The Tyrant’s Guardian is an Evil Witch
Chapter 3

The potion bottle shattered with a loud bang. With the broken bottle between us, the child and I stared at each other, stunned.

“It’s broken.”

I was about to tell him to be careful not to step on the glass shards, but he suddenly started to panic.

“I-I’m sorry…”

Huh?

For something as minor as a spilled potion, the child seemed rather dejected, as if he’d committed a huge mistake. Considering we were both in the wrong, it wasn’t something he had to apologize for. I blinked a few times, bewildered.

It had been approximately two months since he had come to live here. The first thing I came to understand about him was that he was extremely conscious of other people’s reactions. While he had seemed less so with Edmund, it seemed like he still found me rather difficult to interact with.

When it was just the two of us, he would keep quiet as if he were guilty—even if he hadn’t done anything wrong—occasionally glancing in my direction. I was also uncertain how to talk to a child his age, so we did not speak to each other often. This apology was the first time I’d heard his voice in a few days.

“Do you have a reason to apologize?” I asked.

While I wanted to tell him he did not need to apologize since it was just an accident, he suddenly started shaking. He clasped his hands together as if to beg for forgiveness.

“It’s all my fault. I am so sorry!”

I stood confounded, not knowing what to do, before finally grasping his hands. The child froze as if he were the one made of ice, not the castle.

“What are you…”

Instead of asking him what he was doing, I just kept my mouth closed. I suddenly remembered that Edmund had advised me to act twice as gently because my appearance was rather intimidating. I forcefully lifted the corners of my mouth.

“What are you doing?”

Despite my efforts, the child’s expression stayed frozen.

“Tita, could you tell me why you’re apologizing?”

Tita was his childhood name. When I had called him Alpen without much thought, he gave me a strange look, like the name was unfamiliar. Just to be sure, I asked him for his name, and he said, rather bashfully and with red cheeks, that it was Tita. Edmund and I were taken aback by how he had been named so carelessly, but we managed not to show it.

Tita was a word used to describe something like fireworks, not a name to give to a child of noble blood. As I stood wondering if there had been any mention of this in the original novel, the child let me know that it was the name his mother had given him in front of a bonfire.

Only then did we nod in understanding. It made sense for his mother, who had been a commoner, to give him such a name. Instead of Alpen, which gave a strong impression of royalty, we thought calling him Tita like his mother had would be more familiar, and decided to do so. It certainly wasn’t for convenience because Tita was no shorter than Alpen.

“Could you tell me?”

Gently, with affection, I smiled even more brightly in Tita’s direction. Seeing my smile, his face turned white with fear. It was as if he’d seen a ghost.

“A-are you going to turn me into a frog?” he asked, his teeth chattering together.

“What?”

The absurd question took me by surprise, and for a moment I thought he was being playful. But he only seemed terrified from head to toe, without any hint of playfulness. I frowned, momentarily forgetting Edmund’s advice.

“What are you saying?”

Despair fell over Tita’s small face.

“M-my mother told me. She said witches turn naughty children into frogs…”

It seemed like he was already imagining a future as a frog. On the verge of tears, he suddenly kneeled before me.

“What are you doing? Stand up immediately!”

What if you get cut by the glass?

I forced him to his feet, but he immediately went back to kneeling.

“I’m sorry, Your Highness. Please don’t turn me into a frog! I don’t want to be a frog.”

Thick tears rolled down from his large eyes. What kind of situation was this?

Why would I turn you into a frog?

Of course, I could easily turn the child into a frog a hundred times if I wanted to, but why would I do such a pointless thing? Just what kind of nonsense had his mother told him? Instead of comforting the crying child, I decided to clean up the glass instead. It wouldn’t do if Tita moved by accident and got hurt.

“What happened here?”

Coming from the end of the hallway, Edmund took in the scene before him and opened his mouth in surprise.

“The child suddenly started crying, but I didn’t do anything.”

Edmund didn’t reply and immediately went to the boy.

“Master Tita, why are you crying?”

“M-Mister Butler, I don’t want to turn into a f-frog.”

Patting him gently, Edmund quickly turned his head to me, his gaze filled with reproach. It felt like I had suddenly become a terrible villain.

Wait, this is unfair!

“Your Highness, did you perhaps say you would turn Master Tita into a frog?”

“Are you doubting me right now?”

“You should be careful with your words in front of children. And how could you make him kneel?”

“He kneeled on his own.” I sighed, before continuing, “And what if I did turn him into a frog? I’m the master of this castle, anyway.”

Feeling wronged, I ended up saying something I didn’t mean, and Tita began to sob even more pitifully. The sound of his muted sobs was strangely harsh to hear.

“I’m sorry! Please forgive me! I don’t want to be a frog!”

“Your Highness,” Edmund said, as if to coax me.

It was driving me mad.

“Okay. I won’t turn you into a frog. Please stop crying.”

I wasn’t even thinking of doing that anyway!

What use would I have for a child turned into a frog? Looking like he was holding back, Tita sniffled.

“You shouldn’t move carelessly around glass shards. Do you understand? Or else I’ll turn you into a toad instead of a frog! A very, very ghastly toad! And you’ll have to eat flies for the rest of your life!”

Edmund quickly covered his ears before the last sentence came out.

“Your Highness, I’m sure I made it clear several times that you should be gentle with Master Tita.”

“How am I supposed to be more gentle than this? I’m doing the best I can.”

Too focused on comforting the boy, Edmund didn’t even pretend to listen to my protests.

“Don’t cry, Master Tita. While Her Highness speaks harshly, she’s not someone to fear. Come now, why don’t you ask Her Highness to read you a bedtime story? She’ll be very affectionate.”

I snorted, shooting the butler a look for the way he had emphasized very affectionate.

“I have things to do—”

“Really?”

Sniffling, Tita peeked in my direction. His tearful eyes stopped my refusal in its tracks.

Honestly, eyes like that are foul play!

As if reading my mind, Edmund smiled.

“Of course. Now try asking Her Highness.”

“Y-Your Highness, could you read me a bedtime story?”

“I-I will.”

I responded before I even knew it. Belatedly I realized it had all gone according to Edmund’s scheme, but since I had already said yes, there was no going back.

“What are you up to?” I asked the butler.

Immediately after sending Tita back to his room, I took it up with Edmund.

“What do you mean, a bedtime story? Tita is afraid of me. Earlier, I only said a few words, and he started crying! I even smiled at him.”

“Forgive me, Your Highness, but could you show me that smile?”

As I had with Tita, I turned to Edmund and smiled brightly. The butler’s face went stiff.

After a moment, he said, “I think it would be better to keep a straight face, Your Highness. I fear I just witnessed something unpleasant.”

Should I kill him?

For a moment I seriously considered it. Unaware that I was holding his life in my hands, Edmund comforted me.

“In any case, please don’t worry. After all, Master Tita is very fond of you, Your Highness.”

“Impossible. He chatters away at you but doesn’t speak one word to me.”

As I grumbled, Edmund smiled gently at me.

“More often than not, it can be difficult to speak in front of a person whom you admire wholeheartedly. So cease your worries and don’t get there too late at night.”

“It’s out of my hands. If he cries again, it’s your fault. Do you understand?”

That night, I quickly finished my work and headed to Tita’s room, absurdly, with a storybook in my hand. I knocked a little harder than I should have, and the door opened. When I looked down, Tita was standing there, awkwardly shifting in place.

“May I come in?”

“Y-yes!”

As I stepped into the room, he scurried to his bed. Sitting next to the bed, I opened the storybook. I decided to get right to it, not wanting to worsen the atmosphere by saying the wrong thing. After checking the title of the story, my expression went dark. Although I had randomly picked from one of the books nearby, it happened to be The Snow Queen.

Out of all the books I could have chosen…

Others would think I was being narcissistic.

“Excuse me, Your Highness. Are you still very angry?” Tita asked cautiously, after seeing my stiff expression.

Not wanting to make him cry again, I quickly smoothed my expression.

“No, it’s not that.”

Since I had brought it over, I decided to read it anyway. I pulled the lantern closer to the book.

“Once upon a time, in the Kingdom of Ice, there lived the Snow Queen. The Snow Queen had a very cold and cross temper.”

What?

While the content was rather strange, I kept reading. As if to add sound effects, the howls of a blizzard echoed from outside the window.

“One day, while peeking at the world through a mirror of ice, the Snow Queen discovered a lovely boy. Taking a liking to the boy, she kidnapped him.”

For a children’s tale, the decision to start with a kidnapping seemed rather intense. I also didn’t like how the Snow Queen was depicted as a kidnapper. Trying to gauge Tita’s reaction, I raised my head slightly, I was planning to stop at the slightest hint of distaste. However, to my surprise, he was watching me with a fascinated expression. His purple eyes sparkled as if to urge me on. Resigned, I dropped my gaze back to the book.