Francis watched the end of the sunset from the west-facing window of his study. He had this strange feeling, since the late afternoon, that something was about to go wrong. It seemed to grow as the outside world darkened from the radiant bright blue sky to the darker blues of twilight.
Now that there was no more glorious sunset to watch, Francis finally moved away from the window. Curious to see how dinner was coming along, he left his study and headed down the stairs. He turned left at the bottom and turned into the kitchen, where Lenka was running around, preparing the food.
Only Lenka, all on her own.
"Lenka, where's Lilli?" Francis asked.
"Not here," Lenka bluntly answered.
"Not here?" Francis checked, "What do you mean, not here?"
"I said what I said," Lenka replied, "She went out flying this morning, and hasn't come back yet."
Francis raised an eyebrow at that. Lilli always made it back to the castle by sunset. That was her curfew, she never broke it before. Did something happen?
"Lenka, stay in the kitchen," Francis ordered, "I'm going to find Lilli."
He marched out of the kitchen and went straight to the door out of the castle, swiftly pulling it open and walking through. Once outside he glanced around, hoping that Lilli might be walking towards the castle just then.
She wasn't there.
Francis ventured further into the clear area between the castle and the lake, looking for any sign of where she could be. What if she flew further than she should've, and had to finish walking back in the dark? What if she got hurt and couldn't make it back? What if someone had found her and taken her away?
Francis stopped as he saw the edge of the forest, and sighed in relief. Lilli was standing there in human form, looking at something up in the tree beside her. He started slowly walking towards her, only to freeze in his spot as something slithered down from the tree towards Lilli.
Was that a wyvern? How could there be a wyvern in this area? Why was it reaching out to touch Lilli's face, and why was she letting it do so?
Francis summoned a ball of blue magic in his hand, and launched it at the monster. As the blast soared through the air, the beast turned to look at it, and the light revealed the beast's very familiar face before it reacted. The beast pushed Lilli to the ground before backing up into the tree, making sure they both dodged the blast.
That wasn't Ivan, was it?
After the blast hit the tree, the creature slithered to the ground below, and left the trees to charge at Francis, giving a loud angry roar. As Francis prepared another blast of blue magic, a blast of golden magic shot out from behind his right side, stretching out like a chain and encircling the creature's neck. While the creature fought against the restraint of the magical leash, Francis turned around to confirm the source.
Standing there, taking control with her magical leash, was the creature's wife and mistress.
Erzsébet.
"Let him go!" Lilli shouted, prompting Francis to turn back and see the girl running up to them, "He's my friend, he would never hurt me!"
"Your friend?" Erzsébet scoffed as the beast protested the restraints of her spell, "Ivan shouldn't be anywhere near here!"
"You cursed him, didn't you," Lilli accused, "You turned your own husband into a wyvern, you vile witch!"
"Erzsébet, send Ivan back to Bueswood," Francis intervened, "I'll get Lilli inside."
Allowing Erzsébet to handle her beastly husband, Francis grabbed Lilli and pulled her close into his arms. He then shot a blast of magic from his hand to the ground, focusing on the attic of the castle tower as the teleportation spell's destination. The blue swirl of magic shot up from the ground to envelop the two of them, shifting the scene beyond and fading to reveal their intended destination.
Once inside the castle again, Lilli immediately pushed herself out of his arms, and started banging her loosely-closed fists against his chest in a tantrum.
"You helped her, didn't you?" Lilli wailed, "You helped Erzsei turn Ivan into a beast?"
"How long has Ivan been around the lake?" Francis demanded.
"Long enough to become my friend," Lilli sobbed, "Long enough to trust me with his story about how you helped Erzsébet ruin his life!"
"Why did you break your curfew for him?" Francis interrogated.
"He's been alone as a beast for five years because of you and Erzsei," Lilli lamented, "He's had no friendly interaction with humans in all that time, just like how I've been trapped here alone my entire life!"
"Trapped?" Francis interjected, "I've protected you from the world because it's too dangerous for you -"
"Stop lying to me, Francis," Lilli protested, "You're not ever letting me leave this place, are you?"
Francis glared at the young woman crying before him. It was not only for Ivan's fate, but clearly also her own, that she was now grieving. He couldn't ever tell her how she was a part of his plans for the Ixaidellian royal family, not until he was ready to put them into action.
"You're staying in here until I decide otherwise, as punishment for breaking curfew," Francis solemnly decided, "I'll allow Lenka to bring you food on a regular basis."
With that stated, Francis immediately turned away from the weeping girl and opened the attic door. He swiftly went through the door, shut it behind him and locked it from the outside. Ignoring the wailing and pounding from the other side, Francis immediately turned away and went down the stairwell to the second floor, hoping that this temper tantrum did not inadvertently trigger Lilli's birth spell.
As he reached his study door, Francis considered going all the way downstairs first, to grab a bottle of wine and two glasses. Considering what just happened with Ivan and Lilli, he and Erzsébet were about to have a very interesting conversation, one that might even require a stronger drink for the both of them. Nodding at the idea, Francis passed the door and went to the top of the stairs. When he looked down the flight of stairs, he saw that Lenka was standing in the kitchen doorway at the bottom, while Erzsébet stormed past her into the kitchen.
"What's going on?" Lenka demanded, "Why is Lilli screaming in the attic?"
"This does not concern you," Francis dismissed, "Erzsébet, bring the vermouth, we need it."
"Already have it," Erzsébet answered as she came back into view, the bottle of fortified wine in her hand with two glasses stacked on the neck.
As Erzsébet stomped up the stairs, Francis could see that she was furious, possibly even more than he would've expected for Ivan's sudden appearance. He immediately backed up to allow her passage at the top of the stairs, choosing to wait at the door of his study and letting her go in first. Once she marched through, Francis followed her in and shut the study door. He considered locking it, but decided not to when he recalled ordering Lenka to stay in the kitchen.
Francis turned away from the door, and saw Erzsébet already hastily pouring herself a glass of vermouth. After a moment, she slammed the bottle on the table before raising the glass to her lips and drinking it. It wasn't until Francis reached the table to fill his own glass that Erzsébet finally stopped to take a deep breath, slamming her empty glass on the table and grabbing the bottle to refill it before Francis could pour his own.
"You ought to slow down there," Francis advised.
Erzsébet stopped pouring when the glass was refilled, and slammed the bottle on the table again. She took her glass and slowly walked away, and Francis saw her take a slower sip this time as he poured his own glass. He gently placed the bottle on the table before bringing his own glass with him to his chair, taking a sip as Erzsébet paced the room and drank hers.
After a few more quiet moments, and a few more deep breaths on her end, Erzsébet finally spoke.
"Natalya is alive."
"What?" Francis gasped, leaning forward in his seat.
"Natalya was not killed by her brother," Erzsébet declared, "Whether Yao did not stick around to make sure of it, or he deliberately let her go, she somehow avoided getting eaten by the Beast of Bueswood."
"Might be a stroke of luck on her part," Francis assessed, "If Lilli is claiming to be friends with Ivan, then he must've been here by the lake for some time now. Perhaps their paths didn't cross because Ivan had already ventured too far away."
"They will not meet again," Erzsébet assured, "I used my control of his spell to send him back to the Bueswood, and to make him stay there. Maybe he'll find his sister's hideout this time."
"Given the situation, perhaps relying on Ivan is not the best idea," Francis judged, "You will have no proof that he did kill her, just like how you still don't have proof that Ivan was killed by the Beast in the first place."
"I see your point, that's a problem," Erzsébet agreed, "At least we were both there to make sure your arrow struck Katerina in the chest. Perhaps we'll have to watch Natalya die to confirm it."
"Do you know where in the forest she is?" Francis inquired.
"No, but she has apparently joined a band of thieving giant dwarfs," Erzsébet elaborated, "They stole the last round of royal taxes, as well as Prince Ludwig's clothes on two separate occasions. I'll need you to use your magic, to hunt them down and kill them all."
"That's quite the demand of my magic," Francis reminded, "You will be paying the price for it."
"Would you stop warning me about the price of magic already?" Erzsébet scolded, "We've been through this enough, Francis, I know there's always a price to pay for using magic! I want those dwarfs gone, and I want Natalya dead, do I make myself clear?"
"I will see what I can do," Francis calmly answered.
"I also have to convince Ludwig to marry me," Erzsébet plotted, "He keeps getting distracted whenever I try to bring up the topic of him staying in Stulikya permanently."
Erzsébet walked back over to the table with the bottle of vermouth, placing her glass gently on it this time. Instead of refilling it, however, Erzsébet then moved to her right, and pulled open Francis's medicine cabinet. Francis leaned forward to observe as she looked through the small vials of potions he had collected over time.
"What do you think you're doing?" Francis asked.
"I need more of the love potion I gave Ivan," Erzsébet explained, "That's the only way Ludwig will agree to marry me."
"There's none left," Francis refused, "You used it all on Ivan, and even that was too much for one lifetime."
"Don't lie to me, Francis, there's one right here above the poisons," Erzsébet countered as she reached into one of the sections, "Why else would you have a heart on the front label?"
She pulled the vial out of the cabinet and jiggled it in her hand, smirking as she showed off the heart label. Francis leaned forward and squinted to see it more closely, realizing where she pulled it from and which vial it likely was.
"That's not -"
Before Francis could say another word, a shot of pain suddenly consumed his entire body, making him lose his bearings as everything turned into a blue haze around him. As he felt his body collapse to the floor below him, the shot of pain directed itself to his brain, giving him an immense headache. The way the magic jabbed everywhere in his head felt like his mind was being picked apart by someone else.
The blue haze suddenly cleared from his sight, showing him visions that he quickly recognized as his own memories. First was the King of Prathage declaring his exile all those years ago, followed by Madeline defending herself from the courtier. Next was the crib that Francis removed an infant Lilli from twenty years ago, then Erzsébet sitting on the Stulikyan throne. The otherworldly catalyst was shown after that, mingling with Ixaidellians at the ball where Francis failed to recruit him because Lenka was too close to ruining all his plans. Following this vision was his stone castle at the side of the lake, which melted away into the last vision: the one representing his death by fire, ice and a strange dagger.
The visions were overrun by the blue haze again, before that too faded away to reveal the floor of his study. Realizing that he had his normal sight back, Francis breathlessly pushed himself off the floor, exhausted by whatever magic just overtook him. He felt a hand on his wrist, prompting him to look over and see that Erzsébet was helping him sit back up.
"Francis, are you okay?" Erzsébet asked, "You were surrounded by a glow of blue magic, what happened?"
Francis got himself seated upright on the ground, taking the quiet moment to recover his strength and his breath. Feeling the sweat on his brow, Francis raised his hand to brush his fingers through his hair. As he did so, he realized that he couldn't feel the tips of his fingers against his hair or his head, and brought his hand down in front of him to inspect them.
The tips of his fingers had frozen over.