Around early dawn.

A large shadow suddenly flew inside the Jiles manor, which, as usual, was as silent as a grave. Tree branches broke, and the cawing of startled birds flooded the area. But even that subsided quickly, crushed by the quiet of the manor. It was a while before the sound of hurried footsteps could be heard in the newly quieted garden.

“Young Master?”

The wily cat carefully peeked inside the backyard. The backyard, overgrown with greens, was a right mess, as if to prove that the deafening noise earlier hadn’t been a mere hallucination. It was so bad that someone might think that a hurricane had passed through the area.

“Y-young Master? It is you, right?”

The frightened wily cat took a hesitant step inside the backyard. The cat was a witch’s familiar, so she had no choice but to bravely confirm what was happening in the backyard regardless of whether she was actually brave or cowardly in nature. But a black shadow fell over her chubby frame before she could even feel the cold feeling of dawn rising up from the ground.

Shit. Damnit. The wily cat recognized the danger and cursed endlessly as she slowly looked up. There was a large black creature standing right before her, but the cat could not feel the creature’s presence. The vertical slits of the creature’s eyes, like a reptile’s, glistened like a predator that had finally found its prey.

“K-kyaah!”

The wily cat nearly fainted. She couldn’t help but wonder if this was how her life, which had been neither short nor long, came to a miserable end. But a black humanoid figure shroud in darkness appeared out of nowhere just then.

“Be quiet.”

“Y-Young Master? Young Master Cedric?”

The wily cat rejoiced and quickly ran over to him. The greedy reptilian eyes chased after her wriggling fat. The cat continued,

“How could you bring that thing here with you, Young Master?!”

“Then where else would I keep him?”

“You could have kept it in the mountains, or you could have left it by the border……. Look at what you’ve done. The backyard’s a right mess.”

“It’s not like anyone cares about the backyard.”

His quiet voice was laced with fatigue. The cat stole glances at Cedric as she secretly inched closer to the manor. Not that it kept her from being caught almost immediately, of course.

“I need to see Mother, so watch over him for me.”

“Whaat? Me?”

the wily cat startled. She continued,

“No! Please don’t make me do this, Young Master! That thing might eat me!”

“He won’t.”

“It definitely will! Look at it! It, it, it’ll swallow me up at once as soon as you’re gone, Young Master!”

Cedric let out a long sigh as the wily cat pled with him repeatedly. Eventually, he began walking over to the manor. It was only than that the reptilian eyes, which had been trained on the chubby cat, finally turned to Cedric.

“Don’t eat her, Winter,”

Cedric said firmly. The black reptile wriggled as it begged, but it was to no avail. The angry reptile then began twisting his tail to make an even bigger mess of the backyard.

And so, Cedric left the reptile alone with the wily cat as he made his way toward the manor. Barbara Jiles could never seem to settle down in one place, unlike most witches who lived in one secluded house all their lives, and she had residences all throughout Ingram. This was Cedric’s first time visiting the manor in Paperd.

“Goodness. It’s been a while, Cedric.”

The back entrance. Someone had come down to greet the young master of House Jiles despite the dark hour. Cedric furrowed his brows ever so slightly as soon as he recognized her face.

“Chesterty.”

“It’s been nearly a year, was it? I’m sure you had a hard time looking after your dragon at the border, right, my little brother?”

Chesterty took off the black hood that had been covering Cedric’s face before he could stop her. His face was pale from exhaustion because he had been flying by the moonlight for quite some time.

“Hmmm……. Looks like you’ve lost weight,”

Chesterty murmured as she closed in on him. Cedric pushed her away in irritation.

“Where’s Mother?”

“She’s inside. She woke up because your beloved pet was making such a fuss.”

Cedric nodded tiredly as he stepped inside the manor. Candles began lighting up from the walls on either side as his shadow stepped inside the dense darkness of the hallway. But there was an unfamiliar man standing hesitantly at the end of the illuminated hallway. Chesterty’s, who had been following behind Cedric, face immediately stiffened up.

“Sir Cedric Jiles?”

The man looked awkward as he approached them. Cedric tilted his head to the side and stood in place as he observed him. The awkwardly smiling man froze up when he saw the scary look on Chesterty’s face.

Unexpectedly, Cedric coolly extended a hand toward the man.

“I’m Cedric Jiles.”

“Pardon?”

The man stared blankly at Cedric for a moment before he quickly took Cedric’s hand.

“What was your name again?”

“Oh, I’m Harry Dwarden.”

“Would you happen to be related to Edgeworth Dwarden?”

“Edgeworth Dwarden is my uncle. I didn’t realize you knew him!”

Harry Dwarden rejoiced.

“I’ve met him once. He’s a remarkable wizard.”

“Y-yes, he is! I respect him very much. My uncle wrote a book titled, [The Correlation Between Magic and Carrots]. Have you had a chance to read it?”

Chesterty, who had grown unhappy with the both of them, interjected,

“What do carrots have anything to do with magic? I’m sorry, Mr. Harry Dwarden, but my little brother happens to be quite refined and has no reason to pick up such a uselessly random book.”

The blood drained from Harry’s face as Chesterty sneered at him. Cedric let out a faint sigh.

“Might I ask where Mother is?”

In the quiet sitting room.

Cedric was warming himself up with a cup of hot coffee, and Chesterty was toying with the magically lit fire. The mood was quite bleary between the two siblings who hadn’t seen each other for a long time, but they had never been very close to begin with. It was actually quite the feat that they hadn’t started bickering with each other as soon as they met.

Harry Dwarden showed up with a wheelchair shortly thereafter. Barbara Jiles was sitting feebly in the wheelchair.

“Mother.”

Cedric, who had been rubbing at his temple in his exhaustion, immediately stood up. Barbara stayed her son from coming any closer with her eyes and pointed to the fireplace. Harry took the hint and pushed the wheelchair closer to the fire.

“You should have sent word first if you were coming. Why stir up such a ruckus so early in the morning?”

“……My apologies,”

Cedric replied quietly as he lowered his eyes. Barbara clutched at her forehead wearily.

“Anyway, it looks like you’re back for good. Did you complete your contract with the king?”

“Yes.”

Cedric had entered a long-term contract with the king two years ago. He had been serving faithfully these past two years, and, as per his contract, he had been at the border while training his dragon. The only reason why the dragon, which grew more vicious as it grew larger, was able to restrain himself was because Cedric had taken great pains to train him.

“I see. Well done. What will you do now?”

“I plan on staying here for a few days since it’s been a while since I’ve been home.”

Chesterty swiftly took out a cigar. Barbara furrowed her brows, which was quite uncharacteristic of her.

“The two of you are an official witch and wizard who have completed your probation periods, aren’t you? You should be walking your own paths now.”

“But you’re sick, Mother…….”

“Enough. Chesterty, you should head back during the day too. It’s so loud here that I can’t stand it,”

Barbara said heartlessly. Chesterty looked sad, but Harry Dwarden brightened up. Barbara continued,

“I’m going to head inside and go back to sleep. Do be quiet now……. But where did you say you were going again, Cedric?”

Barbara asked as if the thought had only just crossed her mind as she pointed to the door. Calmly, Cedric replied,

“I’m thinking of going to Wokingham.”

“To the royal capital?”

Barbara tilted her head to the side. She continued,

“Well, I suppose it might be nice to stay in the capital awhile since you’ve been away at the border for so long. Now that I think about it, wasn’t Diana in Wokingham too?”

“Of course she is. That’s where her beloved sister is, after all,”

Chesterty pouted. Barbara fell into thought for a moment before she nodded slowly.

“Tell Diana I said hello if you happen to see her there.”

“Of course.”

That was all Barbara said before her wheelchair was whisked out of the sitting room like the wind. Harry’s fading footsteps sounded as hurried as a rabbit being chased by a lion as he pushed it.

Chesterty began muttering petulantly no sooner than the door had closed.

“Seriously, what on earth does Mother see in a half-wit like him? He might be decent enough to look at, but his actions are always so clumsy.”

“Perhaps she’s simply taken a liking to him.”

“I’m saying that I can’t comprehend why she likes him for the life of me!”

Barbara Jiles had been separated from her husband for over a decade. She had dated countless wizards in the meanwhile and occasionally brought them to live with her in her home if she took a liking to them, and Harry Dwarden was the fourth such lover she had taken in.

“He looked rather young.”

Cedric recalled Harry Dwarden’s naïveté. The acne on Harry’s face and Harry’s timidity told Cedric that Harry was only in his mid-twenties at most.

“I think he’s twenty-three or twenty-four this year. Gosh, doesn’t that make him only three or four years older than me? Does age mean nothing to Mother?”

“Why don’t you try asking her?”

“Cedric, my little brother. Does your father never plan on getting back together with Mother? He hasn’t submitted divorce papers without my knowing or anything, right? Right?”

Chesterty looked desperate as she asked. Cedric, who had been leisurely toying with his cup, sighed from the absurdity of it all.

“Give up on that already. It’s already been ten years.”

“Why?! How come?!”

Chesterty cried as she slapped the sofa. It was rather violent of her, but Cedric paid her no mind. Chesterty had always hated their mother’s lovers ever since they were children. She had played wicked pranks on them, like putting lizards in their soup or mixing alcohol into their water, and she had grown up with the habit of hating them.

“Chesterty.”

Cedric tossed her a small pouch instead of trying to calm her down. Chesterty looked puzzled as she opened it.

“What’s this?”

“Gisselbehringer’s fruit. Give it to Mother later.”

“What? Where did you get your hands on this?”

Gisselbehringer’s fruit was a precious fruit that only grew in the tropical jungles of Banzè. It was one of the best medicinal ingredients for recovering one’s strength, and it was extremely expensive.

“I happened to get lucky while I was at the border.”

Cedric began getting ready to leave again. The backyard was growing noisy, which likely meant that Winter’s patience was beginning to grow thin. The only person in the world who could control the dragon was his master who had been with him since the very beginning.

Chesterty pushed a scrap of paper toward him just then.

“This is Hester Sol’s address. Diana’s probably living there too.”

Cedric hesitantly accepted the address. He looked down at it for a brief moment before he curtly said,

“Thanks.”

“That’s it?”

Chesterty reached out to him like she was trying to brag. Cedric immediately narrowed his eyes.

“Sipilè’s starlight.”

“I have that too. You don’t have any more Gisselbehringer’s fruits?

“I wouldn’t give them to you even if I did. What about a first-edition copy of [Melisandre]?”

“Why not be a bit nicer while you’re already at it?”

“You need to stop being so greedy. Gunther Volkhart’s remains.”

“Deal.”

Chesterty, who was happy with their transaction, waved like a satisfied cat. She continued,

“Farewell now, Cedric. Let’s not meet again this year.”

“You planned on seeing me again next year?”

And so, the two siblings parted ways in the manner that was most familiar to them.