A sweet scent wafted toward his nose, carried by the breeze of an open window. Arthur walked toward the window, which was opened only slightly to allow air inside but nothing else, and looked at the scenery Gala looked at for the past month.
He could see his room from here.
The workshop was a giant building, which they have turned into a multi-floor one. The first floor was for commissions, the second one was for material processing, the third was the workshops, and the fourth was for the residence of the alchemists and the research center.
It was still a temporary one because it was pretty small and lacked the necessities to function independently. Arthur wanted to brand their potions as 'Gala' and make them reach the pinnacle of the field to honor the witch, so it needed proper facilities.
He could see his window from here, separated by a street full of trees. It pains him that Gala saw so much of him, cared so much about him, and always thought of him while he was busy with other matters.
"I miss you," Arthur imagined that she would fly through the window and land next to him, trying to make him face another lie he told himself. However, no one came through the window, and he closed it.
Winter was approaching, and it was the middle of fall. At least, Gala wouldn't be here for this winter because she would have hated it. However, it was a bittersweet feeling for Arthur, who would pay anything to hear her complain about the cold.
The notebooks must be the ones she left for him. As he opened the first one, he found out that it was the book of recipes that she had left behind. Detailed to the finest of movements, it was evidence of how much she cared about their city. Arthur browsed the recipes, and they were all throwing the kingdom into mayhem once they made an appearance.
Some potions were practical and could be mass-produced. Others could be made if Arthur could create a proper set of artifacts.
'A mana-based auto-brewing machine,' he thought to himself, feeling enlightened to start the industrial aspect of his city, but while using the convenience of magic.
What he needs for such a machine is a fire rune for the flames, telekinesis rune for the material, extracting rune for the essence, and timing rune for the perfect moment to mix everything.
However, Arthur was sure that alchemy needed more than that. There was a crucial aspect in the process of brewing, and that was spiritual energy.
'There was a new rune that I never got to try,' Arthur suddenly remembered. 'It was called… spiritual interference. It should be able to manipulate spiritual bodies and energy.'
However, these ideas weren't what brought Arthur to this room. After closing the recipe book, he turned toward the other one. This one was more ancient, but it was new. After opening it, he read the words:
"My Seika,"
These two words were enough to make him remember Gala's voice and how she used to call him. Arthur closed the notebook and placed both of them away before taking one final look at the room.
"I will revisit you," he said before turning toward the door and pulling the handle to close it. Before the room disappeared from his view, Arthur saw the phantom of the witch's back, sitting on her desk and writing him the notebook.
***
I want to meet the friend you want to help. I wonder if they knew you before you arrived in this world? I find myself wanting to learn more about you. You are my little puzzle, which keeps surprising me with new tricks that I never knew you had.
You must be reading this after my death. I know that you miss me, and I'm sure that wherever I am now, I miss you too. Today is the first day we arrived at this place, and I finally got to see you as a lord. I never felt proud of anyone, not even myself, but I found myself filled with pride when I looked at you.
The first time I met you, you were a slave: a one-armed, downcast, and robbed slave. The world kept depriving you out of things you held dear, and I could see it in your eyes. I was the same. I was robbed of time.
There is one final secret that I never told you. The Phoenix's Tear you gave me was what I needed to live longer, but I never wanted to live longer. I had no intention of staying alive. I wanted to leave this world.
The reason that I accepted your offer was never that tear. It was you. From the first moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew that you were related to Seref. You looked similar, and I had no idea why.
Your offer was amusing. However, it proved you were sharp. You knew that I didn't have much time to live, and you wanted to use that to pull me to your side. What you failed to know was this: I was on your side ever since you appeared in the duchy. I was willing to do anything you asked for, simply because you wanted it.
You gave me hope and a way to stay here for a bit longer. I have missed Seref ever since he disappeared and left me. He was the only person that I trusted in this world, but now there are two.
With every passing day we spent together, you showed me another miracle. My spirits loved you, the same spirits that Seref helped me contract. I always assumed they knew you were related to him, but when the duke attacked, I knew that you were far greater than what I expected.
You made me feel heartache, Arthur, even though I have no heart left to feel. When the duke attacked you, I feared losing you. I wanted to see more of your miracles because I saw the image of the man that I loved in you. If Seref never disappeared, we might have had a child like you.
I could never tell you this when I was still alive. Seref has a habit of making people look for him. I knew that you were just like me, another person looking for him, but you were different. You had a grander reason to go forward, and it was never something I could understand.
A question should be sitting in your mind right now: why am I telling you this only now? Why did I never talk to you about Seref? Why did I never try to find him through you?
I don't know, Arthur. I genuinely don't know. I gave up on finding him because it had been so long. He was a human, and I am a witch. I don't think he is still here, and if he is, I cannot keep his company anymore.
My life was of waiting. I waited for my powers, I waited for my mother, and I waited for Seref's return, but I received nothing in the end. However, you were my greatest surprise. In my world of dead emotions and grey color, you were the spark of life.
I am telling you this to leave what I know about Seref. I searched every land and kingdom I could go to, but there was nothing about him. Maybe you will find an answer to this. As for my next life, then I want to spend it with both of you.
Farewell, Arthur. I don't know what I am to you, nor do I know what you are to me, but there is no need for labels. I just know that if you were ever in danger, then I would use everything I have to protect you, even my life.
I love you,
Gala.
***
The introduction was over. The following pages included information about his father and how to restore the memories of someone damaged by the abyssal spirits.
They were written in neat handwriting, but they were cold and precise. The introduction was filled with emotions, but there was none afterward.
Arthur placed down the notebook after reading all of it. It was a retelling of how Gala met his father, Seref, and what she knew about his life before their meeting. It also listed the possible sightings of him in Alka, but none of those clues led anywhere.
Arthur already knew that the witch knew his father, but he never thought he was the man she awaited. However, what staggered him was that she had given up before she met him.
'Why did you leave us, then?' Arthur couldn't help but feel anger and resentment for her attitude. He missed her, and that's why he found it hard to forgive her for leaving them.
Gala was gone.. There was only one person who knew him in this world and helped him for selfless reasons, and they were gone now.
