As Malyn pulled the reins of Paradi and headed out into the fields, her heart raced with excitement. The cold wind in the open fields, so sharp it made it hard to speak, still felt refreshing and cleared her mind.

And today, when she saw the woman grumbling into the wind, Layla smiled a little.

Malyn, arguing with Paradi, was full of energy. Paradi complained that he didn’t understand Layla. Why was he taking such good care of this girl? He kept urging Layla to run away and live happily ever after.

“Did you really say that?”

Malyn, sitting on Paradi’s back, raised an eyebrow and tugged at his mane. Paradi yelped.

“It hurts, you little brat!”

“I pulled it to hurt you, what else?”

“Haha.”

Paradi was a big, strong horse, so Layla had no problem riding with Malyn on his back. With Malyn in her arms, Layla pulled gently on the reins.

“How do you feel, Paradi?”

“It feels like crap!”

Despite the words coming out of his mouth, Paradi walked proudly, shaking his head vigorously.

“I told you, when I saw the two of you walking so warmly towards the stable today, something was definitely wrong. Why do human kids fall in love so easily? Layla, I told you to be careful and make wise decisions!”

“Oh, really?”

Malyn deliberately grabbed a tuft of Paradi’s mane and pulled it out. Paradi jumped.

“Stop it, you little brat!”

“You talk like you’ve lived a long life? You’re just a horse.”

The prime age for horses is usually around three or four. Although Layla had spent a long time with him, it was clear that Paradi was only about seven or eight. Malyn laughed mischievously, but soon froze at Paradi’s words.

“I’m over seventy years old!”

“What? Don’t lie.”

“It’s true.”

Layla whispered quietly and Malyn looked back and forth between Layla and Paradi in surprise. Paradi grumbled.

“Honestly, if you had a brain, you’d think a horse that could talk would live a little longer than the average horse.”

“You’re not the one to say that, considering you’re the one who asked if talking horses even exist!”

“Ah! Stop pulling my mane!”

After the brief and violent exchange, Malyn learned that Paradi had once been a witch’s horse, and that it was thanks to the witch that he could speak human language.

“My goodness, you’re an old crook.”

“Yes! So you should treat me like an adult.”

” Oh! You’re so tough I can’t eat you for meat.”

“Hey!!!”

Paradi shouted loudly. Malyn laughed, caught his breath in colourful bursts, then asked casually.

“What about the witch?”

“Ah. She’s dead.”

“The witch who cast the spell that made a horse speak human language?”

“Hey, that’s different.”

Paradi laughed softly.

“Even with all the magic, do you think you’ll be able to stand it if people come in droves and threaten to kill you?”

Malyn fell silent. Paradi hummed as he spoke.

“Witchcraft isn’t what people think – walking on air, summoning demons or controlling others. Magic requires sacrifice, but not from humans – something else is needed.”

“What is needed?”

“Well, perhaps something like solitude, or loneliness?”

“What does that mean?”

Paradi lifted his head and began to walk up the rocky hill that rose above the plain. The hill, which was almost a small mound, was close to Veldam Castle, and it was a path that the stable master of Veldam had recommended as a beautiful walk. The sight of the princess on horseback with her maid climbing the rocky hill would surely be seen by the castle guards.

“Why do you think witches live alone in the forest?”

“I don’t know. My mother didn’t live alone.”

Malyn answered without thinking, but the surprised silence that followed made her jump. Paradi, clearly taken aback, almost turned to look at her, then got irritated.

“Layla! Take the blinders off! I can’t see this girl!”

The stable hands at Veldam Castle were meticulous, and had diligently fitted all the horses with rear blinders to prevent them from being startled by looking behind them. When the excitement had died down, Paradi asked.

“Was the woman who gave birth to you a witch?”

“Yes, that’s what the villagers said. But I don’t think my mother was a real witch.”

“No, that is interesting. Tell me more.”

“No, first finish what you were saying. Why do witches live alone in the forest?”

Paradi snorted in amusement.

“Witches can’t just do magic. The magic they use isn’t even that impressive, but the sacrifices they have to make to perform even that little magic are abstract. Like the sunlight on an autumn field, or the softness of the first spring breeze…”

“Really abstract.

“But it’s also a very precise kind of sacrifice. If a witch steals the sunlight from an autumn field to cast a spell, that field’s harvest will be completely ruined. Haven’t you heard the story of the witch who, just before the fields turned golden, summoned a gust of wind that knocked down all the wheat?

Malyn had never heard that story before, but for some reason it sounded familiar. She blinked in surprise.

“Actually, it’s not that she summoned the wind because she was a witch; it’s that she stole the sunlight and the wind settled in the empty space left behind.”

Paradi walked around a rock and continued his explanation.

“That is why witches live alone in the forest. The silence and solitude of the deep forest, that deep loneliness, is the easiest sacrifice to gather. But the magic they can perform with these sacrifices is limited.”

“Limited how?”

” From making friends. I’m sure you’ve heard the story of the witch who summoned a demon.”

“I have heard that.”

“That deep loneliness doesn’t always have to be a sacrifice, but it’s the kind of prey that demons love the most.”

It was something that could be understood, but also something that felt unclear. Malyn snorted.

“Enough with the fairy tales. So my mother wasn’t a witch, I knew that.”

“Why?”

“I never saw my mother use magic, not even once.”

“Hmm.”

Paradi finally reached the top of the rocky hill. Beyond the low hill, the cityscape of Veldam came into view. Low rooftops, smoke drifting here and there on the wind, people walking and guards patrolling the outer walls. A sprawling capital, much bigger than Dion. Malyn took a deep breath and Layla whispered softly.

“You’re not sure about that.”

“Why?”

“My mother prayed, offering the solitude of the deep forest as a sacrifice, asking that she would no longer be alone. Then came the day she met the king, and I was born.”

“….”

“Perhaps your mother also cast her last spell to bring you into the world.”

Malyn turned slightly to look at the man holding her waist. The man, his long hair blowing in the dry wind, looked down at her with a gentle gaze.

“You didn’t know that either.”

When Malyn echoed Layla’s words, the man’s eyes narrowed. Malyn took the reins from his rough hands. A light tug made Paradi grumble, but he turned his head and started down the winding path from above. The landscape was dry all around, with brown grass everywhere, but Malyn could still make out branches that had begun to sprout here and there.

“My mother…”

She opened her mouth but couldn’t find the words. Every morning when she woke up, her mother was the first to milk the goats. Before Malyn even got up, her mother would bake rough dough in the oven and then sit Malyn down at the table. There was always rough bread and goat’s milk on the table. Then she would take Malyn into the forest to gather herbs.

In summer they were sometimes lucky enough to find wild strawberries. With her hands covered in the scent of herbs and soil, her mother would put the strawberries in Malyn’s mouth. Unlike Malyn, who picked and ate unripe strawberries in a hurry, her mother’s strawberries were always perfectly ripe. When placed in the mouth, the tiny seeds would burst, releasing the sweet juice. The mixture of sweetness and a hint of earthy flavour gave young Malyn an incomparable joy.