Release that Witch

Walking in the alleys, Olivia heard the snow scrunch under her feet. She felt her chest grow warmer.

Every winter in the Northern Region, she found the sky to be gloomy. It was like a stone roof that covered her from above. Furthermore, all things on the ground below would be covered in snow. Apart from this dull seasonal landscape, she would also suffer from hunger and cold. This made winter a long and tiresome experience for everyone.

Fortunately, this winter, she saw a brand new color in this gray world.

It was even brighter than a rainbow and shone through the snow storm like a dazzling star.

When she was near it, she could hardly wait to get closer to it.

It came out from the little cottage she had rented.

If she did not have to make a living for her family, she would never want to take one step away from it.

It was her baby.

It was Gerald Wimbledon’s son.

Every time when she held him in her arms, she felt as if she was holding the whole world.

Thinking of her baby, Olivia subconsciously quickened her pace.

However, after she turned into the last alley, her heart sank to the bottom.

She spotted many footprints in the snow. They appeared to have come from another alley and led directly to the courtyard ahead.

This courtyard was where she and her son were currently living.

Here, all their neighbors were ordinary civilians. They seldom got visitors even during spring and summer, not to mention the Months of Demons. She could not understand why so many footprints had suddenly appeared here.

The next moment, she felt faint as she realized something. An inexplicable fear filled her heart.

”No, it can’t be true. Calm down...” She kept telling herself that they must have just been a bunch of robbers or refugees. Though this thought would make others afraid, it conversely would make her feel relieved.

She entered the courtyard, shivering. Unfortunately, what she saw immediately shattered her last hope.

Many patrol team members were standing in front of her cottage. Most of them wore soft armors but one of them was apparently a knight. He dressed differently and wore a special badge which indicated that he served the Kant family, who ruled the Northern Region.

”No—!”

All of a sudden, Olivia felt a burst of strength that came out of nowhere. She dropped the baby food that she had made great efforts to buy, lowered her head and dashed toward the door!

At that moment, she thought she was going to her death.

She was prepared to throw herself at the blade once someone pulled out their sword to block her, even if they did not mean to kill her on the spot.

Unexpectedly, no one stood out to stop her from rushing into the cottage. Instead, the crowd turned to the side to let her through.

At the door of the cottage, she stumbled over the threshold, tearing her dress as her knees bruised from contact with the cold grindstone-like ground. Enduring the physical pain, she crawled non-stop toward the small bedroom with a face full of tears. She just wanted to meet her child for the last time, but when she entered the room, she was stunned.

A cyan-haired young lady sat at the head of the bed whilst coaxing the baby. The nanny Olivia had hired to take care of the child was standing by her side, displaying a look of respect, which one would use to their real boss.

The lady raised her head and glanced at Olivia. Instantly, she understood that the lady was very peculiar. She found the lady to be beautiful but could not describe her with any words that were usually used to depict a woman. She could not say that the lady was mild, fragile, charming or emotional. Even when she held the baby in her arms, she did not have the look of motherly love in her eyes at all.

It seemed as if she was playing with a toy rather than amusing a child.

”Nice to meet you,” the young lady said slowly. ”My name is Edith Kant. You should have heard of my name.”

”The Pearl of the Northern Region—” Olivia’s heart skipped a beat. ”She’s the eldest daughter of Duke Kant, the legendary woman who can lead knights to charge in a battle?” Edith Kant was a household name in the Northern Region. Even Gerald had mentioned her to Olivia many times.

Some people even stated that she was a more difficult opponent than her father.

”Nice to meet you, your ladyship,” said Olivia as she swallowed hard. She bent over to give a kowtow before asking, ”Would you please tell me why you’ve come to my home?”

Edith waved her hand to the nanny. The nanny bowed and then she swiftly left the room, shutting the door.

Seeing that, Olivia confirmed that this nanny must have been sent by the Kant family.

Her child had been under their control all this time.

”Well, to make a long story short, the king ordered me to take this offspring of the Wimbledon family back to Neverwinter.”

”And then... you’ll execute him secretly?” Olivia asked while breathing hard.

”If I wanted to kill him, I could do it anywhere. I wouldn’t have to show up at your home at all.” Edith unraveled the cloth around the baby’s head and revealed his soft gray hair. ”His Majesty needs him to appease the people. That’s all.”

Olivia was dumbfounded. She could not get what Edith meant. ”Your ladyship, I still... don’t understand...”

”It’s not as complicated as you may think.” The Pearl of the Northern Region shrugged. ”Have you ever heard about witches?”

...

After hearing the whole story, Olivia still spent a long time connecting the two together. She had never heard such an implausible plan! Roland Wimbledon was determined to marry a witch, so he decided to use Gerald’s son to quell the doubts of the public. She was not familiar with nobles’ way of doing things, but she instinctively felt something wrong in this arrangement.

She wondered, ”As a king, does he really have to do this?”

She clenched her teeth and plucked up her courage before asking, ”Your ladyship, forgive me for being bold. I can hardly believe this decision. Maybe His Majesty thinks that he needs the baby now, but what if he changes his mind in the future, Schelo will...”

”Schelo? Is it his name?” Edith raised her eyebrow. ”It seems that you still don’t understand your current situation. It’s His Majesty’s command, you can’t disobey it. Now, you’ve only two choices. No.1, you can get a large sum of hush money for which you must leave the kingdom and never come back again. Or No.2, you can accompany him to Neverwinter, but you must hide your identity and claim to be a maid of a noble family.”

Tears were welling up in Olivia’s eyes. Granted her low status, she could never become a part of the royal family. ”Who will take my place to take care of him?”

”Nobody,” replied Edith.

”What?” She promptly lifted her head in surprise. Her tears had yet to stop as they rolled down her cheeks.

”His Majesty isn’t that cruel. If you choose to stay with the baby, you just need to conceal the fact that you are his real mother. Apart from that, you don’t have to change anything. You can still look after him and watch him grow up. The noble family you served has already been eliminated by the church and Gerald’s widow entrusted the child to you. That will be your story.” Edith paused for a moment before adding, ”In addition, the king has already spread this news to all regions of the kingdom. In two or three days, you’ll hear about it here in the Northern Region. If His Majesty really wanted you to die, why would he bother to tell this story to all his subjects?”

Does the Pearl of the Northern Region mean that... His Majesty did this just to assure me that we’ll be safe?

Olivia touched her chest and recalled the night she had been in despair and had come to Prince Roland asking for help. Back then, he had indeed helped her. She did not know whether he had some ulterior motive at the time, but she had to admit that if it had not been for Roland, she would have been beaten to death by the tavern owner a long time ago.

She took a deep breath and wiped the tears from her face. Her legs got numb after kneeling down for such a long time, but she still managed to control her body well enough to rise slowly from the ground. ”Your ladyship, may I ask... Does this child have any chance to become a king?”

”No.” A meaningful look flickered in Edith’s eyes. ”Before I set off, His Majesty exhorted me to tell you that you’d better not have any illusion of the throne. Otherwise, you’ll be very disappointed. Of course, this is just between us. Don’t breathe a word to anyone else.”

”No, your ladyship. I’ll never be disappointed, as long as my son can grow up safely. That’s my greatest wish,” said Olivia with difficulty. She got slower and slower, as if she had to exert all her strength to say each word. ”But, bringing him to Neverwinter can’t solve all the problems. What if someday His Majesty changes his mind and decides to make his own child the legitimate heir to the throne. When that happens, my son will become a thorn in their flesh and won’t be able to survive!” She looked directly into Edith’s eyes and stressed each word with due strength. ”I know I can’t change a thing, but if you can’t give me a reasonable explanation, please kill me right now!”

”Oh?” Edith squinted her eyes.

It was a bloodthirsty look.

In front of Edith, Olivia was as weak as a lamb.

But she still refused to back down. She stood tall before the Pearl of the Northern Region and said, ”If you can’t, it means the things I’m worried about will happen sooner or later. I can’t set Gerald Wimbledon’s only son on such a path, your ladyship!”

Olivia did not want to take her child to Neverwinter while worrying that he would be executed a dozen years later. She did not like such long-term psychological tortures, nor did she want to make such a groundless decision by herself. Given her status, she did not expect Edith to give an answer. She believed that even if Edith did have an explanation, she would never tell it to a maid of humble origin. However, she still demanded an explanation from her since that was all she could do for now. She closed her eyes, waiting for a cold blade to cut her throat. I’m sorry, Gerald. I’m so sorry... my dear. I can’t change anything.

The baby suddenly woke up and cried. It was as if he felt the departure with his mother coming.

Olivia tried her best to stop herself from opening her eyes.

She was afraid that if she took a look at the baby again, she would hesitate.

After a long time, the blade still did not arrive.

Edith chuckled and said, ”I can.”

Olivia stared at her in disbelief.

The Pearl of the Northern Region used lip language to tell Olivia the answer. It was completely beyond her imagination, but she somehow believed this incredible explanation at once, just like a drowning person who clutched the straw.

She felt that she was persuaded by herself instead of being persuaded by Edith.

The Pearl of the Northern Region turned away and walked toward the door, leaving the crying baby to Olivia. ”We’ll set out three days later. Remember to pack for your trip.”

”Your ladyship...” Olivia murmured when Edith walked past her. ”The tavern owner as well as one of His Highness Gerald’s guards probably know the truth about me and the child.”

”I’ll take care of it. You don’t have to worry,” replied Edith without looking back.

When the Pearl of the North left, Olivia held her baby in a warm embrace, as if she was afraid that he would disappear at any minute. The baby finally quieted down and buried his head in her chest.

Her heart was racing, she could not help asking herself if it was true.

She deciphered the explanation by reading Edith’s lips.

It was a simple but fascinating phrase.

”Eternal life.”

This was the king’s answer.