The Ancient Magus' Bride: Shadow Bride, Moonlit Promise
She has no magic. No family. No place to belong. But when the "beloved child of night" arrives at Glendower College, Lucy Webster's cursed gift—her strange, unwanted perception—may be the only thing standing between Chise and the darkness closing in around her.
Lucy Webster has spent eight years surviving. Surviving the massacre that took her family. Surviving the whispers that call her cursed. Surviving as an auditor at a college of magic where she's tolerated at best—and hated at worst. With
The Ancient Magus' Bride: Shadow Bride, Moonlit Promise - Roommate Is a Night Beloved — Moonlight Grass and the Scent of Death
Beyond the door, a voice came through clear and bright.
"Coming! I've been waiting for you!"
Something clenched deep in Lucy Webster's chest, a sharp little ache.
The latch clicked softly, and the door to the neighboring room swung open.
The girl who appeared had red hair.
Flame-red, cropped neatly at her shoulders. Skin so pale it seemed almost translucent. Her large eyes shone bright even in the dim corridor of the dormitory. She was small — a full head shorter than Lucy.
Chise.
The name the headmistress had told her rolled naturally through her mind.
"You're Lucy, right? Nice to meet you. I'm Hatori Chise. You can call me Chise."
Chise smiled, bright and open.
It was warm, like spring sunlight, and it seeped gently into the center of Lucy's chest.
(Oh — wait, what is this?)
Lucy knew she had to say something, but the words caught in her throat and wouldn't come out. Her fingertips tightened around the hem of her uniform skirt.
"Um — I'm Lucy. Lucy Webster. P-pleased to meet you."
She'd said it all in a rush. She nearly tripped over her own tongue. No — she did trip over it.
Chise watched her, steady and patient, and smiled again.
"Fufu, Lucy, you're funny."
"...What?"
Funny, she'd said. In her entire life, no one had ever called Lucy Webster funny.
"I mean, you're really nervous, but you're still trying so hard to greet me properly. I think that's wonderful."
Chise gently wrapped both hands around Lucy's.
"I was so anxious about coming here. But when I heard you'd be right next door, it made me feel a little better."
The warmth of Chise's hands turned Lucy's mind blank.
(Why is this girl so...)
To touch someone so openly, so honestly, the very first time you meet them.
It was something Lucy could never do.
"Um — let me help you carry your things."
Lucy pulled her hands free and stepped into the room.
"Oh, sure. Thank you."
Chise's room should have been identical to Lucy's, but it looked completely different.
Three potted moonlight plants by the window. Two cardboard boxes on the desk, still unopened. One worn-out backpack on the bed.
Lucy tried to lift one of the boxes and lost her balance.
"Whoa—"
A bundle of photographs and a small cloth pouch spilled out.
"Ah, sorry! Are you okay?!"
Chise hurried over and scrambled to gather the fallen things.
"...Sorry. I'm clumsy."
Lucy helped pick them up, hiding the trembling in her hands.
The photographs showed scenes from Japan. Cherry trees. A shrine's torii gate. Girls in school uniforms.
The pouch was an old omamori charm.
"My grandmother gave me this. Lucy, would you like one?"
Chise held out the charm.
"Eh, are you sure?"
"Yeah. I thought a charm might be nice for you."
Lucy took it.
Small, and worn soft with age.
(I got one.)
She slipped the charm into her pocket.
"...Thank you."
"No problem. And also — um."
Chise fidgeted, looking a little embarrassed.
"Is it okay if I call you Lucy? And — I'd like you to call me Chise, too."
Lucy lowered her gaze.
Her bangs fell over her eyes.
(Chise, huh.)
She was allowed to call her that.
Like a friend would.
Lucy gave a small nod.
"...Yeah. Chise."
Her voice trembled.
But Chise seemed to hear it anyway.
"Yay! Then — once more — nice to meet you, Lucy!"
Chise took Lucy's hand again.
Lucy's heart leaped.
Something burst open deep in her chest.
Night fell.
Lucy sat on her bed in her own room, staring blankly up at the ceiling.
Not a sound came from the room next door.
Had Chise already gone to sleep?
Lucy pulled the charm from her pocket.
It smelled of old cloth.
(Chise, huh.)
They'd met for the first time today.
So why did her chest feel so restless?
Lucy tucked the charm into her desk drawer.
Then she walked to the window.
From the second-floor north window of Slate House, she could see the academy's towers and the night garden, Lunaria.
She parted the curtain slightly and peered outside.
Moonlight bathed the garden in a pale blue glow.
The moonlight plants gave off a faint silver light.
Mana flowing through their veins sparkled in answer to the moon.
Lucy's sensing ability read that flow like a map.
The mana of the moonlight plants was calm and quiet, dissolving into the night air.
But.
Within that light.
There was one light that was different.
Lucy held her breath.
In the center of the garden.
Beside a thicket of moonlight plants.
A red-haired girl stood.
Chise.
Alone, gazing at the moonlight plants.
Lucy's sensing ability caught the mana spilling from every inch of Chise's body.
It was nothing like the moonlight plants.
It was as if a full moon had taken human form.
A vast, enormous mana coursed through Chise's body like blood, swirling round and round.
It looked as though light were leaking from every pore.
Lucy gripped the windowsill and stared.
(Beautiful.)
The thought came to her, simple and honest.
But at the same time.
(...Dangerous.)
Her sensing ability was sounding a warning.
Chise's mana shone beautifully, and yet there was something precarious about it — a scent that seemed to draw you in.
Like sweet poison.
The beloved child of the night.
Lucy remembered the words the headmistress had spoken.
An extraordinary being, supremely gifted at producing and absorbing mana.
Simply by existing, she produced mana without end.
To mages, that power was desperately coveted.
(Someone might be after that power.)
A vague unease passed through Lucy's chest.
Chise reached out toward the moonlight plants.
Her fingers brushed the silver leaves.
In that instant, the plants' light swelled softly.
They were reacting to Chise's mana.
Lucy tightened her grip on the windowsill.
(...I have to protect her.)
Again, those words rose up from somewhere deep inside her.
They'd only met today.
And yet she was certain.
She couldn't leave this girl alone.
The next day.
Chise had invited Lucy to the academy's great library — the Tower of Silence.
"Lucy, over here, over here! This book looks so good!"
Chise wandered between the shelves like a lost puppy, happily pulling out books.
The Tower of Silence lived up to its name.
Bookshelves stretched to the high ceiling, arranged like a maze.
The smell of old paper, ink, and dust.
Lucy loved this library.
It was quiet, and she could be alone.
But today, she wasn't alone.
"Lucy, what kind of books do you like?"
Chise peered into Lucy's face.
"Eh — oh, I like, um, grimoires and things."
"Wow, that's amazing! I still don't understand hardly anything. Lucy, will you teach me sometime?"
"...I don't understand much either, honestly."
Lucy looked down and traced a spine with her finger.
"Then let's study together! Hey, want to sit here?"
Chise pointed to a seat by the window.
A wooden desk and two hard chairs.
Lucy sat down beside Chise.
Chise opened the book she'd borrowed and began reading with a serious face.
Lucy opened her own notebook.
But she couldn't concentrate at all.
Chise's profile flickered at the edge of her vision.
The red hair, backlit by the window, glowed and shimmered.
(...What am I even thinking?)
Lucy dropped her eyes to her notebook.
Her heart was so loud.
Then.
Lucy's sensing ability reacted sharply.
Her spine went rigid.
(What is this mana?)
It was approaching from the library entrance.
A powerful mana.
But that wasn't all.
Deeper.
Darker.
Lucy raised her head.
From the shadow of the shelves, a tall man appeared.
Long silver hair tied back in a single tail.
Jade-green eyes.
From the crown of his head curved a pair of gently sweeping goat horns.
A mage of inhuman form.
Finn Earnsworth.
Lucy's sensing ability screamed.
(Beneath that man's mana...)
A thick, stagnant smell of death.
Rotten water.
Old blood.
Things like that were mixed in.
Goosebumps rose all over Lucy's body.
"Hello, Chise. We meet again."
Finn smiled at Chise.
A calm, gentlemanly voice.
"Mr. Finn! You're here!"
Chise stood up, delighted.
"I wanted to see you. ...Oh? And who is this young lady?"
Finn's gaze turned to Lucy.
His jade eyes were smiling.
But behind them, they were not.
Lucy felt her breath stop.
"Oh, this is Lucy. She's my roommate!"
Chise tugged Lucy's arm and brought her to stand before Finn.
"I see. So you're Miss Lucy. Chise has told me about you. She's always in your care."
Finn placed a white-gloved hand over his chest and bowed elegantly.
"...No, it's nothing like that."
Lucy spoke quickly.
Her voice shook.
(This man is dangerous.)
Her sensing ability was screaming with her whole body.
At the bottom of Finn's mana, the smell of death.
And not just one or two.
Many deaths.
"Chise, you're beautiful today as well. That radiance, like moonlight dew upon the petals. ...Ah, you resemble her."
Finn reached gently toward Chise's red hair.
The fingertip of his white glove touched her hair.
Chise lowered her eyes, embarrassed.
"Oh — um, thank you."
Lucy felt a sharp little pain in her chest.
(...What is this?)
Finn had touched Chise.
That alone squeezed Lucy's heart tight.
"...Chise."
Lucy whispered into Chise's ear.
"That man is dangerous. You shouldn't get close to him."
Chise looked at Lucy, blinking in surprise.
"Huh? Mr. Finn? Why?"
"His mana is — strange. It smells of death. Something's wrong with it."
Lucy spoke desperately.
But Chise only gave a small laugh.
"Mr. Finn is a kind person. Lucy, are you misunderstanding something?"
"It's not a misunderstanding—"
"It's all right, Lucy. Mr. Finn cares about me very much. Right, Mr. Finn?"
Chise smiled at Finn.
Finn smiled gently back.
"Of course. I am on your side, Chise. Don't worry — I'm here for you."
Lucy bit her lip.
(No. This man is absolutely not what he seems.)
Her sensing ability was warning her so clearly.
And yet it didn't reach Chise.
"Miss Lucy, would you mind not interrupting my conversation with Chise?"
Finn looked down at Lucy.
Still smiling.
But his jade eyes were frozen.
Lucy flinched.
"What do you know of Chise? Do you think you can understand her loneliness?"
Finn's voice was quiet and cold.
"...I—"
"I understand Chise better than anyone. What she wants, what she fears. I have no obligation to let a child who knows nothing interfere."
Lucy was speechless.
(Knows nothing.)
That's right.
I know nothing about Chise.
We only met yesterday.
I know only her name and her smile.
"Mr. Finn, please don't speak to Lucy that way."
Chise stepped in front of Finn, as if to shield Lucy.
"Lucy is my friend. She's only worried about me."
Chise's words warmed Lucy's chest.
(Friend.)
Chise called me a friend.
"...Forgive me, Chise. I was rude to your friend. Miss Lucy, I ask your pardon."
Finn apologized at once.
The cold look from before vanished, replaced by a gentle smile as if it had never been.
"...It's fine."
Lucy lowered her head.
(This man switches too fast.)
That, somehow, was even more frightening.
"Well then, Chise. Later, in the night garden. There's something I want to show you."
Finn smiled at Chise and left.
His long silver hair disappeared into the shadow of the shelves.
Lucy stared after him.
(That man is definitely plotting something.)
Back in the dormitory, Lucy collapsed onto her bed.
(...Frustrating.)
Her warning hadn't reached Chise.
Finn had completely won Chise's trust.
Gentle words.
A calm smile.
Pretending to understand Chise's loneliness.
(All of it — all an act.)
Her sensing ability saw through that man's true nature.
The smell of death.
That was dangerous, without a doubt.
Lucy stared up at the ceiling.
She remembered the smile Chise had turned on Finn.
Her chest ached.
(...Why does it hurt so much?)
Finn had touched Chise.
Chise had smiled at Finn.
That alone squeezed Lucy's heart tight.
(Is this... jealousy?)
Lucy was bewildered by her own feelings.
She'd never been in love.
She'd never had someone she liked.
But what was this feeling?
(...I don't understand.)
Lucy
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