After Arthur and his daughter's attack on the queen, the castle's atmosphere was tense.
Mako had spent days confined to a room, bedridden while tended by physicians.
Though he felt better, his arm and leg remained impaired. Mako was anxious. Ironically, his ability to rewind time upon death made fatal blows his least concern.
Yet, after battles with Catherine and Arthur, he'd learned the real danger wasn't death… it was the battle's lasting effects.
So he passed his days, signing papers in bed and overthinking. But he wasn't always alone.
Zoe and Andrew kept him company occasionally, bringing reports or helping with the towering stacks of paperwork.
That's when Mako began investigating Arthur…
"You really don't know anything about him?" Mako asked both Andrew and Zoe.
They exchanged glances before answering. Andrew scratched his head, saying:
"Sorry, Mako, but I don't know much… Maybe he was a bigger hero in my parents' generation, but I barely recall his name."
Zoe nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, sadly, I don't know much either… I know he was very popular, that's about it," she added.
Mako felt at a dead end.
Then he remembered Zoe's role in the Royal Court.
"Don't you handle the mages' division or something?" Mako asked.
Though he didn't mean to sound dismissive, Zoe shot him a murderous glare.
"You're supposed to be our direct superior!" she scolded. "You should know that by now!"
"What I mean is…" Mako tried to backtrack, "you know about magic."
Zoe eyed him uncertainly.
"What I'm getting at is that Arthur kept calling us witches," Mako finally said.
Zoe's doubts cleared.
"Mako," she said seriously, "my role isn't what you think."
Zoe sat in a small chair, reviewing papers on her lap.
"We're not witches, we're nobles," she corrected. "We classify mages as those who awaken systems outside the nobility."
Andrew, listening, added: "In other words, it's an insult some people use for nobles."
Mako stared blankly at a paper after that response.
'If you hated us so much,' Mako thought, 'why not my parents? Why could Arthur recognize me just by my name?'
The conversation died there. As night approached, Andrew and Zoe left, dejected.
Mako was alone.
"We've worked as much as I could," Mako muttered to himself, "and there's still a ton of paperwork."
The papers held all sorts of requests, each giving Mako a worse headache.
Increased defenses at the kingdom's borders. Reports of bandit gangs roaming freely on the roads. Uprisings…
Galandria was a powerful kingdom, but if these issues weren't addressed, these dark shadows would grow unstoppable.
Then Mako heard a peculiar, familiar flapping of wings.
He'd never been so happy to hear Polifemo arrive.
From the room's window emerged the small, winged demon with a single eye and a gaping, fanged mouth.
"M-Mako, you bastard!" Polifemo growled, perching on the windowsill, exhausted.
"Do you know how many floors I have to fly to get here?" he complained, collapsing to the floor.
"Good to see you too," Mako said with a smile.
"Cut the pleasantries!" Polifemo snapped, catching his breath. Sprawled on the floor, staring at the ceiling, he continued:
"Do you know how hard it is to manage the mansion now? All by myself? Why'd I even come back? Ana's gone, you're here all the time."
Mako's smile faded at those words.
Polifemo was right. Since defeating Catherine, things had changed at breakneck speed.
Mako's life had done a 180° since looping back in time.
"Anyway," Polifemo said, noticing Mako's serious expression, "it's nothing I can't handle. I came for something more important than complaints."
"What's up?" Mako asked.
"I got a letter," Polifemo replied.
From Polifemo's tiny hands sparked a flame, a brief burst that left a letter in its wake.
Hopping like a bouncing ball, Polifemo approached Mako's bed and handed him the letter.
Mako saw it was from Ana.
He tore it open without a second's delay.
"You didn't read it, right, Polifemo?" Mako asked suspiciously before reading.
"Pfft, of course not! It's sealed!"
Mako began reading, finding the contents both reassuring and terrifying.
◇◆◇
"Dear Mako," the letter began.
"I'm writing this brief letter just after arriving at Mist Fortress. The place lives up to its name. At night, a thick fog blankets everything, impossible to see through, and it often lingers until late morning.
The place feels like perpetual night because of it. It's cold, and the only sound is the howling of wolves in the hills.
Mako, I know you must be worried about me. But don't be. I can take care of myself… I know I can grow stronger here while defending the kingdom.
But I'm not writing just about that. There are many rumors about enemy troop movements. You know my fear isn't the fight itself, but how strange these rumors are."
Reading these words, Mako grasped the weight of the danger. The letter ended with:
"Everyone claims we'll be the ones to strike first. I don't yet know the reasons, but as soon as I do, I'll let you know."
◇◆◇
Part of Mako wished for a more normal letter, maybe one addressing their last meeting, but he knew one thing:
"There's no time to waste. I need to know what the hell's going on," Mako said, trying to rise from bed.
But moving too much, he felt the internal pain in his leg and slightly in his arm.
"You're being reckless!" Polifemo scolded, sounding like his doctor.
As Mako tried to get up, papers from smaller stacks fell. Without a word, Polifemo bounced over to pick them up.
"Besides, I didn't just come for the letter," Polifemo continued, grumbling.
"Please, no more bad news," Mako said, collapsing back onto the bed, exhausted.
Polifemo laughed. After tidying the papers, he hopped onto the bed's edge.
"This is serious, Mako."
Mako listened closely to the demon.
"I don't know how you did it, and I'm not sure I want to, but since you've been here, the mansion's been bursting with people. We've got cooks, new servants…"
Polifemo spoke with pride. The mansion was regaining the luster it lost after Mako's parents' deaths.
"But that doesn't bother me. What bothers me is I haven't seen one person lately," Polifemo added.
"Who?" Mako asked, curious.
"Igor," Polifemo replied.