Mary's Desire

Evening.

East Tower Alchemy Room.

A quill floated in the air, dancing.

Its tail feathers were pitch-black, and at first glance, it looked as though it had come from the tip of a crow's wing.

But ordinary crow feathers were clearly not this long, nor were their barbs so straight and even.

Looking closer, the tips of those barbs seemed to glitter with starlight.

Luxurious and mysterious.

Its stage was an old book with dry, yellowed pages.

The book floated in the air as well, moving in time with the quill.

Merely watching such a splendid "dance" was a delight to the eyes.

Unfortunately, neither of the two people in the room paid any attention to the dazzling performance.

"Vera, Mary often... 'sleeps' like this... She'll be all right, won't she?"

The Chief of the School of the Wolf glanced at the "soundly sleeping" girl sprawled across the table and could not help asking.

"She'll be fine." The Sorceress seemed to be in low spirits. She glanced at Mary and explained, "It benefits her. It increases her resistance to sleep and mind-affecting spells."

"Is that how all you Sorceresses improve your strength?" Soyer could not help asking.

He had known Vera since they were children.

When Vera was eight, a mage had taken her away.

He himself had only set out upon his own road to glory at the age of ten, filled with passion and ignoring all advice to the contrary.

When they met again, they were both already in their thirties or forties, each having made a resounding name for themselves.

Though they had known each other for centuries, it was the first time Soyer had realized that, despite their intimate relationship, he seemed never to have understood Vera's life as an apprentice.

"Our relationship isn't that intimate."

"Besides, there's nothing worth talking about from my apprenticeship."

Soyer did not care that Vera had read his mind.

He had lived an open and honest life and had done nothing shameful.

Besides, the one reading his mind was the love of his life.

After ten years apart, he wished he could lay bare before her every bit of longing and affection he had accumulated over those years.

He only feared she would not read deeply enough, or read enough of it.

Snap.

The quill's dance ended, and the old book closed.

The Sorceress caught the experiment log as it slowly descended and sighed.

She had read his thoughts, but unfortunately...

"Soyer, we can't go back to the way things were."

"Ever since I made that wrong choice, my life has seemed to sink into a vortex of guilt and repentance."

The Witcher instinctively took two steps closer, wanting to explain.

"Vera, you know it wasn't our fault, and Ailin is living well now..."

"He isn't living well..." The Sorceress interrupted him and repeated, "Soyer, he isn't living well..."

"Even without reading his mind, I can feel his fear."

"Soyer, he's afraid..."

"What pains me most is that this isn't the end of Ailin's suffering. His life is destined to be surrounded by blood and fire."

Vera's pupils trembled at the future she had foreseen for Ailin.

The Witcher wanted to approach her, hold her, warm her...

But the Sorceress came to her senses, took a step back, and avoided him.

Seeing his movement, her expression instantly turned cold.

"The experiment log for Witcher's Eye."

The yellowed notebook flew toward the Witcher.

The Sorceress crossed her arms and said coldly:

"I'm leaving. You can go."

The Witcher opened his mouth, about to say something.

Snap.

A finger snap.

The Alchemy Room door opened.

Soyer gripped the forged experiment log, cast one last disappointed look at the expressionless Sorceress, then walked out of the Alchemy Room.

"Wait."

The Sorceress's voice came from behind him. The Witcher instantly perked up and turned around, thinking there might be a turn for the better in their relationship.

But the Sorceress's expression had not changed in the slightest. "Take good care of Ailin, or you know the consequences."

"Don't worry. He's my child too." The Witcher nodded earnestly in promise. After pulling himself together somewhat, he left the Alchemy Room.

After returning from the hunt with Vesemir, Ailin headed to the Alchemy Room to get dinner.

On the way to the South Tower, he had thought he might see the Sorceress again.

But after knocking on the Alchemy Room door, he regretfully discovered that she had opened a portal and left just minutes before his arrival.

"Witcher Apprentice, what exactly is your relationship with Lady Vesemir?"

"How did you win her favor?"

Mary carried a water bag, and the pink bump on her forehead practically radiated curiosity.

She had studied magic under Lady Vesemir for five or six years.

Beautiful, cold, decisive...

Many adjectives could be applied to Lady Vesemir, but gentle and selfless were not among them.

Before coming to Kaer Morhen, Mary had never seen Lady Vesemir teach a lesson.

Even Mary herself—the most outstanding and promising Sorceress apprentice Lady Vesemir had selected from the Aretuza Sorceress Academy—had never attended one of Vera's classes.

After taking her on as an apprentice, the Sorceress had merely given Mary a reading list and told her to study on her own.

Of course, the knowledge itself was valuable, and many of those books could only be found with Lady Vesemir.

Mary had originally been quite content.

Until she met Ailin.

If the Sorceress would teach her even one lesson the way she taught Ailin, Mary would be so happy she would laugh in her dreams.

Yet Lady Vesemir, so cold, beautiful, and knowledgeable, had spent ten whole days teaching alchemy to Ailin, a mere witcher apprentice.

It was unbelievable, impossible to understand.

"An investor and an investee?"

Ailin asked uncertainly.

Naturally, he would not tell Mary about being the Child of Miracle.

As for how he had won her favor?

After thinking for a moment, Ailin realized he had never done anything to deliberately please her.

The Sorceress's goodwill had always arisen of its own accord.

"Looks like you don't know either." Mary unconsciously rubbed her forehead and sighed.

So, just how could she earn Lady Vesemir's affection?

At the very least, could Lady Vesemir give her a warning before casting a sleep spell so she could brace herself?

After several days, Mary felt as though her skull was about to be knocked out of shape.

Could it be because of that Chief of the School of the Wolf? Mary wondered.

Then she handed the water bag to the witcher apprentice.

After accepting the water bag, Ailin thanked the absentminded Mary and left the Alchemy Room.

After returning to the apprentice dormitory, Ailin, as usual, gave the apprentices pointers on how to use Signs.

But with something weighing on his mind, Ailin was somewhat distracted.

To improve hunting efficiency, he had to reduce the time spent searching for drowners.

In fact, Ailin had obtained a method for that long ago.

Name: Drowner Whistle

Type: Bait Whistle

Function: Blow the Drowner Whistle to produce a whistle that attracts drowners to gather

Note: Witcher + Drowner Whistle =?

A Witcher plus a Drowner Whistle naturally meant slaughtering them without restraint.

But this had come from opening a treasure chest, so he had to avoid Vesemir...

"I have to avoid Vesemir... avoid Vese..."

A vague flash of inspiration passed through his mind. Ailin seemed to have grasped something as he murmured thoughtfully.

No!

Why did I have to avoid Vesemir?

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