Chapter Summaries

Shade and his companions waited for the descendants of people entrusted with a century-old message, then considered how to investigate the Bennett Family for the Time Curse. The chapter left Shade planning to approach Thomas Bennett after lunch, while Miss Danist’s relic revealed the messenger was descended from the Blacksmith’s brother rather than the Blacksmith himself.

• Shade, Miss Danist, and Miss Winslet waited at the Accordion Hotel for someone bearing the message entrusted to a family in 1763.
• A middle-aged man arrived, gave Shade the code, and confirmed that his family had kept the promise for generations; he refused further payment.
• Miss Danist wondered whether advancing while cursed could let her reach demigodhood after the curse was lifted, though her condition made advancement difficult.
• Miss Danist used the Family Stabilizer and discovered that the messenger was the Blacksmith’s brother’s grandson, not the Blacksmith’s descendant.
• Thomas Bennett arrived with Baron Kaming and his son, and Shade decided to approach him later to investigate whether he carried the Time Curse.

Shade, Miss Danist, and Miss Winslet investigated Old Bennett but found that Baron Kaming and his son carried traces of a Time Curse. Miss Danist’s relic revealed that the young James Kaming was the father of the much older Baron Kaming, and the chapter ended with the group trying to understand the family’s time-tangled history.

• Miss Winslet hypnotized the hotel staff and learned that Old Bennett was meeting Baron Kaming to review accounts and that Jane Bennett was engaged to James Kaming.
• Shade found no Time Curse on Old Bennett but detected strong traces of one on Baron Kaming and his son.
• Miss Winslet followed the Kaming men after they left the hotel, while Miss Danist used her monocle to discover that James Kaming was Baron Kaming’s father.
• Shade and Miss Danist debated how the Kaming family’s reversed father-son relationship could have resulted from time travel.
• Miss Winslet returned and heard their questions, then said she needed time to think and offered to introduce them to her apprentice before dinner.

Shade met Charlotte Bell, Miss Winslet’s apprentice, and learned that she had brought records and a letter to support their investigation in Vesta City. The group planned a cemetery visit and a banquet investigation, while Shade tried to persuade Charlotte to play Rhodes Cards for the Race Legend card.

• Miss Winslet introduced her apprentice, Charlotte Bell, to Shade and Miss Danist.
• Charlotte shared records about the Creekwood Town Era and a letter from Princess Margaret Anjou that could help the investigation.
• Miss Winslet said she and Shade would attend Earl Collins’s banquet to investigate the Bennett and Kaming families for the Time Curse.
• Shade proposed investigating the Bennetts’ graves, and Miss Danist agreed to go with him while Miss Winslet organized her followers.
• Miss Winslet offered Shade Charlotte’s Race Legend card as payment, but Shade challenged Charlotte to a Rhodes Cards game instead.
• Charlotte recognized Shade as the legendary player and hesitated after he mentioned his tournament title and Founding cards.

Shade played a three-round card game against Charlotte Bell, wagering that she could keep one of his Founding Series cards if she won. Shade won the first two rounds with his powerful deck, and the third round began with Charlotte forcing both players to draw blind third cards.

• Miss Winslet arranged a card-game wager, offering one of her paintings if Charlotte Bell lost to Shade.
• Shade used his Founding Moon 10 card to exchange it for Charlotte’s Sun 9, then won the first round and made her stand.
• Shade used Great City Player 1853 Tobesk Champion and Founding Flower 1 to lower Charlotte’s score, then won the second round with Life Rituals: Wedding.
• Charlotte praised the chance to face Shade’s full-strength deck before the third round began.
• Charlotte revealed Urban Legend · Killer in the Mist, forcing both players to draw a third card without viewing their first face-down cards.

Shade played Rhodes Cards with Miss Bell, then returned home and told Luvia and Dorothy about a strange ethical matter he had discovered. The next morning, he brought Mia to Vesta Woodland, missed the Elf Girl, and traveled with Miss Danist to the Bennett Family cemetery to investigate.

• Shade beat Miss Bell at Rhodes Cards and gave her the remaining special cards, while Miss Winslet agreed to pose for six more oil paintings.
• Shade returned home late and found Luvia and Dorothy waiting; he told them he had discovered something strange related to ethics.
• Shade rose early, left a letter for Sister Devlin requesting to borrow her blindfold, and set off for Vesta Woodland with Mia.
• Shade visited the Elf Girl's Tree House, but she was hiding in the branches; after he left, she came down and found his pastries.
• Shade left Mia with Miss Winslet and accompanied Miss Danist to the Bennett Family cemetery, arriving there at eleven in the morning.

Shade and Miss Danist searched the Bennett family tomb for clues about the Time Curse but found only traces of an Ancient Evil Spirit on the first baron’s remains. They then traveled to Mi Ge Village to meet the Hermits of the Forest, where Bell Van Buren asked how they had obtained a Friendship Oak.

• Shade and Miss Danist inspected the Bennett family coffins and found no Time Curse, but Shade detected demonic power on the bones of the first Baron Bennett.
• Miss Danist explained that a Thirteenth Ring Warlock called Ranger Hunter had sealed the Ancient Evil Spirit more than three hundred years earlier.
• Shade suggested that Miss Danist’s deceased teacher might have visited Creekwood Town, and Miss Danist dismissed the idea as unrealistic.
• Shade and Miss Danist traveled to Mi Ge Village to meet the Hermits of the Forest through their contact, Bell Van Buren.
• Bell Van Buren asked Shade and Miss Danist where they had obtained a Friendship Oak.

Shade and Miss Danist sought the Hermits of the Forest’s help investigating time-related mysteries in Vesta City, while Shade returned a holy emblem and used a false lead about Astrologer Euclid to draw out information. The Hermit left to search his records, and Miss Danist suspected the Hermits knew more about the Time Tree Hole than they admitted.

• Shade returned the holy emblem of the Old God White Sacred Tree to Mr. Van Buren, who recognized Shade as a friend of the Hermits.
• Shade asked Mr. Van Buren about illegal Ring Arcanist organizations and reported encountering three people who used the Power of Time; Mr. Van Buren offered to pass the information along.
• Shade asked the Hermits to investigate Astrologer Euclid, claiming Euclid had sought the Time Tree Hole and possessed a Moon-related Sage Level Relic.
• Mr. Van Buren recalled hearing Euclid’s name and left to search the Hermits’ records while Shade and Miss Danist waited at the tavern.
• Miss Danist told Shade that Mr. Van Buren’s expression suggested he knew something about the Time Tree Hole, and she agreed the Hermits might know of or control the tree hollow.

Shade and Miss Danist learned that a mysterious Sorceress had investigated Astrologer Euclid in Vesta Woodland three years earlier, and Miss Danist recognized her Teacher’s handwriting in the old diary. Their argument over whether to seek her Teacher led to a clash, which ended with Shade blasting Miss Danist into a tree.

• Three Hermits gave Shade a century-old diary describing Astrologer Euclid’s prediction of a disaster in 1760, later identified as the Red Moon Anomaly.
• Shade learned that a Sorceress had investigated Euclid three years earlier and stayed at an abandoned Lumber Mill in Vesta Woodland.
• Miss Danist recognized the annotation in the diary as her Teacher’s handwriting and wondered whether her Teacher had traveled through time after supposedly dying on Kalas Mountain.
• Shade suggested that her Teacher might have appeared in 1851 through a Tree Hollow, and Miss Danist asked him to help her see her Teacher again.
• Miss Danist attacked Shade with Red Moon magic, but Shade blocked her strike and used Night Curtain Seal to send her crashing into a tree.

Shade and Danist Gustav searched an abandoned Lumber Mill for clues about Danist’s missing Teacher and found a ghost hiding in its well. The ghost, Ashley Bethany, agreed to answer their questions, but Danist threatened her before she could reveal what she knew.

• Danist Gustav attacked Shade with Scarlet Moon Vein, but Shade stopped time and defeated her, then promised to help search for her Teacher while keeping her from acting impulsively.
• Shade and Danist reached the abandoned Lumber Mill and found one cabin unusually clean, which Danist believed her Teacher had maintained with Thaumaturgy.
• Shade spotted a ghost beneath a stone slab covering the well and hauled her into the cabin, where Danist restrained her with red runes.
• The ghost identified herself as Ashley Bethany and begged Shade not to disturb her corpse, which lay as a skeleton in the well.
• Ashley hesitated when Shade asked about unusual events at the Lumber Mill, so Danist threatened her and demanded answers.

Shade and Miss Danist discovered a Distorted Tree Hole beneath the cabin at the Lumber Mill, and its door opened onto the year 1821. They returned to Creekwood Town with the passage still usable twice, while Miss Danist hoped it might help her find her missing Teacher.

• Miss Bethany told Shade and Miss Danist that she had heard strange sounds near the cabin, leading them to suspect a tree hole was nearby.
• Shade shrank the cabin with the Toy Transformation Spell and uncovered its original door beneath it.
• Shade used a Time Key on the door in its frame and learned that it opened a Distorted Tree Hole to 1821, with two uses remaining and a Time Curse for anyone else who passed through.
• Miss Danist wondered whether her Teacher had traveled through the tree hole, and Shade explained that the Teacher might have suffered a Time Curse.
• Shade and Miss Danist headed back to Creekwood Town, agreeing to keep the door safe and not let Miss Danist use it.

Shade and Miss Winslet attended Earl Collins's banquet for musicians, where Shade learned about the Bennett Family and the poor reputation of Mrs. Bennett. The chapter left them at the banquet before they approached the Bennetts or Baron Kaming's family.

• Shade and Miss Danist told Miss Winslet about the Tree Hollow and the Hermits of the Forest, and Shade decided to seek information through discreet contacts rather than follow them.
• Shade and Miss Winslet traveled to Earl Collins's estate, where she introduced him to guests as her distant cousin.
• Miss Winslet declined Earl Collins's invitation to perform at the Moon Dance Festival Concert because her owl curse could be exposed.
• Shade and Miss Winslet met musicians who criticized Mrs. Bennett for pursuing wealthy matches for her daughters.
• Mr. Bingley and Old Lady Bovary described the Bennett Family's history and warned that Mrs. Bennett's behavior could damage her daughters' marriage prospects.

At the Moon Dance Festival banquet, Flora Winslet and Shade investigated the Bennett and Kaming families, uncovering a surprising cousin relationship between their engaged children. They found no Time Curse among the Bennett family or Mrs. Kaming, leaving Baron Kaming and Little Kaming as the only confirmed carriers.

• Madame Bovary teased Flora Winslet about her age and criticized her Northern Kingdom companion, while Flora and Shade later withdrew to investigate the families.
• Flora discovered that Mrs. Bennett and Mrs. Kaming were biological sisters, making the engaged James Kaming and Jane Bennett cousins.
• Shade found no Time Curse on Mrs. Kaming after Flora hypnotized her with Miss Danist's monocle.
• Flora introduced Shade to Thomas Bennett, Mrs. Bennett, and Phyllis Bennett, and Shade detected no curse on any of them.
• During a dance, Shade secretly touched Jane Bennett and confirmed that she carried no Time Curse.
• Shade and Flora concluded that Baron Kaming and Little Kaming were the only confirmed carriers and would be the focus of the next investigation.

The Tree Hole Association used the Gate of the Past to glimpse Shade, but his protection repelled their ritual and left their relics damaged. After sensing the attempt, Shade returned to the city, while Flora proposed that Miss Danist ask Adele for help using the Tree Hollow to suppress her curse and complete a Time Travel.

• The Tree Hole Association’s Vice President began a ritual with the Far Sight Mirror and a fragment of the Gate of the Past to identify who had killed their missing companions.
• The ritual revealed a man who noticed the observers, and his gaze damaged the Far Sight Mirror, wounded two members, and knocked out others.
• The Vice President ordered the Association to retreat and suspend unnecessary activities in Vesta City, fearing the man could track them.
• Shade sensed a glimpse from time at the Accordion Hotel, but the Tree Father's protection and divinity exempted him from it.
• Flora suggested that Miss Danist ask Adele how to use the Tree Hollow safely, offering to persuade her to help suppress the curse.

Shade obtained the Doctor’s demon syringe and asked about the ancient demon once sealed near Vesta City, then visited the Elf Miss in the woodland. The Elf Miss warned him to keep Little Mia away, while Shade continued trying to help her find Antique Elf Arrows.

• Miss Winslet offered to teach Shade Transformation Spell if Flora helped persuade him to use the Tree Hollow, and Flora reluctantly agreed.
• Shade collected the Doctor’s syringe, which could temporarily store sin in paper dolls, and learned it could be used only twice before it had to be destroyed.
• The Doctor described several possible identities for the forest demon Kabilona and said he had found no decisive evidence during his earlier investigation.
• Shade told the Doctor about the time-traveling Tree Hollow, and the Doctor said he valued his present life and had no wish to change the past.
• Shade visited the flower sea and found the Elf Miss gathering plants; she said she was allergic to cats and asked him not to bring Little Mia again.
• Shade apologized, left the Elf Miss pastries, and asked whether she needed any supplies while he searched for the Antique Elf Arrows.

Shade investigated James Kaming after the Church questioned him about strange dreams and discovered that he was communicating through a book with Erica, a woman living in 1802. He identified the book as a third Distorted Tree Hollow, while the lovers eagerly awaited their next meeting.

• Shade turned into a silver cat and secretly followed Church Ring Arcanists as they questioned James Kaming at Maurice Mansion.
• The Church officers investigated James and his room, then left after finding no supernatural traces, though James remained on their watchlist.
• Shade followed James to his bedroom and watched him take a locked-away book titled "Opening the Forest Gate: Our Animal Companions."
• James wrote messages on the book cover, and the words vanished before Erica replied from 1802, revealing their communication across time.
• Shade sensed no soul or other supernatural traces in the book and concluded that it was a third Distorted Tree Hollow.
• James and Erica exchanged declarations of love and promised to meet again, with Erica saying she would give him a gift next time.

Shade opened the locked book’s door to a time passage leading to 1802, then discovered an Antique Elf Arrow among James Kaming’s decorations. At the Accordion Hotel, he found that Rooms 317 and 321 had vanished into temporal confusion and decided to investigate Room 317 first.

• Shade used the Time Key on the book and opened a passage to the Present World in 1802, which could be used for only twenty minutes and would collapse after two uses.
• After sensing that the Moon’s Thorn near the wooden door had been broken, Shade spotted an Antique Elf Arrow decorating James Kaming’s room and replaced it with the model arrow.
• Shade hurried to the Accordion Hotel and found White Fog seeping from the sealed doors of Rooms 317 and 321, where Miss Danist and Miss Winslet had become trapped.
• Miss Charlotte Bell explained that Miss Winslet had taken her teacher to Room 321 while attempting to break a curse, after a discussion in Room 317 about time travel.
• Shade sensed that the fog was an effect of temporal Confusion and chose to use the Time Key to investigate Room 317 before entering Room 321.

Shade opened the door to Room 317 and found himself trapped in an illusion depicting Saint Byron’s Library, where Danist appeared as his classmate and friend. After recovering his memories, he realized the relic had brought him into the past and set out to help Danist wake herself from the illusion.

• Shade gave the key to Miss Bell and Katerina Tabach to test, then opened Room 317 himself and was swallowed by light.
• Shade awoke in an illusory Saint Byron’s Library, where Danist appeared and reminded him that they had planned to visit the Unicorn Habitat.
• Shade questioned Danist about his identity and life, then deduced from her answers and his memories that the library was an illusion.
• Shade recognized that he had returned to the past in 1821 and that a powerful relic had trapped him and Danist in an illusion.
• Shade decided not to force Danist awake and instead walked with her toward the Unicorn Habitat while trying to help her recover her own awareness.

Shade and Danist escaped the Tree Shade Dream by falling from a great height, returning to the summer woods of 1821. Shade stopped time to speak privately with a mysterious Thirteenth Ring woman, who recognized Danist and asked to see his moonlight.

• Danist explained that the library illusion came from the Angel Level Relic Tree Shade Dream and said they could escape by falling after meeting three conditions.
• Shade transformed into a Moonlight Dragon and carried Danist high above Saint Byron's before they fell and broke free of the illusion.
• Shade and Danist landed beside the real tree hollow in the summer woods of 1821, with only two and a half minutes left before their time travel ended.
• Shade used Adele's Time Stop to freeze Danist and address a hidden Thirteenth Ring woman in a black dress and beige sunhat.
• The woman asked Shade about his relationship with Danist and requested to see his moonlight, so Shade sent a Silver Light Orb toward her.

Shade learned more about the Tree Hollows, their Time Curses, and a possible way for Miss Danist to recover before returning with her to 1854. Back at the Accordion Hotel, Miss Danist explained that the door had pulled her into the illusion by itself.

• The unfamiliar lady explained that Creekwood Town’s temporal stability was unusually weak and described three rules of Time Travel through Tree Hollows.
• Shade learned that Mia would not be cursed while in toy form, but any animal brought through a Tree Hollow would be tied to his actions and could make him bear a curse.
• The lady revealed that the Paradox Worm might offer Miss Danist a chance to atone for her Time Curse, and refused to meet her before vanishing.
• Shade brought Miss Danist back to 1854, transformed Mia back briefly to confirm she was safe, and checked that the door to 1821 had only one use left.
• Miss Danist said a Thirteenth Ring witch had arrived that morning and that the door had pulled her into the illusion despite her not using it.

Shade used the Yggdrasil Staff and Miss Winslet’s ring to draw the spreading temporal fog into the passageway to the Witch Council, where he found Room 321 and summoned Adele Isabella. Adele recognized the passageway but was startled that Shade had called her into the Present World by another means, and he asked for her help.

• Miss Bell gave Shade Miss Winslet’s note and Ancient Witch’s Golden Ring - Right Three, which instructed him to draw the fog into the passageway.
• Shade gave Miss Danist an Enlightenment Potion and told her and Miss Bell to wait in Room 317 while he entered the passageway alone.
• Shade sang the Witch Song and used the Yggdrasil Staff to pull the fog and White Ash along the passageway floor.
• A door marked 321 appeared in the passageway, and Shade noticed a glowing summoning rune beneath his feet despite the temporal confusion.
• Shade called Adele Isabella, who appeared in the passageway and realized he had summoned her into the Present World by another means.
• Shade asked Adele for help.