Chapter 24
The members of the Grand Duke’s residence welcomed Gremory, who could now stay with them.
“Mori! I thought my only friend was being taken to the Grand Temple! Sob!”
“My lady! I’m so glad we can stay together now!”
Isollen and Anna clung to Gremory from both sides. Squeezed between them, Gremory felt the heat and thought:
‘Honestly, I wouldn’t have minded going to the Grand Temple.’
My goal is to escape the Witch Hunters’ gaze. For that, the Grand Temple would be even better than the Grand Duke’s residence. No one would expect a witch to live in a place so despised by witches.
To enter the Grand Temple, my blood would need to turn clear as water during the Saintess Selection Ceremony, but that could easily be manipulated. I could just cast a spell on the priests and Cheshion’s minds.
‘But why didn’t I do that? Why did I choose to stay here, even drinking holy water?’
And why do your smiling faces, so full of joy, keep flashing before my eyes like this?
From afar, the Mother Superior’s kindly smiling face as she approached, and the bright smiles of the nuns trailing behind her, also lingered in my vision.
This strange feeling—it wasn’t the first time.
When Cheshion showed me the pretty scenery of the city. And when he showed me the view of the Emerald Forest. I had felt it then too.
The beauty of the human world.
‘Rejoicing in being together, living as family, liking one another… Is that also a trait of the human world?’
Liking something. It was still an expression I couldn’t quite grasp with my mind. But my heart had no choice but to acknowledge it. They clearly liked me.
‘And… could it be that I like the people here too? Is that why I chose to stay? …I’m not sure, but it feels strange.’
Something swelled up to the tip of my throat. Gremory forced it down and peeled Isollen and Anna off her.
“It’s hot. Get off.”
“How heartless! We almost had to be apart for a whole year! Can’t you at least accept our joy at not being separated?”
“That’s right! My lady is too indifferent! Isn’t it time you opened your heart to us? Just think of how many meals I’ve prepared for you!”
Gremory looked up at Iris with a flustered expression, as if asking how she should react in this situation.
- Say you’re sorry. And tell them it’s just your nature to seem indifferent, not that you’re heartless.
“I’m sorry. It’s just my nature to seem indifferent. I’m not heartless.”
Gremory stiffly repeated Iris’s words. At that, Isollen and Anna’s expressions softened slightly.
“Ha. Right. It’s not like we haven’t known you for long. That’s just how you are.”
“Exactly. We’ll make an exception and understand. But Lady Mori, you’ll have to understand if there’s less meat on the table from now on.”
“!”
Gremory looked at Iris again. They still seemed a bit upset.
- Sigh. Tell them you drank the holy water because you actually wanted to stay by their side.
“I actually drank the holy water because I wanted to stay by your side.”
This time, the effect was remarkable. Their faces brightened instantly.
“Oh, was that it? I thought you were just being ignorant and simple—no, innocent!”
“The meat on the table will be as plentiful as ever!”
And so, Gremory learned for the first time how to appease sulky humans.
Having only ever been hated in the demon world, Gremory found this situation fascinating.
‘So human anger can be appeased. And they all genuinely like me.’
I’ve given you nothing, so why do you like me this much? In the demon world, everyone hated me for no reason.
In the hazy corners of Gremory’s heart, Isollen and Anna’s smiling faces seemed to grow vividly clearer.
Gremory returned to her usual life. The next few days passed similarly. She worked on paperwork with Isollen, and when she got bored of just transcribing Iris’s words, she sneaked out to laze around.
Sitting for hours scribbling was the worst. Paperwork couldn’t be magically solved with a witch’s power, making it even more dreadful.
When even lazing around got boring, she wandered the convent. Sometimes, if something frustrating happened, she stepped in to help the nuns.
Her main job was dealing with troublesome patients.
“Argh! The enemy is coming! Ugh. Everyone, retreat!”
A patient who had gotten drunk in broad daylight, fallen, and injured his leg was causing a scene. The burly man flailed about, leaving the nuns at a loss. So Gremory stepped in, pinning him down with sheer strength.
“Ugh! An elephant! There’s an elephant on top of me!”
“Shut up. Unless you want to be trampled to death.”
The patient quieted down. The nuns quickly sprayed his leg with “Beauty’s Potion.”
Next came a child who had sprained his wrist while playing ball. The boy hid his wrist behind his back, sniffling that he was scared.
Gremory showed no mercy.
“Give me your hand.”
“No! I’m scared!”
“Kid. See the line behind you? Everyone’s waiting their turn. If you don’t get treated right now, I’ll have to send you to the back of the line. Want to wait until sunset?”
“H-here.”
The boy quickly extended his swollen wrist. Gremory sprayed Beauty’s Potion on it. The swelling vanished the moment the potion touched it.
The boy’s mother bowed gratefully to Gremory.
“I heard it was Lady Mori who shared this miraculous potion with the convent. Thank you for helping the sick heal so quickly. And thank you for stepping forward during the mine incident. One of the rescued miners was my relative.”
“Save the thanks and take your kid. I’m busy.”
Feeling a swell of pride, Gremory struggled to suppress her twitching lips and waved them off.
“Hoho, of course. Oh, by the way, do you know anything about the incident at the Loreth family’s home on Hessen Street?”
“What’s that got to do with anything? I said I’m busy.”
“Well… I thought maybe you’d step in. You’re known as the Grand Duchy’s problem solver these days. It’s a very strange incident… Oh, if you’re too busy, I’ll stop bothering you.”
As the woman turned to leave with her child, Gremory sighed and stopped her.
“What’s it about? Tell me.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it. It’s a murder case the guards already solved, but there are still so many oddities that rumors are spreading. People are uneasy, so I thought I’d mention it.”
“Hmph. I’m not so free that I care about rumors.”
A witch busy lazing around, no less. To think they’d ask her to step in over mere rumors. Annoyed, Gremory turned sharply and left to brew more potions.
After brewing, she had little to do. Troublesome patients were scarce now that word had spread of the terrifying Lady Mori subduing them.
Then Iris, having heard the rumors, came to fetch Gremory.
- Lady Mori! I knew you’d be here! Isollen’s coming to drag you back right now. Since you snuck out, she’s stuck handling all the overtime work alone.
“Hmm, is that so? Being caught would be very troublesome.”
- Right? Wait. You’re not thinking of running again, are you?
“Of course I am. That way Isollen will handle all the overtime alone. I’ll go back when she’s done.”
- Goodness. Aren’t you two friends? Friends should help each other… Where are you going?
“Hessen Street. I heard something serious happened there. For the safety of the Grand Duchy, I must go solve the case immediately.”
Dreading paperwork, Gremory happily seized the excuse to slip away. She’d wander until dinner, by which time Isollen would have finished the overtime.
‘If Isollen gets mad, I’ll say I was solving an urgent request for the people.’
Transformed into a cat, Gremory trotted off with tiny, eager steps. Iris sighed and followed, planning to coax her back home eventually.
And so, they arrived at the Loreth family’s home on Hessen Street. Unexpectedly, something serious seemed to have happened. Before the gloomy Loreth mansion, people were arguing in hushed tones.
