✧ Chapter 2 ✧
Uh… hmm…
That night, I cried over the wasted electricity bill, but I still slept with all the lights on.
“So, how would you like me to draw her?”
“Just make her look likable.”
The request wasn’t very specific, but I was used to that.
“Draw the witch counting gold coins.”
They asked me to draw just one illustration first.
So I drew the complete opposite of the scary witches I had seen on the internet.
But… does this even match the story?
I had no way of knowing since I hadn’t read the book.
A few days later, while I was on the kindergarten’s autumn picnic, I received an email from the publisher.
Hello, Illustrator.
Our CEO and the author have approved your illustration! ^^
Thank you for drawing such a lovely witch.
We’ll send the book to your address. Please check the detailed instructions attached.
Yes! What should I buy when I get paid?
I was happily planning my shopping list after hearing that my version of the witch had been chosen.
Then—
“Ahhh!”
“Teacher!”
“No! Don’t!”
Panicked screams came from the riverside.
A child from another class had fallen into the water.
So…
Right after receiving that wonderful news…
I died in that accident.
“My granddaughter could survive no matter where she suddenly ended up.”
Just like my grandmother always used to say, I had suddenly fallen into a strange fairy tale and accepted my new life surprisingly quickly.
But… why am I here?
Even now, I still didn’t know why I had been brought here and become the evil witch.
According to Daisy and Lady, the real evil witch had gone into the basement saying she was going to use forbidden magic.
Then they heard a scream.
After that…
I woke up inside this body.
What happened to the real Hazel?
Since I knew nothing about this fairy tale except that it was a retelling of Hansel and Gretel, Daisy and Lady were the only ones I could ask.
According to them, not only had Hansel and Gretel never appeared…
No children had ever visited this cottage.
Then… if Hansel and Gretel come someday, am I supposed to play the witch’s role instead?
But what exactly was the witch’s role?
Was I supposed to be the villain who tried to eat Hansel and Gretel like in the original fairy tale?
But I wasn’t evil.
I didn’t even know the story.
Whether the plot changed or not…
Couldn’t I just be a kind witch instead?
The problem was the previous owner of this body.
Before I arrived, she had already built up quite a terrible reputation.
Because of her, everyone believed I lured people into my candy house and ate them, just like the witch in the original story.
I had only wanted to serve them tea.
It’s so unfair…
Since this was a fairy tale, I drank my tea in one gulp instead of alcohol.
Just then…
Crunch… crunch…
I froze.
Someone was nibbling on something outside.
I could even hear two small voices whispering.
Quietly, I walked toward the window.
The moment I peeked outside, my eyes widened.
The cookie wall I had just repaired…
Two little children, about kindergarten age, were happily tearing it apart and eating it.
“Sniff… it’s so yummy I’m crying.”
“Shh. Be quiet.”
The little girl covered the crying boy’s mouth while he continued eating.
Could they be… Hansel and Gretel?
Was the story finally beginning?
Excitement filled my heart.
Smiling, I flicked my finger.
“Got you!”
“Ahhh! It’s the man-eating witch!”
Both children suddenly floated into the air.
Their little feet kicked wildly as they dangled above the ground.
I flicked my finger again.
The children flew through the open kitchen window.
Holding one by the collar in each hand, I gently set them down on the kitchen floor.
“Stay back! Do you even know who you’re messing with?”
The moment I let go, the girl grabbed the boy’s hand, ran into a corner, and shouted fiercely,
“Waaah… D-Don’t eat me… sniff… I don’t even taste good…”
Meanwhile, the little boy simply cried while tightly holding the cookie he had been eating.
Trying not to laugh, I crossed my arms.
“You two. If you’re going to eat my house, the least you could do is say thank you.”
“Bad witch! I’m not thankful at all! Everyone says bad witches who lure people with sweets and eat them deserve to be punished!”
“That’s right.”
“And bad children should be punished too.”
“We’re not bad!”
The girl hugged the crying boy tightly.
“Hmmm… So you’re saying you don’t regret it?”
“Then I guess I’ll have to punish you.”
I narrowed my eyes and slowly waved the finger I had just used for magic.
The children immediately began trembling.
They’re so adorable.
Like two little squirrels.
Teasing them was fun…
But I figured I’d gone far enough.
“But unlike what you think, I’m not an evil witch, so I’ll let you choose your punishment.”
The children stayed silent.
“You have two choices.”
“First… you become my dinner tonight.”
Oops.
I teased them again.
I pointed toward the oven with my fingertip.
The children’s eyes became huge.
“Second…”
“You have tea with me.”
I turned my finger toward the neatly prepared table covered with cookies and cakes.
From that moment on, the children’s eyes couldn’t leave the table.
Hehe… It looks delicious, doesn’t it?
Watching them secretly glance at each other while swallowing their saliva, I thought they were almost convinced.
Then suddenly…
The girl crossed her arms.
“Bad witch! Do you think I’ll fall for that? I refu—”
Grrrrrr…
A loud growl echoed throughout the little cottage.
The proud girl’s face instantly turned bright red.
In the end…
They chose the second punishment.
“Wait! Before you eat!”
The children looked miserable.
Their hair was full of dirt and leaves, as if they hadn’t washed for days.
Their clothes were so filthy that it was hard to tell their original color.
Honestly, I wanted to fill a wooden tub with water and scrub them clean immediately.
But I held back.
They couldn’t take their eyes off the sweet-smelling table.
“No matter how hungry you are, you have to wash your hands first.”
I gently washed their little hands with warm water heated by the fireplace.
“If you eat with dirty hands, it’ll hurt later. Your tummy will ache.”
Although they were still wary of me, they quietly let me wash their hands.
They’re so cute.
It had been so long since I’d held such tiny, chubby little hands.
Since I loved children, I welcomed my guests more enthusiastically than ever.
“Um… could this be…?”
“Hm?”
The little girl stared at the plate where the gentleman cookie was dancing with its candy cane.
Her body began trembling.
“Did… did you shrink a real person this small… and bake them?”
Children really had incredible imaginations.
I couldn’t help laughing.
Unfortunately…
She misunderstood.
Her eyes grew even wider as she quickly pushed the plate away.
“I-I won’t eat it! I won’t eat people!”
“Then would you like some carrot cake instead?”
“Carrots? N-No.”
“I don’t like carrots either…”
The quiet little boy finally spoke.
I smiled again and sat down.
Deliberately, I cut myself a large slice of the carrot cake in the middle of the table.
The cake was covered in white icing like fresh snow.
I pushed my fork deep inside and took a big bite.
The children’s eyes followed every movement of my hand.
“Mmm… It’s delicious.”
“It’s sweet and moist. You can’t even taste the carrots. Mr. Ginger, why don’t you try some too?”
Since the children didn’t seem convinced, I spoke to the gingerbread cookie, calling him Mr. Ginger.
Just as I imagined, the cookie waddled toward the cake, hugged it, and buried its face inside.
“Mmm. You added lots of honey. It tastes wonderful.”
Using the ventriloquism I had learned for reading stories to my kindergarten class, I spoke in a deep man’s voice.
The innocent children stared with their mouths hanging open, believing the cookie was really talking.
“See?”
“I thought even Mr. Ginger, who hates carrots, would enjoy it.”
Soon the cookie declared that it had eaten too much cake and dramatically lay down on the plate.
Well…
That was because I stopped controlling it.
“Wow! It’s really delicious!”
I exaggerated my reaction and took another big bite.
The children could only swallow their saliva as they watched me finish an entire slice.
Finally…
One of them gathered the courage to speak.
“…I want to try it too.”
The little girl looked back and forth between the cake and her empty plate.
Since I didn’t know how much she could eat, I cut her a small slice.
She carefully took one tiny bite.
Her eyes immediately became as round as macarons.
Without saying a word, she took another bite…
And another.
Watching her eat, the little boy shyly whispered that he wanted some too.
Soon…
His eyes looked exactly like his sister’s after tasting the cake.
“The carrots… are sweet.”
“Right? Mr. Ginger was right, wasn’t he?”
The little boy nodded excitedly before pointing at the icing.
“And this… tastes like sweet snow.”
His adorable way of describing the icing made me smile.
I removed the little marzipan carrots decorating the cake and placed one on each of their plates.
“There’s plenty to eat, so take your time.”
I was so happy to spend time with children again.
I even forgot to eat, simply smiling as I watched them eagerly fill their stomachs with cake and cookies.
Have they never eaten anything like this before?
Judging by their reaction, it seemed this was their first time tasting icing.
Maybe they came from a family too poor to afford sugar.
“So… what’s your name?”
I finally began asking about them.
“I’m Luna. He’s Luka.”
“Those are such beautiful names.”
“How old are you?”
“I’m seven. Luka is five.”
“I see.”
“Are you brother and sister?”
“Yes.”
Perhaps because her stomach was finally full, Luna slowly let down her guard and answered all my questions.
Now that I looked closely, the two really did resemble each other.
Their hair color, eye color…
Even though their personalities were completely different.
“Where are your parents?”
“Why are only the two of you here?”
“We don’t have a mom or dad.”
Are they orphans?
That would explain their condition.
Children with parents wouldn’t normally be this dirty.
“We were…”
Luka, who had been quietly nibbling on a butter cookie the whole time, hesitated before speaking.
“Hm?”
“They… abandoned us.”
