The candidates for the wish had all run out.

No matter how much he thought about it, most ideas were either too grandiose, getting bogged down by issues of cosmic balance, or too trivial to waste a precious wish on.

While this was happening, time flowed right along, and Isaac, having met the full moon, ended up taking to his bed.

When he was a half-human, the full moon nights had been somewhat bearable. But upon becoming a pureblood witch, the weight of the full moon hit him about five times harder. His energy plummeted so drastically that just taking a few steps was exhausting, and at its worst, he even suffered from severe body aches.

Because this full moon was exactly like that, Isaac had crawled under the covers since the afternoon and stayed there. The only silver lining of the full moon was that the three black fuzzballs were quieter than usual. Well, quieter just meant they weren’t running around causing a ruckus; they still sprawled out on the cabinet, endlessly spouting nonsense like old men. 「Oh, my arms, legs, back, and tail,」 「Oh, my aching joints,」 「Someone go boil me some warm medicine.」

In stark contrast to Isaac, the Prince, whose physical condition peaked on the day of the full moon, had the most packed schedule and was incredibly busy, spending the day endlessly dealing with a flood of visitors seeking an audience.

While Isaac was trapped in a hazy, semi-conscious state all afternoon, he had a jumbled mess of dreams. In them, the cats were humming while bathing in a pool of boiling brimstone; or the Prince had become a supreme ruler with absolute power who unified the world; or Isaac was having his neck sucked dry by some short, stout child he was holding in his arms. Such bizarre and grotesque events drifted through his mind like passing breezes.

Then, at some point, he opened his eyes to see a bright full moon suspended in the pitch-black sky outside the large window, looking down at him. The silence was so profound—not even the rustle of grass or the sound of the wind could be heard—that it didn’t feel like reality. Isaac lay there quietly, thinking he was dreaming of the Prince sitting beside him, gazing down at him.

They met eyes for a long time, but the Prince said nothing, merely sitting there like a painting, watching Isaac. In the dim room, illuminated only by the dazzling moonlight, he looked so breathtakingly beautiful that Isaac stared in a trance and ended up smiling.

Only then did the Prince slightly raise his picturesque eyebrows and reach out to stroke Isaac’s hair. How could a touch be this soft? Isaac tilted his head and kissed that palm. The hand, seemingly pausing for a moment, began to caress Isaac’s cheek again. It was an infinitely tender touch, as if stroking the most precious thing in the world.

Isaac suddenly realized something.

It was a truth he had known for a long time, but it rose to the surface of his consciousness as a fresh revelation.

‘No matter how much time passes, I will continue to love this person.’

‘Just as this person loves me.’

‘Let’s stay together.’

*Tuk,* like a ripe fruit falling on its own, the words abruptly spilled out.

‘I want to stay with you. Forever, in the endlessly flowing time.’

The hand resting on his cheek moved slowly again. Tracing Isaac’s face, a pair of lips touched his forehead.

‘Alright.’

A calm reply returned, devoid of any grand resolution or heavy determination. It sounded like a given, an answer to something that didn’t even need to be said.

That short response touched his heart, making Isaac smile. Before the smile could even fade, that sweet lethargy overtook him once more.

He dreamt no more dreams after that.

* * *

「Ugh, my aching body. Why is the full moon so harsh this time?」

「Now that all the witches have left, the world is severely lacking in demonic energy, tsk tsk.」

「This old man is dying of exhaustion.」

Chasing a butterfly that had flown in through the window, the cats fluttering around the carpet chattered complainingly. One of the brats used Isaac’s head as a springboard to launch itself onto the bed, kicking him so hard that Isaac had to grab his nearly snapped neck and sit up.

“You little punks…… I couldn’t get a wink of sleep all night because of you, and you finally……”

He groaned, then sat up and looked out at the bright yard where the sun was beating down. He was completely alone in the spacious bedroom.

Now that the night of the full moon had passed, his body felt much better. Massaging his stiff neck and shoulders, Isaac shook his head to clear it and turned his gaze to the bedside table. Next to the water pitcher meant to quench his morning thirst, there was a small plate.

On the palm-sized, blue royal plate lay a neat pile of flour snacks. It was far too shabby a snack to be placed on a palace table. It was obvious who had ordered this to be placed here.

“……”

To think that just because he occasionally ate them as a nostalgic childhood treat, this person assumed Isaac loved these snacks. Imagining him specifically ordering someone to go procure these snacks made Isaac chuckle. These hard, bland snacks wouldn’t even suit the Prince’s palate.

Isaac smirked and popped a piece into his mouth. To think a snack normally sold at the corner of a dirt alley where grimy kids played was receiving such VIP treatment, served on a luxurious plate. Yet, looking at it quietly, it somehow seemed to suit the setting well.

Rolling the snack in his palm for a moment, Isaac looked up at the butterfly perched on the wall sconce, and asked the cats who were wiggling their rears at it.

“Hey, what if I were to become human again? Like, a complete human. Couldn’t the tinderbox grant that?”

The three pairs of eyes that had been locked on the butterfly snapped toward Isaac. Their large pupils narrowed to slits.

「Then who’s going to give Mr. Moisture blood every new moon from now on?」

Ah. Right. There was that problem.

Isaac scratched his head.

“Umm…… Right, so, until you guys return to the Land of the Dark Moon next Great New Moon, could you perhaps share a bit of your—”

「「「KHEEKKK!!!」」」

Before he could even finish, the cats let out raspy hisses and arched their backs.

“No, I mean, once I become human, you guys will be the only witches left. And once you cross over to the Land of the Dark Moon, my curse will be broken, so you just have to endure it until then. If you turn into tigers, a few mouthfuls of blood is nothing for that size. If you just take turns donating one by one……”

「Don’t speak such ridiculous nonsense!」

「Nothing?! Our precious blood, worth its weight in gold?!」

「We won’t give a single drop!」

They made such a wild, jumping fuss that the butterfly got startled and flew out the window. Blaming Isaac for it, the three brats pounced and threw a bigger tantrum, eventually thoroughly trampling him before they were satisfied.

Guess not.

Thinking about it, there really was no reason to go back to being human now. He wasn’t in a position where he had to hide being a witch anyway, and the people around him had gotten used to it, so he didn’t suffer any real disadvantages for being one. In fact, since becoming a pureblood witch, he never suffered from minor illnesses, and aside from the difficult full moon nights, his overall health had drastically improved. Furthermore, though he hadn’t fully realized it himself yet, recalling his mother, witches hardly aged.

‘Hardly aged……’

Crouched on the floor, Isaac lifted his head and asked the cats.

“How old are you guys?”

「How rude for a youngster to ask the age of your elders!」

「A mere blood clot has no manners.」

The cats snorted and scolded him instead of answering. But judging from their past words and actions, they were undoubtedly incredibly ancient, far older than they looked. Human time was likely like dust to them. The time they spent lingering here was probably just a fleeting moment.

“…Are you going to cross over to the Land of the Dark Moon this coming Great New Moon?”

「Well? We might cross over this time, or we might go next time. We’ll see.」

「But there’s no fun here. It’s much more dynamic and fun over there.」

「It’s like a boring heaven versus a hell with endless winter, I guess? You should pack your bags too. Let’s go together.」

“Do you want to get locked in a birdcage again?”

Isaac unconsciously grabbed a cat’s snout as he looked around nervously. They had been locked in a cage for a whole month before, yet these guys still didn’t know fear.

But when the Great New Moon arrived, just as he had warned, Isaac would probably be locked in a cage, unable to move a muscle. He had even heard a rumor that a huge pure-silver cage, blessed by the High Priest, had been prepared early and placed in the storehouse.

The three of them would have to leave on their own. Whether it was this Great New Moon, the next, or the one after that.

Whenever that time came, they would leave, and time would push the present into the past, flowing far away in an instant. The people around him would have children, the young boy would become a soldier, the King would age and fall ill, and time would eat away at them just like that.

“Even old colleagues, when I see them after a long time, have a few more wrinkles on their faces…… But our Prince still has flawless, dazzlingly radiant beauty without a single blemish……”

「That’s because his vital energy is overflowing.」

「Even so, he’s human. He’ll live to be a hundred or a bit more at best.」

「Just endure it until then, and then come over to the Land of the Dark Moon. Kali might give you a fortune.」

Isaac, lying on the bed with his chin resting on his hands, pricked up his ears.

“…… Can I meet my mom then?”

「Why couldn’t you?」

“Even after all that time has passed?”

「So what? It’s barely a hundred years.」

Isaac blinked at the cats. The cats blinked back at him. Looking into those round eyes that seemed to ask ‘What are you asking?’, Isaac realized anew just how incredibly long these creatures lived.

Mulling over this fact, Isaac rolled around on the bed.

“Mmm— I do miss my mom a bit, though—”

“I cannot send you.”

Suddenly, a cool voice came from behind. Instead of Isaac flinching, the cats raised the fur on their necks and jumped a hand-span into the air…… It’s amazing every time. How does this man come in without even these ghost-like creatures noticing……

“You’re here?”

As Isaac creaked his head around, the Prince gave the cats a cold glare as he walked over and sat on the chair next to the bed. In a flash, the cats dashed out the window and fled, and the Prince turned his displeased gaze to Isaac.

“Your condition seems to have improved.”

“It’s always like this during the full moon. Your Highness, you seem busy today as well.”

Instead of answering, the Prince stared intently at Isaac. Despite doing nothing wrong, Isaac felt a bit guilty and slowly averted his eyes. Then,

“Do you wish to meet your mother?”

“…—”

At the unexpected words flying at him, Isaac’s eyes widened as he looked at the Prince. The Prince’s ice-blue eyes scrutinized Isaac’s face.

“I cannot send you. However, I could summon her here so you can meet. If that is what you want, you may use your wish for that.”

Isaac looked at the Prince without even blinking.

He was offering the single remaining wish to Isaac without hesitation. He, who loathed witches so much, was saying he would summon a witch if Isaac wished it. Even the primal emotion fiercely embedded at his core was softening powerlessly toward Isaac.

‘Ah.’

‘I love this person so much. In the past, and in the future.’

“…… Well, I do miss her, but……”

After looking at the Prince for a long time, Isaac slowly shook his head.

“No. I’m sure there will be another, better wish.”

The Prince raised one eyebrow, then readily nodded.

“Alright. Let me know whenever there is something you want.”

“There is actually something I really want right now.”

The Prince made a questioning face, then nodded for him to speak. Isaac suddenly let out a long sigh, slumped his body, and spread both arms.

“Please give me some energy. This full moon was a bit harsh, so I’m still having a hard time.”

Looking at Isaac with faintly widened eyes, the Prince seemed to let out a small laugh. Then, without hesitation, he stood up from his seat, approached, and leaned his body over Isaac.

“As much as you like. Take as much as you want.”

‘Truly, it was too good.’