The Transparency of Night

One sunny afternoon, a young woman floated above the spires of Farsas

Castle.

Technically, she wasn't that young at all. This was Tinasha, the Witch of

the Azure Moon. She was the one who represented the Age of Witches, an

era that had stood unchallenged for three centuries. Tinasha's title was

rumored to come from the fact that, long before she lived in the tower, she

would only appear on nights when the moon could be seen unobstructed,

though this was never confirmed.

Her hair had gotten mussed by the wind, and as she patted it down, she

received a report from her familiar. Tinasha had been receiving these

updates since long before she'd ever lived in the tower, and not one of them

had ever been good. She'd received so many over the years that their details

had begun to blur together.

Narrowing her eyes, she gazed out at the horizon. She felt like she could

see her azure tower—small and distant on the horizon.

"Until next time," she said.

She stroked the neck of her gray cat familiar, and it purred happily.

Tinasha wondered if everything she'd been doing this whole time had been

for naught. It seemed almost certain. A deeply self-deprecating smile

appeared on the witch's face. Still, she released her familiar back into the

world. The creature's job was to look for a particular person who was

probably already dead.

Court mages spent most of their working hours attending lectures and

working on their personal research, but in addition, they also had to take on

and fulfill small tasks that came from all over.

These tasks were posted in order of difficulty on a wall in the hallway

outside the lecture hall every morning. Normally, only mages could see

them, but right now the crown prince was examining the postings with

interest. He motioned to his protector at his side.

"Tinasha, this one looks fun. You should take it."

"Why are you the one deciding…?" Tinasha pulled a face. This was the

most powerful witch on the mainland. With her level of magic, she could

complete any of these requests easily. Oscar knew that as he picked up one

and began reading it.

"Looks like it has to do with setting up transportation arrays in the city.

Says it'll take about a month. That means you can go exploring."

"It would be for work, not pleasure," Tinasha added, plucking the paper

from Oscar's hand. She read the details with rapt concentration, but for all

intents and purposes, she appeared to be just a beautiful girl. Passing mages

caught sight of her and stared in fascination. When Oscar noticed, he

smirked to himself about it.

It had been five years ago that he had first decided he would visit her

tower.

At that time, Oscar had devoted himself to his studies and sword

practice, trying to cope with the curse placed on him. When he heard the

story of the tower and the promise that its master would grant a wish to

someone who climbed to the top, it had sounded almost too good to be true.

Ever since that day, meeting the witch of that tower had been Oscar's

foremost goal…but the witch he'd met was nothing like what he'd

imagined. She looked like a young woman instead of some horrid old

crone. She also wasn't crafty or unreasonable, as Oscar might otherwise

have assumed. She was mouthy, but that was part of how she showed that

she cared deep down. Oscar placed his hand on the head of this much

smaller girl.

"It sounds interesting, so I'll go with you. I think you'll get abducted if I

let you do it alone anyway."

"I am not a kitten; I'll be fine! Don't take advantage of the confusion to

slip out of the castle!" scolded Tinasha.

"You say that, but…if something happens, it'll be too late."

Tinasha's breathtaking beauty and slender frame were enough to invite

unwanted attention. If Oscar took his eyes off her and she landed in danger,

as the one who'd signed the contract, he would be responsible.

Keenly aware of Oscar's obvious worry, Tinasha rolled her eyes in

exasperation. "I'd like to have a serious chat with you about just how you

see me."

"How I see you? There's nothing wrong with my eyes."

She was kind, smart, and not particularly selfish. That already qualified

her to be queen. In addition, being with her was fun. Perhaps because she

wasn't a citizen of Farsas, she was unreserved in her interactions with him.

It was refreshing.

…Which was why all that was left was to wait for her to change her

mind about marrying him. The prince made no secret of those intentions,

and Tinasha sighed.

"Well, since you've gone to the trouble of picking it out, I'll take on this

job. But you are to stay in the castle. I can handle it alone."

"Ah, hey!"

Oscar shot out a hand reflexively, but Tinasha disappeared without any

incantation. Perhaps she'd teleported? Some mages who had seen it happen

from a distance were stunned in amazement at what Tinasha had done.

Left alone, Oscar scratched his temples before turning back. There was

no time to ponder how Tinasha had made her escape; he had mountains of

work to attend to. Their little exchange just now had been a nice change of

pace, however. Oscar looked out the window, up at the cloudless sky.

Then, he set off with a spring in his step, leaving some astonished mages

staring after him.

Lately, it seemed Farsas was getting hotter with each passing day.

Amid the boiling-hot air of the training grounds, Als was sparring with

the young soldiers. Whether because it was only a week after the festival

and everyone was still spent or a consequence of the heat, the soldiers'

moves were sluggish. Als was debating whether to let them take a break or

give them a lecture when he spotted someone approaching from the castle.

Realizing who it was, he was overcome with surprise.

"Miss Tinasha, are you here on an errand for His Highness?"

"Why would I be?" She had her long hair pinned up and was dressed in

lightweight clothing, easy to move in. Her leggings came to the knee,

revealing the bare skin of her calves, which were so strikingly pale, Als

worried the girl might suffer sunburn.

"I'm done with my work, and I'm feeling a little pent-up frustration

from my daily routine. I'd like to get in some exercise, so if I won't be in

the way, I'd like you to spar with me."

"Is His Highness messing with me again?" Als asked, clearly surprised.

"I wonder where he gets that from." She shook her head vehemently,

clearly irritated.

…It was already well-known in certain circles that Tinasha was Oscar's

favorite and that he involved her in just about everything.

Some thought it cute; others thought it was pathetic. Kumu and the other

mages fretted over how Tinasha might lose her power to Oscar, after they'd

finally lucked out and gotten a spirit sorcerer in the castle and everything.

Als grimaced, aware that his soldiers were distracted by the sight of her

slim figure standing among them. "I was just about to call a break, so I'll

spar with you."

"Thank you."

Giving his people leave, half the soldiers in Als's command returned to

their main stations while the other half stuck around for the show. Tinasha

borrowed a practice sword from one of them. Feeling relieved that

Meredina was off duty, Als grabbed one, too.

"Have you used a sword before?"

"A little, in the past."

"I'm surprised." Als lifted his sword and began slowly swinging down

at her, warming up as he did.

Tinasha met his strikes once, then twice. Her intuitive, fluid movements

were those of a fairly talented combatant. Gradually, Als sped up his

attacks, and Tinasha met them all with ease.

…She might be better than Meredina. Als felt a chill run up his spine

imagining the unhappy face of his childhood friend.

Perhaps because of her combative personality, Meredina always tried

trading blows with him head-on, but Tinasha never took a strike full-on.

Instead, she'd divert the direction a little and let it graze off. She must have

known very well that her small stature gave her a disadvantaged fighting

style. As she did this, Tinasha was waiting for the moment when her

opponent's stance weakened.

If this were a real fight, she would've seized her opportunity and

instantly rushed to run her opponent through. Of course, had it been a real

fight, Als wouldn't have given her the chance in the first place.

Still, Tinasha was undoubtedly a much trickier sparring partner than the

other soldiers. Als whipped his sword faster through the air as that thought

struck him. The soldiers who'd stuck around just for fun were now standing

aghast at the young mage's skills.

"…Maybe I'll test her a little."

Als poured even more strength into his grip—so much that if he took a

blow, his hand would go numb, and he'd drop his weapon. Powerfully, he

brought his sword down at Tinasha.

The slender girl didn't dodge the attack, however. Stepping forward to

meet him, she sank into a lunging posture and slanted the angle of her

blade. When Als's powerful strike came rocketing down, it glanced off the

top edge of her weapon as she parried it to the left.

Immediately thereafter, she took another step in and drove her left elbow

into Als's wrist.

What Tinasha's counterattack lacked in power it more than made up for

in speed. It was perfectly aimed for his joint, and he almost dropped his

sword. As he rushed to get a better grip on his hilt, Tinasha pointed the tip

of her blade to his neck.

"…!" With a sword tip in his face, Als immediately used his left hand to

push it aside by its flat edge.

With the pass Tinasha had poured her body weight into evaded, she

sprang to the right, her upper body still crouched. She dodged Als's next

horizontal swipe.

Tinasha jumped another step back, creating some distance between the

two of them, before turning back to grin at him.

"That was close." With her devilish smile, Tinasha appeared not unlike a

black cat prowling the night. Als just shook his head in shock.

"Those aren't the moves of someone who's only done a little

swordplay… You're good enough to quit the mages and join up with us

over here."

Such nimble movements indicated that Tinasha had done far more than

just taken a few lessons. She likely possessed real battle experience. The

way she could move spoke to a great deal of it.

"Thank you." Tinasha gave him a big smile. Als could only shake his

head, crestfallen, sensing something unfathomably deep in that grin.

The mage's voice echoed throughout the lecture hall.

"Four hundred years ago, with the destruction of the Magic Empire of

Tuldarr in a single night, a portion of magical techniques were lost to us.

But nowadays, the majority of verified magic is shared among us. We can,

therefore, say that the starting point now is ensuring that each spell caster

has a strong grasp of their individual knowledge. The first step to using

magic is becoming aware of yourself as a glass jar filled with liquid,

interacting with the world as an individual while utilizing that magical

composition to affect natural phenomena."

Around twenty people were gathered for the morning lecture, an

introduction to magic.

Sitting in the very back row, Tinasha was listening raptly when a door in

the back opened and Kav entered the room. Noticing Tinasha, he waved and

sat down next to her.

"Interesting lecture?"

"Very much so," Tinasha answered, twirling a pen between her fingers.

She had no memory of learning magic from someone prior to becoming a

witch. Listening to theories like this was quite novel for her.

However, noisy footsteps came from above, interrupting the lesson. The

lecture hall was located in the atrium, designed in such a way that those on

the walkways of the floors above could look down into the room. Someone

upstairs was creating a rather disruptive uproar while sauntering about.

Tinasha watched, wondering if it was some kind of emergency, and a

garish, greasy man came into view. He walked to the back and began

unloading a steady stream of complaints on the magistrates. The noise put

the lecture on pause for the moment, and everyone craned their necks to

look up and observe. The greasy man paid no mind to his spectators,

walking out without glancing once at the lecture hall below.

"What was that about?" Tinasha whispered, and right as Kav was about

to answer her, the lecture resumed. They fell silent to listen.

It wasn't until three days later that Tinasha finally heard the answer to

her question.

Crown Prince Oscar's quarters occupied a block deep within the castle. No

sooner had he entered than there was a rapping at the window.

Dumbfounded, Oscar opened it to find Tinasha standing on the balcony. He

invited her in.

"You can use the door, you know."

"I don't want to. If someone sees me, the rumors will just get worse…"

"I think it's a little late for that."

Tinasha entered, looking sour. "You're back pretty late today," she

commented.

"Someone's arrived at the castle who tends to make a lot of work for

me… Oh, I have what you asked for, by the way."

Oscar went to his table and presented Tinasha with a stack of papers that

had been resting on it. Contained within the documents was information on

the research of the recently murdered Temys, which Tinasha had been

wanting to study. The tall sheaf of papers detailed everything from his

published studies to his top-secret, unannounced theories.

"Thank you," Tinasha said, accepting the reports and starting to leaf

through them.

"Seems we still haven't been able to find the old mage who was sighted

with Fiura. We're still looking for him, but…" Oscar trailed off.

"We can safely suppose that he broke into the castle and gave her the

poison, but that's an awful lot of effort for merely interfering in a personal

entanglement," Tinasha reasoned. That was why she'd grown curious about

using Temys's research to unravel the mystery. As Tinasha perused the

documents, she continued: "The truth is, there's someone else who seems

slightly suspicious to me. It could just be my imagination, though."

"Someone suspicious? Who is it?" Oscar pressed.

"During the festival, I received a warning from a mage passing by. He

said, 'Best not to leave. You'll get drawn into something annoying.'"

As she explained about the man who'd passed by near the moat, Oscar

frowned. "Another weird story. But it doesn't seem like the same guy

spotted inside the castle."

"No, he wasn't," Tinasha agreed.

The stranger she'd seen by the moat had been a young man about

Oscar's age. He had light-brown hair and had been with a girl with silver

hair. The mage seen with Fiura was older and had a hood pulled down over

his eyes.

Regardless, Tinasha remained wary of the mystery man she'd met

during the festival because his magic had been concealed. His true magical

ability was nowhere near hers, of course, but still most likely surpassed that

of an average court mage. That was why the thought of him bothered

Tinasha so, even though she'd pushed the memory to a corner of her mind

the past few days.

"I have my familiar looking for him. When he turns up, we can get some

answers out of him."

"If he has nothing to do with any of this, he's in for a nasty shock. Being

interrogated by a witch from out of the blue is likely pretty startling," Oscar

quipped.

"I don't care. I can just erase his memories," Tinasha retorted. There was

no such thing as being too careful. She didn't consider herself weak, but

she'd resumed sword practice to be able to handle any unforeseen

circumstances. If Oscar died now, that would be the end of the Farsas royal

line. Tinasha wasn't so indifferent on the matter as to be able to just watch

that happen.

The witch wore a serious expression, and Oscar grinned at her before

pouring a cup of water from a pitcher. He brought it to his lips but pulled it

back quickly. He stared at the liquid suspiciously.

"What is this? It's oddly sweet."

"What?" Tinasha put down her papers and came over to look at the cup

of water with him.

"Is it sugar water?" Oscar asked.

"It shouldn't be…," she replied. Tinasha had a bad feeling. She looked

up at Oscar, her face twitching. "Did you drink it?" she asked warily.

"Just a sip. But I don't feel any…" Oscar broke off there, staring at

Tinasha without blinking. His steady gaze made her uncomfortable, and she

took a step back.

"Wh-what? What is it?"

"Nothing…"

Oscar thought for a second, a hand over his mouth, before pointing to

the documents on the table.

"You can take those with you. Leave me for today," he said, turning

away. The prince was acting unmistakably strange, and Tinasha couldn't

help but approach him, pressing for answers.

"Why? You're being a little weird. Look at me and tell me the reason."

The witch floated up a few centimeters, grabbing Oscar's shoulder and

shaking it. "What did you drink? Throw it up."

"It's fine. Just leave."

"Your neck is going to get a crick."

Oscar was still turned to the side, and Tinasha took his face in her hands,

forcing him to look at her.

There was a beat of silence, and Tinasha had the briefest notion that her

face was reflected in the prince's blue eyes. Unconsciously, she leaned in

closer to see if it really was.

As she moved in, Oscar wrapped his arms around her. His large hands

threaded through her hair. He drew her close and pressed a kiss on her lips.

She was speechless. Calmly, she pulled back and blinked slowly.

"What was that? Some kind of joke?" Tinasha asked.

When Oscar let her go, Tinasha floated softly to the ground. He gave her

a light pat on the head, his face twisted in a frown.

"I'm feeling kind of riled up. I think that was some sort of aphrodisiac."

"…"

A heavy silence settled over the two. Tinasha was half-frozen in shock

for a bit before she snapped out of it and yelped, "I—I didn't do it!"

"That'd be quite an unpredictable turn of events if you had—and pretty

damn funny, too. Too bad." Oscar sounded almost disappointed.

"It's not funny at all!" Tinasha snapped.

Oscar sat on the bed, and as Tinasha looked the prince over, her mind

worked fast to come up with a countermeasure. If it was just an aphrodisiac,

then the best course of action was for her to leave as he'd asked. However,

there was the risk that it was a potion with some sort side effect, too. In

which case, it could be fatal later if the dosing wasn't treated immediately.

For the time being, all Tinasha could do was analyze the magical

composition of the liquid. She decided to do just that, but the witch

suddenly found that her arms were caught, and she was pulled down onto

the bed.

"Hey, cool it."

"This is why I told you to leave," Oscar said. His face was scrunched up

as if in pain, and his voice was absent its usual teasing tone.

Tinasha broke into a cold sweat seeing him like this for the first time.

She twisted her body to roll out from under the man pressing her down, but

the difference in their statures was too great. She couldn't budge.

In times like this, the best thing to do is blast off into the air and knock

him out cold, thought Tinasha just as Oscar, with a very intent look in his

eyes, came in close and kissed her right earlobe.

"I just realized something…"

"What is it?" she asked, looking back coldly at him.

"I don't need to hold back here. There's nothing in my way."

"There is! I am! I'm going up to the ceiling!" she cried.

"Do what you want." His voice was low and rough, and his handsome

face was coming closer and closer.

Tinasha sighed a little, closed her eyes, and pressed her forehead against

Oscar's. She poured magic into the point where their skin touched. The

magical composition of whatever was running through his veins took the

form of a sigil floating in the air.

Three rings. Very strong, but a simple construction nonetheless.

The moment she concentrated hard, putting power into those rings, they

shattered without leaving so much as a trace.

Once she climbed out from under Oscar, Tinasha picked up the water

pitcher that had started all this.

"This is why I told you that I couldn't protect you from poisons! You

need to be more careful. I'm going to taste it now."

"If you get affected by the aphrodisiac, I won't stop you," Oscar teased,

seemingly back to normal.

"Potions have no effect on me!" Tinasha flushed in anger. Then, for as

much as she'd yelled, the witch grew very calm, and her head tilted

doubtfully. "In any case, we have no idea why you were dosed with this…

It really is just an aphrodisiac."

"I have an idea who it could be. No proof, though," Oscar said, looking

uncharacteristically disgusted. He crossed his legs on the bed, and Tinasha

sat down next to him with the water pitcher in hand.

"Then we'll have to get some proof," Tinasha offered, humming a short

incantation to infuse the remaining amount of aphrodisiac with a magical

form. The liquid reacted almost immediately and floated up into the air as

wispy filaments that formed a three-dimensional shape.

"Wait a moment. This will deduce who created this stuff." Tinasha

added a further incantation to the three-ringed form.

"You can do that?" Oscar asked, rather surprised.

"Whoever made this probably thought no one would be able to reverse it

and discover their identity. This spell died out a long time ago, and I'm

probably the only one who knows how to cast it now."

Each time Tinasha hummed a little more of the incantation, the shape

gradually changed form and spun in the air.

"By the way, if the person who cast this is someone I don't know, I

won't be able to tell who it is. Look… Oh, wait…"

Tinasha got her answer, and her face clouded over even more as she

stared at the rotating shape.

Even with an unexpected annoyance, Oscar could not shirk his many

responsibilities. The best he could manage was getting rid of the people

who were piling on more irksome matters. As he processed documents in

his study, Tinasha handed him a cup of tea she'd made, and he thanked her

for it. There came a quick knock at the door. The person Oscar had asked

for had arrived.

"I've come at your summons." Kav, a potions expert, stepped timidly

into the room.

Oscar held out a glass of water to him. "You know what this is, don't

you? Don't drink it."

Kav stepped forward and took the glass. He stared at it in puzzlement as

he sniffed it. Tinasha watched with amusement as the blood drained from

his face.

"Why do you have this, Your Highness?"

"Someone put it in my water pitcher."

"Wh-what?!" Kav yelped in astonishment, looking back and forth from

Oscar to Tinasha. Oscar placidly withstood the man's gaze, while Tinasha

frowned and nodded. Kav caught her meaning and turned to her, bowing

extremely low.

"I must apologize deeply! I never thought it would be used for this

purpose! Miss Tinasha, how can I ever atone for this?"

"Ah, no, you don't have to apologize that much."

"But this is the strongest one! Even just a sip will destroy all reason!"

Kav insisted, looking stricken, and Tinasha whirled around to look at Oscar

with wide eyes. She gave him a slow clap.

"Wow! Such self-control!"

"Go on, keep praising me." Oscar found the action rather adorable and

endearing, but he turned away to face Kav.

"So who asked you to make this?" he insisted.

Kav hesitated a little before he admitted through gritted teeth, "Duke

Pasval. Your uncle…"

It was exactly the answer Oscar had been expecting. He felt a headache

coming on.

Kevin, the reigning king of Farsas, was the oldest of three siblings.

He had a younger brother and a younger sister, but they had both already

passed away. His younger brother, the former prime minister, died from

illness only a month ago. His sister, youngest of the three, had always

possessed a weak constitution. She'd died only a few years after getting

married. She was devastated by the loss of her children in the kidnapping

incidents that had rocked Farsas, and her health had rapidly declined.

Her husband, Duke Pasval, was well-known as a materialist. He'd taken

his late wife's inheritance and built a house in Colas, outside the castle city.

There, he was rumored to be living an openly self-indulgent, debauched

lifestyle, but for some reason, he'd returned to live in a mansion in the city

ever since the festival. Not only that, he came to court, despite not being

summoned, to whisper complaints in the ears of those on the royal council.

He made sarcastic, cutting remarks to Oscar and often created more work

for him.

While everyone gossiped about Pasval behind his back, they nonetheless

treated him courteously in person. He was still related to the royal family

after all, if only through marriage.

That night, Pasval returned to his mansion. With a bottle of liquor in

hand, he listened to a report from one of his servants.

"Do you know if the drug has worked yet?" he asked.

"It was perfectly placed, but we don't yet know that much…," the

underling replied.

"Well, whatever. Just gotta sit tight and wait for the results."

Dismissing his subordinate, Pasval poured some of the amber liquid into

a silver cup. Already a little drunk, he laughed in amusement.

"That damn brat and his spirit sorcerer. Right about now, he should be

reeling from digging his own grave, and if what I heard is right, the

woman'll die. So much the better."

"…What, exactly, have you heard?"

A voice spoke from behind him, and Pasval turned around, startled.

Outside the room's large window, a clear azure moon hung in the darkness.

A young woman stood at the foot of the window, illuminated by that

cold moonlight. Her skin was so white and her looks so striking that she

resembled a doll, but she wore a cruel smile.

"I'd like to know," she added.

Her voice was as cutting as a cold blade. An instinctive fear lanced

through Pasval, pitching his voice high and shrill.

"Wh-who are you?! How did you get in?"

The pale girl lifted off the ground lightly, floating over until she was

standing directly in front of the duke. Her jet-black locks swayed as if

underwater. Her dark eyes seemed to pierce him through.

"Allow me to introduce myself. I am the witch Tinasha. I am called the

Witch of the Azure Moon… Yes, your nephew often scolds me for coming

in through the window. I do apologize."

"W-witch…?"

"I'm sorry I'm not an ordinary spirit sorcerer."

At those words, Pasval finally understood that this was the spirit

sorcerer he'd laid a trap for and that she wasn't just some mage. His knees

gave out, and he collapsed weakly into a chair.

"Why is a witch…?"

"What have you heard?" The question was asked with sweetness tinging

its tone, but Tinasha's appearance gave no indication of her true, terrifying

strength. Once displeased, she could reduce someone to ash in an instant.

Pasval gasped in reply and said, "He's got a witch's curse on him… All

women involved with him will die, apparently…"

"If it was all women involved with me, there would've been a lot more

deaths by now."

A new voice, that of an exhausted-sounding young man, entered the

room. Pasval turned to find his nephew-by-marriage standing by the wall.

"H-hey, when did you get in?!"

Arms crossed and leaning against the wall, Oscar ignored Pasval and

addressed the witch. "I told you that you shock people when you come in

through the window."

"I don't care. It's convenient." Tinasha bent down and picked up the

papers scattered on the floor. The report contained a detailed investigation

into castle personnel, as well as national and international policy, but had no

record of confidential information.

"So, Uncle, who did you hear that from?" Oscar drawled.

"Did the drug not work…?" Pasval asked.

"Did it work…? Did it not work…? Either way, I think I might've done

something I regret, to be honest," Oscar joked.

"What, missing your chance when I lifted the spell?" Tinasha cut in

coldly. She floated over to Pasval, creeping her white fingers along the nape

of his neck. "Who told you about that curse? If you tell us, we'll leave," she

said.

"I—I don't know! I didn't get his name, either! Some old mage!" Pasval

cried, retreating into a fetal position. Tinasha and Oscar exchanged a

glance.

"Do you think it's the same guy?" Oscar asked.

"The chances are high… Looks like he's beat us to the punch," Tinasha

replied. The witch floated over Pasval's head and glided past to land next to

Oscar.

"I don't really understand what he wants to accomplish. What's the

connection between this and the other incident?" Oscar mused. With one

hand on his chin, he considered possibilities. He used his other hand to

stroke Tinasha's hair. Her eyes fluttered closed, like a cat happy to be

petted.

The man hiding in his chair watched the scene and shouted desperately,

"If the witch is here, that means the curse is real! Serves you right! You and

your father's bloodline ends here! Just die already!"

Tinasha's eyebrows raised. She lifted her arms and began weaving a

spell, but Oscar held out a hand to stop her.

"Even if that comes to pass, it's nothing for you to worry about, Uncle.

Just go back to your house in Colas," Oscar said over his shoulder as he

headed for the balcony from which he'd entered.

Pasval hurled more abuse at his nephew as he left. "Once you're dead,

this country is mine! You'll pay for the many mockeries I've suffered!"

Oscar did not respond to the provocation. It was like he hadn't heard

anything at all. As Pasval began cackling madly and loudly, the witch

looked down on him with scornful eyes. She drew near and whispered in a

clear, decisive voice, "His bloodline will not die out. Why do you think I've

come here?"

Pasval stopped mid-cackle and stared up at her. Silhouetted by a halo of

moonlight, she wore a bewitching smile.

"His bloodline will not die. And you… You may never again enter this

city… That's final."

Eyes huge, Pasval gaped at her. Then, he flopped back into the chair

limply, like his strings had been cut. He just sat there shivering, lacking

even the energy to look up.

Tinasha eyed him icily, then followed Oscar out onto the balcony.

"What did you do?" he asked.

"That's how you cast a curse." She smiled, her eyes narrowing. It was

the expression of someone strong and secure in her power to control the

fates of others. "Let's go back, Oscar. Our business here is done."

Tinasha held out a hand. Oscar took it, and the pair floated into the air.

Gaining altitude, they soared across the night sky. Like a little kid, Oscar's

eyes were fixed on the spectacle below him.

"It's fun using transportation magic, but flying is so new and exciting,"

he said.

"To use transportation magic, you have to know the coordinates of your

destination, or it won't work. I certainly don't know the coordinates of

every location in the city," Tinasha explained. Then, she sighed

unexpectedly, and Oscar looked over to her in surprise. After a pause, she

muttered, "You've really got a nasty uncle there."

"Oh, him? Well, we aren't blood relatives. I'm grateful for that, at least."

Oscar had thought Tinasha was feeling bothered over not knowing many

places in the city yet, but it turned out she'd sighed because of his family

circumstances. However, no matter how many annoying and stomachturning things cropped up, all of it was Oscar's burden to bear alone. He

couldn't share the load with anyone, nor did he intend to try. He'd long

been prepared to live his whole life that way.

Grimacing a little, Oscar met Tinasha's worried gaze.

"I can sympathize with you a little more now… I'll definitely do

something about your curse," she said.

The look in Tinasha's eyes was so unlike the one back in the mansion.

Oscar felt his heart skip a beat. As this witch in the guise of a girl looked

over at him with clear, bright eyes, he felt a fondness welling up within

him.

"What? Do you want to marry me now?" Oscar asked.

"I'm talking about finding another way!" Tinasha snapped back in the

same way she always did, and Oscar burst out laughing. His heart felt

lighter, and he inhaled, deep and easy. His momentary gloom had passed.

First thing the next morning, Pasval fled the city in great haste. He

locked himself in his home in Colas, never to reemerge.