「So, there’s only one wish left, right?」

「To think you blew two of those precious wishes just like that.」

「Come to think of it, Manbang-ie wasted his wishes on useless things every new moon too. Asking to make someone forget a face, asking to prepare a refreshment table.」

「To make such pitiful wishes with this precious tinderbox…… This is why kids who grow up poor just won’t do……」

The cats chattered away while grooming themselves. They had completely polished off the wine, the jerky, and the boiled meat. The way they let out satisfied burps was incredibly obnoxious.

‘Because these guys vanished so suddenly, I lost my mind and must have made a mistake. That wish shouldn’t have been used like that……’ A creeping sense of delayed regret washed over him, but Isaac silently cleared away the empty plates.

But, yes. Honestly, hearing the sound of these brats yammering away made him feel like things were back to normal. His mind lazily relaxed.

Letting out a soft chuckle, Isaac suddenly noticed a gaze directed at him and turned his head. The Prince was looking at him. The way he was slowly scrutinizing Isaac’s face had returned to normal as well.

“…… Your Highness.”

“Your face is finally somewhat readable now.”

The Prince muttered, sounding oddly relieved himself. Feeling strangely embarrassed, Isaac rubbed his face and changed the subject.

“So, for the final wish, what will you……”

In the heat of the moment, two chances had been blown in vain. Now, only a single chance remained.

“Well. I suppose I could ask for a refreshment table—”

“Ah, wait just a minute!”

Isaac frantically interrupted the nonchalant Prince and cried out.

Come to think of it, he had lacked any grand desires from the moment he made his first wish too. But to waste a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity like this, even if it wasn’t his own wish, was just too much of a waste for Isaac to bear.

“Don’t do that. If you think about it a bit more calmly and seriously, wouldn’t a wish that couldn’t possibly be better come to mind?”

Staring at Isaac, who was desperately trying to dissuade him, the Prince asked.

“What did you wish for? When you made your very first wish.”

“Me? My very first wish? What was it again…… Ah, right! I asked to spend a night with the greatest beauty in all the land—”

Barely dredging up a memory from several years ago, Isaac froze mid-sentence.

That’s right.

And the beauty he ended up encountering as a result was—

“……”

“……”

“You made the best possible wish.”

The Prince nodded as if completely satisfied. ‘No, well, the result might have ended up that way, but the process to get there was utterly grueling……’ Recalling the unforgettable memories of that night, Isaac’s complexion turned distant.

Meanwhile, outside the garden, the sky began to dimly lighten. Under the sky slowly fading to a pale indigo, birds chirped in the distance.

「Time’s up.」

「Think about your remaining wish slowly until the next new moon. Or the new moon after that, it doesn’t matter.」

The cats stretched and said.

“Right, there’s no rush. It’s better to take our time and think about it,” Isaac nodded, then asked.

“But why does it have to be during the new moon? Now that you have the tinderbox, you can use it on normal days too, can’t you?”

「It has to be the new moon for me to be even slightly comfortable! It has to be the new moon when magic power is overflowing!」

Suddenly, a massive, swollen tiger head (just the head) loomed right in front of Isaac’s nose, shoving its bright red maw into his face and roaring.

Seeing a throat large enough to swallow a human head whole right before his eyes, Isaac clutched his pounding heart and scrambled backward.

「I’m already annoyed to death because of all this unplanned extra labor,」 grumbled the beast, returning to the form of a cat and climbing atop the cabinet. It seemed they were getting sleepy.

Seeing the three of them curled up into little round balls on the cabinet, Isaac reflexively began to feel drowsy himself. Come to think of it, it had been a physically and mentally exhausting night. An unusually massive amount of events had whipped past them in a short time.

And now that he thought about it, this person had returned from the battlefield and hadn’t even closed his eyes yet.

“Then, for now—”

Isaac sat on the edge of the bed and spoke with an exhausted voice.

“Let’s put away our worries for a long time and get some sweet sleep…… I’m glad you returned safely.”

It had been a month. The one who had been out in dangerous territory had finally returned.

Isaac kissed the back of the Prince’s hand. And moments later, his face was grasped, his head tilted back, and lips, not the back of a hand, pressed against his own.

* * *

The Prince was busy.

Usually, a person of such noble status would focus on pleasure and politics while working competent subordinates to the bone to manage affairs. However, the Prince had absolutely no interest in pleasure or politics to begin with, and there was no one more competent at the work than himself.

Above all, Isaac realized by watching him that when someone in the position of ‘King’ – or acting King – tried to fulfill their duties diligently, the work was literally endless.

Originally, the current King, the Prince’s father, had long wanted to abdicate the throne to the Prince and retire to a quiet life as a former king. However, demonic beasts were still causing havoc across the kingdom, and the greatest person capable of subduing them was the Prince. Obviously, someone sitting on the throne could not personally ride out on subjugation missions.

Left with no choice, the King decided to postpone his abdication until the anti-beast subjugation forces were trained to a sufficient level. Still, he continuously transferred his duties to the Prince little by little, so the Prince was essentially acting as regent. He couldn’t help but be busy.

Because of this, even after returning from the subjugation mission this time, the Prince hadn’t rested. He was in his office in the Blue Shadow Palace, constantly receiving high-ranking officials who came seeking an audience.

‘Mmm, I know his stamina is like a monster’s, but working a person without a single moment of rest seems a bit much…… Can’t we fix that with a wish? Make him have more free time…… No, that’s a bit too vague to make a wish out of.’

Standing at his post behind him, Isaac the guardsman was completely lost in his own thoughts, his mind spinning this way and that.

Despite everyone in the royal palace knowing his true identity as a witch, Isaac was still officially registered as a guardsman in the Royal Guard. And no one raised any objections to Isaac the witch serving as the Prince’s guard.

After all, being the Prince’s guardsman had long been just another word for ‘paramour,’ and Isaac was faithfully fulfilling that role as a paramour. Furthermore, rumor had it that the witch, who was supposed to be wicked beyond measure, was not causing any harm by the Prince’s side, but was rather trapped in a very pitiful and unfortunate situation.

Even now, a high official who had just finished sweating bullets giving the first-quarter performance report to the Prince, cast a subtle glance—a mix of repulsion, curiosity, and deep pity—at Isaac standing behind him before leaving the office.

“What are you groaning about all by yourself?”

Isaac was sure he was just standing quietly, but his troubled aura must have radiated out, because the Prince turned to look at him.

“Umm…… What is the most effective way to phrase a wish for life to become a bit more joyful and leisurely?”

“The work must be grueling. Do you want to go rest for a bit?”

“No, not for me, for Prince Kyan……”

Hearing him say that, Isaac did feel a bit tired. Honestly, Isaac’s actual ‘work’ wasn’t grueling at all, he would never actually have to ‘guard’ the Prince for the rest of his life, but the non-work aspects were quite grueling. Perhaps to make up for a month’s absence, the Prince had been pouring his vital energy into Isaac every single day for the past few days. Still, sleeping in until lunch and then waking up left him just enough energy to maintain his post in the afternoon like this.

“A wish for life to become joyful and leisurely…..?”

The Prince repeated Isaac’s words, seemingly unimpressed by the idea.

To be precise, the Prince didn’t show much interest in the wish itself. He clearly had no idea how astonishing and incredible this opportunity was. If Isaac didn’t bring it up, it seemed he would just forget it even existed.

「Even if he doesn’t treat it as a sacred honor, he doesn’t even know how to be grateful for such rare and precious fortune.」

「He was always insolent moisture, but he’s gotten even more insolent!」

「This is why kids who grow up taking a comfortable life for granted just won’t do.」

A rustling sound came from the corners of the bookshelves in the office. ‘Didn’t they say earlier it was kids who grew up poor that wouldn’t do?’ But acknowledging them would just be a headache, so Isaac pretended not to hear.

While Isaac firmly pushed the slightly protruding books back into place, the next person seeking an audience entered the office.

A young boy, looking about fourteen or fifteen, walked in accompanied by a young man in his twenties.

Isaac had seen the boy a few times before. He was the Prince’s cousin, widely known as a prodigy excelling in both literary and martial arts. In fact, since last year, the Prince had included him in the subjugation training center to groom him. Judging by the fact that the Prince had said a few times, as if bewitched, ‘He’s usable. He’s fine,’ the boy was undeniably exceptionally talented.

“I present myself to Your Highness.”

The boy greeted him brightly and approached. Referring to the documents his attendant laid out, he began discussing the training schedules for the subjugation forces stationed in the capital.

The rumors that the Prince was grooming this boy with the intention of eventually delegating the subjugation forces to him didn’t seem entirely baseless. The boy conversing with the Prince was surprisingly brilliant, and his words were entirely logical. At this rate, he truly might be capable of taking over the management of the forces in a few years.

‘I heard from Hoden before that there are even talks of him being named the next Crown Prince.’

The current King had two other sons below Prince Kyan, but they both took after their father, preferring a comfortable life over the throne.

Normally, the most orthodox path would be for the Prince to ascend the throne, have an heir, and pass it down……

Isaac swallowed a bitter sigh and quickly cleared his mind. Then, he looked again at the boy, who was discussing matters with a seriousness unbefitting his age.

Diligent and of good character, the boy was also remarkably handsome. Anyone who stood next to the Prince ended up looking like a squashed squid, but this boy at least managed to look like a respectable octopus.

「Squid or octopus.」

「That guy, even after his life was ruined by a pretty face, he’s still only looking at faces.」

「That’s our Manbang-ie for you.」

“What’s more important than a pretty face?”

Pressing down firmly on the rattling books, Isaac mumbled without barely moving his lips.

He decided to just be shameless. Even so, he couldn’t exactly claim he was seduced by the Prince because of his personality, could he?

“Actually, don’t you think the only reason the tinderbox suddenly decided to grant Prince Kyan a wish was because it was captivated by his beauty too?”

「Wasn’t it because he acted like he was going to smash it!?」

“…… Isn’t saying it yielded to beauty better than saying it yielded to violence?”

「Yielded?! It took pity on the insolent, ignorant human and bestowed its grace upon him!」

A black tail shot out from between the shaking books and whipped Isaac’s forearm. When Isaac flinched with an “Ouch,” the attendant next to the boy threw a curious glance his way. Isaac feigned ignorance and turned his gaze back to the boy.

True to his weakness for beautiful appearances, Isaac admired the boy anew. From ancient times, the royalty of this kingdom were famous for being incredibly handsome and beautiful, but that boy was exceptional even among them. In fact, he looked more like Prince Kyan than Kyan’s actual younger brothers did.

‘Is this what Prince Kyan felt like at that age? When Prince Kyan was fifteen…… Oh, how beautiful he must have been.’

While Isaac was lost in a pleasant daydream staring at the boy, the Prince’s gaze suddenly shot toward him.

Isaac flinched as those ice-blue eyes pinned him with their piercing gaze. He felt an instinctual sense of danger and quickly averted his eyes to the ceiling. His heart pounded.

“I will take you with me on the next subjugation, so prepare yourself. It will be in a month and a half at the earliest, two months at the latest.”

“Really?! I can finally participate in an actual subjugation?!”

At the Prince’s words, the boy’s cheeks flushed as he cried out.

Having never participated in actual combat before, the boy was full of joy. He couldn’t hide his excitement until he finished his report and practically skipped out of the office.

* * *

After the boy left, the Prince looked at Isaac.

Unable to decipher the meaning behind that piercing gaze, Isaac just blinked before offering whatever words came to mind.

“U-Um…… He’s still so young, are you already planning to take him on a demonic beast subjugation?”

“My first time on a battlefield was when I was eight.”

“……”

‘No, compared to you, My Prince, you are a superhuman being born with an extraordinary prophecy……’

“It’s about time he goes out. He can handle it.”

At the Prince’s added words, Isaac nodded.

“If Prince Kyan says so, he truly must be a person of outstanding caliber.”

The Prince didn’t reply to that, but stared at Isaac a while longer. ‘Why does it feel like I’m standing on a bed of thorns…..?’ Just as Isaac wiggled his toes nervously,

“You seem to quite like that face.”

At the Prince’s words, a myriad of thoughts flashed through Isaac’s mind for 0.1 seconds. ‘Danger signal. No matter what anyone says, this is a danger signal!’

“He looks just like you, Your Highness.”

Isaac quickly retorted. However, the Prince merely stared at him without any change in expression. Mentally tearing his hair out, Isaac let out a feigned, wistful sigh.

“No,….. I mean, sure, he’s handsome. He’s a beautiful youth with a promising future, but even aside from him, there are plenty of handsome men and beautiful women in the royal palace. Starting from His Majesty and the late Queen, they were absolute beauties. And honestly, even you know it, Your Highness. No matter how many beauties are in the palace, the greatest beauty in all the land is clearly someone else.”

After spitting out the words in a single, breathless rush, the Prince stared at Isaac intently. Very, very intently. Then, he slowly nodded.

“Yes, there are many beauties in the royal palace.”

‘Ah, thank goodness. His voice seems to have softened a bit—’

“So sometimes, I think it would be nice to pluck your eyes out and keep them planted right here on my desk, only when I’m around.”

“……”

It was obviously a joke, but it didn’t sound like a joke at all, sending a chill down Isaac’s spine. As Isaac stood frozen, swallowing dry saliva,

「Detachable eyeballs. I think you could definitely achieve that with a wish.」

「Of course, for us, that’s nothing.」

A wicked, teasing voice leaked out from the rattling bookshelf. The chill down Isaac’s spine grew colder, and he hurriedly pressed his hands against the books, but the rattling merely shifted to the books on another shelf.

Looking at Isaac, who suddenly seemed exhausted, the Prince instructed the servant at the door that he would take a short break. The servant quickly went to the waiting room outside the office to deliver the news and prepare refreshments.

* * *

The weather was clear and beautiful. Though there were many complicated and daunting tasks like beast subjugations, for now, it was peaceful. Sitting down and feeling the cool breeze loosened his tension, and Isaac let out a languid sigh.

Glancing sideways, the Prince, who was drinking tea while looking out at the lake, also seemed to be in a pleasant mood. His face was still expressionless, but the slight relaxing of the corners of his eyes suggested he might be feeling quite good. In the past, just looking at him from a hundred meters away would make a person shiver with cold.

‘…… This is nice. Ordinary days like this.’

“So. It seems you’re continuously agonizing over that wish.”

The Prince, who had been quietly drinking tea for a while, spoke up.

“No, well…… It’s not actually something I should be agonizing over. Still, it’s a truly rare and precious opportunity, so I just thought it would be great if it could be used well. And I’m also curious what kind of wish Prince Kyan will make.”

‘You foolishly blew two wishes away; I was just hoping you could at least make the most of the last one,’ Isaac thought, clenching his fists internally. Looking at Isaac, the Prince casually tossed out his words.

“You do it. I don’t really want anything else.”

“Yes…..?”

Isaac stared at the Prince in bewilderment before firmly shaking his head. In a world where everyone else was clamoring to get just one more thing, what on earth was this man saying?

“No, you can’t do that. It belongs to Your Highness. It must be something you want, or something you need most, Your Highness.”

“Hmph……”

The Prince merely tapped the armrest of his chair slowly, looking entirely disinterested.

「I know the most wonderful, amazing, perfect wish. How about a jar that pours out infinite wine!」

「Ooh, that truly is the most wonderful, amazing, perfect wish I’ve ever heard!」 

Isaac decided to pretend not to hear the nonsense chattering of the guys running around at his feet.

But a wish. Let’s see…… If it’s a wish that normal people would most commonly desire……

“Umm, immense wealth and glory…… you already enjoy that.” Isaac started counting on his fingers, muttering to himself.

“Power beneath only one person…… you already have that too.” Counting them off one by one, Isaac bent his pinky finger and stole a glance at the Prince. “Exceptional wisdom and insight…… I don’t think you need any more of that. Blinding beauty…… goes without saying. Or conversely, a spouse of blinding beauty……, ……, …… Do you want one?”

Resting his chin on his hand as if to see what nonsense Isaac would say next, the Prince raised the edge of his eyebrow.

“I suppose any outer shell is fine, so if you want to change your face, you may. But I quite like your current face.”

“……Yes, sir.”

Isaac fanned his suddenly warm face once and returned to thinking. A wish, a wish. What else do normal people usually want?

“Umm, in times like this, if you look at old tales—immortality?”

Finally thinking of something the Prince didn’t have, Isaac’s eyes sparkled as he looked at him. The Prince still didn’t say anything, showing no particular interest, but Isaac, having finally come up with something the Prince lacked, lowered his gaze to his feet and asked.

“Is something like eternal youth and immortality possible? Does it violate the cosmic balance or whatever and get denied?”

「Enternal Youth and Immortality? Of course it’s possible. If it were any other shoddy magical artifact, there’d be no chance, but with the power of our precious tinderbox, it’s entirely possible.」

“Really? Then has anyone ever wished for that before?”

「There was. It was granted. But,」

The cat, which had been digging through a pile of grass, rolled its large eyes wildly and looked at Isaac.

「Do you really want to achieve that? Even if you’re buried underground, submerged in the sea, or burned alive, you can never age or die for all eternity?」

“……, ……, ……, No…… On second thought, maybe not.”

「Right? Better not. It’s not something a human mind can handle.」

「What happened to the kid who wished for that before? Who knows, I heard they were wandering around looking for a magical artifact to break the wish about a thousand years ago. But there’s no way an artifact capable of breaking the tinderbox’s magic exists in the human world.」

Hearing the cats’ nonchalant murmurs, Isaac broke out in a cold sweat. As expected, one should be very careful with wishes.

“Umm, then something similar…… health…… Right, how about living in perfect health until you die?”

「Witches don’t catch diseases anyway, do they?」

“Not me, for Prince Kyan. It’s Prince Kyan’s wish.”

「Are you blind, Manbang-ie? Can’t you see Mr. Moisture overflowing with so much vital energy that even pouring it into you day after day doesn’t drain him? Unless he catches some generational curse from abnormal magic, he’ll never get sick.」

“……”

Turning his gaze to the Prince, the Prince looked at Isaac with the same disinterested eyes and spoke.

“Well, for one, I don’t recall ever catching a disease. Though I have been inconvenienced by weapon wounds or poison before.”

“…… Then what about invulnerability to swords and blades, or immunity to all poisons?”

“Then the battlefield becomes far too boring.”

“……”

Perhaps trying to gauge a wish by the standards of a normal, average person was a mistake from the beginning.

Even though he was a witch, Isaac – whose mindset was far closer to that of a normal, average person (at least much closer than the Prince’s) – scratched his head and desperately squeezed his brain for something usable.

“Then since you will ascend the throne in the future, Your Highness, what about strengthening national power or stabilizing the livelihoods of the people……”

“Do you think I can’t achieve that with my own power?”

‘No…… Our Prince is already highly renowned as a wise ruler comparable to the founding hero king……’ In the end, Isaac clamped his mouth shut. Looking faintly at Isaac, whose head hung in dejection, the Prince asked.

“What about you? Is there anything you want?”

“Me?”

It was only upon hearing those words that Isaac considered it.

“Well, I don’t really have much either…… If there was something I wished for recently, maybe just that I wouldn’t lack blood in my body?”

“Right. That sounds fine. Let’s make that the third wish—”

“Wait a minute!!”

Before Isaac could even finish his sentence, the Prince nodded easily. Isaac shouted at him in a panic.

Of course, he would be grateful if he never had to suffer from anemia again, and it was certainly a desire of his. But he felt there must be a far better option to choose rather than just deciding it so hastily. It was too much of a waste to use it merely for one person’s personal anemia.

But if asked whether he had another specific idea in mind, the answer was no.

As Isaac agonized in bewilderment, one of the three furballs playing at his feet suddenly spoke up.

「If you’re really that conflicted, do you want to run a simulation of what would happen if you made that wish?」

“…… A sh-molation…..?”

「It means you can virtually experience the most highly probable reality of what will happen if you make that wish.」

「Haiya, the kid is so uneducated, his vocabulary is severely lacking.」 The three brats grumbled among themselves. Isaac had no idea what kind of neighborhoods they traveled through to pick up words he had never even heard before.

“No, if you had such an advanced function, why didn’t you mention it earlier?”

「You didn’t ask?」

“……”

‘Ah, right, of course. These guys were exactly these kinds of guys.’

Isaac forcibly suppressed the urge to violently shake them by the scruff of their necks and nodded his head.

“Alright, then show me. What happens if I make that wish.”

「Great. So, if Manbang-ie gets a body that no longer suffers from anemia, this is what happens—」

One of the cats leapt high above Isaac’s head. The creature landing squarely on his crown suddenly swung its tail and whacked Isaac across the face.

“Ack!”

The strike was so hard that Isaac saw stars. He let out a sharp cry and clutched his face. Suddenly, his vision grew hazy.