"You're lucky it's not broken," Maru muttered through gritted teeth as she dabbed at her half-brother's nose. She was feeling better these days, able to leave her room and take walks during the day. She hadn't made it back to work yet – but apparently, her patients were now coming straight to her instead. When Sebastian had burst into her room with a bleeding nose, she almost failed to notice Charlotte standing awkwardly in the doorway. But now, as she felt certain her brother had come out of whatever mess he'd been in with nothing worse than a literal black eye, she studied the redhead with interest.

"Still, it's good you brought him to me," she continued, handing Sebastian an ice pack and motioning for him to tilt his head back. "I didn't think my brother was the type to get into bar fights." With a glance at the clock, she added, "Especially not before five in the evening." She shook her head.

Charlotte sighed as she did what Maru had instructed, mumbling nasally, "It wasn't a bar fight."

"Be quiet," Maru snapped, gesturing toward her desk chair. "Have a seat, Charlotte. Or did you just drop him off and need to get going?"

"I'm staying," Sebastian assured her, earning a knowing look from his half-sister.

"Interesting," she murmured, and Sebastian couldn't help but let out a wheezy laugh.

"You have no idea how interesting it is," he replied. It was as if everything he'd been trying to make sense of over the past few days was finally clicking into place in his brain. He laughed. Laughed louder, almost hysterically, as Charlotte joined in. Her nose still throbbed, and she could feel her cheek swelling despite the ice pack, but she, too, couldn't fight the overwhelming wave of emotions washing over her.

Sebastian tried to calm himself, but when he looked at Charlotte, he laughed even harder. Maru looked back and forth between the two, one eyebrow sceptically raised.

"What the hell is wrong with you two?" she asked, causing Sebastian and Charlotte not to calm down at all.

"I'm Charlotte," she managed to say, as her laughter turned more into wheezing. Maru didn't quite understand her.

"Excuse me?"

"I'm Charlotte," she repeated. Apparently, Sebastian heard that too, because he abruptly stopped laughing.

"Hey!" he hissed, his cheeks red and his hair tousled. Charlotte wiped a tear from the corner of her eye. She swallowed.

"What? It's true. She might as well know. She won't believe us anyway," Charlotte giggled again.

"What are you talking about? What am I allowed to know?" Maru asked, her face looking even more sceptical.

"We switched bodies," Charlotte managed to say before bursting into laughter again.

Maru groaned.

"Seb, I'm not in the mood for this crap. I'm still sick," she grumbled, rubbing her temple.

"You really expect me to believe this nonsense? Body swapping isn't real – magic isn't real," she added, her voice cracking slightly as if the very idea tested her patience.

Sebastian sighed. "You think I'd make something like this up just to mess with you?" His tone was sharp, almost pleading.

"Yes, absolutely," Maru shot back without hesitation. "It wouldn't be the first time you tried to pull a stupid prank." She crossed her arms, but the look in her eyes betrayed a flicker of uncertainty. Why did Charlotte answer her like this?

"That's Charlotte," he said, pointing to his body, which was doubled over with laughter next to his sister. "And I'd appreciate it if she'd hold the ice pack to her face again. It already looks bad enough."

Maru's expression shifted from sceptical to confused.

"Now you're joining in on this crap too?" she asked. She looked again at her half-brother, who was trying to calm down and crossed his legs.

"He's unfortunately right. I'm Charlotte," Charlotte explained. "For... a good three days now."

Maru laughed sarcastically.

"I'm leaving. I don't need to deal with this." She turned and headed for the door when Sebastian whispered something in her ear.

"Pepper Poppers."

"What?" She blinked, confused.

"Mum makes them for you every year on your birthday. You even like them better than the cake Demetrius always bakes."

"What the... Sebastian?" she looked at Charlotte, who was holding the ice pack to her cheek again.

"Trish Walsh. Your first girlfriend. You didn't tell anyone about her. Except me." Sebastian wore a confident smile. "I can keep going," Sebastian announced. "But you could just believe us before I tell Charlotte everything about you."

"So… you want to tell me that the crazy drunk in the forest actually is a drunk and crazy wizard who enchanted the both of you because he thought… Charlotte was in love with you?" The look on Maru's face was even more sceptical after they had told her everything. But she had no reason not to believe them – except that magic wasn't real and swapping bodies was factually impossible.

"I know none of this makes any sense. We don't know how he did it either – only that he did it. And that he has no idea how to undo it," Charlotte replied in an overly calm tone. After her earlier hysterical outburst, she had briefly regretted bringing Maru into the loop. Then again, it wasn't like it would change anything about their situation.

"What do you mean, he doesn't know how to reverse it?", Maru asked and Charlotte looked to the floor. "So you're stuck in each other's…"

She was interrupted by Robin, who had knocked on the door but already had her head poking through the gap before anyone could say "Come in."
"Dinner's ready... Sebby, what happened to you?" she called out, rushing past Sebastian and over to Charlotte, who had already replaced the ice pack. The swelling on her cheek had gone down a little – but it had already started to bruise, and there wasn't much she could do about that. Charlotte tried to respond the way she thought Sebastian would, so she just shrugged. Robin groaned.

"Fighting doesn't suit you," she said simply. Then she turned to Sebastian, flashing her brightest smile.
"Did he at least get in the fight for you? Well, whatever. You're all adults. Anyway, dinner's ready, and I'd be thrilled if you joined us!"

Sebastian was already running through all the polite but firm ways he could decline when his growling stomach betrayed him. Robin laughed.

"Alright. Come on! The table needs to be set."

"Charlotte, tell us. What are your plans for the farm?" Demetrius asked with interest, cutting a piece of his roast. He speared it with his fork but didn't take his eyes off Sebastian, who at that moment wanted even less to talk to Demetrius than usual.

"The chicken coop is almost finished. I think the animals should be able to move in by Tuesday," Robin interjected. Sebastian nodded.

"Well, first I'll obviously need chickens… And then…" His gaze dropped to his plate, landing on the red cabbage Demetrius had served with the roast. "…then it's time for the red cabbage harvest."

Demetrius tilted his head. "You're growing red cabbage? That's fantastic! Be sure to bring me a specimen before it gets too wilted. The ones from the store are usually too old, their cells already starting to…" he began, but Robin placed a hand on his forearm, cutting him off. She smiled warmly at Sebastian.

"Anyway, it would be very kind of you to bring us some red cabbage. We'll pay, of course."

Sebastian nodded hesitantly.

Charlotte observed the scene, noticing the glances Maru kept throwing her way. She decided not to say anything unless someone addressed her directly. From what she could tell, that wasn't likely to happen anytime soon. Robin and Demetrius were too preoccupied with their "guest." That was fine by her. She had no idea what Sebastian might tell them – but she figured they didn't know about his plans to leave yet.

She thought back to her late-night conversation with Robin and the worried look Robin had given her as she handed Charlotte the letter from Sebastian's father.

Maru had been quiet for a while, picking at her food in thought. Then, almost as if she were talking to herself, she said, "Did you know there's a weird glowing ring around the wizard's tower at night?"

Demetrius paused mid-bite, his expression shifting to one of curiosity. "The tower in the forest? That's just bioluminescence—some kind of rare fungus or algae," he replied dismissively.

Maru hummed, but her gaze lingered on Charlotte. "Still, I think it's odd. Maybe he's running experiments or…"

"Maybe he's a wizard," Robin chimed in with a laugh, but her tone carried a hint of mischief. Charlotte nearly choked on the water she had been drinking. Robin gave her a quick look and patted her back, but Demetrius paid her no mind.

"A strange fellow. Lives out in the forest, maybe shows up for a festival once or twice a year," Demetrius replied.

"Maybe he just wants to be left alone," Sebastian murmured, momentarily forgetting his role. He cleared his throat, but Demetrius didn't seem bothered by his comment. Instead, he nodded thoughtfully.

"I think he was married once – they were definitely two of them in that tower back in the day. No idea what happened to his wife. An ugly divorce, I'd guess."

Maru tilted her head. "He always says he's a wizard…" she began, but Demetrius laughed.

"Sweetheart, I don't have to explain to you that magic isn't real, do I?" he said, nudging her with his elbow. She gave him a tight smile. Robin raised an eyebrow – that must definitely run in the family.

"I wouldn't rule out magic entirely. Here in Stardew Valley, anything's possible," Robin said. How right she was.

"Why do you ask?" Demetrius wanted to know, but Maru waved it off.

"Oh, I've just had a lot of time to think these past few days – and my current project is driving me crazy. I thought maybe I'd see if I could get a luck spell." The excuse rolled easily off her tongue. Demetrius smiled at his daughter.

"If there's one thing you don't need, it's luck. You've got everything you need right here," he said, pointing to her head.

Charlotte felt like she was watching a movie. A warm family film – maybe without much of a plot but full of love. Only she didn't feel like part of it. She felt like an observer, a viewer. She wondered if she was the only one who felt this way – or if this was one of the reasons Sebastian wanted to leave all this behind. In this dynamic, he was almost unnecessary.

Sebastian looked up from his plate and met Charlotte's gaze. At first, he thought she was just glancing around the table. But then he realized she was looking directly at him. She didn't break eye contact, even when he held her gaze. He tugged one corner of his mouth upward in a faint smile – and her lips curled into a smile of their own.

A warmth spread through his stomach, and at first, he wanted to fight it, to distract himself, to just stare back down at his plate. But she didn't look away either.