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1.

Amelia’s and her master’s happy days continued.

Though their world was limited to the area around the secluded cabin...

The way they lived their lives symbolized the word ‘happiness’.

Before Siwoo realized it, Amelia had now reached puberty, retaining her beauty that was all too familiar to him.

There were countless things that he learned about her after looking at these memories.

Amelia during her apprentice days was like a whole different person compared to after she became a witch.

Apprentice witches were girls who had been chosen by the prophecy to succeed a certain witch’s brand.

They were generally born with a bright mind, unrivaled talent and learning ability, as well as exceptional artistic talent and beauty.

In short, they were girls that were favored by gods.

But, there were exceptions to everything, and Amelia was one of them.

She was beautiful and she could do various things, like playing the violin, with ease, but she wasn’t that good at magic.

Siwoo had watched the twins, Diana, and even himself who had studied from the ground-up, so he could make this judgment with certainty.

Amelia had to spend days just to learn even the most basic magic formula, and whenever she was presented with a new one, her eyes would spin, as if her brain couldn’t take in those new information.

It wasn’t because she had no talent or anything, she was just that hopeless in studying.

In fact, she couldn’t even define her own magic and came out with her ‘incantation’ until she reached 20 of age.

Seeing it like this, it made sense why she hated studying so much and kept running away back when she was younger.

No one would like to be forced to do something they were bad at.

Siwoo knew how harsh it was to study magic.

To begin with, it required ‘talent’ as a prerequisite, and those who didn’t fulfill that wouldn’t be able to learn it at all.

Nevertheless, Amelia didn’t give up in her magic studies.

As she grew older and mature, she stopped running away altogether.

She stopped throwing her homework into the fireplace, and stopped slacking off during her classes.

The time she spent in front of her desk to study increased immensely.

More often than not, she’d stay up late to read the various magic books with bloodshot eyes rather than going out to play.

But, her change wasn’t limited to her being more motivated to study.

As she grew older, her illness also considerably worsened.

Back when she was young, she’d occasionally fainted or be stuck in bed from a high fever. After she grew older, she’d periodically vomit out blood, spending half of the year in her bed. Even her complexion had turned considerably paler.

But, even when she was struggling in her bed, she still didn’t let go of her books.

All so that she could reach her goal, ‘to be with Master forever’.

Everyone would die eventually, it was common sense among humans.

For witches, they’d die the moment they finished their succession, it was common sense.

Hence why Amelia’s goal of, ‘succeed Master’s brand and live with Master forever’ didn’t make any sense.

And there was no way the previous Marigold didn’t know that.

If anything, because she knew about it, she chose to isolate Amelia from the rest of the world in the middle of this wing nut tree forest.

Even when they went out to town to go shopping, they’d go back to their cabin immediately after they were done.

Except for Sophia and her predecessor, the previous Avenega, who often came to visit them, no one else was permitted to enter the forest. That was how badly she didn’t want Amelia to meet other witches

It wasn’t hard to guess why she did this though.

Because she wanted Amelia to succeed her brand before she could succumb to her illness.

If Amelia knew the truth, it was obvious that she’d just stop trying altogether.

There was no way she’d want to succeed her brand anymore.

Even if she could be convinced to proceed with the succession eventually, the whole thing would take too long, and with how bad she was at learning, her body might not last until the moment of her succession.

Hence why the previous Marigold chose to conceal the truth.

Of course, Siwoo got to know all this because he already knew the truth she was concealing, and he was here as a third-party observer.

Amelia herself had no way of knowing this, and she just trusted her master wholeheartedly.

The scene shifted to Amelia resting her chin on the windowsill, looking out the window at the pouring autumn rain.

This was the same spot she always sat on while waiting for her master to come back.

“When will you be back...? Every day, you left me with homework and went out somewhere...”

Amelia pouted as she whined.

Siwoo could only stare blankly at her, not knowing what to feel.

“Why are you making that face?”

At that moment, her sky-blue eyes met his.

Immediately, he could feel his heart sink in fear.

Essentially, what he was doing was spying her past without her permission.

And he was holding the key to the cruel truth.

He was afraid that he might accidentally let it slip.

Even though he knew that this was just a fragment of her past, that fear was still there.

“Ah... Um...”

As he was struck speechless, not knowing what to say.

Amelia got out of her bed and dashed towards him.

“Come in, quickly! Seriously, why are you out without an umbrella again? It’s raining!”

Seeing the previous Marigold returning to the cabin, a happy smile bloomed on Amelia’s face.

It was only then did Siwoo realize that he was standing at the place where the previous Marigold was standing.

The calendar showed the end of autumn.

All soaked, the previous Marigold was hit by the rain on her way back from Lenomond Town.

For a moment there, she stared at Amelia in silence.

“Amelia.”

“Yes, Master?”

“It’s tomorrow.”

At those sudden words, Amelia’s expression stiffened for a moment.

After staring at her master’s face for a moment, she jumped right into her embrace like a rabbit.

Her pajamas instantly got soaked and the chilly air touched her bosom, but she didn’t care.

There was no need for her master to explain what ‘tomorrow’ meant.

What else would it be other than the day of her succession?

She had been worried that her health would deteriorate further than this.

That she might die before she could even succeed her master.

“Is it true? You aren’t lying to me, right?”

“Of course. You’re ready now.”

“No way! You’re lying! I haven’t even decided on my incantation yet—!”

Amelia pinched her cheeks, her eyes wide open, as if she couldn’t believe that this was happening.

Her master hesitated for a second, but she eventually patted her shoulder before kissing her on the forehead.

“You’ve practiced hard for the succession ceremony all these years, haven’t you? You’re ready. As for your incantation, you can use mine, or you can think about it after you receive the brand.”

“No way... No way, no way, no way... Am I dreaming? Master, am I dreaming...?”

Amelia started to tear up.

The hardship and trials she endured, the efforts she put, all would finally be rewarded. Joy overwhelmed her to the point that she started crying.

“Master... I’m sorry I’ve been a bad apprentice... I promise... After I become a witch, I’ll help you out whenever you need me... I love you, Master... I really, really love you...”

Amelia hugged her master tightly, like a soaked baby bird burrowing into its mother’s embrace.

“...No...”

Siwoo knew they couldn’t hear him, but he said it out loud anyway.

This is just cruel...

Way too cruel...

2.

Their last hours—which only Siwoo and the previous Marigold was aware of—passed like any other day.

After Amelia grew a bit, they started sleeping in separate beds, but that night, they snuggled in the same bed before closing their eyes.

When morning came, they had breakfast together.

Amelia started her day looking all excited.

Her bright smile didn’t leave her lips, as if she had overcome her illness, in contrast to her red eyes from the lack of sleep due to all the excitement.

“After everything’s done, I want to go explore the world with you, Master! I want to see all of Lenomond Town and Ars Magna Town with you!”

“...Sure. Traveling is a good hobby.”

After that, they hung out the laundry together, playing the piano and violin together, cooking together—doing all sorts of things together peacefully.

But, this peaceful daily life, to one who knew what kind of end it would be, was merely a part of the tragedy.

The two of them took turns eating their oven-roasted turkey as their main dish for their lunch-banquet.

Soon, the dreaded final moment was about to come.

“Amelia.”

“Yes, master?”

A bright, happy smile was still hanging on Amelia’s lips.

Seeing this, her master barely managed to let out a smile before hugging her.

“Do you remember the succession’s procedure?”

“Of course! I’ve practiced hard!”

“I see, I see. Of course you have. That’s my diligent and admirable Amelia.”

“H-Hehe...”

Tears welled up in her eyes as she snuggled into her master’s arms.

The pair then headed to a clearing where a magic circle had been drawn in advance.

A fragrant lilac scent rose from the magic circle drawn with a mixture of perfume and ink.

The pair then knelt down on it, holding each others’ hands.

Then, they touched their foreheads together.

“Amelia, do you know how much I love you?”

“Of course. After all, you’ve taught this clumsy apprentice witch until I became worthy. I’m happy that I can repay you for everything you’ve done to me, Master.”

“Then, that’s all that matters.”

A vortex of beautiful particles enveloped the two.

They flew out of the previous Marigold’s body, and were being absorbed by Amelia.

“Stop...”

This was something he couldn’t change, but Siwoo still said that anyway.

He tried to close his eyes, block his ears, but he could still see and hear the memories unfolding clearly.

A sharp pain struck his heart, making his legs weak.

“I did it, Master! Look at me!”

Before long, the brand succession was complete.

Watching the moving particles around her, Amelia jumped up and down happily.

It was the mysterious realm that she knew she’d never achieve on her own. The excitement from attaining such a thing prompted her to try out her newly acquired power by spreading them on her palm.

But then, she noticed with her eyes.

The figure of the previous Marigold, slowly disappearing from the tip of her fingers.

At that moment, all the information and knowledge stored in the brand entered Amelia’s head.

More specifically, the information about the succession ceremony, something that she had been studying as an apprentice witch for years.

Now, all the uncovered secrets turned into ‘known information’ as if it had been directly inserted into her head.

“Ah...”

In a single second, her face that was full of joy crumbled.

Only a dull, hollow sigh successfully came out of her lips, expressing her great shock.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t be honest with you, Amelia...”

She fell to her knees.

Tears flowed from her eyes as she raised them in vain.

What followed was a scream.

Unable to see this scene, Siwoo turned his back around.

“Master...! W-Why...! W-Why didn’t you tell me...?! I-I thought... I-I thought that if I become a witch... W-We’ll be together forever...”

“They said that there’s always a parting after a meeting. Hehe, is that too cliche for a farewell?”

“T-That’s just unfair... N-No, I won’t accept this! P-Please, this is just unfair! Don’t go...! Don’t leave me...!”

“Amelia, my beloved apprentice... My successor... My dear daughter... I’m so happy that you finally inherit the Marigold name...”

“I don’t need this name! Just... Why didn’t you...?!”

“You are a kind child...”

“No...! No...! Master, take this back! I don’t need it! I don’t...! Without you, Master, I...!”

Though she cried, tore up her hair, screamed, prayed...

The cruel farewell didn’t stop.

“Live. As a witch. As a noble. And...”

After that, all Siwoo could hear were sentences that sounded like a monologue.

Followed by the scream of a newly-born witch who had just witnessed her master’s death, running through the forest to look for the traces of her master that no longer existed.

3.

Incantation. It was a process of re-defining the previously formless magic power into an image that was easy for the caster to imagine.

One could describe it as the reorganization of consciousness.

For example, the reason why Siwoo’s incantation was ‘Bloom’, was because the sight of magic power evaporating in his fingertips looked so pretty, just like blooming flowers.

In Amelia’s case, the reason why her incantation was ‘Wail’...

Was probably because the way her magic scattered in a hazy manner reminded her of her flowing tears.