The witch in the forest

Have you heard? There's a witch in the forest.

A woman with black hair and golden highlights.

A woman with starry eyes and bright smiles.

A woman who ran away to avoid execution by her husband.

A woman who's rumored to be helping Prince Terence from behind the scenes.

Ok sorry what kind of bULLSHIT IS THAT??? ME HELPING A PRINCE??? I'm sorry you must be high on a powder mushroom or something damn. I did not live in the forest to be disrespected like this.

Over the years I've learned to hide my hair with light arts because of the rumors, and I've finally gotten today's supply of meat. Shout out to the vegans but your girl here can't live without a good steak so

Oh right, I had forgotten my name so I just started calling myself Crysta since that was the only thing I could remember. A very vibrant man calling me Crysta enthusiastically before hugging me.

Memories of my past are hazy, and the only thing I know is that I'm supposed to head to the Villarreal duchy in four years of time. It's been two since I've settled in the forest. Occasionally I see a man in my dream but haah… the visions are happy, but I never feel the emotion that I'm supposed to.

"Crysta!"

"Solaria!"

Golden hair, golden eyes. The epitome of the daughter of the sun herself. She's bright, lively, and she gets along with every single villager regardless of what rumours circulate about them. There had been rumours that she was going to be moved to Phoenicia because she was seeing the crown prince there.

"How have you been?"

"It's been wonderful!" Solaria smiles. "I can't wait until you meet him! He's so sweet and lovely!"

"Sounds nice," I smile.

"Sola!"

"Will!" Solaria jumps into his arms, and she smiles. "Meet my best friend Crysta!"

The prince eyes me and I bow. "I greet the crown prince of Phoenicia. Is there something wrong?"

"You look familiar," He smiles. "Perhaps you are of noble birth?"

"I don't have any memories of my past," I hum. "But I do happen to know that I am to return to a duchy in four years." A lie.

The prince hums. "Please, call me William."

"Then please call me Crystalia," I nod. "I shall be heading home then. I shall see you soon Solaria."

"Alright," Solaria smiles. "Stay safe Crysta!"

The trees in the forest resemble pine trees, and they bloom every year during the fall where I can collect the water dust gathered and stored during spring and summer. I called them water branches in the vague memory I had stored while writing this. I snap a branch from the tree, and I head home.

"I'm home,"

The house is empty, but my cat comes up to me and rubs himself on me.

"Hi Magi," I scratch the bottom of his face, and I start the fire for the night.

The first year in this place was terrible. I had hands that weren't perfect for working and doing labor, and I tried to use magic until I got used to doing everything by hand.

"Magi can you smell the pine for me? We should be close to harvesting season." The cat bites the pine and meows.

"Next week then," I smile.

Dinner is served, and I read the newspaper I purchased.

Prince Albert and Future Emperor Zachary sweep in and start cornering Prince Terence in Prince Hades's territory of Louvermont! The end to the civil war for the throne?

I hum. Louvermont was where I was resting right now. Maybe we would be asked to feed the soldiers sometime soon. So far most of the commonfolk were on Prince Zachary's side. Made sense since he was a prince born of a commoner and the emperor. Zachary had a relatively plain childhood according to the newspapers.

But then again, there was a vague fragment of me laughing with him in my memory. I wonder who I used to be. Occasionally I see a man's face blurred next to him. Maybe I had been someone important in the nobility.

Magi meows really loudly next to me, and I stare at him.

"What's wrong?"

"Mew mew meow meaow" Magi mumbles.

"What?'

"Mew."

I groan. What does he mean there are footsteps approaching?

Sure enough, as soon as I put my plate in the sink, a loud knocking rings through the room. I turn my hair gold, and I pop open the door.

"How can I help you?" I stare at the soldier.

"Are you the witch in the forest?"

"Huh? Oh no, the witch has golden highlights." I shake my head. "Why?"

"We are in need of magic recruits."

"Ah," I mumble. "My apologies… I am unable to help with that."

"Do you know where the witch might live?"

"Ah?" I hum. "I-"

"I'll handle it," A prince has the knight move away and he glares at me. "Where is the witch?"

"I have no idea," I shrug. "Why so your highness?"

"We're searching for the Eclipse blessed one."

It's Prince Terence. He's not keen or sharp on magic, and neither is he a blessed like Prince Zachary or Prince William. I heard that recently there had been a blessing from Eclipse. People are trying to figure out who was blessed by the daughter of the Sun and Moon who's so terribly ill that she has to stay resting for centuries at a time. I'm caught off guard that she blessed someone.

"What do they look like? Perhaps I could give you some pointers?"

Very obviously from the storyline, this was no longer following my book at all. The Eclipse was based off of my friend's brother. Perhaps there had been interrupting in the storyline? The revolution was dragging on for longer than necessary, and it was almost like someone was intentionally pulling strings behind the scenes.

"They have pitch-black hair and the inner layer is gold. Their hair tends to be to neck length. Their eyes are also gold but their pupils are dark blue instead of black. Please report to us if you find out anything about them," Terence nods.

"Alright your highness. Safe travels," I nod and close the door.

Black hair with a golden inside… I found it rather cute. It sounded like a character I would write about. But the more I thought about it, the more I found it strange that I hadn't written in a character like that. But yet, it felt like I as the transmigrated main character would end up meeting them sometime soon. Haah, how exhausting.