Lea watched as the servant, who had left with a fuss, swallowed hard. Even after wiping her eyes again, the rich, golden hair of the woman sitting in the bathtub shone brightly.

Lea had lived as a servant and boasted of quite diverse experiences. Although young, she wasn’t born in the North like the other servants. She had been raised as a tutor for various noble young ladies. She had even encountered the unimaginable – meeting foreigners.

However, such things were no longer surprising. Encountering a blonde referred to as a witch was now just another occurrence.

“Why, what’s wrong, Lea?”

Verche, who had fallen to the floor, tilted her head as if something was strange.

“Um, where does it hurt?”

Lea seemed to need attention. Despite the disappointment about the insufficient bath, Verche was worried about her.

As Verche got up from the bathtub, her hair flowed down over Lea’s shoulders.

“Ah.”

So, it was because of this – because my hair color is different.

Because of the curse, as my mother repeatedly scolded me. According to her, being blonde was a terrible witch’s curse meant to show others that she was a terrible witch.

But the world she saw was different from her mother’s words.

‘Thank you,’ she met a man who responded with a kind answer. ‘Bathing is so enjoyable. You seem like an innocent baby who doesn’t know anything.’ She even saw Lea smiling brightly.

It’s okay.

Verche reassured herself about the sinking feeling. Even if everyone in the world hated her, there might still be one person who saw her differently.

That hope was better than enduring the darkness alone.

“Phew.”

Verche walked towards Lea.

‘But if that kind child wants to run away, I need to move slowly to allow her to do so.’

“L-Lea.”

Lea was gradually pushing her buttocks backward. Fear was written all over her face.

‘She came this far.’

Verche stopped in the middle, smiling lightly.

“If, if I’m dreadful, it’s o-okay for you to leave.”

Lea blinked with a surprised expression on her face, then suddenly stood up and rushed towards the bathroom door.

Lea, with trembling hands, tried to open the door. Verche, unable to watch Lea’s trembling figure, turned her head away.

Still, she clung to the hope that someday she might have a chance to explain herself to that child. She also hoped that she might be able to smile again.

“Hey…”

Surprised by the unexpected voice, Lea, whom Verche thought had gone outside, turned her body to look at Verche.

Meanwhile, tears welled up over her freckled cheeks.

“Are you a real witch? They say being blonde is a curse.”

“Ah.”

It’s sad, but…

“I’m not a witch, but the curse… y-yes.”
The blonde hair was an undeniable fact. Verche, having confirmed once again, expected Lea to scream in horror and run away, but this time, she didn’t go outside.

“Why to us…”

Instead, Lea, with tears streaming down, asked.

“Why did you curse us?”

“…!”

Vercheria couldn’t understand what she was saying, but she knew too well what kind of answer she had to give.

“I-I didn’t, didn’t do that to a-anyone.”

Cursed and abandoned, it was her who had been forsaken. Verche, abandoned by the world for being blonde, was picked up by her mother. Although her life was one of abuse, if it weren’t for her mother, she would have disappeared from the world in some way by now.

“To a-anyone…”

I didn’t do anything.

Silence passed between the two women who were distant from each other. How much time had passed?

Lea bit her lip, looking straight at Verche. After standing like that for a moment, she wiped her tears with the back of her hand and said, “I believe that.”

Lea sniffed, then approached Verche.

Picking up the gown that was at the entrance, she came over, covering Verche’s bare shoulders in the cold air.

“It’s okay, Mom. My mother, who is no longer with us, did that to me when she was alive. People have to live believing what they see. She said that if you only believe what others say, you’ll end up sitting on the streets being deceived by fraudsters.”

Verche put her arms into the gown, raising them to let Lea tie the waist strap.

“I’m not smart. I don’t know much about how the world works. But from what I see…”

Lea fiddled with the neatly tied ribbon, mumbling.

“I want to protect you. I want to take care of you because I feel like I want to protect you. I want to give you an extra spoon of food when you’re hungry, and protect you because I want to…”

“Pro, protect?”

“That… I just feel like I want to protect you, make your heart warm, give you an extra spoon of food because I want to protect you…”

Tears welled up in Lea’s dark eyes.

“Am I being too rude saying these things?”

Verche’s frozen face loosened up.

“No, not at all.”

Suddenly, the surroundings brightened, and it felt like her heart was swelling with a fulfilling emotion.

The blonde woman seemed like a different being from them.

Just her laughing face made it feel like the soul would be sucked away.

When Lea was having such whimsical thoughts, a gentle and warm palm covered her freckled cheek.

“You’re not rude at all.”

In the twinkling eyes of the golden irises, there was a sparkling light.

“You seem like a kind child, Lea.”

“Ah…”

At that moment, Lea had a feeling.

Perhaps, even if something happens, she will become this beautiful blonde woman’s ally and protect her.

Suddenly, there was a commotion outside the bathroom.

Both of them simultaneously turned their heads towards the entrance.

With the voices of several people talking loudly, some shadows could be seen bustling about.
“Don’t act like this. Wouldn’t it be more appropriate to meet the lord first before doing this? It goes against courtesy.”

Lea spoke in a bewildered voice.

“Huh? That sounds like the butler’s voice…”

“Now, are you daring to order a princess like me to meet the lord with permission? Alec?”

“Princess?”

When Verche looked at Lea, she blinked and spilled out words.

“Seems like a princess. The sister of His Imperial Majesty. Admires Lord Murk as well.”

“Admires?”

“Yes. She said let’s get married and all. Even though gods and humans can never marry.”

Meanwhile, outside, it became even noisier.

“Princess. If you continue like this, I can only bring the lord.”

“Step aside.”

“Princess!”

Bang.

With a dull sound, the bathroom door opened.

Verche turned her gaze, which was directed towards Lea, towards the entrance.

Cold air swirled in as the door opened, and at the same time, a woman with abundant black hair walked in.

Tall with a gorgeous dress.

And a more splendid face than that.

“It’s you. The woman brought from the forest.”

The voice that came out from her had a sharp edge.

However, her face was identical to Kelita’s.

????

Beyond the railing, the snowflakes dancing around, swirled in the black cape that passed by with the wind.

The cape, made of the fur-rich tail of a fox, fluttered under the sharp jawline.

From under the still-damp black hair, a gentle breath escaped.

‘Golden! She had golden hair. That woman brought from the forest was a cursed witch!’

The eyes of the snowflakes, dancing behind the railing, spun into the air in the gust of wind from the passing black cloak.

Merely a glance at the edge of the cloak made of the fur of a fox with rich fur caused the fur to shake under the sharp jawline.

A soft sigh emanated from under the yet-to-dry black hair.

‘Golden, they say. Unbelievable.’

Merck thought to himself.

Certainly, a servant might have eaten something wrong or gone mad, seeing something false.

But why does it feel so strange?

It was a feeling of a tiny crack appearing in the usual composure of the Northern routine.

Step by step, the sparkling sunlight reflected on his boots, extending forward, repeated the cycle of appearing and disappearing.

‘It shouldn’t be golden.’

Golden was the symbol of a witch.

People who claimed to have met a witch all described her in the same way.

Bright and dazzling like the sun. Not a god, but they wanted to praise her.

Blue veins swelled over the clenched back of Merck’s hand.