I Wish I Could Predict Love, Not Fall Into It - Chapter 20

Today, I woke up in the witch’s body again.
I ate in the witch’s body and went to the library in the witch’s body.

As I was picking out a book from the tall shelf that reached the ceiling, I suddenly had a thought.

I’ve lived a pretty decent life, so why did I end up inside the witch?

Back in school, I helped a friend who was being bullied and got bullied instead. At work, I got demoted for yelling at a boss who kept harassing female employees.

Thinking about all that brought tears to my eyes.

Sniff.

But the real reason I became like this was all because of my dad.
He was a police officer at a small station, and he always took care of all the hard jobs around the neighborhood. He even quietly agreed when my mom suddenly asked for a divorce.

I swore I’d never live like my dad, but as time went on, I started to become just like him.

Sniff.

That’s when I heard a sniffing sound. Earlier it was me, but this time, it wasn’t.

I looked up toward the sound and walked up the stairs inside the library. Between the bookshelves, I found a maid crying.

“Nicole?”

When I saw her face, I ran over quickly.

“Why are you crying?”

“I was cleaning the balcony earlier, and I dropped the doll my mom made for me. But I’ve been working, so I haven’t had time to find it.”

Nicole, with teary eyes, showed me the cleaning tools in her hands.

I felt sorry for her, so I boldly said,

“I’ll go find it for you.”

And right at that moment, I realized something. I sounded just like my dad.

But what could I do? I’m his daughter after all.

“But it fell into a tree.”

“A tree? What kind of tree?”

Nicole walked to the window and pointed to the big old tree next to the main palace.

Between the green branches of the old tree, I saw a small white doll stuck there.

“Hm. I think I could knock it down with a long stick.”

“Can you really do it?”

Nicole looked at me with hopeful eyes. I gave her a wink.

“Of course. Don’t worry. I’ll get it for you.”

Nicole smiled brightly and bowed deeply to me.

“Thank you so much.”

❖ ❖ ❖

These days, Ali had no free time except when she prayed to the god Durk. She was too busy taking care of the witch.

When the witch asked for food, Ali cooked.
When the witch wanted to dance, Ali danced.
When the witch wanted to hear a song, Ali sang.

If she refused, the witch threatened to burn down the tiny log cabin, so Ali had no choice.

The witch, in the body of an old man, had just woken up from a long nap again.

“Ugh, I really can’t do much in this ordinary body.”

The witch grumbled as she floated a teapot in the air. As water poured from the spout, she moved her mouth toward it.

Ali was shocked at the sight.

“You seem strong enough already.”

“Hey, my real power is much more than this.”

The witch wiped her wet lips with the back of her hand and grinned.

“I’m really powerful, you know.”

She had trained her magic so hard on her own that she’d get nosebleeds. So she could still use some magic now, but she needed her original body with the witch’s blood for full power.

Smack.

The witch clicked her tongue and looked down at her wrinkled hands.

In this body, she probably couldn’t even open her own enchanted diary.

The witch started to feel that it was time for her to go.

❖ ❖ ❖

After a simple breakfast, Louisville took a long wooden box out of a drawer in his office desk.
When he opened it, a long rifle, about the length of an adult man’s arm, was revealed.

In the Louis Empire, owning a gun was illegal unless you were a high-ranking noble.
Emperor Louisville kept a strict record of everyone who owned a gun and strongly advised they report it before using one.

He knew very well how dangerous it was, so even he rarely used it. It was only a must-have for hunting or traveling.

After checking the gun, Louisville put it into a leather case and returned it to the drawer.

Knock knock.

He heard a knock and looked up.

“Come in.”

Emma stepped into the office, walking around the golden pillars to face the emperor.

“Did something happen to the Empress Dowager?”

“No, I just came to see you.”

Emma smiled kindly, her face wrinkled with age.

The former Emperor Cutter had brought her from the Gardener family as a skilled butler to the palace. That was Emma.

She had served the palace with devotion and even acted as a nanny to both Louisville and Harry.

“Still having trouble sleeping?”

When Emma asked with concern, Louisville nodded.

“Pretty much.”

“Ah dear, and you can’t even take sleeping pills.”

Because of the risk of poisoning, Louisville never took any medicine that could make him sleep.

Cough, cough.

At the end of her words, Emma gave a small cough. When Louisville looked at her, she gave an awkward smile.

“I must be getting old. I keep coughing like this lately.”

Louisville stood up from his desk and walked to the window.

“Shall I open the window for some fresh air?”

“I’ll do it.”

Emma followed him, unsure what to do.

Creak—

Louisville opened the window first, looked down at the garden, and froze.

“…What is going on down there?”

❖ ❖ ❖

I found a broken mop handle in the storage room. I used it to poke at the branches of the old tree.

But the small doll didn’t move at all.

Maybe it was because I was too short. I even stood on my tiptoes, but still couldn’t reach it.

Still, I didn’t want to give up. I kept trying.

As I poked upward with the wooden stick, I slowly backed up.

Thud—

Suddenly, I bumped into something solid like a wall.

“You must be quite busy.”

I heard a deep, smooth voice behind me.

When I turned around, the emperor was standing under the sunlight.

“Oh, there’s a doll stuck in the tree.”

The emperor looked up at the branch I was pointing at.

“You’re not going to reach it like that.”

“That’s because I’m short.”

Whoosh—

The emperor took the stick from my hand and stretched it up. With just one move, the doll dropped.

“Wow, Your Majesty is so tall. You reached it right away.”

Thud—

The next moment, the doll fell to the ground. It was the size of a palm and shaped like a rabbit.

“Wow! I got it!”

I quickly crouched down and picked it up, gently brushing off the dirt.

The rabbit doll had black stone eyes, and its long ears were folded forward.

“It’s cute.”

I heard the emperor’s amused voice from above me. So he knows when something is cute too, huh.

I looked up and smiled brightly.

“Right? Isn’t it cute?”

I shook the doll as I asked, but the emperor’s eyes weren’t on the doll, they were on me.

“…!”

Suddenly, I felt my face get really hot.

N-no way, he doesn’t mean I’m cute, right?

“The doll… you mean the doll is cute, right?”

I stammered, asking again, and the emperor smiled faintly and nodded.

Yes, of course. There’s no way an emperor who hasn’t even fallen for the heroine would say I was cute.

But…

Even after clearing up the misunderstanding, my heart kept racing.

❖ ❖ ❖

That night, Louisville still couldn’t sleep. He sat at his desk in his bedroom, holding some old letters he had read many times.

They were from the people of Shannon, a beautiful island at the far eastern edge of the continent. They all shared the same concern.

[The woman claiming to be a priestess is doing strange things at night. We think she might be a witch. Everyone here is scared.]

[We’ve seen the priestess chanting spells in the direction of the palace. What if she’s cursing His Majesty?]

Sigh…

A heavy sigh escaped Louisville’s lips. He rubbed his temples with both hands, looking very tired.

Was she really a witch? Or just a priestess who held a grudge against him?

Either way, he would have to go there himself to check and deal with it.

Suddenly, he thought of Anier and her cheerful smile during the day. That smile… her actions… were all so cute.

“Wow! I got it!”

She really was a reckless woman.

She could’ve ignored such a small matter since it involved a lowly maid, but she actually went looking for a stick to help find the doll.

Was it kindness? Or just nosiness? He once even suspected she might be the witch, but Anier seemed to think helping others was natural.

Louisville found himself curious. What kind of person was she, really?

She said she hated vegetable soup, but ate it fine when fed to her. She seemed talentless in swordsmanship, but took lessons seriously. And when he said “cute,” she immediately assumed he meant the doll.

You could never predict what she’d do next. Maybe that’s why he had laughed without even realizing it earlier.

Knock knock—

A knock broke his thoughts. Then, Clark stepped into the emperor’s bedroom.

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