A smooth mountain road rose in steps, leaving the city behind as it stretched into the deep forest.
Wind swept through the treetops, raising a soft rustling.
The woods whispered and swayed, revealing a white building hidden within.
It was a western-style mansion nestled in the thick of the forest.
The huge white walls, overgrown with ivy, proclaimed the building's solemn grandeur.
The vast courtyard—untended for years—had been swallowed by weeds.
Even the iron gate at the front was wrapped in climbing vines.
Standing at the mansion's entrance hall, you could see brilliant sunlight pouring down from a ceiling more than ten meters high, spilling over your body.
Time could not erase the luxury that radiated from the place, inside and out.
This mansion—airlifted from London by plane—was like the Victorian era it once represented, carrying the mystery and elegance of a bygone age.
This was the residence of a witch renowned even within the hidden world:
Alice Kuonji, the Fairy-Tale Witch.
In the time to come, Aoko Aozaki, once an ordinary girl, would live together with the witch in this estate—and learn about the hidden world from her.
"It feels like I turned into some aristocratic young lady overnight."
Sprawled out on the bed in a starfish pose, having just finished moving in, Aoko stared at the ceiling and muttered her complaint.
Chestnut hair fanned out around her. Her eyes were a clear blue; her skin fair. She still wore the brown uniform of Misaki Private Middle School.
Saying things in that snarky tone made her look bursting with youth.
When a tired person finally gets a moment to rest, an emptied mind starts drifting wherever it pleases.
For Aoko, the first thing that surfaced was her ex-boyfriend—Arato Sora.
That guy really made her want to grind her teeth.
How could he act like he didn't care at all after getting dumped?
What did he take her for?
Wasn't this just making her—who'd been the one stewing over it—look like an idiot?
"Who knows. Maybe he's crying in some corner where nobody can see."
She spat it out with a flash of irritation, then couldn't help letting out a small breath.
She knew Sora well enough to understand: he wasn't the type to hide away and cry.
If he was being that distant, then it was probably because…
He'd been completely disappointed in her.
In Aoko's eyes, Sora had always been a bit cool by nature.
When something bothered him, he'd try to correct it at first. But if he realized he couldn't change it—if he grew truly disappointed—he would choose to step away immediately.
He'd once put it like this:
Arguing is a clash of principles. It takes effort. I only argue with people I actually care about.
Aoko never fully agreed with that way of thinking. Instead of retreating, she preferred to face things head-on.
If something she hated tried to block her path, she'd rather smash it aside on the spot.
Back when they talked about it, she'd even joked that if there was something Sora hated, he could just let her handle it.
She'd correct whatever was "wrong," properly and thoroughly.
And now, looking at it this way—
"I became the person he can't stand."
She murmured, eyes fixed on the ceiling.
Aoko thought about what she should say when she met him tomorrow.
Why had she contacted him again, afterward?
The reason she gave herself was simple: to draw a clean line, to make him truly cut ties with her, to make him stop paying attention to her.
Because from here on, she would be stepping into the world of magecraft.
Sora should learn to ignore the "private" version of her—to stop approaching her at all.
But—
The brash girl knew perfectly well what was really going on.
She missed him.
Even if he hated her for it, she wanted to see him one last time—call it a final farewell.
She hadn't seen him in a long time.
A love that was about to die deserved a proper goodbye.
"Dumping him and still acting like this… I'm seriously messed up."
Lying on the bed, she lifted a hand and made a grabbing motion toward the ceiling light.
Her fingers opened and closed; the light leaked between them, splashing across her face.
Maybe it was because she'd just spoken with Sora.
Or maybe it was because the relentless, exhausting work of settling the matter of family succession had finally reached a pause.
Either way, Aoko's brain—numbed for so long by constant work—had been set free again.
And once freed, her thoughts wouldn't stop running in Sora's direction.
Memories of the two of them replayed, over and over.
"If I'd known… we should've done everything we wanted back then. It's all his fault—always saying we were too young."
Her eyelids fought to stay open. Sleep pressed down harder and harder.
Half dreaming, half awake, Aoko muttered reckless nonsense under her breath.
Having inherited the Aozaki family's legacy, Aoko would now shoulder the duty of guarding the Aozaki spiritual vein.
She probably wouldn't be able to leave Misaki Town for the rest of her life.
What she'd given up by inheriting the Aozaki name wasn't just a boyfriend.
It was the dream she once had—of going far away, of walking into a wider world.
So what she was mourning right now wasn't only love.
It was also the vanished future and the lost possibilities Sora had come to represent for her.
If she'd known, she should've been braver—should've given him more of herself sooner.
If she'd known, she should've gone out into the world with him, early, while she still could.
But now…
It was probably too late.
"Get out of here—!"
Her body rolled once on the bed. By instinct, she grabbed the blanket and yanked it over herself.
In her dream, it seemed she saw Sora.
In the dream, he was going to give her a rough beating—grab her and drag her off as a captive.
Forced into that kind of situation, she'd have no choice but to comply.
The image made her angry… and yet, somehow, it also carried a strange hint of relief—
And precisely because of that, it was something she could never allow to happen.
So Dream-Aoko struggled.
Aoko Aozaki would not allow her will to be altered by anyone else.
As long as she could still move, she would never accept that.
In the small room, a gentle warm light lit her cheeks.
In sleep, her brows drew together slightly.
She looked both happy and sad.
And meanwhile—
Without Touko Aozaki noticing at all—
In the mountain mansion, in the witch's workshop…
A black nun-like dress.
A face that held neither sorrow nor joy, as if it had no room for excess emotion.
The cool, Fairy-Tale Witch quietly wiped down a mystic tool in front of her.
Love was the theme of most fairy tales.
How could Alice Kuonji, the Fairy-Tale Witch, not yearn for love?
But a witch's love was too extreme.
She couldn't act lightly.
Alice's own mother had chosen death because of love—choosing to die and, in doing so, bring Alice into the world.
And the Fairy-Tale Witch did not fear love because of her mother's death.
On the contrary, for a romantic witch…
To obtain a love that transcended death—that alone was the greatest happiness.
When her mother died in her father's arms, she must have died in happiness.
And for that reason, Aoko's current state drew the witch's attention completely.
The Fairy-Tale Witch cared deeply about the love between a boy and a girl.
That was likely why—when she heard the request to teach Aoko magecraft—she agreed almost immediately, asking for practically no payment.
"Love… what is it?"
A voice cold yet faintly dazed echoed in the dim workshop lit by candles.
Outside the window, the night grew deeper.
In the mountain mansion, the witch put away her tools—
And she, too, began to look forward to tomorrow.
-------
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