“My great-granddad might have backed down, but I’m not him, and that really has nothing to do with me anyway.”

“What are you talking about? It wasn’t okay then, and it’s not okay now! That’s a no all across the board!”

“Seventy years have passed, so how can you say no with such certainty? Be a little more flexible.”

“There are limits to flexibility!”

While Tinasha was making a huge fuss, Litola reached out from beside her to take away the empty cups sitting on the table.

By the time the familiar returned with a fresh pot of tea, Oscar and Tinasha were still arguing back and forth.

Oscar was calm but completely unwilling to back down, and the witch appeared quite mentally worn out.

Finally hitting her limit, Tinasha sighed. “Ugh, if you’re going to be this unreasonable, I’m going to alter your memory and send you back to your castle!”

“I don’t think what you just said speaks well of your character.”

“That’s my line!” Tinasha stood up, and with a smile, she extended her right hand toward Oscar. Something was gathering in her palm. The mood of the room changed in an instant.

“Hey, hey, I’m gonna fight back.” Oscar had been acting nonchalant but finally got to his feet and drew his sword. When Tinasha saw the hilt of the weapon, she made an obvious face.

“Why are you walking around with something like that? It’s a national treasure.”

“Things like this were made to be used.”

The well-polished, double-edged blade drew Tinasha’s eye and sparkled like a mirror. Antique decorations ornamented the handle of the weapon. The royal sword Akashia, passed down through the ages in Farsas, was the only sword in the world that had full magical resistance.

There was a legend that, a long time ago, nonhuman creatures had pulled the sword from a lake and gifted it, but the story had never been confirmed. The weapon had been around since Farsas was founded and, until recently, had hardly ever been used in combat. It was only worn by the king on formal occasions. Oscar treated the weapon like one of his personal belongings. It was clearly something any mage would regard as their natural enemy, and Tinasha, as a witch, was no exception.

Looking sour, she hesitated awhile longer before dispelling the magic she’d started to summon.

“Urgh. Let’s talk this out a bit more.”

“I couldn’t agree more. Calm down.”

As they both took their seats again, Litola refilled their teacups. Tinasha used her hands to brush back bits of her hair that were starting to come undone.

“You are oddly stubborn. You really should give up.”

“I could say the same about you…” Looking pensive, Oscar brought his cup to his lips. Just then, he remembered something. “That’s right. I heard that seventy years ago you spent some time living at Farsas Castle.”

“For about half a year, yes. I taught magic and grew flowers. It was fairly interesting.”

Oscar felt like he could believe that, though he had a hard time imagining it, and tilted his head in contemplation. “Was that my great-granddad’s wish?”

“No,” Tinasha answered, smiling at him, her eyes crinkling. Based on how clipped her reply was, it was obvious she had no intention of telling Oscar what Regius’s actual wish had been.

Oscar lifted an eyebrow a little at that, but he saw the meaning of her reply and didn’t press further. Instead, he proposed a different wish of his own. “How about this: Leave here for a year and live with me in Farsas. That’s my request as champion. Could you accept that?”

Tinasha looked taken aback by the unexpected demand. When she considered their extended back-and-forth, however, she thought it a considerable compromise. One year wasn’t very long for a witch like Tinasha. In the blink of an eye, she flashed back to her fond memories of the sights of Farsas. The witch took a deep breath, and as she exhaled, she made her decision.

“Fine, then. I’ll come down from this tower as your protector. For one year, starting today, you and I have a contract.”

She lifted her arm, and one white finger stretched out toward Oscar’s forehead. A faint white light emanated from her fingertip before passing through the air and disappearing into his forehead. Oscar pressed his fingers to where the light had touched him but didn’t notice anything strange.

“What did you do?”

“It’s a mark. To start with.”

Tinasha rose with a smile, stretching both arms high above her to loosen her stiff body.

“If I’m leaving the tower, we’ll have to close off the entrance. Litola, take care of it.”

“Understood.”

Litola left the room, and Oscar stood up as well.

Dusk had already fallen, and the last streaks of light colored the valley in the distance. Oscar came to stand next to Tinasha. He was a lot taller and looked down at her with an evil smile.

“If you change your mind partway through and decide to stay in Farsas permanently, that’s fine with me.”

“I won’t.”

And so, the Witch of the Azure Moon became the protector of the crown prince of Farsas and appeared among the people for the first time in close to seventy years. Little did she know that a story that would strum the strings of her own fate was just beginning.

***

“Lazar! Wake up!”

The young man jerked awake reflexively at the sound of his lord’s voice and found himself in the shade of the same tree the horses were hitched to just outside the tower. Lazar took in his surroundings before looking up at Oscar, who was right behind him.

“Huh? Your Highness…? Wasn’t I just…climbing the tower…? It’s already dark?”

“Enough. We’re going home. Get up.”

Puzzling over the fogginess in his mind, Lazar got to his feet. He undid the horses’ ties. “You’re ready to return?”

“Yeah, my business is finished.”

Lazar thought that was strange but led his horse out anyway. As he did, he noticed for the first time that someone was standing in his lord’s shadow. When the young, beautiful girl noticed Lazar’s eyes on her, she smiled like a flower blooming. Her black hair and white skin seemed to be traits of some unknown country, and her powerful dark eyes completely sucked him in.

“Your Highness, who is…?”

“She’s the witch’s apprentice, and she’s leaving the tower to live in Farsas for a while.”

“My name is Tinasha.”

The girl bowed politely, so Lazar hurried to lower his own head in kind. Although Oscar had said she was leaving the tower, she wasn’t carrying a single bag. Lazar found that odd and approached his lord to whisper in his ear. “If this is the witch’s apprentice, does that mean you met the witch?”

“Yeah, I did.”

“She didn’t eat you up?”

“Do you want me to hit you…?”

Oscar swung up into the saddle and offered Tinasha a hand. Lazar still looked worried. Oscar started to say something to his attendant before grimacing a little. “It was an…interesting experience. In a lot of ways.”

Looking bitter for some reason, Oscar pulled Tinasha up into the saddle. With her petite stature, she settled easily in front of him before lowering her long eyelashes.

Perhaps because of her hair and eyes, Tinasha’s beauty called to mind a clear night. She looked entirely at home in her current position—like she’d been by Oscar’s side forever. Lazar was entirely captivated by the pretty picture the two painted. Oscar frowned at his childhood friend.

“What’s up? Didn’t you want to go home?”

“Oh, y-yes… Sorry.”

Lazar rushed to mount his own horse. The sun had set, and night was fast encroaching. Tinasha gave a wave of her hand, and a small light emerged just past the horse’s muzzle.

Oscar voiced his admiration for the orb illuminating their way. “Magic, huh? That’s convenient.”

“I can do this anytime. Feel free to ask whenever you want to burn something.”

“No need. All you have to do is stay near me,” Oscar replied smoothly, and Tinasha looked up at him in dismay. She soon recovered, closing her eyes and smiling.

As Lazar watched the two of them, he suddenly got the faintest hint of a premonition—one that told him that, from here on out, things were going to get very muddied.

“Let’s go, Lazar.”

The horse carrying Oscar and the girl broke into a gallop. Lazar took up his own reins and cast a final glance back at the tower.

In the dim light, he could see that the door that had once been there had disappeared. In its place was the same smooth, azure surface that made up the rest of the structure.