The Last Boss Witch Will Keep Her Past Self's Crush Until Her Dying Day Chapter 22

 b.u.t.terfly inside of the box

After the general confirmation was done, Nepha relaxed.  He must've felt relieved after finishing an important mission. I thought of him as a psychopath, but looks like he also has a youthful side fitting for his age.
Judging that he was friendlier than Sednyl, I decided to try inquiring about something that Will definitely must be restless to know too.

"If it is not difficult, I would like to ask about how Prince Rain and Miss Emerald have been afterward."

Nephra lifted the corners of his thin lips.

"As expected, you are curious about your former fiance and his lover?"

"Yes, more or less. Especially because Miss Emerald branded me as the evil witch and seemed to possess a rare precognition ability."

It would be unbearable if she was predicting random things about me.
Nephra started talking glibly without hesitation.

"Ever since the mystery incidents have calmed down after the marriage ceremony, that Emerald girl has been claiming that『Sonia Carnelian was the culprit after all. She's just keeping low right now because she was suspected.』Including us, who know the truth about 20 years ago and everybody else too, n.o.body in the castle believes her. It's only natural. She hasn't been able to predict anything ever since that time."

She can't predict anything?
I wonder if there have been some changes to her powers too because various fates have changed from the original?

According to Nephra, putting an unstable existence like the Witches' Hated Child in the normal prison would be dangerous so they especially put up a barrier away from the castle and put her under house arrest.
People with the power of precognition are weak to the stress and have a short life span. In addition to that, because Prince Rain stubbornly protected her, they have been ordered from above to treat her courteously. It seems that she's allowed to meet the Prince and Chalot several times in a week. What the h.e.l.l is that? Isn't that a special treatment?

Though, the people around her are quite irritated at her for not losing her heart despite being completely unable to predict anything.
Especially the maids seem to resent Miss Emerald, saying things like「we wanted to serve Sonisama instead」「this little girl made the wise Prince go crazy」and secretly act cold with her. They usually ignore anything she says, give her poor meals and take away the gifts sent by the Prince…women are really scary. The maids must've not been informed that she's short-lived.

"How very pitiful."

"She is reaping what she sowed. Besides, it is a waste to worry about here. That girl is unexpectedly shameless. She's fuming that the adversities exist in order to overcome them. She seems to still believe that she can marry the Prince. Even when I asked if she saw that in her prophecy she keeps silent so I am about to snap too."

I do pity her because of her life span, Nephra sighed. Apparently, being a pract.i.tioner of magic, he has many opportunities to come in contact with Miss Emerald.
Miss Emerald msut've not been too cooperative with the precognition experiments. Is she fearless or just foolhardy? It doesn't look like she understands her situation well.

"Even when I threaten her with a trial or a punishment in case if  she cannot display her powers of precognition,  she picks a fight with me while crying that the 『justice will definitely win』. It seems that as long as the Prince is her ally, she's convinced that everything will be okay"

「Emerald…」Will quietly muttered. I wonder if he's worried about her? Or is he finally exasperated?

"On the other hand, Prince Rain seems to be feeling quite down. He has not set a foot outside of the castle ever since then and seems to be brooding about something. It is helpful that he is being docile, but because he is a halfway smart person, the King's aide is anxious that he might have figured out the truth…Oh right, apparently there is going to be a party to find a new fiancee for him in the near future."

"Oh my…he switched the gears fast."

It has only been about a month and a half since his engagement with me was annulled.
I wonder if he'll be able to find a partner after displaying such shameful sight?…well, with his looks and the position of the Crown Prince, there must be the sea of the girls who would want to be his wives. Apparently, there are few marriage proposals from other countries too.

Prince Rain doesn't look like he's up to it, but because of the matter of annulled engagement with me he lost quite much of his unifying force, so if he wants to reinforce his foundation again, a strategic marriage with the daughter of an influential person cannot be avoided.

"Is it too fast, as expected? My deepest apologies. Sonisama, you might be uncomfortable, but…"

"I do not particularly mind it. People of Mistria must be uneasy that the Prince's marriage was canceled."

Who or when the Prince will marry has nothing to do with me anymore.

"No way…does Emerald know that…?"

On the other hand, Will's face was white as a sheet.

"There is no plan to inform her for the time being, but there is no way to detain people's mouths. We too have lost the energy to thoroughly manage information."

The malicious maids might tell her at any moment.
Hmm, for me, it's a matter that I couldn't care less about, but it must be different for Will.

Miss Emerald believes that she can marry Prince Rain. She must be enduring the confined life by using the Prince's love and a glorious future as moral support. But the Prince has to quickly have a political marriage with another n.o.ble lady. I wonder what would happen if she found out about this?
She would lose not only moral support but also the backing. If she was convicted at the trial, she might even lose her mind.

I sighed lightly.
At this rate, Will might immediately break the promise and head to the royal capital to save Miss Emerald. That would be troublesome in more than one way.
…..What a truly annoying woman this Miss Emerald is.
Well, it's my fault for carelessly asking about the current status in the royal capital. It can't be helped.

"Nephra, I want you to relay this to His Majesty just in case. At this point, I'm not concerned about whatever happens to Miss Emerald. In other words, I couldn't care less. I am even thinking that it would be fine even if she does not get punished."

Wouldn't her crime of denouncing me in the public place together with the Prince become lighter if I, the biggest victim, not wish for severe punishment for her?

"Also, if you let me express my personal view, I think that the disgrace at the marriage ceremony must be redeemed not by Miss Emerald, but rather by Prince Rain's future actions. It is shameful for the man who is to become the future King to push the responsibility for the nation's dishonor on a single little girl. It would be a different matter if she maliciously deceived everybody though."

"Are you trying to protect…the one who tried to frame you?"

I don't want to do that either. In order to fully avoid the final as depicted in the original "anime", I'd rather Miss Emerald die quickly.
But I'll lose if I hurry.
If I corner her too much, Will might return to the other side. In order to keep him on this side and make him get attached to me, I must make him owe me at the moment.

"Didn't I say it? I don't care about her, but I'd prefer to treasure my cute servant's pure heart."

Even the feelings that are at another woman right now, are destined to become mine in the near future. It wouldn't be interesting if they were lost or defiled.
Will startled and muttered my name.
Nephra smiled thinly.

"I understand. I will definitely relay your intentions to His Majesty."

The audience with the King's messenger ended safely.
When we were parting, Nephra pushed a large number of magical theses at me. Apparently, he wanted me to read them by all means and let him know my thoughts. This is probably the reason why he volunteered as a messenger.
I'm not omnipotent. If it's magic outside of my area of expertise I won't be able to tell him anything but, well, I'll take my time looking at it after returning to Cucurouge.

After the meeting, Will kneeled before me with a docile expression. It's rare for him to voluntarily lower his head. But I'm not happy to be thanked about a matter that concens that girl.

"Thank you, Sonia. Really…"

"I should tell you this, but just because I protected her, it doesn't necessarily mean that she can avoid the trial or the punishment, you know?"

"I know. But it will be an advantage for Emerald. It's the greatest help that you can offer right now. Even though I myself can't do anything…"

That's true. The only thing Will can do for Miss Emerald is to go and forcefully save her with no regard for his actions, but that would actually have an opposite effect. They'll just be killed by the country. I'm troubled because even though he seems to understand that, there are still signs that he's likely to go through with it.

"But no matter what I say, I cannot stop the Prince's search for a fiancee."

"….Even if I'm concerned about that, it can't be helped. The Prince should be able to solve it himself in a way that won't hurt Emerald."

"Really? You really don't feel like playing a role in this?"

I wonder if the idea to make a heartbroken Emerald into his now that the two are on the brink of a break-up doesn't come to him? 　
Will shook his head as if surprised.

"It's impossible for me. To start with, I can't go to see her."

Is it because he promised the King?
Or because he doesn't have enough courage to face her?
When I directed a doubting look at him, Will replied resolutely. 

"Don't worry, I won't create troubles for you. Absolutely."

"….That kind of thing is called 'raising a flag'."

"Huh? F-flag?"

Either way, Will's feelings towards Miss Emerald don't seem to be as intense right now. If he was in the state of his love flaring up, he would going without caring about anything and it doesn't look like he's enduring his urges either.
Has he fully given up or have other feelings grown more?
Personally, I would prefer if his mind was calm.

The gloomy event ended and Nephra returned to the royal capital.
I could immediately go back to the village too but Sanigue declared「If I can't have dinner with Sonia, all the festivals this year will be canceled!」so for the sake of the people of the fief, I decided to stay in the mansion. There is still time until the night. While Brother was busy with finishing the work, I decided to take Will and walk around the capital of Azlow.

As expected from the number one capital of westerm Mistria, it's full of many things, overflowing with people and items.
Actually, I'm not very familiar with Azlow. I only traveled incognito a couple of times with Brother. After that, I just met with pharmacists for trades.
In fact, it's my first time walking around freely. Where should we go?~

"Is there anything you want to see, Will?"

Will silently shook his head. He must really be feeling down after hearing about the Prince and Miss Emerald. He looks gloomier than usual…or so I feel.
I would love to cheer him up, but I don't particularly have any words to say to him. If I console him carelessly, he might end up rekindling his feelings towards Miss Emerald. I don't exactly dislike irresolute Will either so I'll just leave him alone and enjoy the sight.

We walked around everywhere one by one, sampling food at the food market, checking out a second hand bookstore and greeting the trade partner drugstore. As expected from Brother's capital. The product lineup is wonderful, everything is overflowing with liveliness and the people walking down the road are full of smiles.

"It's about time we returned to the mansion."

"Yeah…"

While accompanying me, Will was also carrying the luggage. Even though he will reply when talked to, the number of the words he'd says would be extremely few. That's how it would be usually, but today I profusely felt a gaze. If there's something he wants to say, he should just come out with it. I won't go out of my way to ask, you know?

My feet suddenly stopped in front of the variety store.

"b.u.t.terfly and the flower motif seems to be popular this year."

Hair ornaments and earrings, corsages and necklaces. A lot of sparkling items were lines up. They're cheap but cute. Because I saw very raw accessories just a while ago, these look even more wonderful.
Girls of the same age are joyfully choosing items next to me so I also ended up wanting some too.

That reminds me, I have only ever brought accessories from Aspinel family's jewelry shops. Well, most of them were given to me as a present by Brother, so I have hardly paid money myself.
Maybe I should try buying something. But I can't wear accessories in the village and the quality isn't good enough to wear on social events, so it feels like there's no use for them…

"Why not buy one if you like it?…I'm sure it'll suit you."

My heart leaped at a sudden single sentence from my escort.
His voice was so quiet that the last words were barely audible. Moreover, when his eyes met mine, Will's face was dyed red in the blink of an eye.
How cute. He's extremely cute, but I'm a bit worried.

"Eh, what's wrong? Are you tired?"

Will closed his eyes and shook his head. Forget it, it was just a delusion, he shouted.

"Is that so? But, well, I'll buy it. If it's a hair ornament, I should be able to use it normally."

When I gave it a try and asked him which color would suit me, Will pondered  for a short while and answered with「white, black, golden or silver」. All of them are colors that would look pretty with my red hair. Yup, doesn't look like he said them randomly. But there are too many options to choose from.

In the end, while were wondering about which one would be better, the sun went down and we were reproached by Brother and Judia, who had gotten tired waiting at the dinner table.
That was foolish me. I shouldn't have bought everything that entered my eyes.

But I really like the golden flower hair accessory I selected. There's also a small b.u.t.terfly charm attached to it.

I was thinking of wearing it at home, but I think I'll keep it in the jewelry box for a while.
It's somewhat embarra.s.sing and I don't want to show myself wearing this to Will or anybody else.

—-

Notes:
人の口に戸は建てられませんから something similar to "a door can't be put on people's mouths:"
言っておくけれど to say?
なりふり構わず without a care, without a regard for one's appearance
一役買って出る playing a role in smth, helping
So, 生々しい is apparently "lively; green; fresh; raw; vivid; graphic​" but positive adjectives wouldn't make sense imo because she's using this to emphasize the contrast between what she saw before and how it influenced her perception of the accessories *now* so I used raw (in a sense of unrefined/rough, I guess). Do tell me if she meant something else and I misunderstood.
同行者 is actually like a person who's traveling with you
喚いて yelled?

You know the drill so notify me about any mistranslations, typos and awkward grammar