There was nothing in the wasteland after the fog cleared.
Magic indelibly stained the earth in places where none dared travel. Five
such magical lakes dotted the mainland.
"Do you know how long this magical lake has been here?"
"No," replied the silver-haired girl—Miralys—frowning a little.
A week ago, a heavy fog had blanketed this land, but all was clear now
that the demonic beast was dead.
The wind carried traces of grit and magic. The girl stood in front of the
man next to her to guard him from it.
"You should go to sleep. Your wounds may be healed, but you're not
back to normal yet," she said.
"I can't help it. The wound came from Akashia." It wasn't a fatal blow,
but he'd been injured by the so-called Mage Killer. Further complicating
things was the fact that the man had used transportation magic shortly after,
leaving his magic in tatters. He'd managed to heal himself, but it was a
stretch to say he had recovered. Valt smiled self-deprecatingly at how heavy
his body still felt.
"But this resolves one thing. Now that the demonic beast is gone, she
bears a little less sorrow," Valt said.
"Do you mean the Witch of the Azure Moon?" asked Miralys.
"Yes."
The witch had eliminated the beast just as Valt had predicted she would.
The next challenge was appearing before her without dying. He didn't want
to make an enemy of her, but no matter what useful information he brought
her, she likely wouldn't listen.
If it were anyone else, Valt could manipulate them however he wanted.
However, the witch would never trust him because he knew things he
rightly should have been beyond him. No matter how eagerly she wanted to
learn what he knew, she wouldn't work with him because she didn't know
the source of that information.
Which was why he'd been forced into a neutral role where he would
string her along.
"Magical lakes are the vestiges of powerful magic. Made by humans,
they are now independent of their creators. They are very much not
products of nature, though few people are aware of that," said Valt.
"And the witch is one of them, right? But why do you know about it?"
asked the silver-haired girl.
"Because I once served her."
Unsurprisingly to Valt, Miralys's eyes widened at that revelation. By the
time Valt was born, Tinasha had already become known as the witch in the
tower. He'd attempted the climb but never made it to the top.
It was from there that the witch's story would truly begin.
"Now we have a secret weapon. It's fortunate she was severely wounded
after she slayed the demonic beast. Otherwise, I never would've gotten my
hands on a certain something."
Valt was covertly raising an incredibly useful secret weapon. The only
trouble was that it had a kind of exhaustion point, but it was better than
nothing. There were lots of strong people in the world. It was crucial to
have weapons with which to oppose them when their paths crossed.
"All right, let's get going. Like you said, I need to rest for a bit," Valt
said, clapping the girl on the shoulder and turning back.
However, he suddenly stopped in his tracks.
"Valt?" Miralys asked.
Finding it strange that he'd paused, the silver-haired girl looked up.
Someone else was in their presence. An unknown voice called to the pair.
"That's quite the interesting story. You have a lot of magic. It makes you
a rather noteworthy mage."
Something about the smooth, clear voice made Miralys uncomfortable.
The sound felt like it was coming from terribly far away, seeming both
there and not. Still, its tone was kind, even though it put her a little on edge.
She peeped over Valt's shoulder. He was still frozen in place.
There Miralys saw a young man with long hair as white as snow.
His striking good looks exuded an air of nobility, and he had a gentle
expression on his handsome face. However, the fine lines of his features
gave him a somewhat sickly appearance, and his eyes glowed with an odd
determination. He gave no clue as to his identity, but something about the
stranger filled Miralys with an ominous feeling—whoever he was, she
didn't like him.
When Valt replied, nervous tension tinged his voice. "Why are you here?
Was it so important that you made the trip alone?"
"I wanted to take care of the puppy that was here. But the little girl did
that already, didn't she?"
Miralys understood he was referring to the Witch of the Azure Moon,
and her face drained of color. Who was this man, to refer to the strongest,
most powerful witch in such a manner? She wanted to ask, but Valt already
seemed to know.
Keeping Miralys behind him, Valt answered, "Yes, she destroyed the
demonic beast, so it would be best if you didn't go out on needless
excursions. She is constantly…searching for you."
"I know she is, but it's not time yet. We are not ready to welcome her,
after all. When the time does come, I plan to go out and greet her. I'm sure
she'll be so pleased."
"Pleased? Her?" Valt's tone was unusually dour, which surprised
Miralys. Feeling uneasy, she started tugging on the hem of his robe only to
have him reach out and stop her.
The white-haired man sounded bemused as he answered, "She will be.
She's wanted to meet me forever."
"…You're so insolent toward her, no matter the time line," Valt spat.
Miralys didn't understand what he meant.
Evidently, neither did the white-haired man. He cocked his head
curiously like a child. "No matter the time line? What does that mean?"
"Just talking to myself. I'm simply an onlooker. In any case, it appears
we have nothing in particular to discuss, so I'll be taking my leave soon."
Valt patted Miralys on the shoulder and moved to turn around.
Behind him, the white-haired man spoke up again. "For an onlooker, it
does sound like you've been up to some trouble."
"Nothing of importance. I merely placed things on the right track. That's
what family does for one another," Valt shot back.
"What if I said I couldn't let this slide?" asked the white-haired man.
In an instant, the air between them turned cold. The man held out his
right hand to Valt and Miralys. A pale light overflowed from his palm. Even
magicless Miralys could sense that the spell was unusual. She tried to alert
Valt, but before she could, he said, "Miralys, run."
His voice was hoarse. A smear of black was slowly surfacing on his
chest.
Before she could register it as blood, the man began laughing. She could
no longer see him, but his voice echoed. "To me, that girl is irreplaceable. I
don't need any extra interference from here on out."
"Valt!" Miralys screamed. The searing-white light swelled larger.
Before it could burn everything away, Valt quickly drew a transportation
array and pushed her onto it. Miralys realized what he was doing and
reached out for him.
"Wait, Valt!"
The array swallowed her up before she could grab him. Suddenly,
Miralys's surroundings grew distant. She screamed for Valt as he rapidly
vanished from sight.
Thus, a mage who had stood on the sidelines of history was taken off the
stage—irrationally and abruptly.
The cat running through the air caught sight of the woman standing on a
castle spire and descended toward her.
Tinasha reached out a slender arm, and her familiar alighted on her
hand. She received its report and frowned. "They found his body…"
The rather unexpected bit of information had Tinasha scratching her
head. According to her familiar, the mysterious young mage who had been
acting suspiciously had died within the magical lake in Old Druza.
"Oscar said he didn't give him a mortal wound… Did something go
wrong with his recovery?"
In any case, this was a mage who had the power to outwit Oscar. She
didn't think he could be killed that easily. Surely there must have been some
sort of blunder.
"But if this means we don't have to worry about him anymore, I suppose
there's no problem." Tinasha heaved a sigh skyward, then listened to the
rest of her familiar's report. It proved as unsatisfactory as ever. A
bittersweet smile crossed her face.
"I understand… Then you can go."
It had been the same result many times over now. A journey just to
search for a person Tinasha couldn't find. A resignation incorporated into
her life, like waking and sleeping.
Standing atop the tower, she stared out at the world…believing the
answer she was searching for was out there somewhere.
In the hall just inside the castle door, bolts of colorful cloth were laid out
over a great table. The court ladies were in high spirits as they rummaged
through the rolls of beautiful fabric. Ladies young and old grabbed at
material that caught their eye and chatted as they held it up to themselves or
to their friends.
A traveling cloth merchant had brought a myriad of fabrics of all
materials and colors. He came to the castle four times a year with a special
selection of his wares to display. Almost all the ladies at court who could
afford to have dresses tailor-made had been looking forward to this day.
Sylvia the mage was no exception. She entered the lounge in a very
good mood. Approaching the witch who was busying herself with a book,
Sylvia pressed her hands together in supplication. "Hey, Miss Tinasha,
would you come look at fabrics with me?"
"Didn't I just buy some clothes?" Tinasha answered idly.
"Oh, come on, don't be like that. There are lots of rare fabrics from
other lands," Sylvia pleaded.
"Hmm." Reluctantly, Tinasha closed her book. She sipped from the cup
in her hands.
"Let's go! I'm interested to know what your measurements are!" said
Sylvia, rather excitedly.
"Why?" Despite the protest, Tinasha got to her feet grudgingly, like a
child being taken to the doctor.
The witch was wearing a short white dress she'd just purchased the
other day. Her shapely legs peeping innocently from the hem had drawn the
eye of every man she'd passed so far that day. Tinasha was a truly ethereal
beauty. Her slim and elegant body now exuded a gracefulness her stiff
teenage form had lacked. Secretly, Sylvia wanted to know just how narrow
those willowy hips were.
In sharp contrast to Sylvia as she tugged Tinasha along excitedly, the
witch's feet were dragging. She wanted to seize her chance and teleport
away but knew Sylvia might cry if she did.
Just then, two men appeared at the end of the hallway. One of them
called out to her, "Tinasha!"
It was the man she'd sworn to protect, accompanied by his attendant.
Tinasha had a bad feeling, but with Sylvia pulling her toward them, she
resigned herself to following.
Oscar handed the book he was holding to Lazar and turned to face his
guardian witch.
"This is perfect timing. I was just about to have Lazar go get you. Let's
go look at fabrics."
"I don't need any new clothes…" Tinasha already looked exhausted, and
Oscar patted her head lightly.
"I want to know what size you are," Oscar stated matter-of-factly.
"You, too?!"
Tinasha now sorely regretted agreeing to go.
"Miss Tinasha, your waist is so small!"
"Kinda wish your bust was a bit bigger, though."
The high-grade fabrics reserved for the royal family were laid out in a
separate hall from the one occupied by the court ladies. Tinasha flopped
wearily onto a couch in the corner of that private room after undergoing
what felt like ages of measuring.
On the other hand, Oscar and Sylvia were examining the list of
measurements the tailor had written down and sharing their thoughts rather
freely.
Tinasha, exhaustion writ large on her face, grumbled at them, "It's my
prerogative to have whatever kind of body I want…"
"Now, let's pick out some fabrics. For starters, let's go with this one…
and this one, too." Ignoring the witch's objections, Oscar picked up some
bolts in front of him. Starting with a fine black silk that would go well with
her hair, he picked out several and handed them to the tailor. The witch
eyed him coldly throughout the process.
"Why are you ordering me clothes…?" Tinasha complained.
"It's what I'm into. It'll be fun to dress you up," Oscar replied.
"Please get that out of your system some other way…," urged Tinasha.
She knew the crown prince had many stressful responsibilities, but she
still didn't want to get drawn into his weird means of amusement.
Oscar observed how disheartened she looked. "Got it. Then do you want
to go out into town? I'll pick out some clothes for you there instead."
"That's not what I meant! Settle down!"
Tinasha had set up solid wards around the castle to prevent any trouble,
but they were meaningless if Oscar left on his own. Resigning herself to the
activity, Tinasha stood up and went to grab a bolt of glossy white fabric.
"I'm paying for this myself, so I'll make my own choices," she asserted.
"Suit yourself. I'll place my own order using your measurements."
Oscar shrugged.
"…Do what you want." Tinasha hung her head dejectedly, but then she
remembered something and grabbed Oscar's sleeve.
"What?" he asked, a little surprised.
"If you make me a wedding dress, I will curse you…"
Oscar burst out laughing, most likely remembering Tinasha's past
mishaps.
"Hmm? Is Miss Tinasha not here?" Lazar asked, poking his head into the
lounge several days after the whole clothing ordeal. Doan was the only one
there. Lazar had come there looking for Tinasha because it was a spot she
frequented often when not in her quarters.
"Lazar, haven't you heard?" Doan replied quickly. "She said she was
going back to the tower to air out her magic implements and wouldn't be
back for two days."
"N-no…I hadn't…"
It had been three months now since the witch had first arrived in Farsas.
In all that time, aside from the excursion to the magical lake, she had never
been away from the castle for longer than a day. She normally spent her
time attending the mages' lectures, practicing on the training grounds,
reading and researching, or making tea for Oscar and getting teased by him.
A fairly carefree lifestyle, all things considered.
If she was gone…
"Will the prince be in danger?"
"Of course not," Doan answered, not looking up from his spell book.
The witch's protective barrier was active no matter where she was. Even
without his protector, Oscar was more than able to defend himself. Lazar
felt relieved when he remembered that, but he forgot to count himself as a
part of those who safeguarded the peace of the castle.
Two hours later, Lazar was on horseback, trying to leave the castle by the
back gate for some reason.
"Really, let's give up on this! If Miss Tinasha finds out, she'll be very
angry with you!" he pleaded.
"That's why I'm going, isn't it? If she were here, I'd be getting an
earful," Oscar retorted.
"I thought you'd been cured of that recklessness of yours!" Lazar
complained.
"It's all right every once in a while, isn't it? If you don't like it, stay
home and mind the fort."
Hanging his head upon hearing his lord's cold words, Lazar nevertheless
urged his horse into a gallop to follow him.
Everything had started an hour earlier, when Oscar stopped on the last
page of one of the various different reports he'd been reading.
"Lazar, look at this."
"What is it?"
The tray he'd been given in hand, Lazar headed for Oscar's desk. With
Tinasha gone, the tea that day had been made by a court lady's maid. The
crown prince's new attendant stood against the wall looking nervous. Aware
of her gaze on him, Lazar placed a cup of tea on the desk before picking up
the document Oscar had indicated.
"Let's see…people have been going missing from a village near an
eastern forest since last week…then two to three days after disappearing,
their dried-up bodies are found in the woods… What is going on here?!"
"You wanna know, right?" Oscar grinned.
"…No," Lazar answered flatly.
He had a very, very bad feeling about this. Oscar seemed to take no heed
and continued anyway. "Nine people have died already. The place isn't even
that far from here."
"I'm not the slightest bit curious!" Lazar cried.
"How about we go check it out?" Oscar suggested, seemingly unaware
of his friend's objections.
"Listen to me, please…" Lazar planted both hands on the desk and
slumped over it in dejection.
Since Tinasha's arrival, it was common knowledge that Oscar had a bad
habit of sneaking out of the castle—and not on walks or to go sightseeing.
He only went to dangerous places like the lairs of demonic spirits or
archeological ruins riddled with traps. Each time, Lazar accompanied him
against his better judgment and felt his lifespan grow shorter and shorter
with each excursion.
Now the witch, who Oscar had met during the most dangerous of those
outings, was absent. Though the prince derived great pleasure teasing her to
death every day, it seemed he had thought up something reckless to do
while she wasn't around to tell him no.
Lazar envisioned the danger ahead and the witch's wrath to come later
and felt the blood drain from his face. He wished he'd gone on a vacation
like she had.
The village of Byle stood at the foot of a mountain to the northeast of the
castle city. Right outside the village was a deep forest that led to the
mountain. So dense were the trees of those woods that the place was dark
even in broad daylight.
Oscar and Lazar arrived at the village before dusk and interviewed the
villagers under the guise of investigators from the castle. They'd chosen to
conceal their true identities to avoid creating any undue commotion. The
first man they approached was cutting wood in his garden, but once they
struck up a conversation with him, he sat down on his pile of wood.
"The first one said he found something in the woods… He wouldn't say
what it was exactly, but he was darn excited over it. Jus' when I thought he
sure did disappear fast, turns out that happened to 'im."
"That" referred to the body being found dead and dried out. It was
clearly a sign of foul play of some kind. Lazar still wanted to go back
before they got themselves too involved, but based on previous experiences,
he knew it was futile.
After getting the stories of nearly all the other villagers in Byle, Oscar,
as enthused as Lazar had expected, said, "Right, let's head into the forest."
"Ugh, just unbelievable… What do you plan to do if something
happens?" Lazar asked.
"Tinasha said that mage who was doing suspicious stuff died," assured
Oscar.
"So because he died, it's okay for you to act recklessly? I see…"
More than the prince's safety, the real issue was his attitude. Undaunted,
Oscar replied blithely, "If something hits my protective barrier, Tinasha will
find out, so I'll have to dodge everything that might come at me."
"Let her find out, then," said Lazar, thoroughly nonplussed.
Facing the witch was far preferable to turning up as a dried-up husk.
Tinasha would absolutely be incandescent with rage, but she got mad at him
regularly anyway.
Lazar let out a heavy sigh but followed Oscar into the forest regardless.
While the woods were thick, there was a thin trail the villagers regularly
made use of. However, Oscar and Lazar had been told that, because of the
recent unnatural deaths, few villagers went into the woods anymore.
"I wonder how big this forest is…," muttered Lazar.
"The map says it's about ten times the size of the village," Oscar
answered.
"There's no way we can search that whole area."
"People from Byle are the ones who've been dying. The spot has to be
within walking distance from the start of the trail," Oscar pointed out.
Without any better leads to go on, Oscar and Lazar headed for the east
side of the woods—a spot the locals had previously frequented. Medicinal
herbs grew deep in the forest, which many villagers sought out to pick and
sell for good prices to mages.
Soon, Oscar and Lazar arrived at a clearing amid the many trees. Lazar
inspected the grasses that grew abundant there. "I really can't tell which of
these is the medicinal herb," he said.
"Yeah, it all looks like wild grass to me."
A villager or mage would know which herb was useful, but Oscar and
Lazar had no connection to magic and couldn't so much as guess at the
right plant to pick. They ventured deeper into the grassy meadow, taking
wide strides so as to step on as few plants as possible.
"If only the herb had flowers…it'd at least be easier to spot…,"
muttered Lazar.
The pair stood surrounded by a sea of verdant colors. Lazar turned his
head this way and that and finally caught sight of some little white flowers
only slightly farther ahead. As he drew closer, Lazar realized they weren't
flowers at all.
"…A pearl?"
The conspicuous plant first resembled a cluster of flowers, but a closer
look revealed that it was laden with tiny pearls. Lazar reached out for it,
doubting his eyes. Sure enough, the pale little spheres were hard to the
touch.
"Your Highness! These are pearls!" he called.
"Are you stupid?" Oscar asked, turning around and glaring at Lazar
from a short distance away.
"No, they really are…"
"That's even stupider."
Oscar drew Akashia, and Lazar's jaw dropped at the unexpected
reaction. Then he felt something odd at his feet. He looked down…and
froze.
A green vine had wound itself around Lazar's ankle several times over
while he'd been distracted. The thing lifted its tip, as a snake would have
done with its head, and began slithering away.
"Aaaaah!"
"Idiot!"
Lazar let out a scream as Oscar dashed after him, slashing at the
creeping plant with Akashia. The prince grabbed his attendant and pulled
him from the vine's grasp.
Tossed onto the grass, Lazar turned back to look at what had grabbed
him and gaped in shock. "Wh-what is that?" he asked, fear in his voice.
"Some kind of…bizarre plant?" Oscar answered, unsure himself.
Wriggling on the ground was a giant mass of pearl-covered vines. The
strange thing writhed in pain as if it had a mind of its own. Seemingly in
retaliation for Oscar's attack, it shot out a thick tendril at Oscar and Lazar.
The vine Oscar had severed was still squirming on the ground.
Lazar scrambled back, hand over his mouth. "So this is what killed
everyone?"
"Probably. I guess it sucks you dry once it gets ahold of you," observed
Oscar.
The tentacles had a giant pearl-like thing at the root, surrounded by
green petals. While the size was different, it was obvious the small pearl
grasses were of the same type. Amid the swaying vines, Oscar took a
breath.
"I wish Nark were here. It'd burn this to dust," he said.
"Miss Tinasha would find out…," Lazar reminded him.
"Yeah, that's the tough part. If I piss her off, I'll go straight to the
doghouse."
"If you're aware of that, then just behave yourself and stay in the
castle."
Even as he cracked jokes, Oscar slashed at the vines creeping toward
him. The attacks were relentless, but he was so good that they never
touched him. Oscar narrowed his eyes at the huge pearl.
"Something's off about that pearl. Lazar, stand back."
Four vines were left. Their ends were poised for attack, as if locked onto
their target. Oscar seized his chance and leaped for the root. Two tendrils
lunged for him, and he cut them both down at once. He ducked to dodge a
third coming from the side. Once it whizzed by, he lopped it off at the base.
That was when the last vine came barreling toward him head-on. But
just before it could reach the barrier placed around Oscar, it met Akashia's
blade. The razor-sharp, double-edged sword split it right down the middle.
Without pausing, Oscar approached the giant pearl and stabbed his
sword into its lustrous center. The pearl-like thing quivered and trembled.
Almost immediately, some sort of purple liquid erupted from the cut.
"Wha—?" Reflexively, Oscar jumped backward and avoided the spray.
The purple fluid gushed from the deflating pearl, rapidly flooding the
clearing.
"Damn, it's poison! Lazar, we're getting out of here!" cried Oscar.
The now-vineless pearl began to emit a fog the same color as the liquid.
The toxic vapor hissed from the thing and encroached upon the two men.
Before Lazar could obey his lord's orders and retreat, a terrible nausea
overtook him, and he clapped a hand over his mouth.
Breathing became painful, and his forehead broke out in a cold sweat.
With his vision swimming, Lazar fell to his knees.
"Lazar!" Oscar cried.
Just then, the clear voice of a woman rang out through the forest. "What
are you doing?"
Lazar could barely make out the shadow of someone floating in the air.
Consciousness left him as he was overcome with relief at his apparent
salvation.
"You must have some strange tastes to come all the way out here. Isn't this
where a bunch of people died?" the woman asked, sounding amused.
"Well, what are you doing in this forest?" responded the voice of a man.
He sounded somewhat vigilant and curious. It was a voice Lazar knew very
well. He tried to think of who it was, but his head was pounding.
When at last he opened his eyes, Lazar found himself in a house. The
building couldn't have been very big, because he could see the underside of
the roof. Blinking, Lazar sat up and saw his lord sitting at a dining table.
Across from Oscar was a woman Lazar didn't recognize. She carried a
kind of dramatic beauty about her, with curly light-brown hair, amber eyes,
and ivory skin.
"Oh, you're awake?" She asked after seeing that Lazar was up. Gently,
she waved a hand at him. After hearing the question, Lazar realized he'd
been lying in a bed.
Oscar glanced over at his friend. "How are you feeling?"
"Your Highness, I…," Lazar started.
"There was some kind of poison in the air," Oscar explained. "Sorry I
didn't notice it quick enough."
The mysterious woman rose from her seat and offered Lazar a glass of
water. Thanking her, he took a sip and felt the cold liquid wash down the
sides of his throat. He sighed deeply.
"Thank you very much… Um, and you would be…?"
"Me?" the woman asked, pointing to herself and grinning with
amusement. "I'm Lucrezia. Though most don't call me by my name.
Everyone knows me as the Witch of the Forbidden Forest."
Shocked, Lazar stiffened. The witch grinned wider, clearly even more
thoroughly amused by his reaction, while Oscar gave a chagrined sigh.
Lucrezia's house was deep in the forest, in an area normally impenetrably
concealed behind a barrier.
Here and there inside the wooden house were rows of dried herbs and
glass beakers for processing them. Bookshelves occupied one wall, packed
tight with what looked like tomes of spells. The glass cabinet next to the
shelves housed teas and bottles containing unknown substances.
"Your place looks like an apothecary," Oscar noted.
"I research magic potions and medicines. That thing you cut down
earlier seems like it will make for a good specimen. It was growing in a part
of the forest that most people don't usually venture into. My guess is
someone got curious and explored a little farther than they should have. It
pursued the villager back to a spot closer to the village and stayed there,
sucking dry anyone who came near, growing bigger and bigger."
"So the first victim unknowingly caused all this," reasoned Oscar.
"I've never seen one so big before. I'm excited to see how much fluid I
can extract from it." Lucrezia sounded utterly thrilled, leaving Oscar unsure
how best to respond. Lazar got out of bed, looking wholly disheartened.
Lucrezia turned her attention back to her two guests and noticed that
Oscar hadn't touched his tea. Tilting her head in confusion, she asked, "Oh,
are you not going to have any?"
"If I did, a certain someone would yell at me for being too careless.
Sorry."
"I see… So Tinasha hasn't changed, then."
"You know her?" Oscar's eyes widened a little.
Lucrezia gave a mischievous smile. "Of course. I've known her ever
since she became a witch."
Oscar felt no small degree of shock upon hearing those words.
"Became a witch."
That meant that Tinasha wasn't born a witch; she became one sometime
after. Given her appearance when she'd stopped growing, that must've
meant she'd become a witch shortly before turning sixteen.
What was she before that? And why did she become a witch at all? A
flurry of questions whirled about in Oscar's mind.
"She's the only one who could have put that protective barrier on you,
so I knew it had to be her. What's she doing now? Is she still holed up in
that tower?" asked Lucrezia.
"No, she's acting as my protector," Oscar answered.
"Ooh, so you climbed up the tower? And here I'd thought she'd made it
a bit too difficult…"
"His Highness climbed it virtually alone," Lazar chimed in.
"What? Really?! That's amazing." Like Tinasha, Lucrezia didn't seem
particularly witchlike, though in an entirely different way. The way she
spoke was frank, open, and guileless.
Oscar had always thought of all witches as beings like the one who'd
cursed him—the Witch of Silence. To him, they'd all been creatures who
bent the land to their capricious whims by way of their astonishing magical
powers. However, Lucrezia was not at all like that. Her demeanor was
disarming enough that even Lazar was starting to relax and smile a bit.
Still, Oscar couldn't quite shake his apprehensions. She'd dispelled the
poisonous vapors in the forest and invited him into her home where she'd
cured Lazar. But that wasn't enough for Oscar to forget that he barely knew
this woman or to ignore the fact that she was indeed a witch. Trusting her
implicitly seemed foolish. Tinasha had described the three other witches,
excluding the Witch of Silence, as "dangerous," "impossible to
communicate with," and "having a lot of issues personality-wise." Which of
them was Lucrezia?
The witch's amber eyes sparkled as she gazed at Oscar. "So what did
you ask for in the contract? Do you want to become king of the world?"
"I don't think she would grant a wish like that…," Oscar answered.
"That's true, but it's not impossible with her protection and that sword
you've got. Wouldn't you agree?" Lucrezia narrowed her eyes. Her smile
lingered, but it was edged with the kind of immeasurable darkness befitting
a witch as she kept her gaze locked on Oscar.
Unshaken, the prince bore the weight of her stare calmly. "I may be
strong, but I can't win a war alone. I've no desire to go out and do such a
thing anyway."
"…Is that so? Then what did you wish for?"
"Who can say?"
Oscar refused to give a proper answer, and Lucrezia looked
disappointed. She pouted like any other woman would've, dissolving the
tension in the air. "I was only curious. Maybe I should go ask Tinasha
myself. I haven't seen her in decades."
"His Highness wants to make Miss Tinasha his wife," Lazar said rather
glibly.
Oscar almost fell off his chair. He'd been so careful, and now it was all
ruined. He looked over to see Lazar partaking of a cup of tea with an
innocent smile.
Before Oscar could chastise his friend, the witch's laugh cut him off.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha! I see, I see! Thank you," Lucrezia trilled,
pounding on the table. Apparently, she found it so utterly hilarious that tears
came to her eyes, while Oscar sat there looking as sour as vinegar.
"…Well, she turned me down. Which is why she now acts as my
protector," explained Oscar.
"Ah-ha-ha-ha… I'm sorry. Still, it worked out well enough for you, all
things considered, right? I bet it's pretty tough having her around, though,"
Lucrezia said.
"I don't know if I'd say that," Oscar replied.
Lazar leaned forward intently. Evidently, he'd completely let his guard
down around Lucrezia. Oscar added another item to the list of things to
lecture him about once they got back to the castle.
Lucrezia stirred sugar into her tea as she said, "It must be tough. She's
been a spirit sorcerer forever, so she's laced up incredibly tight. She's
friendly enough, so she'll warm up to the people she lives with pretty quick.
But she'd never take a lover of any kind. She's got a lot of baggage."
"Do you mean with the king of Farsas?" Oscar asked, wondering if
Lucrezia was hinting at his royal great-grandfather—the man who'd
previously held a contract with Tinasha. Lucrezia burst into fresh peals of
laughter.
"Oh, that was one of the biggest mistakes. I laughed so hard at the time.
He was just so pushy, and she was so tired of it. Still, I wonder if he
might've actually succeeded had he been a bit cleverer… No, no, there's no
way," she concluded on her own, slapping her knee.
Despite having just laughed herself silly, Lucrezia's normal smile
returned quickly to her face. "How about I help you out? Do you want any
aphrodisiac to take with you? Normal potions won't work for her, but the
ones I make use special plants. They'll probably do the trick."
"…No thanks, I'll manage on my own," Oscar said, leaning slightly
against a chair. This new witch was hard to get a handle on. Things were
going in a completely different direction than when Oscar had first met
Tinasha. Had Lucrezia's status as a witch emboldened her to try to foist an
aphrodisiac on him?
Lucrezia's smile gave away nothing of her true intentions. "If you win
her, you'll have the world in the palm of your hand."
"Like I said, I don't have any interest in that."
"…I see." Without making a sound, Lucrezia got to her feet and
extended a long finger to Oscar.
Reflexively, the prince's hand shot to Akashia's hilt. Before he could
draw the sword, however, Lucrezia floated into the air above the table. She
placed her right hand on Oscar's cheek, gazing into his blue eyes. On her
beautiful face was a gracious smile.
"In that case… I'll give you something more interesting than an
aphrodisiac." Lucrezia's words carried the inflection of a threat.
Oscar started to draw his sword, but the Witch of the Forbidden Forest
merely landed softly on the floor. Her amber eyes gazed into his own for
only a brief moment, but he frowned, feeling like something had flickered
inside his mind.
Lucrezia giggled. "Ooh, so scary. Unlike Tinasha, I'm not good at
fighting, so could you let this slide?"
"I'm not sure." Oscar's hand remained ready on his blade.
"Y-Your Highness… She did save us, and no one else from the village
will fall victim to that plant thing, so let's call it a day and head home. Miss
Tinasha is sure to be worried," Lazar pleaded, attempting to assuage the
building tension despite clearly being flustered himself.
"…Yeah," Oscar replied. He straightened up, refusing to take his eyes
off Lucrezia all the while. The witch gave him a mesmerizing grin.
"Come by again anytime," she offered. Something about her openly
beguiling expression was unmistakably witchlike.
The pleasant scent of tea pervaded the study.
A day had passed since Oscar and Lazar had returned from the witch's
forest. The latter brought in a stack of documents before closing his eyes to
inhale the sweet aroma.
He'd long since gotten used to the sight of a beautiful black-haired witch
passing a cup of tea to his lord. Lazar was captivated by her graceful
movements, only snapping out of his trance when she turned around.
Tinasha stared at him curiously. "Why are you just standing there?"
"Oh, er, no reason."
Lazar rushed to deliver the papers to his lord. Ever since Oscar's uncle
—the previous prime minister—had passed away, Oscar had inherited his
former duties as well as a portion of kingly authority. All kinds of reports
came from both within the castle and without. Oscar was the one who
reviewed and approved them all, excepting only the most important
documents.
After briefing the prince on this latest set of papers, Lazar turned to
Tinasha and asked, "Did you get everything aired out without any trouble?"
"Yeah, I managed, somehow. I've got a lot of things that are tricky to
deal with. So much so that I can't leave the job to my familiars. Sorry for
being gone so long."
"Oh, not at all. Feel free to take as many holidays as…" Lazar trailed
off. He'd nearly said Take as many holidays as you'd like before he froze
after remembering the danger he'd wound up in because Tinasha had been
gone. Still, that wasn't her fault, and after a moment, he completed his
sentence.
Lazar's pause didn't appear to rouse Tinasha's suspicions, but Oscar cast
a scowl at his friend from behind the witch's back.
"Was there any trouble while I was gone? Anything you needed my help
with?" asked Tinasha.
"N-not particularly…," said Lazar, his voice wavering.
"Nothing," Oscar confirmed flatly.
"That's good, then."
Tinasha gave them a full, gorgeous smile, and Lazar breathed an internal
sigh of relief. Oscar may have seen right through him, because he stood up
and clapped Lazar on the shoulder as he passed by.
"Come outside with me."
"Ah, okay."
Don't say a word was written in Oscar's eyes. On their way back from
the witch's forest, Oscar had warned Lazar, "You need to be less trusting.
And don't tell Tinasha we met that witch." Oscar was likely worried the
witches would end up in an argument if Tinasha found out he nearly drew
his sword on Lucrezia.
The prince stared into Lazar's eyes, searching for confirmation, and
Lazar offered an awkward smile. Oscar gave a little nod. Perhaps he knew
that Tinasha's own eyes were glued to his back. He looked over his
shoulder at her.
"What's up? Do I have something on my back?" Oscar asked as
nonchalantly as he could.
"No, nothing, but… Oscar, are you sleeping well?" Tinasha's question
was rather unexpected.
"Yeah, no problem. Why?"
"…I suppose it's fine, then," the witch answered, though she still looked
skeptical.
Oscar grinned and reached out a hand to her. "Since you're here, you
wanna come, too?"
"Why should I? It's your work."
"For a change of pace, I'm going to go see if the mages are working on
anything interesting. Come with me," Oscar said, urging Tinasha to follow.
"Allow me to remind you that I've given up my identity as a court mage
already! That's why I'm here, making you tea!"
"If you want a commission, I'll give you one. How about you pick one
of the jobs that was too difficult for the others to handle?"
"Are you just looking for a fun diversion?!" Tinasha snapped, but she
followed him out of the room anyway. Perhaps she felt the prince really
couldn't be left to his own designs.
The door slammed shut. Lazar felt a stomachache coming on and sighed.
As it was already afternoon, few jobs were left unclaimed on the board.
The crown prince and his witch standing side by side at the job board
made for a most unusual sight. Passersby did double takes while Oscar
checked the dates on a few slips and pulled two of them off.
"These two have been up for more than five days. Brewing potions to
keep in reserve and restoring classic literature tomes… Kinda boring,"
Oscar commented.
"Give me those. I'll do them. You get back to your work," Tinasha said.
"Tinasha…"
Oscar had probably been hoping for something involving going out and
exterminating a demonic spirit or the like, but a task like that was better
suited for soldiers. The prince knew the reason there were only a few jobs
left was because the court mages were so very capable. He wanted to
protest but decided to concede this one and patted Tinasha on the head.
"Then I'll leave them to you; sorry. If there's anything you need, just put
in a request," said Oscar.
"Understood," Tinasha replied.
With a bittersweet smile twisting his face, Oscar turned and departed,
appearing as the very picture of irreproachable nobility as he did. Their
little break must have reinvigorated him. Tinasha watched him go.
"…Weirdo."
He was unlike any of the people she'd signed a contract with before. It
truly seemed he did not care at all that Tinasha was a witch.
That didn't mean Oscar regarded her as a regular human. It was more
that he'd readily accepted she was a witch and wasn't afraid of her. Tinasha
didn't know whether to pity the prince for being thickheaded or praise his
courage.
Opinions on his attitude within the castle were mixed. Quite a few
people criticized him for keeping a witch by his side as if it were
completely normal, to say nothing of the fact that everyone knew the story
of the fairy-tale version of Tinasha. Even though that tale was inaccurate, it
was the account most people knew—and all they had to go on.
Despite their misconceptions, Tinasha made no attempt to correct them.
People like that would never come around to the idea of befriending a
witch. To them, Tinasha was some kind of creature that operated wholly
differently than them. Trying to dispel or change their impression was an
entirely futile effort.
This was why Tinasha normally lived in the tower. It ensured she only
encountered those ready to meet someone like her.
"But he brought me down from the tower. He really has some strange
tastes."
Tinasha tore off another job request. When she placed it in her robe, a
man at the end of the hall waved to her. "Miss Tinasha! May I ask you a
question?"
"Oh, Kav. What is it?"
One of Tinasha's mage acquaintances had found her and come running
over. There were still quite a few people in the castle who avoided her, but
starting with Kav, more and more of them had been interacting normally
with her.
Tinasha glanced through the potions recipe book he was carrying, then
identified the problem spot.
"The spell procedure here and the third sequence should be flipped. It'll
get overwritten, and you won't derive the right result. Also, it might be
good to use a substitute for the catalyst… Like this and this…"
Nodding, Kav took notes on all the witch's suggestions. Tinasha
checked over the corrections.
"If that doesn't work, come to me again. Although, really, Lucrezia's the
only one who would be able to say for sure. I'm sorry," Tinasha said.
"No, you've really helped me. Thank you so much. Is this Lucrezia an
acquaintance of yours?" asked Kav.
"I suppose you could call her that. She's an eccentric who's good with
potions and psychological magic."
"An eccentric… What kind of person is she?"
"…It's better not to ask," Tinasha said firmly with a very serious
expression. There were quite a few things in the world one was better off
not knowing.
Tinasha's first day back passed uneventfully. Mentions of another witch
had been well concealed.
"Oscar, are you sleeping well?"
It was at least the second time Oscar had heard this question. He
considered it for a moment, still unsure why Tinasha was asking.
Early in the morning, the witch had caught him just as he was leaving
his quarters. She eyed him suspiciously.
"I'm sleeping just fine. I don't feel tired or anything," he answered.
Oscar stroked Tinasha's soft hair. Suddenly, a strange image came to his
mind for a brief moment, stopping his hand in midair.
Skin as white as snow, eyes the color of darkness, and lips as red as a
flower petal. A face so beautiful that a mere smile would be enough to
captivate any who beheld it, though that visage was frowning with
incredulity. It was the face of Tinasha, Oscar's protector, a face he'd come
to know quite well…but for an instant, Oscar felt like he'd recalled a
different, more flirtatious look in those eyes. Something in his memories
felt a bit strange.
"Oscar?" Tinasha called.
"…No, it's nothing. Just had a weird sense I'd done this before…"
"You're half-asleep. You need to get more rest."
"I told you, I'm sleeping just fine… Oh, Tinasha, I had a gift for you."
Oscar suddenly recalled something and returned to his room. He quickly
returned holding a small box. Tinasha received and opened it, finding a
small crystal ball inside. She gave Oscar a bemused look, head cocked to
the side.
"Yesterday, you went to heal a kid in town who was injured, right? The
mage who completed the request didn't give a name, but the family came to
the castle to express their thanks in person. It's from them," Oscar
explained.
"What are you talking about? I don't know anything about that,"
Tinasha said.
"Do you really think there's any mistaking your appearance?" Oscar
asked.
"Next time, I'll put on a disguise before going out," the witch replied.
She turned away to sulk, and Oscar burst out laughing. Tinasha was
kindhearted, but she often avoided openly associating with people because
of what she was.
Oscar patted the head of his little protector. "Either way is fine. You
should do what you want."
"If I can do what I want, then I want to go back to my tower," Tinasha
quipped.
"Not that," Oscar fired back, making a sour face. She flicked the crystal
ball with a finger.
"I don't think this is meant for me, but I'll go ahead and take it. I'll
enchant it with something. Maybe a spell to force you to sleep."
"Why do you want to put me to sleep that badly?"
Ignoring Oscar's retort, Tinasha floated into the air and vanished without
a trace.
"She's always just disappearing like that…," Oscar said, shaking his
head ruefully as he headed for his study. The strange momentary thought
that had given him pause had been forgotten.
Tinasha reappeared in front of Lazar as he was in the midst of his attendant
duties. The man had been hiding something from the witch for a few days
now, and he practically screamed when he noticed her lying in wait for him
in the hallway. Flustered, he greeted her as normally as he could.
"G-good morning."
"Good morning. I actually had something I'd like to ask you about."
"O-oh yes?"
Smiling, Tinasha approached Lazar and gazed up at him with her dark
eyes. Meeting the witch's gaze felt like she was boring into your soul, and
Lazar broke into a cold sweat. If she asked him about what happened while
she was away, he didn't trust himself to lie.
Thankfully, Tinasha inquired about something completely different.
"Is Oscar sleeping well lately?"
"Wha…? I think so. He's not staying up late or anything like that."
"Really?"
"Really."
Feeling a bit let down for some reason, Lazar wondered what could have
prompted Tinasha's question.
The witch thought about the answer for a moment and then posed
another query. "Any romantic meetings lately?"
"What?! Who are you asking about?" Lazar exclaimed.
"Oscar," Tinasha clarified.
"…No."
Lazar had to wonder what she was actually asking after. He spent much
of his time each day with Oscar but couldn't think of anything out of the
ordinary that had happened recently. The prince didn't seem sleep-deprived,
and aside from the witch before him, there was no special woman in his
life.
Tinasha looked pensive, tapping a finger on her chin. "Hmm… There's
really no one?"
"No, no one. Are you jealous?" asked Lazar.
"Save the sleep talk for when you're asleep," Tinasha retorted, not
batting an eye. Lazar felt a rush of sympathy for his lord.
"You know… His Highness has a lot of good points…"
"I know he does, but that has nothing to do with it. No one would ever
let him marry a witch in the first place. Please get him to stop."
"I'm really sorry, but His Highness is the type who won't quit even if
he's held back."
"Don't let someone like that outside the country, then!" the witch
scolded, yelling as she often did. Her more serious expression quickly
returned, however. "In any case, please tell me if you notice anything. Try
not to do anything that'll get him excited," she said, then vanished without a
sound.
Lazar, finally released from Tinasha's intimidating aura, let out a souldeep sigh of relief before setting off for the crown prince's study at a trot.
The lounge of Farsas Castle was a rectangular room facing the hallway and
had been designed to be used by any castle staff.
Sylvia, Doan, and Kav happened to be in the lounge on their afternoon
break. Everyone was sipping tea and reading as they liked. Other mages
typically spent the entire day at lectures and magic practice, but these three
were highly talented. Often, they would spend time after work continuing
their own research. However, they also enjoyed spending their breaks
striking up idle chitchat.
No sooner had they concluded one topic of conversation than Tinasha
appeared. As soon as she saw the three of them, the witch pulled out an old
book from under her arm and presented it.
"Here you are, Doan, the book you asked for," she said.
"Whoa! You really did track it down. I heard it was destroyed a long
time ago," Doan said, accepting the volume with a mixture of shock and joy
on his face. The battered old spell book was a rare tome said to no longer
exist.
Tinasha pulled a chair over and joined the three mages at their table. "I
have quite a few of those. If there's anything else, just let me know, and I'll
find it for you."
"Thank you!" Doan said, ecstatic.
The witch gave him a smile in return, then glanced at the hallway as the
sound of footsteps gradually grew louder. A girl in the garb of a lady-inwaiting was passing by. She was a lovely lass with light-blond hair. The
young woman gave no indication that she noticed those in the lounge as she
sauntered past.
Sylvia noticed Tinasha staring at the girl. "Do you know her? I think
she's an apprentice who arrived at the castle recently."
"Mmm. Her name is Miralys. She waits on Oscar a lot lately, and Lazar
has been instructing her," Tinasha replied.
"I suppose she can learn a lot about her job that way. Although, Oscar
doesn't seem to like having ladies-in-waiting attend him, so there haven't
been many in the past," Sylvia said.
"I think he's had his reasons. And I have a guess as to why she's been
assigned to wait on him," Tinasha added.
"You do?" Sylvia asked.
"But it has nothing to do with anything, so never mind. More than that,
I'm worried about how Oscar's been in bad health for the past few days. I
think he might be sleep-deprived, but he keeps insisting he isn't."
"What, really? But he hasn't looked sick," Sylvia exclaimed, sounding
surprised. Doan and Kav looked up from their spell books, too.
For her part, Tinasha slumped back against her chair and crossed her
legs. Her posture wasn't usually so careless, and it seemed to indicate she
was in an exceptionally bad mood.
"He doesn't appear to be aware of it, but his life force is flickering. I
wish he'd be serious about taking care of himself… If he has a girlfriend, he
should just go ahead and date her outright."
"What?" all three mages chorused in astonishment.
"A girlfriend?!"
"I didn't think he had anyone."
"It is a bit unthinkable."
Everyone in the castle knew how important Tinasha was to Oscar. And
those close to Tinasha knew she didn't mind the prince's feelings one bit.
Naturally, they couldn't even imagine Oscar getting involved with
another woman.
Though all three mages had expressed their incredulity, Tinasha shook
her head. "There are strong traces of perfume on him. I think it's from a
woman. I guess he doesn't notice the smell."
Sylvia, Kav, and Doan exchanged glances. Doan raised his hand a little
before speaking. "I saw him today, but I didn't smell anything like that."
"What…? It's pretty noticeable if you're near him… Wait," Tinasha
interrupted herself, freezing in place. Unconsciously, she bit down on the
finger she'd had against her chin. Something dawned on her, and then,
slowly, her face transformed into a mask of rage. The three mages watched
with bated breath. They could sense a huge amount of magic amassing
within Tinasha's slender body. The table they were sitting around began to
creak, although the witch wasn't touching it.
Emerging from what appeared to be deep thought, Tinasha clicked her
tongue. "Sorry, something just came up," she said, vanishing immediately
thereafter.
The three mages who'd watched it all happen looked to one another.
"That was scary…"
"No cheating on her allowed, that's for sure…"
"What in the world…?"
After witnessing the storm that was gathering, Sylvia, Doan, and Kav
each felt pity for the one about to be caught up in it.
The maelstrom crashed upon its unsuspecting victim in brilliant
comeuppance.
"OSCAR!"
With a thunderous peel, the door exploded open, and Tinasha blew in,
her face contorted with anger. It was not Oscar's first time seeing her so
furious, but it was a rare occurrence. The prince looked up from his burrow
amid countless stacks of papers. He had a bad feeling about this.
"What's wrong, Tinasha?"
"Don't 'what's wrong' me!" She flew through the air, grabbed his head
in both of her hands, and forced him to look at her. She hadn't put much
force into the action, but Oscar could feel Tinasha's hands trembling with
anger. "Why didn't you tell me you met Lucrezia?!"
"…Dammit, Lazar…" Oscar threw a glance at his friend, who was palefaced and standing next to the door. He raised his hands up as if to say I
couldn't help it! Tinasha must have wrung the truth out of him earlier…
Oscar had anticipated this but still couldn't help but sigh. It'd been a losing
battle from the start to think Lazar could've ever lied to a witch.
Tinasha looked like she was about to fly into a rage and destroy the
room, but Oscar met her fearsome gaze. "I didn't tell you because I didn't
think it was a big deal. Sorry."
"If you think meeting a witch is no big deal, then every danger of the
world must be a cakewalk to you!"
"They might be, yeah," Oscar replied.
"You have a serious problem when it comes to understanding danger! I
told you that I can't guard against psychological magic! It's great that
you're so confident in yourself, but I'm not going to be responsible if that
gets you killed!"
"…I'm sorry," Oscar muttered, then exchanged a glance with Lazar.
"Killed?"
"I'm just glad we're in time," Tinasha said, sounding thoroughly put out.
In an ancient country to the east, a much-beloved queen had died. Her
king grieved the loss deeply, and he saw her every night in his dreams
thereafter. The king had many imaginary rendezvous with his beloved, but
each time, he would wake and mourn reality. One day, he finally passed
away in his sleep.
The people wept, saying the king had followed his queen into death.
"What a sad, moving story…," Oscar said.
"Yes, if it had really been the queen who'd appeared in his dreams,"
retorted Tinasha curtly, playing with a strand of ink-black hair.
The prince picked up on something unsettling in her words. "What was
it, then?"
Oscar and Lazar were drinking tea at the table in Oscar's study.
Although Tinasha was still thoroughly indignant, she'd made them some tea
—perhaps she'd calmed down a little. The beverage seemed to taste slightly
more bitter than usual, though Oscar noted that perhaps that was just his
imagination.
"Probably a demonic spirit or the interference of a mage. Whatever it
was, it appeared under the guise of the dreamer's lover and slowly robbed
him of his life force through sexual union. When done properly, the victim
usually dies in a week."
Today marked the fifth day since Oscar and Lazar had met Lucrezia.
Both men had kept quiet about the very thing that had put Oscar in danger.
"I don't know if she used a succubus or dream demon to do this for her,
or if she manufactured the whole thing with magic, but you probably had a
dream like that every night for the past few days. Lucrezia likely set it up
such that you'd have no memory of it when you woke."
"It's actually kind of a shame I can't remember," Oscar quipped.
Tinasha glared coldly at the other two in the room, but Oscar didn't
flinch.
"How could you tell?" he asked.
"The smell. There's a strong floral scent, like ladies' perfume, coming
from you. Which is why I thought that you must have gotten a girlfriend…"
"I didn't. Wait, do I really smell like that?" Oscar exchanged puzzled
looks with Lazar, while Tinasha snapped her fingers.
"Apparently, no one but me can detect it. She must've made it so that
I'm the only one who can smell it, that pervert."
Pervert referred to Lucrezia, evidently—choice words for someone who
seemed to be an old acquaintance.
Of course, sparing time debating such words was only possible because
the worst-case-scenario had been avoided. Having very narrowly avoided
death, Oscar reached out to twirl some of Tinasha's hair in his fingers.
"So what should we do?" he asked.
"I'll break the curse tonight. There are already some fluctuations in your
life force, so there's a chance I could kill you if I broke it through external
force."
"I see."
"Which means I'll need to forcibly smash it from in the dream."
"So it's going to be by force either way," Oscar concluded.
Tinasha clicked her tongue, an expression that said What does that have
to do with it? on her face.
Lazar piped up anxiously, "Is there no other method?"
"Theoretically, I know of several others, but…" Tinasha trailed off.
Something in her eyes suggested the other methods were less preferable.
One look at Tinasha, and Oscar understood, removing his hand from her
hair.
"Got it. We'll leave everything to you. We're counting on you."
Night seeped in from the huge window. The moonlight cast long shadows in
the room, and an all-consuming stillness pervaded the place.
Enveloped within that silence, a woman sat on a bed. The man lying
next to her tugged lightly on her glossy black hair. She frowned at him.
"What is it?"
"Nothing, I just can't sleep," he replied.
"I don't care. Go to sleep."
The man let out a big sigh, staring up at the bed's canopy. Only he and
his protector, the witch, were in the room.
She was wearing a dress made of multiple layers of thin black silk.
Backlit by the moonlight and with her face cast down looking somber, she
appeared more a work of art than a person.
"I can put you to sleep with magic, but she might have set it up so that
something happens in the dream if magic interferes with your sleep. I
wouldn't put it past her, so it's best if you fall asleep naturally. Once you
do, I can intervene."
"I'll do my best," Oscar said, closing his eyes and sinking into his own
darkness. No matter how he tried, however, he couldn't get the idea of
Tinasha waiting impatiently at his side out of his mind, and he was unable
to relax. Finally, he asked, "Is Lucrezia good at this type of magic?"
"This—and potions. She's better than me at both," Tinasha admitted.
"So witches have their strengths and weaknesses, too."
Oscar had his eyes closed, so he couldn't be certain Tinasha had smiled
at that, though he was fairly sure he'd sensed it.
"We do. On top of a basic mastery of all magic, we each specialize in
something. And we can't allow anyone else to surpass us in our fields…"
"What's your specialty?" Oscar probed.
"Attack and defense, as well as raw power," replied Tinasha.
Oscar opened his eyes to see a self-deprecating smirk on her face. That
power was why she was known as the strongest. Despite such strength,
Tinasha was hardly one to flaunt it in front of others. She never left her
tower without a reason; she seemed to know that too much might would
lead to nothing.
Tinasha stroked Oscar's hair, hoping to soothe him to drift off, and the
prince closed his eyes again. Still, sleep refused to claim him, so after a
short while, he grabbed her hair again.
The witch looked annoyed as she peered down at him. "Can I bring you
a nightcap?" she suggested sarcastically.
"No, I'm good," Oscar answered earnestly.
"I suppose I have no choice." Once again, Tinasha slowly stroked
Oscar's hair. Parting her red lips, she began singing softly.
It was a song he'd never heard before, but the lyrics made it sound like a
lullaby.
Dark of night, stars are far
Beloved child in my arms
One thousand safflowers, the azure of the moon
Holding your little hand, I'll send you off to the path of dreams
The witch's voice was deeper than usual, with a comforting, gentle lilt to
it.
Perhaps the song was foreign. Regardless, the strange melody filled
Oscar's mind. Tinasha's pale-white hand continued stroking his hair ever so
gently, and he slowly faded off to sleep.
The next thing Oscar knew, he was standing in front of an unfamiliar
building. A pair of double doors were set into the front of a great white
mansion. He turned back to see a fog curling around a forest behind him.
Oscar tried to call for the person who'd been at his side until just a
moment ago but realized he couldn't remember their name. He shook his
head, but it felt like it was filled with cotton. He was having a hard time
thinking.
"What's going on…? What am I…?"
Puzzling over all the strangeness, Oscar reached for the door. At a single
touch, it swung open silently before him. Almost drawn inside, he stepped
into the mansion and saw it was a house furnished of the same white
material as the exterior. It was very pretty but utterly deserted, with none of
the lived-in feel a home should rightly have had.
A sense of familiarity coursed through Oscar as he took in the sight of
the place. Only now did he remember that he'd been coming here every
night.
He climbed the main staircase and proceeded deeper into the mansion.
Someone had been calling for him for a while now.
Before long, Oscar saw a pale door at the end of a long hallway. He
opened it to find a spacious room. Like those before, the room was entirely
white, and against the back wall sat a bed hung with silk curtains. He
approached it slowly, parting the gauzy fabric.
The woman sitting on the bed turned around like she'd sensed his
presence.
…Her long, glossy black hair was spread out all across the bed. Her
ivory skin blended into the room, hidden under a thin negligee of the same
color. With eyes the tint of the deepest darkness, her beauty appeared
ethereal.
"Oscar…"
Now that she'd found him, she smiled softly. She held out two
impossibly slim arms. He reached for her and drew her delicate frame into
his embrace. Very carefully, as if handling something that would shatter, he
hugged her tight.
"Tinasha."
"So distasteful…," someone muttered in a tone of utter disgust. The
words seem to whisper themselves in Oscar's ear.
He let go of the woman in his arms to look her in the face, but she only
cocked her head with a bemused smile. A sweet light filled those big, round
eyes. Oscar cradled her face in his hands, and her expression softened.
Knowing her smooth skin well by now, Oscar's left hand glided along
Tinasha's slender neck. He bent to place a kiss there but realized that, all of
a sudden, his hand's grip was tightening.
"Oscar?" She looked up at him in puzzlement. Oscar found it strange
himself, but in the next moment, his eyes opened wide with shock. All on
its own, his left hand was starting to tighten around her neck, and his right
hand had joined it.
"My hands are—"
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't remove them; they didn't
belong to him anymore. Instead, they squeezed the woman's throat with the
clear intent to kill. Her beautiful face screwed up in pain as she cried out,
"Oscar… Stop… Save me…"
Her small hands scrabbled at his frantically. Seeing her like that, Oscar
felt sweat pour down his own neck. An indescribable jolt of fear washed
over him.
His nails bit into Tinasha's thin nape.
"Please… Save me…" Her fragile voice sounded in his ears. Tears
welled up in her dark eyes. The stress was so great, Oscar bit his lip hard
enough to taste blood.
A dizziness overtook the prince. His body wouldn't move—frozen by
something unseen. The woman's neck was in his hands. There was a
surging fear growing within him, as he knew what would happen next.
"Stop… Stop it!" Oscar's cry rang throughout the pure-white room, but
it did no good. Reflexively, he closed his eyes and heard the dull sound of
bones breaking. The woman's head lolled. At last, he could move his hands,
and her body crumpled.
Oscar lifted her limp figure with trembling arms. Her dark eyes had lost
their luster. Like dull marbles, they provided only the thinnest reflection of
the surrounding room. The dead girl's faintly parted lips would never move
again.
"…Tinasha?"
With unbearable emotion, he clutched her lifeless body to his chest.
Finally, the world broke down.
Oscar jerked awake, only to find himself soaked in sweat. Glancing to the
side, he saw the black-robed witch looking at him with annoyance plain on
her face. Seeing her now after his dream brought on a mix of fear and relief.
He could still clearly feel the sensation of the woman's neck snapping in his
hands. In an attempt to drown out the tactile memory, he interlaced his
hands tightly.
"Good job. All your stolen life force has been returned to you."
Tinasha's voice had a distinctly chilly tinge to it. This was the same voice
that had spoken to him in such a soft tone from within the dream, but it was
commanded by a wholly different person now.
Oscar took in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. He used both hands to
brush his hair up and back.
"Don't…make me kill you…," he managed.
"That wasn't me."
"Even so."
The prince's blue eyes met the witch's dark ones. Her lips quirked up in
a cruel smirk. "I'm a witch, and you possess Akashia; you really might have
to kill me someday."
Pale moonlight shone down on the two of them.
To Oscar, the pale glow seemed to suck the warmth out of the room.
"Are you being serious?"
"Of course." Tinasha smiled, narrowing her eyes—her witch's grin.
Though Oscar understood that the young woman sitting next to him was the
same one who'd been at his side these recent months, there was an
unbearable feeling of distance between the two now.
He reached out to touch her, but she floated away before he could.
"I'm going to give Lucrezia a piece of my mind. I'll be back tomorrow,"
she announced.
"Wait!"
"Good night, Oscar," Tinasha said, promptly disappearing. Left alone
with the moon and the shadows it cast, Oscar felt a thick unease and
loneliness pervade his room.
Sipping a glass of liqueur as she percolated a potion, Lucrezia chuckled to
herself when she sensed a familiar presence enter her barrier.
"Lucrezia!"
"It's been a while, Tinasha. Oh my, have you grown? Lucrezia greeted
her with a face as gleeful as a child who'd successfully pulled a prank.
Lucrezia's old friend answered with a sullen tone. "What are you
playing at? There are limits to distasteful pranks, you know."
"I thought you'd undo it right away, but I guess they didn't tell you
about me. Good thing I added the scent."
In sharp contrast to Tinasha's glower, Lucrezia appeared to be in an
excellent mood. "What was really distasteful was how you broke the curse.
I didn't think you'd force him to break her neck."
"It was quick, easy, and it made me feel better," Tinasha offered.
"I wanted the curse to be broken in a sexier way…" Lucrezia pouted.
"Who would use sexual techniques for that?!" Tinasha yelled, and the
Witch of the Forbidden Forest clicked her tongue in disappointment.
Lucrezia cared little for the life of one human when it came to her
capricious whims. She poured a glass of liqueur for her guest and set it on
the table. Tinasha sat down and took a sip. Normally, she didn't like dulling
her reason and almost never drank alcohol, but she made an exception when
with a friend.
"I know you're aware that he's my contract holder, so what in the world
were you doing?"
"You've given him quite the protective barrier. It's very intimidating. I
just thought it would be nice to say hi to you after so long," Lucrezia
explained.
"Don't half kill someone to say hi," Tinasha replied.
Amused, Lucrezia laughed out loud, then set some homemade treats on
the table. "So? What happened to him?"
"He got mad at me over the neck-breaking thing."
"Well, I can see why… It does leave a bad taste in your mouth."
"I wouldn't underestimate him. He holds Akashia," Tinasha chided
sharply, but Lucrezia only shrugged.
If the world ever called for the end of the witches, all mages knew that
the bearer of Akashia was the best person to lead such a movement. Tinasha
was well aware of Oscar's skill, knowing it could very well be enough to
slay a witch.
Which meant, all the more, that he shouldn't get any closer to witches
than necessary. It was especially out of the question for him to marry one.
"But isn't he handsome? Better looking than Regius, I think," Lucrezia
teased.
"There are a lot of reasons why you shouldn't compare him to Reg,"
Tinasha answered.
"That's such a waste, though. Can I have him?"
Originally, Tinasha had planned to introduce Lucrezia to Oscar as a
potential bride, though only if he agreed to it.
Tinasha waved her hand dismissively and then recalled the time she'd
proposed the idea. "…I knew it wouldn't work."
"What? Are you regretting saying no?" Tinasha's friend smirked at her,
but she shook her head and denied it.
"No. What I meant was that I knew adding a witch into the royal
bloodline wouldn't be a good idea."
"Ah, so I was right to think that something interesting's been going on."
Lucrezia's words seemed to suggest she knew about Oscar's curse. Then
again, she could've just as easily been referring to something else. Oscar's
predicament was the work of the Witch of Silence, after all. Her
overwhelming expertise in such things made the prince's curse difficult for
another witch to detect without careful inspection.
As Tinasha munched on cookies and considered requesting the recipe
for them, she asked her friend, "Do you think you can break it?"
"That's a tricky one… It might actually be impossible. The Witch of
Silence's handiwork, right?"
"Yeah. I've been trying to analyze it, but I feel pretty stuck," Tinasha
admitted.
The cookies were good, with just the right amount of sweetness. Tinasha
truly waffled a little over whether to ask for the recipe. As an expert potion
maker, Lucrezia was incredibly good at creative cooking as well.
The Witch of the Forbidden Forest poured more liqueur into Tinasha's
glass. "What exactly are you analyzing?" she inquired.
"His hair and nails. Words, too," Tinasha admitted.
"I think you should use blood and semen. Those are probably the most
affected."
"I see."
Lucrezia went to her workshop in the back of the house and brought
back two small bottles. She tossed them casually to Tinasha.
"Here, take these. Consider it an apology for what I did."
Taking the little vials, Tinasha was shocked to see they contained the
two substances in question. She put down the cookie she'd been eating.
"You extracted these? You really need to do something about this
distasteful hoarding problem of yours."
"Well, since I had the chance, I thought I might make a clone while I
was at it. It was woven into the dream's spell."
"What do you think my contract holder is? You didn't take anything
else, did you?"
"Just these," Lucrezia purred. Tinasha was deeply suspicious but
accepted the bottles anyway. She magically transferred them somewhere
safe, to ensure they wouldn't be broken.
As Lucrezia watched her friend grumble to herself, she pressed the
liqueur bottle to a faintly flushed cheek.
While Tinasha gave the impression of a cool, collected beauty, Lucrezia
was a bright, flirtatious woman. Hordes of men had fallen for her friendly
smile, and she'd kept many lovers over the years.
With a neatly manicured red-painted fingernail, Lucrezia poked
Tinasha's hand. "When you get back, give him an honest apology, okay? I
think you're very important to him. My spell wasn't designed to make you
appear in it. All it did was reflect his own desires."
"Whose fault do you think it is that we're fighting?" Tinasha asked.
"Your stubbornness?" Lucrezia quickly replied.
She was half-right. Tinasha gave up debating it and took a sip of liqueur.
After cooling her head, Tinasha did admit she felt guilty. She hadn't lied,
but she could've phrased it more gently. It was true she was important to
him…however, it was just as true that she couldn't accept such feelings.
Regret needled at Tinasha like a thorn, and she looked out the window to
gaze up at the moon. She thought about how that same moon was shining
down on Oscar…and her eyes fluttered closed.
When he woke up the next morning, Oscar noticed his body felt oddly
sluggish, and his bones groaned at his every move.
Whether it was the backlash of Lucrezia's spell or his own lingering bad
memories of the previous night, he couldn't be certain. Lying in bed, Oscar
was considering taking a bath when there was a light rapping at the balcony
door.
Such a knock could only mean the arrival of one person. Oscar threw on
a jacket and said, "Come in."
Immediately, the black-robed witch entered, but she didn't move past the
balcony door. Oscar snorted lightly. Tinasha seemed to be feeling rather
awkward.
"Come here," Oscar said, beckoning to her, and she walked over to him
reluctantly. She opened her mouth a little as if to say something, and he
reached for her and pulled her onto his lap.
From Tinasha's spot on Oscar, she frowned down at him, put out. He
stroked her cheeks and neck, almost like he was making sure that every part
of her was there.
"I'm sorry," Oscar admitted.
Her eyes widened a little. Perhaps Oscar's apology had been
unexpected. She looked down shyly.
"…I'm sorry, too," Tinasha murmured very softly. She clutched at his
jacket tightly.
The witch hoped the day he would face her as an enemy would never
come, even as he assumed the throne and she returned to her tower.