The swamp monster left his swamp, walking onto a road he had never taken before — following two tiny birds.
Those two little birds were quick and nimble, circling around the swamp monster’s head, like carrots dangling in front of a donkey, enticing the swamp monster to keep moving forward.
On the way, they passed by the inn where the knights had once stayed. The swamp monster seemed to sense something, slightly strayed from the route, walked to the front of the inn, lifted his head, and looked toward the second–floor window.
A sculpture–like gray face flashed past the window. The traveler staying in that room, half–asleep and half–awake, saw the face outside the window and jolted awake in terror. But when he looked carefully again, he felt as if he had seen wrong. It wasn’t until the next morning, when he saw two muddy palm prints on the window, much larger than a normal hand, that the traveler let out a frightened scream.
Along this journey, strange mud pits suddenly appearing, muddy handprints at windows, and so on, left behind many spine–chilling and horrifying rumors.
The two dutiful little birds would always fly forward to remind the swamp monster whenever he strayed off course, pecking at his hair and face to guide him back to the right path. Occasionally, when he walked too slowly and lost the guidance of the two birds, he would stand dazed in place, looking all around. Then the two little birds would fly back to pick up this big mud man who had fallen behind.
While the swamp monster was still trudging on the road, Meili had already been completely locked up in the study by Madam Freese because her homework was terrible.
Day and night, she buried herself in studying fairy language. She wasn’t even allowed to leave the manor and had no idea what was happening outside. That day, not seeing Madam Freese come to check her homework, she cautiously asked the servant who brought her food.
“Where is Madam Freese?”
The servant, as always, didn’t say a single word, quickly collected things and left.
Under Madam Freese’s orders, none of the servants in the manor were allowed to talk to her. Only the mistress of the manor, Madam Freese, and Alex, as well as an owl, would speak to her.
Meili: Ha, psychological warfare.
She couldn’t get any answers from the servants. She pushed open the window and grabbed the owl napping on the windowsill.
“Madam Freese isn’t in the manor today?”
The owl lifted his eyelids, yawned, and casually replied, “Madam Freese and Alex went to patrol the territory. They’ll be back in the evening.”
This place was called Senhai Territory. Madam Freese was the lady of the domain, while Alex was the nephew of the deceased lord, and also the successor of Senhai Territory. But he had not yet taken the position. According to his uncle’s will, he needed to marry after turning twenty–two before he could officially inherit Senhai Territory.
Now, Alex was merely leading the knights of Senhai Territory in some patrol work, like clearing out roaming bandits and such.
Senhai Territory wasn’t large, but its environment was exceptionally blessed. Disasters rarely occurred. Besides occasionally clearing out bandits, Alex spent his days hunting and playing, living like the pampered, foolish young master of a wealthy family.
Meili had even thought about using Alex to escape, but later discovered that this guy had the heart of a thief but not the courage. Whenever he saw Madam Freese, he became as obedient as a little chick — completely unreliable.
Seeing every escape route slowly being cut off, Madam Freese’s gaze growing more pressing day by day, Meili couldn’t help becoming anxious.
A knife hanging above her head, not knowing when it would fall — the feeling was unbearable.
Hearing that Madam Freese would be out for a whole day, a thought stirred in her heart—
But before the thought could form, the owl already saw through her intention. He coughed and spoke in a low voice: “You’d better not think of running away, little girl. Even though Madam Freese has left, you absolutely cannot escape from this manor.”
Meili pressed her lips together and slammed the window shut with a bang, locking herself inside the study. She grabbed her hair hard, leaned on the desk against that fairy language book, silently letting out her frustration for a while, then continued picking up the book, reading and writing at the same time.
Only magic can deal with magic.
So, study! Study the hell out of it!
Even if she can’t escape in the end, before dying she has to struggle hard and splash Madam Freese’s face with blood!
Meili studied with a hideous expression, and Madam Freese, who had been out the whole day, returned to the manor at dusk. After changing out of her traveling clothes, she sat by the window and silently chanted a line.
Many green fairies rode the wind from the garden outside and flew in, surrounding her, whispering into her ears.
“She didn’t try to escape today!”
“She still didn’t learn to use magic today, what an idiot!”
“She asked where Freese went!”
“She was reading in the study, and even secretly fell asleep!”
Madam Freese quietly listened to the reports from these spies, and was fairly satisfied. She had deliberately gone out for a whole day today to give Meili a chance to escape, yet she actually didn’t try — it seemed she had become more obedient.
With that thought, she took a red–sealed letter from the drawer.
The wax seal was stamped with an iris, the mark of the Lake Witch.
The letter slipped out of her hand, the ribbon automatically untied, and the characters inside twisted, forming a thumb–sized woman wearing a black gown. The woman made of words stood on the purple iris–patterned letter, gracefully bowed to her, and spoke: “We sincerely invite you, Forest Witch Noita Sen Freese, to attend the Witch Gathering.”
The invitation to the Witch Gathering had been delivered by the messenger yesterday.
Every few years, such a Witch Gathering would be held. As the only remaining witch of the Forest Witch lineage, Freese had to attend the gathering on behalf of her family. But it just had to be at such a critical moment… She had already decided to begin the ritual within these days.
She had pondered the whole night yesterday and finally decided to let Meili live a few more days for now, and only deal with her after attending the Witch Gathering. However, during the seven days she would be gone, she must make sure this scheming girl stayed honest.
Although she behaved obediently today, she still couldn’t feel at ease.
Madam Freese summoned the owl.
“Bole, I am about to attend the Witch Gathering.”
The owl nodded, “Yes, Madam Freese. I shall prepare to accompany you. I wonder where this year’s gathering will be held?”
Madam Freese: “No, you are not going. You will stay here and watch Meili. When I come back, I want to see her staying properly in the manor.”
The owl’s tone was quite regretful. “Madam Freese, it is truly a pity that I cannot accompany you. Please remember to bring back many bottles of fairy wine from the gathering.”
At dawn, Meili was still asleep, while Madam Freese, dressed in a green gown, stood in the manor’s garden.
“Alex, I will return in seven days. You must take good care of the territory and the manor.”
“Of course!” Alex, like a knight, took Madam Freese’s hand and kissed it, his gaze filled with deep affection. “I will definitely take good care of the territory and the manor for you. I only hope you will return soon, and not let me miss you for too long.”
Freese then turned toward the forest, chanting lines as light and melodious as a song.
Her voice echoed in the air, as if countless tiny voices were repeating it, singing along.
Many green glowing branches flew from the forest. Those branches, broken from different trees, intertwined with each other and transformed into a white unicorn.
Madam Freese mounted the unicorn, lightly tapped the letter against its horn, and the letter turned into a purple ribbon, guiding her direction.
The white unicorn stepped upon the wind, following the purple ribbon’s guidance, swiftly and silently moving away from the manor and into the lush, distant forest.
“Why is Madam Freese not here again today?” Meili grabbed the owl and asked.
The owl skillfully struggled out of her grasp, complaining, “Little girl, stop secretly plucking my feathers.”
Meili didn’t feel the slightest shame. She openly stuffed the feather in her hand into her pouch and gave it a smile. “Don’t say it like that, I just accidentally grabbed it off, and I didn’t want to waste it. Tell me, where did Freese go today?”
“She went to attend the Witch Gathering.” Alex’s voice came from the doorway.
Meili turned her head and glanced back, seeing that the little chick who acted so obedient under Freese’s watch suddenly straightened up into a proud rooster again, giving off a frivolous air as he leaned against the study door and winked at her.
“Hey, how’s your studying going? The weather is so nice, staying here to study is too stuffy. Why not go to the garden and sit for a bit?”
Meili sized him up from head to toe, confirming that Madam Freese must be far away now, otherwise he wouldn’t dare come here flirting recklessly.
With the owl shouting, “If Madam Freese finds out you took her out, you’re done for!”, Alex waved his hand dismissively. “We’re not leaving the manor, just going to the garden.”
The two walked in the garden, and there was no one else around. Alex quickly revealed his true nature and asked her, “Freese will be gone for seven days. Once she returns, you’ll probably be finished. Why not take this chance to have a romance with me?”
Meili: “The Witch Gathering lasts seven days? Do you know where it’s being held?”
Alex: “Don’t worry, if we’re discreet, Freese will never know!”
Meili: “I heard you’ve stayed by Madam Freese’s side for ten years. Have you ever seen other witches?”
Alex: “Actually, I’m not the rascal you think I am. I just pity poor girls.”
Meili: “With Madam Freese gone, is there any kind of barrier or magic left in the manor that can restrict me?”
The two of them talked past each other, not a single sentence lining up. They stared at each other wide–eyed for a moment, then both pressed their foreheads and inhaled sharply.
Thus, the garden walk ended in displeasure.
Alex couldn’t chew through this tough piece of bone and went elsewhere to find entertainment, while Meili turned around and went to the garden pond, rolling up her sleeves to dig mud out of it.
The servants watched her from afar. One came rushing over to stop her. Though the servant still said nothing, she tried to pull Meili up by force.
Meili dodged and continued scooping mud, shouting loudly, “I want to play with mud, what business is it of yours!”
With Madam Freese gone, she too was feeling bold.
There were no swamps near Senhai Territory, and the manor didn’t even have a mud pit. When Madam Freese was here, Meili wasn’t even allowed into the garden. Now that she finally found an opportunity, she directly scooped up a basin of mud and carried it back to her room.
Seeing her fixated on that basin of soft mud, the owl couldn’t help but advise, “No matter how long you stare at it, the swamp monster can’t come out of it.”
Meili: “I can’t look at things and think of someone?”
Meili: “This lousy Senhai Territory doesn’t even have a swamp. If the swamp monster really comes looking for me, there wouldn’t even be a place for him to live!”
Owl: “…If you’re that worried, you should be more worried about Madam Freese finding out. Although she can’t kill the swamp monster, she can control your life.”
“Death is sooner or later anyway, what is there to be afraid of!” Meili finished, then her tone softened. She looked at the owl sincerely, “Mr. Owl, I think you’re a good bird. Why don’t you help me meet the swamp monster? I promise, just a meeting, I won’t do anything else!”
The owl said nothing and closed one eye.
Meili looked at it for a moment, suddenly realizing. It was literally closing one eye and leaving the other open!
Although she truly wanted to see the swamp monster, releasing one feather–bird after another to send messages, Meili wasn’t confident that the swamp monster would really come all the way here looking for her. After all, he was such a homebody — always isolating himself in the wild swamp, his living area never changing.
Will he really come?
Before being killed by Freese, could she see him one more time?
If he didn’t come, she hoped those little birds could find him, staying with him for a while would also be fine.
Meili hugged her blanket as she sat on the bed, studying fairy language while feeling melancholy. The swamp monster had already traveled along the coastal road and arrived before the manor. The five little birds that had one after another found him were now circling around his head, making him often raise his head to look left and right.
Upon reaching the manor, those birds seemed to have returned to their nest. They all left his side and flew toward a half–open window.
This time, the swamp monster no longer needed their guidance and walked straight toward the tower.
