DROPPED | A Witches Garden

two

Elietta Pumchell, the hated villainess from the novel I'd read just a while ago— "With You". She was a witch who would put curses on people she didn't like. Though she had a nasty attitude and rough personality she still had charming good looks that she'd put to use to bewitch men.

There was one person she craved. Wanted with her whole heart. Duke Roye Finnsweld, the male lead of "With You" and captain of the Jeart knights. And as you'd suspect she lost her mind when Roye, the man she'd failed to charm for years, fell for another woman and disregarded her immediately. The feeling of inferiority was on a level she'd never felt before and she didn't know of any way to deal with it except the one thing she exceeded at. Curses.

She cursed the woman Roye had fallen for, who was of course the female lead in the story so it didn't work out and she was later sent to the cellars deep underground to never see the sunlight ever again. "Repent for what you've done.", those were the last words Roye Finnsweld told her before sending her away.

And for some reason I had now become her... At least one of my questions had been answered thanks to that. I'd wondered why I was in the woods but that was somewhere Elietta would go a lot when practicing her spells. But now I had an even bigger problem. If this really wasn't some strange, horrible nightmare then I needed to know if I'd entered Elietta's body before or after she'd tried to curse the female lead.

Before I could think about it a voice spoke up from the shadows causing me to jump in surprise.

"Halt!"

I turned around to see who that voice was, only to be met with several men watching me. They all had on a uniform and there stood one man in the center with a slightly different uniform than theirs. Through the dark night I could still see his golden eyes staring at me. Piercing through the shadows and making my body go stiff. I couldn't look away. Who was that man? And who were all those other people around him? Could they possibly be the Jeart knights? But if that were the case then wouldn't the man in the center be Roye Finnsweld...?

My body stood still. Sitting on the dry grass near the pond while the men looked at me with cold gazes. The man who I presumed to be Roy stepped forward, now right in front of me, looking down on me. And his poker expression hadn't changed a single bit. He reached out his hand and grabbed my arm, dragging me up so I now stood.

There was no hint of gentleness in his gaze or actions. What was I supposed to do now? If I-Elietta really had run away from the cellar then would they give me a harsher punishment when we get back? But maybe if this was before the incident then maybe—

"What are you doing here?"

It took some time for me to register the words I had just heard. While the language sounded a bit similar to English it was still pretty different. I was so caught up in the fact that I understood the language that I even forgot to reply.

Only after a while did I realize that those golden eyes were stuck on me. Hints of irritation in them. He definitely thought that I was ignoring him on purpose...

"Ah, pardon me! Why I'm out here... well that is because..." My words trailed off, trying to find a good excuse. "The night air just seemed so nice today so I felt that I might as well experience it for a moment."

He cocked a brow. "In the Forbidden woods?"

"The F- Forb– Ah, urm well..." I knew of the Forbidden woods since I'd read the book and from what I could remember these woods were a place filled with monsters at every corner. It was a place that one could easily get lost in and were restricted because of that. Only the knights of the kingdom were allowed to enter it. That wasn't a problem for Elietta since she was a skilled witch but that wasn't something anyone knew. Because witches are banned in this world and are sent to execution if they ever are discovered.

Out of every character I could wake up as it just had to be the one with the largest death flag.

But luckily there was one good excuse I could think of.

"The jewels here are rumored to be some of the best in the entire kingdom! I thought I could just sneak in and get some jewels and then go back home. Is that so bad?" I said with an innocent smile which made him scoff.

He grabbed me by the hand and pulled me away as the other knights followed behind.

"Where are you taking me?"

"To your home of course. Where else?"

Phew. So I hadn't done anything to the female lead by now. Then all I needed to focus on now was to mind my own business and not get myself noticed in the slightest. Just live a normal life without getting in anyone else's way.

That's all I need to do.