I Supported My Fiancé for 10 Years After He Said, 'Let's Get Married When I Succeed,' but When He Finally Did, He Dumped Me. By the Way, I'm a Witch and Turning 30 Next Year!! - Episode 5

My parents, perhaps feeling guilty about not being able to provide a dowry, prepared plenty of gifts for me.

A pearl necklace, a gold-tipped fountain pen, a diamond brooch, and even a stuffed animal adorned with gemstone eyes.

I exchanged all of them for money and gave it to Rymer so he could become a holy knight.

But that money ran out after just one year.

I had nothing left to sell.

Even if I wanted to work outside, I needed a letter of recommendation.

I could ask my parents, but if they found out we were struggling so much that I had to work, they might tell me to break off my engagement with Rymer.

At the time, I believed that Rymer could not survive without me.

If it had come to this, then maybe I had no choice but to sell my body.

Honestly, I was reluctant to earn money that way. But when I thought about doing it for Rymer, I felt like I could do anything. I wanted to help him become a holy knight and open the path to his success.

Rymer’s dream had become my dream as well.

I can do it! I will definitely make it happen!

Thinking that there was no shame in any profession, I walked towards the entertainment district, where I had a fateful encounter.

A beautiful woman with fiery red hair, like a blazing flame.

The moment she saw me, she gave a deep smile.

And she saw right through my situation.

“You seem to be in trouble. Don’t tell me you’ve come here to sell yourself?”

I was surprised by her blunt way of speaking, especially for a woman, but even more so by how she could see through my thoughts.

“A girl like you selling yourself and wasting your youth would be a waste. How about becoming a witch instead?”

She told me that it would earn me far more money than working in the entertainment district.

Without even thinking deeply about it, I nodded at her offer.

She introduced herself as the “Lust Witch.”

The highest-ranking witches’ names are considered spells, so they rarely reveal them.

I was ordered to abandon my family name and take on the title of the embodiment of lust, Asmodeus.

From then on, I studied magic under the Lust Witch.

Apparently, I had an affinity for both fire and plant magic, making me well-suited to be a witch. The Lust Witch praised me greatly.

Aside from studying, she also taught me how to brew magical potions, which she sold as products.

Love potions, aphrodisiacs, mind-reading elixirs, and potions that could erase love—all designed to make love come true.

Once I mastered magic and potion brewing, I also learned how to gather ingredients for them.

The most important ingredients were the leaves and roots of Dryads.

Dryads were part of the fairy race, but because they sometimes caused harm to humans, they were classified as creatures that could be hunted like monsters.

The Lust Witch seemed to enjoy hunting down fleeing Dryads.

A year later—when I turned 21—I had become a full-fledged witch. I could now brew potions and collect materials on my own.

I was also allowed to sell potions, with 20% of the profits going to my mentor, the Lust Witch.

On my first solo trip to gather materials, I met him.

“Please don’t kill meee!!”

It was a Dryad, old and wrinkled like an old man, with no luster to its bark or leaves—clearly aged.

Thinking it had no value as a material, I was about to pass it by when suddenly, the Dryad extended its vines and attacked me.

“Hehehe! If I absorb the life force of a young girl, I’ll become young again!”

“What?!”

The Dryad lengthened its vines and lifted me into the air.

I prepared to launch a massive fireball at it.

Sensing its life was in danger, the Dryad quickly set me down and bowed, begging for mercy. It promised to do anything if I spared its life, so I made a contract with it.

Since it didn’t resist, I took it home.

Worried that it might cause trouble, I planted it in a pot and sealed it in place.

From that day on, the eternally lustful old Dryad became my companion.

With proper nourishment, the Dryad became a valuable ingredient for potions.

“I wanted to make a contract with a prettier woman!”

It often grumbled about ungrateful things, but I simply covered my ears and ignored it.

Behind the glittering high society, I attended social gatherings under the guise of a guest while secretly selling potions.

I earned more money than ever before.

I only told Rymer that I was working outside. He was curious about where I worked, but once I gave him money, he stopped asking questions.

As the Lust Witch’s apprentice, I continued to operate in high society, but one day, I got caught up in a major incident.

It happened in the summer when I turned 24.

I sneaked into a hunting tournament, as usual, to sell potions.

My client was a duke who wanted to enjoy a summer romance with a young woman.

However, his wife, the duchess, found out and barged in during our transaction. She mistook me for his mistress.

Even though I insisted that she was wrong, she wouldn’t listen.

Rather than blaming her cheating husband, she saw the woman involved as the villain.

To my shock, she pulled out a knife and lunged at me.

With the knife deeply embedded in me, I fled into the forest.

Gasping for breath, I saw my life flash before my eyes.

All I could think about was Rymer working hard to become a holy knight.

Dying before seeing him achieve his dream was unacceptable.

At that moment, I heard a voice.

“Are you okay?”

It was a gentle, childlike voice.

Why would a child be deep in the forest? When I opened my eyes, I saw a strange creature staring at me—it looked like a walking radish.

“W-Who are you?”

“I am Merv Maple.”

Merv Maple worried about my wounds.

“If you eat Merv Maple’s leaves, you will heal.”

“Huh…?”

Without waiting for my response, Merv Maple plucked the leaves from its head and stuffed them into my mouth.

In an instant, my knife wound was completely healed.

“T-Thank you.”

At first, I thought Merv Maple was a stray fairy or spirit, but it turned out it was contracted to a witch living deep in the forest.

Following Merv Maple’s invitation, I visited the witch’s house.

There, I met my second mentor—the “Herbal Witch.”

She was an old woman dressed in a pointed hat and a black robe. Though her appearance was intimidating, she was kind and compassionate.

After hearing my story, the Herbal Witch took me in.

Not only did she save me, but she also warned me to stop getting involved with the Lust Witch.

After experiencing such a dangerous incident, I realized that staying with the Lust Witch could cost me my life. So I called her and asked to dissolve our master-disciple relationship.

The Lust Witch agreed without hesitation.

I had thought she might protest, even just a little, but she didn’t.

To her, I was just one of many apprentices.

Still, I was grateful to her. Thanks to her, I had never needed to sell my body.

Later, I became the Herbal Witch’s apprentice. She gave me a new name—Kirkeis, the Goddess of Potions.

“A year later, the Herbal Witch retired and appointed me as the next Herbal Witch in exchange for taking over Merv Maple’s contract.”

Not only that, but she also left me this shop.