Unnamed Memory - Volume 6 - Chapter 2

2. Monochromatic Flowers

Of the twelve mystical spirits Tinasha commanded, she always had three summoned. All twelve took turns as these watch guards, stationed on the northeastern border with Tayiri, in the capital, and on the southern border, respectively. Usually, any spirit not serving as a watch guard would only appear when summoned by the queen. There were some exceptions like Mira and Lilia, who remained near Tinasha unless called away by duty, as well as Karr, who came as an adviser, but that was far from the norm.

As a rule, high-ranking demons carried no interest in humans, so the spirits would not manifest without an order from their master. It was an unspoken boundary line between them and mortals.

Ever since Tinasha first heard of the strange case of villages falling into ruin for no discernible reason, she had taken to researching it whenever she had a spare moment between royal duties.

That said, her research did not consist of consulting other countries’ records; she couldn’t gain unfettered access to those accounts simply because she was curious. Instead, it was more along the lines of dispatching her spirits and diplomatic advisers to ask around for information in cities and towns.

Many nations besides Farsas owed a debt of gratitude to Tinasha for saving them, including Yarda, Cezar, and Former Druza. All graciously acquiesced to her somewhat personal request.

Once all the information she collected was assembled, a hazy picture emerged.

“So the earliest case happened seven years ago. If it really is all the work of the same person, they’re pretty clever. Moving from country to country, destroying entire villages without leaving a shred of evidence… We’re looking at nine sites altogether. Had those all happened in the same country, it would’ve been too conspicuous, but they were all in different nations in locations and dates that were too disparate to be noticed,” Tinasha said to Pamyra, who had answered the queen’s summons for help sorting her royal paperwork.

As Pamyra looked over the investigative report, she blanched. “Did the same person really do all of this? There are so many victims…”

“Hmm. My instinct tells me it’s not the same person, but there’s really not enough evidence to say for sure.”

Across the nine villages, a little over two thousand people had died. If Tinasha’s information was correct, this was a major historic incident. Curiously, not one of the victim villages belonged to Tuldarr.

Pamyra was puzzled. “Why didn’t they come to Tuldarr? Despite how big the country is, we don’t have that many settlements. If something happened to one, it would take a while before news reached the neighboring communities. At a glance, it seems like an easy target.”

“I think it’s because the person doing this is a mage. No matter how remote the village, a place in Tuldarr is likely to have a dozen or so mages. Whoever’s behind this wouldn’t want to face them,” Tinasha surmised.

“Ooh, I see…”

Cursing another mage required much more effort than doing it to an ordinary person. A mage would also be able to escape easily using teleportation. Escapees who could give testimony defeated the purpose of destroying an entire village. Someone carefully evading detection wouldn’t risk targeting Tuldarr.

Tinasha signed some documents Pamyra brought to her and stated, “The real problem we have to deal with now is how to catch them.”

With her chin in her hands as she pondered the quandary, the queen glanced over and noticed the time. She called back the spirit placed at the northeastern border. “Itz, thank you. Let Sylpha relieve you.”

Her magic-infused words reached the ears of the distant spirit. In reply, an entity in the form of an old man appeared. Itz bowed deeply. “There have been no changes at the border.”

“Good,” Tinasha responded. The northeastern border faced Tayiri, the country that abhorred magic. To the east were Farsas and Former Druza, while the south road led to the breadbasket nation of Magdalsia. Only Tayiri harbored antipathy toward Tuldarr.

And while Tuldarr did maintain constant vigilance against Tayiri, it didn’t seem like Tayiri had any desire to go picking fights with Tuldarr. The report that there was nothing out of the ordinary relieved Tinasha.

While she had Itz there, she asked him, “By the way, have you ever seen any destroyed villages?”

“Ah yes, that mystery. Fortunately, I have never seen any, so I cannot offer you any clues,” he answered.

“I thought so.”

“However, I did catch sight of an unusual personage in a town near the border. Perhaps this individual may provide some help in solving your case,” Itz suggested.

“An unusual personage?” Tinasha frowned, having no idea who that might be.

In a gentle tone, Itz continued. “Yes, indeed. An unerring fortune-teller.”

Itz opened a teleportation portal for Tinasha that led to a town on the edge of Tuldarr that was home to a grand waterfall. In any other country, it would’ve been inconveniently located, as far as it was from the main high road. However, Tuldarr’s network of teleportation arrays helped this location flourish as a tourism site.

As Tinasha made her way down the main avenue, her curious gaze roved all over the bustling stalls and stands lining the street. “Reading about this place and coming here in person are two totally different experiences. There are many more people than I imagined.”

“People say that all born in Tuldarr must come and see this waterfall at least once in their lives,” Pamyra remarked with a smile, here to accompany her queen.

Both during her life in the Dark Age and her life now, Tinasha spent almost all her time in castles or on battlefields. She had never toured any of her own nation’s sightseeing locales. Even this break was wedged into her tight schedule. She didn’t have time to go view the waterfall, but she would know that freedom once she was married. Itz had given her the transportation coordinates so that she could return with Oscar someday.

Facing the spirit, the queen inquired, “So what’s this unerring fortune-telling?”

Almost every form of fortune-telling was unreliable. A long time ago, some mages moonlighted as clairvoyants, but no magic spell could divine the future. It would be pure conjecture, nothing more.

Naturally, Itz knew that as well. He answered his master’s question with a smile. “It’s most likely a supernatural ability, like precognition or fate-seeing.”

“Ah, I see,” said Tinasha. It was exceedingly rare, but some people in the world possessed extraordinary powers that had nothing to do with magic. Aurelia, a girl Tinasha had met recently, had the ability to see into people’s pasts. This fortune-teller must have carried the exact opposite talent.

Itz pointed farther down the road. “That’s her.”

Tinasha’s eyes narrowed a fraction. A girl sat behind a small table set up at the opening of an alleyway. Her face was covered with a veil, but wavy silver hair spilled from the edges of it. A garland of white flowers sat atop the table, glowing under the sun.

Tinasha’s face screwed up in a grimace. “What is that magic…?”

“Your Majesty?”

“She’s suppressing her power, but it’s not an ordinary amount. It might be as much as I have.”

“What?!” yelped Pamyra despite herself, then hurriedly clapped a hand over her mouth. Fortunately, the crowd around them didn’t seem bothered. Likely, Itz had cast an awareness-blocking spell over the throng, not wanting anyone to recognize the queen and cause a fuss.

Itz chose his words carefully. “This is an acquaintance of mine from a very long time ago, though I don’t believe she remembers me. As you can see, she is a powerful mage, but she is not someone who would bring harm to others. She does not get deeply involved in anything; she simply passes the time with amusements like this.”

There were layers of hidden meanings implicit in the spirit’s remark, but none of it was strictly a lie. Tinasha and Itz had a master and servant relationship. He could not speak falsely in a way that might put his master at a disadvantage, nor was he an incredibly kind sort by nature.

“If she has that much magic and you’ve known her for a long time, she must be someone who once held great sway in Tuldarr. I’m curious to know why someone like that doesn’t appear in any historical records and is still alive today, but I will take your word for it,” said Tinasha.

“You are very perceptive and generous, my lady,” Itz replied.

While the origins of Farsas’s royal sword were a mystery, the Magic Empire of Tuldarr predated Farsas by two hundred years. One or two strange stories were bound to be hiding in its history. Tinasha herself was an unusual character who had slept for four centuries. She had no right to judge others.

Tinasha approached the fortune-teller’s table and examined the girl on the other side. All she could see under the veil was a pair of blue eyes peering up at her and a young-looking face.

“Would you like to have your fortune told?” the girl inquired.

“Please,” Tinasha answered, pulling out a stool and sitting down.

Now that she viewed the girl from head-on, Tinasha noticed she had a face as pretty as a porcelain doll’s. Her skin was as white as fresh, untrodden mountain snow. Her straight nose and tiny lips were as if painted on by the most delicate brush, crafting a picture of beauty.

However, her eyes, like two crystal balls, weren’t looking at Tinasha. They were focused on something else, much farther away.

It felt like those eyes would suck Tinasha in if she peered into them for too long. Thus, the queen got straight to the point. “I’m looking into something. Several villages have been destroyed by a mage. However, I don’t know where to start looking. Do you have any clues?”

Tinasha didn’t expect any sort of immediate answer. Supernatural abilities often did not work on command.

Yet the fortune-teller girl replied instantly. “It won’t be long before they come to you.”

“What? Really?”

If someone who could see the future claimed as much, then Tinasha could probably begin preparing. She cocked her head inquiringly, but the girl only nodded.

From his position standing next to Tinasha, Itz commented, “Her fortunes are absolute, although it’s possible to change your fate once you’ve heard the prediction.”

“Hmm, I guess that means I should continue my investigation,” Tinasha mused. She hadn’t gained any direct clues, but perhaps that was fine.

Still feeling confused, Tinasha placed a large stack of coins on the table. “Thank you. That was helpful.”

At the very least, she’d learned that this strange case wouldn’t remain unsolved. It was also past time to return to the castle. Itz and Pamyra bowed to the girl.

As Tinasha was about to draw up a teleportation portal, the girl muttered, “So many shards are sticking into you.”

“What?”

Was this also part of her ability to see the future?

Eyes the color of a frozen lake watched Tinasha, her own bemused reflection shining within them.

“The world is waiting for a revolution.”

Her remark had the ring of something heard in a sea of chaos, a sound that wouldn’t remain in the memory.

“I feel like I’ve received a vaguely ominous premonition about my future,” Tinasha grumbled, once back in her royal study as she picked up a sheaf of papers.

Pamyra had already moved on to other work, and Itz had been dismissed to rest.

The mysterious divination from the fortune-teller weighed on her mind. When pressed for an explanation, the girl had replied, “I can only see it. I can’t comprehend it.”

Tinasha couldn’t seem to relax. What made her most uneasy was the feeling that she’d heard a similar claim before.

“Wasn’t…that…?”

It wasn’t four hundred years ago. It had been much more recently.

Everything was touching her. She understood everything. About the world, about herself.

Just like trying to recall a dream, it was beyond Tinasha’s grasp, although she felt it tickling the tips of her fingers. She had felt something identical, and she later told Sylvia about it. “I was in a strange place where I understood everything.”

“Oh. That was when Simila consumed me.”

It was no wonder Tinasha couldn’t remember what she’d glimpsed within Simila, the snake that appeared from the lowest plane of existence. Human senses didn’t work on other planes. No matter what she learned there, she couldn’t take the memory out with her.

“The mystery deepens…”

With no hope of an answer, Tinasha had no choice but to let it go. The nature of war meant that it was not uncommon for broken shards to be stuck into her. And if that happened, all she had to do was heal herself.

As Tinasha concluded her thoughts there, Legis entered the study. “You’re back, Your Majesty. How was the waterfall?”

“I didn’t see it. I certainly couldn’t shirk my duties to go sightseeing.”

“It’s a beautiful place. I went once when I was a boy. I believe that town didn’t exist at the time of your reign four hundred years ago.”

“No, it didn’t. I hadn’t heard of any waterfall until waking in this era,” she replied.

A lot could happen in several centuries. So much was new to her. If this was what it was like to cross through time, how vast was everything that fortune-teller girl witnessed?

Musing on that notion, Tinasha accepted a stack of documents from Legis. She flipped through all of them, from most urgent to least, until finally she paused on one page. “Tris is going back to visit her hometown. She’s from Tayiri, huh?”

Tris, the girl who assisted in resolving the kidnappings at the Academy of Magic, had since become a court mage. She was requesting approval for her visit home, as all those who served the court of Tuldarr needed to file for advance permission before entering Tayiri. Tinasha and many others had assumed Tris hailed from the town that was home to the Academy of Magic, but it turned out she was from Tayiri.

Legis peered over at the national departure register and gave a wan smile. “Her family lives in Tayiri, while she’s living with a relative in Tuldarr. I heard that on her visit last year, Tayiri soldiers discovered her and chased her around.”

“Oh… And she became a court mage this year. If she’s ever caught, we’ll be in for a diplomatic incident,” said Tinasha.

Tayiri ostracized mages. In some cases, unfortunate children born with magic were killed. Most of those children ended up coming to Tuldarr, but each one’s individual circumstances determined whether they would move alone or with their families.

It would be quite the sticky situation if a Tuldarr court mage were to get arrested in Tayiri. Tris was still young, so Tinasha felt obligated to do what she could to help.

“I think I’ll arrange for an escort for her trip. We’ve only just begun the crystal excavations in Cezar, and I don’t want to provoke Tayiri. Another war may wipe Tayiri off the map.”

The Tuldarr army, as commanded by Tinasha, had forced Tayiri to yield four hundred years before, after it had attacked first, but that was no mean feat. She wanted to avoid war at any cost.

Although Tinasha’s remark had been a joke, Legis’s expression turned grave, and he bowed. “I apologize for the trouble. Thank you for doing this.”

“Sure,” Tinasha replied, regretting how she’d thought Legis would laugh off her comment. That was a little unscrupulous of her. While reflecting upon that, she summoned one of her spirits.

“I’ve been a spirit of Tuldarr for a long time now, but I gotta tell ya, this is the first menial task I’ve been assigned.”

“Don’t say that name here! And don’t talk about being a spirit, either!” chided the girl.

The black-haired, black-eyed man simply shrugged. The girl was Tris, a court mage, while the spirit was Eir, one of the twelve who served the Queen of Tuldarr. Eir knew Tris from the Academy of Magic incident, which was why Tinasha assigned him to accompany the girl on her trip.

After leaving Tuldarr together, the two of them were presently floating in the skies above western Tayiri, where Tris’s hometown was.

“I’ve only been dragged into this because you had to go and get caught by Tayiri soldiers last year,” Eir pointed out.

“Y-you be quiet… There was just a bit of a holdup at the border, that’s all,” Tris muttered.

It was impossible for Tinasha to send them directly into Tris’s hometown, as the girl didn’t know the coordinates because she couldn’t teleport. Eir had no choice but to teleport them nearby. The rest of the journey would have to be made via flight through the twilit sky.

At last, the lights of a town came into view far below. When Eir threw the girl a sidelong glance, she gave a relieved-looking nod. They descended from the air and landed in a nearby forest.

“I have an errand to run for Lady Tinasha in Gandona, so I’m headed there now. When are you going back to Tuldarr?” Eir questioned.

“I don’t need you to escort me back! I can get back on my own!” Tris protested.

“What? But I was ordered to come and collect you for the return trip. Well, I guess if you run into any trouble, you can contact Tuldarr and have Lady Tinasha call for me. You can use magical telepathy, can’t you?”

“I—I can…”

“Okay, then see you.” After an uninterested farewell, Ein drew up a teleportation spell.

Tris hurried to give him a wave. “Um… Thank you.”

“It’s fine. Be careful,” he replied. That was all he had to say before he vanished. Free of her inscrutable companion, Tris sighed out all her pent-up frustration before setting off at a run toward her family home.

The night air in Tuldarr was cool.

Tinasha had the windows in her bedroom open as she scanned some papers, and she found herself shivering. Winter was a while off yet, but she was freezing in her light nightgown. Setting the documents down, she went to close the window.

As she was leaning out the window, a sudden and mysterious sense of unease struck her.

“Hmm…?”

There was a faint thrumming of magic in the air. Tinasha had felt this sensation of drifting magic once before—when she was reading the invitation from Farsas to the banquet. It was daytime then, and she hadn’t been concerned, reasoning that someone in the castle was casting. What could anyone be doing this late?

It was very, very weak. Tinasha couldn’t sense any sort of spell configuration, either. The magic was so faint that it was impossible to tell where it was coming from, but it still left Tinasha wary.

She frowned. “Am I overthinking it…?”

This was the Magic Empire, after all. In the town at the foot of the castle, people were surely using magic.

She was shaking her head to dispel her worries when someone wrapped their arms around her from behind, nearly causing her to fall out the window.

“Oscar! Don’t sneak up on me!” she cried.

“I wasn’t trying to. Were you thinking hard about something? You’ll catch a chill out there,” he warned, reaching past her to close the window. He had arrived via the transportation array. Noticing how cold his fiancée had gotten, he placed his coat around her shoulders.

A faint blush on her cheeks, Tinasha said, “Thank you.”

“It’s nothing. Have you been a good girl? It doesn’t look like anything’s changed,” Oscar commented. Ever since Tinasha had formed the array, he’d used it every night to come over and check to make sure everything was all right.

Tinasha wasn’t sure how to feel about it. Having someone look after her so carefully made her feel like she was living in the Dark Age again. Her powers were on par with a witch’s, which meant no one treated her the way her fiancé did, like she was a child to be cared for.

As Tinasha went to fetch the liqueur she kept for Oscar, she shrugged. “No, no changes. Oh, but about my investigation, this wild-goose chase has finally led us to one person I’m very suspicious of.”

“Oh yeah?”

Between dispatching spirits to investigate and her visit to the fortune-teller, Tinasha had been busy gathering information from all over. The key to the puzzle ended up coming from Aurelia, a member of the royal family of Gandona, one of Farsas’s neighbors. Confidentially, Tinasha had asked Aurelia to relay anything she knew about mysterious cases of entire villages being destroyed. Aurelia, with her natural perceptiveness, intuited what Tinasha was after. In addition to details on cases in Gandona, Aurelia passed along a description of an incident from eight years earlier in a small country to the east.

“It’s a nation called Cathlys. Eight years ago, every single person in a small settlement abruptly died,” Tinasha explained.

“Eight years ago? That’s the oldest one yet,” Oscar remarked.

Every night, he had a drink with Tinasha, listening to how her investigation was proceeding. He was slowly drinking his way through the bottles of liqueur she kept on a shelf in her room as decoration. No matter how much Oscar consumed, his behavior didn’t change at all; Tinasha wondered if he might not actually have been human.

Her own glass of chilled water in hand, Tinasha passed Oscar the documents she’d been reading. “They know who attacked the place in Cathlys, however. A mage named Bardalos used magic and hexes to raze a village of nearly one hundred to the ground overnight.”

Oscar nodded. “Sounds almost exactly like all the others. What was his motive?”

“A town-wide attack experiment. A long time ago, Tuldarr also had mages who devised large-scale forbidden curses that would target cities. In reality, it’s completely impractical for one person’s curse to destroy an entire city. But this mage supplemented his hex with regular attack magic and psychological spells, thereby making it possible to lay waste to a town. He brought his proposal to the Cathlys royal castle.”

“That’s…one weird court mage,” Oscar commented.

“No, he wasn’t a court mage. While he possessed plenty of talent, he was refused because of issues with his personality. In response, he presented his town-wide attack idea, but naturally, his designs were ignored.”

“Of course. He was only making it worse for himself at that point,” Oscar remarked, shaking his head in dismay.

Tinasha agreed with him. Bardalos fell into disgrace because he didn’t understand the social implications of his proposition. Or perhaps he did and brought it before the court for the hell of it.

Cathlys ignored his proposal, so Bardalos set out to prove just how viable his theory was.

Tinasha perched on the armrest of Oscar’s chair. “He had numerous other offenses, too, and likely more that haven’t yet come to light. It’s no wonder he was barred from becoming a court mage. Apparently, he ran about, completely uncontrolled in the smaller countries on the border.”

“And they couldn’t stop him after all that?” Oscar asked.

“When he wiped out that village, they were going to execute him. But Bardalos annihilated the squadron sent to capture him. Only one man survived. Based on his testimony, those in charge verified that Bardalos was indeed responsible. Because the casualties had piled so high, Cathlys gave up on capturing him and banished him instead. No one knows where he went after that…”

“What the hell? Why’d they just let him go? He’s a threat to society.”

“Cathlys is a small country, and they didn’t have enough mages who could fight back against him. I wish they had consulted with Tuldarr before things got so bad.” Tinasha sighed, refilling Oscar’s empty glass. She set the liqueur bottle on the shelf and resettled on Oscar’s lap.

“We’ve made some major progress now that we can identify our suspect, but catching him will be like looking for a needle in a haystack. Still, I’ve uncovered what he looks like, and I know I’m going to catch him one of these days,” she stated firmly.

“You know you’re going to?”

“Oh, that’s right, I didn’t tell you. Oscar, do you believe in the concept of a fortune-teller with completely accurate readings?”

“I do not,” he replied immediately, which Tinasha had half expected. She was a little disappointed, but she knew that explaining the mysteries of precognitive abilities would derail their conversation.

She crossed her legs from her position on his lap. “For the time being, all I can do is continue my research while alerting the rulers of each country that’s involved.”

As Bardalos continued his attacks, it had occurred to Tinasha to place barriers on every village, but there were simply too many.

While Tinasha was still unsure of what action to take next, Oscar said decisively, “When you’re up against someone like that, you just have to beat them to the next spot they’re going to hit.”

“I considered that, but there are far too many potential targets. I wish we could at least narrow down the country,” she responded.

“We can,” Oscar said flatly, which made Tinasha gape at him.

She turned in his lap to look him in the face. “What? Really?”

“With about fifty-fifty odds. Did you notice that there are one or two cases a year and that the number of casualties has been steadily rising each time?”

“I did recognize that. At first, it was rural farm villages, but the latest one was a pretty bustling community,” Tinasha said.

“Whether he’s doing it to test his limits or to shake things up, he keeps attacking larger places. If this keeps up, they won’t exactly be villages anymore, will they? More like towns. But there’s probably going to be some professional mages in a town.”

Tinasha nodded. “Well… Yes, that’s true. At least one or two.”

Simon was a magic user who had lived in a village, but he wasn’t a mage—he was a musician by trade.

However, he was an outlier. There were a few dedicated mages in just about any town, whether for defense or healing purposes. That much Tinasha could follow, but she didn’t understand where Oscar was going with this and gave him a puzzled look.

His blue eyes regarded her evenly. “Bardalos is definitely giving Tuldarr a wide berth. If Simon’s story is to be believed, there’s some time between when he decides on a target and when he goes through with destroying it. That means he carefully avoids any potentially dangerous elements. A person like that wouldn’t consider widening their scope or risking battle against mages.”

“Mm-hmm. That’s right.”

“But there’s one country that doesn’t have any mages at all—that won’t permit mages, no matter how big the city is,” Oscar pointed out.

“Oh…”

Oscar’s smile was tight as he stared into her dark eyes. Realization dawned on Tinasha, and she cried, “You think their next target is Tayiri?!”

“That’s what I’d do, anyway. Low risk,” Oscar confirmed immediately. Tinasha didn’t miss the displeasure that flashed across his fine features. Leaning into his chest, she let out a low groan.

He was exactly right. Two of the incidents had already occurred in Tayiri, but all other countries had only seen one attack each. That didn’t exempt Tayiri from being the next target. In fact, it probably spoke more to how much easier it was to operate there.

Tinasha floated up into the air and wound her arms around Oscar’s neck. “We could send them a straightforward warning… No, we couldn’t. I don’t think Tayiri would listen to anything I have to say. Maybe I’ll send out some spirits.”

“If you’ve got something you want me to do, you better tell me. You’re not allowed to get up to anything dangerous,” Oscar warned. He set down his glass and stood to embrace Tinasha. She cuddled into him innocently, and he grinned as he pulled her close.

“I’ll be careful. You’ve told me enough times already,” she said.

“If you were truly being cautious, I wouldn’t need to hold myself back so much,” Oscar replied dryly, conscious of her body heat through the thin fabric of her nightgown. While Tinasha’s true age was over four hundred, she still behaved like a young girl and was oblivious to her seductive charm. When she cocked her head at him like a bemused kitten, Oscar grimaced and set her down on the bed.

He tousled her hair. “I’ll be heading back now. See you tomorrow.”

“You’re not going to sleep over?”

“I’m not up for the chore of hauling you into the bath in the morning. It’ll make me late and I’ll end up soaking wet, too.”

Tinasha regularly dropped off to sleep like a rock but could hardly be roused in the mornings. Because of this, Oscar had taken to hurling her into the bathtub, clothes and all. She whined of course, but it did get her to open her eyes.

Reminded of that fact, Tinasha looked abashed. “I-I’m so sorry. But I don’t think I can fix it in three months…”

“Then you need to work harder! But I suppose once you come to Farsas, you can sleep as much as you want. You’ll be our sleepyhead queen.”

“Urgh, no, I’ll work on it…”

While Tinasha was busy with her everyday royal duties, her wedding was fast approaching, as was her abdication. Once she became queen consort of Farsas, Tinasha would have much less work to do, but that didn’t mean she could sleep in all day.

As Tinasha curled up remorsefully, Oscar pressed a kiss to her forehead. “Go to sleep. Good night.”

“Good night,” she whispered back. Then Oscar returned to his own bed.

But there would only be a little while longer of that. Before long, they would blend their lives into one. Together, their days would be relaxed and happy. Such was the worth each of them placed on the other.

He hadn’t told anyone that his big sister was coming home for a visit.

She was a mage, after all, and she served the court of Tuldarr. Everyone in town had believed she’d died of illness when she was little. That definitely meant he couldn’t tell anyone.

The boy ran along the main avenue with arms full of the fruit he had bought for his sister. When he approached a crossroads, he noticed a crowd of people gathered. They were all clustered around a notice board with a poster stuck to it, buzzing among themselves. The boy stood on his tiptoes, struggling to see between the gaps in the throng.

“What does it say?” the boy asked a man next to him.

“It says a serial killer’s escaped. Farsas and Cezar are both looking for him. You better watch out, kid.”

The boy’s eyes grew wide. People from other countries had never conducted a search like this before. There was no way of knowing just how dangerous this criminal was.

Ultimately, the boy gave up on fretting over some piece of paper he couldn’t see and headed home.

And because of that, he didn’t know what the man on the poster looked like, and neither did his sister.

Thus, Tris ended up meeting this very, very dangerous man without knowing a thing about who he was.

The man was just as surprised to meet her. While he was scoping out the town he had targeted, he ran into a girl in the woods on the outskirts.

Had she been an ordinary sort, and had they not been in Tayiri, he could have concocted some excuse and escaped. Unfortunately, her eyes widened the instant she saw him.

“Wait, you’re a mage?”

Tris could tell at a glance that the man had magic. He recognized how out of the ordinary it was for two mages to meet in a country that wasn’t supposed to have any at all, but she didn’t.

Snapping out of her shock, she gave him a relieved smile. “Are you back home for a visit, too? I’m so glad it’s a fellow mage who caught me! I thought I was going to worry Queen Tinasha again.”

“Queen Tinasha?” the man repeated, his eyes narrowed. But the girl didn’t notice, lost in her own thoughts.

“Do you mean the Queen of Tuldarr?” he asked.

“Yes. She’s very beautiful and strong! Where are you from?”

“I’m… I live in Farsas now. But wow, I’m jealous. I’d love to serve Tuldarr,” he said.

“Oh really?”

“You’re a court mage? That sounds great. Hey, would you mind putting in a good word for me? I really want to study in Tuldarr. I have a younger brother who has an incurable disease,” the man explained.

If Tris were a more experienced court mage, she would have known to be suspicious of this man’s assertion. She was too young for that, however. A cloud passed over her childlike features. “Your little brother…?”

She recalled her own brother, who was just twelve years old. Tris had fled to Tuldarr when she was five, so they had barely played together. Still, she loved him dearly, and her brother worshipped her every time she came home for a visit. Tris wanted to bring her whole family over to Tuldarr and give them a life free of hardship.

Sympathy welling within her breast, Tris made up her mind and looked at the man. “Okay, sure, I’ll do that for you. Oh, can you make teleportation portals?”

“As well as anyone, yes.”

“Then could you take me to the town outside Tuldarr Castle? I’m not very good at long-distance teleportation.”

“Sure. It’s the least I can do in exchange for an introduction to people in Tuldarr.”

“Thanks! Let’s meet again here tonight, then. Sound good?”

“Yep. I’ll see you then,” Bardalos agreed, an amused smile on his lips as he watched the girl grin and run off with a wave.

Upon discovery, Bardalos had feared he’d screwed up, but that hadn’t been the case at all. Coincidence had dropped an unforeseen opportunity in his lap.

Tris hadn’t seen that wicked smile on the posters around town, so she remained ignorant of the fact that her carelessness had just saved her hometown.

Even court mages couldn’t teleport directly into the city while accompanying outsiders. Therefore, Tris had Bardalos teleport them first to the capital’s immigration checkpoint, which was connected to major foreign cities via transportation arrays and handled inspections of visitors from other countries.

Bardalos produced forged identification papers and stated his purpose of entry as study. He had learned that doing so made it easy to wander between nations. Unlike those countries, however, Tuldarr measured visitors’ magic and had them officially register it.

After Bardalos received permission to enter, Tris showed him around the castle city. Impressed, Bardalos praised Tuldarr. “Just as I’d expect—the Magic Empire has special defenses built into its main city. I suppose that’s also why they limit the amount of magic that temporary visitors can use.”

“They do? I had no idea.”

“You’re a court mage, so you have no limits on your magic. But all other citizens of Tuldarr and temporary residents are divided into grades, and each grade dictates the amount of magic you can use. Of course, no one will be punished right away for going over that limit, but you need to apply in advance. If you fail to do so, you must undergo a royal inspection afterward. In short, the castle will sense any outsider’s unauthorized use of large-scale magic and come to question them. That’s also why there are wards strung up all over the city. They’re quite meticulous.”

The magical defenses in Tuldarr’s capital could be described as the best in all the mainland. While he was certainly impressed, Bardalos muttered, “But there’s no such thing as a perfect defense. You have only to use magic so weak the wards won’t detect it. That’s a very complicated spell and one that takes a long time, but…”

“Um, is something wrong?” asked Tris, looking up with some confusion at the man’s whisperings.

He smiled at her. “How about I treat you to some tea as thanks for bringing me into the country? Of course, I have many things I want to ask you about as well, so it’s not entirely a selfless offer.”

“I’ve only just become a court mage, so I probably can’t answer most of your questions, though,” she pointed out.

“Oh? But I know how important you are. You know the queen, don’t you?”

“Yes, but…”

“Then that’s perfect. I want to know what the queen is like,” he said.

Bardalos was interested in the mage at the head of the Magic Empire because she had noticed his experiments.

No proof should have survived his tests, which had begun in his homeland of Cathlys. And yet someone had detected what he was up to and sent out warnings to every nation.

The warnings had come from Tuldarr, meaning she was behind them—this fiancée to the king of Farsas and a figure who also held sway in Cezar because of the crystal mines.

This preeminent mage of the era, the sovereign Queen of Tuldarr, had exposed him.

According to rumor, she had popped up one day out of the blue ten months before and jumped right to the head of the succession line.

But more important than the mystery of her origins was the fact that she was an exceptional mage and a willing combatant on the battlefield. The idea of an individual with such immense power reminded Bardalos most of a witch, yet the whereabouts of all the witches were unknown. The Queen of Tuldarr, on the other hand, was a different story.

She would be abdicating in two months, which meant that, as far as Tuldarr was concerned, she was only filling in as ruler. How did she intend to live after relinquishing the throne? For Bardalos, that seemed like an opportunity he couldn’t ignore.

He led Tris down an alley off the main road and into a tea shop, where he invited her to sit at a table facing the street. She seemed hesitant, but broke into a smile when a cup of fragrant tea arrived. “Her Majesty is…beautiful. You wouldn’t even think she’s human like the rest of us. Also, she’s very nice. She even had a spirit accompany me on my visit.”

“A royal spirit, huh? Does she always keep them around?” Bardalos inquired.

“I don’t think so. Eir—one of the spirits—said he doesn’t come unless she calls for him. Most of the court mages have never met one of the twelve.”

“She employs them sparingly, then. I suppose she only has them keep the surrounding countries at bay.”

“The queen often goes out to handle tricky situations herself. She lets Prince Legis, our next king, take care of the more day-to-day stuff.”

“Yes, I’ve heard. People say she was at the head of the army when Tuldarr intervened in the war between Farsas and Yarda,” Bardalos commented.

“And when I first met her, she was disguised as a young girl and blended right in. I guess having that much magic means you have just as much freedom, too,” Tris reasoned.

Her innocent words revealed how little she knew, and Bardalos smiled. It had been fun to secretly wipe out those villages without anyone catching on. Adjusting and changing his spells and curses bit by bit had allowed him to test his powers.

However, it was lonely to be a powerful mage, which was why they—who stood apart from the crowd—flocked to Tuldarr. Gathered together, they would stand among equals.

Bardalos believed that to be tantamount to lapsing into obscurity, though. Mages after companionship were only after the sense of reassurance that came from getting absorbed into a sea of identical others.

That wasn’t what a mage should be. It was their duty to push their limits.

Surely, the Queen of Tuldarr felt the same.

How did it feel to know the future?

It seemed convenient, but it was more likely a constant restraint on one’s thoughts and actions.

That was how it was for Tinasha, who had only received a hazy glimpse of what was to come. She began to understand a little of why that fortune-teller lived her life without anything fettering her.

Tinasha waited, progressing her investigation however she could during breaks in her royal schedule.

And though she had anticipated the event, she also found it the tiniest bit unexpected.

That evening, with her duties completed, Tinasha returned to her chambers carrying a stack of papers she hadn’t dealt with yet.

Her abdication had been moved up abruptly, leaving her with only two months. After she had a bath and changed into comfortable loungewear, Tinasha lay on her stomach on the bed and read through the documents.

A frown formed on her face when she arrived at the last one. “A request for an audience?”

It was from Tris, who had returned from Tayiri the day before. Apparently, a mage friend of hers who was in the country temporarily had a younger brother who was very ill. This acquaintance wished to know if the queen would cure his sibling.

After a bit of consideration, Tinasha went out of her bedroom and called for a lady-in-waiting. Tris arrived about a half hour later in response to the summons. The girl bowed low in Tinasha’s bedroom doorway, abashed. “I’m so very sorry to bother you while you’re at rest. Thank you for sending the spirit with me. As I wrote in my request, I know someone with a brother who’s taken a sudden turn for the worse…”

“It’s perfectly all right, although I don’t really specialize in healing. Where do you need me to go?”

“Oh, the mage is waiting outside now. May I invite him in?” Tris inquired.

“Go ahead. Time is of the essence, isn’t it?” the queen said, tossing only a cloak over her loungewear. Returning to her room, she chose to sit in the frontmost of the chairs for receiving visitors.

Tris and the other mage arrived after a moment and sat opposite Tinasha, who regarded them evenly with a placid smile.

“Tris, is this him?” the queen questioned.

A bashful Tris replied, “Y-yes. I’m so sorry for the audacity.”

“May I ask your name?” Tinasha inquired.

“I am Bardalos, Your Majesty.”

Silence fell. Beneath the man’s amicable expression was a calculating gaze trained on Tinasha.

“Tris, you may leave. I’d like to discuss things with him personally,” the queen stated.

“What? But—”

“Tris,” the queen interrupted firmly, and the girl half rose from her chair.

Yet the man placed a hand on his acquaintance’s shoulder. “I’d like her to stay. Best not to go anywhere.”

“Huh?” Tris’s confusion deepened.

Bardalos was oblivious to this, however, for he saw nothing save Tinasha anymore. With absolute poise, he remarked, “You seem very calm. I thought you’d been searching for me.”

“I have been, and I’m certainly surprised. If it doesn’t look like I am, it’s because I’ve known this would happen for a while. Have you heard of unerring fortune-telling?”

“What’s that?” asked the man suspiciously.

Tinasha gave a thin smile. “Tris went to Tayiri, and I gather you met her there while scoping out your next victims.”

“You’ve figured me out, huh? Well, I’m glad I didn’t overestimate you. It would’ve been such a letdown if it hadn’t turned out to be you after all that preparation,” Bardalos said, his tone growing enraptured.

Tinasha listened to him, elbow on the armrest of her chair and her chin sitting in her palm.

When Tris mentioned she’d brought an acquaintance with an ailing brother, Tinasha wondered if that might be the culprit she’d been seeking. She hadn’t sent Tris back immediately only because she’d required time to determine whether the culprit had enchanted the girl in some way. Tris appeared normal at the moment, but a close inspection was still in order.

Folding her arms, Tinasha cocked her head to one side. “And? I’ll hear out why you’ve come, although I’ll be smashing you to a pulp once you’re finished.”

“I’m afraid that won’t be possible. You can’t cast a spell or summon one of your spirits. And do you know why?” Bardalos drew out a hollow triangular pyramid, letting it rest on his open hand. Tiny silver arrowheads dangled from a thin chain inside it.

Tinasha’s lip curled. “That thing’s still around? Isn’t it a relic from before Tuldarr was founded?”

“Indeed. It’s an enchanted implement that can sense magical ability from back when mages were still persecuted and labeled as fiends. I’ve enhanced it so that it will react when any magic besides mine comes within range. Cast so much as a thread of power my way, and the curse tied to this object will trigger inside the girl’s body. It’s already taken root inside her; a painful death, to be sure.”

“What…? Queen Tinasha…?”

“It’s all right, Tris. Stay calm,” Tinasha assured as she raised her hands to show Bardalos she would comply. He’d taken great precaution for this meeting. The man must have slipped the core of some hex into Tris’s food or drink and made sure she’d consumed it. Still, a simple hex shouldn’t have been lethal. Bardalos had to be bluffing, if only partially. Yet if he did have something nasty prepared, Tris would suffer dearly if Tinasha was careless.

Proactive aggression was no longer an option for the queen, and Bardalos grinned broadly with clear satisfaction. “Isn’t it difficult protecting everything all by yourself? No matter how vigilant you are, there will always be gaps. And for all that, you keep bending your ear to whatever request some utter weakling brings to you. You may be revered as a queen, but you’re no different from a slave who serves these fools.”

“You certainly have a lot to say. What does any of that have to do with what you’ve done? You’ve been so careful up until now. Did you really come just to insult me?”

“No. I came to invite you.”

“To what?” Tinasha questioned, frowning. She didn’t miss the way Bardalos’s eyes shone with a sadistic gleam, and she made no attempt to hide her disgust.

He grinned, amused. “I can see you have a lot of opinions about my experiments, but we’re not so different. You’re just as capable as I am of cutting people down like frail blades of grass.”

“Yes, I’ve killed people, but I’m not the same as you.”

“Yes, you are. There’s no whitewashing or justifying murder. You and I both devour others to survive,” Bardalos said, pausing there to regard Tinasha. While her beauty was enough to steal a heart with one look, it offered no warmth now. She exuded only animosity. “So I’ve come to tell you that you’re freer than that.”

“Freer?”

“Yes. I can tell just looking into your eyes. You think all other humans are weak and fragile, don’t you? To you, they’re weeds you can manipulate with a wave of your finger.”

“So what?”

Tinasha didn’t refute the assertion. It was the truth. She was aware that she was an entirely different breed from other humans, though she felt no sense of superiority about it. Because she had been chosen to rule, she would fulfill her duty as a matter of course.

The edges of Bardalos’s lips twitched upward. “Won’t you join me? I want your magic.”

“Excuse me? How about you save the gibberish for the grave,” Tinasha fired back coldly. Tris jumped at that.

“It’s not gibberish. Don’t you have fun when you’re fighting using magic? Doesn’t it give you a rush of pleasure to draw up the perfect spell configuration? That means you love exercising your power. But how much of it do you employ in your daily life? It can’t be more than ten percent at best. With me, you can let loose to your heart’s content. Nothing is taboo. You’ll be able to indulge in whatever comes to mind—all that you could desire. Neither magic nor your intelligence will constrain you.”

For any powerful mage, this was the sweetest of temptations.

Not all mages could flex their strength freely, even if they had the ability to do so. There were limitations. Restraints. The more powerful the mage, the greater they were bound.

Bardalos had thrown off those shackles…and was inviting Tinasha to join him.

“You get it, don’t you? Do you know how bored you’ll be spending the rest of your life cowed as the queen consort of Farsas?”

Tinasha sighed in disgust. In one fluid movement, she crossed her legs. “I refuse. Don’t make me say it again. It’s too annoying.”

“You’re a stubborn one. I guess you don’t care if this girl dies, huh?” Bardalos reached out and closed a hand around Tris’s neck. The frightened girl’s eyes bulged.

Face twisting with displeasure, Tinasha was almost on her feet when a blade of wind sliced toward her, opening a gash from her right cheek to her knees.

A spray of blood went everywhere, and Tris screamed. “Queen Tinasha!”

“Don’t shout,” Bardalos commanded. Then he turned to Tinasha with a smile. “I don’t wish to repeat myself. You understand the loneliness of a powerful mage. I can be the one who gets that about you.”

“You’re a very confident man, aren’t you? Did it not occur to you that I could kill you if we went off together?” Tinasha pointed out.

“You do have a point. That’s why I’ll be taking this one with us for the time being. That’ll help keep you in line.”

Bardalos leaned in to whisper something in Tris’s ear. She shuddered, and the life faded from her eyes.

Tinasha watched it with revulsion. “Is that a hex, too? How tedious.”

“The good thing about hexes is that others can’t parse them easily. People are far weaker than they believe. You only need to work on the mind, and you can warp it without much effort.”

“Is that how you got all those villages to catch on fire?”

“Yes, although it didn’t go that smoothly at first. Thanks to all my experiments, I’ve grown pretty confident in my psychological magic, though I’m no Witch of Silence.”

Wiping the blood from her cheek with her thumb, Tinasha glanced at the clock. Bardalos followed her gaze and noted the time as well.

She was more of a fool than he thought.

He hadn’t thought she would agree right after speaking to him.

But she was more stubborn than anticipated. He’d believed that she, of all people, would see the reason in his invitation.

In any case, she must not have been listening properly. All the power in the world was insignificant without the mind to control it.

But such a colossal amount of magic would still prove useful.

Bardalos looked at the clock again.

It was nearly time. The man had laid everything out very carefully in town before coming to the palace, establishing a complicated spell utilizing a low, undetectable level of magic. He couldn’t take too long with it, so he’d ended up linking it to a small ignition spell set nearby. That would suffice for starting a fire. The spark would trigger a chain reaction with other magic in the vicinity and grow into an inferno Bardalos imagined the flames of which would rise high enough to be visible from the castle windows.

And with that moment of distraction, Bardalos would plant a hex in her mind. Even this all-powerful queen couldn’t break another’s curse instantaneously. Once he was in, victory would be his. The queen was a fool, but she understood the loneliness and constraints of life as a mage. Exploiting that would allow him to manipulate her any way he desired. Ultimately, she was only a little girl with nowhere to go. Surely that explained why she’d accepted a political marriage with Farsas.

Tinasha sat there silently, legs crossed primly, paying no mind to the blood oozing from the gash. She truly had nerves of steel.

Her dark eyes seemed to reflect and absorb everything. Before he knew it, Bardalos was holding his breath.

But the fire was about to start. He couldn’t miss this moment.

“Were you born with that magic? I’d love to see how much of it has seeped into your guts,” he said.

“Why are mages like you always so eager to rip my belly open?”

“I’m just curious. Your entire body is like a very, very valuable catalyst,” Bardalos explained, lifting a hand.

There was a soft noise, and acute pain lanced through Tinasha, causing her to double over. Glancing down, she saw a slender stake crafted of magic piercing her stomach. The black spike faded away to reveal fresh blood gushing from the finger-width wound it had left.

Tinasha gave a shaky breath and sat back up, eyeing with a cold gaze the blood streaming into her lap.

“Tell me you’ll be mine. I can understand you,” Bardalos commanded.

“I have never once wished for someone to understand me,” Tinasha answered, smiling and shrugging.

Her grin made Bardalos uncomfortable, and he glanced at the clock. “What’s going on?” he muttered.

No fire had started.

It was past time, but that couldn’t be. He had checked the spell repeatedly while casting it.

Although he attempted to conceal his agitation, Bardalos heard the queen giggle—an exceedingly unpleasant sound to him. Flicking his gaze to her, he saw blood running from her stomach, pooling on the floor of the dark room.

“What did you do?” he demanded.

“I haven’t done anything.”

“Then why are you laughing?”

“Sorry… I was just considering the best way to kill you, and it slipped out.”

“You think I’m going to die?” Bardalos snarled, his expression tight as he threw out a hand to claw at her throat.

He would cast a spell to forcibly show her who was in charge in this situation.

Before he could, however, a man called from behind:

“What do you think you’re doing?”

The impact came as he spoke. Bardalos couldn’t get a word out; his world had suddenly gone dark. He couldn’t see a thing. By the time he finally realized his chair had been yanked from under him and he was pressed with his face to the floor, a sharp pain was cut through his right leg.

Bardalos’s mind went blank and he screamed. “AAAAAHHHH!”

“I asked you what you think you’re doing. You’d better answer quick, if you want to keep your leg,” instructed a masculine voice seething with fury.

Bearing the pain as best he could, Bardalos attempted to cast, but his magic refused to take shape. It wasn’t that he couldn’t concentrate—the power was dispersing as he called it.

With his heel firmly planted on Bardalos and the royal sword stabbed into the mage’s leg, Oscar looked at his fiancée, tutted irritably, and snapped, “What are you waiting for? Heal your wounds.”

It was over too soon. Tinasha made a face as she approached Tris, who was unconscious. Pressing her forehead against the girl’s, she focused on the magic inside her. “Hmm, I think it’s a type of curse that makes you feel phantom pain. I can break it once I apply a pain-killing spell.”

Tinasha thought up a spell, one that would be the most optimal in the shortest amount of time. She placed a hand on Tris’s chest.

“Recede.”

The incantation was but one word. Tris shuddered, but that was the only change. She sank into her chair. Tinasha sighed now that the treatment had been successfully administered. With a hand on her stomach, she intoned another spell and mended the little hole. All the while, Bardalos’s screams echoed around the room.

His foot still pinning the other man, Oscar fixed him with a glare and barked, “Whose woman do you think she is? You’re going to pay for that.”

Bardalos wailed, having lost all desire to fight. He thrashed about on the floor in an attempt to escape Akashia, which was stuck into the floor after slicing his ear off.

Pressing his hands to his own ears to muffle the mage’s shrieks, Oscar said to Tinasha, “What a racket. Who the hell is this guy?”

“He’s the one who set all those villages on fire. He came here of his own accord,” she answered.

“Really? What a complete idiot. And why did you let him do as he pleased to you?” Oscar demanded.

“He limited my magic. But also I knew you’d come if I waited,” Tinasha replied. That was why she had picked a chair close to the front of the room. She knew that her guests would sit opposite her, putting their backs to Oscar when he arrived via the array in her bedroom.

The explanation did little to ease Oscar’s anger, however, and his face twisted with irritation. “You get yourself into way too many scrapes.”

Someone pounded at the door. Guards had heard Bardalos’s screams and had come running.

On this no longer quiet night, the series of incidents that had claimed the lives of more than two thousand over the past eight years finally came to a surreptitious end.

Bardalos was given a quick painkiller so he could talk, but he knew that did not mean he would be spared. While he was bound on the floor, a pair of men carried on a terrifying conversation about what to do with him.

“Give him to me. He destroyed a village in Farsas, so I’ll execute him there,” Oscar demanded.

“But he was captured here in Tuldarr, and he’s harmed our queen… Let’s each take half of his body.”

“Lengthwise, then. Do you want the left or the right?”

“Oh, but while we’re on the subject, we should consider the other countries he’s wronged, too. I think there were a total of nine.”

“No, two attacks were in Tayiri, so that makes eight.”

“So then nine equal pieces including Tuldarr’s two shares,” stated Legis.

As the king of Farsas contemplated how best to carve up Bardalos with the sword in his grip, Tinasha stopped him. “Don’t do it in my rooms. The smell will be impossible to air out.”

“But there’s already blood everywhere,” Oscar pointed out.

“Yes, removing the stains will be awful. We’ll probably have to replace the carpets.” Tinasha stood. She’d healed all her wounds, changed into fresh clothes, and restored Tris. Tinasha had expected that breaking the curse would require much more time than it had. However, the caster was her prisoner now. Oscar’s rough interrogation method—torture—had pushed Bardalos to reveal what she needed to visualize the basic spell he’d cast, allowing her to neutralize it effectively.

The queen approached Bardalos and knelt next to his head. “I have one last question for you. Do you know a man named Valt?”

A shadow crossed Oscar’s and Legis’s faces when they heard that name. Bardalos only swallowed a mouthful of bloody saliva and shook his head. After a pause, he gritted his teeth and said, “I don’t.”

“Really? Well, I suppose that’s for the best. I puzzled over the most effective way to capture you for a while, yet you delivered yourself to me. Thank you,” Tinasha said with a bright smile.

Bardalos’s lip curled in a sneer. “Someday you’ll be lonely and regret rejecting me.”

“No, I won’t,” she replied decisively, placing a hand on his forehead. All the darkness of the abyss in her eyes pierced his own. “I’ve never once feared loneliness.”

It was the gloom she always dragged behind her. She had never thought it frightening or tried to avoid it.

As far as Tinasha could remember, she had always been lonely. The only one to fill that void was the man she met when she was thirteen. Regardless of what the future held, and no matter what regrets awaited, she would never be dissatisfied for choosing him. She had reached her goal.

“And there’s one more thing. I would never pick a weak man,” she added with a sweet, beatific smile.

Tinasha was a person capable of killing, the type who found battle fun.

And she would use her power to claim another life now. There was no doubt in her mind. Bardalos’s face grew taut and pale as the queen’s magic coalesced and took shape.

Lacking all pity, Tinasha peered down at Bardalos and whispered, “Good-bye.”

His scream tore through the night.

With her devastating power holding him down as he writhed in agony, Tinasha watched until the end, never looking away.

“What you just did—is his brain broken now?”

“If it was, we’d have no way of interrogating him for the record. I simply ruptured his magic into pieces. I’ve planted a spell in his body that will shred his power again if it heals. It’s extremely painful, so it will be difficult for him to retain sanity,” Tinasha explained with a self-deprecating smile, answering Oscar’s question as if discussing the weather.

The two of them had moved from Tuldarr to Oscar’s bedroom in Farsas Castle. Following Tinasha’s destruction of Bardalos’s magic, she’d made arrangements to have everything cleaned up and taken care of. Then Legis had sent Tinasha and Oscar to Farsas, so the queen’s rooms could be scrubbed as an added safety measure.

After an investigation, and once all of Bardalos’s crimes came to light, the other affected countries would be notified. If there were no objections, Tuldarr would handle the execution.

As Tinasha lay on her stomach on the bed, Oscar took her comb and started brushing her hair. She craned her neck to give him an odd look. “What are you doing?”

“It’s fun to watch it get shinier. It’s like grooming a cat’s coat,” he replied.

Tinasha boggled at him for a moment before covering her mouth as she yawned. So much had happened, and it was three hours past her usual bedtime. She harbored no delusions that she’d be able to wake up tomorrow morning.

Oscar, however, was a king who never slept in. Coldly, he warned her, “You’re way too careless. Don’t just let people into your bedroom.”

“I told you that I didn’t seriously suspect him at first. And since my bedroom is where you teleport to, it’s actually the safest of my chambers, in a sense,” Tinasha countered.

“Unbelievable…”

She knew what time Oscar always dropped by, so it hadn’t seemed like there was any cause for worry. It had only been a matter of waiting until he arrived.

Turning her face down, Tinasha let herself begin to drift off. A light pinch on the cheek from Oscar tugged her back into the waking world, however.

“Ow…”

“You need to fight back as soon as you face off against someone! Don’t let them do whatever they want to you!”

“Hmph. It’s not like it was a very big injury.”

“But it hurts me to see you hurt,” Oscar argued, setting the comb aside and lying on his back. His blue eyes glanced over at Tinasha.

She closed her eyes and sighed. After some deliberation, she decided to come out and say it. “Oscar.”

“What?”

“He told me that I’m the type of person who enjoys fighting—that I devour others to survive.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it?”

“Being strong makes killing easy, but that power doesn’t remove a person’s doubt to go through with it. Knowing you, I’m sure it makes you more hesitant, right? Besides, you’re so much stronger than other people that I bet it’s rare you feel exhilarated during a battle.”

“Oscar…”

How did he understand all that about her so well?

Executing a criminal or dispatching an enemy was no cause to doubt wielding her power.

And although Tinasha believed that, she did occasionally think about how unfair it was for her to carry so much strength. That said, if she was up against someone just as mighty—or if she had a hard time killing them—it was harder to justify reluctance.

There was nothing she could do when ridiculed or despised for her incredible power. Regardless, it needed to be wholly controlled, for magic had no personality. There was only the will of the user.

Thus, while she may have harbored doubts or flinched when the time came, she would stand firm. Whether she chose not to act or got spooked by the casualties that would result, she would never cower. She had decided to be this way a long time ago.

“If you’re having doubts about it, go ahead and have them. That isn’t a bad thing in and of itself. There are times when someone has to be the one to kill. And you’re capable of living with that, aren’t you?”

Tinasha couldn’t hold back a snort at that. She had almost never seen Oscar paralyzed by uncertainty. She knew that was one of his strengths—and it allowed him to be kind.

“I…don’t think you’re telling me to just turn the negative into a positive or something optimistic like that. You only ever say things as they are… I love that about you,” she confessed.

Despair would never become hope.

Instead, he helped her move past despair, without changing it. He supported her in that and gave her strength, which made it possible for her to share those things with him.

Aware that she had been slowly changing since meeting him, Tinasha gave a little smile. She used both hands to push her sleepy self upright and gazed into his eyes, which were the color of a young night sky. He looked back at her, his gaze compelling her to follow him unconditionally.

She didn’t need him to understand her. The sense of peace and feelings of passion he gave her were only parts of the full picture.

The only thing she wanted was him.

Tinasha closed her eyes and gave him a kiss conveying all the heat she was feeling. She pulled back to gaze down at his beautiful face. “I feel…desire.”

“I swear I’m going to teach you to stop toying with a man’s heart one of these days,” Oscar grumbled, letting out the most frustrated groan, and Tinasha burst out laughing. She curled up next to him and closed her eyes.

The girl slipped through the moonlight undetected. It took her longer than anticipated in the castle city, but three hours later, she finally finished making the rounds of all the crucial points and teleported back to the mansion.

Valt was waiting for her in her room when she returned. He set about making tea. “How did it go?”

“There was an odd spell set up in town, so I removed it. It seemed to be a timer that would set all the buildings in the vicinity on fire when triggered. That sort of thing would only inconvenience us.”

“Oh? Sounds like the work of a fairly talented mage, if it escaped Tuldarr’s notice.”

“It’s no laughing matter. Whoever it was went right ahead and linked their spell to mine,” Miralys huffed.

Valt gave her a smile. “I’m glad you undid it in time. We certainly don’t want them noticing us now. Thank you, Miralys.”

His praise caused her to turn bright red, but she ignored the color in her cheeks and pasted on a prim face as she went on. “Aside from that, my check confirmed that everything is nearly complete. It’s grown enough.”

“Good. Thank you for your hard work,” Valt replied, grinning with pleasure.

However, a shadow passed over his accomplice’s face. “Is it really going to be okay? Will it work?”

“It’s a bit late to be asking questions like that. Of course it’s going to be fine. We’ve put in so much time and planned very carefully,” he assured her.

“And…you’re not going to disappear, right?” Miralys pressed, voicing the one fear she’d carried the entire time.

Valt didn’t answer. Still smiling, he offered Miralys a steaming cup of tea, but she didn’t accept it; she kept staring straight at him. “Answer me, Valt. I can’t act until you do.”

“If you…hadn’t met me, you could have been so much happier,” he remarked.

Miralys scowled. “What’s that supposed to mean? Are you making fun of me?”

“I’m not. I really think that, Miralys. I know it. But no matter how many times I go through this, I end up meeting you. I’ll want to find you. It’s very annoying.”

“This will be the last time. Right?”

“Yes… It will,” Valt said, his grin shadowed by the moonlight streaming in from outside.

Despite feeling no more reassured than before, Miralys accepted the tea at last. She took a sip and found it a little bitter.

Valt closed his eyes. “Our preparations are made. But there’s one last thing I have to check first.”

Teacup in hand, he turned to face away from Miralys and gazed up at the azure moon. It glowed exquisitely with eternal loneliness.

“I need her to surpass the outsiders. If she can’t, then no one will. That’s why we’re having her build up all these experiences.”

“Does she really possess that much power? Maybe she’ll lose,” Miralys said, a little sourly.

Grinning, Valt proclaimed happily, “I know her very well. Much better than that king of Farsas does. Despite the overwriting of the past, she’s still the strongest witch—and the secret weapon this world has been waiting for.”

Fate did not remain stagnant. It turned continually, swinging violently on its axis. This man was doing all he could to get it to budge just a little one way as he stood amid a battle that he’d already fought time and time again.