Tsana blinked. She cleared her throat, regaining her composure.
"Your mana control is superb, Sir. I had difficulty sensing your mana at all. You must be a highly skilled mage?" Tsana asked.
She had gotten a bit carried away by her surprise. It was the first time she had ever failed to detect someone else's mana.
Everyone in this world was born with mana, and it could always be sensed unless the person was dead.
For hundreds of years, wandering across all the continents, she had always been able to sense the mana of others with perfect clarity. She could even feel the thinnest, most delicate flows of it.
But this was the first time she had failed to sense someone's mana. It was only natural that she overreacted.
The man pressed his lips together, looking rather nervous, but he answered nonetheless. "Yes, just an ordinary mage. I have journeyed across several continents for some years, and I finally decided to rest. This is my first and last homecoming."
Inwardly, Tsana didn't believe him. 'No way he's just an ordinary mage.'
But, that wasn't her problem. Everyone had things they hid.
Tsana nodded. "Does that mean this Capital is your hometown?"
The man nodded. "Literally, yes."
Tsana didn't understand what he meant by 'literally', but she immediately recalled his earlier words and decided to ask him directly. "From what you said a moment ago, it seems you know a lot about the Light Dragon that recently appeared. I am quite interested in researching mythical creatures like this. Would you mind if we discussed it?"
The blush on the man's cheeks became more pronounced after she said that, his eyes darting around nervously. "You praise me too much, milady. I only know a little about the Light Dragon."
The man's voice was soft and smooth, as if he was so shy he could barely get the words out.
Tsana wanted to keep probing his knowledge about the Dragon, but she suddenly felt a gust of wind at her ear. It was Zephyr, calling for her. She had forgotten she was supposed to go to Roswell Academy for the review. She had spent too much time in this bar.
She looked back at the amethyst-eyed man. "Even so, I would very much look forward to exchanging thoughts with you."
Tsana stood and bowed her body slightly. "May I know your name, Sir?"
"E-eh? My name is Cayn."
It was a little strange seeing such a handsome, well-built man speak so nervously and shyly, but for some reason, Tsana didn't mind at all.
Cayn didn't give a surname. Perhaps for his own reasons, or perhaps because he didn't have one.
Tsana smiled, nodding, and gave Cayn a small green pill. "Alright, I have some business to attend to and cannot stay. However, I look forward to our discussion, Sir Cayn. This is one of my mana pills. If you agree to talk, just crush it. I will know your location from the mana network it releases, and I will come immediately. If you do not agree, you can simply throw it away."
Cayn stared at the green pill in his hand with a shocked expression. "This is..."
Tsana nodded a farewell before turning to leave.
"Wait, milady."
Suddenly, Tsana felt a large, warm hand wrap around her wrist, making her startle and stop.
Cayn was holding her hand.
"What do you-"
Cayn suddenly stood up as well and sniffed at her neck. This made Tsana instinctively pull away, but the arm holding her kept her from moving. As a result, Tsana could only stand stiff as a board while Cayn sniffed at her like a cat.
"I've been curious since I first saw you. I smell a very wicked aroma coming from your body, milady."
Tsana froze for a second, her mind going blank. 'What is this man talking about? A wicked aroma?'
Cayn's face was extremely close, allowing Tsana to see him more clearly. He had pristine, beautiful skin, so much so that Tsana herself felt envious. His features were sculpted to perfection, with a straight, high bridged nose and naturally red lips.
However, what drew Tsana's attention the most were those amethyst eyes. Tsana felt their gaze was one of complete emptiness. Yet, a faint glimmer appeared, as if filling that void.
She didn't understand why she felt this. Was this an illusion spell?
Then, Cayn asked again, "Are you always in pain, My Lady?"
Those words struck the most sensitive spot in Tsana's heart. 'What is he talking about? Does he know about my curse? That's impossible.'
Tsana quickly pulled herself away from Cayn. "Perhaps it is just your imagination, Sir. I must be going. Farewell."
She then walked away with long, hurried strides, leaving Cayn standing behind her, his amethyst eyes fixed on her retreating back.
Once Tsana's back was out of sight, a man in a black robe approached Cayn from the shadows. "Has it been confirmed, Your Majesty?"
Cayn's face, which had been shy and nervous in front of Tsana, had completely transformed into a cold expression, a world apart from before.
Slowly, he replied, "Yes."
Even his voice had changed, becoming firmer than when he spoke to Tsana.
"Then, what is your next plan, Your Majesty?"
Cayn stared at the green pill in his hand with a blank expression. "I don't know."
★★★
Tsana had walked quite a distance from the bar, but she was still in the alley.
She pressed a hand to her chest. Her heart was pounding. 'What did he mean just now? Did he sense the curse?'
She panicked at the thought that someone was able to detect it.
'It's impossible.'
Only very specific people could smell the aroma of a curse, and those people had to be incredibly powerful.
'Who is that man?'
It had been a very long time since she'd met someone capable of detecting her curse.
If she wasn't mistaken, it had been 100 years ago.
"Master, ooooiii!"
Zephyr's childish face suddenly appeared in front of Tsana's, staring at her with curiosity. In his right hand, he held a bag of candied fruit he had bought with the money Tsana gave him.
"Master, did you get drunk at the bar?" Zephyr suddenly asked.
"No," Tsana replied flatly, walking past him.
Zephyr trailed after her. "It's just that you look completely dazed. I called you so many times, but you didn't hear me."
"I was just ignoring you on purpose."
Zephyr ignored her cold reply. He held his chin and struck a thinking pose. "So, how did it go? Did you get any information on the Light Dragon's whereabouts?"
Tsana shook her head. "Not really. But I found someone who might be able to give me a clue."
Zephyr nodded in understanding. "I see. That's good."
"I gave him one of my mana pills. If he agrees to talk, he just has to crush it."
Zephyr's eyes went wide. "You gave him a mana pill? Are you serious?"
Tsana nodded.
Zephyr stared at her retreating back in disbelief. "Master, that's-"
Tsana cut him off. "It's fine. I can make another one."
Zephyr walked faster, taking long strides to stand in front of Tsana in his adult form. He stared at her, his expression creased with worry. "That's not what I'm talking about! A mana pill is a witch's heart! And you just gave it to a stranger you just met, all for information you don't even know if he has! Master! Are you that desperate?"
In his adult form, Zephyr was a full head taller than Tsana, so she had to tilt her head up slightly to look at him.
Tsana answered without hesitation. "Why are you so worried? Even if he has ill intentions for the pill, I'll just die one more time and come back."
Zephyr's throat tightened. Weakly, he replied, "Yes, I know that. But, Master... how long are you going to keep torturing yourself like this?"
"Until I am permitted to truly die."
Zephyr felt his heart clench, as if pierced by a sword. His body trembled.
He looked at Tsana with a wounded expression, then looked down, his jaw tight and his hands clenched into fists. "I have been your contracted spirit for 100 years. When our Master Spirit bond was formed, we shared blood from the same cup. Since that day, I have been one with you. I can always feel your life force because I am bound to you. But even so, I've come to think of you as my own mother."
Tsana was silent, watching Zephyr tremble.
Then, Zephyr looked up, his eyes glistening. "Can you- Can you imagine how scared I am every time I feel your life force vanish? Even if you come back, feeling your life fade, bit by bit, it terrifies me. I know you'll come back. I know the curse hurts you. I know how desperate you are to find a cure. But can't you search for it without putting yourself in danger?"
Even though Zephyr was in his adult form, he still looked like a small child when he cried, his body shaking. Especially since he was still clutching a bag of candied fruit in his right hand.
The sight touched a certain spot in Tsana's heart. Slowly, she raised her right hand to pat his golden hair.
To anyone watching, it would have been a comical sight, a woman, patting the head of a man a full head taller than her, who was crying like a child.
Tsana smiled as she heard Zephyr's soft sobs. "A mana pill is a witch's heart. An ordinary person who knows nothing about it would listen to my instructions and crush it. If that happened, my heart would be crushed too. Is that what you were thinking?"
Zephyr nodded weakly, sniffling.
Tsana snorted in amusement. "I knew it. You're still just a toddler in my eyes, Zephyr."
Zephyr's face puckered in annoyance. "Don't joke at a time like this. It's not funny. Besides, I'm 100 years old. I'm an adult."
Tsana ignored his protest, explaining, "The man I gave the pill to is no ordinary person. I've wandered this continent for over 800 years, and he is the only one who I've been unable to sense. A person like that must know the function of a mana pill. I gave it to him as a sign of respect, and my trust in his strength. A person like that most likely knows a great deal about the Light Dragon. He might agree to a discussion because of it."
"But still..."
"Alright, listen to me. I promise you, starting now... if I die this time, it will be my last death. After that, you will not see me die again, and I will not take such dangerous paths."
Zephyr lowered his head. The curse afflicting Tsana was one of eternity. Besides being unable to die, the curse tormented her constantly. Every time she died, she would live again, and all the while, the curse tortured her body. Tsana had even said that the feeling of death was far better than the pain of the curse.
"So..."
Zephyr watched Tsana take a single candied apple from the bag in his hand and hold it to his lips.
"Eat up, my child. We need to get to Roswell Academy. In three days, our home is going to have many guests."
Zephyr reverted to his child form and bit into the candied apple Tsana offered. The two then walked on, with Zephyr holding onto Tsana's robe.
It was a harmonious sight, like a mother who had just succeeded in calming her crying child.
That was, in short, their relationship.
After 100 years together, this was the first time Zephyr had poured his heart out. He was always afraid, every single time he felt Tsana's life force disappear.
If a person's life force was gone, it meant they were dead. And yet, Tsana would always return the next day as if nothing had happened. It happened often.
Every night, Tsana would disappear. Zephyr didn't know where, but he later learned that her nightly departures were to suppress the pain of her curse. He had once seen her, writhing in agony from it in the middle of the Nightmare Forest, and he had been powerless to do anything.
The sight was so painful that Zephyr refused to remember it.
The symbol of the curse was on Tsana's stomach. It looked like a tattoo, coiled like a magic circle.
For a long time, Zephyr had wondered: How did Tsana get this curse? And how long had she been enduring it?
But Tsana had never answered.
★★★
"Please teach us magic!"
Just as Tsana and Zephyr passed through the gates of Roswell Academy, they were suddenly blocked by two teenagers, who were shouting to be taught magic.