Unexpectedly met...

Thea pushed the cart forward. Her whole body was drenched in sweat. Her face, dimmed eyes, furrowed brows... everything proved that she was super exhausted. She exhaled long breaths. While panting and wiping her forehead, she walked along the way, checking and taking vegetables. Thea wanted to curse Aaron several times in her mind. Because of him, she had to stroll in a busy and messy, crowded market.

Aaron had asked two things from Thea. The first one was to take him to his apartment. Thea happily agreed with this condition. When they reached his house, Thea turned to leave as she waved her hand at Aaron. However, he stopped her by saying that she didn't fulfil his second condition. Thea could finally recall that he hadn't said about the second one yet.

When she heard what it was, she was utterly stupefied. He asked her to take care of him the entire day! Thea quickly refused him. Nevertheless, when she remembered that he was living there all alone with no one to take care of him, she felt a little unwilling to part with him, to leave him alone when he was so sick. She didn't forget how he had taught her maths patiently and corrected her mistakes. She should be grateful for that.

Moreover, she had a mission to complete. It would be a great opportunity as they could spend more time together. Calculating all the pros and cons fast in her mind, Thea eventually approved. However, soon after she regretted her decision when Aaron asked her to prepare some soup for him. There were no vegetables in his fridge. Thus, she had to go to the market to buy some. That's how she ended up in such a troublesome place.

"Aah, these vegetables are awful. I don't know what to buy at all." She muttered throwing a carrot back to the rack.

A middle-aged man waved his hand at her saying, "Young ma'am, Do you want some cabbages?"

Thea glanced at his vegetable stall. Her nose wrinkled immediately.

"No thanks." Thea turned to leave. She had only bought some onions and beans. However, she already had enough with this food-buying thingy.

As she turned around, her eyes suddenly caught a glimpse of a vegetable stall situated far away in a corner of the market. Her eyes narrowed as she saw a very old woman, who was trying to grab the attention from customers and Thea made eye contact with her. She didn't know why, but her body went up to the old woman as if like she was hypnotized.

"Little girl, what do you want?" Thea came to her senses when she heard that low, husky voice.

Thea subconsciously looked at the vegetables which looked round and shiny. She blurted out, "I want carrots, cabbages, beans, leeks and other vegetables which are suitable for a vegetable soup."

The old woman laughed. "Don't you think that it's more than enough for two people? Or do you want to feed his dog too?"

Thea's eyes opened up in shock. "Wha- what? Who are you? How do you know? Did you stalk me? Otherwise...howww?"

The woman laughed yet again. Thea wasn't too much happy about her laughter this time. Her face darkened in displease.

"Am I a clown or something?" She mumbled under her breath.

"Oh little lady, you're so talkative and naive. You are obviously kind-hearted but a fool at the same time."

Thea face darkened even more. No one had ever told her that she was a fool. It was her first time hearing such an insult. She gritted her teeth.

"What are you talking about? Sorry, I won't buy your vegetables anymore." She angrily turned to leave, only to stop in her tracks when she heard, "He fooled you just like he fooled my sister."

Now Thea already concluded in her mind.

'This old woman is totally a psychopath.'

The old woman shook her head, looking extremely dissapointed.

"I'm not a psychopath, little girl. And I'm not from this world just like you."

Thea bit her lower lip.

"For god's sake, tell me... Who exactly are you?"

"I'm a witch." Her voice was deep, calm and collected.

Thea gasped. There weren't any witches mentioned in the novel. Because of that, Thea was simply stupefied. But wait... Didn't she say that she also wasn't from that world? In fact, she was from Thea's world?! Amazing! But how? Thea had so many questions bubbling up in her mind. Did the wizard send her here to catch her red-handed? Thea's pale face paled even more. Should she run?

"You don't need to run. I'm not his spy." This time the witch quickly said as if she was afraid that Thea would really run away.

Thea heaved a sigh of relief.

"How do you know so many things about me then?" Her doubt still didn't disappear completely.

The witch cleared her throat. "Ahem... Actually I can read minds."

"I already know that." Thea's voice was filled with impatience.

The witch took out a stool from a corner of her stall and put it next to her seat saying, "Come and sit. I have a very long story to share with you."

Thea felt bad.

"Am I not affecting your business?" She questioned, looking around.

The witch shook her head slightly. Her face brightened in delight. The impression she had felt about this girl, started growing up even more.

"Don't worry about it, little girl. This is more important. Apart from us two sisters, you are the very first one I met who's not belong to this world." She gulped down a glass of water.

She signalled for Thea to drink some too. But Thea shook her head, refusing her request. Thea put both of her hands on her chin and stared at the witch attentively, indicating that she was so interested in listening to the witch's story.

"Do you know what the so-called powerful wizard had done? He stole my sister's potion! She is the author of this novel. And she's the one who created the potion. But that trashy old man stole her potion and book by tricking us. He didn't stop from there and locked us up inside my own sister's book." The witch's voice suddenly turned harsh as she became angry.

Thea looked at her in disbelief.

"No way, he's not that kind of a person. You are lying!"