"Don't read too much into it, Shaya — I just think this is funny~"
"What, you can play tricks on Mother but Mother can't play tricks on anyone else? Go do what you need to do, like a good boy~"
"Alright, alright."
Karma, probably. Watching the Great Witch laugh with evident delight, Shin ultimately didn't push back any further.
He continued the foot massage and thought through the practicalities of how to take revenge on the human Church alongside the Great Witch — there was clearly more to this world than met the eye; it was quite likely this wasn't simply a witch-trial setting.
If his guess was right, he would probably need to venture into human society at some point — scout around for Magi or Dead Apostles, that sort of thing.
With the current timeline, Shin recalled, the Hundred Years' War between England and France was in full swing. He might be able to use a certain self-detonating holy maiden as a lead to get his bearings.
Lost in thought, his fingers had drifted to the arch of the Great Witch's foot without him noticing.
The Great Witch, Yuki, was at this point draped entirely without dignity across the long library sofa, the loose white silk bodysuit gone somewhat wrinkled from the graceless posture. Thanks to the Witch Clan's constitution, the skin beneath that white silk was pale to the point of looking slightly sickly — and in the light from the windows, the delicate veins running across the top of her feet were quite visible.
"Mmh~ Shaya, your grip… has it gotten stronger?"
"Ah — sorry, Mother. I was thinking."
Shin eased off his touch, the sensation of her foot filtering clearly through the smooth, slippery fabric beneath his fingertips.
"By the way, Mother."
"The way we've been addressing each other in the chat — if my identity eventually gets revealed, how do we explain it?"
He wasn't particularly concerned about other people's opinions — they weren't blood relatives, after all — but he was genuinely curious what the Great Witch's thinking was on it.
"Explain? What's there to explain?" The Great Witch narrowed her eyes, smiling with a certain significance.
"Shaya, have you forgotten? In the dream, I said it to you directly — I'm not your mother. I'm 'Yuki', the newly crowned Great Witch of the Wind."
"The girl called 'Yuki', who was protected in the dream against her own wishes and convinced of things she hadn't agreed to — that's not the same person as the Great Witch who raised you."
"Is there really a difference?"
"Of course there's a difference!"
The Great Witch sat up slightly with an air of absolute conviction, that flat little chest of hers straightening as though she had found a truth she could stand on:
"So, the problem you raised simply doesn't exist — the one who formed a bond with you is 'Yuki.' The one you protected is also 'Yuki.' Why would anyone object to that relationship?"
"?"
"In that case, does what you promised about not sneaking off to get revenge alone also not apply anymore?"
Wait, that loophole actually exists?
Shin spotted it immediately.
"Well, who knows~ I could always—nGh—"
The Great Witch had been about to say something breezy, when she suddenly felt a sharp twinge at the sole of her foot, freezing the expression of amused deflection right on her face.
"Shaya, why are you suddenly pressing so hard?! Wh—?!"
"Sorry, Mother. I couldn't hear you. I was thinking."
Shin raised an eyebrow, utterly unapologetic, and let a touch of Ripple resonance flow in without restraint.
She wanted him to act in a play and provide a service? Not to mention he hadn't even begun to hold her accountable for hiding the truth from him and Meruru for over a decade.
The warm current of the Ripple climbed from the sole of her foot upward.
"Wh—?!"
"Mmnh—?! Ahh ahh ahh~~ Stop— stop it, Shaya~ I can't take it~…"
The Great Witch reflexively curled up on the sofa, ice-white hair spilling across her face, the strange, blunt ache and tingling numbness tangling together in a way that made the sounds she produced distinctly… evocative.
"I~~ hahh~~… it was just a joke, don't take it so seriously, Shaya~~"
"I'm not Meruru~ you can't use this much force on me… mmph mmph, Shaya's going to break me~~"
Just as the Great Witch's quavering pleas were echoing through the library —
An accident occurred.
Creak —
With a heavy sound, the two great wooden library doors were pushed open from the outside.
Shin was still half-crouched in front of the sofa, both hands locked around the Great Witch's small, white-stockinged foot.
The Great Witch was flushed scarlet from her face to her ears, hair in disarray, the shoulder of her bodysuit having slipped aside in all the struggling, baring the smooth skin of one shoulder.
"Brother, Great Witch — breakfast is ready… hm?"
Time froze for one full second.
To be continued…