The Maid of the Cursed Princess

“It doesn’t suit you.”

Dorothy chided the witch who had introduced herself as Glinda.

“Glinda is not as crotchety as you, nor as short-tempered.”

For the good witch Glinda from the fairy tales Dorothy loved shared only the witch part in common with her.

“You already have a proper name, don’t you?”

“What, attaching meaning to a mere alias? And if we’re going there, you’re completely different from ‘Dorothy Gale’ too, you shameless thing.”

Not that Dorothy was in any position to talk, but still.

“And you’re not good at all.”

Brushing off the witch’s retort, Dorothy gazed at the witch who was neither good nor Glinda.

“I had thought you might improve a little in the presence of nobility, but your rude mouth remains as foul as ever. Just like a dimwit who ate too many potty words.”

“My hair is brown, actually.”

Caught between their bickering relationship of unclear amicability, Sibylla tightly sealed her lips, unable to interject in the tense atmosphere.

“Ah, right. I’ve kept the real guest waiting while trading insults with this one. So, what brings you to this gloomy witch, Princess?”

Noticing Sibylla’s discomfort amid their banter, the witch waved her hands dismissively at Dorothy as if shooing away a guest unlikely to return.

“…That is…”

Sibylla suddenly wondered if it was alright to reveal her purpose for coming to this unidentified woman.

Her childlike appearance contrasted with her unbecoming conduct. The casual way she presented her witch moniker, which any Orléans person would find unsettling.

Suspicious – the witch seemed more suspicious than anyone Sibylla had ever encountered.

Moreover, the very word ‘witch’ was akin to a trauma for Sibylla.

“…I wish to lift the curse, the curse flowing through the blood of Orléans’s royal family.”

However, Sibylla ultimately confided her purpose to the witch, judging this might be her only chance to break the curse.

And above all, she was Dorothy’s acquaintance.

If she was Dorothy’s acquaintance, perhaps she could be trusted.

“You wish to know a way to be liberated from that curse devouring your flesh, is it?”

“…Yes, that is correct.”

The dreadful curse left by Medea – if only she could be freed from that curse, Sibylla could do anything.

She didn’t truly expect this unidentified slum-dwelling girl to know the way, but still:

“Very well, I shall tell you.”

“…Is that so? I didn’t expect much, but it seems you don’t know either- Wait, what did you say?”

However, the witch’s crisp response reached Sibylla’s ears, prompting her to widen her eyes in disbelief.

“I said I will tell you the way to break your curse.”

“Truly… do you speak the truth? That there is a way to break the curse?”

She had not misheard – this enigmatic girl was testifying that there was a way to lift the curse.

“Why, do you not want to know? If not, then never mi-“

“No, tell me! Tell me the way to break the curse!!!”

Unconsciously seizing the witch’s hands in both of her own, Sibylla desperately pleaded, until-

“…Tsk.”

“…Ah…”

Belatedly releasing her grip after the witch’s expression twisted from having her hands grabbed by the cursed one, Sibylla stepped back.

“Well, it’ll be a bit awkward explaining it plainly like this.”

Brushing off the hands Sibylla had grabbed, the witch once again curved her lips into an ominous smile.

“A reward… do you require a reward? I will give any amount, any amount at all.”

“No need for rewards. This old lady is not some vulgar materialist constantly squandering money on alcohol, tobacco, and gambling like some people.”

“…”

If she had been short on funds, she would have directly lifted the curse herself long ago. The fact that she hadn’t implied another reason.

“It is simply that this old lady greatly enjoys riddles.”

“Rid…dles?”

“Yes, riddles.”

Whether the curse could be broken or not held no significance to the witch.

The Princess being liberated from the curse to find happiness, or succumbing in the end to pass it down to future generations – either outcome was entertaining for the witch.

“Fairy tales.”

Thus, the witch recited a hint.

“That is the hint.”

Unraveling the answer would be up to them.

* * *

In the end, they gained nothing.

The witch who had claimed to know how to break the curse left a word that was hardly a hint, then abruptly kicked out Sibylla and Dorothy the moment Sibylla tried to ask its meaning, issuing a silencing spell.

“…She certainly picked the precise words she dislikes reciting.”

Sibylla was in a foul mood, for fairy tales and witches were things she disliked.

Moreover, a witch babbling about fairy tales – could there be anything more dreadful?

“My sincere apologies, Princess.”

“No, I can’t say it wasn’t your fault… You did harbor some trust in her, enough to put me through this ordeal, didn’t you?”

If Dorothy was at fault for anything, it was trusting the witch.

Of course, if the witch’s words were true and she did indeed know how to break the curse, the story might be slightly different, but-

“To think such an unsavory character…”

The problem was that witch herself.

If she was merely boasting without knowing the truth, she was a swindler, and if she did know yet still acted that way, her personality was unbearably twisted.

And if asked which was more plausible, Sibylla would unhesitatingly choose the former – the stench of a swindler wafted undeniably, no matter how she looked at it.

“I don’t think the witch is someone who would lie.”

Yet Dorothy still trusted the witch.

“I can’t fathom where that trust stems from.”

Sibylla couldn’t comprehend Dorothy’s stance.

Their conversation alone made it clear they were previously acquainted, but were they close enough for such unwavering trust?

No, at most they were adversaries, if Sibylla was being generous – in reality, their relationship wasn’t even worth the term friendship.

“While she may not be trustworthy, I still believe the witch. For she is not someone who would speak falsehoods, merely someone who delights in angering others with her words and actions.”

“Meaning she enjoys toying with people, I see…”

Sibylla gave up trying to understand Dorothy, unaware of the depth of her adverse connection to the witch and thus unable to grasp the source of that firm belief.

“Let’s return. If we linger too long, people may notice.”

“Yes, understood.”

However.

“…But where are you heading now?”

Contrary to her words, Dorothy didn’t steer the horse back toward the High Tower.

“This is not the way back to the tower, is it?”

“Have no worries, Princess. I shall return you to the tower before dawn.”

The horse’s head gradually turned deeper into the forest.

“Just where are you going? This is not the path, this is…”

“…”

Unnerved by Dorothy’s abrupt change in demeanor, Sibylla’s unease grew. Why this sudden shift? Just what was her aim in taking her… where?

“Enough, don’t mock me further. Have you not toyed with me enough already? Enough…”

But Sibylla’s concerns didn’t last long.

“I wished to show you this place, Princess.”

What emerged beyond the shrubbery and trees was a breathtakingly beautiful lake that rendered the word ‘scenic’ an understatement.

“What is… this?”

“I don’t know myself. From your reaction, it seems to be an unknown location even to you, Princess.”

A vast lake cradling the shimmering moonlight, its beautiful waters as if the night sky itself had been captured, surrounded by vibrant blooming flowers.

“This is a lake untouched by human footsteps. It seems no one sets foot here as the entire surrounding area belongs to the royal family.”

“If it is royal land… there should be sentries patrolling the perimeter, no?”

“Which is why I didn’t return by the patrolled routes.”

More like she had blazed an entirely new trail, Sibylla briefly wondered.

“And with a member of the royal family, the daughter of the current King herself present here, who would dare block entry?”

“…”

With the Princess present, there were no issues – that was Dorothy’s claim.

“You are becoming increasingly brazen. No, were you always this brazen?”

But Sibylla didn’t buy it in the least.

“…In any case, do you like it, Princess?”

“I wonder.”

The lake’s scenery was undoubtedly beautiful, incomparable to any palace garden.

Though it might be somewhat harsh to compare a man-made garden to nature’s own magnificence.

“But was it truly necessary to go through such trouble just to show me a mere lake?”

That said, Sibylla’s feelings toward this lake were somewhat ambiguous.

“It seems like a hasty attempt to make up for your failure, no matter how I look at it.”

“…Ugh.”

This maid, perfect yet sloppy, considerate yet simple-minded, must have been troubled by her unsatisfactory meeting with the witch.

Thus, she had brought Sibylla here by crossing an unbeaten forest path to this secluded lake only she knew of.

Her intentions were too transparent, Sibylla thought.

“…Well, I suppose… I don’t dislike it.”

But Dorothy’s efforts were not in vain.

“It is beautiful, I will give you that. Shall I praise your commendable efforts?”

More than the lake’s splendor itself, it was Dorothy’s efforts to show her this sight that slightly lifted the Princess’s mood.

“Indeed, it is straight out of a fairy tale – the scenery, and also…”

The person.

Swallowing her final words, Sibylla tightened her embrace around Dorothy.