l sat at the dining room table, her lips frowning for the first ti in a long while, visiting her friend’s house. After Leia received and drank the cure without question, she passed out on the bed, resting. The vial’s effect was apparent with gradually steadier breaths.
Lila, however, seed unimpressed, unpleased even by her sister’s recovery.
The Witch of Lust eyed her friend before her, scowling deeply at the opposite seat. Her hands crossed in unspoken authority, her eyes emptied in a scary calmness. She only considered hiding the cure as a surprise, but she didn’t expect her friend to demand an explanation at the forefront. Those novels that quickly glossed over this revelation with tear-jerking gratitudes? Lies! All lies!
"I’m still waiting."
"..." l hung her head at the interrogator. She couldn’t exactly tell her ’she just scamd a rchant, beat up her sister-figure, and stole the cure’ for them. She hasn’t even disclosed her Witch identity or harem plans to Lila yet!
[ Oops. Your unexpected blunder has caused your not-so-girlfriend to be suspicious! Good luck! ]
[ Favourability: 37 -> 35 ]
Ah, it dropped again. A cold sweat dripped from l’s forehead. "Lila. The cure was...um..."
Lila tilted her head, smiling in utter irritation. "Was what? It’s rare to see you stuttering, l."
So scary! l scread in her heart, sensing how her friend’s perception had dialed up to 100. "Uh, would you believe-"
Wait.
With a sudden calmness washing over her, l grasped her chin with her fingers, contemplating. In retrospect, she hasn’t actually done anything wrong, has she?
And with that, her shoulders imdiately relaxed, her cold sweat receding magically, a feat that bent the world’s physics.
l leaned back with a smirk as she admired how her friend’s eyes shivered. The Witch of Lust was never soone who cared about the concept of sha, even against her only closest (non-)lover.
"Oya?" Her light tone cut through the tension like butter, her foxy smile returning to take hold of the situation. "Not going to thank first?"
Lila’s brows knitted together before springing up. "When you suddenly find the cure out of nowhere? No." Not this ti. She would not allow her friend to gloss over the matter this ti, not when it concerned her sister.
l sighed as if exhausted, shaking her head. "A cute, kind, beautiful, and benevolent lady gave the cure. Other than that, I don’t know much else."
A vein popped on Lila’s forehead. Cute? Her l has never called anyone besides her cute!
[ The Witch of Envy was, respectfully, curious at the lady’s identity! ]
[ Favourability: 35 -> 32 ]
Oops. l’s smile strained, the sudden, smart ’cure-it-all-excuse-plus-self-praise’ in her head didn’t seem so bright anymore.
"Any na?"
"No."
"What did she look like?"
"I don’t rember clearly."
"Do you like her? Love at first sight, perhaps?"
"Oh, please. I would only like you, Lila!"
"..."
[ Favourability: 32 -> 29 ]
[ ....pft. Good luck. ]
Thanks, my kidnapper! Glaring at the System internally, l’s mind raced for a solution.
Having mastered the ’act of gaslighting’ in her Youth (against her parents when she needed more Gacha funds), she drooped her head like a puppy, the golden eyes that used to ooze confidence now soured in desperation, perfectly encapsulating the figure of a ’misunderstood maiden’.
"Will you overlook it this ti, Lila? I promise to explain one day..."
l’s words seed to stir sothing in Lila. At the corner of her gaze, she watched her friend’s lips open, then closed as if to hold back her frustration, before finally sighing helplessly.
"Fine," Lila grumbled. "I don’t want to drag it out if it’s unnecessary."
[ The Witch of Envy felt guilty of pressuring her friend! ]
[ Favourability: 29 -> 34 ]
l ’mustered up all her strength’ to glance at Lila. "That ans?"
"..."
Lila rely stared at her, her lips pressing together in silence. "I don’t want to...ruin the mont. You know, with my Sister finally recovering. Mm... please thank that lady when you see her."
l’s eyes glinted with pride. "Of course I will." The Witch of Lust received the ’gratitude’ kind and proper, and her friend’s polite attitude was relayed despite the jealousy-inducing scenario.
Lila tapped her finger on the table; each knock on the wood was a rhythm that cald her confusion. "Regardless, thank you, l. For bringing... the cure to us."
The Witch of Lust’s eyes widened at the hint of blush spreading across Lila’s cheeks. Monts ago, she seed to be a terrifying interrogator. Now, she seed so... normal, as a village girl who’s a novice in love should be.
[ The Witch of Envy deduced the cure has sothing to do with you! But decides to thank instead of questioning it further! ]
[ Favourability: 34 -> 39 ]
l blinked at the System’s insightful ssage, her heart thumping at the realisation. Her friend trusted her enough not to question her with doubts but rather a calm acceptance.
"Hehe." A grin spread across l’s cheek. "Now that’s more like it."
Lila knocked on l’s forehead, eliciting a playful ’ow’ from l. "Don’t get cheeky. Or I will tell all about this with Sister Saria, you know?"
The one who just beat up Saria and her friend raised her hand for a sheepish salute. "Sorry, sorry! Though I promise this will not be the last one."
Lila’s eyes squinted, her mind filled with the urge to rub l’s cheek. "And how many more will you lie about exactly?"
"Uh... a lot?" l looked away from the questioning gaze.
The Witch of Envy’s heart grew heavy, before lightening again. She thought she would be upset, only to realise that it is how her friend chose to protect her, and sohow, that only made her feel her load feel lighter than she expected.
Realising today’s event might have overwheld her friend, l stood up. "Well then. I’ll be off." She must leave so ti for Lila and her sister after all.
Her goal to seduce Lila must always start with resolving the lethal poison, or else Lila’s ’concern’ would never shift to ’romance’ from caring for her sister. That did not an, however, she would stroll up carelessly and imdiately date her right as her sister’s illness healed.
The cure would take at least a day to cleanse the years-worth of poison from Leia’s body thoroughly, and the ti is more than enough for Lila to take in the incident and-
"Don’t go."
"Huh?"
A pull on her wrist snapped l out of her trance; the fingers over her sleeve were fragile and careful.
She glanced at Lila, her friend’s eyes no longer darkened but glimred with a slight desperation.
"l."
Lila’s whisper was steady, carrying a resolve l rarely found in her hesitant friend.
"Like it or not, you’re part of my life now."
The Witch of Envy’s brows knitted together, in obsession, in seriousness. "I would not let go of you in tis like these. Be with . Until... until my sister wakes up."
l processed the request, her golden eyes scanning over Lila. A growth, or perhaps an awakening. l could sense the firmness in Lila’s gaze, determined not to let her be involved in one of the most critical monts of her life.
"Hehe." A relieved, almost grateful chuckle escaped from l’s lips. The culmination of 10 years, all beheld until this mont.
No tears. No kisses. Not even a long monologue about prevailing friendships.
But this mont here is more than enough.
"Sis Saria may be mad at for not saying anything about an overnight visit, you know?"
A similar chuckle escaped from Lila. Not of triumph like l’s, but a straightforward content in her friend’s casual deanor.
"She can be mad all she wants." Lila raised her head smirking, her shalessness mirroring l’s.
--------------
In another World, a Witch once poisoned herself willingly with the poison that was used to kill her sister.
What drove her to this action was not hatred, but insecurity. The insecurity that the other families’ sufferings would exceed hers, the jealousy that soone out there understood her sister’s pain more than hers.
For the World that took away her sister, she will bury everything in snow.
For the World that taught her no ’forgiveness’, she will live in pursuit of malice that betrayed her sister’s will.
For the World that refused to acknowledge her helplessness, she will howl a cry to announce terrors and destruction.
For Lila Vexara was the Wtich of Envy, one who was denied her only family and sullied with a maddening grief.
[ Approaching the End of ’Envy’ Resolution. ]
[ ... ]
[ This is it. l. ]
In Leia’s room, l leaned against the wall with a sense of reprieve. Her mory was set adrift with the afternoon sun streaming through the window, landing upon the peaceful Leia.
Lila rely sat beside her, her palm sliding over Leia’s. The soft flesh on Lila’s palm was warm, too warm to be her sick sister’s, and it eased Lila’s worry more, like a curtain to Leia’s recovery finally being drawn open.
After what seed to be a while, the sickly sister opened her eyes.
Lila shook as she observed those eyes. More clear. More undiluted. Less with a forceful strength to lie about how fine she is. Leia’s gaze turned to her, the naturalness of the gesture seeming too nostalgic to Lila’s mory.
"Miss much?"
Lila nodded involuntarily, smiling. The purple scar has already long subsided, revealing a mature, undaunted beauty beneath the blue hair locks.
"Yeah." Lila hiccuped. "Too much. Even."
And so, this cos the ’end’ of the Snow Witch of Envy, a younger sister who rely missed her sister’s beauty.
l stayed silent, enjoying the sisters’ chuckles and cries in her ears. She has much to ask, has much to speak of, has much to comfort Lila for.
For now, she would allow Lila’s tears to drop, for this one, very last ti.
Reviews
All reviews (0)