Chapter 1
The witches shot victory fireworks into the night sky.
[Emperor’s cowardly army! Utter defeat by the witches!]
As the glowing letters lit up, cheers erupted from the ground below.
“For Merga, the Guardian of Aldehallow!”
Someone shouted at the top of their lungs. All around, people echoed Merga’s name. After all, it was Merga who had driven the Emperor’s invading army back out through the outer walls with her rock golems. No one could help but admire her.
The festive mood reached its peak, but there was one person who sat slumped alone in a corner: Fay, with her pink hair drooping.
From her gloomy expression, it looked as if she wanted nothing more than to drown herself in her mug of beer. If the mug had been just a bit bigger, she might have given it a try.
Fay let out a quiet sigh. She couldn’t bring herself to take a sip, idly tracing the wood grain of her cup instead. In the end, she stood up from her seat.
It was a day worth celebrating, after all. She didn’t want to ruin the mood, so Fay slipped away into the quieter halls of the castle. Before long, she noticed a shadow trailing after her.
She stopped, and the shadow stopped too.
“What is it, Virelda?”
Fay asked without turning around. She’d sensed Virelda’s eyes on her all evening.
“I heard Merga got hurt shielding you.”
Of course it was Virelda. Fay closed her eyes, bracing herself for what was coming.
“I’m sorry.”
She managed, barely above a whisper after a long pause.
“You think ‘sorry’ is enough?”
Fay couldn’t say a word in response. The Golden Army, originally formed to unify the continent’s religions, had been a laughingstock in its early days. People mocked their gold-plated armor—what use was such extravagance, they said?
But thanks to the Emperor’s backing and the army’s holy power, the Golden Army swept across the continent. Now, after twenty years, only the witches’ land, Aldehallow, remained free from their grasp. Only magic could stand against holy power.
Of course, the Golden Army believed the witches had stolen their holy power. To the witches, who were simply born with magic, such an accusation was absurd.
It was no wonder the Emperor despised the witches, who resisted to the end. He alternated between invasion and appeasement. But when it came to Aldehallow, he’d ordered no mercy. The witches fought with everything they had.
Virelda’s words stung, but she was right. If Merga’s wound had been any deeper, tonight’s victory party might have belonged to the Golden Army.
It was all because Fay had been distracted, trying to pick up some foolish necklace. She regretted it bitterly.
“Don’t go out to fight again—ever.”
Fay regretted her mistake, but she couldn’t agree to that. If anything, she felt she had to fight even harder to make up for it. She pleaded that nothing like today would ever happen again.
“I can’t just sit back while everyone else is fighting.”
“Because of you, Merga is still bedridden!”
Virelda’s voice rose in anger, and from the shadows a silver snake slithered out, opening its jaws wide enough to swallow Fay whole. She stumbled backward, terrified.
“Even if Merga forgives you, I never will.”
Virelda spat, her bloodshot eyes boring into Fay. Do you understand? Fay squeezed her eyes shut, trembling with fear. When she opened them again, Virelda and the snake were gone.
Left alone in the dark castle corridor, Fay let out a long, shaky breath.
“Why is she being so mean?”
Suddenly, a voice sounded right beside her. Fay screamed in surprise.
“Zynie! Don’t sneak up on me like that!”
The crow perched on Zynie’s head let out a loud caw.
“Donovan agrees.”
Fay clutched her chest, trying to calm her racing heart.
“Don’t be so harsh.”
“You’re taking Virelda’s side, after all she put you through?”
“You’ve never met a truly mean witch. Virelda’s nothing compared to some of them.”
“If that’s her being cute, a second round would be the death of us all.”
Zynie sniffed.
“She’s just desperate to chew Fay out. Picking on the weakest witch in Aldehallow—how cowardly.”
“Wait, the weakest witch in Aldehallow… you mean me?”
“Who else?”
Fay could only stare in shock at her friend’s brazen answer.
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