When Haru left the hall, congratulations and official words of gratitude poured in from every side.
Shion had already told him that tonight they would not meet in the garden. Tradition demanded that a couple not see each other on the evening before the wedding if they wished for a happy marriage.
It took a while, but at last Haru, together with Gari and Maldie, left the throne room.
"Finally. Just one look from Shion and they all changed their minds," Haru said, surprised in a good way.
"That's how you recognize a true ruler. Besides, no wonder – he grew up under my watch," Maldie answered, unable to hide the pride in her voice.
"Huh? You raised Shion? Wow, that's amazing!" Haru said, taken aback.
"So that means you must be really old, right?" Gari cut in, blunt as always.
Maldie smacked her on the head.
"Hmpf! Who talks like that about their superior at work?"
"Sorry…" Gari muttered, rubbing her head where Maldie hit her.
"Even if you've lived for quite a few years, you really don't look your age! Not a wrinkle anywhere…" Haru added, astonished.
"All thanks to the soul of a long-lived bear that I have inside me."
"You mean – you're half-beast too?! That's awesome! Why didn't you tell me before?!" Gari exclaimed.
"Because you never asked," Maldie replied with a shrug. "Anyway, we'd better focus on the task the prince himself gave us – finding a beautiful wedding dress for him."
"W-wedding dress?!" Haru stammered, blushing red.
"Oh, please. With that slim figure of yours, you'd fit right into those ultra-slim dresses. We'd be fools not to use that."
"And then, beer! You promised me, Haru!" Gari said with a big grin.
"Well then, looks like we have a whole afternoon planned," Maldie joked, and the three of them burst out laughing.
*
Once everyone had left at his command, Shion returned to his room.
He walked to the back wall, where an ancestral altar had been set up.
It was modest: just a wooden shelf with a single potted tree.
Its silver, twisted trunk stretched upward, crowned with pink leaves.
Shion sat before the tree, exhaled deeply, laid his katana across his lap, and closed his eyes in meditation.
One leaf fell gently from the crown.
"That is a very important sign, one we can't ignore," Shion heard Ayame's voice behind him.
His brow twitched.
"Sister, how did you get into my room?" he asked, polite but distant.
"You left the door open. You must be more careful, Shion. I know you acted in the heat of emotion, but an assassin could have slipped in at any moment. Don't worry, I've already closed it," she said, sitting down beside him.
Ayame's gaze drifted to the fallen leaf.
"Every time the ancestral tree drops a leaf, something happens that changes the course of history. This is only the fourth time it's happened to the Hoshigane dynasty."
Shion gave no reply, only exhaled slowly through his nose, still in meditation.
"Ah, right. I almost forgot to congratulate you. Good luck on this new path of life," Ayame added half-jokingly.
"But you know… the bride has changed," Shion responded calmly.
"You really think I didn't already know? Your little sister hears more than you think," she laughed. "But jokes aside, Shion - you know as well as I do that Haru's touch is only a temporary solution."
Shion remained silent.
"I'm glad you will marry your Key. Together you'll work on lifting our curse, while being near him helps with your pain."
"I'd rather have this kind of cure than none at all.. The closer Haru is to me, the sooner we'll find a true way to end our suffering, sister."
"I know."
They sat in silence for a while. Ayame stared uneasily at the fallen petal.
"Ayame," Shion spoke after a moment. "Tell me, why do I feel like I'm challenging the gods themselves with this marriage? Why does marrying Haru feel like I'm insulting them?"
"I don't know, brother," she replied sadly, eyes still on the tree.
Its leaves shifted gently, though no window was open, as if moved by an invisible breeze.
"Whatever happens, protect Haru," Shion said.
"I will," she nodded. "Shion… there's something I haven't told you…"
"What is it?"
"Do you remember a few days ago, when Haru made a scene over something you couldn't remember?" Ayame asked, a shiver of dread running through her body, warning her she shouldn't be saying these words.
"Yes."
"Everything he said… it really happened. But your memories were devoured by something that… hunts me in my dreams and visions. It stalks me. I feel it is somehow connected to our curse, but I don't know how. I don't even know what it is."
"Please, describe it."
"It looked like…"
*
"…like you. You're the one haunting my dreams!" shouted the woman standing on the rooftop.
She wore a silver cloak, her long, straight silver hair gleaming under the light, her large emerald eyes cold and bright. In her hands she held a massive staff ending in a writhing black-and-burgundy tentacle. Where her shoulders should have been, two gaping, fanged maws breathed.
She spoke directly to Haru.
"Who the hell is that freak?" Gari asked in surprise.
"Gari," Maldie said, her voice deadly serious. "Grab Haru and run with him. As fast as you can."
"Huh?"
"Do as I say, you big, dumb lizard!" Maldie snapped, her eyes flashing with emotion. She exchanged a glance with Gari, and in Maldie's gaze burned pure fear.
"But what about you?"
"I'll be fine. Just go!"
"Forgive me, boss," Gari said, scooping Haru into her arms.
Carrying him bridal-style, she broke into a sprint toward the palace.
"Don't think I'll let you take him!" the woman snarled, striking her staff against the roof.
Before Gari rose a black-and-burgundy wall of writhing tentacles, teeth, and thorns.
If it weren't for her reflexes, she'd have crashed right into it – and it would've been a disaster. She barely dodged at the last second. Again and again, the woman threw even more monstrous obstacles, but the half-dragon dodged them all.
"Well then, I'll deal with you later," the woman sighed.
"Over here, bitch!" Maldie shouted.
One of her arms transformed – muscular, clawed, unnaturally large compared to the rest of her body.
She charged at the woman, slashing from right to left, hoping to take her down in one strike.
The maws on the stranger's shoulders snapped twice. Maldie screamed in agony and collapsed before her, blood gushing from her arm.
"Know my mercy. You did no wrong, protecting someone dear to you," the woman said softly, then healed the bleeding wound with magic. She extended her hand forward.
The maid pulled herself up, trembling with pain. She stared at the stump where her right hand used to be.
Guess this is the end of my career as a maid, huh?
She looked up at the attacker with hatred.
"You're not my target," the woman replied, then vanished in a blink, leaping to the next rooftop.
"Come back! I'm not done with you yet!" Maldie shouted.
D-damn it, I can't move… Who even is she?
Maldie glanced around the city. Only now did she realize the city was eerily empty.
*
"I'm glad I could tell you all of this," Ayame said, rising to her feet. "I should be going."
When she opened the door, Gari stood there, breathless, carrying an embarrassed Haru in her arms.
"Huh? What are you two doing here?"
"Where is Prince Shion? It's bad! Some crazy woman is chasing us, saying Haru torments her dreams!"
"S-she attacked us when we were in town, trying to pick out… my outfit for tomorrow," Haru stammered shyly.
"What?"
Ayame's instincts screamed at her to turn back.
Did speaking of it to Shion… call her to us?
No, that's impossible, I…
Shion stepped forward. Haru glanced at his waist – he was carrying the blade of the allied god, no longer the simple katana from before.
"We must evacuate everyone. Go – find a safe place to hide. I will protect you," locking his gaze on Haru with a tender intensity.
"S-Shion…" Ayame whispered his name like a plea for salvation, filled with fear.
The last thing she saw was gigantic, spiked tentacles tearing the prince's chamber in half from the outside.