The Last Boss Witch Will Keep Her Past Self's Crush Until Her Dying Day Chapter 23

Finally the King's messenger arrived.
The King accepted Sonia's proposal and agreed that neither of the two sides would interfere with each other. In other words, the result turned out to be the exact opposite of my worries that he would make some kind of dirty demand.

….I'm glad.
We can't relax yet, but for the time being it should be okay to have a peace of mind.

Only, the messenger, Nephra, also told me to「not leave the territory of Azurite」. It's not like I wasn't expecting it, but now that it actually happened, I can't make a swift decision.

I was planning to leave Cucurouge eventually.
I don't want to get involved with the witches or the conspiracies of the nation. Even if Sonia herself isn't evil, it's definite that I would be made to feel nauseated as long as I stayed by her side. In fact, I already got to see a piece of Sednyl that's been completely changed.

On the other hand, I've gotten used to the life in Cucurouge and started to feel the willpower to leave gradually weaken. Even though depressing worries are still lurking in the back of my mind, there are more and more instances where I am able to forget them and feel at ease. I think that this is dangerous.

Both Sonia and Cucurouge have too much of miserable fate.
Immersing myself in repose at such a place and starting a new life would be weird. Neither my dead parents nor the Prince and Emerald or myself would forgive that. It's absolutely out of question. In the first place, making promises with the hateful King and having my actions restricted is beyond irritating.

"………"

But I can't afford to disagree with Nephra at the moment.
I didn't want to cause troubles for Sonia. She's already shouldering a terrible burden as it is, I don't want to drive her further into the corner because of my petty stubbornness.

"……Understood."

When I nodded, I felt as if Sonia snickered.
It probably wasn't just my imagination. I must be acting just the way she expected. Strangely enough, the rebellious feeling isn't welling up right now.

With this, I have no choice but to live in Cucurouge from now on too.
If I stay low, they might judge that I have no desire to take revenge and eventually I might be allowed to leave the territory of Azurite, but there's no doubt that I will be unable to act at least for several more years…

Would it be okay to stay close to Sonia for so long?
….It's definitely not okay. At this rate, I'll be kept till my dying days. Recently I'm already unintentionally following her with my eyes as it is. According to my experience, this isn't a very good sign.

No no, that's impossible.
I'm only looking for the opportunity to apologize for my previous rudeness. There's absolutely no way I'm captivated by Sonia or concerned about her….

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

With Sonia's words, I returned to myself.
You actually asked that!?
I was also very curious but I thought that there was no way I could ask it so I've been holding it in. This saved me the trouble.

That being said, even though I thought that Nephra wouldn't give us any important information either way, he started talking glibly about the current situation in the castle. Looks like he's br.i.m.m.i.n.g with the desire to please. No, actually, thinking back at his behavior so far, he probably just wants to b.u.t.ter up to Sonia.

Conrad family is the family of talented pract.i.tioners of magic. They prioritize researching magic over everything and don't try to gain fame or make a fortune so their n.o.ble status isn't very high. I wonder if that indifference is what appealed to the King?
I don't feel any ambition from Nephra. Though, he seems to be full of interest towards Sonia. I've heard that magic pract.i.tioners a.n.a.lyze the magic of the witches and modify it to be suitable for everybody.  At any rate, it's convenient that he's friendly towards us.

The story that Nephra told about Emerald and the Prince made me feel bitter.
Emerald…is still the same as ever.
She doesn't give up in the face of any predicament and believes that just actions will always be rewarded. On our journey to follow after the mystery incidents, her earnestness saved us many times from difficult situations. And in fact, Emerald's justice really won in the end.

However, the situation has changed. As it turned out, reality isn't so soft.
Nevertheless, Emerald still believes that Sonia is an evil witch and hasn't yet accepted her loss.
Her virtue is working in the opposite way. Now is not the time to be carelessly making enemies left and right. Rather, she should be increasing her allies, but for her to be picked on by the maids instead….

What should I do? I'm worried.
Certainly, there are cases where people like me and Moka who were skeptical of Emerald in the beginning, gradually become attracted to her. As long there's a trigger, she might even become closer with the maids.
I cannot imagine that trigger being something unrelated to Emerald's prophecies coming true. Because that was the case for us too.

…No, that's not good. Predictions shorten Emerald's lifespan. Besides, if it's confirmed that she has the real power of precognition, she will be worked to death by the Mistria Kingdom.

How worrying.
The more prediction she makes, the shorter her life will become and being a convenient tool for the kingdom, her freedom will be taken away.
If she doesn't make predictions, she will lose her social standing, turn into a sinner and lose her freedom.

The most frustrating thing is that the person herself doesn't seem to be aware of this.
She's bravely waiting for a chance to grandly turn the tables over and dreams of marrying the Prince and attaining happiness.

However, horridly enough, the Prince will soon have a new fiancee.
Considering his current position, the Prince would most likely be unable to reject it.
What will happen to Emerald when she finds out about that?

I was regretful.
If something like this was going to happen, shouldn't I have written「Sonia is not a bad witch」in the letter?
Even if I couldn't tell her the whole truth, there was the possibility that the situation could have changed if I at least told her that much. Emerald could have started to doubt her own powers of precognition and become more careful with her actions.

Although…if a witch hater like me suddenly started to claim Sonia's innocence, it'll only make people think "oh, this guy's been enticed". I'll either be scorned or people will be worried about me.

Ultimately, there's nothing that I can do.
Now I can't even leave Azurite's territory or contact her.

Should I go to save her without caring about anything?
I instantly rejected that idea.
If it was the previous me, I'd rush headfirst in with "If it's for Emerald, I don't care what will happen to me or the people around me" but the current me doesn't have that kind of enthusiasm.
While holding a compelling thought of having to do something for Emerald on one hand, I also wished for the bottom of my heart to not put any more burden on Sonia.

"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."

Ultimately, my conflict was settled with those words.
Sonia, how big-hearted…!
This should improve Emerald's standing for a bit and even if the trial does get conducted, it's possible to ask for the reduction of the punishment.
I thanked Sonia from the bottom of my heart and even felt respectful, however…

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

What's with this reason?
Pure heart, she says…
I have no recollection of ever clearly stating it, but as expected it was found out. My feelings towards Emerald.

I wonder what this is? Along with the embarra.s.sment, some gloomy feeling spread through my chest. Certainly, I like Emerald. But I have given up long ago and wish for her to be together with the Prince with all my heart. I don't have any intentions of getting between them at this point. I'd rather you not misunderstand that part.

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

Sonia seemed to be worried that I would set off towards the capital for Emerald's sake.
That foolish option already disappeared when Sonia protected her. I had once again rekindled the will to serve this witch.

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

Even though I said those words with desire to have her believe me, Sonia's eyes were cold.
I don't seem to be trusted that much. It can't be helped, because so far I haven't done anything that would earn me trust but I still felt really depressed.

After that, we ended up deciding to walk around Azlow.
During the time I was accompanying Sonia, who seemed to be having fun, the inside of my head was messy. All sorts of emotions were in conflict with each other.

"Ah, now that I think about it, I haven't greeted them since I came back."

Suddenly, Sonia turned towards the direction of the pharmacy. It seemed to be the store she had done business with before. It wasn't that big, but it had the appearance of a well-established store.

"Sonisama!"

The moment the door was opened, the female clerk greeted us with a smile. My nose started twitching from the peculiar smell of the pharmacy.
Sonia seems to sell not the medicine itself, but rather the ingredients for it and the perfume. She also said that there are times when she sells the recipes for the beauty essence and nutrients.

"I wonder if you will still buy the products from the witch, which had her engagement with the Prince broken?"

"They are obviously very welcome! Please do continue favoring our store from now on too. Ah…that's right"

While recalling something, the clerk frowned and with「Let this stay between us」, she started talking.

"There seems to be a new type of Magic Fever appearing in the territory of Mariela and it might spread to Azurite's territory soon. The shortage of medicine is what's worrisome. The ingredients for it nearby have been all picked already."

Magic Fever is a troublesome disease that disturbs the internal flow of magical power in one's body. Its symptoms are similar to the cold, high fever and sluggishness making it hard to get up. In addition, it's contagious and depending on the case might even lead to death.
The medicine for this disease is precious. Its price is out of the reach for the poor and even if they do get the money, it's mostly impossible to acquire during the craze.

Chaos will occur if news about the new Magic Fever leaks into the public. The anxious rich will put their hands on all the medicines, leaving nothing for those who actually need it. Not to mention the greedy merchants, who'll surely try to extort money from the people.
In that respect, Sonia seems to be quite trusted by this pharmacy.

"I understand. I cannot give a definite promise, but I will collect the materials and deliver them in the near future."

"That would be great!"

Sonia got the information about lacking materials from the clerk and wrote it down. She also shrewdly confirmed the price for supplying the goods.
After leaving the pharmacy, Sonia sighed.

"Knowing Brother, he should have already thought of a countermeasure, but since we already heard about it, we should cooperate too. There's no harm in being well-prepared. Help me with gathering the materials, Will."

"Y-yeah, I get it."

I was secretly impressed.
Sonia is really admirable, and reliable.
She's only 16 years old, but she's being relied on not only by the witches of the village but also the common folk and has enough power to answer to their expectations. I'm surprised that her good-for-nothing parents were able to raise such daughter.

I've always found it unbelievable that she was the same age as Emerald, but isn't she actually also much more of an adult than me?
At the same time as finding myself extremely pathetic, I also felt proud as the servant.
Aren't I calculating? Even though I used to obey her unwillingly until a little ago…

Before I knew, I had been staring at Sonia's slender back.
When she was checking out accessories in front of the variety store, she really looked like a normal girl. She has some cute parts too. I felt relieved seeing her actually look like a girl of her age.
As I was blankly thinking about things like that, words naturally spilled from my mouth.

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

What the h.e.l.l am I saying? My face got hot instantly.
Sonia was surprised but it seems like that once sentence convinced her to make the purchase. She chose a single hair accessory while listening to my opinion.

I started regretting after the payment was settled.
Isn't the accompanying man supposed to pay in such cases?
No, but…I'm merely a servant, after all. It would be weird to give a present to my master.
Or rather, it might've been rude to say that such cheap thing would suit her.

However, my worries turned out to be needless.
On our way back to the mansion, Sonia was walking happily while holding the packing box with the hair accessory, without pus.h.i.+ng it on me, the luggage carrier. As if it was something precious.

"………"

Forgive me, Emerald.
As expected, it doesn't seem like I will be able to leave Sonia's side.

—–
Notes:
陥っている seems to be more of “falling in” or “sinking in” or something like that but it can be taken as getting into something too?
一部 one part, since Will saw Sednyl's arm, I thought a piece would be more appropriate
変わり果てた what I tl'd to completely changed
Will says 飼い殺される, the same “kept”as the t.i.tle
使い潰される is what I tl'd as worked to death but if we pa.r.s.e the whole thing it's something like 使い (use) and 潰す(to smash; to crush; )
情熱 the word Will uses; can be both pa.s.sion and enthusiasm
もやもや the thing Will's feeling
香料 perfume?
Magic Fever is actually 魔障病, something like mp hindering disease. This is a super liberal translation so feel free to give better suggestions.

Ugh, this is much, much worse than the usual for some reason. I'll definitely need to come back to this for editing or possible retranslation.
Anyway, don't forget that I translate with the help of google so feel free to point out mistranslations, weird/awkward grammar and typos