The Cornflower Witch

Book 2: Chapter 47: That Purple-Haired Figure, (5)

Vol 2 Chapter 47 That Purple-Haired Figure, Part 5

"Karl, do you remember the potion formula the instructor mentioned yesterday?"

A girl with pale purple hair walked ahead. She wore a fitted black wizard's robe and radiated youthful vigor and beauty.

"I remember. It was sage of March, the tail of a gecko, and the root sap of purple moon herb." Karl had only been fifteen at the time, while the girl opposite him was already seventeen, a little taller than he was.

"That's right, you remember it clearly." The girl looked back.

Karl could no longer recall what they said afterward. What remained in his memory was that day’s fractured sunlight, the girl's light, jaunty smile, and the faint fragrance that drifted on the breeze.

The pale purple-haired girl was named Luna, a pretty name said to have ties to the ancient moon.

Among the instructor’s apprentices she had the greatest talent and was the object of Karl’s admiration. She was beautiful, well-read, and occasionally teased him—the youngest apprentice—but she also gave him extra guidance.

The instructor had once been a powerful wizard, but after sustaining injuries and growing old his body gradually weakened. Over time he taught less and less, and they had to begin studying on their own.

Many apprentices worried about their future paths and gradually left to find other wizards to study under.In the end, only Karl and Luna remained by the instructor’s side.

"Why don’t you leave, Karl?" That day Luna had just washed her hair and sat by the window enjoying the evening breeze when she suddenly asked Karl, who was studying in the same room.

"I..." He didn’t know how to answer. The truth was he only stayed because Luna had not left.

He liked the purple-haired girl before him in the way one chases the moon at night—an unreachable fantasy, an impulse he couldn’t abandon.

"I know, you must be concerned whether the instructor left behind any powerful secret arts." The girl suddenly thought of something, raised a finger, and smiled at him.

At that moment he didn’t know how to respond and could only nod along, admitting as much.

"Unexpectedly, Karl is interested in that set of secret arts too." Her fingers were long, and her pale purple nails stretched in the night breeze, delicate and faintly beguiling.

"It’s called Teria-Lucia's Black Serpent. Supposedly it was improved from 'Teria's Black Serpent' by the sorceress Lucia. Transcendents of the Dead Embers and Nightmare Aspects can both learn it." She described the rare secret art that the instructor possessed.

"It so happens I cultivate the Nightmare Aspect, and Karl cultivates the Dead Embers Aspect." She propped her chin up with one hand and studied Karl in the room with a measuring gaze.

"There’s a curious kind of fate here~" Her teasing look made Karl unable to meet her eyes, so he lowered his head.

They cared for their ailing instructor, stayed in the gradually quiet wizard manor, each reading and studying. Occasionally Luna would invite Karl to eat and ask about his progress.

To Karl at the time, she was the best senior and the object of his affection.

But that idyllic scene ended one day.

The instructor died. It was not surprising—he had been gravely ill and could have left at any time. What shocked Karl was seeing Luna remove the instructor’s skull, dissolve the flesh and blood, and leave only a black skull behind.

"Ah, it’s Karl. Sorry, did I scare you?" Even while doing something horrifying, Luna's expression remained calm as she joked with Karl.

"You know, learning Teria-Lucia's Black Serpent requires the skull of a powerful creature as a casting medium. There was no better material than the instructor."

That was the first time Karl felt fear toward Luna. The fear did not come from the cruel act itself but from how natural and untroubled she appeared.

He understood that wizards could be cold and unfeeling, but he had never truly experienced such cold-bloodedness until that encounter, which made him deeply doubt whether he had chosen the right path.

People who deal with death constantly eventually grow numb—whoever said it might have been right, but Karl had never felt it so strongly as that day.

Afterward he avoided seeing Luna, and she was busy studying secret arts with no time to seek him out.

Until one day, the senior knocked on his door again.

Standing outside, the purple-haired girl bathed in moonlight was still beautiful and made his heart flutter. But Luna’s words soon brought him back to clarity.

"Sorry, Karl, that secret art is still too difficult." She glanced aside and ran her fingers through hair ruffled by the evening wind.

"I think I still need your help."

"What kind of help?" Karl had a bad premonition.

"I need the ability you studied. You’re the only other apprentice who ever learned Teria-Lucia's Black Serpent, right?" Her hands were clasped behind her back and twisted together.

"This secret art requires commanding two Aspects at once. I can only control the Nightmare part, so I need your assistance."

"I see." Karl felt slightly relieved.

"How can I help senior?" he asked.

"It’s simple. Just cooperate when I cast."

For the next month he lived with Luna again, in the instructor’s former manor.

Unfortunately, even with his help she could not master that secret art. The difficulty was probably too great for them to handle at the time.

In the end, Luna chose to give up, and Karl breathed easier.

"I’m leaving this place and going to Aelilian's homeland. That’s the sorceress Lucia’s hometown, and many witches organize there. I should be able to find a way to learn the secret art." One day Luna said her farewell so Karl would not worry.

"Goodbye, Senior Luna."

"Mm, goodbye, you silly Karl, giggle." Her laugh again stirred Karl’s old admiration, but her next words quickly cut it short.

"To be honest, I wanted to kill you back then." Luna lifted her luggage behind her and recounted with her head bowed.

"Karl, you’re so foolish. Some things are so precious people will do anything."

"But I held back. After all, you were my junior whom I brought up. If I killed you, it would be hard to find such a good helper again."

"Learning the instructor’s secret art took a long time;

I was really annoyed and considered using you as a sacrifice."

"You know, some cruel methods can extract an enemy’s ability, and I happen to know one."

"Ah, I finally said it. The instructor once said I had a wicked personality." In her lifted face her bright pupils gleamed with a bewitching light.

"Goodbye, Karl. Don’t miss me."

"Oh, by the way, if you really still like me, please take good care of that kitten. It probably doesn’t like me;

I’ve never managed to keep it well."

With those words, amid Karl’s tangled emotions, the girl’s figure slowly disappeared into the night. They never saw each other again.