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The light of a little oil lamp flickered on a mountain enveloped by darkness. In its glow, Cecily let out a sigh and wiped her brow.
“That’s done. Next...”
“Ngh...”
Cecily’s eyes darted back to Zeke. As he lay atop his white shirt, he had opened his eyes.
“Sir Zeke! You’re awake!”
Cecily had called out to him with a beaming smile, but it appeared that Zeke was still a bit out of it.
“I...”
Zeke spoke, but his voice was so croaky and quiet that Cecily couldn’t hear him.
He slowly pulled himself upright, and Cecily helped him sit up. She opened the canteen she’d brought with her and held it out to him hesitantly.
“Would you like some water?”
“...Thanks,” Zeke said with a small nod before taking the canteen. He took a slow draft from it. Cecily sighed with relief to see his throat successfully taking in the water.
“Does it hurt anywhere? Did you hit your head?”
“I’m okay. I didn’t hit my head, no.”
Zeke seemed lucid. What a relief.
Cecily pushed Zeke back down to the ground. It was getting cold, and he seemed all right, so Cecily buttoned his shirt back up and laid a blanket over him.
She had finished tending to his larger wounds. Now, she washed his cuts and scratches with water, then applied ointments to them before bandaging them up.
The medicines she was using had all been brought for the journey. Cecily might still have had a long way to go as a witch, but she was sure they should work.
Zeke watched Cecily busily take care of him, following her with his eyes. Then, in the next moment, he began to mutter.
“I told you, fairy king. I just want an antidote to the love potion... So stop showing me these illusions of her...”
“Excuse me?”
Did he just say “fairy king”? Did he really not hit his head?
From what Cecily had seen of Zeke, he didn’t seem to be badly injured—he was mostly suffering from a lack of sleep and physical exhaustion. It was this tiredness that had caused him to lose his footing in the dark.
“There’s no way Cecily’s out here by my side right now. Wait... Am I dead? And being blessed with a happy dream?” Zeke had begun muttering some nonsense to himself while Cecily was busy tending to him and tidying her belongings. “Of course... This is a dream. If the last thing I see is Cecily, then it’s not been a bad life...”
“Um...”
Cecily tried to speak up to tell him he was wrong, but realized she shouldn’t. Zeke was evidently not in his right mind. If he was so tired that he was talking nonsense, it would be best not to say anything that would cause him unnecessary stress.
“Yes, this is a dream, Sir Zeke. You’re in the middle of a dream.”
“No... This isn’t a dream.”
Cecily froze in shock. How had he come to that realization so quickly?
Zeke went on in a quiet voice that was full of exhaustion.
“Cecily wouldn’t call me that. She wouldn’t talk to me so politely.”
Zeke’s voice was full of resignation. He bit his lower lip, then looked at Cecily with suspicion.
“Why are you here?”
“Mom told me you left, so I came chasing after you. I thought perhaps you might get lost on the mountain.”
“I’m fine. So hurry back.” To Cain, Zeke thought, but did not say.
However, Cecily wasn’t going to simply do what Zeke told her.
“Sir Zeke, I have a request. Give me your hair and blood.”
“My hair? And my...blood?”
Zeke’s eyes creased in confusion, but Cecily bravely spoke what was on her mind.
“I want to make a love potion.”
Zeke’s mouth fell open.
“What did you say?”
Cecily placed her hand upon her chest and explained. “If I drink a love potion made from your hair and blood, then I should fall in love with you. If I do that, then it might counteract the effects of the love potion Cain made.”
Zeke was stunned into silence.
“The way everyone’s been acting has made me sure of it. Cain slipped me a love potion, correct? In that case, if I drink another one—”
“Is this some kind of joke?” Zeke said, his mouth twisting into a grimace.
“I’m not playing around!” Cecily said, refusing to budge. Zeke must have noticed that Cecily was serious, for he merely looked at her with a frown. He spoke again after a short silence.
“Please, don’t even suggest such nonsense.” These cold words, a rejection of Cecily’s wishes, echoed through the night air. “You love Cain, right? Drinking another love potion will solve nothing. Do you want your heart to simply be under the control of a potion your whole life?”
Zeke’s voice was cold, and his gaze was like icy daggers.
“I...”
As Cecily fell quiet, Zeke continued, as if he had just been proved right.
“You love Cain, don’t you?” he repeated.
“I...do not!” Cecily’s cry rang out. “I don’t, I don’t, I don’t! I don’t love him!”
“Cecily?”
Zeke looked concerned. The hand that he reflexively held out to her was pulled back slowly in the next moment. He wasn’t sure if he should touch Cecily. After all—she had drunk a love potion.
But Cecily wanted Zeke to touch her, even if she had to force him. However, she couldn’t put this emotion into words. All she could do was force out the things she wanted to say, as if rage had taken over her senses.
“The reason this hurts so much isn’t because I love Cain! If I loved Cain, then my heart wouldn’t be in so much pain right now! If I could really leave you alone, then I would be back in the village talking to Cain right now!”
Cecily spoke earnestly, her hand held upon her chest. Tears blurred her vision. As she let them fall, she spoke her thoughts.
“Every time I look at you, I can’t breathe. It’s like I want to cry. I don’t... I don’t think these emotions are fake.”
Zeke could only look at Cecily with bewilderment written across his face. And yet, deep within his hazel eyes lay hope. Which is why Cecily continued to speak, even as her words dared to fail her.
“It’s not...Cain.” The one in her heart was someone else. “It’s no one else. It’s you that I want to know more, Sir Zeke.”
Zeke touched Cecily’s cheek as she spoke with all her might. He rose again into a seated position. Cecily’s hand touched his broad chest of its own accord.
Zeke held his breath. His body felt hot, and Cecily felt almost as if she would melt into its warmth. She tugged up his head to face her, and they stared at each other.
“Are you sure, Cecily? At this rate...I won’t be able to resist kissing you.”
“...Then do it.”
The words had finally made their way to Cecily’s lips. After a moment of hesitation, those same lips were touched by Zeke’s.
Their lips were only together for a few seconds, but still, a hot shock passed over Cecily’s entire body.
“I knew it...”
A single tear fell from Cecily’s eye.
“I know these lips well, Zeke,” Cecily said, happy tears in her eyes.
Zeke’s own eyes widened in surprise and disbelief.
“Cecily, I...”
However, Cecily did not find out what he intended to say next, for his body gently toppled over.
Cecily rushed towards him to stop him from falling, but it was too late. He was already unconscious. His body weight almost pulled Cecily down too, but she called out again and again.
“Zeke? Zeke?! Are you okay?!”
His eyes were closed. There was no response from him.
“Zeke! Cecy!”
From afar came Alphonse’s voice. There was a light there.
“We’re over here, Sir Alphonse!” Cecily shouted with all her might, clasping Zeke close to her so that they would never be apart ever again.