IWTQYG CH 2

Chapter 2

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The Witch Who Grants Wishes

“I'm sorry, Delcia.”

Delcia’s brother, Arnold, apologised. Delcia, who had clung to him and cried for a long time, slowly shook her head.

This was no one's fault. Everything was the cruelty of war, and all of this was something that those who fought in the war had to endure. Delcia was also one of those who had to endure it. She had to.

She knew that fact well in her head. She was a strong person, so she could comprehend it logically. But the heart that held Edwin couldn’t understand. The pain squeezing her chest made it hard to breathe.

Please, if only all of this were a dream. If only this were a nightmare from which I could wake up and breathe a sigh of relief.

How nice it would be if that were the case.

Delcia's clenched her fists tightly. She could not deny Edwin's death, for to deny his death would be to make the deaths of all those who had fallen in the war meaningless.

It was two days later that Edwin's coffin arrived at the ducal estate. The household banner that once covered his radiant face was now used to cover his cold coffin.

Delcia rushed to the ducal estate upon hearing the news that Edwin's coffin had arrived. Inside the room where it was laid, she put a hand over her mouth. One glance was enough to tell—there wasn’t a trace of warmth left. His face was cold, completely lifeless.

Delcia stroked Edwin's face with a trembling hand.

“My Edwin cannot be like this…”

She looked down at Edwin with tears in her eyes. His face looked peaceful, as if he'd just laid down all his burdens. The corners of her mouth trembled.

“... No.”

He shouldn’t be resting yet.

“……Ah, no.”

Her voice was hoarse from not speaking for the past two days. Delcia shook her head. As much as she tried to accept Edwin's death, she couldn't. It was too painful to look at his cold body with her own eyes.

“A-ahh. Ed, Edwin.......”

Her heart ached so much that she wanted to die in his place. Tears flowed down her cheeks. No, she can't let Edwin go like this. She wants him back in any way she can, even if it means risking her own life. Delcia looked down at Edwin with tears in her eyes and bit her lower lip hard.

Was there truly no way to save him? At that moment, a story suddenly came to Delcia’s desperate mind, a story she had previously dismissed as absurd.

“My lady, there is a strange forest outskirt of the capital, they say a witch who lives there grants wishes!

“Ella, there's no way a witch who grants wishes really exists. It's all just rumours.”

“No, really! They said there’s no price to pay, but they say very few people have ever found the forest and had their wishes fulfilled. Isn't that fascinating?”

“…I suppose.”

Her conversation with Ella flashed through her mind and stood up to her feet. Walking with unsteady legs, she headed for the forest that existed somewhere in outskirt of the capital without riding a carriage. Her eyes looked beyond reality, fixed on something far away.

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Covered in dust, Delcia looked at the scenery before her.

It was a forest she had never seen before. And yet, she had suffered so much just to reach it.

She had wandered the outskirts of the capital in search of this forest, which she was not even sure it even existed. The outskirts were sparsely populated and if a forest truly stood there, she should have spotted it easily. But all she found were a few dilapidated buildings.

When she couldn't find it no matter how hard she searched, Delcia collapsed and despaired. She hid herself from the knights her family who came looking for her, and only after they passed by did she come out and head back to search for the forest.

Night time finally came and as she wandered around the outskirts of the capital for a long time, she turned back with a regretful look on her face.

Crack. Crack.

The sound of something splitting echoed. She spun around to see massive trees forcing their way into existence between the capital’s outskirts and the road leading to another area.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she instinctively knew.

She finally arrived at the witch’s forest, where she was told to grant wishes. She searched for it with the hope of grasping at straws.. and the forest truly existed.

Not knowing why this forest suddenly appeared, she staggered inside. As she stepped in, the forest suddenly vanished as if it had never been there.

Inside the forest was overly dark, damp, and bleak, but nothing was bleaker than her situation. Every time she stepped into the silent forest, she was afraid. She wanted to run away, to escape the forest immediately.

Her feet kept stopping and her body kept trembling, but she never turned back. The cold, lifeless face of Edwin haunted her. Just recalling him gave her courage.

Delcia moved wherever her feet took her, not even knowing where the witch was. And as she walks on, blisters started forming on the soles of her feet and her delicate skin was full of cuts. There were even times when she stumbled and fell but each time, she would struggle to get back up and continue walking.

She slumped down and tried to get up from her seat to walk the road once again. Then, a large tree appeared before her eyes. It was so tall and thick that it made the trees around it look small.

Delcia doubted her eyes, a bright light was emanating from inside the tree. Walking towards the glowing tree, she was convinced the witch live there. Ans so, with her last ounce of strength, Delcia forced herself to walk.

Barely standing in front of the tree and covered in tears,

“H-help... please help me.”

It was a faint voice. But, in this quiet forest, even the smallest sounds were echoed loudly. There was movement inside the tree.

“Oh my, a human came? It’s been so long… Oh my.”

A woman with long, crimson hair tied back, appeared from inside the tree. Her name was Vianna, and the so-called witch among humans. Vianna, standing at the door, widened her eyes at the woman in front of her. The magic she sensed and her appearance felt so familiar to her that she ran towards Delcia and eagerly grabbed her hands.

“...Selena?”

“Pardon?”

“Oh....Sorry. I momentarily mistook you for someone else.”

Vianna awkwardly smiled and released her grip on Delcia's hand. Vianna scratched the back of her head, sighed and stepped aside.

“Well, come in for now.”

A door on the tree opened, and warm light spilled out. With Vianna's permission, Delcia entered the tree safely. She sat down on a soft chair Vianna pointed to and lowered her gaze.

Not only did she have a request and arrived in such shabby clothes, she felt embarrassed.

“Oh dear, you’re badly hurt.”

Vianna muttered and handed her a thick blanket. Delcia faintly smiled and took the blanket, carefully wrapping it around herself.

“Thank you. Um…….”

“Vianna. You can call me Vianna.”

“I see. Thank you, Vianna.”

“No worries. But what brings you all the way here?”

Vianna sat across from her. Before long, a steaming cup of tea was placed in front of Delcia. Delcia didn’t touch the teacup and just fidgeted with her fingers.

“…I heard a story.”

“Oh, about a witch who grants wishes?”

“……Yes.”

“Ahaha. That story is still going around, huh? I thought it had been forgotten.”

Vianna chuckled softly.

“Well, you've come to the right place. Because I'm the witch you’ve been looking for.”

Vianna, smiling brightly, looked at Delcia with a gaze that seemed to see through everything.

“I see a shadow around you.”

“A shadow?”

“Yes. A shadow. It appears when someone close to you has died.”

“……Ah.”

Delcia nodded, it was the first time she realised she had really come to the right witch.

“I’m saying this just in case, but wishes to bring the dead back to life requires a price.”

“...A price? But I heard there is no price—”

“There are unspoken laws in this world. Wishes that violate those laws require payment of equal value. If your wish is to revive the dead, that price won't be light.”

Vianna took a sip of her tea, she could see Delcia’s darkened face beyond the cup she raised.

“Do you wish to know what the price is?”

“……Yes.”

“Like I said, it's a heavy price. A heart is the price. There's only one way to save someone whose heart isn't beating, and that's to replace a beating heart in them.”

“……A h-heart.”

A heart.

Delsia's eyelashes quivered at the mention of it being the only thing that could save Edwin. There was no way she could have known that and prepared for it. No, even if she had known, would she have been able to procure it? Who would give away their heart, the source of life?

With her parched lips, Delcia spoke honestly

“The price is a heart… I didn’t prepare one.”

“Of course you didn’t, and I'm sorry you were so desperate to come here. But there’s nothing I can do. I can't grant wishes without a price.”

Vianna shrugged, her voice devoid of sympathy.

She didn't want to help the woman in front of her, who had the same magical power as her long-lost friend, and make the same wish and grant it. It was an impulsive decision but she was glad that a human who had entered the forest after a long time came to her place to make a wish.

But that was all. As soon as she sensed her magic, she felt a longing so strong that it made her stomach churn. She didn't want to let her make a wish that would make this girl give her heart away.

“Vianna, do you think you could wait a few days?”

“That would be difficult. You might have been lucky to find the forest today, but who knows what will happen tomorrow? The forest is unpredictable.”

“…….”

Delcia’s heart grew anxious, she had no idea what to do. She looked down at the teacup with a pale, ashen face. White steam rose softly, so white it reminded her of Edwin’s cold body.

Tears began to form in her eyes. She didn't want to send Edwin like this.

If giving my heart meant keeping him by her side, then…

Delcia paused, wiping her tears flowing down her cheeks. If she truly wanted to save someone even if it means giving your own heart, wouldn't it be enough?

Soon after, Delcia voiced her thoughts.

“I-I'll give you my heart as the price.”

“......What?”

“I'll give you the heart in my body as payment, so please grant my wish.”

Vianna's face hardened. Delcia's appearance overlapped perfectly with Selena, her friend who had made the same wish twenty years ago.

Chapter 1

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Chapter 3