Chapter Summaries

Shade reunited with Luvia and Iluna, learned about their recent advancements, and told them that Laplace Howard’s legacy had revealed the coming Doomsday. The three pledged to face the future together and continue toward the Final Door.

• Shade returned to Saint Derain Square and reunited with Luvia and Iluna over lunch.
• Iluna demonstrated her new Spirit Rune, Distorted Space, which let her retrieve visible objects, and Shade offered her books on spatial Thaumaturgy.
• Luvia revealed that she had advanced to the seventh ring after a strange dream, while Iluna explained that only the Spirit Rune Fool remained for her Mid-Ring Words of Sublimation.
• Shade described Laplace Howard’s inheritance, including his books, supplies, and Philosopher’s Stone, and shared what he had learned about the coming Doomsday.
• Luvia urged them to keep seeking the thirteen Chosen Ones and prepare to push open the Final Door, and Shade, Luvia, and Iluna vowed to move forward together until the end.

Shade spent Monday celebrating Iluna’s birthday with Iluna and Luvia, then shared an intimate night with Luvia after Iluna left. On Tuesday, Leisha summoned Shade to the racetrack, where he reunited with her and Angelina.

• Shade drew Dorothy’s handwritten manuscript of “Family's Past” from the Gift Box and gave it to Iluna, who was delighted to have a second copy.
• Shade showed Iluna and Luvia Room Three and the Sage Level Relic Star Mark, then hosted Iluna’s belated birthday celebration at 6 Saint Derain Square.
• After Iluna left, Luvia stayed at Shade’s home, kissed him, and asked him to treat her more passionately than he had treated the Twin Witches.
• Shade apologized to Luvia for making her feel insecure, but she said she did not mind his alliances and asked to try the Witches’ games; Soul Whiplash left her shaken.
• Leisha sent a maid with a letter inviting Shade to the racetrack, where he joined Leisha and Angelina in the VIP stands.

Shade spent the day with Leisha and Angelina after returning to Tobesk, testing a Butterfly Playing Card and visiting Yodel Palace. Leisha confessed her love for Shade and revealed that she and Dorothy had shared part of their intimate encounter through their spatial power.

• Leisha introduced Shade to Angelina and asked him to assess her condition, and Shade relayed advice he heard from the voice in his ear.
• At The Club, Leisha used the Butterfly Playing Card containing a dagger and found that it enhanced her physical abilities and related Thaumaturgy.
• Shade accompanied Leisha and Angelina to Yodel Palace, where the Butterfly Playing Card did not react to Leisha's collected antiques.
• Leisha sent Angelina away to study, invited Shade to the opera, and explained that she and Dorothy had helped Grace and Helen because they opposed tragic endings in real life.
• Shade told Leisha about his time with Grace and Helen and admitted that he had also been with Megan and Audrey.
• Leisha revealed that she had shared half of their intimate experience with Dorothy, then told Shade how deeply she loved him.

Leisha told Shade that his first birthday was approaching and that she had prepared a gift, then spent the evening with him and Angelina at the opera. Miss Galina arranged for Shade to enter the Council the next morning, while Megan’s unexpected arrival interrupted Galina’s private time with him and left the household maids listening from downstairs.

• Leisha explained that a large shipment would pass through Moon Bay and that Shade’s birthday present was already on its way to Tobesk.
• Leisha, Angelina, and Shade watched an opera together, and Angelina spent some time alone with Shade after Leisha left them.
• Miss Galina told Shade that she would take him to the Council the next morning so he could use the necessary items to activate the Words of Sublimation.
• Miss Galina brought Shade upstairs and instructed the maids to stay on the first floor, but Megan emerged from the basement and surprised them.
• The maids heard the Great Witches arguing upstairs before the sounds gave way to prolonged activity, and Tifa reassured them with a knowing look.

Shade used a ritual at the Witch Council to summon Miss Feliana, but instead fell asleep and was contacted by Fiona Drago through the Dreamlands. Fiona explained that she had been trying to reach him from the future, and their connection succeeded through the combined power of their attempts and the Council.

• Megan, Miss Galina, and Shade arrived together at the Council, while Miss Sylvia was away to keep Miss Isabella from discovering Shade.
• Shade prepared the Ritual Matrix, drank two potions, and placed Poems Card, golden hair, and Miss Feliana’s notebook at its center.
• Shade recited the card’s incantation and activated the Words of Sublimation, but the Council’s protections prevented the Relic from summoning past heroes.
• The ritual’s power overwhelmed Shade with drowsiness, and he fell asleep at the Council table.
• Fiona Drago’s voice woke Shade, and she kissed him after he recognized her.
• Fiona said her teachers had helped her seek Shade through time and that the connection succeeded through the Dreamlands and the Witch Council.

Shade briefly reunited with Fiona, then met Miss Feliana and Miss Olanord through the Dream of the Future Council. They confirmed that the world was approaching its inevitable end, explained that the Sixth Epoch’s timeline was in especially poor condition, and told Shade that gaining control of the Witch Council was already helping resist Doomsday.

• Fiona hugged Shade, confirmed he carried no other Dragon Young Lady’s scent, and told him to sleep while she called the teachers.
• Shade woke to find Miss Feliana and Miss Olanord beside him, and Miss Feliana embraced him after they greeted each other.
• Shade asked about the end of the world, and the witches confirmed that Doomsday was the world’s inevitable end, though it could be delayed.
• Miss Olanord explained that the Sixth Epoch’s timeline contained at least six ruins and was worse than they had expected.
• Miss Feliana told Shade that he was not yet strong enough to learn everything but was already helping by seeking control of the Witch Council.

Shade met Feilianna, Olanord, and Fiona across time, where Feilianna urged him to unite the Witch Council and investigate the secrets of his body. They took some of Shade’s blood through kisses before time ran short, and Feilianna sensed that someone else had come looking for him.

• Feilianna told Shade that securing the Witch Council’s unity and bringing together other forces would be vital to the future.
• Shade described his relationships with future Witches Galina and the Megan sisters, prompting Feilianna to say he was not human and ask for his blood.
• Feilianna kissed Shade and consumed his blood so it would become part of her body rather than remain in the future’s time and space.
• Olanord also kissed Shade and took some of his blood, while Fiona watched nervously beside her teachers.
• As Shade and the three Witches said goodbye, Feilianna noticed that someone else had come looking for him.

Shade contacted Adele Isabella, the Time Great Witch from a ruined epoch, during the ritual and received a warning about Luvia Annette. After waking, he told the Witches about Doomsday and kept the pocket watch Adele had given him.

• Adele Isabella appeared in the Witch Council and warned Shade not to trust Luvia Annette, whom she called the Destroyer of the world.
• Shade told Adele that Luvia was his fiancée, and the Yggdrasil Key stabilized them when he grabbed her hand.
• Adele urged Shade to find the Hope Diamond and ask it in Mithril Language how to stop Luvia, then gave him a pocket watch before vanishing.
• Shade woke beside Miss Galina, Miss Benanis, Miss Aurora, and Megan, with the ritual finished and the golden hair gone.
• Shade told the Witches about Doomsday, and they agreed that they still had work to do while preparing for it.

Shade learned that the Witch Council's Speaker, Adele Isabella, had given him an ordinary pocket watch from a destroyed past, which might guide them to meet again. He investigated the Hope Diamond and continued arranging the containment of relics and sealed artifacts while unable to use the Time Key.

• Shade told the witches that Feliana had urged him to unite potential allies and gain control of the Witch Council, then asked about the Hope Diamond and the Speaker's relics.
• Benanis agreed to investigate the Hope Diamond, while the witches said Adele Isabella carried a personal pocket watch but would not reveal more about her other possessions.
• Shade confirmed with Galina that the Speaker's name was Adele and realized that the Adele Isabella from the destroyed past was not the same person as the present-day Adele.
• Shade examined the small silver pocket watch from the past and considered keeping it with him as a beacon to guide Adele to him.
• Megan handed the Poems Card to the Witch Council for containment, and Shade bought a King Chess Piece in Huntington that Leisha's Butterfly Playing Card successfully sealed.
• Shade searched Old John's pawnshop for antiques suitable for Dorothy and Leisha's card, but none of the five items he tried worked.

Shade discussed Doomsday preparations with Mr. Edmund while fishing in Coldwater Port and found the Shriveled Apple Core needed for his search. After returning to Middlesburg, Shade woke to find Grandma Cassandra’s group had come back, while two Red Butterflies danced above his bed.

• Shade and Mr. Edmund discussed the God Summoner’s Doomsday Mystic Lock and how the Guiding Light Hermitage was preserving civilization and preparing supplies in Tobesk.
• Shade failed to catch any fish, then blasted several fish in the shallows with a Thunder Spear after Little Mia seemed to mock him.
• Shade noted that he had found antiques in Coldwater Port, Huntington, Randall River Valley, and Green Lake, while the Hope Diamond and a suitable Tobesk antique remained unfound.
• Grandma Cassandra and her group returned to Middlesburg on Friday morning, and Little Mia woke Shade by meowing at two Red Butterflies dancing above his bed.

Shade reunited with Grace and Helen in Middlesburg, searched the Cassandra Auction House for Butterfly Playing Card antiques, and prepared to travel to Miss Goode’s remote hometown. After welcoming back the Doctor and Priest and settling matters with Durut Giles, he enjoyed a quiet stretch at home as June began and his new third-floor room was furnished.

• Shade reunited with Grace and Helen, then found a Fourth Epoch hemp rope connected to the legend of “Forest Wind Song” and used it to make a Butterfly Playing Card in Middlesburg.
• Shade planned a train journey to Miss Goode’s hometown for the following Friday and told those around him he intended to bring Little Mia home.
• Shade welcomed back the Doctor and Priest, then bound Durut Giles with an oath to keep Green Lake City’s secrets and remain with Lust Edwardz.
• The group held a meeting, where the Doctor warned everyone to prepare for Summer Exam Week and the coming Winter Exam Week.
• Shade spent a leisurely week studying and visiting friends, while Tifa and the maids furnished his new third-floor room and joined him for dinner.

Shade visited Major Rades before the newly promoted officer left Tobesk for a naval assignment on the West Coast. A plague outbreak canceled Shade’s trip to see Miss Goode, and his quiet weeks in Tobesk included solving several cases and surviving a deadly blizzard at Snowstorm Manor.

• Shade visited Captain Rades, learned he had been promoted to Major and transferred to the navy, and saw him off as he left for the West Coast.
• Shade received a letter from Miss Mia Goode about a frightening plague in her town, but Miss Galina explained that outbreaks had spread across both continents and that travel to the quarantined area was impossible.
• Shade stayed in Tobesk for three quiet weeks, helped police arrest bank robbers, and worked with Blackstone Security Company to wipe out cultists in the northern slums.
• Shade and Dorothy attended Earl Fafner’s Reading Salon, where a disguised killer murdered guests during a blizzard; Shade secretly protected guests, exposed the killer, and killed him in self-defense.
• Shade later reassured Leisha that the manor murders were an ordinary case, while the Princess said she followed his newspaper stories because he rarely visited her.

Shade spent the Sunlight Month with Luvia and several departing Witches while studying Laplace Howard’s materials, and he learned that the five true gods had given consistent answers about the end of the world: “Murmuring Chapters.” The chapter ended with Shade attending Duke Rod of Verne’s funeral beside Miss Galina, where his place among the royal family drew attention.

• Shade spent frequent nights with Luvia, and Miss Galina occasionally joined them.
• Megan and Audrey left the Green Lake Region, and Shade gave them his last Youthful Immortality Leaf before their farewell night.
• Shade’s research confirmed that the New Continent had a split Flame, so Sister Devlin traveled there with two high-ring Blind Sisters.
• Luvia advanced her study of Astrology and divination and proposed a faster way to make Red Butterfly Cards.
• The five true gods answered questions about the end of the world with the phrase “Murmuring Chapters.”
• Shade attended Duke Rod of Verne’s funeral with Miss Galina, where nobles treated him as though he were already her husband.

Shade attended the funeral of Miss Galina’s elder brother, the Duke of Rhode of Verne, and learned that the Duke had left him medals in his will. The will pleased most of the family but threatened to spark a dispute with Little Rhode Duke, while Shade and Miss Galina left together ahead of his birthday and the next Red Butterfly Day.

• Shade attended the Duke of Rhode’s funeral with Miss Galina and spoke with Leisha, who was worried about her manuscript deadline.
• Marquise Josephine urged Miss Galina to marry soon so she could pass on a family jeweled headdress.
• The Duke’s will gave a quarter of his private estate to Little Rhode Duke, a quarter to Peace Church, and the rest to relatives and friends, including Miss Galina, Leisha, Angelina, and Shade.
• Shade learned that the Duke had left him medals from his collection and wished him honor and blessings.
• Miss Galina warned that Little Rhode Duke might challenge the will, then thanked Shade for attending and kissed him as they left the funeral.

Shade learned that Priest Augustus had grown unusually pessimistic since returning from Green Lake and brought him to Doctor Schneider for help. The Doctor diagnosed symptoms resembling depression, while Shade suspected the Deathbringer Angel Skull and decided to monitor the priest.

• The Duchess told Shade that Miss Benanis had found a lead placing the Hope Diamond’s last known appearance near Moon Bay Area.
• At the Study Group meeting, the Doctor announced that three Saint Byron’s students would visit Tobesk for summer practice and noted Priest Augustus’s unexplained absence and recent withdrawal.
• Shade visited Dawn Church, found Priest Augustus by the Terrarell River, and heard him describe an empty feeling and increasingly bleak thoughts about the people around him.
• Shade checked the priest’s condition, then brought him to Doctor Schneider, who identified symptoms resembling depression.
• Shade suspected the half of the Deathbringer Angel Skull had affected Priest Augustus and decided to arrange ongoing counseling and visit him often.

Shade celebrated the first anniversary of his arrival in the world as his friends staged a citywide birthday treasure hunt for him. After following their clues and being repeatedly captured along the way, he reached Miss Galina's manor and joined the women for a birthday dinner.

• Luvia drew a hopeful Tarot Card for Priest Augustus, then joined Shade and Dorothy's lesson about the Mermaid Princess fairy tale.
• On the anniversary of his arrival, Shade received a newspaper-clipping challenge and followed clues from the Steam Bird Daily to the Lucky Southern Cross Club, the Three Cats Hotel, Dorothy's apartment, and Miss Galina's manor.
• Shade found Dorothy, Luvia, Leisha, Galina, Megan, Audrey, Helen, and Grace at successive stops, where they staged playful kidnappings and repeatedly overpowered him.
• At Miss Galina's manor, Shade discovered that the Witches had coordinated the final trap and then emerged from the bath to find his friends gathered for a birthday celebration.
• Shade celebrated with the assembled women and Little Mia, while Luvia led him to cut the cake and 'She' wished him a happy birthday.

Shade celebrated his birthday at Galina Manor with his companions, then learned that the Hope Diamond might be connected to a fortune-teller in Moon Bay. He prepared to pursue the clue in Kasonlik's autonomous Moon Bay region.

• Megan and Audrey, Iluna, Grace and Helen, and Angelina each left the birthday gathering, while Shade stayed behind with Leisha, Dorothy, Miss Galina, and Luvia.
• Tifa gave Shade a list of birthday performances, and the celebrations at Galina Manor continued until Monday evening.
• After lunch, Luvia privately asked Shade whether he had been unhappy when she stayed overnight at his home, and he reminded her to visit 6 Saint Derain Square that night.
• Miss Galina returned from the Witch Council and told Shade that Vanessa had found a lead on the Hope Diamond in Moon Bay on the West Coast of the Old Continent.
• Shade read Vanessa's letter and learned that a fortune-teller who may have possessed the relic twenty years earlier was believed to remain somewhere in the Moon Bay Area.

Shade learned more about the Great Witch of Fate and headed into the city, where he visited Old John's pawnshop and found a cursed broken blade that reacted to his Butterfly Playing Card. The chapter left Shade with a lead tied to an ancient religious story, while plague, rising food prices, and the threat of war continued to worsen across the kingdom.

• Miss Galina told Shade that the Great Witch of Fate was an Eleventh Rank member of the Council from one of Moon Bay's powerful families, and warned him about her obsessive divinations.
• Miss Galina voiced concern about Shade's unusual abilities and wondered whether his body or bloodline had a supernatural origin.
• Shade visited Old John's pawnshop with Little Mia and asked to see antiques and items that could increase his Luck.
• Shade read reports of the spreading plague, rising grain prices, and escalating tensions between Delarion and Kasonlik, while Old John described the Hermit Order's planned shelter outside Tobesk.
• Shade tested three antiques with his Butterfly Playing Cards, and one reacted to a corroded broken blade connected to the ancient story 'Day of Rebirth.'

Shade rented the relic Sudden Fate, received birthday gifts, and met Miss Danist at Saint Byron's to report clues from Laplace Howard's notes. They confirmed that the Edwards Apotheosis Art's ritual matrix was made about fifty years ago, while similar matrices at ancient ruins predated it.

• Shade watched Old Dad John absorb a broken blade with a Butterfly Card, then rented Sudden Fate, a relic that could briefly increase luck at the risk of later misfortune and migraines.
• Shade returned home and found birthday gifts from his friends and acquaintances, including a photograph of Tifa with a birthday message.
• Shade projected himself to Saint Byron's and discussed the Academy's human and non-human students with Miss Danist, who mentioned Dragonborn headmistress Fiona Drago.
• Shade sent Miss Danist copied notes from Laplace Howard's notebook and explained that the Edwards Apotheosis Art's Sun, Moon, and Stars Ritual Matrix had been perfected around 1803 to 1805.
• Miss Danist noted that related ritual matrices at the Black Night Spirit Temple and in the Kalas Mountains were much older, supporting their connection to Long-Haired Luvia and the Past.

Shade uncovered clues linking Laplace Howard to Miss Danist’s missing teacher and the God of Music, then used the Black Time Key to enter the ruined Past World. He arrived in an apocalyptic version of his home, where the exploration rules confined him to Saint Derain Square.

• Shade showed Miss Danist Laplace Howard’s notes and letters, which revealed that he had met her teacher about Ancient Gods and recommended the God of Music’s leader as someone who could help her.
• Miss Danist identified the God of Music as the next lead and agreed to investigate its followers while Shade prepared to search for a relic in the Moon Bay Area.
• Shade gave Miss Danist a rose-red hair ribbon and told her about his upcoming journey.
• Shade entered the Time Corridor with the Perfume Bottle of Desire, the Star Mark, and a silver pocket watch, and received permission to carry two additional relics.
• Shade arrived in a ruined version of his home in the Past, learned he could not leave Saint Derain Square, and found the front entrance hall buried in yellow sand.