Chapter 411: The Vow
No candlelight. No crackling fire. Just the heater’s steady warmth seeping through the room, and the Stone of Light on the bedstand casting its yellow glow across the sheets and carpet—a light so unhurried it belonged to some other century.
Sitting at the bedside, listening to the faint ticking of the caliducts, Roland felt caught between worlds. Not the backward monarchy he’d landed in, not the modern city he’d left behind—somewhere earlier than either. Childhood, maybe. His memories of it carried exactly this shade of yellow: the tungsten glow of an old bulb, overexposed film, a photograph still wet from the developer.
The only thing missing from that memory was Anna.
He turned to look at her. She sat at the edge of the bed with a storybook open in her hands, blonde hair catching the light at the tips, long lashes occasionally trembling when she turned a page. Her eyes were what stopped him—sapphire, steady, the same blue as still water even under the Magic Stone’s reflection. A year ago those eyes had been a calm lake. Now they held something beneath the surface.
Her presence alone made the picture vivid. Not just a different color in this setting—the thing that separates memory from real.
“What are you looking at?” Anna had already set the Book of Magic aside. “Me?”
“Ahem—” He shifted his gaze on instinct, then shifted it back. “Yes. That’s right.”
A year together had changed things. He wasn’t as passive as he’d been, and alone in this warm room he no longer wanted to hide it. They looked at each other and both laughed at the same moment.
“Do you think my request was too stubborn?” Anna shook her head, still smiling. “Everyone cares about me, and I pushed them all away.”
“They were only surprised,” Roland said. “Don’t worry about it.”
“If Miss Agatha hadn’t suggested the old methods, I wouldn’t have asked for this at all.” She stuck out her tongue—a rare gesture, and it suited her in a way she didn’t seem to know. “Though I suspect the other sisters would make the same request. You’ll be kept busy.”
“I imagine they’d mostly ask for more ice cream bread.”
After learning about Anna’s Day of Awakening, Agatha had drawn on everything the Union learned in the Holy City of Taquila: on the Day of Awakening—the anniversary of a witch’s first awakening, a kind of second coming-of-age—she needed to drain her magic power to diminish the influence of the bite. Emotions mattered equally. Happiness, contentment, a sense of being held and wanted: these raised her resistance. For witches of particular promise, the Union had sometimes dispatched someone to fulfill a small wish on that day.
Anna had asked for Roland.
“Thanks to Miss Agatha, I’m having a wonderful time.” She paused. “I couldn’t spend my Day of Adulthood with you. This makes up for it.”
He almost blushed. He cleared his throat and reached behind him, producing a thin book tied with a bright ribbon, and held it out to her.
The reason he’d rushed to set down his calculus knowledge—everything he could still recover from memory—was to finish it before tonight. Choosing gifts had never come easily. After a week of turning the problem over, the answer had become obvious: give her new knowledge. Anna’s appetite for learning bordered on hunger; nothing suited her better.
She took the orange-covered book and did not open it immediately as she usually would. She set it beside the Book of Magic. “Thank you.”
“Did you finish the storybook?”
“Not yet.” A small shake of her head. “But I want something different tonight.”
“Different?”
“Your story.” She smiled. “Last time I fell asleep too early. I want to hear the rest.”
She means that night. The night we lay here and I talked until she drifted off. Roland pressed his lips together. A strange impulse rose in him—to tell her everything, to stop hiding it.
“Do you remember I once told you I came from a large city? I didn’t mean King’s City.”
“I know.”
The two words struck him sideways. “What?”
“I thought about the things you described,” she said. “They couldn’t have happened in the palace. And I’ve read Chronicles of Graycastle more than once.” The smile stayed. “Don’t forget.”
“Is that so.” He hesitated. “Actually, I—”
“You don’t have to say it.” She stopped him gently. “You’re hesitating, which means it isn’t easy. So don’t. And it isn’t so hard to guess—the closer someone gets to you, the more clearly they feel it. You’re different from everyone else.”
A pause. “What if we made a wager?”
“On what?”
“How much of your life story I can guess correctly.”
The words surfaced unbidden: time capsule. A game he’d played as a child—write something true on a slip of paper, seal it in a can, bury it, dig it up years later and read what you’d been. Half the cans were never found. The ones that were gave you a feeling with no name.
He didn’t ask about the stakes. She hadn’t proposed the bet to uncover his identity; she’d proposed it to give him an easier way in. Among all the witches, Anna understood him most clearly.
“Deal.” He nodded. “Where did we leave off?”
“You had just finished studying under your mentor…”
Roland laughed. “Let’s start from there.”
When the first grey light of dawn crept across the skyline, Anna passed peacefully through her first Day of Awakening since adulthood.
Chapter 411: The Vow
Translator: TransN Editor: TransN
…
With no swaying candlelight or crackling burning fire, the room was made so warm and pleasant by the heater that one wouldn’t feel cold even when only wearing thin clothes. The Stone of Light at the bed stand brightened the room —the stable and gentle yellow light shone on the bedsheet and carpet, producing a wonderful nostalgic scene.
Sitting at the bedside and listening to the occasional slight chirps from the caliducts, Roland felt as if he was in a dream. It was like he wasn’t in a backward monarchy nor a modern society full of electronic products, rather somewhere in between… his childhood.
His childhood memories very much resembled the scene in front of him— everything was covered in a faint shade of yellow, whether it was a light bulb, a movie, or a developed photo.
The only difference was that Anna wasn’t in his childhood memory.
At this thought, he turned and looked at the girl sitting at the edge of the bed.
She was reading a storybook. Her blonde hair on her forehead glimmering under light and her long eyelashes occasionally trembling, made her look extremely moving. Yet, the most extraordinary part was her sapphire eyes, which were still as blue as a clear lake even under the reflection of the Magic Stone. The only difference from one year ago was that this pair of eyes weren’t such a peaceful lake anymore.
Her existence alone made the whole picture vivid. Anna is not only a different color from the rest of this whole setting, but also a marker that
separates my reality from memory. Seeing her assumes me that everything is real.
“What are you looking at?” Anna had already put down the Book of Magic and was staring at Roland. “Me?”
“Ahem… ” Roland shifted his eyesight eyes subconsciously, but quickly shifted them back again. “Uh-huh…That’s right.”
After spending about a year together, the two of them had been quite familiar with each other. Roland wasn’t as passive as he had been, and since they were alone in the room, he was more open about the emotions he had been holding back all this time.
They looked at each other and burst into laughter at the same time.
“Do you think my demand is a little too stubborn?” Anna shook her head and smiled. “Clearly everybody cares about me, but I pushed all of them away.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Roland said with his hands laid out, “They were only surprised by your reaction at that time.”
“If it weren’t for the ‘ancient methods’ suggested by Miss Agatha, I wouldn’t have made this request,” Anna said, sticking out her tongue – a cute move that she rarely made. “But I assume other sisters would do the same. You’ll be busy then.”
Roland smiled resignedly and said, “I think they would only ask for a few more pieces of ice cream bread.”
After learning that Anna was going to have her Day of Awakening, Agatha instantly contributed her experience gained in the Holy City of Taquila— according to the research of the Union, on the Day of Awakening or the Day of Adulthood, a witch needed to drain her magic power to decrease the influence of bite. Additionally, the witch’s emotions were also very important – positive emotions as happiness and contentment would greatly increase her resistance. For some outstanding witches, the Union even dispatched personnel to fulfill their wishes on their Day of Adulthood.
After knowing this, Anna requested that Roland accompany her on her Day of Awakening.
“Thanks to Miss Agatha, I’m having a good time.” She confessed. “I couldn’t spend my Day of Adulthood with you, but I can make up for it on my Day of Awakening.”
Watching Anna’s sincere expression, Roland almost blushed. He cleared his throat, took out a thin book tied with a colorful ribbon from his back, and handed it to her. “A gift for your Day of Awakening.”
The reason why he rushed to write down the advanced calculus knowledge that he remembered was to finish it before this day. To a witch, the Day of Awakening was more important than a birthday and could almost be seen as a rebirth. Roland had always had difficulty choosing presents for holidays, and this time was no different. After racking his brains, he decided to give Anna new knowledge as a present—Anna had a talent for learning and an appetite for new knowledge, so he chose her gift accordingly.
However, after receiving the book with orange cover, she didn’t open it instantly as she used to. Instead, she put it down together with the Book of Magic. “Thank you.”
“The storybook… Have you finished reading it?”
“Not yet.” Anna slightly shook her head. “But I want to hear something special.”
“Special?” Roland was slightly astonished.
“Yes.” She said with a smile, “Your story—last time I fell asleep too soon while listening to it and today I hope to continue hearing about it.”
“Does she mean the day when we lay in bed together?” Roland pursed his lips. He suddenly had an impulse to tell her about his true identity, and to not hide it anymore. “Do you still remember that I once told you I used to live in a big city? By a big city, I didn’t mean Kingdom of Graycastle.”
“I know.”
“Huh?” Anna’s reply was shocking to him.
“When I thought about it, I found those stories you told me couldn’t have happened in the palace of King’s City,” she said with a smile. “Don’t forget, I have repeatedly read through Chronicles of Graycastle.”
“Is that so?” Roland hesitated for a moment. “I actually …”
“You don’t have to say anything.” Anna stopped him. “You are hesitating, which means it’s not easy to tell, right? Then don’t. Besides, it’s not hard to guess. I believe I’m not the only one who has this feeling. The closer we get to you, the easier to feel this way—you are different from everybody else.” She paused. “What if… we take a bet.”
“Bet… on what?”
“Let’s bet how much I can guess about your life story.”
Roland suddenly recalled a game he used to play when he was little: time capsule. “The game works like this: write down your words to the future on a note, put it into a can, and take the can out a certain number of years later… Although most of the cans would be missing, a few of them would be retrieved, and looking at the note you wrote years ago would give you an unspeakable sensation.”
He didn’t ask about the wager. “It doesn’t matter who wins and who loses, since she probably proposed it to comfort me, rather than to figure out my true identity.” He must admit, among all the witches, Anna was the one who understood him the best.
“Deal.” He nodded.
“Where did we stop last time?”
“I finished my study under the guidance of my mentor …” Roland laughed. “Let’s start from here.”
When the light of dawn lit up the skyline, Anna peacefully passed through the first Day of Awakening since her adulthood.