Vierna was finally dismissed. The interrogation’s weight still pressed on her narrow shoulders, heavier than any chain. Sleep had been a stranger since the schemes against Robert, and now her body felt ready to collapse.

  She slipped back into the dim guest room. Lina lay sprawled across the straw mattress, mouth parted, snoring softly. Blissfully unaware. Vierna’s lips curved in a faint smile. For all the blood and lies, at least Lina could rest. That was enough.

  Vierna leaned against the wall, knees pulled up, and let herself sink down. Then she closed her eyes and reached inward.

  Moony?

  Silence at first. Then, with effort, a thread of consciousness opened. After a long moment of meditation, the spirit allowed her in.

  ‘…Hi… Vierna…’ Moony’s voice rasped, every syllable brittle.

  The sight staggered her. Moony’s pale-white glow had dimmed to ash. Wounds that had once sealed now tore open again, spilling light like blood. She looked like a soldier dragged off a battlefield—broken, barely holding on.

  Moony! Vierna rushed to her spirit and gathered her into her arms, though she didn’t know what to say or do.

  ‘I… did good, am I?’

  You did, Moony. You’d make Lina proud.

  ‘Hehe… praise me more, Vierna…’

  You’re the best spirit I could ever ask for. You’re cute—and I love you so much.

  ‘Hehe… thanks.’

  Vierna brushed a hand gently through Moony’s hair. She looked again at the gaping wound. From the torn edges seeped a vermilion hue, like threads of light unspooling from her very being. It pulsed weakly, leaking across her form in ribbons that shimmered and then broke apart into dust. The cracks along her body were jagged, glowing faintly as if her soul had been scored with a burning knife. In some places the light had hardened into crystalline scabs, brittle and ready to split at the slightest touch. Black trails ran along her skin as well, like her veins were filled with ink bleeding outward.

  What can I do to help you?

  ‘I don’t know what to do. But please go easy on magic for now, she whispered. Tell Herr Halwen… later.’

  Vierna’s mission had just grown more complicated. She had never possessed much magic to begin with—yet now, she would have to restrain herself even further.

  ‘Vierna… I will go to sleep now… try to get some rest, maybe that would… help us.’

  I will Moony.

  As she said this, she returned to the dusty room. She contemplated that even if the Arkmarschall counted it as training, the weight of it was like a millstone chained to her chest—crushing, relentless, impossible to cast off.

  What awaits me when Operation Ewige Schlange finally begins? Will I even last until then? Can we even prove ourselves capable of pulling it off?

  The question gnawed at her, and with no way to answer it, she tried to sleep it off.

  “Hmmm… Vierna? Is that you?”

  The weak, raspy voice jolted Vierna awake. Lina was looking at her, eyes glossy with tears — whether from pain or exhaustion, Vierna couldn’t tell. They gleamed like onyx splashed with water, serene despite the flagellation and the hasty stitching she had just endured.

  Her lips curved into a small smile, the kind one gives when seeing someone thought long lost finally return. The sight made Vierna both glad and achingly sad. If someone like Lina was not spared from the cruelty of the world, then truly no one was.

  Vierna couldn’t control herself. The things Lina had said while being stitched — especially the part where she asked why Vierna had let them hurt her — felt like a shard of obsidian lodged in her heart. She knew Lina had been disoriented when she said it, yet it cut too close to home, echoing the same question Vierna kept asking herself.

  She pulled Lina into her arms and held her as tightly as she could, forgetting that her poor girlfriend had just endured what no thirteen-year-old ever should.

  “Ouch… careful, it still hurts.”

  Vierna looked up at her. “I’m sorry, Lina…”

  Lina met her gaze, seeing gladness and sorrow mingled in equal measure. She let Vierna cling to her and reached up to brush her hair back.

  “Aww, look at you. So clingy now.”

  Vierna didn’t answer. She only pressed closer, too busy holding on. All her anger, all her fury, seemed to burn itself out in that single embrace.

  Lina glanced around. “Where are we?”

  “We’re at the back of the hall. Where you were stitched. Do you remember it?”

  Lina put her fingers on her head. She closed her eyes, trying to recalled the event. “I remember a few things… but some of it still slips away. What actually happened?”

  “Well, you kind of screamed my real name.”

  Lina’s face darkened at the revelation. “What? Then… is our mis-“

  Vierna clamped a hand over Lina’s mouth, then slipped to the door, pressing her ear against the wood. She cracked it open to check the hall, found it empty, then scanned the corners of the room, under the furniture, even the narrow window.

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  “Calm down,” Vierna whispered. “I’ve managed the fallout for now. The chief isn’t convinced, but the fact he hasn’t thrown us out means we still have a chance.

  “So… we haven’t failed?”

  Vierna shook her head.

  “Thank God,” Lina breathed. “I don’t know what I’d do if all of that was for nothing.” She fixed her eyes on Vierna, the relief in her voice edged with seriousness. “What did I actually say during the treatment?”

  Her eyes wavered at the question. She didn’t want to reveal what Lina had said to her during the treatment. “It was nothing important… besides calling me by my real name.”

  “Vierna, don’t lie. I know you too well. I must have said something that disturbed you.”

  She looked at Lina in disbelief. “How could you tell?”

  Lina lifted her chin with mock pride, the corner of her lips curling into a mischievous grin. “Hehe… you can’t hide anything from me. You may be good at reading books, but I’m good at reading you. You could say I’m a Viernalogist.”

  “Viernalogist?”

  “It’s a branch of science that studies my cute girlfriend.” Lina pinched Vierna’s cheek as she said it.

  “Aww… Lina…” Vierna complained playfully.

  Lina snickered. “So tell me everything. What did I say? And don’t you dare hide anything from me — I’d know about it.”

  “Well. If you say so.”

  Then Vierna went into a full, detailed explanation of what Lina had said during the treatment. She even mimicked the broken tone in which the words had spilled out, her voice wavering as though the memory itself stung. Lina listened closely, her eyes widening little by little, her lips parting as if she wanted to interrupt but couldn’t bring herself to. Her fingers twisted at the hem of the blanket, shoulders stiff, yet she never looked away.

  When Vierna finally finished, silence hung between them. Lina’s fingers tightened around the blanket, knuckles whitening as her gaze dropped to her lap. Her breath shuddered out, uneven, as if she were holding back words she couldn’t quite form. At last she shook her head, disbelief flickering across her face — though not once did she doubt Vierna’s words.

  Vierna hesitated, then continued, telling her what happened after—how Loran’del had led her away, how he set the tea before her, how the haze crept into her mind and how she had to pretend to be entranced. She spoke of his calm questions, the sharpness behind them, and the weight of every half-truth she’d been forced to feed him.

  She also told Lina that Loran’del hadn’t been entirely convinced by her act, and that she should be careful around him if she ever found herself speaking with him.

  Lina listened in silence, her hand never leaving Vierna’s, her eyes darkening with every detail.

  While Lina hadn’t asked about this part, Vierna didn’t want to hide anything from her. It was too important, not only because of what she had endured but because it concerned how they would proceed with their mission. She explained how she had managed to partially convince Loran’del.

  “But it’s really weird,” Lina said. “Why did he suspect us? We helped his village when he basically did nothing.”

  “Well, maybe he is hiding something? Or maybe he was just paranoid, I’am not really sure.”

  “But your alibi about that seems airtight. I mean, it’s not far-fetched if Korrn did something that degrading — like changing your real name into something that sounds like a strumpet’s name.”

  “A strumpet’s name?” Vierna laughed. “So in your mind, Crysta is a strumpet’s name?”

  “Yeah, of course!” Lina looked at her with a serious expression.

  “Haha… I’ll make sure to remember that. You’ve got a strange sense for how certain names sound.” Vierna’s laugh. “So anyway becareful with Loran’del— a single slip-up could set him off.”

  Lina rubbed her chin. “Tell me more about the tea. Does it have a particular smell or anything?”

  “No, I don’t think so… It just hurts when I lie and does nothing when I’m honest. I told Loran’del I helped because I hate seeing corruption happen right in front of me — yet Moony didn’t scream during it. But I’am confused, the first time I drank it, Moony instantly scream, maybe there is more to the tea than just a lie detector.”

  “Hmmm, what else?”

  Vierna tried to recall everything she might have missed. Finally, after she told Lina everything. Lina stared at her for a long moment, her throat working as if to swallow something heavy. She reached out, brushed a strand of hair from Vierna’s face, and let her fingers linger there. Only then did she whisper, “You did good, Vierna… I’m so proud of you.”

  Vierna’s cheeks warmed as she lowered her gaze. “No… I only endured a little,” she murmured. “You’re the one who was humiliated in front of everyone. I just… I just hope it won’t follow you back into your real body.”

  Lina fell silent. Her hand drifted behind her, brushing lightly across the fresh stitches as if testing the shape of what lay beneath. Her eyes lowered, then slowly lifted to meet Vierna’s again. A small, resolute smile touched her lips.

  “Don’t worry. Even if the scars stay on my real body, it’s okay.”

  Vierna tilted her head. “Why?”

  “Because it would show that I didn’t just dump all the burdens on you. That we fight together.”

  Vierna smiled. Lina was always like this, accepting everything even when it scared her. Which reminds her that she should probably tell her about Moony.

  “Lina, the tea Loran’del gave me back then. I am not sure what it does but it hurt Moony, like a lot. She endured the pain so it wouldn’t slipped on me.”

  She looked at Vierna, her brows drawn tight. Her fingers, which had been resting loosely against Vierna’s hand, curled and held on more firmly. Her lips parted as if she had to push the words past the knot in her throat. “Is she all right now?”

  “I don’t think she is. She told me to go easy on magic. Lina… I’m scared… what if Moony’s condition makes me unable to use magic again?”

  “Calm down, Vierna.” Lina said, “for now try to use mana for a bit.”

  Vierna focused on her palm, trying to make something out of it. She managed to make a cube of ice by focusing.

  “See?”

  “But the mana… It felt weaker than before.” Vierna worried.

  “But that means it was still there. When we go back to Uncle and the Arkmarschall, make sure they know about your condition.” Lina flicked a rune in the air, then reached inside and pulled out a small bottle of red potion. “Here, drink this.”

  It was a Vitality Potion, said to heal any injury when the time came. Vierna uncorked it and took a drink.

  Moony, do you feel anything?

  ‘No… I don’t. The wound’s still here.’

  “Moony said she didn’t feel any change,” Vierna reported.

  Lina sighed in disappointment. “Oh well, so much for ‘heal all injuries.’ I should drink this too.” She took the bottle from Vierna and downed the remaining contents. Then she began to undress. “Could you check my back?”

  Vierna went around her and look at her back. The wound that previously was swollen and inflamed, its edges puckered and raw around the fresh black stitches, was now easing. The angry redness faded to a softer hue, the skin no longer stretched tight against the thread. Where it had looked wet and tender before, it was now drying, the swelling receding as the flesh knit closer together. A faint warmth pulsed beneath the surface — not feverish, but alive — as if the potion was coaxing the body to mend faster than nature ever could.

  “I think it work. How do you feel?”

  “Better actually.” Lina said

  “That means the potion only deal with physical injury and not spiritual one.”

  Lina scratches her head. “Just our damn luck huh?”

  Vierna laughed a little. “Well, let’s focus on what we’re going to do tomorrow. Herr Loran’del said that there is something I can do, maybe I can use it to gather information.”

  “Hmm… what are you exactly going to do tomorrow Vierna?”

  She rubbed her chin. “Well, besides reading books, the only thing I’m confident about is… hunting.”

  Lina recalled the memory. Vierna had learned about hunting from Sieg. It was out of necessity, a way to avoid his “rewards” in the form of raw meat.

  “But you learned it from that… animal.”

  Vierna looked at Lina. “I’m glad you’re worried about me. But right now, I’ll use everything I have at my disposal to make our mission successful.”

  “Are you going to be okay, Vierna?”

  She hugged Lina again, burying her head against her chest. “As long as you’re around, I’ll be okay, Lin.”

  “Me too. We’re going to be okay,” Lina answered.