The Witch and the Doll Swear

"...And this is the beginning of everything."

The surrounding images faded like the tide, the plain white flower sea and some petals flying in the wind turned into light blue tiles and a pure white bathtub.

Tina still didn't seem to have recovered from the almost most affectionate confession. Under the moon, the witch and the doll calling each other's names were soaking in the bathtub, looking at herself with two pairs of eyes that could not see any emotion.

"...As expected, I'm still a little shy."

"Although the emotions were relatively high at that time, and she kept calling Lily, and Lily also called Alice, but now it seems...a bit shameful."

Liliana and Alice looked at Tina with expressions without any shame,

"Ah... eh?"

Only then did Tina blink her eyes belatedly, and looked around.

"What about...after that?"

"...Before you say that, Miss Tina, look outside the porthole."

Although she didn't know why, Liliana released the magic of creating the image. Hearing the girl's eager questioning, the witch rubbed her eyes in a bit of trouble, and signaled Tina to figure out the situation first.

After being dazed for a while, Tina, who realized what this meant, quickly stood up from the bathtub and came to the round porthole. Alice also floated over and wiped off the mist floating on the glass with a paper towel.

It was pure white, and Tina almost thought that they were caught in a blizzard again, but not long after, the blue sky jumped in front of the window, and the airship broke through the clouds, passing a clean patch of land under the bright sun. blue sky.

The color of the northern sky is always so clear in winter. A snow pigeon flapped its wings across the sky. When it flew to the window, it tilted its head in doubt, as if wondering whether this strange-shaped hairless bird was How did it fly, but soon it gave up searching, flapped its wings, and swooped down.

At the end of the white trajectory, there is an urban area that looks small at this height, but as the airship flies, this city occupies more and more sight.

"... Lin Lun, the capital of the Olympian Kingdom, the airship will land soon."

"About ten minutes."

Liliana said, standing up from the bathtub.

"... This side has to be ready to get off the boat, so I'm sorry, Miss Tingna, Lily can only let Miss Tingna see this place first."

It is necessary to prepare for disembarkation——Although I said so, for Liliana, the preparation for disembarkation is to use the drying technique to dry the body after enjoying the bath, and then go straight to the dressing room and go to the box in the living room, and then sat on the sofa or bed, waiting for Tina to change her clothes.

"Hey, ah... No, it's okay... Wow, my hands and feet are all wrinkled..."

"After all, it's been a whole morning—"

"Being in those scenes all the time, I didn't pay attention to the passage of time..."

The girl also hurried to the dressing room, took the towel from Alice and dried her naked body.

Ting Na didn't like drying and drying techniques very much. Every time she used them, she felt that the moisture in her skin was also dried out, so she was a little flustered now.

"But, but, what happened after that? So far, I haven't seen any events that changed Miss Liliana and Alice."

While buttoning up her underwear, Tina also asked about the follow-up after that.

"...what happened after that, neither Alice nor I know."

"Eh?"

From behind the door of the locker room, Liliana's voice was filled with doubts for the first time through the frosted glass.

"Alice knew that Miss Tina thought it was strange. What happened to Lily and Alice, but I didn't know what happened... But it was indeed like that. After understanding each other, Alice and Lily went back to Lily's mentor. At the top of the tower, Miss Miranda saw Alice being hugged by Lily, and waved towards her. Then, Alice and Lily walked back under the hollowed-out dome."

"...My memory, that's all. I can tell Miss Tingna, I heard it from Tailun Mentor and Miranda later. When I woke up again, I was already in the largest hospital in Fei Leng Cui Among them, the nurse saw me awake and showed a surprised expression. Soon my parents and elder brother rushed over, followed by Mentor Tai Lun and Miranda. Mentor Tai Lun lost a hand, and Miranda held me in his arms. A wooden box."

"what happened?"

Sitting on a chair, Tina, who was putting on her pantyhose from her toes, couldn't help but speak.

"...Yeah, what happened? I asked the same. Then Miranda told me that the moment I walked into the dome with Alice in my arms, a magic was activated, a very large, very powerful magic that took me I lifted up the dome with Alice in the air, and I lost consciousness at that moment and saw nothing, but the shadow on the ground was converted into light at that time, the whole world was shaking, the building collapsed, and the ground cracked , magma and seawater spewed out from the crack, and even the moon cracked from it, half of it was still hanging in the sky, and the other half fell to the ground, and the top of the tower was surrounded by terrifying magic power. In order to protect Miranda, Tai Lun mentor lost His left hand."

The witch's voice was still calm, and the confusion seemed to be fleeting.

"What about Alice? I asked again, because I didn't see her anywhere."

As she said, Tina couldn't help but look at Alice, who was floating beside her, smiling.

"...Taronian teacher told me that after Alice and I were separated and floated into the dome, Alice yelled 'No, it shouldn't be like this.', 'Don't die, Liliana, the puppet immediately I’m here to save you.” In that case, she tried her best to get close to me, which was blocked by magic, but in the end Alice rushed to my side, and the magic reached its peak at that time, and it lasted for more than 20 minutes. After the phenomenon of magic light emission, the magic disappeared, I fell from mid-air, and Alice... Miranda handed me the box she was holding, and I opened it, only to see that there was only one Eyes, a few fingers and some fragments, Miranda said she had collected all that was left of her as best she could, and these were the only remains of Alice."

"...I looked at those, and I didn't even know what kind of expression I had. I just looked at the remaining fragments without saying anything. When I returned home from the hospital, I saw these pieces again. , I hold them and swear to fix Alice."

That's the end of this story.

Although Liliana did not say such a thing, this wordless silence is the most definite end.

The story is over.

Liliana escaped from the Sith, Alice sacrificed to save her, the respected mentor lost a hand, and she became an immortal body for some reason.

If it is necessary to say that the changes brought about by this incident can be noticed immediately, probably only after that, Liliana will no longer think too much about the future.

correct.

"After that, did Miss Liliana become a witch?"

There is also the matter of conspiracy, why the fisherman suddenly wanted to kill Liliana.

After buttoning up the suit, and finally checking her appearance in front of the floor-to-ceiling mirror, Tingna realized that she had many problems.

"...It was several years after I realized that I was immortal. I was involved in that conspiracy, and was promoted to the position of Queen by the Senate. I did a lot of things to maintain the empire that was about to collapse due to internal and external troubles. Probably one of them Which one violated someone's interests? One time, I was assassinated. An excellent assassin appeared in front of me and cut my throat in just a blink of an eye, but in the next blink of an eye, I was assassinated. , he was sealed in an ice coffin by Alice, and I still remember the look in his eyes when he saw something extremely terrifying."

Speaking of this, Liliana's voice was mixed with a slight sarcasm.

"...The assassination target whose throat was cut just now returned to normal the next moment. This must be the nightmare of all assassins. Taking this opportunity, I shuffled some forces in the palace and stabilized the rule. After a few years, I didn't grow taller, nor did I grow old. Except for the normal growth of nails and hair, I didn't even have menarche. At that time, I vaguely realized that I was immortal, and when I realized that I was closer to a witch than ordinary humans, It was a few years later, when I was touring the empire, I met a witch by chance."

"...It feels like another magnificent story..."

"That conspiracy directly led to Lily's ascension to the throne of the empire. It's too long to say."

Things related to Liliana are always like this. When one thing is solved, there will be more problems, and these problems will involve more things.

The past is never independent, everything must be related to each other, and this connection and weaving finally constitute the girl who is sitting on the bed and applying lipstick to herself.

"Then, what about Miss Alice? How did Alice return to Liliana's side?"

"... After returning from the ruins, I cultivated for half a year. During this time, I taught myself how to make dolls. According to my memory, I reproduced the appearance of Alice. Ball joint connection, but when I put Alice's only remaining eyeball into the doll's eye socket and said Alice's name to her blankly, the doll moved, I will never forget In that scene, the rough doll stood up crookedly, looked at me in surprise, and then, in my mind, she said 'Long time no see'."

"Lily was crying while holding Alice. The guard who heard the cry broke in and saw the eldest lady crying while holding the puppet she made. She thought it was because she missed her puppet friend again."

"Eh, is that so?"

"Yes, at that time, Lily was not as mature as she is now. The way she cried was really cute."

"...Alice."

Miss Witch's movement of applying lipstick froze because of the doll's chuckle.

But soon, she put away the lipstick as if nothing happened, took the doll off Tingna's shoulders, and hugged her intimately.

"After calling Lily's mother over, Lily knew that Alice's identity was a doll left over from the era of the ancient magic empire. Once it was exposed, it would cause many people to covet it. , Alice and Lily have been, never been separated."

"……Um."

"So, Alice didn't know what happened then?"

"I don't know, although according to Tyronn and Miranda's description, Alice should have known what the magic was for at that time and what the consequences would be, at least she must have known that it would bring danger to Lily, that's why she did that. Do... But, in Alice's memory and knowledge, everything about this is blank."

The little puppet shook her head, and it was only then that Tingna realized that this problem was the reason why they were still traveling on the mainland.

"The ruins were also sealed off. It wasn't until more than ten years later that Fei Leng Cui's Magicians Association managed to open the portal to it, but at that time, it was already occupied by monsters from the void, and it was on the verge of destruction. At the edge of the city, Alice and Lily tried their best, but they only brought out some letters from it. They didn't hand over these letters to more Professional, trustworthy researchers to crack."

"Then, the result of the cracking... At least the temporary result is Sinai, right..."

The witch nodded.

The speed of the airship became slower and slower, and the captain's voice sounded through the magic of the radio, announcing to the passengers that the voyage with some minor twists and turns had come to a successful conclusion.

Outside the porthole, the cross arm of the airport can already be seen.

After the last slight shake, the airship from the City of Thousand Towers docked in Lin Lun.

"...Then, let's get off the boat. Next, after a day's rest in the capital Linlun, there is still another journey to go."

And Liliana also put on snow-white cotton socks on her legs, stepped into fur boots, and finally, on her brown skin, she wrapped a bearskin overcoat.

Outerwear, socks, shoes, not the usual elegantly designed dresses, the witch's small face seemed to be wrapped in fluffy fur, the little lady hugged the nun's doll, Tingna also stood up quickly, and followed behind her.

"...Hmm, but, there are still many things I want to ask, such as why the fisherman suddenly murdered Miss Liliana, and so on, and, yes, there is also that oath! Miss Liliana and Alice's The oath, I still don't understand at all—wow!"

The witch who was walking in front suddenly stopped and bumped into her body by surprise, and then a pair of slender and soft arms wrapped around the girl's neck with the luxurious touch of a fur coat.

Bending down unavoidably, Liliana's face was close in front of her eyes, her dark eyes were staring at the girl's eyes, making the girl turn her face away red-faced.

At this time, the witch's lips spit out a sweet breath.

"...Yes, that is, another story."

"Uh, uh..."

"Miss Tina, Lily and Alice don't dislike the strong curiosity and desire for knowledge. Most of the time during the journey is spent in boring movements. If you want to hear, you can open all this past to Miss Tina, but. "

Like a deadly poison, like a disorienting phantom sound.

It has been a long time since Tina has been so clearly aware of the [Magic Charm] that belongs to Liliana. She almost forgot to breathe, just looking at the lips of the witch and the doll who are close at hand, thump, thump, and her heart is beating so fast. Jump out of the chest.

"The past has passed, no matter how much Miss Tingna knows about the past from me, it is only me, Alice, and the memories of other past friends, Miss Tingna, and Ai, it belongs to you, it is up to you Create stories."

"...Hey, Ms. Liliana, you really like Ai... a genius, cute child?"

"...?"

The sudden change of topic made the witch tilt her head.

"...Miss Tina."

The girl pouted and muttered softly.

"...It is true that I like a body shape that is similar to mine. It is easy to hug me that way, but I also like people who can easily hug me...And, Miss Tina, don't you also call me 'Miss Liliana'? "

"That, that's because I respect Miss Liliana very much..."

"Respect, so, Tingna, you don't regard Lily as an equal existence, do you?"

Alice floated on the girl's shoulders, whispering into her ear.

"……Eh?"

Breathing almost stopped.

"Tina."

"?!"

Ahhh, here we go again, again.

It seemed that there was an electric current spreading from his back, making his mind numb.

If your name is called directly like this, then, nothing can be done...

"...Meeting ceremony and reunion ceremony are the etiquette of nobles. If people want to be friends, all they have to do is call each other's names."

Yes, there is nothing wrong, as long as you do this, of course Tina knows what to do next in her almost boiling mind, but, but...

"...Liliana."

Just saying this word that contains magic power seems to mean surrender, and the strength of the body seems to be taken away, just like at that time in Yansha City, the person looking down is me, but I can't help but want to crawl here Faceless girl's face, kissing her toes.

"...If you're not used to it, it's okay to take your time. Before Tina can call me Liliana, I will still call you Miss Tina."

The neck was loosened.

Ting Na stared blankly at the witch who was standing in front of her. After she finished speaking, she turned around and held the doorknob. She had just taken a bath, and now there was a thin layer of sweat on her body, as if she was about to run out of water. .

"It's time to go, Tina, after a while, the airship will be empty."

"Miss Alice is a bully too..."

The puppet on the girl's shoulder giggled and stroked the girl's blond hair.

"...Speaking of which, Miss Tina."

"Ehh..."

What are you going to say this time? Tina raised her head but could only see the expressionless face of the witch.

"...If the whalebone talisman is regarded as a meeting gift, then I haven't given out the reunion gift after Miss Tingna reunited with me in Maixing City."

"Hey, that, that, no need... I can travel with Miss Liliana..."

"……But."

The witch who was holding the gilt doorknob turned around calmly.

"...Miss Tina is also a nobleman, and I am ready."

The implication is that it seems to be asking yourself if you want to refuse.

"...What is a gift?"

After a brief silence, Tina closed her mouth as if giving up.

"...Yes, what kind of gift is it?"

There is no reply that can say no, and the expression on her face may be very interesting. Tingna looked at the witch resignedly, but Liliana, as if deliberately trying to whet people's appetite, opened the door and took some The sly voice announced softly.

"...That's another story."