll. The audience watching this scene was as surprised as the witch.
“Hello everyone. I am the real Hazel.”
Everyone watched with blank eyes as the brown rabbit doll waved her hand at them. Only then did they admit it.
‘It was true that Witch Hazel was not the evil witch of the Black Forest, but just a wandering witch, right?’
If they were the same person, it made no sense that there were two Hazels in front of them. While everyone had no choice but to believe the Grand Duke’s words, he showed the witch’s ledger to the audience again and explained everything that had happened.
“That wicked witch pretended to be Miss Hazel and tried to encourage me to commit treason. In doing so, she personally presented evidence that the deposed emperor had committed murder. This ledger is also evidence that she committed the murder.”
She fell into a trap and hung a noose around her neck with her own hands. The people who clearly watched the witch’s face distort with anger and shame began to shout.
“The witch’s soul deserves to go to hell!”
“Purify!”
“Purify the evil witch immediately!”
“Before purification.”
The Grand Duke raised his hand to calm the angry crowd and made a request to the nobles.
“I ask permission to use black magic to help Miss Hazel regain her body.”
He added, pointing to the imperial palace wizard hiding behind the pillars of the throne room.
“I heard that that wizard knows how to perform soul replacement. The caster will be the one of them.”
The intestines began to stir again. Official permission for the use of black magic has historically been extremely rare. Because of this, the nobles were not willing to give permission, and Duke Monette asked.
“Grand Duke, if you purify the witch, won’t all the black magic cast so far be removed? Then, Miss Hazel, you will regain your body naturally, so I don’t think there is any need to use black magic.”
“The idea is to prepare just in case.”
Elliot made the excuse that there were cases where black magic was not removed even after the death of the caster. He couldn’t honestly tell the gods of this world about the complicated situation that that body might not be Hazel’s and that they might not be able to get it back.
“It’s about using black magic to save lives… If it’s the Grand Duke, you will need permission from the nobles and the emperor.”
Duke Monette stared at the Grand Duke for a moment and then added:
“But if you’re the emperor, you don’t need it.”
Starting with the duke’s meaningful remarks, demands poured in for the Grand Duke to become the new emperor. While people were paying attention, the witch was thinking.
‘Do you think I’m going to die like this?’
She assessed the defensive shields behind her and to her left and right. Everything was solid. So it was impossible to escape through that. The witch’s gaze then turned to the unprotected interior of the throne room. It was blocked by a wall with no doors or windows, but she could clearly see the way out.
‘Besides, there are countless ways out.’
Numerous guards were lined up in front of the throne. The emperor, who had lost his mind, was sitting in front of them, and the empress and crown prince were being held by the soldiers like criminals. The witch, looking through them, made up her mind.
‘Let’s throw away this body.’
And among the nobles, she decided to secretly take over the body of someone the Grand Duke could never kill.
‘The dethroned emperor.’
The Grand Duke, who has lived a good life, was not one to sit comfortably on the blood-stained throne, so he would not be able to kill the deposed emperor.
‘Go into that body and try to save the body of another young, pretty witch.’
She hoped it would be like this from the beginning before these four months were out. The witch looked back at the Grand Duke with both determination and regret.
‘Do you know how to let things go your way?’
Then she glared at the rabbit doll.
‘If I can’t use this body, I’ll make sure you can’t use it either!’
The witch’s gaze returned to the interior of the throne room.
“Please become the new emperor of the empire.”
Elliot sighed in embarrassment as the nobles got down on their knees and began pleading with him. He had expected from the beginning that he should become emperor. The crown prince couldn’t and should not ascend to the throne. He could not even ask his younger brothers, who were still his children, to become emperors. Eliot had no choice but to accept their request and waved his hand to those who wanted to show courtesy to the emperor.
“Let’s postpone greetings for a while.”
They needed to get Hazel’s body back first. Elliot gave Luca a look of approval. Luca’s face became even more solemn as he devoted himself to the training, waiting for just this day.
“The enemy of me and my parents! Pay for your sins in hell for eternity!”
It was the moment when the purifying power was spewing out from his hand, which was releasing his defensive power, straight towards the witch.
“Go!”
“Ugh!”
The witch darted her fingers as her shield disappeared. The palace wizard fell after being hit by a piece of metal that flew out of nowhere. At the same time, Hazel’s body went limp.
“Luca, stop!”
Elliot looked back as he hugged Hazel’s body, her soul gone. The rabbit doll sitting on Luna’s shoulder was still moving. Soul replacement must be used before this body dies. However, due to physical injuries, not her magic, the unconscious wizard could not be awakened even by his holy power. There was no one here with healing powers.
“Bring another wizard right now!”
“No… Please help me.”
Perhaps Elliot’s mother could help him one more time. Hazel hoped and prayed, but his voice was not heard and no miracle occurred.
[Ugh… That witch commits a crime until the end and leaves. Oh my gosh.]
[But then Hazel has to live as a rabbit doll for the rest of her life?]
Hazel, who had been stomping her feet as she watched her dying body, froze the moment she heard the voices of Lady and Daisy, who had been watching the situation from a corner of the throne room.
[You guys… Why is my body still changing?]
As soon as she realized what it meant, she cried out.
“That witch, she’s still alive!”
“What?”
“She must have taken over someone else’s body through soul replacement!”
The room turned into chaos as she heard that she escaped on her own before being purified and took over someone’s body.
“Block the entrance!”
Just as Elliot was giving instructions to block her door so no one could get out, Luca did something unexpected. She began shooting purifying power indiscriminately at those standing in front of the throne.
“I felt it! There is definitely a witch among them!”
“Aaaah!”
“Go to hell!”
“No!”
Someone in the group screamed and fell down. It was a retired emperor.
“I can’t believe you were inside him.”
“That means the witch killed the Emperor.”
The decommissioned emperor’s body lost its soul and became a corpse. As people looked on in astonishment, the wizard who had been called came rushing into the throne room.
“Wizard! Right now…”
It was the moment when Elliot gave the order to use the soul replacement technique. Someone grabbed his arm holding Hazel. Elliot lowered his gaze to her and was unable to continue his words. The hand that held him was Hazel’s hand. Hazel opened her eyes and was looking at him with her emerald eyes.
Hazel’s spirit has returned.
Before he could cast the spell, she returned. In the end, this meant that the real owner of this body was Hazel’s soul.
“Wow, it’s my body.”
The moment Hazel clicked her fingers, a human-shaped cookie suddenly appeared in her hand. The first thing she did when she got her body back was so much that Hazel Dowager Elliott laughed.
“You had a hard time.”
“You too.”
Obstacles to marriage have been removed. He avenged her parents. And finally, Hazel’s body was recovered. A puppy was running around, crying like crazy, around the two people embracing and sharing the joy that everything was over.
[Wow, it’s your body!]
Daisy, who had adapted to the body of a cat, forgot that she had grown bigger and started knocking over chairs and other objects. Unlike Daisy, who was happy, Lady sighed deeply. Her gaze was on her bulging stomach.
[Oh really. What should I do with this belly fat? Why is the pleasure of putting on weight yours and the pain of taking it off is mine?]
And there was someone who watched it all in bewilderment…
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Translator Note:
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