Sewell felt like crying. But Greta had been so brave, and she was smiling, so he held the tears back so as not to ruin the moment.
“Everyone’s so stupid about this...”
“You said it. The world’s full of people who only think of themselves. So, then, Young Master Sewell...”
Hearing his name, Sewell looked at Greta. She was looking up at the sky.
“It can’t be fun hanging around with someone like me. I’m sure you’ve had your fair share of pain.”
By now, rumors about Sewell and Greta had begun to spread around the village. Sewell’s father didn’t seem too pleased about it, but Sewell’s mother had magnanimously accepted their friendship, knowing it was Greta who had given her son the cough drops. His mother had also been the one to teach Sewell the recipes for the lasagnas and financiers he gave Greta.
The kids in the village had punched him twice now, saying that he was pathetic to be led around by a witch. They jeered at him and sometimes acted violently towards him, knowing that Sewell would never tell the adults what they did.
Sewell simply wanted them and his father to understand, one day. He wanted them to understand that Greta was really wonderful, that she was a hardworking girl, and that no one had the right to discriminate against her or mock her.
“Huh, why? I always have loads of fun with you. It’s way more fun being with you than anyone else.”
“Yeah, but I...” Greta bit her tongue and looked down. Sewell gave her a big grin.
“But yeah, it’s true that you’re stubborn and rude, you grind your teeth when you’re mad, and you glare daggers at me.”
Greta looked up and scowled at Sewell. “If you’ve got so much to complain about, then why are you still here?”
“No, you’re wrong! I’m not complaining—I find all those things about you wonderful.”
Sewell took Greta’s cold hand in his own and looked up at the sky. It didn’t look like snow would fall today. Their breath left their mouths in little puffs of steam, disappearing into the winter sky.
“Let’s go looking for it, Greta.”
“For what?”
“For a witch village.”
Sewell could sense Greta’s discomfort.
“Wherever you are, how wonderful you are remains the same,” Sewell went on. “But you want to go there, don’t you? To somewhere where other people like you live.”
“Witch villages aren’t found so easily.”
“You never know. Maybe if we go together, we’ll find it just like that.” Sewell paused. “But to be honest, to me, it would be okay if we didn’t manage to find it either.”
“What?”
“If we can’t, then we can just start our own village somewhere! Then we can save people who are all alone. Then it’ll get bigger and bigger as more people come!”
“The young master has admirable dreams, huh?”
“Not really. I’m just... I’m desperate to come up with ways to keep you with me. This is a boring village full of adults. I don’t know when a treasure like you might up and vanish.”
Greta couldn’t stop herself from shaking. “I told you before! Don’t say sappy stuff with such a straight face!”
“Ow!”
Sewell noticed a sweet fragrance coming from Greta’s fist as it struck him. It smelled like the sweets he’d made her.
As Greta playfully chased him around, Sewell laughed from the bottom of his stomach. Before long, Greta found herself laughing along.
The two of them continued to spend time together. Unfortunately, their days weren’t full of nothing but bliss. Despite having recovered, Sewell’s housekeeper still spoke lowly of Greta. Other villagers turned their noses up at her every time she walked by. Sewell confronted them, but often ended up getting beaten up because of it.
Greta nursed Sewell back to health with tears in her eyes every time this happened. So that she wouldn’t cry, Sewell simply announced that his dream was to become a muscly tough guy, but this made Greta cackle with laughter. It stung just a little.
On another day, Sewell was heading towards Greta’s shack. The cart he was wheeling had extra lumber from his family’s business—he wanted to renovate Greta’s house to make it easier to live in.
“Greta! You home?” he called, but there was no reply. Thinking it strange, Sewell headed to the back of the house, where Greta was squatting down muttering to herself.
“‘Weather ain’t too bad, huh?’ No, that’s not right... ‘Hello! The weather’s great today!’ Hee hee... Oh ho ho... ‘You’re looking as thickheaded as ever.’ No, no, no! ‘You’re pretty cool, you know?’ Ngh... This sucks, I’m no good at this at all. If only there was, I dunno, a seminar or something where I could learn how to bewitch him...”
“Greta, what’re you doing?”
“Wagah!” Greta exclaimed, making a rather unique sound. She shot up and turned to him, her face red with anger. “You blockhead! Don’t scare me like that!”
“S-Sorry! You just seemed like you were having fun.”
Yet again, Greta ended up chasing Sewell around. Unfortunately for Sewell, he wasn’t so light on his feet, so Greta caught him quickly.
“The pinch punishment is in order for any who dare creep up on me!”
“Noooo!”
So their usual banter went. By the way, Greta’s pinching hurt more than any punches did.
Rubbing his sore cheeks, Sewell broached the topic again.
“So what were you doing earlier? Some kind of game?”
“Shut up. Forget everything you saw. Got it?”
“Loud and clear,” Sewell said, nodding furiously, Greta’s hands wrapped around his throat. There was no way he could actually forget, but agreeing seemed like his only option here.
Greta was a little taller than before, perhaps partly thanks to the food and snacks Sewell prepared for her. A wave of relief passed over Sewell as he thought of this.
Not only that, Greta had started demanding a lot of money from the villagers who came to her for her concoctions. This was because she had noticed that whether she charged them a little or a lot, their attitude towards her didn’t change. They grumbled and complained as they purchased the high-quality medicines she spent so much effort creating. Of course, Sewell’s housekeeper was among their number.
At that moment, there was a loud bark. Greta pursed her lips as she noticed a large dog panting near the wagon.
“Ugh, you brought your mutt along again?”
“Yeah. And she’s not a mutt—she’s Candy!”
“Tch, she’s a mangy mutt...”
As Greta turned her head away with a huff, Candy growled quietly with teeth bared.
Although Greta and Candy were mutually not on good terms, Sewell loved them both, so he wanted them to get along. That was the main reason he brought Candy when he came to hang out with Greta.
“Aha! I know!” Greta suddenly shouted. She pulled a wicked grin, as she always did when chancing upon an idea. “That’s it! That’s it! I know the exact potion to use!”
“G-Greta, what’s all this?”
Greta pointed at the confused Sewell, and announced with a big grin, “Just you wait, Sewell. I’m going to make you all mine, and I know just what I need to do it!”
Sewell could only watch as Greta clattered back inside. Left alone, he sighed.
“Oh, Greta. I’ve long since been yours...”
This naive girl had yet to realize that her beautiful smiles already captured the heart of her friend every single day.
Candy nuzzled up to the blushing Sewell, and barked happily.