Chapter 312: Chapter 312

A young woman, looking unremarkable as possible, walked among the many people who had come out to enjoy the festivities. In fact, what she had that could make her stand out from the crowd was the innocence on her face, making it seem like she had never seen the world.

Such an aura was one that could attract trouble with the wrong kind of crowd; that was if unscrupulous men found out that she was alone, which did not take too long.

She walked with abandoned care as if she had all the time in the world, and in essence, she did.

If they had been there, a few people would recognize her face, including Clara, Shelby, and Royston.

Clara, who was wallowing in her misery back home because she did not want to show her face in public, would have been shocked beyond measure to see that the young woman she had met decades back not only did not grow older but younger instead.

Shelby would have referred to her as Royston’s cousin, and Royston would have wondered how she got back to the festivities before he did.

It was an unsurprising fact that most people did not know about. This girl was one who changed her looks often based on the deals she did. No one knew of her true age nor of her name and so she ended up with the name; Timeless Witch.

For each deal this woman made, she aged backwards from the time taken from her customers. The people who ended up giving her their life force were desperate, eager, and greedy people who still pursued the path of whatever they wanted, not weighing the consequences so they couldn’t be classified as victims.

The witch, whose only distinguishing feature was the mark at the back of her hand, enjoyed her short free time by mingling with the crowd.

She hardly joined the regular crowd and preferred her exclusion, but this time, she had only come there because of that person.

What she had not told Royston was that she could have helped him attain his cause without meeting Shelby, but Shelby had caught her attention, and she had fabricated some lies to meet her in person.

It was not like she had to explain her thought process to anyone, and despite knowing that she did not have to do anything for Royston to be able to touch his object of affection, Shelby, the timeless witch, had still gone ahead with the deal. She was not a saint and every effort used to try to find out what had happened at some point in time costs her more than she would care to admit.

She walked through the people around her, not really paying attention to any stand, as her thoughts were filled with one person, Shelby.

’That girl is fascinating. It’s been a long time since anyone caught my attention.’

The witch stopped as if in deep thought and then said aloud to herself, drawing queer looks from all around, but she paid no heed to them.

"I’ll help her this once, just because I want to." She shrugged and continued walking with a target in mind.

Her every action, even when she was walking, was so graceful and fun that people could not tear their eyes away from her. She headed out of the crowd and towards the edge of the foliage surrounding the large expanse of land around the festival setup.

A few hooligans followed her as they spotted cheap prey.

At the edge of the foliage, she spread her arms out, fisting her palms as it it contained something. In the position she walked gracefully and a little naughty like a child running his hands along a wall, bored.

From afar, her actions did not make any sense, but upon closer look, one could see a whisp of fine sand-like substance falling from her hand and lining the foliage’s edge. She was at this for hours.

"My man, that is a nut case! Let’s leave her. There are more fish to fry in the sea." One of the hooligans following the timeless witch felt creepier with each passing second.

"Shut up! What do you care about her character? Is ours any better?"

"But everything is strange about her. Besides, are we not here with a purpose? Why leave that and follow this loner?"

Just then, a voice echoed around them, "You should listen to him. He is the sanest out of all of you."

The men stopped and looked at the girl, who had not faltered even once in her steps. The voice could have only come from her, but at the same time, she had not spoken, and the voice spoke right in their heads and around them. They exchanged glances and then turned back to the girl, but she was not there.

"Looking for me?" A voice asked from their backs, making the hairs on their backs stand straight.

They shared petrified looks, each too scared to look back as the voice seemed to have come from there.

The group of strong-looking, intimidating men stood frozen, eyes stuck where the girl they had been stalking had been. They had not seen her move, and there was no path through the heavy foliage that led to the forest that most people avoided. Their bodies were rigid with terror, as though the very air around them had turned to ice.

They could have sworn that, at that moment, they could see the vapour from their breaths as if they were in a freezing area. With their eyes wide and breaths shallow, not one dared to turn around. It was as if none of them wanted to be the first to turn and face what might be there.

It was then that they realized that they had been too focused on following this lone girl to veer off from the festivities, and the place was secluded.

It was supposed to be a place where they could pounce on her and do whatever they wanted but they did not know how the situation had flipped on them.

Something or someone loomed behind them, a presence so dreadful that even the thought of facing it sent waves of panic through their minds. Their hands trembled, knuckles white as they clenched them tightly as if holding on to the last threads of courage.

The silence was deafening, broken only by their uneven breaths. Whatever lurked behind them was too horrifying to face; the unknown was far safer than what they feared would be revealed. But they knew that they could not stay like that forever, so as if in agreement, they turned slowly and came face-to-face with the girl who had been in front of them but a lot of distance.

Her sweet, innocent look and her smile did nothing to lighten the terror that rained free through their veins. The darkness wrapped around her like a cloth bending to the will of its owner.

"Muuummmmmmmyyyyyyy!!!!!!"

In that instant, all appearances were thrown aside, and the small group of grown men erupted in panicked screams, their voices shrill and childlike, piercing the night air as some even called for their mother.

Thick, tall men with harsh looks and tattoos that made them appear more menacing had lost face in front of the young woman. They stumbled over each other in a desperate scramble, wide-eyed and frantic, arms flailing as they bolted in every direction.

Their legs moved faster than their thoughts, adrenaline taking over as the terror behind them gave chase—whether real or imagined, they didn’t dare to find out. With hearts pounding in their chests, they sprinted as if their very lives depended on it, their dignity left behind in the dust along with whatever composure they once had.

The timeless witch watched their retreating backs and then shook her head. She continued with the task until the last of the fine dust was at the places she wanted.

She turned her eyes with a faraway look in the direction of the festival grounds.

"Just on time!" She whispered and then headed back the same way that she had come. ’Let’s enjoy this scene for a while before we return.’

In essence, it would be a lie if she did not look forward to what was supposed to come with that night.

"It’s going to be exciting!" She said to herself, her eyes cringing in a rare, bright smile.

In a forest and not far from the festival grounds...

"Did you say that she was here?" A strangely dressed-looking man asked his counterpart.

"Why are you still in our unique dressing? Don’t you know that we must fit in? Where are the clothes that I gave you?" This was the voice of one of the men who had come to the human world from the Fae land sometime back but had lost his partner.

"It’s too complicated and uncomfortable for me."

"We do not want to draw attention to ourselves! Now, wear them, or you will not be working with me!" He snapped and then turned to walk away.

The other man panicked; he had fought for and earned the right to come to the human world. They had two aims: One was to find the witch, and the other was to find out where their Prince, Roman, had hidden himself.

"Jeez! I’ll them! Stop overreacting!"

He quickly went behind some bushes and then changed his breeches and flowery-based top into the cotton shorts and t-shirts, missing some of the buttons at the front. It made him look totally ridiculous, but the man paid him no heed and walked briskly forward.

"She should be up ahead!" The excitement built up as they ran towards the edge of the forest, but just before they took the final step, they bumped into an invisible barrier.

They shouted simultaneously, each rubbing the part of their body that had hit the place.

"What is it? Is someone expecting us? No, that cannot be!"

"What’s blocking us?"

"Isn’t it more peculiar that such magic exists in this realm?"

"Do you think whoever did this is the same person who took your partner back then?"

This small statement was enough to get the two wary and thinking. The man who had disappeared was that powerful, and neither of them wanted to meet the culprit, but failure was not an option in their tasks too!

The two frowned, but just a few several meters from them and on the party grounds, the Timeless witch smiled and looked in their direction, whispering under her breath,

"It’s not time yet...."

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