Chapter 42

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 42

“WITCHES don’t age,” Vivi mentioned during their conversation earlier. A part of Yuki thought she might actually be a Witch when she heard. She hesitated over whether to ask Vivi—a real Witch and one extolled as the Legendary Witch—about it.

Yuki learned from Vivi that the house she woke up in was Vivi’s current dwelling—a normal house in the woods by all appearances. Yuki set foot outside to see the house was surrounded by a dense forest thick with vines and foliage. She came across a small waterfall and a spring after following one of the oddly made paths into the forest.

Yuki woke up in the early hours of the morning and quickly rushed off to explore the outside before Vivi could nag her any further about her Knight. Yuki slipped off her shoes and plopped her feet into the cool spring water, which felt nice against her singed skin. She occasionally kicked her feet around in the water as she stared absently at the sparkling water’s surface.

I might actually be a real Witch. A piece of me feels that maybe there’s a chance people from Earth who come to this world are Witches. I mean Papa did mention something about me having powers. Are they not the same powers as the Witches’?

They say Witches have a seal somewhere on their body, but it’s possible mine hasn’t shown up yet because my powers haven’t manifested…. What if I really am a Witch? I can’t fathom what it will be like, but would it mean I have to continue living many more years stuck at this age?

Yuki sighed and sighed again as she thought about the future, all the while kicking her feet in the cool water.

***

THE Legendary Witch—Vivi’s title alone had Yuki naturally imagining her as a scary and difficult to approach person. But contrary to her expectations, Vivi took good care of Yuki and talked to her about all sorts of things. She seemed to love chatting while sipping tea and was in possession of an assortment of teas.

Yuki was reminded Vivi really was a Witch whenever she occasionally said something utterly foreign to Yuki’s way of thinking. Occasional bouts of magic were visible around the house too, like the broom that swept on its own or the always full bucket of fresh cold water. There was more weight to Vivi’s words because she had lived for such a long time. Vivi was in essence an elder, even if she looked like a child.

They finished lunch and were sitting down to tea when Vivi suddenly asked, “So? What are you going to do, Yuki?”

“Do about?”

“You’re not going to stay here forever, right? What are you going to do after you’re done recovering here?”

“Uh, well, I need to get back to Adolunde for now…I’m sure everyone is worried about me.”

Besides, I need to apologize.

Vivi had a dubious look on her face. “How is a child such as you going to get all the way to Adolunde?”

A child? Vivi looks like a child too.

A smoky fragrance wafted from the billowing steam of the strong black tea. Yuki found the tea Vivi brewed very delicious.

Yuki picked up her cup and pursed her lips as she said, “I may look like this, but I’m actually eighteen.”

“Huuuuuh?” Vivi gasped, looking at Yuki in astonishment and spilling the hot tea from her cup. At the same time a crab-shaped cloth walked its way over to clean the spill.

Vivi took a long hard look at Yuki from head to toe, eventually saying, “Aaah, I get it now. You’ve stopped aging.”

Yuki nodded, surprised at how quickly Vivi affirmed and accepted the fact.

“…Hey, Vivi?” Vivi glanced at Yuki as she brought the cup to her lips. “I think I might actually be a Witch.”

Vivi spat out her mouthful of tea. Yuki had the bad luck of sitting directly opposite of her and was grandly covered in the tea.

“Hot! What was that for?”

Vivi coughed painfully like some of the tea went down the wrong pipe.

“Are you okay, Vivi?”

Yuki peered at Vivi’s face. Vivi stared back at her as if she were looking at something unbelievable. “You…REALLY don’t know a thing, do you?”

Vivi wiped Yuki’s face with a nearby cloth placemat as she said, “You’re not a Witch—that is beyond a doubt the truth.”

“Really? But I’ve stopped aging and might have a seal somewhere—”

“You don’t. I know,” Vivi responded stiffly. “You don’t have a flower.”

“Well, excuse me for not having flower-like beauty! I mean I realize I don’t have a pretty face, but—”

“Not that kind of flower. They also call it a Flower Seal, but I mean a Witch’s Seal. Other Witches can tell if you have one unless you’re intentionally hiding it… I mean, Yuki, do you even know what makes a Witch stop aging?”

“Huh? I don’t.”

Vivi shrugged her shoulders in exasperation. “Every Witch is born with a flower bud seal somewhere on their body. When the bud blooms into a flower they stop aging.”

“Heh, I see. So, what do they do to make the bud bloom into a flower and stop aging?”

“They do it with a man.”

“Do it? Do what?” Yuki asked. Vivi smiled suggestively. Yuki felt her cheeks turn red.

Hey! You mean that kind of doing it! Yuki thought, but didn’t dare confirm aloud what she already guessed. Her thoughts then switched to the juicy gossip kind, which would mean Vivi did it at a very young age.

“Hence why there are no Witches without a seal. They have the seal from birth. This is why those idiot princes had to burn one onto you to make you appear like the real thing. Understand? Plus, Yuki, it’s not that you can’t age, but that you’ve stopped aging,” Vivi said confidently, furthering Yuki’s confusion.

“How can you be so sure?”

Yuki didn’t recall ever telling Vivi about the fact her hair and nails stopped growing.

Vivi suddenly smiled. “I’ve got a strong-red tinge, but you’ve got a strong bluish tinge.”

Yuki was about to ask her what was tinged different colors when she realized it—the violet color of their eyes.

“Hey, Yuki, do you know why violet colored eyes are rare in this world?” Vivi abruptly asked.

“Why?” Yuki thought they were rare because they were merely a recessive gene. “Because they are a recessive gene?”

“Re…cess…ive gene? What’s that? I don’t know it. Does it go good with tea? Okay, let’s put it another way. Have you heard about how the people from Rvydom have special powers?”

“Ah, yeah. I’ve heard about that.” Yuki learned about it from Ain.

“Good. The special powers of Rvydom’s people allow them to make barren soil fertile again, develop new medicines, and so on. So then, what about the person who rules over all those people with special powers?”

Yuki looked at Vivi as if it just hit her.

“Understand now?” Vivi grinned. “You possess a special and curious power too. Violet eyes are a sign one possesses a very strong power.”

Is she referring to the same powers Papa mentioned?

“But I…don’t have any powers,” Yuki confided. She believed something would change when she came to this world, but nothing did.

“Your power took on a specialization. It stopped when it realized it was taking too much of a toll on you mentally and physically.”

Yuki didn’t understand. Basically, she’s saying my body couldn’t keep up with my developing powers so it stopped growing?

“Does that mean…I can become my actual age?”

“You can,” Vivi immediately answered the question Yuki had been tormented by for the past eight years of her life. Shock and joy put her in high spirits.

“Really? When?” she asked, ecstatic.

“Someday. Someday that may or may not come.” Vivi’s answer trampled over Yuki’s brief moment of joy.

“…Vivi, you can’t age me?”

“I can’t. Not something that alters you in a way that would be safe.”

“But you turned Isis into a fox.”

“That was an illusion. I just made it look like he had fox ears to those who saw him and when he saw himself. He actually has normal human ears. Healing powers do affect and alter one’s body, but your problem isn’t a health issue.”

Too much information bombarded her at once to make any use of it.

“What should I do then?” Yuki asked.

“You’re asking me? Decide for yourself. I’m not your mommy after all,” Vivi said taken aback by her question.