Before dawn, in the early hours of morning. The young witch, peacefully fast asleep and snoring softly, furrowed her brow. On the verge of crying from the unfamiliar air and scents, she suddenly heard the most comforting voice in the world.

“You thought… I’d let it go this time too, didn’t you? Just wait and see…”

It was her mother’s voice. As Isabel relaxed, ready to drift back into dreamland, the tent flap opened and a cold breeze swept in.

Wooong… Ah-choo!

With a grand sneeze, a half-melted round pill popped out from between her tiny lips. The pill went ping—flying through the air and landed deep inside the cocoon where the fairy lay.

Marli, who had been up to some mischief outside, dashed back into the tent at the sound of the sneeze.

“Isabel?”

But the baby witch, as if nothing had happened, smacked her lips a few times and fell right back into a deep sleep. Not noticing the lost pill, Marli let out a sigh of relief.

The warm heat of the fire lizard spread deep into the cocoon.

🧚‍♂️⋆｡°✩｡⋆⸜🌸⸝⋆｡°✩｡⋆🧚‍♀️

Morning broke over the eastern oak forest. Woken by the chirping of sparrows, Prim reached out for the spot beside him. There was nothing better than starting the day with Marli’s soft body in his arms.

“Mmm, Marli…”

But instead of the witch’s smooth, soft skin, he touched something cold and hard—a stone.

A flash of last night’s memories came back to him, and Prim’s eyes flew open.

“Marli?”

His vision was completely black; he couldn’t see anything. Although he had heard the birds announcing the start of the day, everything was still dark. Alarmed, he shot up like a spring. The next instant, he thudded his head against something overhead.

“Marli…!”

Prim, frantic with worry, didn’t even feel the pain as she called desperately for the witch. But all he heard in return was his own voice echoing off the walls. He groped around in a panic, but everywhere he touched was blocked by cold, unyielding walls. What on earth was going on? The fairy crouched down and pounded his fist against the wall.

“Marli, where are you? Marli!”

Thud—!

A deafening crash thundered through the space, and Prim quickly covered his ears with both hands. Once the ringing faded, a shaft of light streamed in from the floor on the far side. Prim crawled toward it on his hands and knees.

“Marli?”

Instead of a reply, a pair of bright red eyes suddenly appeared between the cracks. At long last, he’d found the witch he’d been calling for so desperately—but a cold sweat trickled down Prim’s spine.

Relief and the vivid memories of the previous night washed over him at the same time.

There was no point in making excuses. He immediately bowed his head and begged for forgiveness.

“Marli, I’m sorry! It was my fault!”

“And what did I say I’d do if you ever stole potions without asking again?”

Marli’s voice was bristling with thorns, and her eyes looked sharp enough to cut him to pieces. Prim’s eyes darted back and forth as his mind raced.

“You’d… hang me upside down in the birdcage…”

“That’s right. But there’s no birdcage here, is there? So I’m just going to leave you here instead.”

“I’m sorry! I’ll never do it again!”

Despite Prim’s desperate pleas, the light shining through the crack quickly disappeared. Only then did he realise where he was trapped, tapping at the wall with his tiny fists. The nutty scent clinging to the walls was unmistakable. He was inside a pot.

“Marli? Marli!”

The fairy pounded on the pot’s walls, calling out to Marli repeatedly. But there was no response. Every second felt like a thousand years. He sobbed, repeatedly calling the witch’s name and begging for forgiveness.

🧚‍♂️⋆｡°✩｡⋆⸜🌸⸝⋆｡°✩｡⋆🧚‍♀️

The fairies from the night before returned to the campsite. Glancing back and forth between the witch and the baby in the basket, they finally spoke up.

“It’s a shame you’re leaving so soon.”

“Yeah. We just started to get close.”

“How about the witch just move to the eastern forest and live here with us?”

At their suggestion, Prim—who had been busily packing—let out a loud, derisive snort. They had no idea what the witch did all day or just how terrifying she could be, and yet they spoke so carelessly.

“If you did that, Marli would probably turn you into specimens and seal you up in jars.”

“No, she wouldn’t.”

“…Wuuung…”

If Marli said so, then so be it. Without a hint of pride, Prim quickly backed down. After being toyed with and made to beg three times, he had finally been set free. Now, even a single sigh had him checking the witch’s mood.

Life as a sl*ve in the northern forest would be tough for a while, but it was still better than being left alone in the eastern woods.

The fairies eyed Prim curiously after he’d drunk a hefty dose of wish potion. It wasn’t his now-larger body that caught their attention, but his eyes, which were still swollen and puffy from crying.

“What are you waiting for? Hurry up and take down the tent.”

“I’m on it, I’m on it.”

Prim replied, rushing over to the sagging tent. The fairies watched in wonder as the two went about their tasks, looking every bit the master and her servant. Clearly, the witch was far more fearsome than she appeared—bossing around a fairy nearly a head taller than herself with just a flick of her finger.

Tent, sleeping bag, blanket—Prim folded everything neatly, then moved on to organizing the rest of the gear. He worked diligently, without a hint of his usual mischief. It was a far cry from the ill-tempered fairy they’d always known.

Til, who had been watching Marli and Prim in turn, suddenly brought up something else.

“By the way, you two were really something last night.”

“What?”

Marli’s red eyes grew round with surprise. Prim, who had been busily moving, froze in place.

“No, it’s just—we came back to apologize, thinking maybe we’d done something wrong yesterday. But…”

“Instead, we witnessed something incredible!”

Turing jumped in, unwilling to be left out. The male fairies grinned mischievously, raising their voices.

“The whole tent was shaking!”

“I thought the mountain was collapsing!”

While the male fairies chimed in with teasing remarks, the female fairies maintained an air of innocence and nonchalance, as if nothing had happened. Nevertheless, the blush on their cheeks was impossible to hide.

Who would have thought that the foolish fairy who didn’t even know how to mate was hiding such tremendous strength? No matter how much they had disliked him, some of the fairies actually regretted not trying harder; the scene was so shocking.

Even as the male fairies openly teased him, Marli remained completely expressionless, as if it was nothing at all. Lily, on the other hand, was so embarrassed that she twisted around. Marli noticed this and asked her in a calm voice.

“You saw it too?”

“Well… We just thought you were hurt or something…”

Call it a woman’s intuition—Lily quickly glossed over the details, but Til and Turing had no sense of shame or tact.

“I always thought the witch was just big, but her voice is just as loud!”

“Thanks for the show!”

The fairies rocked back and forth, chattering nonstop. Despite having spied on someone’s private affairs, their shamelessness knew no bounds.

Marli listened without offering any explanation or excuse, then spoke up quietly.

“Next time…”

“Huh?”

“Will you come visit again next time?”

“You’ll bring us honey, right?”

Regretful over the impending farewell, the fairies perked up at the mention of “next time.” They really were like clueless little mice. Marli flashed a gentle smile and continued.

“If you come here again, I’ll turn every last one of you into specimens. I promise.”

For a moment, the fairies didn’t seem to understand the witch’s radiant smile. Marli glared fiercely at them.

“Aren’t you leaving? Should I just toss you all into a pot right now?!”

“Eek! The witch!”

“It’s the witch!”

The fairies scattered in all directions, fleeing in utter panic. Watching them dash away in a frenzy, Marli gave a loud, derisive snort. It was finally time to go home.