Crown of Thorns Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Translator & editor : Cuties

The young man grumbled for a long ti and was surprised to see the plant growing up in the water.

“Did you plant this?”

“No.”

“Then it must have co along. It’s a waste to throw it away after it’s grown this big, so we’ll have to raise it.”

Then he proceeded to bring new water. I was in a strange mood when I saw the plant in the corner of the tower. It didn’t really suit the place to have a creature trying to live in a place where everything else is dying. Despite the lack of light and water, it struggled to grow up. It produced leaves and stretched the stem even though it looked so weak and about to fall any mont.

“Make sure to wash this ti.”

The young man brought in a little more water. It seems that he also wanted to take care of the plant.

I decided not to refuse this ti. After the young man left, I poured water into the large barrel. Then I wiped off the sticky stuff. My hair that had hardened gradually began to flow down, and my dark body gradually whitened.

I threw away the dirty water and poured more. I didn’t know he brought so much water. It was enough for to wash at least three tis. I imrsed myself in the full barrel. It’s been a long ti.

Plenty of thoughts ca to mind when I was imrsed in the water.

It was so clean that it reminded of the blue sea that I could see inside, the transparent water that flows in the valley, the warm bath before going to bed, the hot springs that were pushing up through the white snow, and even the water that was contained in cups.

Countless mories, the longing, bothered , but I let it go.

I was happy.

I had no doubt that the happy tis would last forever.

I couldn’t see my caring father often but I still had my mother who gave a tarot card and looked at lovingly every ti we were together. I was very young at that ti and couldn’t rember many things, but we had a great ti traveling together and eating delicious food. There were only good people around . I couldn’t get rid of my laughter because I was surrounded with so much love.

Until the day darkness swallowed the world.

mories after being driven into a witch ca to mind. I was also reminded of one ti when a huge stone had been tied to my feet and I was abandoned in the bottom of the river, struggling in the water and forced to drink it over and over again whenever I opened my mouth for a breath.

When I looked down at myself, I was covered with terrible wounds; burning marks, small pins from being trapped in a nail box, and mutilated wounds with swords. Countless scenes haunted . The phantom pain from each of them made shudder. This is why I tried to bury everything deep down.

I sank into the water. For it all to get quiet. To break away from my thoughts.

The water brought by the young man turned blood-red when I washed my clothes in it roughly. The old rotting stench reeked badly. But I felt a little clean and refreshed. After throwing out the water, I sat back against the wall.

That’s how I began to wait. For the young man to co.

Please co back.

It took him long to appear again this ti. The young man who ca back was still white and red. His young face remained intact, but it was different from before. While he was growing up like this, I remained the sa. But that ti felt horribly long.

The young man said with a look of surprise at the sight of my clean self.

“You finally accepted what I gave you.”

It was emaciated compared to before. There was a shadow on his ever-bright face. I was also distressed. I had a hard ti waiting for the young man to co back. How can you tell a witch who forgot the ti to wait?

The short ti I spent after eting the boy felt slower and more boring than the long ti I had spent before eting the boy. Because he made feel the flow of ti. It was all because he woke my previously dead self up.

I’m tired. I want to stop now.

I approached the young man and pulled his sword out.

“What are you doing?”

“It’s enough now, please kill .”

Like an angel, he was fit to kill a witch. The young warrior had grown up and had to drive out the darkness. He had to give eternal rest.

“What are you talking about all of a sudden?”

“You had co to kill .”

“No. I can’t kill you.”

He told with a puzzled look on his face. I approached him and gave him his sword.

Kill , please. Let’s get it over with.

I held the young man’s hand in silence and put it right on my heart. It happened in a flash. There was not a mont of hesitation. A faint groan ca out of his tightly packed teeth. His large red eyes contained the image of a terrible witch. It seed like he was either being burned at the stake, or howled in the depths of hell.

“Hey… hey! Hey!”

My arm, which was holding the young man’s hand, began to lose strength and sat on the floor. The urgent call of the young man was heard, but was gradually getting distant.

If you were the light to drive out the darkness, I wouldn’t have to open my eyes anymore.

I hope my ti ends like this.

*

When I opened my eyes, the first thing I saw was darkness. A shuddering darkness that swallowed the world, swallowed the people I loved, and soon swallowed . I was cursed and it was no use trying to escape the darkness.

I had to spend endless ti alone in the dark until the light ca and drove away. The loved ones left a long ti ago, and the people I had been associated with always left before , and the world, tired of war and the invading monsters, turned its arrows on .

Because I was a witch.

The pain was terrible, but what made it even harder for was the fact that I was always left alone. The warriors who ca to kill died before I did. How long should I suffer this pain?

“Are, are you up? Are you all right?”

I was still blinking, and I heard an urgent voice. And soon, light was blurring my vision. The white hair and red eyes were like the sun rising in the dark. The young man’s eyes seed to be shaking, but eventually he shed tears. He almost sobbed as if it was difficult to control his pent-up emotions.

“I thought you were going to die. I was afraid you’d die. I thought you were going to die because of , and I thought I killed you.”

The young man’s tears fell on my face. They felt lukewarm to the touch, but soon they got cold. My face got wet and I had the illusion that I was crying. When was the last ti I cried? I can’t even rember.

Oh, I thought this young man was the light that was going to drive out the darkness. Even though he was gradually losing his light, I still thought that he could kill .

Unfortunately, that wasn’t it. Because I’m alive again now. I searched my mory to see if I had stopped before I stabbed my heart by mistake or hesitation, but the feeling of the sword that was digging through my chest ca to vividly. I’ve done it once or twice, and I couldn’t have made a mistake.

I certainly put the sword in my heart and it was the hand of a young man that held it, though he didn’t an it. If this young man is not the light, who will kill ? I looked at the young man crying sadly. He was much bigger than when I first saw him, but he was still young. No, he looked young. His crying face was that of a boy without a soul.

I was about to apologize, but I closed my mouth. I was sorry to have made a weak and kind young man do this, but unlike the young man who lived a short life, I had yet another eternity to spend. It was resentful and hopeless to make think of hope or light.

It wasn’t enough for him to shake up, he also failed to save . I thought that he could kill , that he could finally bring my ti to an end, but he only made feel the flow of ti even more. This rapidly growing young man was sure to die earlier than I did. I wanted to stop seeing his face with all it represented now.

“Go back.”

“What?”

“Don’t co to again.”

“Why? What’s wrong?”

The young man asked back with a look of embarrassnt. His face was drenched with tears. It’s strange to see him cry for fear of my death. Emotion surged through in one wave. This is why I don’t like this young man. He’s going to die anyway. He’s going to leave again. Why is he shaking up?

“I don’t need you anymore.”

Waiting only for the warrior that will surely kill the witch, I said in a cold voice.

“I couldn’t change the present, so the future won’t change either. You die because of . I kill you.”

So don’t co out from hiding. Never show up in front of again. Live a happy life in a safe place in your own way. Don’t look for the forgotten witch.