Although the audience couldn’t see it, how could Cynthia not tell what kind of expression Penny was making?
Just thinking about it, the raven-haired girl got so mad that she completely forgot about her previous resolution to ignore Emilia for the rest of the day. “Why did you hit her so lightly? This creepy little brat definitely deserves a thorough ass beating!”
Emilia sent her partner a gentle smile. ‘It’s important to have a sense of measure while administering punishment. There’s no point to it if the other person only feels pain.’
Cynthia couldn’t help but be stunned. “What’s that supposed to mean? Explain it to me!”
’Ehehe.’
”Explain it!”
The crimson-haired girl sighed in ‘defeat’. ‘Okay, I really can’t say no to my adorable little partner, can I? Once we’re back home, I’ll give you a demonstration.’
Cynthia’s indignant expression froze as the words demonstration and punishment echoed in her mind. “W-Wait a minute… I-I… can I change my mind?”
Emilia giggled, but it only made the raven-haired girl worry more for her future. ‘L-Let’s just hope she forgets about it. Y-Yeah!’
But while the rest of the audience was either blushing or feeling embarrassed for the actor playing the role of the witch, a few couldn’t help but feel like something was different.
”Did the little witch get even shorter?”
”No, isn’t it because she’s lying horizontally on the lap of the princess?”
”Hey, if you got spanked by a pretty girl, you would also want to shrink in on yourself!”
”Speak for yourself.”
Of course, while the parents and relatives were acting quite civilized, there were still a few hooligans in the back rows who whistled and cheered at the princess to ‘smack that ass harder’.
Unfortunately for them, however, this only earned them a stern warning from the volunteers, and they could only pipe down lest they be escorted out and miss the rest of the show. The tickets weren’t cheap, after all.
Jake couldn’t help but be impressed by Emilia’s acting. “Hey, even shy girls can act quite wild after practice, huh?”
Alexander sneered. “Weren’t you convinced that the actress wasn’t her, but just another girl in makeup and a red wig?”
The blonde boy coughed in embarrassment. “T-That… I-I might not have looked so closely before, n-no, they definitely switched the actress in this scene!”
The dark-haired man gave his lapdog a derisive look, but didn’t bother responding. As far as he was concerned, it must be because she was playing a role today that the infatuated little girl insisted on inviting him, and Jake’s ignorance was just another example of his foolishness. There was a reason that the boy would forever remain just another lapdog, after all.
By this time, the situation on the stage had already changed a lot.
Unfortunately for Penny, the ‘intimate scene’ she had with the princess didn’t last for long, and Emilia soon had to try convincing the king how she wasn’t, in fact, just bullying children.
”I-I swear, daddy, she told me she was over twenty-five years old!”
The king sighed. “No matter how I look at it, it’s just a brat trying to look like her mother. How can you take her words seriously?”
”Y-You impudent father and daughter! I-I am the Great Witch of the Starlit Lake! F-Fear me!”
Looking at their half suspicious and half ‘apologetic’ expressions, however, only made the little witch feel more wronged.
Fortunately, after the little witch cried a river of tears, confessing not just all her abilities and ‘crimes’ that led to her ‘infamy’, but also all the ‘injustice’ she had suffered under the hands of the princess, the king finally seemed to somewhat believe her.
The king took off his crown to scratch his head in confusion. “Wait a minute… if you’re capable of turning people into animals, and can make potions with a variety of effects… weren’t you just being bullied by my daughter of your own free will?”
Looking at his ‘aren’t you just a pervert, don’t just blame my daughter’ expression, the little witch burst into another wave of tears. “I really couldn’t do anything to her!”
Naturally, since the king already somewhat believed in her ‘abilities’, he couldn’t help but be proud. After all, while the witch wasn’t omnipotent and invincible, she was definitely much stronger than just a single knight! What other reason could she have to not harm his princess, if not for fearing his reputation?
”Is it because she’s my daughter? Heh, as expected, this king really is too mighty—!”
The witch only cried louder, and while it wasn’t in the script, Emilia couldn’t help but pat Penny’s head in consolation. “Um, actually, she’s telling the truth, though she didn’t explain it very well. What really happened was—”
The king could only be dumbfounded as he listened to his daughter list off the ‘top ten reasons why princess Emily is now invincible among her peers’, starting with ‘Number 10: The stupid little witch used magic on her too many times and allowed her to recover, leading to her body developing natural magic resistance’, followed by ‘Number 9: The stupid little witch gave her a potion to completely heal her, not just undoing all her previous ailments, but also imbuing her with her own magic brand’, and so on.
By the time she got to ‘Number 3: Spanking the stupid little witch effectively interrupts her already fruitless spell casts’, the king was already feeling a little numb. “W-Wait a minute, h-hold on… since she couldn’t do anything to you anyway, why didn’t you return to the castle for so many days?!”
Emilia blushed as she looked away. “How could I just let her go after being bullied? I obviously had to bully her back—!” She coughed. “I mean, I decided to let her teach me magic in exchange.”
The king felt like he was about to have another headache. “So, are you also a witch now?”
Emilia rubbed her cheek in embarrassment, and the little witch started crying again. “I-I told her my magic can’t be taught to those who aren’t born with it, but she kept bullying me anyway!”
”Hey, it’s your own fault for bullying me first.”
Emilia wanted to add ‘and looking so cute’, but decided to whisper it to Penny instead, making the petite girl blush to the tip of her ears.
The audience couldn’t help but be confused. “What happened? Why is the witch blushing all of a sudden?”
”What did the princess whisper to her?”
”Are you stupid? Going by the rhythm now, it clearly must have been some derogatory words to bully her further, so her face is burning from shame and anger!”
”… Somehow, I doubt it.”
”Why?”
”Don’t ask.”
”Just focus on the show.” There was no way the man could admit that his own daughter had the exact same expression when her favorite boy band’s lead blew a kiss her way.
Back on the stage, with the confession from the princess, the king was finally enlightened. “So that’s what happened!”
The little witch sobbed. “Y-You didn’t believe me, but when she says it, you believe it! I’ll turn you into a frog!”
Immediately, the royal guards pointed their pikes at her in alarm, and if not for the princess and the king raising their hands to halt them, the floor might have already been stained with blood.
The little witch wailed even louder. “Waaahhh! S-See! Y-You all j-just bully me! Mommy was right! Humans are all a bunch of pigs!”
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