So, the prince said,
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“Fire can burn, kill and take everything away. But at the same time, you can bake bread, smelt iron to make weapons, and allow freezing bodies to be warm again. Can you not also be one who makes, saves, and brings life unto everything?”
The prince’s words moved the girl’s heart.
Thus, the girl burned the thorns and followed the prince, holding his hand.
The girl learned from the prince how to make barley bread, how to make weapons by smelting iron, and how to warm frozen bodies.
He offered the barley bread and weapons to the prince, and so too did she make the prince warm.
And, the girl fell in love with the prince.
However, the prince could not accept the girl’s love.
This was because he already had a beloved princess, even before he crossed the mountains and the rivers to meet the girl.
The knight said,
“Do not love His Highness, dear girl. If you do so, you will be stuck in that thicket of thorns evermore.”
The priest said,
“Dear girl, you should make barley bread, create weapons and bring warmth to more people. That is what your hands are for.”
But the girl cried,
“I must provide love to everyone in the world, but why am I not loved by anyone at all?”
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The priest replied,
“You have already been receiving God’s full love. Your hands are evidence enough, do you not feel it?”
The girl cried once more,
“These two hands are not brought upon by God’s love. They are a curse! Because of these hands, my mother and father tied me up to a thicket full of thorns and locked me away. When I raised my head, people would come to spit at me so much that it was like rain. When I lowered my head, people slapped me now and again. Was all that, too, God’s love and God’s will?”
The priest answered,
“For you have insulted God, you shall now be punished.”
Black vines full of thorns sprang from beneath the girl’s feet and squeezed her whole body.
The knight knelt in front of the girl and wept,
“Have you not realized the love I harbored for you all this time?”
When the knight touched the thorns, they stopped crushing the girl.
The knight closed the girl’s eyes with his hand.
And, the girl forgot all the pain and fell into a long, long slumber.
As the girl had become as hard as stone, the prince carried her and crossed the mountains and the rivers and soon returned to his own kingdom.
He showed the girl to the princess and said,
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“My beautiful Princess, this is the Witch.”
As she received this precious gift, the princess was very happy.
The princess took great care to hide the girl in the underground dungeon of a tower where light did not shine.
The girl, who had become stone, was still in the basement.
Waiting for the day she could wake up once again.
* * *
Berry sniffed and let out a cry.
“I feel so sorry for the girl!”
Melody patted Berry on the shoulder.
“It’s a scary story, but it’s also sad.”
Nicky looked a little puzzled.
“Sure it’s sad, but it’s not scary though?”
At Nicky’s words, Radis was taken aback.
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“Uh, i-is that so?”
Then, April raised a candle and placed it in front of her.
“Let me tell you all a story, too.”
The young women’s eyes then turned to April.
She began the story with a hushed voice, as quiet as the whispering wind outside the window.
“This happened just a few days ago, in this very room.”
Those words immediately made the temperature in the room drop, freezing the young women’s bodies.
April continued with a whisper.
“It was past midnight, just like it is now. I couldn’t sleep that night, and I was going to go downstairs to get a glass of water from the kitchen. As you know, I have to pass by this room before getting there. It was then.”
Already terrified, Berry’s teeth started chattering.
But April continued her story.
“I heard something in this room going, ta-dak, ta-dak…”
April tapped the floor with her hands, making a small sound like that.
Even though they knew it was just her voice, the frightened young women shuddered.
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“Of course, I thought that I just heard it wrong. All the maids were asleep, and Lady Radis went to the capital. This room should have been empty.”
Then, April’s voice went lower.
“I hesitantly leaned an ear to the door…”
At that moment.
Suddenly, amidst the dark, something rattled loudly.
No one knew who was first, but screams eventually broke out.
“KYAAAAAAH!”
“WAAAAAAAH”
“GHOOOOOST!”
Radis was not afraid of ghosts.
It was an insignificant, low-level monster that could be driven away with just the light of a torch.
However, when she next came to her senses, she was already clinging to the black robed Yves Russell’s waist while shouting,
“Marquis, MARQUIS! There’s a ghost, a ghost!”
Barely grasping the current situation, Yves Russell could do nothing but stand there, dumbfounded.
So, the prince said,
Sponsored Content
“Fire can burn, kill and take everything away. But at the same time, you can bake bread, smelt iron to make weapons, and allow freezing bodies to be warm again. Can you not also be one who makes, saves, and brings life unto everything?”
The prince’s words moved the girl’s heart.
Thus, the girl burned the thorns and followed the prince, holding his hand.
The girl learned from the prince how to make barley bread, how to make weapons by smelting iron, and how to warm frozen bodies.
He offered the barley bread and weapons to the prince, and so too did she make the prince warm.
And, the girl fell in love with the prince.
However, the prince could not accept the girl’s love.
This was because he already had a beloved princess, even before he crossed the mountains and the rivers to meet the girl.
The knight said,
“Do not love His Highness, dear girl. If you do so, you will be stuck in that thicket of thorns evermore.”
The priest said,
“Dear girl, you should make barley bread, create weapons and bring warmth to more people. That is what your hands are for.”
But the girl cried,
“I must provide love to everyone in the world, but why am I not loved by anyone at all?”
Sponsored Content
The priest replied,
“You have already been receiving God’s full love. Your hands are evidence enough, do you not feel it?”
The girl cried once more,
“These two hands are not brought upon by God’s love. They are a curse! Because of these hands, my mother and father tied me up to a thicket full of thorns and locked me away. When I raised my head, people would come to spit at me so much that it was like rain. When I lowered my head, people slapped me now and again. Was all that, too, God’s love and God’s will?”
The priest answered,
“For you have insulted God, you shall now be punished.”
Black vines full of thorns sprang from beneath the girl’s feet and squeezed her whole body.
The knight knelt in front of the girl and wept,
“Have you not realized the love I harbored for you all this time?”
When the knight touched the thorns, they stopped crushing the girl.
The knight closed the girl’s eyes with his hand.
And, the girl forgot all the pain and fell into a long, long slumber.
As the girl had become as hard as stone, the prince carried her and crossed the mountains and the rivers and soon returned to his own kingdom.
He showed the girl to the princess and said,
Sponsored Content
“My beautiful Princess, this is the Witch.”
As she received this precious gift, the princess was very happy.
The princess took great care to hide the girl in the underground dungeon of a tower where light did not shine.
The girl, who had become stone, was still in the basement.
Waiting for the day she could wake up once again.
* * *
Berry sniffed and let out a cry.
“I feel so sorry for the girl!”
Melody patted Berry on the shoulder.
“It’s a scary story, but it’s also sad.”
Nicky looked a little puzzled.
“Sure it’s sad, but it’s not scary though?”
At Nicky’s words, Radis was taken aback.
Sponsored Content
“Uh, i-is that so?”
Then, April raised a candle and placed it in front of her.
“Let me tell you all a story, too.”
The young women’s eyes then turned to April.
She began the story with a hushed voice, as quiet as the whispering wind outside the window.
“This happened just a few days ago, in this very room.”
Those words immediately made the temperature in the room drop, freezing the young women’s bodies.
April continued with a whisper.
“It was past midnight, just like it is now. I couldn’t sleep that night, and I was going to go downstairs to get a glass of water from the kitchen. As you know, I have to pass by this room before getting there. It was then.”
Already terrified, Berry’s teeth started chattering.
But April continued her story.
“I heard something in this room going, ta-dak, ta-dak…”
April tapped the floor with her hands, making a small sound like that.
Even though they knew it was just her voice, the frightened young women shuddered.
Sponsored Content
“Of course, I thought that I just heard it wrong. All the maids were asleep, and Lady Radis went to the capital. This room should have been empty.”
Then, April’s voice went lower.
“I hesitantly leaned an ear to the door…”
At that moment.
Suddenly, amidst the dark, something rattled loudly.
No one knew who was first, but screams eventually broke out.
“KYAAAAAAH!”
“WAAAAAAAH”
“GHOOOOOST!”
Radis was not afraid of ghosts.
It was an insignificant, low-level monster that could be driven away with just the light of a torch.
However, when she next came to her senses, she was already clinging to the black robed Yves Russell’s waist while shouting,
“Marquis, MARQUIS! There’s a ghost, a ghost!”
Barely grasping the current situation, Yves Russell could do nothing but stand there, dumbfounded.
