The Seed Thief - Vol. 1 Chapter 3.4

In the stillness of the house, Lulu muttered in a dazed.

“Am I…dirty?”

The golem standing beyond the window nodded eagerly at Lulu’s muttering. Stuck by an inexplicable itch to smash it, Lulu conjured a magic light ball—only to pause and stared at her hands instead.

“Really dirty.”

Perhaps due to many events that occurred, dirt was trapped under her fingernails and in the crevices of her palms. Absorbed in her thoughts, she failed to notice the foul mixture of old sweat and gritty sand had permeated her clothes since yesterday.

Lulu looked at the sleeping Er. The contemptuous glint in his eyes as he had glared at her right before falling asleep, resembled the way the villagers gazed at her.

‘Being hated is inevitable.’

This person also had a home to return to, so he must feel resentful for being forcibly brought here. Though inevitable, Lulu couldn’t help feeling saddened by that fact.

Ervandas was the first person to set foot in this house since the forest witch left. She only intended to keep him for a short time, but she hoped, at least, he wouldn’t hate her too much during his stay.

After sitting motionless for a while, Lulu finally stood up and went to her room. She started rummaging through the row of drawers spanning the length of an entire wall.

“I think I put it in here.”

Lulu opened all the drawers and dumped their contents onto the floor till a small hill of various unidentifiable junk formed.

“Found it!”

In her hand was a white, fist-sized piece of soap. Lulu brought it to her nose and sniffed, sensing a subtle floral aroma.

When the forest witch was alive, Lulu experienced soap for the first time. It was amusing how bubbles formed when soaked in water and the fascinating scent made her hold it all day. The witch said if she liked it that much, she could have it. Lulu then kept the soap deep in a drawer like the world’s most precious treasure, taking it out several times daily to savor its scent.

Lulu went outside carrying a dry cloth and soap. Soon enough, she came across a clear flowing stream. Lulu took off her clothes and entered the stream without hesitation.

“Ugh, it’s cold.”

The stream’s water chilled her, though summer. Trembling, Lulu lathered the soap and washed herself. Contrary to her worry, bubbles formed abundantly from the old soap. Usually, she’d bathe hastily and leave, but this time she rinsed slowly and meticulously – from hair ends to under fingernails.

Only did her lips were on the verge of turning blue, Lulu get out of the stream.

“Achoo!”

Wiping herself dry, Lulu hugged her shivering, naked body and returned home. Er still lay in deep slumber in the living room corner. Lulu rummaged through her room, usually content with wearing whatever was available. But since another person entered her home for the first time, she wanted to wear proper clothes.

After searching through the closet for a while, Lulu found a thin cotton nightgown under a mountain of collapsed clothes. She put it on and flopped onto the bed.

It had been a tiring day. And after washing up, the fatigue rushed in quickly. But her eyes refused to close.

Turning over in bed, Lulu saw Ervandas sleeping on the living room floor beyond the open door, emitting regular breathing. Silently watching him, Lulu rose from bed.

She approached and carefully turned Ervandas’s body to the side. Lulu then slipped into his arms.

Knock.

The stone golem lightly tapped its fist against the window frame. As Lulu turned her head, the golem was peering in from outside. What are you doing?

“It’s cold. I’m cold.”

After replying, Lulu wrapped Ervandas’s arm around her body. A satisfied smile crossed her face in that posture as if he embraced her.

How long had it been since she felt the warmth of another enveloping her? Lulu pulled up the fallen blanket to cover her body and Ervandas.

His sleeping face rested on her forehead. Lulu’s mouth curled upwards as she gazed at him. She finally got hold of the human seed, and it was from a tall and sturdy specimen like this. Moreover…

Lulu spread her arms and hugged him.

“You’re warm.”

Being in another’s embrace felt so good. The long-missed sensation triggering tears, Lulu buried her face deeper into Ervandas’s chest. After a while, she lifted her head.

“…You smell.”

As she murmured about the faint smell of sweat, Lulu hugged him again, thinking she would have to bathe him when he woke up.

***

“Ouch!”

Ervandas woke up with a piercing headache. Accustomed to rise immediately upon opening  his eyes after slumber, he abruptly stopped his movement as his vision entirely filled red. He panicked. What was happening?

He then realized that something warm yet soft nestled in his arms, accompanied by a faint floral scent—an unfamiliar sensation for him. He knew he should push it away to check what it was, but…

‘Not bad.’

The scent, the sensation, and warmth—despite their unfamiliarity, Ervandas found all these feelings quite soothing. What could this be? Just as he began slowly closing his fluttering eyelids to accept it all…

“Mmmm…….”

Accompanied a whimper as if sulking, everything came flooding back into his mind.

Forest. Witch. Curse. And…Master?

“Whah!”

The moment he recalled it all, Ervandas abruptly got up. As a result, whatever had been nestled in his arms tumbled to the floor.

“…?”

Feeling his arms become lighter, Ervandas looked at the fallen one.

“……!”

He suppressed the scream that was about to burst out. Initially, he mistook it for a red lump. But as his vision soon cleared, he realized it was a person with long red hair.

Red. It was undoubtedly the color of the witch.

Just as he was about to scream harshly, his gaze fell upon the face beneath the hair.

“Huh?”

An unusual stupid sound escaped Ervandas’s mouth. Last night, he had a hard time seeing the witch’s face.

Not only was it dark, but her face was also obscured by filthy hair that looked like it had been dipped in mud. All he could see were the fiery red eyes glittering with madness through the tangled hair.

Under the moonlight, the witch standing amidst all sorts of bizarre things looked like a demon’s emissary freshly risen from hell…

‘Aren’t you an old woman?’

The woman who was sleeping soundly next to him, oblivious to the world, appeared much younger than him.

Round forehead. Round eyes that one could tell from the closed eyelids. Plump lips below the nose were as red as her hair. A rounded face overall, with fair white skin.

Ervandas stared at her for a long moment, forgetting she was the witch who cursed him.

“Ugh…….”

Only when Lulu frowned as the sunlight through the window irritated her eyes did Ervandas come to his senses.

Despite the need to be cautious and keep his distance, there he was, staring stupidly at her face. Ervandas cautiously moved away from Lulu.

As his gaze passed over Lulu’s face and fell beneath her shoulders…

“Huh!”

Ervandas withdrew in horror.

“W-what the…..!”

The witch was naked—more precisely, she was clad in something so worn-out that the contours of her body were vividly visible through the thin fabric.

‘Shit!’

He bit his lips with all his might as his blood boiled. With the sharp pain and the stench of blood, he barely calmed the intense heat that was rising underneath.

‘Oh God.’

He frantically pleaded to God.

To make matters worse, the same person who had inflicted deep and shameful scars on his soul last night was now arousing vulgar lust in him.

‘Why are you giving me this ordeal?’

Uncontainable resentment filled Ervandas’s mind. Desperately, he tried to shift his thoughts to something else: family, royal matters, the rebels, and…the witch’s breasts were making their presence known beneath the cloth…?

“What!”

Ervandas scrambled to his feet. The witch’s curse seemed worse than he had assumed. He looked at Lulu, who was still sleeping soundly despite his outburst.

Just then, a shadow flickered on the window. Startled, he turned around and saw the golem outside waving its hand as if greeting him good morning.

Ervandas narrowed his eyes at the quite human-like behavior.

A high-class golem. No, it wasn’t exaggerating to say it was a superlative one.

The royal palace had numerous golems crafted by the mages of Magic Tower, but none of them moved with such grace as this one. This meant the abilities of the witch controlling this golem surpassed those of most skilled magicians in the Magic Tower.

‘I heard she has been living here for quite a long time.’

From the information he had gathered, the witch had settled in this forest decades ago. Then…

‘There’s a high chance her appearance was created through magic.’

Beneath that cute face must be a true form she wanted to hide.

Ervandas imagined the vilest form of human he could think of. He scorned his body’s brief response to the witch, shame engulfing him.

He must flee this hovel somehow, even if the temple spurned him, he would cast himself before the altar of God, repenting for today’s wrongdoing and resuming his path of asceticism. He would bear the shame of his momentary desire as a lifelong crime, punishing this corrupted body.

Deep furrows formed on Ervandas’s forehead as he glared at his body in disgust.

“What is this, such a pathetic sight.”

He attributed this unpleasantness to the shock battering his psyche. Slimy hands, sticky neck and chest, and crumpled clothes as well…

Filth permeated every inch of his body.

When Ervandas averted his gaze from Lulu, the scene inside the house bathed in sunlight entered his eyes. The filthy house that had horrified him last night now chilled him to the bone in the daylight.

He had to escape this nightmare.

From the witch. From this dirt pit.

The moment Ervandas turned his back on Lulu to leave, his movement abruptly halted as if someone grabbed him back.

He tried to move again but to no avail. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t take even a single step forward. The stone golem watching him shook its head. How about giving up?

Ervandas’s attempts to flee continued for a while longer, even till sweat poured down his neck like raindrops, he could not move an inch away from Lulu’s side.

‘Another effect of the curse?’

Wiping the sweat dripping down his chin, Ervandas gritted his teeth and lifted his foot toward Lulu as if to step on her instantly. But just as he failed to escape, he failed to stomp on Lulu.

Thanks to that, he realized two things: no harm to Lulu, no escape.

Coming to terms with his helplessness, Ervandas decided to sit on a nearby wooden chair. Surprisingly, his body complied with this decision, as if accepting the inevitability of staying close to Lulu.

He set the piled of books from the chair down the floor before sitting down. Now that he gave up fleeing, no problem with moving his body. Leaning his chin on his hand, he gazed at Lulu but immediately realized his mistake and jerked his head away, lost in thought.

‘What is that witch thinking?’

If she wanted to harm him, she could have done so with many chances. There must be something worthy of his life.

‘Ransom?’

Ervandas shook his head. If she needed money, she would have attacked the nearby city instead of bringing him here, someone who didn’t know about this place and had no one waiting for him.

Last night the witch had hummed as she dragged him here, saying she finally got it. This meant she wanted something besides money. What else could she gain by sparing his life?

He pondered for a while but couldn’t guess what the witch wanted from him.

‘Then I should ask her directly.’

Ervandas sat still and waited for the witch to wake up. But…