Chapter 31 Prelude to the Storm: A Dance Between Witches and Cats.
The moment the three-headed dog bit Ashlin, Lucas's heart stopped beating.
Time slowed down, and he heard someone screaming before realizing it was his own voice.
He was ice-cold, a tremendous panic seeping into every bone in his body, and by the time he finally reached her, it seemed too late.
The three-headed dog howled, then collapsed heavily, turning into dust that disappeared into the earth. The grass stained with the corpse dust turned as charred as charcoal.
Ashlin huddled in the green cloak, her golden hair a messy tangle of stone and earth.
Lucas hurried over. His paws trembled so much he could barely do anything.
Finally, he mustered his courage, opened Ashlin's hand, and gently patted her pulse with his paw.
She is still alive.
Lucas breathed a sigh of relief, but he wasn't too concerned about her being alive and unharmed. He examined the area where she had been bitten, but found no wound.
"Is she alright?" Aidan rushed over, sniffling. "Oh my God!"
He turned Ashlin over; she appeared to be unconscious, but she didn't have any serious injuries.
Lucas patted her green cloak, feeling a powerful, warm magic surge through his body.
He gasped.
“This is no ordinary elven cloak,” he said. “It bears an ancient defensive spell. Without it, she would…”
"What a delightful surprise!" Aidan exclaimed, pinching his nose. "First it's the dragonbone bow, then the defensive cloak... what else do you two have that I don't know about?"
Lucas snorted; there was much the elven grand musician didn't know.
The thought of Aidan in Ashlin's mind, which he had just seen during the shared memories, filled him with a strange annoyance. In fact, he felt his fondness for those 276 volumes of Aidan's scores was waning considerably.
However, the cloak and dragonbone bow were merely a stroke of luck for them. Without that luck, they would probably all be chewed up by now.
Just then, footsteps sounded, and a shadow fell on Lucas and Ashlin.
"Need help?" Melia asked, with six elven knights behind her.
Aidan called for reinforcements.
The elves burned Tara's body.
Before the raging fire, the knights' eyes reddened, while Tara's mother, Elena, sobbed uncontrollably.
Lucas wanted to comfort her, but he was just a helpless cat.
Besides, what else could he possibly say?
Knowing that it was he, not Tara, who should have died wouldn't make Elena any better. Tara was a hero; he didn't even deserve to speak up for her.
He should have been the one sacrificed. Cerberus was after him because the Magic Flute was on him.
He shouldn't have been alive in the first place. As the son of a human king, he was constantly being saved, even though he never wanted to be saved. He should have died when he coughed up blood in the palace; then nothing would have happened. Elaine would have inherited the throne without question, Ashlin could have continued studying herbalism or embarking on adventures that interested her more, and the elven knight would have survived. He would have gone to the spirit world, free from any involvement in dark magic.
Lucas has never faced real death, the most recent one being his so-called lung disease.
He still came to Elena's side.
“She was a true knight,” the black cat said. “She saved my life. If only I could have done something…”
Elena shook her head.
"She saved my life too. Believe me, I wanted to do that more than you do. Now I'm alive, but what does it all mean?"
She would want you to live a happy life.
Elena smiled through her tears.
Lucas was in agony; every second he spent there made him feel like he was the one who had killed Tara. But cats don't cry for dead elves.
Why was he always so incompetent? If he had been armed, Tara might not have died so suddenly.
He returned to Ashlin's room.
She was already awake, but did not get up. She simply lay quietly on the soft bed, her fingertips tracing the silver patterns on the Nocali Flute.
The sunlight flowed gently through her golden hair, and even her long eyelashes shimmered with golden light.
She was silhouetted against the light, appearing hazy and indistinct, as if she might disappear at any moment.
He leaped lightly onto her blanket.
"It reminds me that I will never keep a dog again," Ashlin said.
...It seems I wasn't dreaming.
Lucas felt a weight lifted from his shoulders, but then he was filled with disbelief.
"Is this the first thing you said after surviving your brush with death?"
"It's hard to make me die," she shrugged.
“This is no joke. If it weren’t for that cloak, you would be finished,” Lucas said. “What were you thinking? The dark monster wouldn’t enter the spirit world immediately; if you went there so quickly, you would inevitably face a counterattack.”
Ashlin frowned unhappily.
"I was terrified at the time. I was exhausted and anxious. Besides, I don't deal with dark monsters every day, you know? If it were you, you might have made the same mistake."
"impossible."
A slight smile played on her lips: "Are you worried about me, Your Highness?"
“Of course,” Lucas said, then added, “I mean, after all, I wouldn’t be a prince again without you. We’re not done with that yet.”
Ashlin's smile faded, and she pouted.
"Yes, that's the only thing you care about."
"You still want to show mercy to that monster?" Lucas asked astutely. "Why?"
“Tara did disrupt the balance, bringing Mother back to life—a life for a life—but that was just Cerberus’s job,” Ashlin said. “It wasn’t evil enough to intentionally harm people. But…”
“No creature that grows from darkness deserves any sympathy,” Lucas said. “Perhaps your feelings for dragons have led you astray, but Cerberus, Chimera, and Hydra… they are pure monsters, devoid of any emotion, Ashlin. Swear to me, don’t waste your heart on any more superfluous lives.”
Their eyes met, time seemed to stand still, and the warm golden sunlight melted into Ashlin's brown-green eyes, reminiscent of honey in chocolate mint.
Instantly, Lucas felt grateful that he could still witness this beautiful scene, and his heart was lightly brushed by a feather.
He wanted to get closer. In the cat's view, it was hard to see whether the eyes were green, amber, or gold, or whether they were always changing unpredictably under the light, just like the unpredictable owner of the eyes.
He leaned forward, then felt ashamed of his thoughts and actions.
Now he's a cat, so it probably doesn't matter.
But if he is a human being, that would be very strange.
Lucas remembered the rules of normal social distancing among the nobility, and he certainly shouldn't be standing so close to a girl his own age.
Ashlin blinked, he trembled, the feather flew away, and he looked away, changed his position, and lay down directly on top of her.
He thought to himself that she could touch him now, but he didn't say it aloud. She should touch him, because he still thought he had lost her.
He was both worried and angry, and certainly deserved some reassurance.
But he still didn't say anything.
However, as if she had a telepathic connection, the witch did indeed reach out and gently touch his head.
“I swear.” Ashlin nodded, then grinned playfully. “Hey, don’t you think we’ve had too many heavy topics today? I finally woke up, and there’s not a single good news?”
Her tone was too relaxed, Lucas thought. She had no idea what she'd almost gotten herself into, so how could she change the subject so quickly?
“I don’t know if this is good news, but… Her Majesty Melia said that a masquerade ball will be held tomorrow night. It’s partly to mourn Tara, and partly to celebrate the return of The Magic Flute,” Lucas said. “Speaking of The Magic Flute…”
He patted the flute. "I think we should test it and see if it really is part of the unblocking process," in case they'd wasted their time.
How do we test it?
"Try putting it together with dragon fire."
Ashlin looked slightly suspicious, but still took out the Dragon Tooth Tree Torch, glared at it, and the flames ignited.
"That sounds reckless."
“Indeed,” Lucas agreed.
Ashlin placed the tip of the flute on the tip of the dragonfire. With a loud bang, silver light flashed where the two collided. Even without magical talent, Lucas could feel their powerful magic.
"It's done." Ashlin decisively extinguished the flames. "The mission is halfway complete!"
"You should heal the Divine Oak now. That way we can proceed with our next exploration as soon as possible."
“Melia insisted that I could only heal the Divine Oak during the masquerade ball,” Ashlin said. “I don’t know why. Maybe it’s an elven tradition.”
"So, all living beings have to attend the ball?"
"good."
Lucas closed his eyes and sighed, "Boring and a waste of time. We couldn't afford to waste a single moment."
“Hey, the ball was really fun! Let’s relax tomorrow, and after healing the magic flute, we’ll continue our journey north,” Ashlin protested.
“If it weren’t for the elves’ rules, I would suggest we set off tonight.”
"What's the rush?" Ashlin rolled her eyes. "Let me tell you a secret: this year's theme is animals, which suits you perfectly."
Is he in a hurry?
Didn't she say that a god warned him he would be cursed forever?
Moreover, they have been on their journey for several days, and heaven knows what his family's attitude is now.
As far as he knew, the capital might have already declared him dead.
Lucas suppressed his displeasure. They had just gone through a life-or-death battle, and he didn't want to ruin the atmosphere.
"Really? What animal are you planning to dress up as?"
Ashlin thought to herself, "Wolf, I think."
"Congratulations on finally realizing that you're actually just a golden retriever."
“I mean a majestic, fierce wolf!” Ashlin snapped. “A big bad wolf, a vicious wolf, the kind that ate Little Red Riding Hood! Don’t mention any dog breeds to me, thank you. I have a phobia of them.”
Lucas grinned wickedly and slapped his tail on her hand. This action soon brought him retribution.
“But not necessarily,” Ashlin pondered. “If I really told you, I wouldn’t be the real ‘mask,’ right?”
"That makes sense."
He really wanted to make a vomiting face, but the cat limited his movements, and the final effect was more like choking to death on saliva.
"Given my current appearance, do you think I have any other choice?"
Ashlin burst into laughter, revealing her two little fangs. For a moment, the sunlight seemed to become the dimmer thing in the room.
"Oh dear, I'm afraid a cat is indeed the most suitable for you," she said with a rather regretful tone. "Does Your Highness perhaps wish to be the most dazzling golden phoenix in the entire room?"
Lucas glared at her. "You know what, I actually did dress up as a phoenix at a masquerade ball before, as the symbol of Helian City."
"Hmm. And then?"
Lucas patted the bed with his tail again.
"Disaster. Lord Korie's son mistook me for a girl and forced me to do a few rounds of the female step, but I didn't realize it at all."
"Wow, you can dance the women's steps?" Ashlin giggled. "I haven't really learned how to dance yet. Can you teach me?"
"You mean, now?"
"What else, little kitty?"
Lucas gestured to his entire body. "I can only do a catwalk."
“It doesn’t affect anything.” Ashlind got out of bed with a grin, but hesitated for a moment before sitting down again. “Oh, forgive me, Lucas. I just want to do something else… something other than monsters, riddles, and curses.”
Lucas quietly squatted down beside her legs and rubbed his nose against hers.
After resting and cleaning, Ashlinn smelled like freshly cut grass in the garden, along with the dew on dandelions at dawn.
“I don’t understand how we got involved in all this.” The witch buried her head in her arms, just like when they first met. “All because I mispronounced a spell. Was it really worth it?”
Lucas squinted.
“Ah, I didn’t mean you don’t deserve it,” she quickly clarified. “What I mean is, it’s really hard for me to accept that lives are being lost because of my mistake. It started as a joke, so why did it involve bloodshed and death? Maybe you weren’t the one who was cursed at all.”
She paused as she spoke, seemingly careful to gauge Lucas's reaction. Lucas was stunned, trying to understand what she meant.
“Perhaps, I am the one who is cursed.” She squeezed out the words with difficulty, one word at a time, “The blood of the forest, the restless magic. That is the real reason I have come all this way. You once said that my arrival was destined, and Aidan also agreed with that.”
“Maybe,” Lucas said. “Maybe we’re just unlucky and cursed. But so what? A witch cursed by blood and a prince cursed by a witch—they’re the perfect pair.”
After saying that, he quickly jumped off the bed.
"Didn't we say we were going to practice dancing? This is a golden opportunity, and we won't get another chance like this."
He bowed deeply like a cat.
Sunlight streamed through the window frames, cutting bright patches of light across the floor.
This is a natural dance floor, without musicians or harps, only the occasional song of a lark coming from outside the window.
Ashlinn, barefoot, stepped onto the cool tiles, slightly bent her knees, and bowed to him.
Lucas sat crouched, his tail coiled in front of him, and nodded slightly in an almost solemn manner.
There was no real music, but the rhythm arose naturally.
The soft, steady tapping of his paw pads on the floor was a clear, steady sound.
He began to circle around her, his steps taking on a certain rhythm, his tail held high like a conductor's baton.
She chuckled, relaxed, and closed her eyes. Her movements gradually became fluid, a natural response. She opened her arms, stretching her body like a true dancer.
Her golden hair billowed as she spun, streaking across the sunlight and casting a golden hue that Lucas couldn't open his eyes.
He looked at her.
Her dancing wasn't exactly graceful, but it was full of vibrant life, like vines growing wildly in the spring breeze, their branches covered with golden dandelions.
Suddenly, the Ashlin before him seemed to overlap with the Ashlin he had previously sensed through the memory-sharing magic.
After the magic wears off, they will gradually forget most of the memories they once shared, but fragmented images will remain in Lucas's mind.
The perspective became chaotic. The barefoot girl running towards the forest laughed heartily, wearing a daisy wreath made by her childhood friend on her head. The village boys threw stones at her, mocking her as an evil witch, while the ash tree beside them inexplicably stretched out branches and scratched the boy's face hard.
She would burst into tears over these taunts, even throwing a tantrum at Sanova, and be so upset that she wouldn't eat dinner (which Sanova had also forgotten to make). But upon hearing a story about a witcher capturing a thunderbird or a dwarf inventing a mechanical monster, she would immediately beam with joy, as if those adventure stories were her true world.
The dance became more unrestrained. Ashlin hummed a melody from Aidan's piece, off-key but very cheerful.
Lucas quickened his pace to the impromptu tune, sometimes weaving around her, sometimes nudging her hanging hand with his head to guide her to turn.
The sunlight followed them, and their shadows danced even more enthusiastically than they did.
Finally, Ashlin laughed and slumped back onto the edge of the bed, panting and with flushed cheeks.
Lucas stopped and squatted down in front of her.
"How is it?" he asked, trying to make it sound like a casual question.
“It was absolutely perfect.” Ashlin’s eyes sparkled. “I think it was the best dance I’ve ever danced.”
Lucas remained silent for a moment, with only sunlight streaming into the room.
"……Me too."
Then he turned around and began licking the fur on his shoulder with extreme seriousness, as if the words he had just uttered were merely a shadow of himself.
They would definitely put on a good show together at the dance, he told himself, and that was enough.
It's just dancing, what could possibly happen?
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