Volume 4 Chapter 5 Part 2 (2/2)

The twenty-something Elizabell was gone now, replaced by this young girl. Everyone seemed to be wondering what was going one here, and the little Elizabell smiled mischievously at the boy, thinking his confusion must have been amusing.

「Is this figure more to your taste?」

Her voice right now was soft and gentle, completely different from her older self. The boy kept on looking at her, blinking a few times before eventually whispering,

「Y-you didn’t really needed to do that…」

「You seem to be that kind of man that doesn’t understand just how a woman’s heart works. Hence I decided to revert back to my younger self.」

「P-please don’t treat me like a child! B-but still, Elizabell, just how old are you really!?」

「… Weren’t you told to never ask a woman about her age, under no circumstances whatsoever?」

「Ouch, ouch, ouch, ouch!!!」

As Elizabell pinched on the boy’s cheek, there were quite a few laughs coming from the audience. Seeing the two right now somehow reminded me of how that man and I used to be during our childhood. He was the one with black hair and I was the one who initially approached him. Was it like that? There was certainly an intimate connection between the boy and Elizabell. I don’t know if I was the only person to think like that, but for now I decided to keep on watching the events on stage.

Personally, I have never pinched that man’s cheek like that and I probably never will seeing as we are now, but it would certainly be priceless to see his eyes full of tears… but I digress.

Back to the stage, the spotlights centered on the troupe master again. Unlike his previous expression, this time around he seemed to be sad, as he spoke in a hushed voice.

「However, the peaceful times were not meant to last.」

Alongside those words, the background changed into that of the city again. At the stage’s center, a bunch of islanders were talking to one another.

「Can we really afford to let this Witch stay on our island like that?」

「What if she brings disaster upon us one of these days?」

「I’ve heard that recently she managed to charm a child. What if she targets more children?」

「If that starts to happen, it will be too late to act.」

「We must kick her out as soon as possible!」

「That’s right!」

「I’m in on that idea!」

「We must drive the Black Witch away from here, so that she never comes back!」

The islanders keep on shouting. Somehow, the ice-cream in my mouth stopped tasting good. The words of the islanders were cutting me deep, hurting my heart. Elizabell didn’t do anything wrong. So why was she receiving so much hate?

Repeating those words in my heart, I felt that I was about to boil with righteous rage. I keep on telling myself that this I just a story, nothing more. Still, right now I wanted to just stand up and leave this place at once.

“This story is based on a legend.” Juri-kun said that. In other words, even if it wasn’t exactly like that, it must have looked pretty similar. Even if it happened three hundred years ago, it was still inexcusable.

On the stage, the boy was running towards the forest, wanting to warn Elizabell of the angry mob that was coming her way. The scenery changed again to the forest one, with the boy banging on the hut’s door shouting: “Elizabell! Elizabell! Elizabell!!”

「What is it? You’re being awfully noisy. What do you want?」

Elizabell finally leaned her head out from behind the door, and the boy took her by the shoulders and started pleading towards her.

「Elizabell, you must run! The villagers are all coming here, wanting to drive you away! Hurry, before they reach you here! Please, hurry and escape……」

Suddenly, while looking at the boy’s concerned face, Elizabell smiled broadly.

「I see. Thank you for warning me.」

It was the smile of a mature woman, so uncharacteristic of a little girl. It looks as though both of the actresses were on par with their acting skills, for both of their iterations of the characters were simply spectacular.

Elizabell looks away from the boy, her eyes unfocused and empty, as though she’d already given up.

「But it seems that you unintentionally brought some uninvited guests with you.」

「Eh?」