KATHARINA
After leading the pup inside, I stopped paying attention to it entirely, even as it trotted behind me.
Instead, I walked toward my potion room, opened the door, and stepped in. As I reached back to close it, I caught the pup trying to slip its tiny body forward.
What a cunning little thing.
Immediately, I stretched out my leg to block it.
My lips curled in an enigmatic smile as I looked down.
"You want to enter?" I asked, meeting its bewildered eyes.
Its expression practically said: You brought me in already. Why are you stopping me now?
Ignoring its confusion, my smile deepened, then I lowered myself slightly, meeting its gaze on purpose.
"Too bad. This room is off-limits. You may wait outside… or leave if you lack the patience. Do as you wish."
Then without another word, I ruthlessly shut the door in its face.
Remembering that dazed, dopey look it had given me, a soft chuckle involuntarily slipped out.
The sound startled me, and my expression froze. But a moment later, it smoothed over into impassive calm.
In the same breath, I turned away from the door and walked toward the massive cauldron standing right at the center of the room.
A foul, bitter smell rose from the dark, reddish liquid simmering inside, but my nose didn't even twitch.
This was my latest attempt at creating the cure for immortality.
It required rare, unusual ingredients—a considerable part from the poisonous plants in my garden—and had to be brewed continuously under an undying flame for exactly 1,300 days, with new components added every 100 days.
And today was the final day.
The 1,300th.
As for how I acquired the ingredients despite not taking a step out of here…
That was the easiest part.
I turned my right palm upward, pressed my left thumb and middle fingers together, closed my eyes, and murmured a search-and-summon incantation—a spell meant for locating and pulling ownerless objects within a restricted range.
A heartbeat later, it appeared in my palm.
Lava Bloom.
A crimson flower that grew only in volcanic crevices.
Said to be an all-antidote, capable of counteracting every poison in existence.
And the final ingredient for my potion.
Without hesitation, I tossed it into the cauldron.
Then watched closely as the decoction turned a molten red, bubbling violently as if ready to overflow—yet it didn't. Instead, it fizzed out in an instant, the liquid shrinking rapidly until only a thin layer remained at the bottom.
Then it crumbled into black powder.
Another failure.
My expression didn't change.
To say I wasn't disappointed would be a lie. But after thousands of failures, the feeling barely left a mark on me anymore.
Instead, I preferred focusing on more practical things.
Like reviewing the entire process in my mind, searching for where it went wrong.
Afterward, I picked up a thick, leather-bound journal: one of many, from the side table and flipped to a half-filled page.
This was my 8,999th entry, each one a record of another ruined attempt.
Was I tired? Yes.
Was I frustrated? Also yes.
But until I achieved my desire—either to become a mortal or die trying—I could not afford to stop.
Lately, I kept having a premonition.
A whisper telling me that the day I longed for was drawing near.
That alone kept me going.
My pen danced across the page, filling the remaining space with notes. Then I paused, thinking for a moment before turning to a fresh page.
My 9,000th entry.
Maybe this one will be the real cure, I thought with the same hope I'd carried the previous 8,999 times.
—
XANDER
I had high expectations when I followed her inside, imagining uncovering some of her secrets, no matter how trivial, without much trouble.
Reality was far from it.
She locked me out of the room she entered, a place I instinctively knew held considerable significance.
I nudged the heavy oak door with my small body. When it didn't move an inch, disappointment washed over me.
But then I thought, it wasn't over.
I still had time until dawn. Maybe she would come out before that, and I'd get my chance.
With that thought, I relaxed slightly, crouched down, and stationed myself as a determined door guard.
Time flew by, during which I even dozed off.
When I woke, the door still remained firmly shut.
Meanwhile, my strength was returning steadily, which meant dawn was approaching.
Soon I would shift back into my human form, and I could not let her see that.
But leaving now felt wrong.
How can I be sure I'll be able to find this place again?
From her words, she'd cast enchantments around this place, so it'll likely vanish from sight once I left.
Besides, as the Alpha of my pack, I couldn't simply ignore a mysterious witch of unknown origins living this close to my territory.
Mate or not, she was a potential threat—until proven otherwise.
As I lingered by the door, frustration and impatience gnawed at me.
Minutes slipped by, one after another, until a familiar tingling crawled beneath my skin—the warning sign of the transformation.
My time was up.
Reluctantly, I got to my feet, cast one last lingering look at the closed door, and sprinted toward the back exit—the same way she had led me in.
Thankfully, she hadn't locked it.
With my strength nearly restored, I nudged it open and slipped outside with ease.
The moon had already dimmed—daybreak was close.
But a bigger problem hit me almost at once.
Which way led out of here?
Stumbling into this place had been nothing but sheer luck. Now, without its enigmatic owner to guide me, every direction felt wrong.
A moment later, a thought clicked into place and my gaze drifted toward the rose garden.
I'd collapsed somewhere around there earlier.
If I was lucky, the exit might be nearby.
I took a step forward, then froze.
I hadn't paid attention before, but now that I looked properly, I instantly recognized the plants in the herb garden.
Belladonna. Hemlock. Mandrake.
And worst of all—
Wolfsbane.
Every strand of fur on my body bristled in instinctive alarm.
With all these poisonous plants clustered together, the very air here should have been lethal. Yet I'd managed to walk past earlier in one piece.
There was only one explanation.
She had protected me, quietly and subtly.
At that realization, something flickered in my chest. Something heavy, tangled, and unreadable.
But sentiment wouldn't save me now.
Without her protection, I couldn't risk stepping into that poisonous miasma again.
Fortunately, I spotted a narrow path that curved around the garden.
I stepped onto it, my movements cautious as I watched out for any hidden traps she might have laid.
None appeared.
Eventually, I reached the rose garden again and circled its perimeter, searching methodically for anything unusual.
I came up empty. No exit was in sight.
A tight knot formed in my chest.
If I kept wandering in circles like this, my secret might truly be exposed to my enigmatic mate the moment dawn breaks…
Right then—
I caught sight of a faint swirl of white at the far end of the garden.
Fog?
My heart leapt.
If it was the same fog that shrouded the forest outside…
Then that meant—
The exit!
Without hesitation, I sprinted toward it.