Lily
Lily
"Your Highness, my apologies. Lily, that child... she wasn't being intentional."
"I don't really care," he smiled and said, "She's just a little girl."
"Only you'd be so forgiving towards us." Scroll sighed. "She didn't begin like this, only after being deceived did she lose her ability to trust people."
"Was it before joining the Witch Cooperation Association?" he asked, "I remember she only joined you for a year."
"Indeed, I found her on the outskirts of Redwater City," Scroll said, "You know that I'm able to feel the existence of magic power and the closer I'm to it the stronger the feeling. I can't see the shape and color of the magic power like Nightingale, but I can still sense it enough to discover new witches. To better use this ability I would dress as a noble lady looking to adopt a child, and I would walk through a town and visit the local asylum and orphanage to see if I could find any sister who may have awakened." She paused. "At the time, I found Lily confined in a remote asylum and I was rejected when I petitioned to adopt her. The lord that ran the asylum told me that they only sold the females that were fully grown."
"Why?" Roland asked confused. "Could the reason be related to the fact the awakening period for a witch happens before adulthood?"
"We also felt suspicious, so Nightingale snuck into the asylum and looked through their account books, records, and other related information. Fortunately, the asylum was far away from the town, so we were able to take our time."
"Why didn't you bring Lily back with you? It wouldn't have been difficult with Nightingale's help."
"Indeed, it would not have been difficult." Scroll nodded. "There wasn't a God's Stone of Retaliation in the asylum, except for one that the lord wore himself. Unfortunately, we were unable to do that since there was a previous incident."
"What previous incident?" Prince Roland poured some tea for Scroll.
"Thank you." She took the cup. "We would initially try to take the witch by force once we had found her, but there was a misunderstanding that happened in Seawindshire that ended up changing our method. A newly awakened witch was taken by surprise and thought we were enemies and attacked us. She had been brought back to the Witch Cooperation Association and refused to listen to reason or explanation. It ended after she had killed two sisters and she was taken down by Cara's "Death" magic snakes. Since this happened we now carefully observe the witches and determine their situation before intervening. If we were being closely chased by the church... we'd like to give up."
"You mean, the encounter between Nightingale and Wendy was not an accident?"
"Of course not." Scroll sipped her tea and shook her head with a smile. "It was over a month from Nightingale discovering her to Wendy contacting her. During this time we recruited other sisters, Red Light and Windseeker..." She looked solemn as she said it. "Unfortunately, they ended up being buried in the wilderness. I wish they would have immediately decided to settle down in Border Town."
Roland felt sorry hearing this. "If the more than 40 witches had gathered in this town, they would all be living the modern life."
"Let's not talk about that." Scroll inhaled deeply and changed the subject. "Let's talk about Lily. After we tracked down the information from the asylum, we spied on the lord and found out a surprising fact. This small country house was not established to be an actual asylum or to screen for witches."
"What was it created for?"
"It was for satisfying the lord's selfish desires." Even the well-bred Scroll looked gloomy while mentioning this. "The lord would visit the slums in Redwater City every week to abduct homeless girls. He would lie to them by pretending to be a kind-hearted noble who opened the asylum in the suburbs. He said that if they came with him he would make sure nobles in fancy-dress would come to adopt them as their daughter. They wouldn't need to worry about food or clothing as long as they got picked. Even though he couldn't fool every girl, there were hundreds of girls he had tricked over the decades."
"That many?" Roland frowned. "But, you said the asylum was not very big."
"Only hundreds of them were officially recorded in the account book, and most of them were listed as... dead," she said softly, "He had only found three witches in the last 10 years and they were all sold to the church. The pretty girls he dressed up and sold them as prostitutes to wealthy men. The homely or unwanted were killed in the woods behind the asylum."
"..." Prince Roland was suddenly at a loss for words, and he felt a hand gently resting on his shoulder from someone standing behind him.
"The chances of a witch awakening aren't high. Based on the records in the account book, he only earned around 20 gold royals, after deducting the asylum expenses. Nearly 300 girls died for just 20 gold royals, leaving that pit in the woods filled with corpses. Cara asked him why he had done this during their interrogation and he replied that it was not about money but keeping the asylum open to feed his desires and allow him to sell the grown women. Not to mention a witch was worth more than an ordinary woman." "He made it his purpose to enjoy having the king-like-power to decide who lives and who dies, freely disposing of the homeless girls after he had fulfilled his needs. Upon hearing this, Cara killed him in anger and we went to free the girls. Instead of gratitude, they acted as if we had taken away their chance of becoming a noble."
"Lily felt like the majority of other girls until Cara had taken her to the woods behind the asylum. Here she saw her friends, the "lucky" girls that had been chosen to go live with nobles a month ago. Seeing this and a few other revolting pits had Lily vomiting and retching so badly she passed out in Cara's arms. When she revived she sat stunned, with no light in her eyes. After that, she has slowly been healing under Wendy's care. Now she's wary, vigilant and full of mistrust towards any noble." Scroll then said, "However, I believe if there's anyone who can improve her perspective, it would be you."
"I see." Roland emotionally thought to himself, "After experiencing such a traumatic event, it must be tough for her to cheer up."
Scroll picked up the kettle to refill both of their cups. She was silent for a long time before saying. "Your Highness, I have a question to ask you."
"What's the question?" he replied stunned, noticing Scroll's serious demeanor.
"Nightingale, are you here?"
"Ya." Nightingale revealed herself. "Do you need me to leave?"
"No... You already know about this anyway." She shook her head. "Just stay where you are and be my audience."
After that, Scroll looked directly at His Highness and said, "You said you're going to marry a witch, but I'm not sure you know that witches can't bear children." She paused, letting the information sink in, and then she clearly asked, "Your Highness, now that you know this are you going to change your mind?"