Not wanting to think about that anymore, Marianna forced herself to lie down again and close her eyes.

She was afraid that the old witch was still watching her somehow, she didn't know much about witches and their powers, just tales she heard from the gossips in town- something that lost credibility for her after seeing how it was used against her and how it pushed her to the brink of death- but what she was sure of was that the witch had powers she couldn't understand, and the longer she stayed on her good side, the better her chances were.

She thought that she will not be able to sleep in such a weird situation and environment, but not long after she dropped her head on her pillow, she lost herself in the land of dreams.

Although it wasn't clear to Marianna how long she had slept before waking up in that sealed room in the first time, the amount of exhaustion and pain she went through wasn't going to be undone by a single cycle of sleep, her body needed more rest.

The torture she went through those few days, be it physical or mental, was unimaginable. She didn't even know how long all that had lasted before she was finally dragged to be burned.

So it wasn't weird that she would fall asleep so soon, and that she slept that deeply.

***

In an old but clean and well-lit room, a graceful and agile body was moving elegantly around.

Mutterings were heard as the woman looked at the ingredients in front of her and frowned a bit before releasing a small chuckle and shaking her head gently.

It had been quite a while since the last time she cooked for someone other than herself and she couldn't believe that she was having this much trouble over something as simple as that.

She didn't hate the feeling she had at that idea, it made her smile without noticing and want to chuckle none stop for no apparent reason, it was a simple joy she hadn't felt in quite a while.

"This life truly makes one turn weird and reclusive..." She murmured softly after she caught how she was acting and her mood plunged a bit.

Shaking her head again, even though it was for a different reason this time, the woman forced herself to stop thinking about such pointless things and start working.

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She was finding it a bit weird at first, with the fact that she was cooking for another person still at the forefront of her thoughts and all, but as she moved and worked more on the ingredients in front of her, that was thrown to the back of her mind as she fell into a familiar rhythm and lost herself entirely in it.

She liked cooking, it was like potion-making, except that she still had the chance to make mistakes, take things slowly and have room to breathe while not being under the danger of losing a patch of valuable ingredients or worst, the cauldron exploding in her face.

She had the room to let her body deal with the cooking while she lost herself in her thoughts and daydreaming.

Just like then.

While her hands followed her muscle memory and moved in a fast-paced sequence of movements not to be expected from someone not concentrating on what they were doing, she found her thoughts moving again to the young woman sleeping in the room just a few meters away from her.

Everything was too much of a coincidence that it made her uncomfortable, yet no matter how she thought about it, and no matter from what angle, it appeared that it was just that, a coincidence.

The fact that she just happened to pass through the close town and meet a local witch, how while she was in that witch's hideout it just happened that a cryptic message about how a witch was found in a close small town arrived, and how it just happened that her burning was happening without any hunters from the church as guards made it all the more suspicious.

Even though that last part was probably something that land steward did, he probably pushed all this forward so the trial and burning can happen as fast as possible.

The witch she was with didn't want to risk it, she didn't want to try anything dangerous, fearing that a trap might have been laid there for them, she herself knew that there was a big chance such a thing was true, it won't be the first nor will it be the last time that the church would pull something like this, yet she couldn't ignore it, so as fast as she could while keeping a vigilant eye on her surroundings, she flew to that small town.

As a part of her suspected, things weren't as simple as she was told, yet even she couldn't expect what truly was happening there.

Unconsciously, her hand movements slowed down as she remembered that before sighing.

She didn't know why but seeing that young woman being treated like that while she was dragged around like a soulless doll, she felt sad for herself, she did feel pity and sadness for the young woman, but the majority of it was for herself and all the sisters who strived for what she wished for.

If even someone who had no relation to them was treated like that just from being thought of as a witch, then was there any hope of her being able to live a 'normal' life again? Any hope of her ever being seen as something more than a filthy witch?

The sound of the knife hitting against the board slowed down till it disappeared entirely at the end and the room fell into silence.

"Hmm? Did I make you worried? Hehe, don't worry little one, I'm good..." The same gentle voice was finally heard.

***

After who knows how long, Marianna was finally awakened by the feeling of hunger from her demanding stomach, she was confused at first about where she was and what happened but it all came back to her and she jumped up looking around her in panic.

She soon calmed down and noticed something different about the room she was in, there was a nightstand on the left side of her bed, and on top of it there was a medium-sized bowl filled with a rich soup with little pieces of meat and unknown plants floating inside it.

It smelled great and her hunger made her want to wolf it down without a care in the world, yet she couldn't forget where she was, and who the person who made that meal was... Or what it might have been made of...

She felt hungry, yet her fear of witches and the lack of trust she developed after all what happened to her made her hesitate for a long period of time.

She remained struggling with that dilemma for a long time till she noticed a movement from the corner of her eye, turning her head, she saw a small white fox running toward her.