Seeing that heartrending sight, Michael had already realized his mistake. At that moment, his chest was not swelling with pride but felt as if it were tearing apart under an unknown burden. He saw how those tiny children were trying to pull at the iron chains with their blurred little fingers—chains that were scorching their souls because of the holy water. Every sob pierced Michael's heart. He realized that he was not some great hero here, but a devil who had ruined the children's world.
The very next moment, with trembling lips, Michael said to the children, "Forgive me, children… I did not know the truth." He immediately stepped forward and unlocked the chains he himself had bound. As soon as the effect of the holy water faded and the chains fell away, the Bizarre Witch slowly sank to the ground. The children clung to her the way a little bird curls up inside its nest, and in that moment Michael understood the importance of that bizarre queen in the eyes of those children.
