It had been exactly one month since the Prince wiped out hundreds of witches at the Witches’ Great Banquet, driving them entirely from the human world.

It had not been long since he achieved the monumental feat of completely eradicating those wicked beings, who lived hidden among humans, preying on them, stealing their vital energy, and bringing harm, from the human realm.

Yet, on the very next new moon, when the corpses of several house-sized demonic beasts were discovered on the mountainside outskirts of the capital, the people were thrown into a massive uproar once again. The sword marks left on the corpses of these mighty beasts, any single one of which could decimate a village, clearly belonged to the Prince. And although it was the Prince who had ordered the corpses to be cleared away since they were there, the fact that he had returned to the palace that dawn, battered and drenched from head to toe in beast blood, let the people know that he was the one who had slaughtered them all.

And the people revered and stood in even greater awe of the Prince who had butchered such terrifying monsters alone.

The Prince’s already solid position became unshakeably firm, and with the King even publicly declaring that he would abdicate the throne to him the following year, no one dared to speak a word against the Prince anymore——not that they really could before.

Because of this, even when rumors circulated that the Prince, who harbored such immense hatred for witches, had deliberately spared one witch amidst the massacre to ruthlessly torture and exact his revenge, no one dared to step forward to question or advise him against it.

‘He has suffered such terrifying agony due to the witches’ curse, it is only natural his resentment and hatred have piled up.’

‘Perhaps that witch also considers a painful life better than death.’

While the majority spoke like this, a rare few voiced opinions such as, ‘I pity the witch kept alive solely for revenge,’ ‘Won’t he live in eternal suffering?’, or ‘No matter how wicked a witch is, doing such a thing seems inhumane.’ However, even this minority ultimately kept their mouths shut, unable to openly confront the Prince.

That very witch, the only witch the Prince had left in the human world to vent his hatred and rage upon, Isaac, was completely oblivious to these circulating rumors, having been stuck strictly to the Prince’s side ever since that Great New Moon passed.

The Prince, who had achieved the unbelievable feat of slaying several demonic beasts from hell all at once, had returned to the palace in such a battered state he was practically a corpse. Since he disliked wizards, he refused to heal his body using their magic, forcing him to spend some time bedridden and immobile in the Blue Shadow Palace. And during that time, Isaac stuck right by the Prince’s side, never leaving. If he tried to step away for even a moment, the Prince’s sharp gaze would immediately fly his way. Later on, simply being allowed to go to the bathroom felt like a relief, so Isaac obediently stayed glued to his side.

As a result, Isaac, who had grown dull to the goings-on of the outside world, didn’t understand why everyone they ran into looked at him with such a subtle gaze – a mix of pity and sorrow – when the Prince, rising from his bed in just three days with inhuman healing speed, went to pay his respects to the King.

Furthermore, when the Prince greeted the King in the audience chamber, Isaac couldn’t fathom why even the King looked at him, standing guard behind the Prince, with a complicated and sympathetic gaze.

At that time, Isaac’s sole concern was this:

“Yes, I am overjoyed to hear that you have eradicated those terrifying beasts and that your body has recovered so well. However…… it seems that witch standing behind you did not cross over to the land of witches on the Great New Moon? What do you intend to do…… do you plan to keep him alive?”

It was exactly that question. It was an expected question, but Isaac’s heart still plummeted.

Now that nearly all the witches in the human world were dead and the few remaining ones had crossed over to the Land of the Dark Moon, Isaac had become the last witch left in the human world.

The royal curse passed down through generations would only be broken when all witches disappeared from the human world. Because Isaac remained, the curse was technically still active. Thus, those of royal blood would naturally wish for Isaac to disappear, and the King would undoubtedly feel the same.

Knowing there were people wishing for his death wasn’t exactly a comforting thought, so Isaac received their stares with a pounding heart. Of course, there were gazes of pity and sympathy mixed in, but he still didn’t know the reason for them.

“Yes, I will let him live.”

The Prince’s answer was cool and without a hint of hesitation.

While there would be those disappointed that a witch survived just when they thought they would finally be free of the curse, no one could dare object to the very person who had made the greatest contribution to eliminating the witches saying such a thing. Moreover, since most of the direct royals actually afflicted by the curse had forged contracts with wizards to fall into a deep sleep every new moon, escaping the agony, they were even less in a position to argue with the Prince—the only person who endured that horrifying pain fully awake.

The King was the same, and having lived his entire life falling into a deep sleep every new moon, it was no longer a major inconvenience to him. The same went for most of the others.

However, since they had expected the centuries-old curse to finally vanish, the King did manage to venture, “Still, it is a rare opportunity to break the curse…….”

“I will not kill him as long as I live.”

The Prince answered resolutely once more, and this time, neither the King nor anyone else said another word.

If that was the case, it was only for one generation at most. They figured that since the centuries-old curse would end after just a few more decades, rather than an indefinite wait, they could be satisfied with that.

Isaac, who had been secretly worrying, sensitively read the room and felt relieved. He had been slightly worried the King might outright command his execution, but more than that, he feared this would cause people to voice their dissatisfaction with the Prince.

However, the Prince’s position was far more solid and absolute than Isaac had thought.

‘Thank goodness,’ Isaac nodded to himself and sighed.

And it was around this time that Isaac finally noticed that the gazes of the people stealing glances at him were highly suspicious.

Right now, Simon, a guard and former colleague of Isaac’s standing just on the other side of the door, was looking at him with a dark complexion.

‘Why is he looking at me like that……?’ Isaac clearly remembered him looking at him with the fearful, reluctant eyes reserved for a witch not long ago, but now, while still reluctant, there was a stark look of pity and deep sympathy.

‘……?’

When Isaac furrowed his brow and looked back in confusion, Simon completely turned his head away and even let out a sigh.

Once he noticed that gaze, he felt it even more acutely. While the Prince discussed state affairs with the King, Isaac realized that most of the people present were casting subtle, pitying glances his way.

While staring at the ceiling for a moment, Isaac glanced at a young priest standing a few steps away. Standing behind the High Priest seated across from the Prince, the young priest flinched when he met Isaac’s eyes, blinked several times, and then gave a barely noticeable nod. He even offered a vague greeting, ‘You are enduring so much…….’ in a tone full of profound pity.

‘No, it’s not a burden at all.’

When Isaac answered with a light shake of his head, the young priest’s face darkened even further. He seemed to think Isaac was just putting on a brave face.

‘Prince Kyan is truly a magnificent and great man, but since his hatred for witches is so profound…… no matter how much he despises them, keeping one alive solely to inflict pain is something that shouldn’t be done…….’

‘…….Excuse me?’

‘No matter how wicked a witch may be, they should be patiently guided and reformed, how could he lock you in a dungeon, drain your blood, and sexually abuse you?’

‘It is a gruesome affair,’ the young priest clicked his tongue and muttered a short prayer. And Isaac stared at him, blinking blankly. In that moment, a realization struck him like lightning. Why people were looking at him with such subtle eyes. What those pitying and sympathetic gazes meant.

‘That bastard Hoden…….’ Isaac unconsciously blurted out, before snapping his mouth shut upon receiving the priest’s confused look.

Hoden had gone around spreading the word. The Royal Palace was a place where rumors traveled fast to begin with, and since it was related to the Prince who was currently the center of everyone’s attention, a single word spoken would multiply into a hundred and spread at the speed of light.

The incident of the Prince drinking Isaac’s blood on the new moon while he was locked in the dungeon must have become a rumor like that. Then again, Hoden had looked at them with a face of absolute shock at the time. Witnessing the bizarre sight of someone drinking another’s blood, it was an understandable reaction.

Moreover, since they had tumbled around in bed all night, every night in Heilen under the pretext of gaining vital energy. And things hadn’t been much different since returning to the capital—it wasn’t strange that rumors spread of Isaac being ‘abused,’ having suffered all night from the Prince’s almost violent stamina.

‘…….’

‘So all of a sudden, I’ve become a pitiful witch whose blood is sucked and is raped by a Prince burning with hatred and vengeance…….’

It was a relief that the true reason the Prince drank his blood hadn’t become a rumor. If it had, some royal might have demanded a taste of his blood. But he still felt incredibly conflicted and complicated about it.

After that, whenever Isaac walked around the palace and ran into people he used to know, he received their dark, heavy stares and greetings simultaneously. His former colleagues, who had been avoiding him, would occasionally approach, throw out a comforting, ‘Stay strong,’ and walk away clicking their tongues. It wasn’t entirely a bad thing that this led to exchanging a few more words with them……, ……but Isaac didn’t exactly feel entirely refreshed compared to when he was receiving glares of contempt and aversion.

“…….”

And this man has been branded an incredibly brazen and cruel figure by the court people…….Well, he was already evaluated as somewhat of that sort of person to begin with, so it’s not like he’ll be newly hurt by it now.

Besides, it wasn’t a lie that the Prince drank Isaac’s blood.

Right at this very moment, Isaac was having his blood drunk by the Prince.

Staring at the half-moon shining through the window, Isaac flinched and squeezed the hand gripping the Prince’s shoulder when the Prince, who was biting his neck, moved up and bit his lips right on the skin. No matter how used he got to it, the moment his lip burst open still hurt.

“……But if you drink a witch’s blood, does even simple physical pain disappear……?”

Isaac suddenly asked the Prince, who was licking his lips and sucking on his tongue. The Prince gave a slight nod, replying, “Mhm-humph,” and then even bit Isaac’s tongue.

「As if!」

「What is witch’s blood, some kind of panacea?!」

「If that were true, the seeds of witches would have dried up in the human world a long, long time ago!」

The cats sitting on top of the cabinet at the head of the bed shrieked and glared. Catching a glimpse of them out of the corner of his eye, Isaac turned his gaze back to the Prince. Their faces were too close for him to read expressions properly, but the Prince didn’t seem to be lying.

That day, his body, which had been torn to shreds by the demonic beasts, exposing raw red flesh and white bone, had managed to close its wounds in just over a week. The doctors clicked their tongues in awe, telling him to be careful as they hadn’t healed all the way to the core yet, marveling at his inhuman recovery speed.

Every night, Isaac changed the Prince’s bandages, and every time, the Prince would claim he needed a substitute for painkillers and suck Isaac’s blood.

It wasn’t pain caused by the witches’ curse, so drinking a witch’s blood shouldn’t have made the pain disappear, but as he licked the blood from Isaac’s neck and lips, the Prince truly seemed as if the pain had vanished. Then again, he hadn’t shown much sign of being in pain from the beginning.

Compared to the agony of the new moon nights, ordinary pain probably didn’t even register as pain to him.

“…….”

Isaac, who was holding the shoulders of the Prince as he brushed his lips over his cheek and moved down his neck again, flinched his hand when he felt a wound beneath it. The scars that hadn’t yet fully healed felt bumpy. Then he made eye contact with the three cats crouched like loaves of bread on top of the cabinet.

“……Why don’t you guys lick him a bit……?”

So his wounds heal faster, Isaac had barely finished speaking when the cats raised their fur and shouted in unison, 「NO!」 Was it really necessary to tremble in disgust if they didn’t want to? Isaac smacked his lips, feeling grumbly.

The cats had been in a very foul mood lately. Rather than lately, it was ever since the Great New Moon.

After finally boarding the crescent moon boat, they had tumbled down along with Isaac to catch him when he fell, so Isaac really had nothing to say in his defense. He could only keep his head down and his mouth shut. Even when they glared with large eyes and bombarded him with the same nagging『We have to wait another 7 years!』, 『Manbang-ie is an idiot』Isaac just listened quietly.

‘Can’t we use the tinderbox one more time? I’ll strike it and wish for the Crescent Moon-Silver Boat to come back.’

Isaac had pointed to the tinderbox the cats were cherishing and tried asking, but judging by them hissing, 『Your three times are already over!』 it seemed making another wish with the tinderbox was a lost cause. He had even argued, ‘If I can’t do it, someone else can ask,’ but they only retorted, 『Do you think we’d just let anyone use our precious tinderbox?!』

……If someone has to catch the eye of those picky cats to use the tinderbox, no one is going to show up to make a wish with it for a while.

But despite all their foul moods, those grumpy cats gladly devoured the goat meat and wine served at every meal, and it seemed they were slowly starting to wander outside and play comfortably.

“…….”

The Prince seemed to have drunk his fill of blood reasonably satisfyingly; showing no further signs of drinking blood, he merely caressed Isaac’s lips, cheeks, and neck with his own lips. Holding the Prince tightly in his arms, Isaac turned his gaze toward the window.

A beautiful half-moon hung in the night sky. The moon would gradually wax into a full moon, then wane into a new moon, then full again, then dark again, cycling endlessly. And then, one day, the Crescent Moon-Silver Boat would return.

“Do you regret it?”

The Prince asked suddenly. Isaac flinched, but quickly realized what he was asking. The Prince had noticed Isaac looking at the moon and thinking of the Crescent Moon-Silver Boat.

‘Did I regret not going to the land of witches?’

No. Isaac wasn’t regretting the fact that he hadn’t gone.

What lingered like a shadow in Isaac’s heart was the fact that he remained by the Prince’s side as a witch.

Whenever the Prince looked at him, he would be reminded of the existence of witches. If they had vanished entirely from this world, the existence of witches might have eventually faded from his memory and been forgotten, but he would continue to be reminded of them, remembering that hatred and rage as well.

Even if the intense emotion he harbored for Isaac was strong enough to cover his intense hatred for witches, that hatred would never be completely forgotten and would constantly be replayed in his memories. By seeing the existence of a witch right before his eyes.

Isaac remained silent for a moment before shaking his head.

“I don’t regret it. I’m just…… a little curious. Wondering what it would have been like if I had become a human.”

Knowing it was meaningless, he thought about the path he couldn’t take.

‘What if I had become human? What if I wasn’t a witch?’

‘Then would I have been hated less by the Prince?’

To Isaac, who was quietly lost in thought, the Prince, who similarly seemed to think for a moment, said casually.

“I don’t think it would have been much different.”

“You think so?”

The Prince nodded. Then, perhaps thinking it over once more, he stared intently at Isaac before nodding again.

“I don’t think it would be much different from now.”

Isaac blinked and looked at the Prince.

He had thought that if he became human, the parts of those intense emotions that were closer to hatred and rage would have softened at least a little. He had thought about how nice that would have been.

But if it wouldn’t have been much different from now.

‘……Does he not hate me?’

‘Is that intense emotion not something akin to hatred?’

“…….”

‘I wish it were so. If that intense emotion, strong enough to cover his hatred and rage toward witches, is not hatred. If it is an entirely different—completely different emotion from hatred.’

Isaac suddenly chuckled. Perhaps finding Isaac’s sudden laughter strange, the Prince raised an eyebrow and asked, “What.” Isaac shook his head.

“No, it’s just nice.”

Saying it out loud made him feel even better, and Isaac’s smile deepened. The Prince’s gaze stopped on Isaac’s lips and didn’t fall away for a long time.

Isaac fetched bandages from the drawer and began to change the ones wrapped around the Prince’s body. The wounds were already closing, but he securely applied fresh bandages every night just in case they burst open from a wrong movement.

“It’s already too late, but I do feel a bit wistful thinking it would have been nice to become a human. If I had become a human, I could have tried the things I had given up on because I wasn’t human.”

Isaac gently examined the Prince’s wounds as he wrapped the bandages. The wounds that had exposed bone were already closed. It was good that he was healing quickly, but he truly didn’t seem human. He probably seems less human than I do, and I’m not even human.

“Like what?”

“Well……, a pretty house, or pretty chicken, or pretty…….”

Answering absentmindedly as he checked the Prince’s wounds, Isaac barely caught himself and snapped his mouth shut before finishing the sentence. Come to think of it, he had been severely reprimanded once before for saying something similar.

Isaac, glancing up to gauge the Prince’s reaction, flinched as he locked eyes with the expressionless Prince. After gazing at Isaac coldly for a moment, the Prince opened his mouth.

“I will give you a pretty house and pretty chicken.”

“…….”

“There are often times when you draw an exceptionally intense emotion from me……, I should add that from your perspective, it might not be a particularly good thing.”

“……Yes, I will keep that in mind.”

Even without that low and cold voice, even without those utterly freezing eyes, Isaac read the clear warning embedded in those words. Staring intently at Isaac, who immediately bowed his head and answered obediently, the Prince seemed to have decided to let it slide this time. He lifted his arm toward Isaac, who had frozen mid-bandage. Isaac quickly resumed wrapping the bandage around his shoulder.

“If that was the reason you wanted to become human, then becoming a witch was definitely for the best.”

The Prince said. While securely fastening the bandage wrapped from his shoulder to his back, Isaac looked at the Prince with surprised eyes. ‘To say becoming a witch was better, I never expected to hear those words from this man.’

“……Still, if I had become human, you could have finally broken the curse.”

“If I hadn’t remained in this land as a witch, the curse would have been broken by now.” As Isaac muttered, unable to shake off that regret, the Prince said casually.

“It matters not if a centuries-old curse continues for just a few more decades. Tell those who have been sleeping every new moon up until now to just keep sleeping. That is none of my concern.”

“But it will be difficult for you every new moon, Your Highness.”

“Why would it be, when I have you.”

The Prince asked back. Isaac was momentarily speechless……. ‘Well, I suppose it’s fine since he has a highly effective painkiller.’ As Isaac smacked his lips bitterly, the Prince, looking down at him, tilted his head slightly.

“You must dislike having your blood drunk.”

“…….Having already sworn on the Moon River, what does it matter now……, I am accepting it as destiny.”

It would be a lie to say he liked having his blood drunk. When his blood was sucked, it hurt first and foremost, and it was exhausting. Furthermore, when the Prince drank his blood on the new moon, he gulped it down as if intoxicated, which left Isaac lightheaded and his vision blurry from blood loss.

But.

He didn’t really hate it. In fact, he thought it was a good thing he could provide it.

If this made the Prince’s pain disappear, he could give as much as he wanted. He was glad he could. Even if he had to live bound by an oath sworn to the Moon River for the rest of his life.

The Prince gazed quietly at Isaac.

Isaac stared right back at him, unable to guess what he was thinking.

Suddenly, the Prince nodded, saying, “Indeed, I cannot simply take.”

“I will give you whatever you desire. Just one thing.”

The Prince said.

Isaac stopped his movements. And just stared quietly at the Prince. The Prince was also staring intently at Isaac.

‘I will give you whatever you desire.’

He had heard these words recently.

Right after the Witches’ Great Banquet ended, the Prince had said he would give Isaac a reward. That he would give him one thing, whatever he desired. And back then, Isaac had said he wanted to obtain a treasure from the King’s royal treasury.

……But in truth,

“Will you really give me anything?”

Isaac asked, gazing at the Prince. It was the exact same question he had asked then. And the Prince nodded, just as he had then.

“If it is something I can give.”

That, too, was the same answer.

Isaac closed his mouth and simply looked at the Prince in silence for a while. And the Prince waited for Isaac’s answer.

——But the truth was, back then, Isaac had wanted to ask for something else. He had felt like he was choking on an immense greed he hadn’t even known he possessed. What he had desperately wanted then was,

“…….When I went into His Majesty’s royal treasury the other day, I saw many covetable things…….”

The moment Isaac, breaking the long silence, muttered those words, the Prince’s calmly waiting gaze turned freezing cold in an instant. Beyond cold, it was downright chilling.

“There was something that was the most radiant and beautiful.”

At Isaac’s words, the Prince, who was listening silently, asked, “What is it?” His voice sounded as if it were dripping with ice.

Isaac looked straight at the Prince and opened his mouth.

“I wish to have the greatest beauty in all the land.”

In that moment, the Prince’s expression stopped.

A face that looked as if he had heard something completely unexpected—or as if he had been caught off guard.

The expression on his face, as he stared fixedly at Isaac without even blinking, gradually grew strange. It was an indescribable expression, and he couldn’t tell what it meant. ‘……Is he angry? Did I speak too presumptuously?’

“No, it was just a joke—”

“I will give them to you.”

Just as Isaac rubbed the back of his neck and opened his mouth, the Prince answered before he could finish. It took a moment for that short, concise answer to register in his head.

“…….Excuse me?”

“I will give them.”

“…….”

This time, Isaac’s expression stopped.

It was an unexpected response, and he was caught off guard.

Does this man perhaps not know who the greatest beauty in all the land is yet?

To Isaac, who had momentarily lost his words in bewilderment, the Prince answered with his usual, utterly expressionless face.

“From now on, they are all yours.”

“……, ……Th-Thank you.”

He answered reflexively, but still feeling like they weren’t communicating properly, Isaac blinked his eyes at the Prince for a long time. After that hesitation, Isaac asked carefully.

“Um……, ……Your Highness, you are aware that you are incredibly beautiful, right……?”

“Is there anyone more beautiful than me?”

At Isaac’s words, the Prince asked back instead. Rendered mute by that confident reply, Isaac answered, “No…….” He definitely seemed to know who the greatest beauty was.

“…….”

Was it a joke? He must be messing around. Surely he doesn’t mean it. Though he isn’t really the type to joke around at times like this.

He couldn’t tell. However, he didn’t have the audacity to put on a straight face and seriously ask again if he meant it.

Standing straight beside the Prince, Isaac fell into deep contemplation, tearing his hair out internally. Whether he knew of this struggle or not—or perhaps knowing but having no intention of resolving it—the Prince said nothing. He simply watched Isaac, who was agonizing over his thoughts alone, with narrowed eyes.

Suddenly, the Prince seemed to let out a faint chuckle. Isaac, who had been lost in thought staring at his feet, raised his head to look at him, but by then, any trace of a smile had vanished.

Instead, the Prince lightly tapped the spot next to him on the long sofa with his knuckles. Briefly hesitating due to his status as a guard, Isaac obediently followed the order and sat straight beside him. The Prince then stretched his body out sideways and lay down, resting his head on Isaac’s lap.

“…….”

While they had tumbled around in bed and the Prince had lain prone on top of Isaac many times, this was the first time he had ever lain down using his lap as a pillow on the sofa.

Isaac was slightly flustered, but he remained still, sitting quietly. Without moving anything but his eyes, he looked down at the Prince, who rested against his legs with his eyes closed.

Perhaps because it was a first, he must have been tense. And that tension seemed to have transmitted to the Prince. With his eyes still closed, the Prince lightly patted Isaac’s thigh and said:

“Get used to it. That is your place.”

After saying that, as if he really were going to fall asleep, the Prince lightly crossed his arms and did not move anymore.

Isaac silently looked down at him.

Even though it was a face he already knew so well, while he scrutinized every detail as if seeing it for the first time, low, even breathing could be heard from the Prince. As he listened to that sound, Isaac’s heart gradually calmed as well.

This quiet and peaceful moment.

It was a moment that perfectly filled his heart, lacking nothing and leaving nothing to be desired.

After gazing at him for a long time, Isaac lifted his eyes to look at the window. Beneath the night sky where a pretty half-moon hung, Isaac’s reflection was visible in the glass window. And the Prince’s, too.

Looking at the two figures contained together within a single pane of glass, Isaac suddenly recalled a memory. A thought he had once had.

He had thought it would be nice if there was someone by the Prince’s side.

Someone to whom the Prince would gladly yield his side, and someone who would gladly stand there. He had hoped there would be someone to walk alongside the Prince forever.

And now, looking at the two of them reflected side by side in the glass, Isaac suddenly felt a faint, tender ache in his heart.

……Finally.

By the side of the one who had spent a long, harsh, and agonizing time all alone, finally.

“——.”

He would stay. He would continue to guard his side. As long as this man didn’t push him away, he would remain by his side and not leave him alone.

And finally——he wouldn’t be alone anymore, either.

Isaac drew a breath deep into his chest. His heart ached so tenderly that he felt he couldn’t endure it without breathing life into it.

Remaining perfectly still, Isaac slowly looked around. The Prince with his eyes closed on his lap, the three cats curled up and nodding off at the head of the bed, and the tinderbox hugged tightly by the cats.

Looking around at the things that made up this peaceful and complete moment, Isaac quietly exhaled the breath that had filled his chest and closed his eyes. And, burying himself within that moment as well, he thought:

‘I didn’t need the flint or the tinderbox anymore.’

‘Everything I had so desperately desired had already come true.’

[Tinderbox – END]