"I Became a Witch, but Now Everyone's in Love with Me!"

Chapter 62: Lina returns to her world of two?
 
"Chabao~ I'm back!! Did you miss me?!"

The moment the golden-haired loli appeared, she pounced—and the surprise was real.
The girl was so startled she was caught off guard and almost hit her in the face with a lightning arrow.
Fortunately, she stopped in time.
Otherwise, if her roommate came back to surprise her and brought her a gift, but she responded by shooting a lightning arrow at her face... their friendship would be in jeopardy!
"I was just thinking—Lina, you came back so early?"

Jiang Cha raised a helpless smile and rubbed the golden retriever puppy lying on her body with skillful techniques.
Quite cute.
"Because I was too bored at home, I just came back... Where's Qinbao? Hasn't she come back yet?"
Lina looked around with a silly smile, asking curiously.

Since the fighting on the front line was over, the store where she worked shouldn't be too busy anymore, right?
"It’ll take her two more days to get back."
Jiang Cha explained softly.

She had just spoken to He Qin last night, and apparently, there was still some finishing work on an order. It would take another day.
After all, it was vacation time, and Jiang Cha couldn’t exactly force He Qin to come back just to accompany her—an elderly widower.
"Now, isn’t this just our world for two? Great! I can finally do it to my beautiful Chabao from morning till night!"
"Estelle is home too?"

"Hey~! That guy's not important! Let’s do it! It’s okay if she watches!"
"Hello..."
The girl sighed with empty eyes, then couldn't help but burst into laughter along with Lina.

Some people are like that—though you might not feel strongly about them during daily life, they've quietly become a part of your world.
Only when they leave do you realize how precious that presence is.
When it was just Jiang Cha and Estelle at home, the atmosphere was terrifyingly quiet.
Every day, Jiang Cha would prepare meals for two, then go read.
Estelle would take her meal silently, go out to eat, then quietly return.
It didn’t feel like living with a roommate—it felt more like having an unusually quiet cat.
Speaking of which...
White-haired house girl loli pet...
"Hey~ Chabao, what are you thinking about? Your smile is so disgusting."

"I was wondering how I could lock you in the basement as a pet."
"So you like that kind of thing!?"
The golden-haired loli crossed her arms and leaned back slightly, widening her eyes in mock fear.

"Well... um... please be gentle with me, Master..."
"Pffft—!"
Jiang Cha spat out a mouthful of water.

No, no. He Qin wasn’t here, and she and Lina were speeding without any brakes.
If they accidentally fired the gun, it would be very difficult to deal with!
"Speaking of which, the Witch Cup is about to start this semester, right? Lina darling, do you have any plans?"
The reason Jiang Cha suddenly brought this up wasn’t because she was particularly interested in fighting—it was because the Witch Cup’s prize money was pretty tempting.
There were a lot of participants this time. Apparently, a big sponsor was backing it.

"What plans could I possibly have? We’re not even all together..."
Halfway through her sentence, Lina's eyes landed on the white-haired loli who had appeared in the living room at some point.
"Hey, Estelle, are you interested in joining the Witch Cup with us?"

"No."
It was swift—Estelle refused immediately.
If it had been just Lina who asked, she might not have spoken again. But Estelle glanced at Jiang Cha, hesitated slightly, then added,
"My fighting ability is very poor."

"Huh?"
Lina was stunned, looking between Jiang Cha and Estelle, her little head full of question marks.
"Wait a second! Chabao, when did you get together with her!?"

"What do you mean, 'get together'...?"
The girl rolled her eyes in exasperation.
Even though they had been living under the same roof for half a month, they had barely spoken to each other.
Besides, she just made extra portions when she cooked. Estelle was a homebody, not incapable of taking ★ 𝐍𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 ★ care of herself!

At the very least, she could order takeout—so even if Jiang Cha ignored her, the girl wouldn’t starve.
"But this girl never talks to anyone except Qin Bao!"
"Maybe she just doesn’t want to talk to you?"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"
"...."
Watching the two begin to bicker like idiots again, the white-haired loli sighed slightly, closed her book, and turned to retreat back into vacation mode.

"There are too many idiots."
The soft murmur faded in the wind as she walked away, completely muffled by the room’s densely inscribed soundproofing seals.
She actually quite liked her roommate Jiang Cha.
That is, if she didn’t come bundled with Lina.

She really liked Jiang Cha—the quiet, gentle girl who stood in the sun in an apron every morning and greeted her with a soft smile.
...
Since Estelle had said she wasn't good at fighting, Jiang Cha temporarily gave up the idea of dragging her into the competition.
There was no need to force anyone into the Witch Cup. Jiang Cha’s motivation was more about repaying mentor Carol's help; the prize money was just a bonus.

"By the way, it feels like we've never gone out alone since we met?"
The next day, the two were walking on the way to the library. Lina glanced around, suddenly looked enlightened, and smiled.
"It just feels weird."

"It does... doesn't it?"
The girl nodded, also amused.
They’d never really hung out alone.
Not because their relationship was bad—but simply because of He Qin.

"Because He Qin is too afraid of loneliness."
"Yeah, Mom Qin really is afraid of loneliness. She always wants to be around people. She’s super clingy~"
Lina giggled.

He Qin was that kind of girl—gentle and strong on the surface, but secretly very needy.
Like with the Battle Club—she didn’t really have to accompany Jiang Cha and Lina every Saturday, but she came anyway.
She said it was out of concern, but really—she was scared.
Scared they’d leave her behind.
They had both seen through it, but no one ever said it aloud.

"Hey..."
Jiang Cha smiled softly, threading her fingers between Lina’s one by one. She rested her chin on Lina’s shoulder and whispered seductively:
"Would you like to enjoy some rare time alone together?"

"Wow~ Chabao, you’re being so seductive right now~"
Lina was shaken by the warm breath on her neck and smiled brightly.
"But I like it~ Where do you want to go, Chabao?"

"Just take a stroll?"
Jiang Cha thought about it but couldn’t think of anywhere specific she wanted to go.
"It’s been so long since I enrolled, but I haven’t taken a good look around the campus."

"You can just leave it to me! I know lots of great spots—you’ll love them! There are still so many beautiful sights around school!"
"Then I’ll leave it to you, Lina~"