"What's got you giggling, little cookie?" The witch sounded uneasy because Elena's laughter was making her nervous. "Your laugh is really throwing me off!"
"I've figured everything out just as I'm about to kick the bucket. Wouldn't you say that's a good reason to laugh?" Elena replied with a cheerful grin.
"What have you figured out?" The witch asked, curiosity getting the better of her.
"Your name."
"My name?" The witch tilted her head back and stared at the ceiling, lost in thought. "Fifty or a hundred years? It's been ages since anyone called me by my name."
"But here's the thing—I don't get it. Even if you know my name, what difference does it make? Hmm..." The witch paused, looking like she was stuck in a tough spot. "My name... what was it again? I... I can't for the life of me remember it..."
"Nini!"
"What did you say?" The witch frowned deeply.
"I said, your name is—Nini!" Elena answered politely.
"Nini... Yeah, that sounds about right." The witch didn't seem too bothered.
"Maybe being in the Lost Forest made you lose track of time, memories, and even who you are. But I reckon there's one name you'll never forget." Elena's voice was firm and steady.
"Oh? And what might that be? Do tell."
"Elena!"
"E...lena..." The witch muttered under her breath, her face suddenly pale with fear.
"You bet! This hateful and wicked name is burned into my blood. It's like a mark on my soul, forcing me to remember it until the day I die!" The witch's fangs scraped together, making an eerie "chacha" sound.
"Nini, I'm Elena."
Elena's tone softened. "I finally found you, my blood-bound partner. Sorry for keeping you waiting—was it fifty or a hundred years? That's what you think, right?"
At that, the Candy Witch trembled all over, her fangs chattering. "I knew it... I knew you weren't gone. If you were, I would've vanished long ago! No wonder you could hear the cookies talking before you became one yourself—it's because you already had a drop of my blood in you!"
"I owe this realization to little Tibbers, the bear cookie." Elena added softly.
"It was his fear of you eating me that made me think about our blood bond. You and Tibbers—you're not exactly one person, but you're not two either. So it must mean you two share one life in two bodies."
"So yeah, you respect his opinion. Which means if you eat your master, you'd both cease to exist."
Elena smiled at the little bear cookie. "Am I right, Tibbers?"
Tibbers: (*￣(エ)￣)
The Candy Witch clenched her teeth tightly.
[Nini's affection for you -100]
"Oh ho ho... My dear master, how thrilled I am to see you again after all this time!" The witch cackled obsequiously.
Sure, she was excited.
But if it weren't for that system prompt, Elena might've misunderstood her completely.
"Do you think you could turn me back to normal, Nini?" Nini asked in a fawning tone, though her eyes gleamed with barely concealed malice—as if she couldn't wait to do something sneaky to Elena.
Elena rolled her eyes internally.
"Of course, Nini. Now, by the power of our blood contract, I order you to restore me to normal—quickly!" Elena reminded her gently. "And don't mess it up."
The witch's teeth rattled immediately, frustrated that her plan had fallen through. Doing it on her own terms and doing it under Elena's command were two very different things. On her own, she could've pretended to slip up and take away Elena's mouth or something, leaving her unable to speak. But following Elena's order meant she had no choice but to comply without fail.
So, with a fierce look, she grabbed a pot of steaming milk tea and poured it over Elena.
Elena felt scorching heat from head to toe, but her body wasn't burned. Instead, absorbing the hot milk tea caused the cookie's form to rapidly swell, quickly returning her to her original self.
Elena transformed once more into a human—a fair-skinned woman dressed in a pink queen explorer outfit, her long white hair flowing down to her waist, topped with a blood moon hairpin that matched her crimson eyes.
However, she noticed her height only reached Nini's waist, and her whole body seemed shrunken.
Then, glancing at the milk tea stain on the floor, she saw her reflection—an ugly dwarf woman.
For a moment, Elena herself was a bit confused. Was the image in her mind or the reflection in the water the real her?
"I went from being a little girl to an old woman—from finding my first cookie to building this fancy candy house. Master, believe me when I say I've never stopped searching for you," the witch grinned, looking downright terrifying.
"Of course I trust you most, Nini. After all, you're my blood-bound partner," Elena smiled back.
[Nini's sanity -0.2]
"Hey, we entered the Lost Jungle at the same time, so why did I spend just a day while you spent years?" Elena asked, puzzled. The more she learned about the jungle, the stranger it seemed.
Thankfully, contracts were still the most reliable thing around—even in the Lost Jungle, they stayed intact.
But why hadn't the Lord of Fear fulfilled his part yesterday?
Had his timing gotten messed up too?
"How should I know, master?" The witch shrugged. "Remember, I started as a cute, helpless ragdoll with a split mouth. As soon as I stepped in, I turned into this hideous witch with sharp teeth. Even after all these years, I still feel like my jaw won't fully open."
Nini's wrinkled face showed deep frustration.
Elena blinked.
"You mean, when you looked at yourself, you saw a witch with sharp teeth too?"
"Master, your question makes you sound a bit off. Don't you see yourself as a frail and ugly dwarf?" Nini asked, clearly baffled.
Elena paused for a second. "I only see my dwarf form in those visions."
Nini gaped, her sharp teeth showing. "Master, you truly are something else. Even such chaos can't fully touch you."
Elena didn't reply. Though she didn't fully understand, she kept this fact firmly in mind—in the Lost Jungle, only she could see her true self.
"Beautiful dwarf, please save us!"
"Yeah, considering we were once cookies like you."
"Even though we used to complain about you and hoped the witch would gobble you up, you survived, and we didn't harm you."
"You broke the witch's cookie-eating rule and even caused the death of another dwarf, but we forgive you."
"That's right. Now that you're free, how can you ignore your own kind? It's just a word from you. What's stopping you?"
"Hurry up and make the witch turn us back to normal!"
The cookies in the cabinet begged urgently—or rather, commanded.
Elena glanced back at the cookies, her red lips curling into a sly smile.
Blood dolls always liked trapping souls in toys to keep them company. Looks like even after becoming a candy witch, Nini was still pretty good at locking souls away. Check out that whole cabinet full of cuties.
"Alright, alright. You've got a point," Elena nodded, then, amidst the cookies' excited chatter, she turned to Nini. "How about letting three of them go? I think there were three good ones among them."