Bon Appétit

“Excuse me! Please release me! It’s not me! I think you have mistaken me!”

“Noisy.”

As she screamed loudly with whatever stamina she had acquired from all that eating, she heard another person’s voice. It was a raspy voice which echoed in the empty dungeon making it more creepy. Luana scratched her forearm without realizing it.

The Duke looked at her with contempt. ‘But why is your face like that?’ Luana, who was struggling, inwardly shouted while scratching her forearm.

“No!”

She tried to explain it in a hurry, but it didn’t seem to make sense.

“Really, well..want… wash myself.. really!”

“Shut up!”

The knight next to him made Luana shut up instead of the Duke. It was the Knight named Rugard who first brought Luana. She was a little relieved that she at least knew him a little.

“You’re mistaken! This is not my place!”

“Yes, you’re at the right place.”

“That’s not true!”

“Yes it is.”

“No!”

“Yes, it is!”

As Rugard and Luana were fighting on who was right or wrong, the Duke became annoyed and intervened.

“What are you doing now?”

Rugard, who had come to his senses too late, quickly shut his mouth. But Luana kept on talking.

“You’re not right at all. Why should I be stuck here?”

“That’s because you’re a witch.”

The answer was given by the Duke instead of Rugard.

“What?”

Luana looked at the Duke with a sympathetic look on her face. No, there were no witches in the world these days. It had been a while since their families had been wiped out.

[T/N: In the raws, the korean idiom dry off seeds was used. It means to remove all of something leaving nothing. It just sounded weird here, that’s why we edited it out.]

“You look upset.”

The Duke expressed his displeasure.

“No, well, do you still have witches these days?”

“Here you are.”

“Not me. I don’t have a broom and I can’t fly.”

“Why does a witch need to fly?”

“Oh, don’t they fly?”

“No matter how much power they get from the devil’s contract, their essence is still human. They can’t fly.”

‘How do you know so much about them in such details?’ Luana endured what she wanted to shout out and swallowed up her grievances.

“I have been searching for a witch for a very long time, but this is the first time I have found one. There are so many things I want to ask you.”

As he said so, the corners of his mouth rose up but the appearance was a bit scary. ‘This is it! This is the expression of intention to harass someone. You look like you’re trying to bully me!‘ Luana took a step back from the bars that were glued together.

“Well, I am not a witch!”

“There’s no way a witch would confess she’s a witch.”

“Why on earth do you think I’m a witch!”

“You know curses come down from generation to generation, don’t you?”

I know, I know! Because I read the novel! But she didn’t want him to know. So she decided to go with the setting that she is an abandoned princess and doesn’t know anything about the outside world.

“The curse slowed my senses and I have almost lost my sense of taste. As a result, I can hardly eat food. I never felt the taste so I didn’t want to eat it. But the jerky you made tasted good. It’s a curse that can’t be solved by any means. It can’t be possible without a witch.”

When the Duke beckoned, Rugard brought a bag and opened it. Inside, there were various tools that she didn’t know what they were used for. ‘Wait, I know that.’ Luana broke out in a cold sweat. ‘It’s a torture tool! You crazy bastard!’

“That’s not true. I’m really not a witch.”

“I’ll judge that.”

‘Who are you to judge when I said that I’m not?’ The door of the prison opened and the Duke entered. Luana quickly ran to the other side and stood opposite to the Duke.

“No, absolutely not!”

“Then how would you describe the jerky? I can’t really taste the food.”

The Duke’s face briefly turned ecstatic. He seemed to be thinking about the taste of the beef jerky.

“The beef jerky you gave me was delicious. Is there any more solid evidence than this?”

Luana shook her arms helplessly.

“Well, that’s just because I made a good jerky!”

“Even the imperial cook couldn’t satisfy my tongue.”

“I guess I’m better off!”

“An abandoned princess of a little kingdom?”

“I’m prejudiced! I could do better!”

“Okay, come here quietly.”

The Duke strode forward. As he approached her, Luana stuck close to the wall to avoid him. However, there weren’t many things that could be done as long as the entrance was blocked.

“Come here.”

The Duke called out to Luana. ‘Would you like to go?’ Luana shook her head in fear.

“If you behave nicely, I’ll go easy on you.”

‘I’m not saying I will!’ She shook her head like a crazed person and tried to run away from him. ‘How long has it been?’ Her legs trembled because she was so nervous. Still, she moved with the will to not get painful and sick, but eventually she was caught by the Duke.

“Oh huh..huh..huh!”

Luana, while crying, held the Duke’s feet and said.

“Ah..I’ll tell you the truth!”

The Duke, who was just taking out some strange-looking tongs from his bag, stopped what he was doing and looked at Luana. Now that it had come to this, there was only one way before her.

“Yes, I am actually a witch! But it’s like an apprentice witch, so there’s very little I can do! I can’t get you rid of your curse!”

That is, to admit to being a witch.