“You’re not even married yet, but you’re both so passionate.”
“That they are. It reminds me of us, in our younger days. Although I won’t let them beat me!”
“Oh, darling, stop that!”
“I need to talk to my fiancée with this much passion!”
“I’d advise you not to, little brother of mine.”
Cecily and Zeke paid the family no heed, and remained in their own little world.
✧ ✧ ✧
And so, Cecily decided to travel back to her hometown with Zeke, her first boyfriend. However, one big problem stood in their way—and that was the rule of witch society.
When a witch turns fifteen, she must spend two years journeying the world. This was one of the absolute rules of witch society.
But I’ve not done any traveling...
Cecily, who didn’t know her right from her left, had cried as she’d left her home and ended up in a small hut near the royal capital, where she had spent an uneventful year. She had hardly gone anywhere else.
However, that wasn’t the issue—the problem was in the fact that she was still sixteen. Even if she could hide the fact that she hadn’t seen any of the world, she couldn’t lie about her age. Was it really okay for her to return home? Would she be ousted as soon as someone in the village saw her face? She was terribly worried.
When there’s something you don’t know, ask someone who might!
With this thought in mind, Cecily headed back to the Snowflower Palace, where her mother was still staying.
The redheaded witch, who was enjoying an elegant teatime in the garden, was as youthful and beautiful as ever today. Her long eyelashes, which curled gracefully, delicately decorated her eyes.
Greta happily greeted her daughter, who had suddenly arrived.
“What a surprise, Cecily! Everything all okay? Why not have a cookie?”
As soon as Cecily sat down in the seat that was offered to her, she got right to the heart of the matter.
“Mom, I want to marry Zeke!”
“Do you now? Sounds good to me.”
As expected, Greta gave her approval easily. Well, maybe a bit more easily than she’d expected.
“Zeke is a dashing young man. Well done on winning over a gentleman as gallant as him. He reminds me of my darling when he was younger.”
“He does?”
“Yes, although my darling is still as dashing as ever!”
“Right...”
Greta was happily laughing to herself, but Cecily wasn’t sure how to take her mother’s words. Yes, Zeke was dashing, but she felt weird to hear Greta say Zeke was like Cecily’s father. Cecily’s father was cute in the way that mascots are cute—he was the farthest thing from your typical handsome gentleman. However, Cecily knew it wouldn’t be polite to argue the matter, so she brought the conversation back on track.
“I need dad to give his blessing, so I have to go back to our witch village. Oh—only for a few days, though. Zeke can’t get too much time off from his duties.”
Cecily’s explanation was full of excuses, but Greta nodded as if this was no big deal.
“Yes, why not? I don’t see the problem.”
“Are you sure?”
Cecily was taken aback by how casual her mother’s reply was. But Greta went on.
“I mean, you’re only returning temporarily, right? There’s no one keeping watch every second of every day. If you pretend it’s been two years, then I think most people will take your word for it.”
Greta had seen through Cecily’s worry without her needing to explain a thing. All the same, her anxiety wouldn’t dissipate so easily.
“You think?”
“I do.”
Cecily tried her best to practice a light expression that said, Hey, I can’t believe it’s been two years!
Greta took a sip of tea, then let out a bewitching sigh.
“I don’t think my darling will agree to the marriage that easily, though.”
“Me neither...”
Cecily’s shoulders slumped in dismay. Greta pushed a cookie into Cecily’s upset lips.
“You need to smile at times like these, Cecily. It’s a request from his darling daughter! I’m sure even your father won’t treat it with complete disdain.”
“Mom, can you help me convince him?”
Cecily’s father agreed to most things her mother asked for with a beaming smile.
“This is something you and Zeke need to accomplish on your own, no?”
Yes—she was right. Cecily could think of nothing to say to that, and so munched on the cookie. It was delicious. The Snowflower Palace’s pâtissiers were all top-class.
“Cecily, I’ll be leaving the Snowflower Palace soon.”
“Really? Why?”
Greta chuckled. “A good woman is flighty and prone to boredom. Well, my love for my darling doesn’t waver, though.” She winked at her daughter, but Cecily didn’t take her mother at her word.
“Don’t you mean you’re flighty and prone to boredom?”
“Insolent children get the pinchy punishment!” Greta said, as she pinched Cecily’s cheeks.
“Waaah! Stop it!” Cecily screamed.
“Cecily’s...going home...?”
From the shadows, a lone girl watched the scene, but Cecily, with tears in her eyes as she ran away, didn’t notice her at all.
✧ ✧ ✧
Things progressed quickly after that.
It was fortunate that there were few reports of rampant magical beasts in any areas recently, and that the Celestial Knight Brigade weren’t being forced to go out on any missions.
Zeke’s request for a vacation was accepted. In fact, the higher-ups even told Zeke that this was a good opportunity for him to get some well-earned rest—everyone knew that Zeke worked even on holidays.
It all seemed to be progressing well. However, on the day of their departure, a problem occurred.
“Please, cheer up, will you?”
The target of Zeke’s pleading was a creature with white, boulder-like skin—Zeke’s partner, a wyvern called Snow.
“Snow! Are you listening?”
However, Snow gave no indication that she was. She merely looked away, those intelligent blue eyes making it evident that she was in a bad mood. Her refusal to look at the pleading Zeke reminded Cecily of a petulant child.
Cecily and Rolo watched the pair of them from outside the stables. The wyverns that the Celestial Knight Brigade rode were usually peaceful, but possessed a hidden violent side. For their own safety, it was forbidden for outsiders to enter the stables.
“Zeke, is she not willing to be left alone?” Cecily said in a small voice. However, Zeke shook his head weakly. He turned round to talk to her.
“I’m sorry, Cecily. It’ll take a little while longer to convince her.”
Zeke seemed genuinely sorry, but he didn’t have a clue of what to do to fix Snow’s bad mood.
Usually, there was no better partner on a long-distance trip than a wyvern. Snow could clear a distance that would take three days by carriage in a single trip. However, it was forbidden to use wyverns for personal reasons. Zeke currently had no missions as the captain of the Celestial Knight Brigade, and would merely be flying with Cecily to her hometown—if he asked Snow to take them just for the sake of saving time, he would receive a far harsher punishment than simply having to write an apologetic report to the higher-ups.
Due to this, it was decided that they would get Snow to stay on her own in the stables, but she wasn’t remotely interested. In fact, she seemed more and more against the idea every time Zeke had lowered his head and asked her over the past few days.
Wyverns were smart creatures, and only warmed up to the person that took care of them. If Snow didn’t agree to be left alone, then it would be dangerous to leave her in the hands of the other knights while Zeke was away.
It would be the worst thing if one of the knights got injured while we were away.
Cecily shook her head to rid herself of the thought. She had made Zeke let her come today in order to fix the situation.
“Zeke, would it be okay if I spoke to Snow?”
“Really?” However, Zeke readily agreed with a small nod. “If you could, please. But it’s dangerous, so don’t get any closer than this.”
“Of course.”
Cecily nodded to Zeke before slowly coming out from behind the stable door. Snow, who had been refusing to look at Zeke, tilted her entire head towards Cecily. Cecily’s red eyes locked with Snow’s blue ones.
It was a witch who tamed the wyverns long ago. I’m a witch too.
Wyverns were once vicious magical beasts that were impossible to tame. However, that had all changed thanks to the power of witches. Cecily didn’t know what she must have done, but an ancient witch had transformed wyverns into creatures that could be tamed by human hands. As for Snow herself, she had once gone on a rampage in the past before Cecily’s call had stopped her.
Cecily wasn’t sure how well it would go, but she was ready to try, just as she had back then.
Although it was scary being grabbed in Snow’s jaws that time...
Even remembering that day caused her head to twinge with pain.
She hadn’t asked Snow to carry her up into the sky in her mouth that day, so in all honesty, she wasn’t confident about this time. However, she had to try.
“Hello, Snow. It’s been a while. How have you been?”
Cecily tried to keep her voice as gentle as possible. Snow slowly blinked in response—almost as if she were returning Cecily’s greeting.
“Listen, Zeke has taken time off to see my dad. We’re going to go see him so that we can receive his blessing to get married.”
Cecily spoke softly, as if she were speaking to a dear friend.
Snow might have been a girl, but she wasn’t a rival for Zeke’s romantic affection. That wasn’t because Snow was a wyvern, but because she was Zeke’s trusted partner. Cecily and Snow weren’t enemies, but Zeke’s allies who could coexist. Snow was Zeke’s fangs, his shield, his wings—and she was important to Cecily as well.