Chapter 9.2, The Dream of a Forest

The longue of Farsas Castle was a rectangular room facing the hallway. Anyone in the castle could use it as they wished if they had the time to. 

 

That day, Sylvia, Doan and Carve spent their afternoon break in the empty longue. Each had tea and read books as they wished. Most other magicians spent their whole days attending lectures or training, but the three of them were relatively more skilled, and often spent their time doing their own research. Nevertheless, they usually amused themselves with idle chatting during breaks.

 

When Tinassha came to where they were lazing around, the talk began for real. She looked at them and showed them a thick old book that she was carrying under her arm.

 

“Here Doan, the book you asked for.”

“Wah! You really have it? I heard it disappeared long ago.”

 

He took the book with an expression mixed between surprise and joy on his face. The old magic book was a priceless volume that was said to not exist anymore.

 

Tinassha pulled up a chair and sat down at the same table.

“I have quite a lot of these. If there’s anything else you’d like to search for, just let me know.”

 

“Thank you!”

 

Tinassha replied to the thanks with a smile, but she looked to have her mind on something else. Sylvia asked her curiously:

 

“Lady Tinassha, what’s the matter?”

 

The witch lightly shrugged.

 

“Well, somehow Oscar’s physical condition seems to be bad lately. I thought it was due to lack of sleep, but it’s not.”

“Eh, is that so? I don’t notice anything at all.”

 

As Sylvia raised her voice in surprise, Doan and Carve also looked up from the magic book. Tinassha leaned back into the chair and crossed her legs. Judging from the unusual and rather crude action, she seemed to be quite unhappy.

 

“His life force is unstable. I want him to manage his physical condition well. If he has a lover, I hope they could date normally.”

 

“Eh.”

The surprised voice of all three of them overlapped with each other.

 

“L-lover?”

 

“Is there someone that brave?”

 

“I can’t imagine it at all.”

 

Everyone in the castle knew that Oscar considered Tinassha as someone important, and everyone who was close to her knew that she didn’t care about that even just a little bit. Naturally, they couldn’t think of, or even imagine, another woman who was close to Oscar except her.

But the witch shook her head at their frank impressions.

 

“There’s a strong scent of perfume lingering. I think it’s a woman, but I don’t know who.”

 

The three magicians looked at each other. Doan slightly raised his hand.

 

“I’ve met him today, but I didn’t notice anything.”

 

“Hm… I think you’ll notice if you stand close to him…”

Tinassha said, and suddenly stopped. Perhaps unconsciously, she bit her own finger, which was placed on her chin. As if realizing something, she looked dumbfounded, which then gradually turned to anger. The magicians watched her while holding their breaths; they could feel the enormous magic power inside her slender body moved together with her emotions. The table was creaking even though no one touched it.

 

She was lost in thought for a while, then clicked her tongue.

 

“Sorry, I have something to do.”

 

She vanished, leaving only those words behind. The magicians, who had been watching with bated breath, were finally relieved.

 

“S-scary…”

“He won’t be able to fool around then…”

 

“What was that…?”

 

Anyhow, it ended without the three of them being dragged into the storm.

 

The one who took a direct hit from that storm was the attendant of the person concerned, Razar.

 

He was bringing documents to the office when Tinassha appeared before his eyes, making him stop in fright.

 

From the disquieting atmosphere which was different from the morning and the smile that didn’t reach her eyes on her red lips, Razar knew that she was quite angry. He froze.

Her voice, which was as clear as water, rang up.

 

“If you tell the truth, you’ll become happy.”

 

“Lady Tinassha…”

 

He felt like he was going to die just from being pierced with that gaze of her. Razar opened his mouth like a fish seeking air.

 

It seemed like he couldn’t keep his master’s order anymore.

 

“Oscar!!”

 

The office door opened with a horrendous sound and the witch charged in, her face colored in anger.

It wasn’t the first time he had seen her being angry, but this was uncommon. Having a bad hunch, Oscar frowned.

 

“What is it, Tinassha?”

 

“Don’t what is it me!”

 

She floated into the air and grabbed Oscar’s head with both hands, forcing him to look  at her. There wasn’t much strength in her hands, but he could feel them trembling in anger.

 

“Why do you keep silent about meeting Lucresia?!!”

 

“…Razar…”

 

He looked towards the door and saw Razar standing there with a pale face. He raised both hands in a gesture saying that it was impossible. It was expected, yet he couldn’t stop himself from sighing. Asking Razar to lie to Tinassha had probably been impossible.

He turned his eyes back to the witch, who looked about to destroy the room in anger.

 

“I thought it was nothing important, so I kept silent about it. My bad.”

 

“If meeting a witch is nothing important, then this whole world must be full of inconsequential things!”

 

“You could say that.”

 

“Please do something about that inability to sense danger of yours! I’ve said that I can’t protect you from mind magic! It’s nice to be self-confident, but I can’t take responsibility if you die because of that!”

 

“…My bad.”

 

Oscar said, and exchanged a look with Razar.

“…Die?”

 

“It’s good that I was on time.”

 

Tinassha said, looking unhappy from the bottom of her heart.

 

Once, in a kingdom in the West, a very beloved Queen had died.

 

The King, suffering from a profound grief, had started to see the Queen in his dream at some point.

 

The illusions of their love trysts had piled on, but once he had woken up, he had mourned the fact that the Queen hadn’t been there. Finally, he had died in his sleep one day.

 

People had wept for the King’s death, believing that he had followed the Queen.

 

“That’s a painfully moving story…”

“Yes, if it was truly the Queen he had seen in his dreams.”

 

Tinassha replied coldly while brushing her hair away. Oscar picked at her disturbing remark.

 

“Wasn’t it not?”

 

Oscar and Razar were sitting at the desk and sipping tea. Even though Tinassha was furious, she had still made tea for them as if to feel better. It was probably not his imagination that the tea was a bit bitter than usual.

 

“Some demon or magician had probably interfered. They took the form of the Queen in the dreams, and gradually transferred the King’s life force to themselves. If they were skilled, he’d die in about a week.”

 

“……”

 

Today was the fifth day since they had met Lucresia. The fact was that neither of them were in danger, but they both kept silent about it.

 

“I’m not sure if it’s a demon using dreams or it’s entirely made by magic, but you’ll have that dream every night. When you wake up, your memories about it will disappear.”

“Should I feel regretful that I don’t remember it?”

 

Bathing in the cold stares of the other two, Oscar maintained his calmness. These kinds of stories would only escalate.

 

“How do you notice?”

 

“The scent.”

 

She poked at the rose ornament at the center of the table.

 

“I smell a strong flowery scent like women’s perfume on you. So I thought you had a lover…”

 

“I don’t. Do you smell it?”

 

Razar shook his head at Oscar’s look. Razar had always been with him, so he surely should have sensed something. Oscar himself also didn’t notice anything.

“Looked like only I can notice it, not other people. That pervert.”

 

The pervert seemed to be Lucresia. They seemed to be old acquaintances with a good relationship, so she could use such words. But it was probably because she had done something as horrible as this; Tinassha probably wouldn’t call her a pervert otherwise.

 

Oscar, who was unexpectedly being killed by a witch in such a way, wound Tinassha’s hair around his fingers. She was next to him, arm outstretched.

 

“So, what should I do?”

 

“I will break the spell tonight. Since your life force has already started to fluctuate, it might be life-threatening if I try to forcibly break it from the outside.”

 

“I see.”

 

“I will break it by force inside the dream.”

 

She stuck her tongue out a little in a ‘I don’t care’ manner. Razar interjected nervously:

 

“Is there no other way?”

 

“I do know some, but…”

 

She didn’t want to do it, her eyes said clearly. Oscar took a look at that and removed his hand from her hair.

 

“I see. I’ll leave it in your hands. Thank you.”

 

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The night soaked in from the large window.

 

The moonlight cast long shadows in the room and its blue tranquility, which seemed to absorb all noises, dominated over everything.

 

The woman sitting on the bed was also keeping silent. The man lying on the bed pulled her gorgeous long black hair lightly. She raised her brows slightly.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Well, I can’t sleep.”

 

“It’s alright, so please sleep.”

 

“Even if you say so…”

 

He looked up at the canopy and took a deep breath.

 

There were only him and his guardian the witch in the room.

 

She was wearing a long dress made from thin black silk with multiple folds at the hem. The moon was lighting her somber face from behind; the scene looked like a painting.

 

“I can use magic to make you sleep, but something might happen in the dream if there is magical interference. Lucresia can do that much, so it’s best to sleep naturally. Then I can interfere once you’ve fallen asleep.”

 

“I’ll try.”

 

Oscar closed his eyes. The solitary darkness came for him. He consciously tried to sleep, but thinking about the witch sitting nearby and waiting for him to sleep made him unable to settle down. In the end, he opened his mouth.

 

“Is Lucresia that good at magic arts?”

 

“After magic potions. I’m not her match in both.”

 

“So witches also have their strengths and weaknesses.”

 

He couldn’t see it since his eyes were closed, but he could feel her laughing lightly.

 

“We do. Aside from the fundamental magic, all witches have our own specializations. And it is unforgivable to let others catch up with us on our specializations…”

 

“What are yours?”

 

“Offensive and defensive, pure force.”

 

He opened his eyes and saw Tinassha smiling self-deprecatingly.

 

But she didn’t like to use her power to its full extent. For a witch who didn’t leave her tower without a reason to, she seemed to know very well that great power didn’t bring anything. He could feel that again and again in her every word.

 

She stroked his hair as if to urge him to sleep, and Oscar closed his eyes once more.

 

But sleep wouldn’t come, so he pulled her hair again a short while later. She smiled wryly and peered into his face.

 

“Should I bring you a nightcap?”

 

“No, it’s alright.”

 

“It can’t be helped then.”

 

The witch once again stroked his hair slowly. Her red lips parted, and she started singing softly. It was a lullaby he had never heard before.

 

The darkness of the night, the distance of the stars,

Take this beloved child into your arms;

The thousands of safflowers, the blue moon,

Take his small hand with yours;

Let’s send him off to the path of dreams.

 

It was a bit lower than her usual tone, and its gentle echo was pleasant; it seemed to be from a foreign country. Its strange melody took up his consciousness. Her small pale hand gently stroked his hair.

 

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He slowly came into the open arms of sleep like that.

 

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