HCYPBTKIRWO Chapter 4

But I decided not to ask about it because I had a lot of work to do in the morning.

I put the sheet and the clothes that Luca was wearing in the laundry in the front yard and stepped on it with my feet.

Meanwhile, the bed mattress walked itself into the creek. The sound of broomsticks hitting the mattress while bathing in the creek awakened the quiet forest.

Luca hid behind the door of the hut and stared at me, but every time I turned my head, he took a step towards me.

Then, when our eyes met, he pretended he didn't mean to come this way.

'Like a timid rabbit. So cute.’

In the end, Luca succeeded in coming up with the courage to come to the side of the laundry. Even then, he only sucked his thumb for a while and then asked me softly.

“Aren’t you mad?”

Are you still afraid that I will eat you?

“Would you mind picking some white flowers in the front yard here? If you just pull out ten weeds, I won’t eat you.”

Luca looked around the yard following my beckoning and raised his head. Twinkling blue eyes looked up at me...

‘Am I really a cannibal witch?’

Because I really wanted to bite you.

“Really?”

“Yeah, really.”

Still skeptical, Luca effortlessly stretched his little finger out of his tiny hand and held it out to me.

“Promise?”

“Yes, I promise.”

I guess he was relieved only after the pinkie promise. Luca crouched down next to the laundry tub and started plucking weeds.

It was only when I finished washing and hung it on the clothesline when Luca pulled my skirt.

“Is ten enough?”

“Wow, that’s a lot.”

He still can't count. The wild flowers held in Luca's hand looked about thirteen instead.

“Flowers are counted in clusters. Look Carefully. One, two, three...”

I counted flowers one by one and taught him how to count.

“You’re not going to eat me anymore, right?”

“I won’t, and thank you.”

“My sister?”

“I won’t even eat your sister.”

“Ah.”

When Luca was assured that I wouldn't even eat his sister, he smiled broadly and skipped to the hut.

While the sheets and mattresses were baked to a crisp in the morning sun, I made clothes for the children.

I cut my clothes and extra fabric to fit the children's sizes. In fact, I only did the cutting and designing, but the needles enchanted with the sewing solved the problem.

When it was finished, the clothes were very modest. Children should also wear cute clothes.

I cut hair ribbons, colorful tablecloths, and a bunch of lace from the curtains and attached them to the clothes as decorations.

“That’s good."

Seeing the children wearing the clothes I made made me smile.

But is it too flashy to wear on the way to mushroom picking in the woods?

I went straight to the depths of the forest with the children.

Luca, who made a deal with ten wild flowers, followed me without any doubt.

But Luna still looked at me with a watchful eye and kept asking.

“Where are you going?”

“Going to pick mushrooms and chestnuts.”

By now, both the mushrooms and chestnuts should be the most plump.

“Aren’t you selling us or sacrificing us?”

How does a seven-year-old know what a sacrifice is?

If it wasn't for this cleverness, she wouldn't have been able to survive in the forest with her little brother.

But she was so clever that it made me sweat from time to time.

“That cat is weird.”

It was a creature that used to walk through the woods waving its tail, and occasionally seeing Daisy marking the trees.

“It’s just like a puppy.”

“…Cats like that, hmm, are called dog-cats.”

She's really sharp. I was sweating profusely down my back.

Changing souls is a cause of black magic. So, if she found out that the souls of my cat and dog had changed, I might have been accused of using black magic and executed.

[Please act like a cat.]

It's not my fault, I don't want to die.

[Squirrel! Squirrel! It's a squirrel!]

But being completely obsessed with the squirrel climbing the tree, it didn't even listen to me.

‘Ugh, really…’

It's dark before my eyes. I quickly picked up the 'cat' that scratched the tree stump and took it into my arms.

“Come on, this way.”

Mushrooms tend to grow in damp and shady places. We got off the trail and into the grassy and moss-covered forest.

Luna grabbed her brother's hand and followed me two steps behind, perhaps because she was going to run away.

As I went in about ten steps, a mushroom colony appeared among the fallen leaves at the base of the tree, with many luscious mushrooms sticking out their heads.

Luna, who was watching me with skeptical eyes as I cut the mushrooms and put them in the basket, asked.

“Do mushrooms grow like this?”

“Then where did you think they were coming from?”

“I thought it was picked from a tree like an apple…”

Have you not picked mushrooms? If parents don't teach these things, what do they do?

In this place where gathering and farming were the main means of livelihood, wild crop knowledge was common sense that had to be learned from a young age. I picked mushrooms and taught the children one by one.

“This is a reticulum mushroom.”

Mushrooms resembling wild pines were held in front of the children.

It was a delicious looking mushroom with plump cream-colored pillars in a thick brown cap.

Because it tastes and smells good, it is the most loved mushroom by locals, and it is sold at a fairly high price, although not as much as the truffle.

This was not common sense for me, who spent my whole life in Seoul, Korea. It was all knowledge contained in the head of the evil witch, the owner of this body.

While possessing the witch's body, I did not inherit her memories, but I gained magical powers along with her knowledge of this world. However, I could not figure out why the witch was not able to reach her original ability.

“Now do you know?”

"Yes."

“Ah.”

The children began to search under the tree for the mushrooms I had taught them.

“Don’t go too far.”

As I was picking mushrooms, the sound of rustling leaves stopped, and Luna exclaimed.

“This is pretty!”

“Ah, strawberries. Do you want strawberries?”

Strawberry? Isn't it strawberry season now?

I turned my head towards the sound and was startled. Because the mushroom caps in the children's hands were bright red.

“Is that a clown mushroom?”

For some reason, it was the red poisonous mushroom in the game where the plumber, not the hero, goes to rescue Princess Peach.

It is a poisonous mushroom that causes hallucinations and can even take a child's life!

The children thought it was a strawberry, so they opened their mouths wide and took a bite.

"No! Don't eat it!"

In a rush, I screamed and ran, making the forest rumble.

The kids flinched when they saw me rushing like a bull. Thanks to that, the mushroom they were about to put in their mouths slipped from their hands and fell to the ground.

'Phew… I'm glad.'

The unfortunate thing is that the children got scared of me and started crying. Even Luna, who had a big wall in front of her, shook her shoulders and wept.

“Oh, no. I'm not angry...”

It seems that I did something bad even after saving the children. I hesitated and stroked the little ones' heads.

“That’s a poisonous mushroom. That's why you shouldn't pick up anything and eat it in the forest without my permission. Got it?"

I thought that Luna survived because she was smart. But if she didn't know anything like this, how did she survive in the forest?

“Now, let’s go.”

I took the depressed little ones to the chestnut area to appease them.

"This…?”

Luna looked down at the chestnuts rolling on the ground, and I asked.

“Have you never really seen chestnuts?”

The children nodded their heads as they looked at the thorns sprouting up, crouching down, curiously.

“We’ve never been to the forest.”

"Ah."

“We were confined in the house.”

"What?"

My head was pounded by the devastating revelation. In front of the darkened eyes, there was a musty smell and the images of children trapped in the basement without a single ray of sunlight flickered.

They’re smart, good at talking, and even have good dining etiquette.

Even so, I think it was because they grew up in captivity and didn't know what the world was like. I wouldn’t know what I would have done if I was a 5-7 year old child.

Oh my god, this is abuse. Where am I supposed to report it?

Even if the father of the children comes to look for them, I will never let them go.