Release that Witch

”... Grades?” Tilly took the transcript, glanced at it doubtfully, and said, ”She did improve a lot.”

”Yes,” Roland nodded. ”As a businessman’s daughter in Valencia, Lucia White already had basic writing and arithmetic skills, and she also performed well in the natural theory course. That’s why her grades are so good.”

”I’m not questioning your theory that ’a better understanding and cognition of the world can help develop abilities,’ ” replied Tilly, twitching her mouth, ”but what does it have to do with the bite of magic power?”

”Judging from the evolution of Lily, Leaf, and Mystery Moon, as well as other witches, we can tell that evolution also increases witches’ magic power limits. I think such limits have a lot to do with how well witches perceive the world.” Combining what Agatha referred to as ”ancient High Awakening” and the evolution of the town witches’ abilities, Roland explained his theory in details. ”They’re essentially the same thing. However, witches who evolved by partial or random enlightenment are far less powerful than those who evolved by a full, comprehensive understanding of the world—Mystery Moon is a typical example. Although she’s a member of the Witch Union, her evolution was achieved through enlightenment, so her magic power isn’t in the same league as Anna’s and Soraya’s.”

Tilly soon learned what Roland meant after a moment of reflection, ”You mean the reason Miss Lucia’s magic power was low both on normal days and her Day of Awakening is that her body has adjusted to a certain level of magic power? Yet her ability evolved when she entered adulthood, which resulted in an instant surge in her magic power, and so much power was far more than she could take, right?”

”Pretty much like that, but I prefer to think there are two different types of power increases.” Roland continued, counting on his fingers, ”Magic power increases on the Day of Awakening, on the Day of Adulthood, and during evolution. The effects seem the same, but I believe the first two are passive, while the last is voluntary.”

”Why do you think so?”

”Because evolution won’t cause magic power bites,” the prince replied slowly. ”If this wasn’t the case, Anna would have been killed by the surge of magic power during her evolution. I assume there’s a magic power redline for witches. Once they go beyond it, they’ll suffer from bites. Daily practice can gradually increase their limits, and that’s also why witches need to empty all their magic power before awakening.”

”Redline? It sounds interesting...” Tilly murmured, sinking into her thoughts. ”Do you think the outpouring of magic power that was generated by Miss Lucia’s evolution resulted in insufficient space for magic power on the Day of Awakening, which led her to exceed the power limit and thus caused the accident?”

”Correct. Like Lucia, Anna experienced her first evolution when she reached adulthood, but her magic power capacity was incredible, so she had a much higher limit for bites than ordinary witches.” Roland paused for a moment. ”This also explains why Lucia went back to normal after Spear extracted the agitated magic power—that power didn’t belong to her anyway.”

”Your theory... does clarify a lot of problems.” Tilly pushed her hair behind her ear and propped up her chin on her hand, apparently absorbed in thoughts. ”Why witches present different forms of magic power despite their power sharing the same origin? Why free magic power can only be seen upon witches’ awakenings? Because witches can’t integrate it unless they accept it.”

Roland said with a smile, ”We can view awakening as drawing magic power in, but only a small part of it can be retained. Evolution expands and develops this small part, and the greater cognitive breadth a witch possesses, the better strengthening effects she’ll obtain. It’s also reasonable to assume that there’s no limit on the number of times a witch can evolve, since the exploration of the world is endless.”

”I’m suddenly curious.”

”What?”

”If you were a witch, how extensive would your power be after evolution?” asked Tilly, covering her smile.

Roland nearly choked himself. Although he really wanted to personally experience these extraordinary powers, he would rather turn them down knowing the sacrifices he had to make.

”Can I bring a copy of the textbooks you wrote back to Sleeping Island?” Tilly asked, while raising her eyebrow.

She sounded pretty casual, but Roland noticed her right hand gently grasping her skirt’s hemline.

”Absolutely.” He would not miss a single chance to leave his sister a good impression, and generally speaking, it was better to respond as quickly as possible. ”It’ll also be helpful to Border Town if the witches on Sleeping Island evolve. Besides, you’re my sister.”

Nightingale immediately pinched his left shoulder with immense strength.

”...” Tilly did not respond back, but simply showed her gratitude with a slight nod. ”Thank you, I’ll be excused then.”

”Sure.”

It looks like my performance was overdone. She probably won’t be interested in this kind of approach before hearing a convincing explanation.

Yet to Roland’s surprise, Tilly stopped at the door, turned her head and answered quietly, ”Sometimes, I’d rather hope that you aren’t my brother.”

...

After Tilly’s departure, Roland sat at his desk in a daze, with her last sentence reverberating all around his head.

Would rather hope I’m not her brother. What does that mean?

”Hey, are you OK?” Nightingale revealed herself, waving her finger in front of the prince.

”What do you think her last sentence meant?”

”How do I know?” Nightingale commented with a shrug. ”Perhaps she thinks you’re better as an ally than a sibling.”

Roland would certainly not assume anything inappropriate, since he had already known this royal princess pretty well after cooperating with her for half a winter.

Could she mean that she doesn’t want Prince Roland to come back? Or was it just the backlash of his lame approach?

”You aren’t her brother anyway. Why do you even care?” Nightingale turned over to sit on the desk, crossing her slender legs. She thrust a piece of dried fish into her mouth and added, ”Plus, I could tell you were lying without even using my ability when you said ’you’re my sister’.”

”Um, is that so...” Roland stroked his nose. ”So the answer is the latter then?”

”Also, since Tilly isn’t your real sister, is it alright to give her that Natural ’Something’ Theory?”

”That’s Natural Science Theoretical Foundation,” the prince corrected her with a sigh. ”There are several months of winter. Don’t you think she can produce a copy? I bet she already knows everything by heart, but she still requested my formal permission. This definitely says something about her attitude.”

At least from the standpoint of political alliance, there’s no question in Tilly’s sincerity.

He waited for a moment before continuing, ”The residents on Sleeping Island are primarily witches. Even if all of them have evolved, they still rely on witches’ power. However, I’m different. The knowledge not only enables witches to progress, but ordinary people as well... It’s the power of all the people that I’m relying on.”