Claudia smiled at him as she took another deep breath.
Now, it’s time.
She opened her eyes and pushed against the curse with renewed strength. Pain seared through her body, but her voice remained unwavering.
“Lady Naila, take the bow Ashbal gave you.”
Still held back by Faraz, Naila’s eyes widened in shock.
“I’ll keep Ashbal and the curse restrained,” Claudia explained. “And Noah must stay by my side to protect me. Which means...”
Faraz’s eyes widened as the realization dawned on him. He shook his head in protest.
“Lady Claudia! You’re not suggesting... Are you really telling her to shoot His Majesty with that bow?”
“Indeed, I am.”
“Tch... Don’t move, Lady Naila!” Faraz growled, stepping back and releasing her. “If anyone’s gonna do this, it’ll be me. I owe that much to him and his father.”
Faraz sprinted, snatching up the fallen bow. The moment his fingers wrapped around it, another deafening roar filled the air as Ashbal’s transformation advanced.
“Ashbal!” Naila cried out.
“Your Highness!” Noah exclaimed as he noticed Claudia’s vision faltering for a split second. Nonetheless, Claudia persisted. She clenched her hand tighter, channeling even more magic into her spell.
“Ashbal is a magical implement born of a curse,” she muttered.
“Lady Naila, give me that arrow!” Faraz shouted.
Claudia interrupted him, her voice still calm. “Curses are born from powerful desires. In turn, they are those desires.”
Naila looked up at her. “What are you trying to say?”
Claudia faced her. “The master of the Golden Falcon’s curse is gone. The one who created Ashbal is gone. Because of that, their wishes twisted, leaving their curses unmoored and running wild. If that is the reason for Ashbal’s transformation...” Claudia’s expression softened. “Then what do you think would happen if someone living strongly wished for Ashbal to stay by her side?”
Claudia thought she saw a spark of understanding glimmer in Naila’s topaz eyes.
“No!” Faraz barked. “How can you be sure it won’t make things worse?!”
“I can’t. I have no guarantee at all. This is the first time I’ve ever dealt with something like this.”
A cursed artifact born and raised as a human. She had never heard of something like this happening.
Claudia turned back to Naila, her voice quieting. “But, tell me this, Lady Naila—what is the bow you carry meant for? Is it not meant to help you stand beside the man you love and protect him?”
Naila’s breath caught. She stood up, the fear and hesitation that had plagued her now gone. “Yes. You’re right. Thank you, Adelheid, my friend.”
“Tee hee!” Claudia beamed at her.
Noah faced Faraz, who scratched his head in bewilderment before tossing the bow to Naila.
“Thank you, Lord Faraz,” Naila said sincerely, gripping the bow tightly.
“If it becomes too dangerous, I’ll stop you, even if it means taking that bow away from you by force,” Faraz warned.
Naila nodded solemnly.
Claudia exhaled, and, at that moment, Ashbal raised his hand toward her.
“Watch out! His Majesty’s magic is coming!” Faraz shouted.
So, he’s finally lost all sense of human thought.
After a brief incantation, a torrent of searing flames burst from Ashbal’s hand, surging toward Claudia. Noah stood resolutely in the face of the flames coming toward them. Holding Claudia firmly in his arms, his eyes locked on the oncoming blaze. Without a word or gesture, a barrier surrounded them and the flames split with a deafening roar, rushing past on either side, leaving Claudia and Noah untouched.
“Lady Naila, can you draw the bow while staying behind us?” Claudia asked.
“If I can just focus for a moment...!”
“Of course. Take your time.”
Naila nodded. The girl who had lived her entire life within the harem had likely never aimed at a living target—let alone the man she loved.
And now, she had only three golden arrows—only three chances.
Still...
Ashbal’s golden wings thrashed violently, struggling against Claudia’s restraining magic with brutal force like a cornered beast making its last desperate stand.
If my body can hold on just a little longer...
Claudia winced, and the fingers on the hand that she held up toward Ashbal trembled, faltering for a brief second.
She exhaled softly and whispered, “Noah.”
Without hesitation, Noah’s hand found hers, their fingers intertwining. Claudia blinked in surprise. She smiled gently, then reached up with her free hand and stroked his hair.
“Such a good boy,” she whispered fondly. “My adorable attendant.”
Noah’s magic continued to heal her, keeping her standing despite the pain tearing through her body.
Just a little longer...
Claudia leaned into Noah for support. Forcing a smile through the agony, she called out to Ashbal.
“Now, Ashbal. Your greatest weakness—your precious girl—is standing right here.”
This had been the whole reason for bringing Naila into the fight.
Naila raised the golden bow, standing tall and steady. She radiated strength and grace, and she was so beautiful that Claudia couldn’t help but admire her.
“It’s time to accept your fate,” she continued.
Without hesitation, Naila drew the bowstring taut and released the arrow.
“Forgive the part of yourself that is irredeemably, undeniably human.”
The golden arrow sliced through the air and pierced the heart of the bird, both monstrous and golden, who had nowhere left to run.
With a sound like shattering metal, the gold encasing Ashbal fractured, breaking away in glittering shards. His body went limp as he plummeted toward the ground.
“Faraz, catch him!” Claudia called.
“On it!”
The advisor had already been on the move. He reached the spot where Ashbal would land before Naila, who had started running as soon as she saw Ashbal falling, could get there. He caught Ashbal in his arms just as the fragments of gold—dispersed by Naila’s arrow—began reshaping themselves into the silhouette of a great bird once more above his head.
“Noah, if you would,” Claudia said.
With the curse no longer in need of suppression, all that remained was its destruction. Even before Claudia had finished speaking, Noah raised his hand toward the reassembling golden bird.
Without uttering a word, he released a ball of brilliant light that consumed everything in its radiance.
From within the light came Naila’s shaking voice. “Ashbal!”
Then, layered on top of her cries, came another woman’s voice.
“Why?”
Naila’s breath caught in her throat, and Noah instinctively pulled Claudia closer, shielding her.
Claudia, who had already guessed who this voice belonged to, listened silently in his arms.
“Why is this child so precious to me?”
“Wh-Who is—?” Naila began to ask.
“He is a mere tool, an accursed child born to bring vengeance. So...why?”
“No... It couldn’t be,” Faraz murmured. He turned, his face pale, saying out loud what Claudia was thinking: “This is the voice of Lady Samira.”
“Mother?” Ashbal asked faintly in a daze, his mind still clouded. The overwhelmingly bright light dimmed, allowing their surroundings to take form once more.
Within that fading glow, the echoes of Samira’s voice continued.
“Never forget that Ashbal exists for one purpose alone: to see my vengeance fulfilled. He’s not a boy—he’s a magical tool. Yes, just a tool...”
“Ashbal.” Naila reached out to him, but before she could touch him, the voice repeated once more.
“I must never forget.”
Naila covered Ashbal’s ears. “You don’t have to listen to this! This voice—it is the true curse! You are not a tool!”
“Naila...”
“I must never forget...” Even as Naila’s hands touched him, Samira’s voice had a hold over Ashbal. “Because this hatred alone is what allows him to remain human.”
Ashbal’s breath hitched.
“I must never forget, even if I love him, even if I can no longer see him as a mere tool.”
“What...?”
“If I let go of that hatred, then my son, created from hatred and a curse, might cease to exist.”
Ashbal stirred, weakly trying to lift himself. Naila moved to support him. His body was entirely human now, and all signs of his transformation had disappeared.
“I’m sorry, Ashbal.”
The eclipse still veiled the moon in darkness, yet Ashbal remained human.
“I swear that even in death, I will cling to hatred. That’s why I will continue to tell you to destroy the Golden Falcon. I will never let go of the vow that gave you life.”
Sobs punctuated his mother’s words. Ashbal clenched his eyes shut, unable to bear her sorrow.
“Even in death, I will hate...so that you may live.”
“Mother...”
The reason Ashbal couldn’t destroy the Golden Falcon was simple, Claudia realized.
His mother had already reprogrammed his very purpose.
No matter how much she had whispered her hatred to Ashbal, her true wish had been different.
“Your mother’s pendant is beautiful, Ashbal,” Claudia told him, though she turned to look at Noah.
Noah said nothing, but he understood instantly. He reached out and brushed the sweat from Claudia’s cheek, his touch cool against her overheated skin. As he did so, Claudia continued to speak to Ashbal.
“You said that the wishes of the dead become distorted over time, but I believe some wishes are strong enough that even death cannot change them.” She exhaled softly. “While they are rare, they do exist.”
The pendant hanging on the goddess statue likely still shone just as brightly as it had on the night of Samira’s wedding.
“Your mother’s wish has never strayed,” Claudia said.
Ashbal looked at the pendant. “Never...?”
Samira had never actually wished for the Golden Falcon to be destroyed, but there was no need for Claudia to put that into words; Ashbal knew.
Ashbal stared down at his hands, flexing his fingers, opening and closing them as though to confirm that they were still his own.
“I’m still here. Does that mean I can still pretend to be human?” he asked, bewildered.
“You idiot!” Naila shouted angrily, but she nonetheless threw her arms around him, nearly knocking him over. “You have always been human to me!”
Ashbal, stunned into silence, could only listen as Naila continued, her voice thick with emotion. Claudia watched on, smiling.
“Even if you can’t, I will continue to believe it. And I’ll never stop wishing for it. I will keep you human!”
Her breath hitched as tears finally spilled down her cheeks.
“And if that isn’t good enough... If you start to become undone again, then I will do everything I can to stop you. And so...” Her last words came as a quiet whisper. “Until that day comes, you are mine, Ashbal. Not only are you human, you are the person most precious to me.”
Ashbal drew a sharp breath.
Then, finally, he laughed to cover up his embarrassment. He patted Naila on the back as she clung to him.
“I’ve never seen you cry before.”
“Shut up,” Naila mumbled against his chest.
“You’re so cute. Let me see—this might be the only time I get to see you cry.”
“Shut up!”
At last, Ashbal embraced Naila, his arms wrapping fully around her. “Thank you,” he whispered.