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The witch was who you would call a witch. A witch who could not be mistaken for anything else. Wrapped up in a black robe and stirring the contents of her cauldron, cackling “Eeeheehehee!” all the while – she belonged to that category of so-called witches.
Her dwelling was a cave embedded deep within the woods. Dreary and dim regardless of whether it was day or night, all of the visitors to this forest were in low spirits. In those kinds of woods, and once again, within its heart. Amidst the depths of a continually forgotten grotto, the witch had inconspicuously settled down.
A face that was deeply carved with wrinkles. An aged body that was appraised as the hag amongst hags, more hags, and even more hags. For her familiar, a singular melancholy crow was all there was. Always looking prim and unruffled, the crow groomed its feathers without sounding out the slightest utterance of a caw.
The magical grimoires scattered about the room were merely a slice of the witch’s knowledge.
The skeletons strewn across the floor were merely indiscretions from the witch’s bygone days.
The witch was who you would call a witch.
Now then— for that kind of witch, there was one huge trouble.
Indeed. In that case, for the likes of this witch, living a witch-like livelihood pleased her. There was n.o.body around to be a nuisance to her, and she willfully spent every day alone. Trying to work out her magic on a whim, testing that out on the crow. And the crow attempting to peck at her repeatedly with its sharp beak. Shortly thereafter, before she herself had understood what happened, the witch found herself trying to throw a body inside the cauldron on the spot. When she became drowsy, she quickly went to bed.
People paying a visit was also a seldom occurrence. For those who have bothered to come all this way deep into the especially murky forest, every single one of them has always had their inevitable circ.u.mstances.
Emerging from the forest sunken into gloom arose more and more sunken facial expressions. And with those expressions – “Ah, I want you to do this!” “I want you to do it in this way!” Saying that, the people earnestly requested the witch for their own sake.
Thereupon which the witch capriciously went and granted their desires. The witch had no notions of good or evil. If she put her mind to it, she created medicines to cure incurable diseases; and again, if she put her mind to it, concocted poisons to a.s.sa.s.sinate important individuals. Of course, the acts in themselves required receiving compensation of equivalent value. If she didn’t do it like that, it would be boring. Moreover, when rumors spread of a guy living in the woods who grants wishes free of charge, there were annoyances who indiscreetly intruded on the witch.
Because of those sorts of reasons, the witch was able to while away her days by keeping her current distance away from society.
However, as far as the witch was concerned, that “current” distance was trampled underfoot by some nuisances – but it was just one being. And that was the third son of the governing lord of this province, a rascally boy.
tanuki
His name was Orélie – a young man who was, as of yet, not even within the reaches of twenty.
First of all, his silky blond hair was tied up into a bundle, and his skin was a translucent white similar to that of a woman’s. Nevertheless, his stature was slim and tall; and to be honest, his p.r.o.ne-to-be-seen-as-delicate body was also st.u.r.dily built. When his mouth began to open, that alone must have caused all the girls to melt into a puddle. ―― That kind of man, the witch found to be the most difficult of all to deal with.
As he was also the youngest out of three sons, from time to time he selfishly did things at his own pace without consulting anybody else, and ―― even from the witch’s point of view, who was out of step with normal people’s morals ―― he was thoroughly an oddball.
So the witch’s worry, that is to say, was none other than this Orélie.
Anybody would hesitate to draw near this cave, but it just so happens that he incessantly shows up without any of his attendants joining him. And so, each time that would happen, the witch would offer (as far as she was concerned) an extremely idiotic consultation.
tanuki
That was, quite frequently, a consultation about love problems.
Orélie fell in love with Maré, the star attraction of the florist that resides in the lower parts of town, approximately half a year ago. From right around that time, there became rumors that a lovely blossom-like girl started working at the poor, run-down flower shop – that was the start of it all.
Even up to then, hanging around town and letting loose under the influence of bad company had become Orélie’s daily routine – not at all like how the son of a rich family should be. His group became excited after hearing these rumors, and they wanted to try taking a glance at this girl. Finding nothing odd, Orélie accompanied them.
The person of the rumors might not live up to expectations. But still, out of all those who have met her and those who have heard of her, how many of them had praised the girl’s beautiful face? In the beginning it was only inquisitiveness that drove him, but by thereupon seeing the girl, the att.i.tude he took was not in the least what he said he had planned. He thought that if he was killing time, then anything was fine, he said.
However, the instant he was actually face to face with her, all of his carefree thoughts were blown away just like that. ―― or rather, pulverized to bits. Orélie distinctly felt a violent jolt in his heart. This was the moment of “falling in love” – with that realization, the sentiment grew stronger and stronger within that body. Evidently, those guys up in society say it’s described as “to be taken with someone at first sight.”
tanuki
No, some mundane turn of phrase like that could never express in words the extent of how violent the shock was, insisted Orélie. Having only been informed up until here, such simple, mundane phrases like “tedious” or “fed up” could not even begin to describe how exhausted the witch was. The witch was so flabbergasted and tired out to the point that shouting “How tedious!” would have completely ended the conversation, but his story still had a ways to go.
Orélie promptly initiated his approach towards the girl.
For he who was blessed with fortune, any kind of girl would most likely lose her confidence once she was in his hands – again, he happened to have that much of a background readily available. That’s why it would be only natural for his relationship with the girl to turn into one of mutual love! Not spending a significant amount of time going that far and arriving at that conclusion, Orélie smoothly considered this while gulping his throat repeatedly.
However, things did not progress as simply as that.
The woman called Maré, in response to both Orélie’s beautiful face and the dazzling smile he brought forth from there, was truly the embodiment of shyness. To the sweet, sweet nothings he murmured in a soft tone, she was also indifferent. That being the case, even when Orélie tried to refer to his own social status, it was as if she showed no interest. To her, just saying the words “I love you!” seemed to be no more than a grating noise inferior to that of the cry, “Flowers, please!”
Nevertheless, there weren’t necessarily any signs to say that she hated Orélie.
In the first place, the problem was not just something like that. Since a while ago, it looked as if she didn’t carry in stock any special feelings toward him in general. ―― Quite sad, but there wasn’t any room but to make that type of conclusion.
With Orélie scoping out the boundaries to the best of his abilities, the situation was a.s.sessed that Maré had no sweetheart. In addition, he didn’t hear any talk about her having a special someone at all. Having parents who were lying down in bed with illness, the necessity of working herself to the bone for the sake of supporting them, and the reality was that there was no free time to speak of love and the like ―― so the stories went, but he had not heard about any of those either.
The gossip related to her hardly came into his possession. A girl with very, very good features – with that single speck of a rumor flying about, Orélie could think of not a single successful method of attracting her affection. What was left now was no other way but to earnestly continue expressing his feelings.
Orélie forgot to jaunt around with the ruffian thugs he took for company, along with taking a stab at gaining the interests of other girls – day and night, it became that he would visit Maré’s side.
Catching Maré and drawing her into the shade underneath the trees, with however many sincere thoughts he had of yearning for her, or however many deep emotions he possessed, he fervently continued to bring them to her attention. But even then, the girl’s heart did not even quiver. Orélie approached his limit. By the way, the witch who had been informed up to here was also reaching her limit quite soon.
Now then, “what the heck should I even do?” Orélie, who was stuck with no way out, had this already pop into his mind, but deep within the forest on the outskirts of town, there existed a witch who resided in a cave――.
At last, when the story drifted that far, the witch went “yeah, yeah, I already understand” and swung her hand in a fluttering motion.
The gist of it all was to make a love potion for him, wasn’t it. One way or another, the young man Orélie’s regaling of his heartrending tale of unrequited love was unbearable, so the witch was cutting it off here. At any rate, the witch wanted to make the love potion quickly so she could finish driving him out.
“Rest your weary heart, I’ll make an extraordinarily powerful one for you right at once. It’ll be so powerful to the extent that even if you lose interest and want to cast her aside, she’ll spend an entire lifetime clinging to you and won’t leave.”
When the witch said that with a sigh mingled in, Orélie blankly gazed at the witch’s wrinkle-filled face for a brief period of time.
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“… what on earth are you even saying?”
I don’t understand your meaning, was written on that beautiful face.
“I’m telling you, it’s about the love potion. You came all the way here to request that kind of thing, didn’t you?”
When the witch tentatively affirmed it with a dubious face, Orélie was in the midst of raising his voice in denial.
“Absolutely not! Something like using a drug to change a person’s heart, that kind of act is foul conduct!”
This time it was the witch’s turn to stare blankly at him.
“Well then, what did you come here for?”
“Isn’t it because I came here to have a consultation with you? If you ask around about the witch who lives deep within the forest, they say that among other things, you’re a sage living in perpetual youth who has witnessed this fleeting world for over a century. Since it’s like that, I was thinking, ‘wouldn’t I receive some pretty good advice if I consulted with you about Maré?’”
“… what, advice?”
The crow was grooming the feathers on its side, but it let out a rare caw as if it was sneering at the two.
With the sequence of events like this, the witch was becoming haunted by Orélie.
By no means did she expect that the “Witch of the Forest” was a person who offered consultations and suggestions on love. Whatever sort of witch it was, be as it may, the witch could not contain her feelings – which already eclipsed amazement and anger into astonishment.
If it was a consultation like that, then asking his friends or something would be good, the witch tried saying carelessly. However, it was truly a situation where Orélie could not pull people in, as the problem was too overwhelming for his friends. “It’s not a problem we can handle,” they persistently went and said. The witch replied with nothing but Ah, is that so, as it was already something that couldn’t be helped.
“With a girl like that, there’s something about me she’s not pleased with, right?”
“Most likely her taste is in short, fat, soft and flabby ugly men with oily black hair, I guess.”
After the witch negligently replied – “Then next time, if I become a man like that, she’ll accept my thoughts or try hearing me out?” Orélie returned with a serious face. And for a second time, “Even if I gift her lovely presents like necklaces or hair ornaments, I really can’t get her to receive them. What kinds of things, then, could I get her to accept?”
“Wouldn’t something like a bouquet be just fine? Let me a.s.sure you now that there isn’t a single girl out there who wouldn’t be happy to receive flowers.”
After the witch said that to mess around, several days later he came along with a dejected expression. “I got her to accept them, but she sold half of the flowers to other customers,” carried out his quite desolate report. And for a third time, “Rather than when she talks with me about love, she’s definitely much more enthusiastic when talking to the florist’s customers. What do you think I should do?”
“You’re also a customer. So if you go and buy 10,000 flowers, she’ll probably be your companion with enthusiasm, I guess.”
It wasn’t necessarily a lie when the witch replied. And again, several days later, showing up with a ton of flower bouquets carried in both arms – “I tried buying them, but it was completely no good. These are souvenirs,” he gently placed them down between the skeletons scattered about on the floor.
Goodness gracious, what on earth is wrong with this man?
A girl is a girl.
Orélie’s appearance was good, his family pedigree was good, and moreover, he was a considerable gentleman. There probably wasn’t a woman and the like who would feel bad from being courted by him. It was no doubt that more or less, Maré’s heart was surely moved.
However, without showing the slightest bit of a façade, it’s said that she clearly repelled his feelings. That aspect of hers the witch found much more interesting than Orélie.
Was it the discrepancy in social status she cared about, or was it that she saw through Orélie’s somewhat – no, considerably strange perseverance?
In any event, she was a wise and clever girl. If she was tied together with Orélie, she could probably live her life in good fortune, but the witch supposed it seemed good for her to try and live as a self-reliant woman.
For how long Orélie had carried these excruciating emotions within him, and the degree of unpleasantness that must have caused, the witch already understood. She didn’t even think twice about prescribing a drug for him in secrecy to willfully serve to the girl. However, for Orélie, it was actually the opposite meaning. When he thought of the girl who demonstrated a powerful and obstinate will, he was fairly reluctant to. Then if that was the case, should the witch prescribe Orélie a drug to make him loathe the girl? When considering that, the witch had recalled his absolutely sincere expression – her hands came to a halt.
tanuki
Goodness gracious, what on earth is wrong with this man.
The witch finally prepared herself for the worst.
Now, in order to thoroughly have her become his companion, even if that love wasn’t realized, something had to be done. To allow his peculiar ways to comprehend this, an admonishing was needed. There was a necessity for the witch to go out of her way to teach Orélie that in society, there was everything he should not do as he likes, even by whatever means, as well as the many things he should do. Orélie wasn’t a bad person, but as she thought, he was definitely a young lord with a sheltered upbringing.
“I invited her to go out for a meal tonight, but she simply turned me down. What should I do so that she’ll go out to eat with me?”
It was the same man as usual.
At any rate, even though he was rejected, the witch didn’t understand the reason why he came here to have a meal. With a simple “good evening” and obediently having his extravagant dinner in his own home, it would have been fine if he had even come here tomorrow to see her. Certainly, the witch had no reason to even think that he would appear to have a decent, upright dinner in this kind of melancholy cave, or something else of the sort. However, when faced with the suspicious light-purple soup and dried out bread, Orélie made no show of disagreeableness and consumed them without complaint.
tanuki
Yes, he wasn’t a bad person.
“Hey, you. I’ve been doing nothing but listening to you for a long time now, overlooking my own thoughts for the sake of your questions. But you haven’t tried the slightest bit to consider the feelings of your partner, huh. You seem to be under the impression that the world revolves around you 一 typical humans, the type that’s best at spewing out vomit.”
The witch ventured to declare those coldhearted words.
“’She’s not pleased with something about me?’ The world consists of only binary ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answers – hah, as if! If she doesn’t like you, that doesn’t mean she said that she hates you. Whatever she may think of you, doesn’t that mean she’s thought about you? ‘What kind of presents, then, would get her to accept me?’ Because you were of the impression that the necklace you gave didn’t suit your own preferences, did you seriously think she would do something like reciprocate? As for why she didn’t accept your presents? First of all, please try to think veeery well about this. ‘What should I do so that she enthusiastically faces me?’ This too, is an absurd question. Something like a guarantee so she ‘unconditionally’ turns around to face you, there’s nowhere you can always find that.
“First of all, it’s necessary for you to think very, veeery well about her feelings. And after you think you’ve understood that but you still want to obtain her, then you’ll be past hope if you personally don’t change yourself. But surely, if you keep spending everyday nonchalantly strolling along until the very ends of this kind of forest and talking about this and that, I think nothing will change.”
As if the scales had fallen from Orélie’s eyes, he made a befuddled face.
And after tightly pursing his lips, he kept silent and let his gaze fall towards the plate at hand. If his peculiar ways showed an understanding of the witch’s words, then he was probably chewing it over inside his mind.
After a short time, he quietly left his seat with a light clattering. Orélie always returned at this time. In order to do so, he conscientiously bowed.
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“I’ll be going home now. Thank you for the meal…”
To Orélie, the witch’s words that were like a blunt refusal probably came as a shock. However, it was good medicine. Tonight, in his soft, downy bed, he would surely be thinking about her more than anyone else. There’s no mistaking it. And like that, even if he changes little by little, he would probably become a more and more charming person, the witch thought.
The next day, Orélie visited the cave again.
The witch, who went out to greet him with a “Good grief!” was startled when she saw that face. Orélie had been crying.
“Wha, what is it. Is something the matter…?”
The witch inquired, feeling a slight tugging sensation.
“I tried thinking about various things – about Maré. Thoughts about you, and what you previously mentioned, also streamed into my mind. I s.n.a.t.c.hed away your precious time by offering only vain, useless conversations, spending every day like this visiting here. Certainly I was a bother, wasn’t I? I’m truly sorry.”
So he managed to come that far in his thoughts in one night, huh. The witch, who thought no more than this, was surprised at the results. She acknowledged that if it was a normal human being, they wouldn’t even think up until that point. But you might say that in order to reach there, there was no other way except to press him. Nonetheless, however, it didn’t appear likely that he would think about it to the extent of crying.
“But, no matter what I do, I can’t get my thoughts in order by myself. The more and more I think about it and think about it, it’s very painful, and if I don’t have someone to listen to me, it feels like I become unable to breathe. Please, I beg of you – could you please listen to what I have to say?”
Oof. The witch’s words were blocked.
With a pa.s.sionate appeal like this, even the witch couldn’t treat him coldly. Unexpectedly, with the art of “using tears to get one’s way” wouldn’t he be able to get Maré to fall into his hands? The witch thought, but she wasn’t able to gamble away her dignity by speaking of that.
“In any case, don’t loiter around, get in! If you really want to become a hindrance, don’t grumble about something trivial because I’ll throw you out. Well, the present situation is that I also have enough free time to a.s.sociate with you, y’know.”
Orélie repeatedly nodded his head in a.s.sent and sat down in a chair. It just so happened that the chair was in a position next to where he was originally. Using the cuffs of his coat tailored from high-cla.s.s fabrics to wipe away his tears, Orélie curled up his back like a scolded child.
“So? You were thinking various things about the girl. Was there anything you understood?”
When the witch asked in a slightly softer voice than her usual disposition, Orélie tinily shook his head sideways.
“… I didn’t understand. Maré was, up until now, certainly different from any other girl I’ve met. For the time being, she cheerfully receives me as a customer – but as an object of romantic interest, I get the sense as if she thinks nothing of me. Why it’s become like that, I don’t understand. I wonder, what in the world is Maré thinking? If an insistently confessing person is more likely to be seen as a partner, then apart from the feelings of like and dislike, I think that by all means I should be judged as nothing but a love interest from the other side’s point of view. And yet!”
Surprisingly frank words were returned. Because it was Orélie, the witch had her misgivings and questioned if he was immersing himself in misdirected thoughts again.
“The girl might have been trying her best to not see you as a love interest on purpose.”
“For whose sake? If it was unpleasant, and if she had clearly told me that it was unpleasant, then I might have accepted that and given up!”
“When I look at your appearance, you really don’t seem to look very willing to give up. Well, putting that aside, you’re the son of the governing lord, aren’t you? If she were to reject that son, for example, wouldn’t she not know what types of retribution would be lying in wait for her? The girl might have been thinking like that.”
“As if something like that would happen! I would never deceive her under the umbrella of political authority!”
“But you, from the outset you’ve used that same excuse of being the lord’s son to flicker about and draw near her?”
“That’s, I only wanted to say that in order to prevent any economic hardships… But…… I guess you’re right…… it was cowardly.”
The crestfallen Orélie drooped his shoulders.
“I had no intention on using my social status to influence her att.i.tude, so I’ll go to explain that to her.”
When he bowed towards the witch, Orélie unsteadily opened the door to the cave and went to leave.
Several days later, seeing Orélie who came along as she expected, the witch understood what kind of harvest he procured.
“Maré said that it wasn’t a problem about social status. Moreover, she said she said she has no reason to dislike me. But, while it may be true that she doesn’t dislike me, it doesn’t mean that she likes me. Thanks to your conversations, I’ve already realized that.”
However, arriving up to this point, the witch thought that Maré was quite the harsh girl.
It wasn’t a problem about social status, it also wasn’t hatred – then what was no good? Wouldn’t Orélie’s straightforwardness that goes beyond physiological human nature be accepted? … If that was the case, then the witch had a hunch. No, no, before that, there was a pitiable, pathetic, way too serious young man who was stricken right before her eyes.
“How about trying to keep a little distance? Intruding in on her everyday in the same way, even if you hurl nothing but talk about love and the like or whatever at her, she probably won’t be happy. If the cla.s.sic way of doing things is useless, then try drawing back from that guy.”
“Keeping my distance… for how long?”
Think about that reason by yourself, the witch wanted to say. But, after seeing his haggard profile, the witch naturally drew back her words.
“Well then, around the area of two weeks. It’s not quite lengthy enough to completely forget, probably. Between then, please try to spend your life living indifferently about the issues of love and cease coming here. It might unexpectedly refresh your spirits as well. Even any occasion is essential for a change of pace, you know.”
“Two weeks!”
Orélie, as if he heard some repulsive word, felt his body tremble.
“Isn’t that what I just said? That in order to change your mood, you’d have to completely forget everything?”
“… I understand. I’ll try to keep my distance a little from both Maré and you.”