All three garments on Shade's upper body had already been torn apart. He wanted to cross his arms over his chest to protect himself, but that felt like a strange gesture, and besides, he had nothing worth protecting.
Unable to help himself, he asked:
"Though you won, we never said the winner could destroy the loser's clothes."
"You are the prey I hunted. I can do whatever I want with you."
The Yellow-haired Witch said this with a smile. Fortunately, she did not continue tearing at Shade's clothes beneath the water. Instead, she reached behind her and let down the hair she had tied up for convenience.
Her long yellow hair fell into the water, while the ribbon that had bound it was casually tossed aside.
The witch, her long hair loose, smiled beneath the moonlight. There was a familiar yet indescribable look in her eyes as she asked:
"Shade, answer me. What is the Moon to you?"
Though Shade felt it was strange to answer questions bare-chested in a hot spring, he still replied:
"The Moon is a part of me. The Moon is my dream."
The witch pursed her lips and smiled again as she asked:
"Then what am I to you?"
The Outlander carefully studied the witch within arm's reach, watching as though she were about to merge with the moonlight above:
"You are also my dream. A dream beyond reach, yet one that occasionally becomes real."
Blaine Olanode continued:
"Then are Teacher Feilianna, Fiona, and even Wild also your dreams? They are all from the same era as me."
Shade immediately shook his head:
"They are not, because they are not the Moon. But you and I are both the Moon. My dream belongs only to the Moon."
An unprecedentedly radiant smile blossomed on the witch's