I clenched my fists as I was on the edge of making a decision that would kill my new friend in my stead or saving her in exchange for my life. I took a brief glance of her beautiful appearance hiding behind the dashing knight of hers that always followed her around. She never seemed like a commoner even when she wore the same clothes as us.

Her words were eloquent like a fairy when I first met her in a field of flowers. Her smile was dazzling compared to my hands full of dirt, trying to fix an old blade. It reminded me of the tale of Mill who mentioned he had accompanied a living doll during the carnival.

"Her hair resembled fine strands of vermillion red threads flowing from her every movement and her large pumpkin speckled pupils captured everyone's attention. Her heart-shaped face was small like the size of my fist as she wore the most brilliant dress, dazzled with jewels and magnificent embroidery." Mill described her appearance.

The only thing missing was her splendid dress to match Mill's description. Her hair was also neatly arranged into a crown of braids at the top, making her seem wealthier. It was also strange how her clothes were clean as if they were new and never worn. She had to come from a wealthy merchant family.

I was awestruck and forgot to answer her question, making her repeat the words once again with her sweet voice like a canary.

"Do you need help with that?" She smiled like a flower.

"I thought that house was empty," I couldn't let her soft hands be stained with dirt.

I continued to answer her questions mindlessly as I struggled not to stare at her appearance. She did ask some weird questions that were common sense to villagers like us. But I waved the thought away since I heard that city people were different, especially wealthy merchant families.

However, I couldn't help but stare at the ground when I noticed a handsome prince coming to fetch the girl. It made sense that a princess would be with a prince. I felt a little envious of her even though she was kind enough to talk to me.

The next time we met, he followed her around and subtly took care of her as we blushed from their closeness. I felt massively underdressed when I noticed their clean clothes while I was dirty from harvesting the fruit trees. As the eldest daughter in my family with young siblings, I was expected to work hard to make sure our family would stay afloat.

Since my family could not afford to hire part timers to help with the work, we worked until the sun set to sell the fruits in the stall in the village square. Ever since I learned how to walk, I was taught how to water the saplings as I hugged the pot close to me, anticipating the small plant turn into a big tree.

This year was the dreaded year of an expected flood. This winter would be tough to get by as we would have smaller harvests than usual. I picked up my speed in pulling the apples from the trees to join Rika. I felt guilty making her wait so long while my friends kept her company.

Even though I knew Rika for a few days, I felt close to her. She was the first one to encourage me to help others with my talent. Nobody ever expected me to be talented with something. They all dismissed my skills and said it would be better to harvest more fruits during that time instead.

But I wished I never helped anyone if that meant the village chief would try to marry me to his awful son. I felt like crying when I heard about the news from my parents. We all knew I couldn't decline if we wanted to live a peaceful life in this town. The chief was a scary person who framed six innocent girls as witches to support his large spendings.

I confessed to my new friend, my lack of power leading me to marry such a horrible man. I expected her to console me like all the other villagers, but her thoughts made my heart skip a beat. My eyes widened as it was the exact opposite of what I expected.

"Then decline unless you want to live with him for the rest of your life! Do you want to be unhappy for the rest of your life?" She scolded me.

This was how I stared at the ground from rejecting the village chief's son with the courage she gave me. My mind went numb as my family needed me to survive through the winter. I thought of my youngest sibling who couldn't speak yet and sucked on her thumb since we couldn't afford a pacifier.

I had to live. I had to survive for my family. My family who raised me even with their merger wages to take care of them in return. The chief kicked some dirt into my eyes to warn me that he would make the decision for me soon. I tried to appear like I wasn't breaking down as I mouthed 'sorry' to Rika.

It was now or never before the chief could change his mind. My eyes stung as I looked up.

"She is the witch," I trembled uncontrollably while pointing at Rika.