Recaps

Shade met Miss Danist at Saint Byron's Academy and learned that Headmaster Feliana had identified him as her lover and that he owned part of the Academy. The chapter ended with Miss Danist explaining that much of Saint Byron's ownership and administrative authority remained unaccounted for.

• Shade asked Old John to search for luck-enhancing relics and Special Coins, as well as anomalies related to time.
• Shade met Miss Danist in the renovated Academy Library and heard about the founders' visit to Saint Byron's.
• Miss Danist told Shade that Headmaster Feliana had called him her lover, while Shade maintained that he was her apprentice.
• Miss Danist revealed that Shade held 7.53% ownership of the Academy's land and property, likely through his and Fiona's acquisition of land in the Far North.
• Miss Danist explained that the headmaster could identify only some of the Academy's ownership and administrative authority, leaving many portions unknown.

Shade learned that he held a substantial ownership share in Saint Byrens Comprehensive College and let Miss Danist manage the assets, then heard what she had uncovered about her Teacher and the Sound of Music Order. Their investigation again pointed toward Kalas Mountain, but its connection to the Teacher remained unexplained.

• Miss Danist explained Shade’s Academy ownership, and Shade declined to withdraw money while suggesting raises for Emilia and improved professors’ afternoon tea.
• Shade entrusted Miss Danist with managing his assets and gave her a School Board Member Letter confirming his suggestions for the Academy.
• Miss Danist reported that the Sound of Music Order’s former bishop had died but that her diary linked Shade’s Teacher to the Order and its ancient Moon-Worshipping origins.
• Miss Danist said the Order still performed at the ruins on Kalas Mountain once every ten years, but had no other traditions there and the Teacher had never joined them.
• Shade and Miss Danist concluded that the clue about the Old God’s believers had stalled and turned to consider the other clues pointing toward Kalas Mountain.

Shade learned that Miss Danist planned to investigate Astrologer Euclid’s past in Creekwood Town, now called Vesta City, while she prepared his autumn courses and new thaumaturgy materials. As his holiday resumed, he received Leisha’s formal invitation to a reading salon where Angelina would present her reflections on reading.

• Miss Danist told Shade that Astrologer Euclid had once been active in Creekwood Town and planned to investigate the region herself after arranging the Academy’s opening.
• Miss Danist gave Shade the name of her teacher, Helena Carter, and reminded him to study Radiant Moon Perception Realm and prepare for his examinations.
• Shade declined the Duchess’s suggestion that he stay at her manor, explaining that he wanted to remain near the women still in Moon Bay and those visiting Tobesk.
• Leisha invited Shade and Galina to a Friday reading salon at 6 Saint Derain Square, where Angelina would share her reflections on reading.
• Galina agreed to attend and said Angelina deserved Leisha’s punishment for disappointing her.

Shade spent a relaxed morning at home before Tifa claimed the wish he had promised her, and later joined Galina and Leisha for lunch. There, Leisha explained that Angelina’s punishment was to read her erotic stories aloud because she had written them about Dorothy and Shade.

• After Galina left for Yodel Palace, Tifa stayed with half the maids to help Shade sort his wardrobe and clean the house.
• Shade reviewed Feliana’s notes about the Witch Secret Art Arrow of Night while the maids aired and cleaned the house.
• Tifa reminded Shade of the wish he had promised her in Moon Bay, and he let her raise her skirt before the Duchess and Leisha returned at noon.
• At lunch, Shade asked Leisha to spare Angelina from a humiliating punishment, and Leisha explained that Angelina had written stories imitating Dorothy’s detective collection.
• Leisha told Shade that Angelina had chosen to read illegal books aloud rather than her own stories, then handed him several pages that left him visibly shocked.

At the Cavendish family’s Reading Salon, Angelina read an erotic story aloud as punishment for a mistake while Shade, Leisha, and Galina watched. As Leisha and Galina took turns straddling Shade, Angelina’s embarrassment and envy gave way to overwhelming, contradictory excitement.

• Leisha hosted a private Reading Salon with Shade, Galina, and Angelina, taking care to keep the household staff out of the room.
• Leisha told Angelina to read from her booklet as punishment, and Angelina removed most of her clothing before stepping onto the platform.
• Angelina began reading a courtly erotic story, surprising Shade with its ornate writing and serious tone.
• Leisha removed an undergarment, straddled Shade, and left Angelina struggling to keep her voice steady as she read.
• After Leisha returned to her chair, Galina also removed a garment and straddled Shade, intensifying Angelina’s conflicted feelings and physical sensations.

Angelina endured a humiliating salon punishment while reading aloud, then learned from Leisha that it was meant to make her act on her ambitions and stop remaining passive. The salon ended with Angelina agreeing to study harder, though she surprised herself by asking whether the same punishment could be used again.

• Angelina read through the salon as Leisha, Galina, and the Head Maid took turns with Shade, leaving her overwhelmed and distressed.
• After the salon ended, Leisha found Angelina dazed and told her that Galina had gone to bathe and Shade was in the washroom.
• Leisha explained that Angelina’s punishment was meant to address her failure to act on her desires during the Moon Bay operation, not merely her portrayal of Dorothy.
• Angelina admitted she had done nothing and understood that her wishes would remain out of reach if she stayed passive.
• Leisha apologized for the punishment and urged Angelina to study and become capable of helping Shade.
• Angelina unexpectedly said she would accept the same punishment again if she made mistakes, and Leisha embraced her approvingly.

Shade spent his late-summer holiday balancing visits with friends and lovers, social engagements, and detective work in Tobesk. As several Witches departed Moon Bay and the Radiance Messenger left for upgrades, Shade settled back into city life and reopened his detective agency.

• Angelina admitted that she hoped to be with Shade someday, while Leisha and Dorothy discussed whether to help her.
• Shade began his month-and-a-half holiday, attending Saturday group meetings, visiting friends and Witches, and spending nights with Luvia, Dorothy, and Galina.
• Megan and Audrey left Moon Bay after Speaker Adele Isabella summoned them to handle troublesome matters.
• Shade said farewell to Miss Aurora as she sailed away on the Radiance Messenger, which she planned to upgrade into a sea fortress.
• Shade visited friends across Tobesk and beyond, including Professor Manning, Mr. Edmund, and the recovering boy John.
• Shade resumed taking commissions at the Detective Hamilton Agency as late summer turned toward autumn.

Shade recalled several investigations that brought him public attention and rewards, then received the Peace Church’s honors and supplies for helping spread the Night Curtain Seal. The Church’s gift included three dangerous ancient texts, which Shade agreed to return after reading.

• Shade arrested the Rhodes Card thief and buyer, refused the auction house’s offer of a Special Rule Card, and used his reward to treat Dorothy to dinner.
• Shade investigated a young stablehand for Meris Lucas, whose later interest in an antique ruby necklace helped expose the Sheldon family’s smuggling and ties to Kasonlik intelligence.
• Shade later found the stablehand preparing to marry his childhood sweetheart and gave the couple silver tableware bought with Meris’s commission fee.
• Iluna told Shade and Luvia that Church Arcanists rarely mastered the Night Curtain Seal and learned it only as a spell, while she had mastered it as Thaumaturgy.
• Iluna delivered the Peace Church’s contribution medal, valuable potions and alchemy materials, and three sealed ancient texts to Shade.

Shade read three Church texts beneath the Moons at the Black Night Spirit Temple, learning about lunar disasters, an ancient Moon ritual, and passages through time in ancient trees. He began reading accounts from people who had returned through a Time Tree Hole.

• Shade read a dragon-skin record about dangerous Moon abnormalities and found a warning not to look at the Moon when moonlight tainted the night.
• Shade felt watched beneath the normal Three Moons, but found no sign of danger and continued reading.
• Shade learned from a human-skin text that ancient Moon worship rituals could open a staircase to the Moon, where the Moon Sage and a fabled library were said to be found.
• Shade read the text's final, blood-red instructions for reaching the Moon and concluded that its author had gone mad.
• After resting with Mia, Shade opened a Golden Sheep parchment describing Tree Hollows that could carry people through time and began reading reports from those who had returned.

Shade read a Fourth Epoch record describing three people who traveled through tree hollows into other eras, and considered whether such hollows could open the Time Corridor. After the Month of Flourishing Flowers passed, he began September having mastered two new Thaumaturgies.

• Shade concluded that the records described travel to the Third Epoch, the Fifth Epoch, and an apocalypse, and considered searching for tree hollows that might lead into the Time Corridor.
• Shade learned that the Church and other factions had negotiated with Dragon Island, and that the Dragons agreed to limit their contact with human civilization and send exchange students in return for protections for their island and faith.
• Shade heard that the Dragons had asked about the Seventh Chosen One, but the Church declined to discuss the matter.
• Shade entered September and prepared to attend his autumn elective courses, which Miss Danist had already arranged.
• Shade mastered Radiant Moon Perception Realm and tested its ability to perceive people and objects under moonlight.
• Shade mastered Miss Feliana’s Arrow of Night, which formed a black arrow when he drew and fired a bow.

Shade learned that Queen Diana was expected to give birth to twins and was summoned by Galina to wait at Yodel Palace. After a quiet Thursday and Friday, Dorothy woke Shade early Saturday when Leisha sent word that the birth was imminent.

• Shade tested Arrow of Night with Iluna and saw that its darkness weakened her light Thaumaturgies while leaving his own unaffected.
• Miss Goode wrote that she was packing and would arrive in Tobesk during the week, while Dorothy explained the royal family might grant titles to Queen Diana's expected twins.
• Galina took Shade to Yodel Palace, where he met Queen Diana and waited with the Duchess as the due date passed without news.
• Dorothy woke Shade early Saturday and told him a carriage had arrived to take him to Yodel Palace because Leisha said the birth was about to happen.

Shade rushed to Yodel Palace as the Cavendish family awaited the birth of two royal children, joining Galina and Angelina while the delivery became difficult. As Galina went to check on the Birthing Room, Angelina tried to divine her mother's and the babies' fate with Tarot Cards.

• Dorothy saw Shade off and told him the Cavendish family was about to gain new members.
• Tifa brought Shade to Galina's study at Yodel Palace, where Angelina joined them while they waited for the birth.
• Galina reflected on family and time, and Shade comforted her as they discussed the Cavendish relatives.
• Tifa reported that the delivery was not going smoothly, and Galina went to check on the Birthing Room.
• Angelina asked Shade whether Ring Arcanists could save her mother and brothers, then attempted a Tarot reading with his help.

Shade discovered that a sudden time reversal was trapping Yodel Palace in a short loop, with only five reversals possible before temporal collapse. He suspected Queen Diana's delivery was connected and stopped time in her birthing room to investigate.

• After Angelina began a Tarot reading, time reversed, and Shade retained his memories because he could selectively refuse the Power of Time.
• Shade tried to leave Yodel Palace and saw day and night overlapping beyond its walls, but crossing the boundary triggered another reversal.
• Shade told Galina and Angelina about the loop, and they believed him; Angelina's second divination produced a different result, so they turned to other suspects.
• Shade proposed that the twins' birth might be causing the reversals, and Galina led the group through a secret passage to Queen Diana's birthing room.
• Shade used Adele's pocket watch to cast Time Stop on Queen Diana as Doctors assisted her delivery.

Shade and Galina witnessed Queen Diana’s Twin Princes emerge from her womb during a time stop, and Shade later learned they believed they had lived through a disastrous future. He realized their visions were being mistaken for memories and that their fate remained uncertain, but Galina asked how to address the danger they still faced.

• During Shade’s time stop, Queen Diana’s newborn Twin Princes crawled from her abdomen and asked Shade to kill them because they did not want to be born.
• The princes explained that they believed they had fought in the future Chosen Ones War, lost, and regressed to their birth to escape their fate.
• Shade and Galina returned to the Birthing Room, where Shade and the others delivered the princes and Shade healed them.
• Shade determined that the princes were newborn souls with the ability to see the future, and that they had mistaken a possible future for memories of a past life.
• Shade reassured Angelina that the future the princes had seen could change, while Galina asked how they should deal with the remaining threat.

Shade and the royal family searched for a way to stop the princes’ time loop, learning that their status as time candidates was the key to ending it. Luvia’s proposed solution required the princes to renounce that status or be killed with Shade’s key, but they refused, and the scene froze.

• Shade learned that the princes’ souls would vanish if the fifth time loop began and that no one could enter or leave Yodel Palace.
• Shade tried to contact the Shadow of the Tree Father, but his key could not open the Time Corridor because he had been forbidden to use it.
• Leisha arrived and told Shade that the temporal anomaly was making her soul-sharing bond with Dorothy difficult to manage.
• Shade asked Dorothy to contact Luvia, who advised stripping the princes of their candidate status using Shade’s key, either through their willing renunciation or by killing them.
• The princes refused to relinquish their status, and Leisha rebuked them for endangering the royal family; then everyone froze in place.

Shade confronted the twin princes, who had used time magic to grow into adult bodies, and persuaded them to surrender their power. The World Tree began stripping away their power, leaving Shade to resolve the princes’ fate and face the warning that others also knew the future.

• Shade separated the princes with Great Sin Chains, chased them onto a rooftop, and defeated them after they transformed into red-haired youths wielding Spiritual Weapons.
• Shade restrained the princes and let Galina and Leisha enter after the Time Stop ended.
• Leisha explained the diviner’s three options for taking the princes’ power, and she and Galina urged them to surrender it and live as ordinary people.
• Shade asked who the first candidate for Time was, but the princes refused to name them and warned that others could travel through time and see the future.
• The princes chose to give up their power, and Shade began the ritual with the Yggdrasil Staff as a World Tree Holy Emblem appeared.

Shade stopped the Cavendish Twin Princes from disrupting time, and their umbilical cords became vessels for their Miracle Elements. After returning home from Yodel Palace, he told Dorothy and Luvia what had happened, while the fourth Chosen One candidate was dealt with.

• Shade learned that the adult princes were named Gudrian and Lorian, then accepted their surrender and caught their umbilical cords after the World Tree's power stripped away their Miracle Elements.
• Shade awoke in Duke Galina's office and told Galina and Angelina the newborn princes should be named Lorian and Gudrian; he asked Galina to obtain their umbilical cords.
• The Church examined Yodel Palace after its missing day ended, and King Larus III agreed that its occupants would undergo examinations before leaving.
• Tifa delivered the princes' umbilical cords to Shade's home, where Dorothy and Luvia confirmed they were safe and Shade found them glowing with Miracle Elements.
• Over breakfast, Shade recounted the events at Yodel Palace, and Luvia said there were no clues yet to divine anything about the eighth Chosen One.

After breakfast, Shade learned that Luvia and Dorothy had met Miss Goode while he was trapped at Yodel Palace, and that Little Mia would stay with him for now. Their account left him wondering whether Goode’s unusually comforting presence meant she had a special ability.

• Shade explained that the two umbilical cords resisted time effects and stabilized time, though he had not decided how to use them.
• Luvia suggested that Shade could make another Chosen One's Arrow to obtain a candidate’s power, and Dorothy speculated that the next First Candidate might be a woman.
• Luvia and Dorothy told Shade that Miss Goode had visited the previous morning and spent about an hour and a half talking with them.
• Shade learned that Little Mia had willingly settled on Miss Goode’s lap and that Goode was satisfied with how he had cared for the cat.
• Dorothy and Luvia said Miss Goode had no time to care for Little Mia while her hometown was being rebuilt, so the cat would remain with Shade.
• Luvia and Dorothy described Miss Goode as elegant and exceptionally warm, and Shade wondered whether she had a special ability.

Shade examined his suspicions about Mia Goode after missing her visit to Tobesk, but chose not to pursue her while the next Chosen One's story might begin. As Harvest Moon continued, the Battle of Moon Bay's spoils were distributed, several of Shade's companions advanced, and Sister Devlin reminded him to visit her for more training.

• Dorothy showed Shade a portrait of Miss Goode, whose face reminded him of the woman he had seen in the Sun Altar illusion, while Dorothy and Luvia argued that the Goode family—not Mia—might explain the mystery.
• Dorothy showed Shade seven ordinary antiques Miss Goode had left as gifts, and Shade declined Luvia's suggestion to catch up with her because he was concerned about the eighth Chosen One.
• Shade asked Priest Augustus to keep Angel's Right Arm, and the priest said he would prepare potions for him after advancing to the fifth ring.
• After the Battle of Moon Bay spoils were divided, Shade returned Mafala's Mirror to the Countess, gave the Council the Star Sword Stone, and gave Miss Belinder the Hafana Dragon Body Stone while keeping the Higgs Dragon Head Stone.
• Doctor Schneider and Iluna advanced to the ninth ring, Dorothy and Leisha reached the seventh ring, and Galina told Shade that Angelina was preparing to advance to the second ring.
• Galina brought Shade a letter from Sister Devlin, who urged him to visit the Mountain Top Sacrificial Ground to continue practicing combat and flame power.

Shade’s life settled into a peaceful autumn routine until Old John summoned him to the pawnshop with a new Time Key, a time-stopping wooden coin, and Lucky Soy Milk. The chapter left Shade equipped with rare relics as he awaited the end of his punishment for using normal Time Keys.

• Sister Devlin gained new power from her insight into the First Fire, and Shade’s fire spells grew stronger as he trained with her.
• Shade spent the latter half of the Harvest Moon studying and living quietly in Tobesk while Leisha and Dorothy delayed their Red Butterfly Day celebration.
• After the banquet at Yodel Palace, Leisha and Dorothy spent the night at Shade’s home, and Shade went to Old John’s pawnshop the next morning.
• Old John offered Shade the relic Instant, a wooden coin that stopped time for one second but aged its user five years and could permanently erase an unprepared user.
• Shade bought Instant for seven hundred pounds and received Lucky Soy Milk, a Relic Derivative that could improve luck but should not be consumed twice within a year.

After the Academy reported that Miss Danist had been unreachable for three days, Shade learned she had gone to Creekwood Town, now called Vesta Woodland. Worried that she was in danger, he decided to travel there that night and seek Luvia’s help the next morning.

• Old John sold Shade Lucky Soy Milk and gave him a document bag of rumors about time anomalies.
• Dorothy and Leisha left after lunch, and Shade spent the rest of the day at home before taking Little Mia out to dinner.
• Professor Norton contacted Shade and told him the Academy had been unable to reach Miss Danist for three days; she had gone to Vesta Woodland, formerly Creekwood Town.
• Professor Norton said that if Miss Danist did not return within three months, Shade would have to take over as library administrator.
• Shade decided to go to Creekwood Town that night, establish a waypoint, and ask Luvia for help the next morning.
• Shade gathered the Lucky Soy Milk and other supplies, took Night Watchman, and prepared to leave.

Shade used the Space Labyrinth to reach a hidden passage beneath a giant tree in Vesta Woodland, then flew toward Creekwood Town. The city lights remained just as distant, leaving him to suspect that something was interfering with his progress.

• Shade sacrificed a White Stone Crystal and discovered a new signpost leading to a hidden space in Vesta Woodland.
• Shade found an Elven lantern and a holy emblem of the White Sacred Tree, then left them behind and opened a Hidden Passage.
• Shade climbed through the underground passage and used Door Key to unlock an exit in the hollow of a giant tree.
• Shade emerged into moonlit woodland, memorized the location, and flew toward Creekwood Town.
• Shade realized that the city lights were not getting any closer, despite his flight, and wondered why his luck had worsened.

Shade became trapped in a section of Vesta Woodland that warped directions, but he met a Moon Creek Clan elf in a flower clearing who gave him a way out. She asked him to retrieve an item from the Local Black Market, and Shade set off toward Creekwood Town wearing her guiding wreath.

• Shade used the Source of Chaos to make slow progress through the forest after discovering that it kept him from reaching Creekwood Town.
• Shade found a flower clearing where a golden-haired elf was tending Jade Star Flowers and learned that the region rejected the entry and departure of living things.
• Shade gave the elf a false name, admitted he had lied, and asked how to travel safely through the woodland.
• The elf agreed to guide Shade if he retrieved an item from the Local Black Market, giving him the entrance information and trade password when he returned.
• The elf gave Shade a wreath that would point the way out and warned him to revere Vesta Woodland and Creekwood Town.

Shade left the mysterious elf’s enchanted forest and reached Vesta City, where he found the hidden black market inside a photo studio. He asked the bartender about retrieving the elf’s goods and learned the market was busy with currency trading.

• Shade accepted the flower wreath from the mysterious elf, who asked him to retrieve her goods from the black market and return to her afterward.
• Shade used the wreath to cross the forest quickly, then boarded a train and arrived in Vesta City.
• Shade surveyed the quiet, well-landscaped city and went looking for the black market and news of Miss Danist.
• Shade followed the elf’s directions to Flushing Photo Studio, tapped the moving clown photograph, and entered a hidden tavern through a space-transfer Relic.
• The bartender explained that currency exchange had become the black market’s main trade, and Shade said the elf had asked him to retrieve goods, repeating her clue about Hundred Flowers Fruit Wine.

Shade inspected an antique elven fairy tale slab in Vesta City, then asked a barmaid about the city’s history and local Ring Arcanist groups. He learned that the Hermits of the Forest rarely entered the city and heard rumors of past supernatural incidents, while Vesta remained known for its music festivals and Golden Music Hall.

• Shade examined the stone slab bearing the elven fairy tale “Crystal Light” and confirmed it was a useful antique for research.
• Shade posted a request to buy Special Coins but found none for sale, and learned that the Hermits of the Forest only occasionally sent members into Vesta City.
• Shade paid the barmaid for local stories and heard rumors of a Dragon and an ancient Evil Spirit Demon in the Creekwood Town era.
• The barmaid told Shade that a Blood Moon and red sky had appeared over Creekwood Town around Common Calendar 1760, causing considerable damage.
• The barmaid described Vesta City as peaceful and told Shade that its autumn music festivals drew performers to the Vesta Golden Music Hall.