The Frog Prince And The Witch Chapter 10

Three days later, the old woman returned with an embarra.s.sed expression on her face. She had a parcel in her hand which contained several leather books. Many of Ian's previously written works were on the texts, and Joanna seemed to enjoy his writing.

After finishing the book, Joanna picked up her parasol which hung by the door. "Today is a good day since it will be cloudy." She turned to face the old woman, "You should lead the way. I think you should know where your son is."

"Yes," said the old woman gratefully. She even rushed excitedly to open the door for the witch, then quickly led the way.

Hey!! The frog began to croak louder and louder. Joanna looked back and saw that the little frog had leapt in front of her, biting her skirt.

"Do you want to follow along little frog?" After hearing Joanna's question, he slowly let go of her skirt, looked up at her and smiled. Seeing his enthusiasm, the maiden waved her hand and a small pouch appeared out of thin air. This was the first time he witnessed her using magic; seeing the witch's powers left him momentarily dumbfounded.

"I can only trouble you. There are so many people on the road today and the sight of strangers may cause you to throw another tantrum, right? So for now you'll stay in the bag……Oh! I almost forgot to dampen my hand towel so you can stay moisturized…..hold on a second."

Once everything was prepared and ready to go, the old woman wrapped herself in a cloak and walked ahead, while a young and proper lady followed her lead. It was quite the scene. The young lady seemed a bit unusual; she was fully dressed and held a small umbrella. She also gave off an indifferent and distant mood, but on the whole, she seemed to be a knowledgeable lady. No one noticed that the small handbag in the lady's palm contained a frog. The frog would frequently poke out his little head from the handbag to view the street outside.

The two women walked all the way to the small village before seeking out a carriage to carry them over to the next town. The old lady continued on until they came to a hidden corner in the town—a group of people were gathered at the spot, whispering constantly while surrounding a small table. Their eyes were focused on their cards which were constantly being turned over.

"Go and call out your son," Joanna said.

The old woman took heed and was about to grab her son's shoulder and drag him back, but Joanna shook her head. "Go and stand next to him and call out to him. It doesn't matter how many times you call out, as long as you make your son turn around and look back at this direction."

"Its that simple?" The old woman didn't quite believe her.

Joanna simply nodded.

"Anyone who responds to your call shall be cursed by me, the Witch of the Wilderness. From then on, that person will suffer abdominal pain and diarrhea whenever he touches a gambling object. It will feel as if his ten fingers were smashed, so much that the pain will reach his heart and cause his eyes to tear up in pain without blinking. This curse will follow the victim until that person sleeps within the earth."

Upon hearing these words, the old woman immediately understood the witch's intentions. She immediately began to call for her son who refused to budge from the table. The middle-aged man was so annoyed that he finally turned back and yelled at his old mother, only to blink in surprise upon seeing the Witch of the Wilderness. A fierce stomach ache suddenly overwhelmed him causing him to fall the ground. The surrounding gamblers stood up in irritation and kicked him away out of disgust.

"My stomach…..my hand! It hurts!" The man was curled up on the ground. His tears kept flowing due to the immense pain.

In her worry, the old woman quickly turned back and was about to call out to the witch, but then her fear of the witch's anger caused the old woman to hold her tongue. Joanna faced her and calmly said, "Go and drag your son over here. It's too noisy next to that crowd for him to hear my words."

The unhappy middle-aged man quickly squatted in front of the Witch and received her cold eyes. "Take heed to my words and don't be a fool who worries his mother. You should stay away from gambling, just as you have learned to quit cheating on women before. This kind of pain will follow you for a lifetime—once you start gambling, the pain will only get worse and worse, and before you know it, you could die because of the pain.

Joanna didn't know if the man understood her words clearly, but when she finished speaking, she considered her task to be completed. The witch turned to the old woman and said, "This is the best solution I can think of. But it must be stated that if your son is willing to gamble despite the risk of death, then losing his life is his responsibility. This is not something I can control." If this does happen and if the old lady happens to backlash in anger, demanding that witches should be exterminated……if the woman does take that action, then Joanna won't be polite to them either. See how she deals with them.

The old woman quickly expressed her understanding, and fearfully watched the cold witch leave.

Meanwhile, the frog in the handbag was reminded of the day he was cursed…….Witches, do they only know how to curse? 

GROUP TRANSLATIONS: (for other translated works)