Chapter 12
“…Young master’s…”
“…Teddy bear?”
The murmurs of the shocked maids grew quieter, and an uncomfortable silence settled over the room.
Blake stared quietly at the two pairs of eyes blinking slowly as if they couldn’t believe what they were seeing, then adjusted his hold on me again.
“Gasp—Y-Young Master.”
As if time itself had frozen, the maids inhaled sharply in surprise and hurriedly greeted him in the icy atmosphere.
But their gazes remained fixed on me in his hands. As though they simply couldn’t look away.
‘Found you, my teddy bear.’
Well… that line had been a little too impactful.
Unable to ask anything in front of the LeBlanc family’s eldest son, who was famously blunt and difficult to approach, they kept silent—though I could easily imagine what was going through their minds.
- Hey… did Young Master Blake just call that doll “my teddy bear”?
- Yeah. I think he did.
Blake looked troubled as silent exchanges passed between the two maids. Still carrying me, he turned around.
As he strode down the hallway and farther away from them, small whispers floated after us.
“Am I going crazy? Or is the young master…”
“Let’s just say we’re the crazy ones.”
“Right? Oh dear, honestly.”
“Hohoho.”
They’re gossiping about you behind your back, Blake.
Can’t you hear them?
Should I tell him or not?
Whether he didn’t know or did know, it didn’t seem like it would make him feel very good.
But if it were me…
‘I’d want to know no matter what! Whether I accept it or not is up to me!’
That’s probably what I would’ve said.
In the end, still safely tucked in his arm, I stared seriously at the sparkling silver hair scattered messily over his pretty forehead—clearly from running around somewhere—and spoke.
“Blake. Your lovely servants were whispering about whether you’ve gone crazy. Did you hear?”
“……”
As expected. He hadn’t heard.
I knew it!
As a witch with sharp hearing, I had heard every word crystal clear. Growing even more serious, I relayed the rest.
“Ooh, and just now they decided to call themselves the crazy ones instead. Pretty generous of them, right?”
“Be quiet.”
“They also said you and I really don’t suit each other. Apparently you don’t look like the type who even carried teddy bears as a kid.”
“…Ha.”
“They said there’s a limit to how shabby I can be. Honestly, these people! But am I really that shabby?”
I lifted my yellowish arm and examined it quietly while asking. His violet eyes, which had been staring straight ahead the entire time, slowly swept over my body from top to bottom.
Yeah. I really am shabby.
Mm. I can tell without even looking.
“Do you know you just insulted me with your eyes? I’m feeling pretty offended.”
He clenched his teeth and let out a deep sigh.
Walking so fast it practically looked like he was running, he returned to the room and slammed the door shut.
“That startled me.”
I flinched and shook my shoulders. He paused briefly before gently setting me down on the bed, then twisted his expression into something frightening.
The eyes I’d once thought looked gentle had hardened sharply as they glared down at me.
As though he had no idea where to even begin speaking, he roughly swept his hair back.
“You. Do you even remember me telling you to at least pretend to stay still?”
“Well, about that… I was going to stay quietly in the room. But it was my first outing in the human world in a really long time, so I got a little excited.”
I scratched the back of my head awkwardly. I’d never intended to put Blake in a difficult position.
“This is the human world, just like I said. If you really are a witch who lost her powers, you should’ve been afraid of this place. The Crown Prince was here today too. What were you planning to do if that suspicious bastard had seen you?”
His tone, usually as emotionless as a machine, carried clear agitation.
“The Crown Prince?”
“Yeah. If that man had seen you, he would’ve torn your body apart and dissected you just to uncover your identity. Didn’t that possibility cross your mind?”
I sat down awkwardly and rolled my eyes around.
He’s angry.
Well, that was understandable.
He told me to stay still, and I went outside anyway. That was entirely my fault.
‘Still… staying trapped in that room the whole time was kind of suffocating.’
But this probably wasn’t the right time to say that.
How should I apologize?
‘When you’re sorry, apologize with all your heart! That’s the best way.’
I inhaled deeply, bowed my head hard, and prepared to shout—
“Blake, I’m really sor—uwaaah!”
That was, right before I lost to the weight of my own head and rolled straight off the bed.
“……”
Thud—
With a loud crash, I toppled beneath the bed and let out a miserable cry.
Ah, seriously.
Why is this happening right now?
I had completely forgotten about my ridiculous proportions—head, torso, and legs all squeezed into a three-head-tall body.
My head spun. The spot where I’d smashed face-first into the floor felt like it was swelling.
Just because my body was soft didn’t mean it couldn’t hurt.
Clutching my throbbing head, I looked up to find Blake frozen awkwardly with one hand stretched out.
Was he trying to catch me?
Thinking that, I placed my fluffy hand on top of his, but he quickly pulled away.
Thanks to that, I staggered again, though this time I managed not to fall.
What was he even doing? Was he teasing me?
…No, this wasn’t the time for that.
Like the polite witch I was, I didn’t forget the apology I’d been trying to give.
“So what I was trying to say is! I’m really sorry. I’ll bow my head and apologize properly.”
Naturally, the moment I bowed my heavy head, my waist folded in half too.
Maybe because the posture looked even more respectful than intended, Blake stopped adding any more criticism.
Instead, he looked at me with strangely complicated eyes before grabbing my fallen body and placing me back onto the bed.
“Haah… What kind of conversation am I even supposed to have with a teddy bear?”
Despite his words, the way he handled me so carefully was as meticulous as ever.
“So you’re not angry anymore?”
“I just lost the motivation to be angry, so stop it.”
Was losing the motivation to be angry a good thing or a bad thing for me? I had no idea, but the important thing was that we’d somehow moved past it.
“There’s something I’m curious about.”
After staying silent for a while as though deep in thought, Blake finally spoke in a calmer tone.
“Anything!”
“If you really are a witch… how exactly did you end up inside that doll?”
A sharp question.
No—maybe it was a question that absolutely needed to be asked.
And honestly, even I still didn’t understand the identity of this bizarre and suspicious teddy bear.
I briefly recalled the moment I first entered this doll and honestly explained the rough sequence of events.
“-Then when the teddy bear fell on top of my head, something flashed. And when I came to my senses, my body was already inside this thing.”
I patted my plump belly lightly, and his gaze dropped toward it.
His eyes lingered there for quite a long time, so I awkwardly shifted my stomach to the side a little. His gaze followed immediately.
Why is he staring? Is this really that fascinating?
“Don’t tell me you mean when I was struggling with Rain over the doll and dropped it.”
“Yep, exactly then.”
“And you expect me to believe that now…?”
“But it’s true, so what can I do?”
I could see Blake’s expression slowly twisting further.
But think about it.
Before I’d even finished deciding I needed to reclaim the portal, I’d suddenly become a teddy bear instead.
Imagine how hopeless I felt.
After checking my gloomy expression, he slowly rubbed his chin. His long eyes narrowed thoughtfully.
The way he quietly scanned me up and down, as though trying to judge whether I was telling the truth, still held unmistakable caution.
Enduring his prolonged stare, I finally asked the question I’d been wanting to ask for a while now.
“I’m curious too. Where did you get this teddy bear?”
Even a witch who had lost her magic was still born with an enormous natural mana channel.
For something to be powerful enough to contain a witch like that…
I had never heard of such a magical vessel before.
Which meant this teddy bear was no ordinary object.
‘Blake did say he bought it from someone.’
That was what I’d overheard on the terrace during the banquet.
Blake answered immediately. Apparently the question wasn’t difficult.
“An old junk dealer woman who used to come around here occasionally.”
“Hm. So that old junk dealer sold you this doll, and you bought it? Was there anything suspicious about her?”
Could that old woman actually be a witch?
This object was strange enough that even Laura—the eccentric witch of the East—could’ve made it.
“Nothing particularly suspicious. I already ordered people to report it if the old woman appeared again, but there’s still no news. I plan to search for her, though she may already have run away.”
“Hm, this is troublesome. Did the old woman leave behind any specific words? Anything at all is fine.”
“She did say it wasn’t an ordinary object… I think.”
“I knew it! I just knew it!”
“Do you know something about the doll?”
“Nope. Absolutely nothing.”
“……”
Naturally, I didn’t know anything.
“Why are you looking at me like that?!”
From the pathetic look in his eyes, I could practically read the words: Are you really even a witch?
“This isn’t my specialty, okay? Ah, though Laura might know.”
“Who’s Laura?”
“She’s the witch who governs the East. There’s nothing she doesn’t know about magical tools. I actually saw you in a newspaper Laura made.”
“A newspaper…? The world witches live in has things like that?”
“Of course! If you saw it, you’d probably faint from shock. It’s Laura’s masterpiece—a newspaper with moving pictures!”
The desires of witches really were impossible to understand.
Something that had once bored me to death now felt nostalgic here.
“So how do we meet this witch called Laura?”
“First, we have to find a portal and cross over into the world of other races.”
“A portal?”
“It’s basically a door connecting the human world and the world of other races. As far as I know, the portals disappeared around two hundred years ago. Which also means humans and witches haven’t interacted for roughly two centuries.”
“Then how did you cross over?”
“That’s what I want to know too. I don’t know what triggered it, but the portal suddenly opened. After that, just like I said, I dropped straight into the human world and met you.”
Which really made it strange. Where exactly had the portal little witch Annie threw at me even come from?
“So, to ask this witch Laura anything, we first need to find this thing called a portal.”
After quietly listening to me, Blake neatly summarized the entire situation in a single sentence.
As expected, he really was smart.
“Exactly. Now you’re finally getting it.”
“…Hey.”
“Anyway, if we can just open the portal again, we won’t need to find the old woman anymore! I’ll be able to get out of this doll, and maybe we can even find a witch who can break your curse. What do you think? Two birds with one stone, right?”
“So what you’re saying is that you want my help finding the portal?”
“That’s basically it. You’ll help me, right?”
At last, the conversation was progressing, and excitement bubbled inside me. Clasping both hands tightly together, I looked at him with sparkling eyes, expecting an eager agreement.
However, the answer I received was not what I expected at all.
“I refuse.”
