Whose youth romance story begins with a witch's trial?!

"No, no, don't say that, Chang Rongsang...! It's already an honor for me to be able to treat Chang Rongsang's wounds! If, if I faint because of the treatment, that would be the best reward for me!"

"Hmm... never mind, if I keep complaining, it'll never end. Meruru, whatever makes you happy."

Looking at Ice Meruru, who had become even more excited after learning the cause and effect of her coma, Chang Rong could only sigh and not waste any more time on the topic.

After all, it's a patient's condition; as the saying goes, the more doctors a patient dies from, the more skilled the patient becomes. Since Meruru has already said she has no objections, I shouldn't dwell on it anymore.

"So, um... so Chang Rong-san has always been by my side...? I, I'm so happy—"

No, not at all.

Seeing that Meruru was about to ascend to heaven again, Chang Rong quickly interrupted her most whimsical fantasy.

“Marg has been taking care of you, Meruru. I’m just here to take over.”

"Waaaaah... Even so, I'm still so touched and so happy...!"

This guy is beyond saving...

Although she had tried to lower her favorability rating, the jellyfish mother still moved herself to tears and started shedding little pearls.

"Speaking of which... Chang Rong-san, I'm really happy... I've been having nightmares. In those nightmares, the aspiring witches whose names I can remember and those whose names I can't find me. They torture me relentlessly. I wanted to apologize, to run away, to struggle, but it was all in vain... I could only be tortured by them again and again..."

After sniffing and wiping away the small pearl from the corner of her eye, Meruru sat on the hospital bed in the infirmary and softly recounted to the white-haired young man in front of her what she had experienced while she was unconscious.

“I know, I know everyone hates me, and I know that no matter how much I pray, this sin will not be cleansed, but, but even so... being executed again and again is really painful... and it was at this moment that Chang Rong-san suddenly appeared...!”

Meruru gripped Chang Rong's hand tightly, her eyes gleaming with fervent light.

"Your Holiness, you rushed to the execution platform in the courtroom, grabbed my hand like this, and led me away from the execution platform... Even when the guards and other witches tried to stop you, you never let go of my hand!"

"Hmm, it seems like Chang Rongsang disappeared for a while in the middle, but she came back quickly, and I immediately pounced on her happily—but it seems like I pulled something off?"

—The answer is my shorts…

If it weren't for my quick reflexes and instinctive reactions, I would have almost had to put on a show of gentlemanly conduct in front of Baosheng Mag under Meruru's "I love to pull down your pants in my dreams" offensive.

"In short, under the guidance of the Holy Son, I not only escaped the nightmare, but also had the happiest dream ever...! It's been so long since I've had such a dream. After all, no matter what position I usually sleep in, as long as I close my eyes, I only have nightmares, and I even have to use sleeping pills or magic to barely fall asleep..."

As Meruru spoke on the ice, a bitter smile appeared on her face. Contrary to her innocent and somewhat dazed appearance, every night felt incredibly long to her. Whenever she closed her eyes, the witch trials of the past, which she thought she had long forgotten, would transform into nightmares that would entangle her and try to drag her into an inescapable hell she had created herself.

"A beautiful dream—does that refer to the process of your encounter with the Great Witch, Meruru?"

“…Huh?” Meruru blinked, looking somewhat surprised, but soon a shy and embarrassed expression appeared on her face.

"W-Am I talking in my sleep... Waaah, I... I once talked too loudly in my sleep and accidentally revealed that I was the mastermind. After that, I... I did some special training... but it still doesn't work..."

"No, it's not a problem with sleep talking—well, although Meruru, you did talk in your sleep before."

Chang Rong awkwardly rubbed her hair. She thought, "No wonder she's called 'Ice Queen Meluru'; this is truly an unexpected way to self-destruct. Declaring herself the mastermind in a dream is another level of intellectual mastermind."

"Ahem, actually—I saw a part of your dream, Meruru, or rather, your past. Meruru, you were born in a small town in the west, right?"

"Chang Rong-sang...you, you saw it too?" Ice Meluru asked softly, her eyes wide with disbelief.

Chang Rong nodded, acknowledging that he had opened the box.

After accidentally falling asleep next to Meruru, Chang Rong vaguely saw some images. At first, Chang Rong was puzzled by the overly realistic images, but as he continued to observe, he quickly realized that this was Meruru's past on the ice—her past before she met the Great Witch.

Coco once mentioned that during the first playthrough, many witches were executed, and in the moments before they became witches, the other prospective witches present would 'peep' at the witches' past experiences, which were almost all the wounds they were most unwilling to expose before becoming witches.

Perhaps it's due to the resonance of witch factors? However, in most cases, Chang Rong's witch factors are used to maintain bodily functions, so there are no excess witch factors for resonance.

But this time, probably because the witch factor of Meruru was almost squeezed dry, Chang Rong was able to glimpse Meruru's past and realize that this witch who claimed to be a "higher existence" was actually just an ordinary human being like everyone else.

"Although I only saw some images vaguely, and although I couldn't see the face of that 'Great Witch' clearly, but... anyway, all of that is in the past, Meruru."

Chang Rong reached out and gently stroked Meruru's hair on the ice, using this method to comfort her about her past.

The suffering she endured in the past, her abandonment and torment, were things from too long ago. Chang Rong didn't want to bring up those scars again, so all he did was pat Meruru's hair and tell her that those painful past events were over.

"Hehehe... Chang Rong's hands are so warm... Um, I, I don't actually feel sad. Like I said before, this is actually the most wonderful dream for me. After all, it was around that time that I met the Great Witch."

Meluru Ice Slide smiled and shook her head. When talking about her past experiences, Meluru Ice Slide didn't feel pain, but rather great happiness.

“Now that you’ve seen it, Chang Rong-san, there’s nothing left to hide. I… am actually human, or rather, I used to be human.”

"Although life was tough back then, I met my own Great Witch. The Great Witch was so perfect, so cute, so handsome, so gentle... I love the Great Witch the most, especially after she brought me to Witch Island. The way she pretended to be mature but always clumsily took care of me, I really, really liked it..."

Meruru's smile radiated happiness; it wasn't feigned, but rather a genuine joy from the bottom of her heart.

"Although the time I spent with the Great Witch on Witch Island was short, it is... a treasure I will cherish for a lifetime," Meruru said, clasping her hands together in a devout prayer posture.

"However, this kind of life did not last long. Before I came of age, humans launched an attack on witches. Although the Great Witch wanted to fight back with a strong attitude, the other witches did not seem to have any intention of doing so... and in the end... except for the Great Witch, all the other witches were executed."

"After that, the Great Witch changed completely. She stopped smiling and focused on researching how to kill all humans. The 'Witch Factor' was born at that time, and I, as a human, volunteered to become a test subject to test the actual effects of the Great Witch's Witch Factor. After that, I also became an immortal witch."

"But... I don't seem to be what the Great Witch originally wanted to create, so... the Great Witch disappeared. And her last words were, 'I will destroy humanity, no matter how long it takes, no matter what it takes.'"

At this point, Meruru's eyes dimmed; even she found it hard to accept the Great Witch's changes. Or perhaps it was precisely because she had spent so much time with the Great Witch, like family, that Meruru felt so heartbroken by her transformation.

"For a long time afterward... I could only wander around with the familiars left behind by the Great Witch. Although humans later evacuated Witch Island for some reason, and we were able to return here, the Great Witch never appeared again. Until later, when 'prospective witches' began to appear in human society, I decided to join forces with human government agencies to conduct a 'witch trial,' perhaps in this way we could find the Great Witch who had hidden herself."

"I really... can't understand it anymore. Every time the witch's trial ends in failure, I become more and more suspicious of the Great Witch. Does she really want to destroy humanity? How does she really see me...? I... am too stupid to find the answers to these questions, but if I could find the Great Witch, if it were the Great Witch... these questions that are bothering me would definitely be answered, right?"

"..."

Chang Rong did not respond; he simply listened in silence as Meru on the ice recounted her longing for the Great Witch and her bewilderment at her sudden disappearance.

"If, if the Great Witch still desires to destroy the world, then... I will stand by her until the very end. And if the Great Witch feels she has done wrong... I will still choose to accept it, and stand with the Great Witch to face the judgment of death—"

Chang Rong couldn't explain to Ice Melulu where her beloved Great Witch had gone, but she vaguely realized something.

For Meluru on Ice, the only time she could truly call it 'happiness' was the few years she spent on the island with the Great Witch. But that happiness was quickly extinguished by the human invasion of the witch.

After becoming a witch, Meru on Ice is alone on this island, trying to find the Great Witch in ways that may be completely wrong or even absurd, in order to preserve the girls who have been corrupted by the witch's influence, all in preparation for the possible 'return of the Great Witch' in the future.

In other words, the truly 'happy' years for Meruru on Ice over these hundreds of years are, on a scale far too short. Her hard-won happiness was simply insufficient to sustain her centuries of solitude and the torment of repeatedly initiating witch trials.

For this reason, Meruru on Ice could only choose to 'forget,' sealing away those painful, distressing, and desperate memories again and again, making that fleeting, meteoric period of happiness seem longer as a motivation to continue. Obviously, this behavior could not last, and her heart was already on the verge of collapse, so she could only rely on stronger forgetting to numb herself.

The Great Witch was right, this girl... is indeed a complete idiot.

"Meruru"

"What's wrong, Chang Rong-san? Is it because my words are too boring? — Ugh!?"

With a thud, Chang Rong flicked Mei Lulu's forehead.

"Putting aside whether it's boring or not, Meruru, are you sure you're not mistaken about something you said?"

"Damn, did you make a mistake?" Meruru covered her forehead, her eyes brimming with tears as she tilted her head and asked Chang Rong.

"It's not 'Am I going to die too?' and go die with that great witch, it's 'correction' instead," Chang Rong said with a cold snort, holding up one finger.

"Correction...?"

"That's right. You've been carefully freezing and preserving the corpses of prospective witches all along, and sending those prospective witches who would have been executed to Witch Island for witch trials—isn't the purpose of all these actions to hope that the Great Witch will one day return and correct all these mistakes?"

"I...that's what I thought, but...but the result seems to only bring more pain to everyone..."

“Your methods may be flawed, but that great witch can correct everything, can’t she? In that case, there’s only one thing we need to do—if that great witch really has gone down the wrong path, if she really has made the wrong choice, then it’s up to you and us to correct her, and then let her correct all the mistakes so far, right!”

The Great Witch can change everything, so what I need to do is to change her when she goes astray, and bring her back on track to correct everything.

"You...you're right, Chang Rong-san...!!"

Meruru's eyes lit up again. She didn't need to think too much, because Meruru was an idiot.

What this idiot needs to do is simple: bring back the Great Witch, and then... let the Great Witch lead this idiot to do the truly 'right' things.

On the ice, Meruru held Chang Rong's hands tightly, and a happy smile reappeared on her face.

"As expected of the Holy Child... You truly guided me when I was lost and confused. For example, if possible... I really hope to become a true family with Chang Rong-san and the Great Witch—"

Meruru couldn't help but start fantasizing about the wonderful scene of living with Chang Rong and the Great Witch Xue in the future.

[Become, family] —

However, the moment this fantasy was born, the instant Meruru uttered the word "family," a chilling cold suddenly swept over her body.

Not only her body, but also her heart, brain, nerves... the intense stinging and excruciating pain overwhelmed Meruru on the ice.

"Ugh... Waaaaah...!? I, what is this..."

"Meruru!? Are you alright? Is this a side effect of lacking witch genes? Anyway, lie down first—"

"No, no... I... Waaah... Why, why do I feel so bad when I say that word, like I'm about to cry..."

Cold sweat streamed down Meruru's forehead on the ice, soaking her pure white nun's habit along with the liquid dripping from the corners of her eyes.

Something that should have been erased, something that had been forgotten, was like a Pandora's box that had been accidentally opened, frantically eroding and devouring Meruru's already crumbling sanity on the ice.

"I... Waaah... I'm sorry, I'm so sorry... I don't know why, but... I..."

"My Lord, please grant peace to the lost believer and heal her kind but broken heart."

"—!"

A dark substance emanated from Meruru's body, and before it completely engulfed her, the boy's prayer reached her ears. The voice wasn't loud, but it was incredibly clear, reaching deep into Meruru's mind and heart.

The words and tone of that prayer were the same way Meruru had always insisted on, but had long forgotten its origin.

Chang Rong's calm voice reminded Mei Lulu of that ordinary moment when her mother told her stories by her bedside and her father stroked her hair.

"Um... I, I'm fine, Chang Rong-sang..." The black, viscous substance that had covered her slowly faded away, and the pure white-clad nun returned to her usual holy and gentle appearance.

"Take your time, I'm right here beside you, Meruru. Just take your time."

Chang Rong stopped praying and gently stroked the girl's hair, calmly comforting her to calm down.

“I…I just seemed to…feel, or rather, ‘remember’ something…” Meruru looked at Chang Rong, her expression one of unprecedented confusion and vulnerability.

"Although I know that Chang Rong-sang participated in the witch trial, I have always felt that Chang Rong-sang must have been framed by other witches, and must have been unlucky or for some other reason to 'die' and be frozen. But, but... it seems that's not the case."

Meruru shook her head, her voice trembling.

“I, what did I do wrong… a very, very serious mistake, unforgivable, absolutely unforgivable… I messed everything up, I messed up everything… You, Chang Rong-san, perhaps you are not my 'Holy Son,' but… but the [sin] I have been running away from… Waaah!?”

Meruru was hit on the head a second time, which directly interrupted her sobbing complaints.

"So you've got it wrong again, Meruru."

Chang Rong rubbed his fingers and gritted his teeth as he spoke. It wasn't because he was angry, but because the flick he had just received felt like it was about to break his fingers, and the pain forced him to grit his teeth.

Are all idiots this stubborn?!

"I...I made a mistake again...?" Meruru asked softly, rubbing the bulging blister.