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“No! I’ll bite your ear off if you disobey me!” Ciri huddled closer to Roy and blew on his ear. She and Roy chuckled, and the young witcher took her to the ‘bandit’ they were supposed to defeat.

The ‘bandit’ was a maid in white. She held a broom up as if it were a sword, but her face was filled with fear. There were black marks on her face, as if someone had tortured her before. It would have been a horrifying sight had the marks not been in the shape of mustache and small animals.

Ciri’s face was also dotted with ink as well. He circled the ‘bandit’, and she tensed up in fear of his majestic air. She should have dodged Roy, but instead she just stood there.

Ciri bellowed as fiercely as she could, and she smacked the ‘bandit’ two times with her wooden sword. The ‘bandit’ shook in fear, and she let go of the broom she was holding. “I surrender. Your might has overwhelmed me, oh great knightess.”

“Now you know the might of the great knightess, don’t you, you cur?” Ciri smugly patted Roy’s head, and Roy held her firmly as she dismounted. “I hereby announce that the thirty-second battle has come to an end. Rise, Coria. Remember, do the usual thing.”

“Of course, Princess Ciri. I am your most loyal servant.”

Ciri looked up at Roy proudly. Sweat was already pouring down her hair and face after all that exercise earlier. Roy took a towel and went down to wipe the sweat and ink marks away. Ciri tilted her head halfway through. She was smiling and moaning comfortably, as if she were a kitten who was enjoying a little massage session.

The servant who was playing with them earlier stole a glance while she was wiping herself clean. She thought it was slightly unbelievable that Roy managed to win Ciri’s trust in little more than two weeks. That sly witcher has a way with kids, she thought. But I guess that is understandable. The princess was practically locked up in her room for years, and the people around her were either the queen or us, the servants. She had no people whom she could call friends.

Ciri might have been born on a silver platter, but she was never happy being in the palace. Nobody could tell her a lot of interesting stories like a witcher could. Nobody could come up with interesting games and take perfect care of her like Roy could.

Perhaps Roy is like a father whom Ciri has always wanted.

Coria frowned. Hm, something’s off with that, but I can’t put a finger on it.

***

“Roy.” Ciri sat on her bed and swung her chubby little legs. “We’re friends, right?”

“Close friends. Do please keep that in mind.” Roy massaged his forehead. It’s almost time to tell Ciri another story now. “So, what kind of story do you want to hear tonight? How does Rapunzel sound? Oh, but I have changed it a little. It’s different from the one you’ve heard before.”

“No, I don’t want to listen to any stories tonight.” Ciri started to act like a spoiled child. “I want to ride horses. Can you grant me my wish, my friend?”

“Um, but you just rode a horse, didn’t you? Let me rest a bit more.”

“No. I am talking about real horses,” Ciri emphasized. She glanced at her servant, who was eavesdropping on them, and she swung her little fists at the servant. “Okay, Roy. I’ll be honest. I want to see Wilt. I want to see if it’s as smart as you make it out to be.”

“No can do, princess.” Roy shrugged. He looked like he couldn’t do anything about that request. “I don’t think I can go against the queen’s orders. Why don’t we play some card games? Coria’s face is clean now. Don’t you think she looks better with a few hares drawn on her face?”

“Oh gods.” Coria tensed up and slowly moved toward the door as she swept the floor.

“No.” Ciri stared at Roy firmly, and she started to tear up. “This is my last wish, Roy.”

“You really don’t have to sound so pessimistic.” Roy shook his head in amusement. “You’ll get the chance to see Wilt. Someday, the queen will be convinced to free you.”

Ciri licked her lips. “But she’s sending me to Verden tomorrow. I won’t be seeing you anymore, let alone Wilt.”

“Oh, you’re leaving?” Roy was surprised to hear that. He had been living in the palace for two weeks without him noticing, or to be precise, he had been fooling around with a young girl for two weeks.

Aside from leaving the palace every evening for an intense training session and casting Fear on the little griffin, Roy spent the rest of his time in the palace. “Time flies, doesn’t it?”

The days were like a vacation for him, which was hard to come by. Ciri was a likeable young girl, though she might throw a little tantrum at times. But it was nothing Roy couldn’t rectify. The days went by quickly, and the short vacation had come to an end.

“This is not farewell, Ciri. I told you that we’re the same kind of person, you and I. Destiny has decreed that we shall meet many times,” Roy assured her. Dang. If I can go around with the Lady of Space and Time, I can probably travel to another dimension. Wonder if the Cyberpunk world is on the list. The games are made by the same company after all.

“Will you play with me some other time?”

“Of course, and it will happen sooner than you think. You don’t have to worry about your marriage with Prince Kistrin either,” Roy reassured her.

“That’s a promise, then.” Ciri held her pinky up, and Roy made a pinky promise with her. “You have to let me see Wilt. We’re going to attack the pirates next, and I want to hear more stories.” Ciri looked up, and she smiled again. “Roy, now I want to hear the story about Rapunzel.”

“Of course, my dear princess.” Roy held Ciri’s warm, petite hands. She had a scent unique to children, and it was endearing. “My story is slightly different from the one everyone tells you. In this version, the prince did not show up to save Rapunzel from the tower, and she had to live with her own loneliness for a long time.”

Coria—who was about to leave a while ago—came back and listened to the story intently.

“So Rapunzel decided to hang herself with her hair. After she died, her spirit haunted the castle until the day her destined prince came to save her.”

***

“See you again, Ciri.” Roy walked off into the sunset, but before he made his departure, he waved his hand at the castle. A while ago, Queen Calanthe had given her decree. Roy was not to be allowed entrance into the castle from the next day onward.

She was going to give him his reward, but Roy refused it. He didn’t want his friendship with the Lady of Space and Time to be tinged with the lowly scent of crowns.

When he came back to the dingy house, his fellow witchers were already waiting for him. Over the last two weeks, Roy spent the mornings playing with Ciri and trained intensely with the witchers in the evenings.

The training sessions came to a halt a few days ago when the veteran witchers left Cintra. They were taking Thelma to Aretuza, and when they came back, Letho and Serrit looked a little roughed up. Auckes was the only one who looked smug and refreshed.

For reasons unknown to Roy, the witchers suddenly had the stupid idea of infiltrating Aretuza to see how tight their defenses would be. The witches standing sentry noticed them, and they almost wiped the witchers out of existence. Fortunately, Auckes explained the reason for their visit in time, and he gave Thelma over to them. Only then did the witches calm down.

Thelma was practically a future witch, and there was no reason for the witches to refuse her. Auckes used that chance to quickly befriend a witch, and she was quite the bold one as well. Auckes ‘pestered’ her, and they had a fun night, so to speak.

Letho and Serrit, however, weren’t so lucky. They were left in the great hall, where the witches who passed by would snort whenever they saw the witchers.

“Keira Metz. That’s her name.” Auckes would brag to Roy every single day, and this day was no exception. “She is a gorgeous woman, and quite a bold one too. She didn’t mind having fun with a few more partners at the same time.” He glanced at his fellow witchers, who looked inscrutable. “Pity these blockheads are not romantics. I gave them a lot of hints, but they swatted them away. It’d be a different story if you were there, Roy.”

“Oh no, you don’t.” Roy shook his head. “I am not going to be dragged into this messy relationship.” Even though I do respect Keira Metz.

“Hey. You have to have fun while you still live, you know. Don’t get hung up on morality.”

“Alright, let’s stop talking about that. I have something to say.” Roy looked at the veteran witchers, and he took a deep breath. “I think I have to leave Cintra for a while.”

The announcement broke the happy atmosphere, and the witchers stopped smiling.

“Where are you going? You want to keep being a nanny to the princess?”

“No.”

“Kid, I’ve been wanting to say this, but what is with you and the secrets? Do you think of us as your friends?” Letho sat up straight. A frown furrowed his brows, and his face looked tense and stern.

“I am a part of the Viper School, no doubt. I won’t do anything that will harm the school.” Roy looked at the witchers earnestly. “And all of you are my teachers. But please give me some time. I will give you all the answers after this little journey of mine. And that includes my secret.”

“Your secret?” Letho nodded, and he eased up slightly. “You owe us an explanation, Roy. Don’t leave us hanging for too long.”

“Go, Roy. All fledglings must eventually grow up.” Auckes grinned at him toothily and gave him an encouraging hug. “But be careful. I have a lot of new training sets in store for you.”

“Kid, don’t forget to memorize the Almanac of Creatures, even during your journey.” Serrit straightened out his hair clip. “I’ll test you again once you come back from this journey of yours. And if you fail, you’ll be getting it.”

“I shall be off for two weeks at most. We shall meet again, my friends.” Roy draped the hooded cape over himself, keeping him under cover. When he turned around, his eyes gleamed gold. “And perhaps we might even gain a new friend. Do please keep an eye on Galar for me as well. I don’t want him running away with the baby griffin.”

***

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