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 8
I woke up feeling like I was swaying gently in a cradle.
“Mmm… huh?”
I was startled to see herbs hanging from the ceiling.
Why!? I wondered, then realized that Merv Maple was sleeping beside me.
“Ray, you awake~?”
“Oh, yes. Good morning.”
“Good mor~ning!”
When I lit up the dim room with magic, I noticed that I was sleeping in a hammock hanging from the ceiling.
“Wait, did I own a hammock like this?”
“Merv Maple made this.”
“Oh, I see.”
Looking closely, the hammock was made of vines, decorated with the same flowers that bloomed on Merv Maple’s forehead.
The vines weren’t stiff but soft and flexible.
They even had warmth, as if they had a built-in heating function.
“Merv Maple, you’re a genius.”
When I praised her like that, Merv Maple looked quite pleased.
Apparently, the pharmacy didn’t have any bedding, and since I was about to sleep on the floor, she hurriedly made it for me. What a kind girl—I was deeply moved.
As I was wondering how to get down, Merv Maple gently lowered the hammock to the floor.
When I stood up, a sharp pain shot through my head.
“Ugh, a full-on hangover.”
Since I rarely drank alcohol, it must have hit me harder than usual.
Luckily, this was a pharmacy. There were plenty of hangover remedies available.
I grabbed one from the shelf and drank it all at once.
“Ugh, so bitter!”
But it worked instantly, and I felt much better in no time.
“Phew…”
When I opened the shop’s curtains, the sun was shining brightly.
It was probably already late morning.
I had planned to close the shop today, so there was no problem.
This was probably the first time in my life I had slept in so late.
But that was fine.
Because now, I was free. I had completely cut ties with Rymer, who tried to trap me in an engagement and marriage.
“—!”
Thinking about it filled me with a strange sense of relief and excitement.
I owed this feeling to Ie, who listened to my sad story.
I had kept him up until late last night. I hoped it didn’t affect his work.
I had been too drunk to consider that.
I needed to apologize and thank him when we met again.
As always, the dryad was still sleeping. He only woke up when a beautiful female customer came in.
Well, he was an old man, so it was natural for him to be sleepy.
When I went to the kitchen, I noticed that the pot, which had been filled with stew, was now clean.
“Did Merv Maple wash this?”
“Yes.”
“Oh, thank you so much!!”
I had expected the pot to be covered in hardened stew after sitting out all night.
But she had cleaned it thoroughly.
“Wait, does that mean we actually finished all that stew?”
“Ray said ‘I can’t eat anymore!’ halfway through.”
Apparently, Ie had eaten most of it.
“He kept eating it so happily.”
“Oh, I see. That’s good.”
Ie looked slender, but he must have been a big eater.
“People really aren’t what they seem…”
I had always seen Ie as a busy worker with no personal life.
But he had a divorce in his past, a daughter, and was even paying child support.
“Yesterday, I thought I was the most miserable person in the world, but everyone carries their own burdens.”
I shouldn’t be discouraged by fate. I needed to live strongly.
“Alright, first, a bath!”
I made up my mind, but there was no bath in the pharmacy.
I had no choice but to use magic.
I went to an open space at the back of the shop and prepared magic scrolls for water sphere magic and wind magic.
Magic scrolls were items infused with spells. Anyone could activate them just by tearing them.
By combining the two spells, I created a floating water sphere where the water spun with the power of wind magic.
The sphere was about the size of a regular bathtub.
Adding fire magic heated the water, completing a simple bath.
When I mixed in powdered herbal soap, the water turned into a bubbly bath.
“This is better than I expected. I’ll call it a Water Sphere Bath.”
I took off my clothes and entered the bath. The swirling water and bubbles washed my body for me.
“This is so easy.”
I even dipped my head in, letting the water clean my hair.
“Pwah!!”
I made another water sphere without soap to rinse off.
Finally, I used wind magic to dry my body, so I didn’t even need a towel.
“Ah, so refreshing!”
It was just a temporary magic solution, but it worked.
However, I couldn’t rely on magic scrolls for every bath.
They were expensive since they had special attributes.
I needed to find a proper solution for the bath situation.