Silent Witch
chapter-ss18

The girl had a face so ugly it was as if she were a monster.

At some point, she had heard a skilled makeup artist boast that they could make anyone beautiful with makeup. But the girl, who had realized the limits of makeup early on, knew all too well that there were things that just couldn't be helped, no matter how much makeup was used.

The girl's face was ugly. It was so ugly that it could be called atrocious. Her eyes were constantly swollen and half-hidden, her skin was rough and covered in unpleasant rashes, her nose was barely there, and her lips were distorted.

The girl was abandoned in the red-light district of the southeastern part of the empire when she was still young. There was no need to even think about why her parents had abandoned her. Who would want to be with a child who had such a monstrously ugly face?

To survive, the girl walked around the red-light district and begged the adults to take her in, saying she would do anything. The one who picked her up was the owner of a certain brothel. He allowed her to work as a maid and sleep in the storage room.

From that day on, the girl worked frantically. No matter how grueling the physical labor, no matter how cold the water in the winter, she did her work silently and efficiently. Occasionally, when a prostitute died of a contagious disease, she would be tasked with taking care of the body in exchange for a few of the deceased's clothes and belongings.

One day, she received a book and a piece of clothing from a dead prostitute's belongings. In order to read the book, she asked a beggar who claimed to be a scholar to teach her how to read.

The book was a popular novel. It was about a princess who had been cursed by a wicked witch and turned ugly, but who overcame her trials and broke the curse, eventually marrying a prince.

The girl identified herself with the cursed princess in the story and immersed herself in reading the book. She dreamed that one day a prince would appear and lift her curse, even though she knew it was just a fantasy.

But even so, the fantasy allowed her to forget, if only for a little while, the pain of being stared at strangely by those around her.

The princess in the story never gave up, no matter how much she was ridiculed for her ugliness. She was always kind to everyone and remained true to herself, behaving with dignity as a princess should. That was why the prince noticed her.

The girl decided that she, too, wanted to be like that. So, she began to gradually improve her behavior from that day on. No matter how exhausted she was, she always maintained a good posture. No matter how grueling the work she was ordered to do, her voice was always beautiful in response.

When she saw upper-class customers, she carefully observed their pronunciation and behavior and imitated them. She practiced popular songs and dances in her spare time.

The prostitutes in the brothel made fun of her, but the girl was used to being made fun of, and their mockery didn't bother her at all.

When the girl turned thirteen, the owner of the brothel ordered her to take customers. The brothel was fairly popular, and there were times when the hands of the prostitutes were not enough. At such times, the girl was ordered to act as a filler until the other prostitutes were free.

However, the girl's job was different from that of the beautiful prostitutes in the brothel who poured drinks for the customers and performed songs and dances. She was simply embraced by the male customers in one of the empty rooms, with a bag over her head.

"Ah, dear customer, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. If you'd like, would you mind spending some time with this girl until your favorite girl is free? Of course, the price is reasonable. It's just a little service for our regular customers who always patronize us. This girl's face can't be seen, but her body is young and beautiful. Please, do as you like with her."

The owner said this and brought the male customers to the girl.

The girl had planned to entertain the customers with conversation, and to perform songs and dances, however poorly, just like the other prostitutes in the brothel. But the men didn't want anything like that. To them, the girl with the bag over her head was no different from an object.

The girl was treated as nothing more than a source of comfort for the men, without even the courtesy of being treated like a human being. She couldn't show off her hard-earned education, songs, or dances at all.

＊ ＊ ＊

"Why are you wearing a bag over your head?" asked a certain customer.

The girl with the bag over her head couldn't see the man's face. All she could see through the rough opening in the bag was a faint hint of the room's light and darkness.

However, from his voice, she could tell that he was still a relatively young man. His words had a slight foreign accent, and he spoke in a strangely feminine way as if he were trying to cover it up. He was a strange customer.

He was probably new to this brothel. If he was a regular, he would know about the "bag girl" at this brothel.

"…I have an extremely ugly face, so I cover it like this."

"Hmm?"

The girl could tell that the man was approaching her on the bed. She thought he was going to touch her clothes, but instead, he grabbed the edge of the bag. The girl hurriedly tried to hold the bag in place.

"I wouldn't recommend looking, sir. It might ruin your mood and make you not want to hold me."

"It's okay… Hey…"

The man whispered sweetly and stroked the girl's cheek through the bag.

"Shall we compare?"

With a sudden opening of her vision, the girl could feel the wind on her cheek. The man quickly removed the bag.

The man who had taken the girl's bag was a man with black hair, black eyes, and a plain face. His face was not commonly seen in this country, so he was probably a foreigner.

But the girl didn't think his face was ugly at all. It was a clean and refreshing face.

…But in the next moment, the man's face began to change. His healthy skin turned red and black and rotted away. His lips twisted, revealing his teeth.

"Hiiek…!?"

The girl instinctively recoiled, and the man covered his face with both hands. Then, as if kneading dough, he began to reshape his own face. The skin on his forehead wrinkled and distorted, and the red and black rotten skin was covered with healthy skin.

Eventually, his bones realigned and his flesh took shape… and he became a different man. The girl knew this man's face well. He was the owner of this brothel.

"A long time ago, I was falsely accused of a crime and the lord had hot oil poured on my face. I was so humiliated and angry that I taught myself how to reconstruct my face… Do you think it turned out well?"

The man said this and reshaped his face back into the plain man's face.

The girl was captivated by this strange and miraculous sight. The man seemed to sense her feelings and laughed softly, stroking her cheek again, this time directly, not through the bag. He stroked her cheek, covered in rashes.

"…Would you like me to do it for you, too?"

The girl trembled her swollen lips.

"…Can you do it?"

"When used on someone else, this technique can only be used once. If you use it more than that, you'll die of magical poisoning…"

The man said this and extended his hand to the girl. Perhaps this was the first time anyone had ever extended their hand to her like this. The girl swallowed her saliva and placed her hand on top of the man's.

The man smiled slightly.

"Your pronunciation is beautiful. And your posture is good… I happened to be looking for a well-behaved servant…"

The man took the girl's hand and stood up, then called out to the owner. He took out a few gold coins from his pocket and handed them to the owner.

"I'm going to take this girl with me. Is that all right?"

The owner was so surprised and delighted that he almost jumped up. Gold coins had been paid for this girl, who wasn't even worth a single copper coin. The owner rubbed his hands together and said, "Please, do as you like," bowing his head repeatedly.

The man said as he walked,

"Oh, I forgot to ask your name. I'm Yuan. What's yours?"

It's been a long time since anyone asked her name. The men who hold the bag girl don't care about anything other than her body. They don't care about her face, her name, her education.

"…My name is Heidi."

"That's a cute name. Nice to meet you, Heidi."

＊ ＊ ＊

Heidi, who had flesh manipulation magic performed on her by Yuan, was reborn. Her swollen eyes became clear, her rough skin became smooth, her nose bridge became defined, and her lips took on a beautiful shape. She wasn't the type of beauty that would turn heads, but she had a cool and refreshing, yet slightly immature charm that was fitting for a girl her age.

However, there was one part of her remade face that Heidi was a little concerned about. Her eyebrows. Her slightly thick eyebrows were the only feature that remained unchanged, still asserting their presence above her eyes.

Thinking about shaping them a little, Heidi picked up a razor, but Yuan said to her,

"Oh, are you going to shave them? That's a waste. They're so cute."

Heidi put down the razor. Of course, her current face was cute. After all, it had been remade to not be unsightly. But this was the first time someone had called a part of her that hadn't changed cute.

"…Are they cute?"

"I've thought so since I took the bag off. Oh, those cute eyebrows."

Heidi silently stroked her eyebrows and quietly put away the razor.