“Summer. It’s your decision.”

“……”

After hearing the explanation, Summer was at a loss for words for a while. It wasn’t an area where anyone could readily answer.

Fei, seemingly irritated by Summer’s silence, approached nervously and grabbed Summer’s collar.

“Didn’t you say you absolutely had to go back? What’s left to think about?”

“But that method is……”

“Judging by how you’re weighing the conditions, you must still be comfortable? Fine, I’ll give you time to think.”

Fei released Summer as if throwing her and lifted her chin haughtily.

Summer looked up at Fei with blurry eyes. Her face was pale from the shocking story.

“How long?”

“Give me an answer before dawn breaks.”

“What if I can’t answer?”

“I’ll abandon you in this world. Forever.”

Fei’s words were a perfect false threat, but Summer believed it wholeheartedly and became terrified. Being left alone in this world was horrifying.

However, she couldn’t bring herself to say she would choose that method.

Time passed little by little. Fei pretended to be at ease but fidgeted anxiously.

Summer sat on the bed like a marionette with cut strings, thinking and thinking again.

Unable to endure even 30 minutes, the impatient Fei spoke again.

“If there’s anything you’re worried about, just ask.”

At Fei’s words, Summer seemed to hesitate for a moment before slowly opening her mouth.

“What happens to me if it fails?”

“There’s no failure. I’m the most capable among the witches.”

Fei straightened her shoulders with a proud face.

“But what if that method fails, just in case?”

“Don’t worry. I’ll find you a suitable other place.”

Summer’s face turned serious as she understood Fei’s meaning.

“In this world, or in my world?”

“It’s something that will absolutely never happen, but if it fails, you’ll have to stay in this world. But remember. Even if you don’t use that method, you’ll have to stay in this world until you die.”

“……”

Time passed again.

To Summer, this time felt too fast, but to Fei, it was an excruciatingly long time.

“Damn it! Is this something to agonize over? The great witch Fei herself is offering to help you directly, what on earth are you hesitating for!”

“I’m sorry.”

Fei shouted and messed up her hair roughly.

Summer flinched at her action. Either way, it was equally frightening.

Seeing Summer’s state, Fei spoke in a deliberately gentle tone and extended her hand.

“Okay. I understand. You came from another world, so you might not know how amazing witches are, and how incredibly, supremely amazing I am among those amazing witches. You can doubt!”

Summer nodded repeatedly at Fei’s passionate speech. In truth, it was difficult to believe in Fei’s existence from the start.

While there were descriptions of the Black Forest where strange things lived in the novel, there was no character named Fei in the story.

Without information, it was natural to be unable to trust.

“Now, let’s shake hands first. As I said, my name is Fei. What’s your name?”

“I’m Summer Lindsey.”

Summer grasped Fei’s hand with a puzzled expression.

This was because Fei had known and sought out Summer from the beginning. And Summer already knew that Fei’s name was Fei.

Fei raised the corner of her mouth as if she had expected Summer’s reaction.

“Oh, soul with black hair. You must surely have another name.”

Fei smiled kindly. Summer, looking as if she had been hit on the head, blanked out for a moment before bursting into tears.

Yes. She was not Summer Lindsey. But,

“I can’t… I can’t remember.”

She couldn’t remember her real name. South Korea. Yes, she lived in South Korea with a black cat and her parents. What did her parents’ faces look like?

Friends? No, did she even have friends to begin with? The school she attended, this too doesn’t come to mind.

Putting everything else aside, her name?

It still doesn’t come to mind. No matter how much she racked her brain, all she could vaguely recall was that there was originally another world.

At Summer’s words, Fei’s expression also became serious.

“That’s really bad. It means your soul is gradually assimilating with this body.”

It was to this extent thanks to the black hair fiercely resisting adaptation to Summer’s body.

Still, it seemed that the fusion of body and soul had progressed considerably.

At this rate, the black hair would soon completely forget who she was and become Summer Lindsey.

So, if possible, quickly.

“Then what should I do?”

Summer sobbed, rubbing her tear-stained cheeks roughly. Fei awkwardly sat next to Summer and patted her back.

It was indeed a big problem. Because names carry the meaning of existence.

Judging by the current state, the time left to safely return to the original world was roughly,

“About half a year.”

“…What’s half a year?”

“The time limit for returning to your original world. Half a year.”

“Why are you telling me this now!”

Summer, who had been crying while suppressing her sobs, suddenly raised her head. Fei, showing no sign of surprise, opened her eyes wide with an incredibly innocent expression.

“Because I just discovered you now?”

“Huuung, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to say anything……”

“I know. Just cry.”

Summer apologized and collapsed back onto the bed. Fei sighed while gently tidying Summer’s disheveled hair.

“Do you dislike that method so much?”

“Of course!”

Summer sat up abruptly and shouted. That witch had not an ounce of empathy.

How could she suggest such a method! So shamelessly!

“But that’s the only way.”

“I know that too. But understanding with your head and accepting with your heart are different matters.”

“Why are they different matters?”

At the witch’s innocent question, Summer sighed deeply enough to sink into the ground.

Just thinking about that method made her fingertips go numb with cold. It felt as if her blood was freezing.

She wanted to return to her original world.

More fundamentally, she didn’t want to lose herself.

This was not just a wish, but a desperate plea tinged with anxiety and fear that felt like a threat to her life.

She didn’t want to lose her name. She didn’t want to lose the 25 years she had lived, climbing up desperately. She wanted to live.

Yes, ‘I’ want to live.

The witch who suddenly entered through the window.

That only method the witch told her to return to her original world was,

Death in this world.

Fei was exceptional among witches.

As she was a leading witch who guided other witches, she easily knew the most efficient method to fix the broken rift.

To restore nature to its original state, that young and cute child had to be settled into one body.

There were two ways to settle her:

Make her completely dissolve into this world, or send her back to her original world.

“Will it hurt a lot?”

“Where did that earlier spirit go when you said you’d do anything? Was it just empty talk?”

“That’s not it, but……”

But is there really a need to explain all this to that black-haired one? Sometimes, to persuade the other party, it’s better not to mention parts that could be applied unfavorably.

Fei’s purple eyes glistened in the light.

“When Fei said dying, you mean literally stopping breathing, right? Does the breath have to stop completely?”

“Yes. That’s how we can send you back to your original world and put Summer’s soul back into that body.”

Fei answered indifferently as if it were no big deal. Then she sat on the bed, wiggling her feet.

At those words, Summer burst into tears. Fei was perplexed by Summer’s crying. Didn’t she say she wanted to go back?

The witch doesn’t understand the fear of death.

So she couldn’t understand why Summer was crying to such an extent.

Nevertheless, as she still needed Summer, she clumsily, endlessly stroked and patted Summer.

After all, she needed to soothe her a bit before she went completely mad.

After a long while, when Summer fell asleep exhausted from crying, Fei transformed back into a cat and snuggled into Summer’s arms.

‘It feels a bit warm.’

“It’s not your fault that this world is broken.”

Fei’s eyes flickered and soon closed gently.

Summer also fell asleep exhausted, and Fei soon fell asleep in Summer’s arms, purring.

She needed to watch over her closely to immediately catch and send the soul back to its original world when Summer separated it.

Fortunately, Summer seemed to have a strong will to ‘return’.

‘Not bad.’

That was Fei’s first impression of Summer.

“Fei? Fei!”

Summer, waking from sleep, called out in surprise realizing Fei wasn’t by her side.

Then, from under the desk, Fei, transformed into a black cat, approached while yawning languidly.

“What’s wrong.”

“Just, I thought you had left.”

Summer’s voice cracked.

Fei vaguely sensed why the black-haired soul wanted to leave this world quickly.

The black-haired soul that had lost its name was scared.

‘Well.’

Even to the witches, this world seemed a bit strange.

“Have you decided? Dawn has already broken and morning has come.”

“That,”

As Summer was about to answer with a resolute face, the door opened.