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Once upon a time, a princess was living in the kingdom of Nijisanji. The Queen loved her daughter very much. When the princess was born, an alchemist, a magical bird, and a Cerberus came to bless the princess. The trio blessed her with smartness, beauty, and artistic skill. As the princess grew up, people noticed the blessing began to show. The princess’s beauty has astonished everyone. Her silver-grey hair shines under the radiant sun. Her eyes are like a pair of the finest rubies in the world. Her skin is fair as the first snow in the winter. Her charm worked alongside the princess’s passionate acting skill. The shows starred the princess have caught the attention of all royalties, and everyone praised the princess’s acting skill. The princess has also demonstrated her brilliance in medicine and witchcraft. She has mastered all the necessary skills and knowledge to earn herself the title of the “Silver Witch”. However, the people in the kingdom still preferred to call the princess, “Sukoya”.
“Mother,” Sukoya asked her mother one day, “I wish to move out of the castle.”
“Oh my, dear,” the Queen almost dropped her flower onto the floor, “why such idea comes to your mind?”
“I wish to use my medical knowledge and witchcraft to save more people. It is hard for me to practice living in the castle.”
“Ah, this makes sense. So, do you have a plan?”
“Yes, mother. I have already found a cottage in the forest where is easily accessible to many. My friends also live close to where I will be staying.”
“Then, my child. I wish you the best of luck. If there is any problem, please do not forget this is always your home.”
Therefore, Sukoya packed her suitcases and moved to a little cottage on a sunny day. Next to her cottage, there lived a pair who called themselves “Tulip group”. The pair was surprised to see the princess appeared in the forest.
“Sukoya, why are you here?” asked a woman with a side ponytail.
“Oh, hello Ran-neesan! Long time no see. I am officially moving here to practice medicine and witchcraft.”
“What a surprise! I must go tell Shellin and others!” Hayase happily ran off to notify the others.
The night was a festival. Sukoya stayed at Tulip’s house and sang all night long. They have been friends not for long, but the passion for stage plays and the same-minded goals have bought them together. They all admire how well Sukoya can portray the characters and how amazing her singing voice is. The pair was happy to see Sukoya leaving the castle because now they can organize stage play more often. On top of that, they have a private doctor now to cure their sickness.
It is not long for Sukoya to realize the pain and the hardship of living alone. Maintaining her clinic and hobbies took the majority of her time. Many patients came to seek treatment. Sukoya was willing to treat everyone with her medical skill and magic for a very affordable price, and even sometimes the treatment would be free. Her fame started to grow both as a doctor and an actor when she participated in more plays for the public. Her days became busier and busier, but it was the most fulfilling she had ever felt. While Sukoya was able to keep her clinic tidy, her living quarter was a different story. Her bedroom began to lose sight of the floor. Mountains of books, paper, and bottles were not going to organize themselves. She had maids and servants to help her to do basic chores and housekeeping, now she had to rely on herself to complete such tasks. To mitigate chores, Sukoya looked through her collection of magic books. She finally found a few spells that helped her to wash her clothes and clean the dust. She was lucky that Hayase chose to take care of her meals. Sukoya would often visit Tulip’s house during mealtime.
“Thank you for the meal, Ran-neesan!” Sukoya exclaimed after finishing her meal.
“No problem, Sukoya.” Hayase said while collecting the dishes from everyone, “are you feeling ok? Do you feel overwhelmed with all the work and practice?” Hayase was a bit worried about the dark circles under Sukoya’s eyes. She knew how busy Sukoya’s schedule is. She was impressed that Sukoya could operate a private clinic, performing stage plays, and kept studying magic and medicine.
“I am fine, don’t worry about me,” Sukoya replied, “this is no match for the days while I was studying in the royal academy.” She grinned. The days preparing to be a proper leader were a nightmare for Sukoya. She disliked studying, but she was not against it. She was good at it. However, interacting with people was her worst nightmare. She suffered in the negotiation classes. Being a hermit in the forest right now was the most relaxing thing for her. She could focus on what she enjoyed and not force herself to act like royalty in front of many.
“By the way, Ran-neesan. What is going to be our next project?”
“Well, we are going to have a collaboration with another group from the Night Kingdom.”
“The Night Kingdom?”
“Yes, it is a trio who named themselves that. They are an unusual group. Two men and one woman. The leader was the woman. I think her name is Tomoe Shirayuki.”
“That does sound a bit odd. Which play are we planning to do?”
“Haven’t decided on that yet, but we are leaning towards some classic like A Midsummer Night’s Dream.”
“Then I shall look forward to their arrival.” Sukoya smiled as she stood up from the table, readied herself for another night of studying.
It is a fateful meeting between Sukoya and Shirayuki. Sukoya was immediately drawn to the cool beauty of Shirayuki. She knew she was the fairest of all among her kingdom, but Shirayuki was something different. The gentle orange eyes were like the sunset along the sea. They were warm and dangerous. Sukoya felt like they were a pair of blackholes preparing to drown in the tenderness of Shirayuki. They had a perfect height gap. Every time Sukoya looked up to Shirayuki, she felt she fell in love with Shirayuki even more. She noticed the reserved nature of Shirayuki. So, she decided to advance forward with her love with absolute might. The possessiveness in her heart grew bigger and bigger. She just wished to be with this person forever and ever.
Shirayuki felt the same when they first met. The characteristic and aura of Sukoya had imprisoned her instantly. She began to talk to Sukoya more often and later subtlety flirt a bit. She was surprised when she received the same response from Sukoya. Shirayuki was never a confident person. She did not think an angelic person like Sukoya would like her. She tried to distance herself from Sukoya’s attacks with no success. The attack of love just kept coming. The soft silver twin tails bounced alongside Sukoya’s movements. Her smile, her laugh, everything about her had captivated Shirayuki. The pink eyes of Sukoya were like puppies when they had to part. Slowly, her wish to keep Sukoya hidden in her room float to her mind’s surface. She wanted to take care of Sukoya. She wanted to make her laugh and to protect her from all evil.
“Sukoya-san?” It was a quiet afternoon in the autumn season. A warm breeze blew as people were busy harvesting their crops. Not many people came to Sukoya’s clinic as they were all busy preparing for the upcoming winter. Shirayuki walked into Sukoya’s clinic and asked softly. The play was set to perform soon. Even though they have practiced their lines a million times, Shirayuki still wished to confirm a few details and lines with Sukoya. However, Sukoya was nowhere to be found. The clinic was empty. Shirayuki walked through the back door to enter the living quarter.
“Ah… Ouch!” Shirayuki felt she stepped on something round as she entered Sukoya’s bedroom. She almost slid across the room.
“Is that… a bottle? On the floor? Wait, where is the floor?” Shirayuki was astonished at how disorderly the bedroom was. The floor was covered with used paper and tissues. Multiple empty bottles are scattered across the floor. Piles of books stacked unevenly on the table and the floor. The only plus side was that there was not too much dust. All the dirty clothing was kept in one bucket.
“Mou… How can Sukoya-san live like this!” Shirayuki felt anger rising within her. She knew Sukoya was disorganized when she held sleepovers. But she never imagined the bedroom could be a sight from hell (at least from Shirayuki’s perspective). Shirayuki felt the urge to organize the room, but she thought it was only proper to wait for Sukoya-san and lecture her about keeping everything in order. She walked carefully to the only chair in the room as she waited for Sukoya. While she was waiting, Shirayuki noticed a bag of opened honey butter potato chips on the desk.
“Oh, my favorite chips! Shiawase~” she happily picked up the bag, “it was opened, but I guessed it was never too dangerous to try one.”
Shirayuki put one chip into her mouth and suddenly started coughing.
“Ugh… This chip… is dangerous.” She fell onto the floor just after uttering out the sentence.
When Sukoya returned home, she was prepared for the horror in front of her sight.
“Tomoe-san!” Sukoya hurried to Tomoe’s side. Tomoe lied lifelessly faced-down on the floor. Her right hand’s index finger seemed to be writing something. A faint phrase “clean the room” could be seen on the floor. First Sukoya thought Shirayuki was pranking her. However, no matter how much Sukoya shook Tomoe, Tomoe would not wake up. Sukoya panicked. She did not know what to do. Years of medical and magic training had gone out of the windows. She princess carried Tomoe and rushed out of her clinic. Without a second thought, she kicked down the front door of Tulip’s house and ran to place Tomoe’s body on the living room’s couch.
“Oh my god,” Shellin said when he saw Sukoya ran into the house, “what happened here? Is Shirayuki OK?”
“I don’t know,” Sukoya’s eyes brimmed with tears, “Tomoe-san was like this when I found her in my bedroom. I don’t know what happened.”
Hayase came running into the living room. When she saw Shirayuki, she grasped. “Did you conduct any diagnose on her yet?”
“No,” Sukoya replied, “my mind was a blank when I saw her lying on the floor motionless. My first reaction was to bring her here. Please, what should I do now?” Sukoya was crying. She had not confessed her love to Shirayuki yet. There were still so many things they have not done together. She did not want to have her first love leave her like this.
“As the No.1 detective, I noticed something.” Shellin looked intensive at Shirayuki’s face. He saw the crumbs around her mouth, and took a piece to smell. “I smell something sweet and buttery… It is the honey butter chip!”
“Shiawase butter chips?” Hayase asked.
“Yes.”
Sukoya looked at the pair, “I remember… I left a bag of opened chips on the desk for a quite while… It must have expired without me noticing… Could this possibly poisoned Tomoe-san?”
“It might be,” Hayase rubbed her chin, “Sukoya, I think Shirayuki might be traumatized or poisoned by the expired chip… I think a kiss would lift the coma.”
“A… kiss!!??” Sukoya blushed as she heard the advice from Hayase. As a witch, this treatment sounded a bit sketchy. But this method was written in many books. Sukoya was willing to try anything for her love.
“Here it goes…” Sukoya slowly leaned down to Shirayuki. Her lips on the rosy lips of Shirayuki. “Ah,” she thought, “Tomoe-san’s lips tasted like honey butter too…” She licked Shirayuki’s lips, then softly bite on her lips with her canine tooth. She remembered Shirayuki often mention how adorable her canine teeth were. Shirayuki often joked about touching and licking the canine teeth. Secretly, Sukoya wished Shirayuki would do that to her. Now, this was a great chance to fulfill her dream at least a little.
“Ugh…” Shirayuki moaned as she felt a surge of warmth shot through her veins. The warmth centered on her lips. It was a sensation she never experienced before. Life was coming back to her. She began to feel movements around her. She tried to lick the soft sensation on her lips, and she heard a tiny yelp.
“Tomoe-san!” she heard Sukoya saying in a far distance, “wake up!”
“What happened…” Shirayuki mumbled as she tried to open her eyes. Voices around her seemed to be much closer now. “I remembered I was eating a piece of the honey butter chips, then I passed out…?”
“Tomoe-san!” Shirayuki woke up and saw a teary-eyed Sukoya. “Why you are crying, Kana?” She rose her hand to Sukoya’s face. She wiped off the tears. “I am ok…”
Sukoya closed her eyes as she tried to feel the warmth of Shirayuki’s hand. She held Shirayuki’s hand on her face with both of her hands. “I am glad to see you ok.”
Shirayuki sat up and looked around her. She noticed she was not in Sukoya’s bedroom anymore. She was at the Tulip’s house instead. “How did I move?” She asked.
Hayase watched the whole thing unfold. She chuckled, “Sukoya saw you fainted in her bedroom and panicked. She carried you over.”
“Oh, that was correct. Kana, I am alright now,” Shirayuki whispered to Sukoya’s ear.
Sukoya had not collected her emotion yet. She hugged Shirayuki tightly.
“By the way, Sukoya-san. We had much to talk about.” Shirayuki smiled sadistically at Sukoya.
“Eh?” Sukoya was dumbfounded.
“Your room. It was an absolute mess.” Shirayuki said, “There are paper and books and garbage everywhere. And the expired food!”
“Eh, about that… I can explain Tomoe-san!”
“No explanation,” Shirayuki cut off Sukoya, “No more kiss for you until you tidy up your room!”
“EHHHHH!!???” Sukoya shouted into the quiet night as Hayase and Shellin laughed uncontrollably next to her.