HCYPBTKIRWO Chapter 5

"Peel the shell like this and pick it up when the chestnut pops out."

When I taught her how to pick up chestnuts safely without hurting her hand, Luna soon followed. Luca kept missing the round chestnut because he was still inexperienced.

Then eventually, he gave up and started picking up the protruding chestnuts his sister peeled.

It was so cute how the little ones are working hard.

As soon as I got home, I made a bonfire in the backyard and roasted the chestnuts.

"Hungry! Hungry!"

"I'm hungry, too!"

"You get hungrier when you run."

The children, who were running around the bonfire, whining that they were hungry like baby birds, sat quietly when they took out their first chestnut.

When the scorched skin was crispy and broken, steam rose, revealing deliciously ripe roasted chestnuts. After peeling the skin cleanly, the yellow kernels were blown thickly and cooled appropriately for children to eat.

"Eat slowly."

"Wow, chestnuts taste so good."”

"Eat it!”

After washing the black soot around their mouths from eating roasted chestnuts and doing some housework, it was already dinner time.

This evening, I baked sausages I made and served with mushroom omelettes.

The children watched me cooking with curious eyes. As I was picking fresh mushrooms, the two approached me and looked through the mushroom baskets.

"I got this, right?"

"This is mine."

I made an omelet with mushrooms that each person chose, and they both ate them without leaving any leftovers.

‘They said yesterday that mushrooms were weird and they didn't like them...’

It may be thanks to the thin stirring and covering the unique taste and texture of mushrooms with eggs, but it must be largely due to the special meaning that we picked them.

‘Oh… Then should I feed carrots like this next time?’

Carrot cakes honestly don't taste like carrots at all, so they don't help you eat carrots.

So the next day, I dug up carrots in the garden. The children enjoyed holding seedlings and dirt-stained carrots.

"Hey, you didn't even have a field at home?”

The children said it was their first time digging crops in a field.

"Why are there so many things you haven't done?"

Wiping away tears in my eyes, I made a promise. I'm going to let the little ones do everything they've never done before.

I dug up the carrots myself and had them wash the soil off. It was dangerous, so I made them peel and trim the skin instead of using a knife.

“Have you ever baked a cake?”

"No."

…Who are your real parents?

“Then, today, Luna and Luca are going to try baking a carrot cake themselves. Okay?"

"Great!"

“Yeah!”

Dry ingredients such as flour and salt were placed in a large bowl in front of Luca.

For Luna, who used her hands better than Luca, was given a bowl of liquid such as eggs and oil.

"Be careful not to let it overflow."

I gave them a small whisk and taught them how to mix the ingredients.

Luna had never mixed her eggs, but she was persistent. It was strange to mix slowly as I instructed.

Luca, who was still young, spilled flour all over the place, the table looked as if it had gone through winter snow.

The two children's ingredients were mixed together and chopped carrots and walnuts were added.

The round cake mold in which the dough was poured soon went into the oven.

The children gathered together in front of the fire pit and sat down. Seeing that he was resting his chin on his clenched hands, he seemed to be praying to God to make sure the cake was deliciously baked.

“Come on, let’s pick some carrots for lunch.”

I made beef stew with 'pretty' carrots carefully selected by the children.

"Huh? It’s like a potato.”

"!"

Since it has been chopped and thoroughly cooked, it will not have the characteristic taste of carrots.

At first, the child who used a spoon to rummage through the stew, avoiding tiny carrots, began to devour it.

They accidentally ate a few bites of carrots mixed with potatoes, but there was no hesitation.

“Then I should reward the good kids who ate all the carrots.”

When the carrot cake that had been cooled by the window was ready, the children clapped in excitement.

“This will be of great value to brother.”

I was rummaging through the cupboard to find the tea leaves, and I heard Luca's whispers behind me.

‘Brother?’

Do you have a brother? There are no other brothers in classic fairy tales.

"Shh. Don’t talk about him. What if we get sent back?”

After all, did they lie and say that their house was burnt?

“But… If older brother also lives here, it’ll be of value.”

“With that nagging demon?” (translator note: Luna’s referring to their older brother as a nagging demon.)

“Yeah…”

“We abandoned that.”

He was about to invite a child named his brother, but he then was overcome with complicated emotions.

Even though I thought it was too much to throw away younger siblings, it was heartbreaking to see how perfect the circumstances would have been to have done such a thing.

But the saddest thing was the abandoned children.

I poured milk into the children's glasses and stroked their round hair like chestnuts with affection.

“What if we don’t go back?”

Luca has already opened up his heart to me, but Luna, who was always wary of me, wanted to stay here too.

My heart was touched.

No one wanted to stay next to me, the evil witch. I understood, but I couldn't help being sad.

The reason the kids don't want to leave may not be me, but the delicious cakes and animal friends.

But maybe it was because of those innocent eyes that they saw the real me.

***

Today, after a long time, I left the forest and headed to the village.

Because Luna and Luca ate so well that the flour and meat ran out in just a few days.

I wanted to enter the village alone so that it wouldn’t be suspicious that a young witch suddenly took two children.

To avoid this, I left the children in the hut and tried to come alone, but they both said they would follow, so I had no choice but to let them.

'I have Daisy and Lady, so I'm not worried about leaving only two young children at home...’

We stopped at the grocery store first. As I was paying for things like flour, sugar, and honey, Luna asked, looking up at me.

“How do witches make money?”

She’s really sharp. Even adults who are so nosy that they are interested in witches never asked me those questions before.

"Ah... I just sell jam and mushrooms."

I'm sorry Luna, but it was a lie. Who would buy what a wicked witch sells? I'm actually a tremendously rich person.

Money and pots filled with gold are piled up like mountains underground or the hut.

I can't believe this life is rich. It's like a dream, but I decided to live a simple life.

‘Where did the original owner of this body make money from?’

I didn't forget my drawing.

A witch who was counting gold coins.

Since I'm a villain, I'm sure it's not gold coins that I made for doing good things.

It was my conscience to not spend a lot of money.

So I spent only the minimum amount of money I needed to make a living, but now that the number of people I take of has increased, I decided to spend a little more than usual.

I felt like I wouldn't have enough strength to carry everything with both hands. So it was the moment when I was carrying my bags that the hand of the broom that followed me.

"Well the Archduke is crazy."

The words from the ladies gathered at the bakery caught my ear.

‘The Archduke is crazy?’

I tilted my head. There was only one Archduke in this empire.

Archduke Elliot Blaine.

A man who inherited the title at a young age in place of his parents, who died early a few years ago.

He was the owner of this town where I live.

Despite the sudden death of the previous Duke, he continued to prosper without being involved in political conflicts or taking damage.

He was praised for his outstanding ability as the young archduke everywhere.

Besides, he was already said to be a natural swordsman who has already made a remarkable achievement in subjugating monsters and in war.

They also said he was a handsome man no one could take their eyes off of once they saw him.

Everyone described the archduke's appearance in this way.

Silver hair, as if a fairy had carefully pulled out the moonlight. And the purple eyes that look as if they were engraved with the finest amethyst in the world.

There is even a legend that the best sculptor of the time failed to transfer the face to the marble and became a hermit.

In addition to that, since he is the third person to succeed the throne, the noble families are desperate to marry their daughter to him.

I even heard such rumors even though I’m not usually caught up with the news of the world.

But how did such a talented man go crazy?

"How did he get crazy?"

Fortunately, one of the ladies asked what I wanted to ask.

"It's because of the little princess and young master."

Oh, he has kids? When did he get married?

However, no one asked that as if they already knew all about the news of his marriage.

Wow… I really lived without knowing anything about the world.

Since there are kids now, should I come out more often? Parenting is both an equipment fight and an information fight.

While thinking hard alone, the women's chatter continued.

"I heard the archduke is having a hard time."

"Yeah, that's right. I heard the nannies can't last two days. The working rules are tricky, but the kids are even more picky."

"Tsk tsk, it was originally a family famous for its good behavior and smartness, but how did this happen?"

"But he still hasn’t found it?"

What are you looking for? A nanny?

However, when I learned about the astronomical amount paid for the job, my mouth opened wide.