That night, Lanafit had a dream.
She dreamed of Mama Zhang and Mama Li, dreamed of Yuan Shang, dreamed of all the little moments she’d shared with them, and dreamed of the future they might have had.
She and Yuan Shang succeeded in building a business through their own efforts, rising to become entrepreneurs in high society.
He married a wife who, while not particularly beautiful, was kind and virtuous.
They had a sweet and lively daughter.
Mama Zhang and Mama Li were brought into the household to live with them.
The whole family basked in happiness, Yuan Shang often dropping by to share meals.
Everyone’s faces were filled with genuine, heartfelt smiles.
But suddenly, she realized she was no longer seeing from Su Xiaorang’s point of view.
She had become an observer.
She was Lanafit now—able only to watch from afar as they lived out their happiness.
A strange sense of loneliness crept over her.
Somehow, a bitter smile curled at the corner of her lips, and her eyes grew wet without her noticing.
Yes… this life no longer belonged to her.
From now on, she was no longer Su Xiaorang, but Witch Lanafit.
“Lanafit dear, time to get up~!”
Through the haze, a familiar voice seemed to call to her.
It was a lovely voice… who was it?
“My, my~ I didn’t expect you to be a late sleeper. How adorable. But you really can’t stay in bed anymore—it’s already ten o’clock.”
The familiar voice spoke again.
Lanafit felt it was becoming more and more familiar—but who was it?
A strange sense of danger began to rise.
“Tsk tsk tsk… Still won’t get up? Then I guess I’ll just have to wake you with a kiss of love, won’t I? Hehehe…”
The feeling of danger surged through her.
In an instant, Lanafit bolted upright in her sleep—and then—
“Bang—!”
“Ahhh!”
“Owww—!”
The sound of a collision was followed by two simultaneous cries of pain.
Holding her head, Lanafit opened her eyes and saw someone on the floor clutching her nose and writhing.
Who else could it be but Roseithe?
“Oww oww oww, what are you doing!?” Lanafit cried in frustration.
Judging by the distance just now, Roseithe had clearly been up to no good.
If she hadn’t reacted in time, she definitely would have been…
Hmm…
Was that really a loss?
…
Doesn’t matter.
There’s no way she could let this woman succeed!
Roseithe, meanwhile, was clearly hit hard.
She lay on the ground struggling for quite a while before finally managing to get up.
After all, there’s no question which is harder—nose or forehead.
Tears welled in the corners of her eyes from the pain as she rubbed her nose and gave Lanafit a wounded look.
“I was just trying to wake you up, you know. I meant well!”
“You call sneaking up on me while I’m sleeping meaning well?”
“Ahaha… I was momentarily possessed…”
Faced with such blunt questioning, Roseithe could only play dumb and laugh awkwardly.
Lanafit looked her over.
Today, she was no longer dressed in that dazzling crimson gown from yesterday’s ceremony, but her outfit was still plenty extravagant.
Honestly, though she was a rather regrettable person, her looks and figure were undeniably otherworldly.
Last night before bed, Lanafit had finally looked into a mirror and seen her current face.
She had to admit she was beautiful too—but still, there was some distance between her and Roseithe.
Noticing Lanafit’s gaze lingering, Roseithe covered her mouth and giggled, showing once again that same elegant, enchanting smile she’d worn when they first met.
“Oh my~ Is little Lanafit staring at me because she’s fallen for her big sister?”
As she spoke, she lifted her skirt and twirled gracefully.
“It’s all right~ My heart, my body, and all this beauty were born for sweet and lovely girls like you. You can fall for me as much as you like, Lanafit dear.”
“How did you even get in here? I remember sealing the hallway outside and freezing the guest room door shut.”
Completely ignoring Roseithe’s flirtation, Lanafit asked coldly.
Hearing that, Roseithe immediately put her hands on her hips with a smug little pose.
“Hmph, hmph, hmph! While your ice magic is a bit tricky, little Lanafit, I became a witch a whole hundred years before you. A little trick like that? I only used, uh… only ten hours to break through it!”
Judging by the awkward look on her face as she said the last part, it was obvious she’d suffered quite a bit in there.
“So what did you come barging into my room for first thing in the morning?”
Lanafit couldn’t think of any reason for Roseithe to show up like this other than some impure motive—especially since she hadn’t even knocked.
“Don’t look at your big sister with such suspicion! It hurts my heart! I’m not like some filthy man who’s in heat 365 days a year.”
“I don’t think you’re all that different.”
“I came to officially begin teaching you your duties as a witch~! Today is the explanation session!”
Ignoring the jab, Roseithe looked at Lanafit with a hopeful, “Aren’t you excited?” expression.
“The duties of a witch…”
Repeating those words, Lanafit turned to Roseithe again and asked, “Roseithe, before you mentioned I was assigned as the Witch of Curses and Calamities. What exactly does that mean?”
She hadn’t paid much attention to it at first—still preoccupied with the shock of turning into a woman.
But now, with things settling a bit, her curiosity got the better of her.
“Well…”
Roseithe hesitated, looking at the curious Lanafit, seemingly unsure of how to explain.
“To be honest, even as a servant of the Demon God, I think it’s a bit harsh assigning you to that domain. I’ve been worried about it ever since.”
Apparently still searching for the right words, Roseithe grumbled a little, which only made Lanafit even more curious.
“We witches are the highest-order beings in this world. We serve as overseers of the world, carrying out the will of our creator, the Demon God.”
“The Demon God isn’t just our creator—He’s the creator of this entire world, the source of all existence.
We don’t know exactly how long the world has existed, but 3,500 years ago, according to the Demon God’s will, the first witch was born.
She fulfilled her duties and brought blessings to the world.
Since then, a new witch has been born every century, each assigned a specific duty.
You, Lanafit, are the thirty-fifth.”
Lanafit nodded at this explanation.
So in essence, witches were extensions of the Demon God’s divine authority.
Like a company with a CEO and employees: the Demon God, being the boss, assigns different departments and projects to the witches.
After all, if He had to handle everything Himself, wouldn’t that be exhausting?
“So when you said you were the witch in charge of love and desire, you’re responsible for overseeing all matters related to those domains?”
“That’s right.”
Roseithe nodded.
“In the lower world, no matter the species—so long as they’re sentient—when two beings fall in love and come together, I grant them the blessing of love. That’s why, in the lower world, I’m revered by my followers as the Goddess of Love.”
She was clearly quite proud of this fact, and then gave Lanafit a mischievous grin as she added, “Which is why I could tell from the start—you and I were destined to fall in love! Come on, into your big sister’s arms!”
“Heh, do you say that to all the thirty-three witches who came before me?”
“Uh…”
Roseithe was left speechless by the sarcastic jab.
“So what about the ‘desire’ part of your domain? How does that work?”
“Well, you know… once two people fall in love, physical desire naturally follows. And even if they’re not in love, that kind of desire can still exist. So honestly, that part of my domain is kind of just a bonus responsibility.”
Roseithe continued to explain.
Her duties basically consisted of bestowing blessings upon loving couples and overseeing the propagation of sentient life.
After all, without desire, there would be no reproduction—so the two are linked.
Managing both together made sense.
She gave another example: Anthera Sael, the Witch of Reincarnation and Transmigration.
Her responsibilities were part of the same system—guiding souls of the dead to the underworld, judging their deeds, determining punishment or reward, and deciding if and how they should be reincarnated.
Other witches had different roles—some governed the four seasons and weather, some managed harvest and the land, others rivers and oceans.
There were even witches responsible for fate and life itself.
But no matter their domain, all witch duties came in pairs or were interlinked in some way.
Still, despite this thorough explanation, Lanafit couldn’t help but feel a growing sense of confusion…
Curses and calamities… No matter how you looked at it, those didn’t sound like anything good.
And what connection could there possibly be between the two?
“Then, Roseithe, what exactly am I supposed to do as part of my duties?”
“Well… actually, I don’t really know either. Ehehe~!”
Roseithe tried to play it off cutely, but Lanafit wasn’t buying it.
“Hmm, I guess I really should ask someone more reliable to be my guide.”
Miss Anthera would be a good choice—reliable, gentle, and incredibly patient.
Even though Lanafit had felt a bit awkward around her at first, after getting to talk with her, she found this senior witch gave off a comforting, trustworthy vibe.
“Lanafit dear, saying things like that again? This time I won’t fall for it~!”
Unexpectedly, Roseithe wasn’t fazed by the suggestion, catching Lanafit off guard.
“Even the other senior witches wouldn’t know the details of your duties, since your domain is curses and calamities. No one knows who you’re supposed to bring divine punishment upon, or how it’s supposed to be carried out.”
“Then how am I supposed to figure out what I’m meant to do?”
Lanafit was completely in the dark right now.
Even if you were assigning a task to an employee, the boss should at least provide clear goals, right?
“No need to worry. After a witch has been summoned for a while, she’ll definitely receive the will of the Demon God. Once that happens, you’ll know exactly what to do. But…”
At this point, Roseithe looked at Lanafit with a worried expression.
This was the first time in all of witch history that someone had been assigned such a domain—bringing both curses and calamities, two ominous forces.
What exactly was the Demon God intending to make of Lanafit?
And more importantly… would Lanafit really be able to handle such a role?
Still, as long as she stayed here, Lanafit wouldn’t have to directly witness the consequences of the misfortunes she would bring.
If she never saw them with her own eyes, maybe that would make it bearable…
“Oh well, I’m sure everything will be fine. If you ever feel like you can’t go on, Lanafit dear, you can always come talk to me~.”
Seeing Lanafit’s puzzled expression, Roseithe smiled and gently reached out, ruffling her hair.
Because the gesture didn’t carry any ill intent, Lanafit didn’t avoid it.
“But enough of that. The real reason I came to see you today—aside from some less important things—is that I have a gift for you~!”
“A gift?”
Lanafit immediately became wary.
Could anything from her really be something good?
“I spent the whole night preparing it! It’s in my room right now, waiting just for you, Lanafit dear.”
As she spoke, she suddenly grabbed Lanafit’s wrist.
“Come! Back to my room with me!”
That line sounded extremely suspicious, causing Lanafit to frown.
Still, curiosity got the better of her, and she followed Roseithe out of the guest room—though if it turned out to be something weird, Roseithe was definitely going to pay for it.