“Who… who are you?” Aeli asked, blinking her eyes rapidly.

The woman had white skin that contrasted with her deep turquoise hair. Her hair was long, extending to her thighs in waves, and on top of her head was a strange, pointy hat.

Her clothes and various other aspects made her seem like a peculiar person.

‘I had no idea people lived in the eastern forest…’

Aeli looked up at the woman who was scanning her up and down while fiddling with her long hair.

Aeli was still unable to get up from her spot due to the bewildering situation.

There was bound to be a height difference between Aeli and the woman who had just opened the door and entered the hut.

The woman observed Aeli a bit more like that, then gave a small nod and replied.

“Well, shall we have some tea first?”

“…Pardon?”

No, it wasn’t an answer but a new invitation.

Aeli slightly opened her mouth as the woman naturally turned her back and headed to the kitchen, even though Aeli hadn’t responded yet.

‘Common sense dictates that it makes no sense to have a mole guide the way.’

Aeli, who was about to ask what she meant by what she just said, soon opened her eyes wide.

Bubbling, clattering.

The kettle that suddenly started boiling as soon as water was poured in, despite no fire being lit, and the tea set that was taken out of the cupboard that opened on its own.

Anyone who saw this scene would react the same way.

It was impossible to know how that was possible when there were no incantations or formations visible for it to be called magic.

As Aeli was dazed by the surreal situation, the woman, who had already finished setting the table, opened her mouth.

“Come and sit down.”

“…”

“Ah, right, I’ll bring some sugar since it will be bitter for the baby to drink. Unfortunately, I don’t have any milk.”

“No, that’s not-”

“Do you like madeleines?”

“…”

The conversation wasn’t going anywhere.

Aeli eventually moved her lips a few times and went to sit in the seat the woman guided her to.

It seemed unlikely that someone who intended to harm them would have brought them here in the first place.

And seeing the reddened sky, Aeli thought it would be quite troublesome if she were to be kicked out of the hut for unnecessarily provoking the woman.

Hmm. That was the superficial reason, but actually…

“What is this?”

“Lemon zest. I added a little bit of the peel for fragrance, so it’s fine to eat.”

“You eat the peel?”

“It’ll be delicious. Ah, come to think of it, I also have some preserved lemon. Do you want to add it to your black tea? It’ll taste good if you add ice and drink it cold.”

“I know how to make ice.”

The child, who had already completely fallen for the snacks and took a seat, had a big influence.

It would be awkward to stand blankly when the child had already sat down, wouldn’t it?

Moreover, it played a part in easing Aeli’s wariness to a certain extent as she could feel that the woman adored the child.

Aeli, who sat next to the child, slightly opened her mouth at the black tea being poured in front of her.

“Thank you.”

“It’s nothing much.”

“But about what you said earlier, what did you mean-”

Aeli used polite speech, feeling somehow discouraged by the woman’s naturally condescending demeanor.

In response to Aeli’s question, the woman poured tea into the cup in front of her, took a sip, and answered.

“It means exactly what you heard. I told that child to bring you here. Normally, this shouldn’t be done, but… I thought you would die if I left you alone, so I took the opportunity to treat you a bit as well. That child is my familiar, you see.”

“…”

What did I just hear?

Aeli barely refrained from rubbing her ears.

Familiar.

She had a rough idea of what it was because she had briefly encountered it in the library of the Mason mansion before.

A kind of servant beast that shares a mental connection with beings like sorcerers or witches.

It was a being that was only rumored and no one claimed to have actually seen.

‘That’s what appears in fairy tales that children read.’

There was no way such a thing could exist in reality.

After all, things like sorcerers and witches were all created by someone’s imagination, and if you think about it, the meaning of the word ‘witch’ refers to a woman who uses magic.

In that sense, even Aeli herself was a former witch.

…She should be grateful for being saved, but it seemed the woman wasn’t normal.

Perhaps noticing that Aeli’s expression had naturally become unpleasant, the woman shrugged her shoulders and continued.

“It’s true. Haven’t you seen this child in the mansion when you were young?”

“…”

“The average lifespan of a mole is 3 years, 5 years at most, but this child has lived for over 20 years.”

When becoming a familiar, the lifespan is basically shared. Aeli rolled her eyes at the woman who spoke as if it was nothing significant.

If she was going to stick to her concept to that extent, Aeli had no desire to interfere.

However, there was one thing that bothered her, as the woman said.

‘…She knows that I met Jalapeno when I was young.’

Of course, the woman could have inferred it if she had been eavesdropping before entering the hut, since Aeli had pretended to know the mole.

But mentioning the specific location was suspicious in many ways to be a lucky guess.

Moreover, even if Aeli couldn’t be sure if the mole had really lived for over 20 years as the woman claimed, it had been more than 10 years since Aeli had met Jalapeno, hadn’t it?

Its lifespan was abnormally long.

As wariness flickered in Aeli’s gaze, the woman spoke again with a look of absurdity.

“Visual sharing is possible with familiars, so that’s how I know. Don’t look at me like that. Still, as a grand matron, I thought I should see my friend’s child’s face at least once, but do you know how startled I was when it got caught after I sent it?”

“…?”

“Because of that incident, your mother scolded me, and I couldn’t even go see you again. We can’t move freely in the forest, so when contact was cut off like that, everyone kept secretly sending their familiars to the lake, taking turns for several years, saying they wanted to see your face and your brother’s face just once.”

“…Pardon?”

As Aeli blinked her eyes at the incomprehensible words, the woman muttered.

How wary wild animals are, so they wouldn’t openly come to a place with people, and that they were all their familiars.

She picked up the mole that was diligently eating a madeleine at the table, saying its name wasn’t Jalapeno but Doris, and that Aeli’s mother had named it that because it used to be obese with a triangular body.

She also mentioned that this hut wasn’t her home, but a place rarely made to talk to outsiders without bringing them into the village.

“The location of the village where witches live is strictly confidential and must not be revealed. Your mother has been out of the village and living with the imperial humans for a long time, so she can’t come back in now, and you can’t come in because you’re of mixed blood.”

“…”

“The same goes for your brother and son, who are also of mixed blood and are male. This is a male-prohibited area.”

Originally, witches shouldn’t interfere with anything other than the affairs of other witches, and treating Aeli’s injury was a one-time favor she did for Cynthia’s sake.

Aeli gulped as the woman finished speaking and drank her tea in one go.

Cynthia was the name of the former Countess and Aeli’s mother.

In other words, her own mother.

‘It doesn’t make sense to say that unless she deliberately made it up, since I’ve never revealed my identity.’

For a moment, Aeli wondered if deliberately causing the cliff to collapse or if the woman wanted something from her.

But soon, Aeli loosened the tension in her raised eyes.

After all, Aeli was currently in a state of having nothing.

There was nothing to gain by trying to win favor, and the woman seemed to know Aeli’s hidden identity as well.

If she wanted something, she would have requested a deal using that fact as leverage, and there was no need to take a risk and gamble.

“…”

This was not ordinary.

Aeli gulped and opened her mouth.

“So… you’re saying witches actually exist?”

“…? Of course.”

“And you’re also my grand matron…”

“I’m the one who finally chose your name, so of course. But why are you suddenly asking that-”

“…”

“…”

The woman, who was tilting her head and opening her mouth with a puzzled look, paused.

Then, after a moment of silence, she asked.

“Could it be-”

“…”

“…Cynthia didn’t tell you anything?”

Aeli gave a small nod.

“This is the first time I’m hearing all of this. I didn’t even know I had a grand matron.”

“…”

“…”

“…”

…She must be crazy! The woman exclaimed as she abruptly stood up from her chair.

What followed was the hut being turned upside down in an instant.

It couldn’t help but be a sudden and absurd moment for the secret of her birth to be revealed.

[This is the timeline separator]

“Then the rabbit I saw by the lake some time ago was also…”

“Ah, that was a coincidence. A child living at the entrance of the village told her familiar to hunt fish for her because she wanted grilled fish, and she saw you there.”

“…”

“Still, isn’t it fortunate? Thanks to that, I found out that you were doing well and watched over you, and I learned about the accident.”

“…”

What she heard after calming down to a certain extent was astonishing beyond words.

Her mother was a witch? Did that even make sense?

When Aeli pointed out that she had never seen her mother use magic, she received this answer.

[All witches are souls from another world. That’s why they live in this world with their feet on the ground, but they are separate entities that don’t fully belong here.] [That sounds… very fantastical.] [In my view, you guys are more fantastical. In this world, you ride in carriages, not cars. Magic towers, magic, artifacts, and beastmen… This isn’t medieval Europe, but a fantasy world I’ve only read about in novels.] [Well…] [Anyway, a protruding nail is bound to be hammered down. There’s nothing good about standing out, so we’re careful not to let this information leak out.]

Witches who leave the village and establish roots in the empire lose their power. Moreover, there was a prohibition against carelessly talking about it.

However, it was possible to implicitly explain it to direct blood relatives, so how could she not even mention this, the woman gnashed her teeth.

“When a high-ranking nobleman with blond hair and golden eyes paired with a witch from another world, it screamed romance novel, so I should have noticed when she suddenly left!”

“…”

Aeli didn’t know what she meant, but there was one thing she realized at that moment.

Why did her first life principle come to be?

[Since I don’t know who I’ll end up marrying, I want to at least date a good-looking person if I have the chance!]

Aeli lowered her gaze with a fake cough.

…Perhaps I take after my mother more than I thought.