Volume 1: Chapter 060: Makia: The Palace Corridors Seems to Last for Eternity
Author: かっぱ同盟／友麻碧
Link: https://ncode.syosetu.com/n3862be/
Translated by Zzonkedd
Edited by Gumihou
The corridors of the Royal Palace seem to last for eternity, but I’m alright with that.
At the end of the corridor is a large decorated door. It is opened by a soldier and I step in to find my mother and father.
They looked anxious.
I never want them to have that look on their faces.
“… Makia…”
After yesterday’s turmoil, I could not see them right away.
I heard that after my parents were evacuated from the harbour, they were taken to a hill away from the general chaos [1] where they immediately tried to find me and Tooru.
The hill also afforded them a great view of the giant soldiers. Fortunately, they could not see Tooru and I attacked the soldiers.
Unfortunately, word of what we had done reached their ears.
“… Makia, I’m so glad you’re safe…”
Mother looks tired. When she saw me, she was so relieved that she started to cry.
Father looked at Tooru and I with a tight expression. “Makia… and Tooru… I’m so glad you two are safe. After we separated at the harbour yesterday, I barely felt alive..”
Father…” I interrupt him and slowly raise my head to tell the truth.“Father, I… I…”
I am the Crimson Witch.
A great enemy of this world.
“I am the reincarnation of the Crimson Witch. I was born with all her memories… I’m sorry, I’m… sorry for never saying anything until now.”
“W-What are you saying Makia?”
“…”
“It’s all fine. Let’s go back to Delia Fields right away. We can live together as a family in our peaceful land. You can relax and not think about complicated things. You too, Tooru. Let’s all go back.”
“…”
“… Master…”
Father [2] holds out his hand to me and Tooru.
However, we did not move forward to take it.
No matter how much Father wants us to take us back, it is already too late.
The faces before me are the ones that I first saw when I arrived in this world. My parents’ faces…
The eyes of a newborn should have been clear and sparkling. The first data a newborn’s mind should have registered was that of their parents.
However, that is not the case for me.
That was never the case.
To me, Delia Fields was a boring place filled with tiresome people. I look at the people with cold eyes unable to form a proper relationship with them.
They were about as interesting as the wheatfields that mark the changing times. It did not matter how much my parents cared for me. Back then, it felt like their feelings had nothing to do with me. Until, Father brought Tooru to me.
This act alone proved that though my father did not understand me, he understood enough to recognise me in Tooru despite not knowing about our previous lives.
As for Mother, she accepted us and our relationship as special and did not question anything.
In that land of warm sunlight, olive gardens and vast abundant fields where life was peaceful and the days Idyllic… even I, the cold and vicious Crimson Witch, felt the ice in my heart crack and melted by the warmth of the gentle lives growing around me.
On Earth, I was dragged down by my previous memories. Devastated by my own bitter death [2a] and helplessness in a land devoid of the very power that might as well be my identity, I had tried to regain some control through the Past Life Confession Club.
Even so, it was in Delia Fields that I was finally able to get a true brand new start. That I felt belonged somehow.
I clench my hands on the skirt of my dress and said, “Father, Mother. I, the Crimson Witch, am reborn into this world with a responsibility.”
No.
“I will be staying at the Royal Capital from today onwards, as the highest level magic advisor to protect the country…”
Wrong.
“That is why, I cannot return to Delia Fields with Father… I…”
Wrong, wrong, wrong!
That is not what I wanted to say!
Thank you.
Thank you so much for raising me with so much love and care.
I wanted to say it but the words just refused to come out.
Even breathing is getting more and more difficult.
As my hands tighten on my dress, I clench my teeth and focus my eyes on my parents again. [3]
And…
I see the brooches on their chests. Flowers suspended in bloom by magic. My anniversary gift to them.
“I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry! I cannot be the daughter you wanted!! I am that grudge-carrying witch of this world…!! I was the one who screwed up this world, it is no wonder I am so hated!!!”
“… Makia…”
Guilt, fear and angst are all exhaled in that one breath. At every ‘Sorry!’, Mother’s legs tremble.
Unable to stand seeing Mother like this, I try to leave. I want to escape these feelings…
“Wait Makia!! I can’t accept this!”
Father grabs my arm to desperately say, “I don’t care who you are or who the others think you are!! If you’re being forced to stay at the palace I will do everything I can to bring you home or die trying! I don’t care about dying! I won’t let them use you as a weapon!!”
Father is serious.
His words are foolish in so many ways, but this poor man is trying to convey his feelings to me. I, as his daughter, understand this much.
“Are you trying to deny that you are my daughter?! I refuse to allow it. That is absolutely not allowed! You are born to us, therefore you are my daughter. Just like how we are your parents. This will never change. That means… that means you are my child and we are your parents, right? Makia… Makia…”
“… Father…”
“I’ll never forgive it if you… Father is… I’m… you’re such a smart, clever and kind child… and you love eating above all things. There is no food you hate and you are my sweet and lovely girl. My sweet adorable little girl, my dearest daughter…”
My dad is shaking his head over and over again, even as he weeps and repeats himself.
The words are becoming so garbled that I could hardly understand them.
How is it that I am born of these people?
Those idyllic days were no lie. Though I myself am [b] a cuckoo in their nest.
Though I have tried to hide it, I am still exposed.
In the end, to make such good people cry, there is no doubt that I am still the Crimson Witch.
Rotten to the core, the most terrible witch in the world.
My lips trembled and I could feel mist forming over my eyes.
Slowly, I turn to face my father. I place my hand over the hand still grasping my arm.
“Father, thank you very much. Mother, thank you too. Thank you for still calling me your daughter. But, I am not forced into this. It is something that Tooru and I have decided to do. We need to achieve Great Deeds.”
“… Great Deeds?”
“We’re still not entirely sure what that Great Deed will be but, the one thing I am sure is, we will not find it if we stay in Delia Fields. That is why we have to be at the Royal Capital. We have to be at a place of conflict, be it on a battlefield or maybe even on a different continent to find it, but find it we must.”
Father’s sky-blue eyes are similar to my aqua-blue eyes.
It is not the same, but still similar.
So, please don’t cry, Father.
“… But, Makia. You’re only 14. Will you really not come back to Delia Fields anymore?”
“… …”
I look at Father properly and smile.
“Don’t worry. Make the Delia Fields richer and more abundant. Send lots of delicious food to the Royal Palace and… stay by Mother’s side forever.”
“… Makia…”
Father looks very sad for a moment. However, he still manages to squeeze out a painful-looking smile.
“I see… I understand. If it’s something you have decided, Father won’t dissuade you. But please, don’t ever forget that Father will be waiting for you at home. Don’t think that you can avoid coming home just because you’re the Crimson Witch! You will always have a home to come back to. If you feel sad or need a place to rest and think; even if the entire world becomes your enemy, Delia Fields will always welcome you home. Promise me you will never forget this. When it is all over, you must come back.”
“… …”
I hug Father tightly, inhaling his scent.
I will never forget that I have a home to return to.
“Ahh…. Makia… Makia…”
My mother stood up on shaky legs and hugged me from behind. Her warmth was the first thing I felt when I was born into this world.
I should have appreciated this warmth more than I did when I have the chance.
How precious is this…
“Thank you, Father, Mother… Well, I- I’m leaving now.”
The longer I stay with them, the more reluctant I am to leave.
I mean, it’s not like I’ll never see my parents again. Even so, from this moment onwards, a lot of things would change. I slowly remove myself from their embrace and turn my back to them, walking resolutely towards the door.
Tooru had been silent this whole time. Then, he approaches Father and took out the Green Treasure Award from his breast pocket.
“Master… please give this to my mother”
“Tooru… surely it would be more meaningful for you to personally give it?”
“But… But, maybe by the time I could see her… she would have…”
“Tooru…”
Tooru could not seem to find the words. However, Father understood well enough and accepted the medal.
“I understand, I shall make sure this gets to her.”
“Please do, I shall depend on Master for this… and thank you very much for taking me in back then. I promise to protect Makia to the best of my ability and make sure she returns to Delia Fields.”
“You make sure to come back too. You understand that we think of you as our son, right? Our house is your house too. You must come back together. I will… leave Makia to you…”
He is squeezing Tooru’s hand over and over again.
This scene, really does have a feeling of a dignified father encouraging his son.
[2] As for us… we are actively leaving this warm atmosphere behind.A crying mother. A dazed father.
Ah, what an unfilial child I am, to make them so sad.
When Tooru and I reach the doors, it is opened by the two guards.
As the door closes behind us, I turn around to stare unblinkingly at the ever-shrinking gap.
I waited until the gap sealed itself before I finally released the death grip on my skirts. My hands are numb.
As we trek down the long, long marble corridor of the Royal Palace that seems to stretch on for eternity, I say, “Hey, I’ve been wondering about something…”
“…”
“I always thought that as long as you and Yuri are there for me, everything would be fine. Somehow, it seems like I have suddenly become greedier overnight…”
“… I think it’s the right path to take.”
“…”
“It’s painful isn’t it… to see their suffering faces. As expected, I really don’t want to see that kind of face again, honestly,” Tooru’s voice sounds indifferent.
Even so, I understand that his attachment to Delia Fields is real. So is his attachment to my parents.
No matter what, knowing that there is a place to return to is like an island in the middle of a turbulent sea of new information and the confusion that came with it.
“”If you feel sad or need a place to rest and think; even if the entire world becomes your enemy, Delia Fields will always welcome you home.””
Father’s words float through my mind and tears came to my eyes again.
The relief that those words brought to us…
Father, you probably have no idea, do you?
[Gumihou: *Sob* what a wonderful dad… He is certainly better than JFJ from Higher Level Wife. Who needs a smart dad or a clever, peerless husband? A loyal himbo is the way to go!]
[1] Rearranged the sentences for the stream of consciousness to make sense. [2] Add details [2a] Add details about earth life to remind everyone of the prologues [2b] Change ‘an imposter’ to ‘a cuckoo in their nest’ for better visual and dramatic effect [3] Break and rearranged the paragraph for dramatic purpose
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