"Don't be frightened, Your Highness. I don't intend to hurt you. I only wish to talk to you."
"Damn, what sort of talk is this?" Roland swallowed and slowly turned around. Under the threat of a dagger, he could only wait for the other side to speak.
In the shadow of candlelight, Roland saw the other person. She was sitting on his bed, her body hidden under a robe, and a hood hiding her face, so he could not see her clearly. Candlelight cast her shadow over a large part of the wall.
"Who are you?"
"I have no name; my sisters call me Nightingale." She stood up, pulled up her robe, and made a curtsy as properly as any lady. "First of all, I'd like to express my gratitude to you, Your Royal Highness Roland Wimbledon."
"Gratitude?" Roland noticed that the pattern on her robe shimmered peculiarly in candlelight. Three parallel triangles with the shape of an eye. Where had he seen this before?
"The pattern on the coin... is the insignia of the Sacred Mountain and the Magic Eye. It's the emblem of the Witches' Cooperation."
What Barov had told him flashed in his mind. "You, you're a witch!?"
"Haha." She let out a string of chuckles. "Your Royal Highness is quite knowledgeable."
After recognizing the identity of the other party, Roland was silently relieved. It seemed that she was not an assassin sent by his siblings. "So, you've come to this distant town for the sake of the witch in the North Slope Mine area? Although I have no idea how you received this information, you came much too late. If I had wanted to hang her, she'd be long dead."
"I'm aware of that. And if you had done it, I'd have no wish to speak to you." Nightingale sat back down on the bed. "The Witch Cooperation Association prefers not to intervene in secular affairs, especially with royalty. But I prefer not to listen to them. It may be improper to kill a prince for a witch, but it's still within my power to leave a deep enough impression on you."
It was an explicit threat but Roland regained his composure. "She's alive and well."
"I'm also aware that there is another girl, Nana." She nodded. "I visited this place a week ago, but I didn't meet you. I've been watching all that you've been doing, and while I don't understand why it's that you don't have the typical hostility against us witches, I'd like to thank you on behalf of the Witches Cooperation Association."
"You've been here for a week." Roland wiped his forehead. "She's seen everything?" This had been going on for a week and he did not notice anything. "So, tell me. Did you come here to talk, or just to thank me?"
"Isn't it tiring to stand while speaking to me?" She said as she lowered her hood. "Come here and talk. I'm not ugly. My appearance won't scare Your Highness."
She was more than not ugly. In fact, one could almost say that she was pretty. With her hood now lowered, Nightingale's golden wavy hair fell down like a cascade, dancing under the candlelight. Her nose was long and her eyes sparkled. Unlike Nana and Anna's childish faces, hers showed an air of maturity. Though in the dark one could not fully perceive her face, the delicate and well-proportioned shadows on her face could serve as enough proof of her beauty.
Roland slowly walked across the room, and sat next to her on the bed. He was doing so not because her beauty made him forget possible dangers, but rather because he simply believed that she was not malicious.
"You can talk now."
"Sure enough, you're not afraid of me." The woman sounded happy. "I can see now that you're different from those people. They hate us because they're afraid of us, and I can see the fear in their eyes. But as for you..." She could not help reaching out her hand to gently stroke Roland's cheek. "You're only curious."
Roland made an awkward little cough and turned his head. He really wasn't sure what to think about this change in character. Just a moment ago, she was a deadly assassin, but now she was an overbearing master diplomat.
Fortunately, the woman quickly suppressed her emotions. "I came here to tell you that I'd like to take Anna and Nana with me."
"No way!" Roland said without thinking, his heart pounding. Fearing that his sudden exclamation might annoy Nightingale, he added, "They're well cared for here, and no one can hurt them. Besides, where do you want to take them? This is the safest place."
"I'll bring them to the Witches Cooperation Association, and that's their destination." Nightingale was not brought down by the refusal, and kept a calm tone. "The members of the community are their companions, there's no discrimination, no persecution. There's no need for them to hide who they are."
"And where exactly is the Witches Cooperation Association located? Or is it that you have no fixed location? A month ago, my guards found your camp in Misty Forest, and now the signs show you've been traveling north. What's in the north other than endless mountains!?"
"You're right. We're currently hiding in a place in the mountains, where witches can be completely safe from harm."
"And just how safe is it to live like a savage in the mountains over winter? Will they have clean drinking water? Enough food? A warm dwelling place? And with the Months of Demons coming, the whole northwest will be dangerous. What in the world are you thinking..." Roland stopped short. What had Barov said, exactly? "Witches travel to Holy Mountain with the intent of finding true tranquility. The Witches Cooperation Association was launched in order for witches to travel together to Holy Mountain." No way, were they.... "Are you going to the Impassable Mountain Range to try and find Holy Mountain?"
"I have nothing to say on this subject." Nightingale smiled, but her look told Roland clearly what to think regarding his speculation.
"That being the case, I can never let them go with you," Roland said. "In just two months the demonic beasts will prevail outside the domains, and even if you can avoid humans in the mountains, you won't be able to avoid the demonic beasts. Holy Mountain can be found at any time. You should come to Border Town for winter, and stay here until it has passed."
It was Nightingale's turn to be stunned. "Stay here? You really are a funny man." She thought for a moment, and then shook her head. "Your Highness, you aren't afraid of witches, but yet this doesn't mean that everyone else is the same. As soon as we're exposed to the crowd, the church will soon come knocking at the door."
"As long as the witches can help ease the burden of the Months of Demons, my people will realize that they're not evil." Before Roland could open his mouth to speak, Nightingale stopped him. "Besides this, we have another thing to consider. Anna is about to reach adulthood."
"Adulthood?"
"Yes." As if seeing through Roland's doubt, Nightingale calmly explained, "Adulthood is the first hurdle all witches need to cross. Usually the sooner one becomes a witch, the harder it's to cross the hurdle. Your highness, do you know why we're seen as the embodiment of the devil?"
