Author: 冬瓜茶仙人 / Winter Melon Tea Immortal

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 12

“The previous heir? I thought witches never died,” Eugene muttered.

“There is no eternal life in this world except for God. Both angels and demons have their times of demise. It’s just that their lifespans are so exceedingly long, they nearly amount to eternity. Witches aren’t demons; they might extend their lifespans through magic, but they will still age and weaken and cannot forever sustain the consumption of their magical power,” Shivers said. “Our clergy once told me that magic isn’t omnipotent. When magical power is abundant, many methods can be used to maintain a youthful appearance, but once the power is exhausted and can no longer be maintained, the appearance will rapidly revert to its natural age—most end up looking terribly old, wrinkled, and dried up, not unlike a dead tree trunk.”

Everyone fell silent. No one spoke for a while. They just watch the fire in silence. Occasionally, a spark would jump out and quickly extinguish.

Perhaps because he had spoken of his youth, that night Charlie dreamt of the past.

In his dream, his face wasn’t covered by this appearance, nor did he have a rabbit’s all-encompassing keen vision and soft, long ears.

He lay on the grass beside a fountain, napping with a thick book as a pillow, a breeze blowing on his face, making him want to sneeze.

As he was half-asleep, he felt someone sit down next to him, gently removing some blades of grass from his face.

Just as he was about to open his eyes, he felt the person’s fingers trace down his cheek, the cool fingertips causing his skin to shiver slightly. The cool fingertips slid across his neck, following a strange, unnatural trajectory—

It was his carotid artery!

Charlie suddenly opened his eyes, almost springing up on the spot. The blanket slid off him due to his movement.

The next second, he realized he was dreaming and took a deep breath, pushing the heavy breaths back into his chest.

The fire was still burning. Charlie glanced at the flames, then turned to see the young Duke sitting on his own bench, staring intently at him.

Charlie was so startled he nearly jumped again.

Take a deep breath, he reminded himself. After taking a moment to collect himself, he met Dwight’s gaze.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere of the late night or the light from the fire, but the Duke’s expression wasn’t his usual arrogance but rather intensely focused, even somewhat childishly curious.

Even the most patient person disliked being stared at in the middle of the night. Not wanting to disturb the others who were asleep, the rabbit-headed shopkeeper mouthed irritably at him.

“What?” he asked.

Dwight nodded in a direction.

Following his gaze, Charlie saw that the bench where the girl in the red cloak had been lying now only held a sleeping little tin soldier. He jerked awake, pulled the blanket aside, and tiptoed over to look.

The bench was empty, and the girl’s whereabouts were unknown. The blanket on the bench was still warm, indicating the person lying there hadn’t left long ago.

Even the stable doors in the courtyard were open. When Charlie and Dwight entered, Araceae and Midnight were also awake, watching them warily.

“The white horse is gone,” Charlie said, setting a lantern on the feed trough and carefully examining the footprints on the ground.

“Even if being thrown off a horse made her a fool, she wouldn’t leave on foot unless she grew up with wolves,” Dwight said with his usual sarcasm. “Moreover, she’s not foolish. I’m sure she thought everyone was asleep when she sneaked away.”

Charlie then turned to look at him. “You knew when she left? You weren’t asleep?”

Dwight suppressed the urge to shrug, leaning against a pillar in the stable, his beautiful eyes calmly meeting his. “I have never slept on a bench in my life, thank you.”

The shopkeeper looked at him morosely. “Your Lordship, assuming I’m not wrong, you’re planning to go find Miss Priscilla.”

Dwight nodded gracefully.

“Miss Priscilla has married into the southern continent, far from Lemena.”

“Mm.”

“This journey will be long. Do you plan to stay awake the entire way?”

“I certainly will sleep, but I must sleep in a bed,” Dwight arrogantly declared, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. “That’s a baseline.”

Charlie felt his rabbit head ache. “You’re definitely going to fall off your horse.”

Dwight stated boldly, “Staying up one night is nothing to me—besides, if that woman had decided to stab us in the heart earlier, you’d be thanking me for not sleeping.”

The shopkeeper gave him a stifled look.

According to their itinerary, the distance to Hilly City, the next stop after Popomia, wasn’t something that could be endured ‘just one night’.

The Duke might know the map of Lemena like the back of his hand in his castle’s study, but once he actually started on the road, he would find that without making compromises to the rough conditions, the bad roads and weather could totally sap all his willpower on the way.

However, seeing the other’s expression, the shopkeeper decided it was wise to keep his mouth shut about this.

The night wind blew in from the roof of the stable, making him shrink his neck and reach to untie his donkey.

Dwight put a hand out, pressing it neither too lightly nor too heavily. “What are you doing?”

“Going after her,” Charlie said without hesitation. “It’s not safe to leave the village at night. The wolf pack is likely nearby.”

Dwight didn’t pull his hand away. “I have something to ask you.”

“Wait till dawn, then—”

“No,” the Duke unyieldingly said, unfamiliar with compromise. “Are you going to find the witch Elena?”

Charlie paused, finally focusing all his attention on the Duke.

He didn’t answer, but Dwight saw the answer in his eyes.

“As you said, she cursed you and still doesn’t intend to reconcile. Why go? I thought you’d prefer to stay far from her in Maplewood.”

The shopkeeper hesitated. He originally assumed the other didn’t really need his answer and was only concerned only with his own interests, typical of nobility.

“Because of that little tin soldier, Columbus?” Dwight continued.

Charlie was genuinely surprised. He knew the Duke was very perceptive but didn’t realize his thoughts were so meticulous, capable of quickly deducing the most likely close-to-truth answer under the scarce conditions.

“The curse on Columbus is a bit more complicated.” The shopkeeper took a deep breath. “He hasn’t gained immortality because of this body. Apart from the wear on his soul, his movements will gradually be limited with age until he becomes a true tin soldier. The last time we went to the mines, his movements were already less agile, and this isn’t something that can be solved by oiling the joints.”

If possible, Charlie didn’t want to face Elena, but he was even less willing to let Columbus walk towards death as a tin soldier.

“If possible, I hope to negotiate with Elena to lift Columbus’s curse. If that fails, at least to send Columbus back to his hometown, to the warm countryside farms in the east of Doran.”

“That would be nice,” Dwight slowly said. “I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this, but I happen to also be going to the Doran continent.”

Charlie gave him a disingenuous smile.

The Duke didn’t continue speaking, instead silently watching him, the two remaining at an impasse for a moment.

The shopkeeper already found dealing with nobility troublesome enough, but this young Duke was ten times more troublesome than ordinary nobility.

“Since that’s the case, let’s travel together.” The shopkeeper surrendered after five minutes.

The Duke was finally satisfied, courteously adding, “I thought so too. I’m glad we could reach such a pleasant agreement so quickly.”

“Let’s go then,” Charlie continued, untying the reins. “There’s no moon tonight. The horse won’t go fast. If we hurry now, we can still catch up…”

Although delayed by ten minutes, the night road in the countryside was difficult to navigate, and this bit of time shouldn’t cause much delay.

“No, Mr. Charlie, I suggest we all go back to sleep,” Dwight said as if it were obvious. “Why should we chase after a stranger in the middle of the night?”

“Because it’s not safe,” Charlie said patiently. “Although I don’t know her intentions, we shouldn’t just watch a young person gamble with their life.”

Dwight looked at him oddly, though he didn’t speak. Charlie swore he saw a sentence in the other’s beautiful eyes: So?

“I think she has ulterior motives,” Dwight said. “So there’s no need to bother with her.”

“Have you ever considered that she might just be scared and not necessarily have ulterior motives—”

“She stole from us.” Dwight cut him off decisively.

Charlie was stunned.

“She secretly took Elena’s magic pot,” Dwight smirked. “A simple lost girl wouldn’t rummage through someone else’s luggage. Eugene is truly a complete fool.”

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