The large cauldron and the bubbling flasks with potions emitting fumes seemed to confirm that she was indeed a witch, just like in fairy tales.

In front of the fireplace was a cozy space with a plush carpet, but upon closer inspection, it was filled with ominous objects.

The marble floor, rather than wooden, gave it a subtly modern touch. What a chaotic sight.

After quickly scanning her surroundings, Diana reached for a mop that was leaning at an angle.

Kwajik- Diana kicked the long handle with her foot to make it pointy and confronted the woman.

“Why did you bring me here? Send me back right away.”

Diana raised her guard and tried to find an opening to target the woman’s vital points, but there were none.

“You’re like a real weasel.”

The pufferfish’s body was already resentful enough, and now she had been kidnapped by a witch. What a life. She felt like tears were about to spill out from the despair.

“That’s something my colleague used to ride. Anyway.”

As the woman turned around, Diana quickly called out to her in a loud voice.

“Hey!”

Hup. Diana, lifted by the collar into the air, flew right up to the woman’s face.

Strangely flickering crimson eyes stared directly into pink eyes.

“I’m still half-asleep and in a bad mood, so don’t raise your voice.”

Diana’s cheek was caught in the woman’s large hand. With her lips protruding like a carp, Diana blinked and nodded.

“Whatever.”

As if her mood had quickly improved like someone with severe mood swings, the woman grinned and released Diana.

“You remind me of Angela, but your personality is completely different.”

Finally, a familiar name came up.

“My ancestor?”

“Yes, my niece.”

What? That niece passed away generations ago?

The woman had a beautiful appearance that made it difficult to gauge her age. She was wearing a tight-fitting dark red dress that showed off her tall stature and well-proportioned figure.

Only her hair, which hung straight down to her waist, was white like an elderly person’s.

Just how old is she? Could it be that the appearance of an old hag with a hooked nose is her true form?

“I think you’re having some very rude thoughts right now.”

“Um, what should I call you? Auntie, Grandm… I’m sorry.”

At the word grandmother, the crimson eyes reacted fiercely.

“Call me Aunt Bensi.”

Your name sounds just like a fairy name from mythology that I know. Diana, who wanted to make a sarcastic remark, held her tongue.

“So, Aunt Bensi. Why did you bring me here?”

“You’re quite impatient. Follow me.”

Diana suppressed her frustration and followed behind Bensi. Opening a plain wooden door, a corridor appeared that was incomparably larger than the room.

Feeling a sense of déjà vu from the size of the corridor, Diana turned her eyes to the arched windows and abruptly stopped.

“Oh.”

Waving black trees formed the horizon. A red moon hung in the sky. Her eyes widened.

“What are you doing? I thought you wanted to know quickly.”

Bensi, with her arms crossed, frowned.

I warned you not to be loud, but you raised your voice again. Diana hurriedly bowed her head.

“I apologize.”

Seeing Diana’s submissive attitude, Bensi seemed satisfied and turned around, her long white hair fluttering as she began to walk.

“What’s the big deal about it being the Black Forest?”

Diana, following Bensi again, made a sorrowful face.

How did I escape from here!

The place she woke up after dying was the Mage’s Castle. Moreover, it was the Mage’s Castle within this Black Forest.

“I’m very glad.”

Diana spoke in a tone completely opposite to her sorrowful expression.

“Of course you should be. This is the center where mana is generated.”

Bensi, halfway turning back, smiled enchantingly as she raised her red lips. Pride could also be felt in that smile.

When leaving this place with Rodrick’s group, Noel had said:

‘The mana here is colliding. It accumulates and collides, creating mana stones and magical beasts. This place is strange. The mana both drains away and is generated, it’s chaotic.’

He had said that due to the high purity of mana, it becomes poison to cursed individuals.

“For a witch, this place is the best location. It’s the holy land of witches.”

“But I’m not a witch?”

Tok-tok. Bensi, wearing high-heeled shoes, abruptly stopped and turned around.

“You’re also a descendant of witches.”

“What?”

“With training, you might be able to use magic. But maybe it won’t work since your blood is mixed with ordinary humans? Well, nevermind. Let’s hurry.”

Diana blinked in confusion and quickly followed Bensi, who was moving away.

She understood that Bensi was the aunt of her ancestor Angela. But the fact that she could use magic was surprising.

“Um, Aunt Bensi. What’s the exact relation between us? So was Angela’s mother a witch?”

“Hm, is this your first time hearing about witches?”

In a world where even the existence of mages was rare, this was the first time she heard about witches. Even to the people of this world, witches were like a fantasy that only existed in fairy tales.

“Yes.”

“In the days when everyone used mana, the Beatus family specialized in curses. It all started when our witches married into that family.”

The corridor was long, and although she didn’t know where they were headed, Bensi began to unravel her story like a real grandmother as they walked.

“Starting from the first generation, it was agreed that one witch would marry into the family each generation.”

“What were the conditions?”

“Hoho. As expected of a Beatus. Very thorough.”

Of course. Such contracts are not made carelessly.

“To protect the existence of witches. To protect the rights to the Black Forest among humans.”

“Wouldn’t it have been better to contract with the royal family for such matters?”

“They were already in a contract with an even more peculiar existence. Besides, it was obvious that we would become concubines, and the prideful witches couldn’t endure that. They would have killed everyone in the palace’s internal strife and left.”

The existence of witches became clearer. Their personalities must have been quite formidable.

“Well, we witches are a bunch with strong individualities. Only the head of the Beatus family could control them. Their handsome faces also played a part. When you’re good-looking, you’re forgiven, you know? It’s like that.”

Hmm, it seemed that her weakness for Rodrick’s face had genetic factors.

“We got along well with humans, communicating with them. Yes, until my niece Angela was born.”

Bensi closed her eyes and vividly remembered the baby who would toddle over and throw herself into her arms as if it were yesterday.

From the time that child was born and babbling, the witch who rarely left the Black Forest frequently visited the Beatus family, feeling a special affection.

“Angela’s mother is my elder sister. She had exceptionally strong qualities as a witch, and the elders wanted to make her the leader of the witches, but she happened to catch the eye of the Beatus family head.”

Bensi’s temples twitched, indicating that she still wasn’t happy about it.

“Among the children my elder sister gave birth to, only Angela properly inherited her witch qualities. The other children were just ordinary.”

“Angela must have been very loved.”

A gentle smile spread across Bensi’s sharp face.

“Yes, she was very lovely. I’m not talking about the child’s qualities. The child herself was lovely.”

Unable to bear children herself, Bensi loved Angela as if she were her own child.

“Pink.”

“Pardon?”

Bensi paused for a moment and tenderly stroked Diana’s eyes.

“That child also had pink eyes.”

“……”

She briefly thought of the portrait she had seen in the secret passage of Schwartz Castle.

The beauty with distinct purple hair and a radiant smile definitely had pink eyes.

“The decision to make the Beatus bloodline have red eyes all stemmed from the crimson eyes of witches.”

Yes, that’s why she was always looked down upon in the family for having a faded red color.

“The crimson color was passed down through generations as red. The occasional appearance of pink eyes…”

Bensi grinned.

“Is evidence of inheriting the strongest qualities to control mana, even among witches. The qualities of a king.”

Hwak- Mana blowing from somewhere enveloped her. It was warm, as if welcoming her, brushing past her and dispersing.

She struggled to keep up with the story. She wasn’t sure if she should be happy about this.

Seeing the pink eyes shaking in all directions, Bensi chuckled.

“Well, that’s all in the past now. You have the blood of an ordinary human mixed in. After my elder sister, there were no more witches marrying into the Beatus family.”

“Why?”

As if she had never laughed happily, Bensi’s face turned fierce.

“Because the witches were massacred.”

Those words, sounding like a resentful scream, caused blood vessels to appear in Bensi’s crimson eyes.

Each strand of Bensi’s white hair rose, holding mana.

Her abode was vibrating along with the lingering anger that had not yet subsided.

“Angela. My lovely child was used.”

Diana swallowed her dry saliva in front of the angry witch.

How should she calm this down? The vibration intensified, causing an earthquake. The chandelier above her head was shaking as if it would fall.

“Aunt Bensi, please calm down!”

Startled by the sudden grip on her wrist and the warm sensation, Bensi’s eyes widened.

With her vision blurred by longing, Bensi raised her trembling hand to Diana’s face.

Cold tears flowed down the witch’s face, cooling her heated skin. My lovely…

“Baby.”

Bensi was looking at Angela while seeing Diana. Her niece, who resembled her, had already died hundreds of years ago. But to Bensi, who had been asleep at that time, it felt as vivid as if it were yesterday.

“You really remind me of Angela.”

“……”

Not knowing what to say, she kept her mouth shut. The witch didn’t seem to need any consolation.

“Hoo, let’s go. I’ve become too sentimental.”

Bensi gathered her emotions and waved her staff.

The long corridor was compressed, and in an instant, it brought them to a door boasting a heavy, geometrically patterned design.

“On the day the witches were massacred, I, who barely survived, dreamed of revenge.”

Kiiik. The door opened by itself, carrying an eerie atmosphere. A dark red light poured out through the slowly opening door.

“So I poured my remaining mana and drew a magic circle.”

Kuung. The heavy door opened wide, revealing a space that seemed even wider than the plaza of the Peacock Territory, densely filled with countless magic circles.

“However, just a few more years and my magic, which would have succeeded, was distorted.”

Bensi’s gaze turned to Diana.

“Because of you.”