CHAPTER 56: KNOWLEDGE AND RITUAL

Ayame’s eyes began to close slowly. She didn’t know how long she had been reading – her eyes burned from staring at the text for so long. She would have dozed off if she hadn’t snapped awake at the last second.

She couldn’t afford rest — didn’t want to. She desperately searched for that one piece of information, that one Chapter, that one passage – the one that could save Haru’s life.

And deep down, a gnawing feeling told her something bad was happening in her absence.

"Milady, you should get some sleep," said Rouhuo, breaking the silence. The half-lioness looked at her mistress, worry in her eyes.

"No... I have to... we have to find the information..." Ayame replied, her voice heavy with exhaustion.

"Forgive me for saying this, my lady, but you’re pushing yourself too hard. You’re hurting yourself more than helping. What if, from exhaustion, you miss the very clue you’re looking for?"

Ayame sighed and closed the book. Rouhuo was right. They needed rest if their minds were to function properly in the coming hours.

"Shien, do you have a shower and any beds here? I’m guessing not, but it doesn’t hurt to ask," said Ayame.

"This isn’t a hotel, damn it!" he snapped. "But yeah, we do. It used to be our private bedroom – before Hoshizuma left me. You can use it. Though... I don’t remember how to get there."

"What?!" Ayame exclaimed in disbelief.

Shien sighed.

"I got lost in the library ages ago – and mind you, I can’t leave it. I just clean myself with water magic and sleep wherever I can."

"You’re the most useless librarian in the history of the Forbidden Library!"

"Not true! The most useless one was the first librarian — and he was a hamster!"

"And remind me, how many times did that hamster get lost in the library?"

"N-none..." Shien muttered, realizing that even the hamster handled things better.

"Exactly," Ayame replied with a mocking smirk.

During their argument, Rouhuo noticed a thin booklet – barely thicker than a pamphlet — buried behind other tomes, covered in dust. It had a black leather cover with no title. She reached for it and carefully opened it.

On the yellowed, crumbling first page, faded printed letters read:

"TRANSMUTATION ON LIVING BEINGS — Author Unknown."

Rouhuo froze in place.

Ayame and Shien immediately noticed her reaction.

"Rouhuo, did you find something?" Ayame asked, surprised.

"My lady, look at this," Rouhuo said, showing her the title page.

"Oh, come on, a pamphlet? And from an anonymous author?" Shien couldn’t hide his surprise. "There are only a few of those left. Hoshizuma threw most of them out – said they repeated content from proper books. But he kept some, saying they held knowledge found nowhere else..."

"Perfect. Then I don’t need sleep — I need to know how to do this! Shien, grant me one of your blessings. You have to restore part of my former power if I’m to undo Haru’s enchantment."

"You realize I’m the god of lust, right? My blessing only works through an act of love."

"There’s no way I’m cheating on Lan Yue with another man," Ayame replied firmly.

"Well, for a transmutation, you don’t need that much power. A long, deep kiss should be enough. If you don’t want me directly, you can use... a proxy."

Ayame glanced at Rouhuo, who was still focused on the small black book, likely not hearing their conversation. She sighed.

"Fine, Shien – prepare the blessing," she said quietly, then added, "Rouhuo, come here for a moment."

"Y-yes, my lady," the half-lioness said, approaching.

"Lean in. I want to tell you something."

"O-okay," Rouhuo replied, caught off guard and unsuspecting.

Shien sighed, folded his hands as if in prayer, and began muttering a soft magical incantation.

As Rouhuo leaned closer, Ayame cupped her chin — and kissed her deeply, fiercely, with full intent. She wanted to make absolutely sure Shien’s blessing would be strong enough, so she went all in.

A pink magic circle flared beneath them. Ayame took Rouhuo’s hand with one of hers, the other still holding her chin, pressing the kiss even deeper, never breaking it.

Moments later, Shien finished his chant. The circle exploded in a burst of silvery light.

I almost forgot how good it feels – that rush of mana flooding through your body, Ayame thought, pulling away.

Rouhuo stared at her, wide-eyed, blushing, breathless – Ayame had stolen her breath for quite a while.

"M-my lady, I... I..." Rouhuo stammered between gasps, clearly shocked.

"Forgive me. I had to do that to receive Shien’s magic. I didn’t want to do it with another man," Ayame said softly. "Could you hand me that book now?"

"Y-yes..." the maid replied, cheeks burning.

Her lips were so soft... it might’ve felt even better than kissing Lan Yue, Ayame caught herself thinking.

No — I can’t think about it like this. I did it only to have my power back.

Rouhuo handed her the black-covered book, and Ayame started reading.

I can’t... I’m too tired. The words slip from my mind faster than I can read them.

"I’ll take a nap," she said. "Rouhuo, when we get home, I’ll need a long bath in the hot springs."

"Y-yes, my lady! I’ll prepare it as best I can!"

Ayame nodded. She barely closed her eyes before falling asleep instantly – completely exhausted.

Shien sighed.

"Guess we’ll have to kill some time. There should be a chessboard around here somewhere," he said, standing up. "If I remember right, Hoshizuma and I set aside a shelf for games and cards."

"Ah, great! I can play a bit while my lady sleeps."

Shien disappeared behind a narrow stone wall a few meters away, returning with a dusty wooden box.

"So, ready to play?" he asked with a grin.

He was about to set it on the table when he remembered...

...Rouhuo had smashed it to splinters earlier.

"Oh. Right. No table," he muttered grimly.

"Sorry. But we can just sit on the floor, right?"

"Nah, it’s hard and cold. Unless... we stack some thick books to sit on."

"Why not? We’re not using them for anything else today."

"Fair point."

Soon, the two sat atop piles of books. Their small rearrangement didn’t wake Ayame.

Not long after, Shien lost the first round.

They kept playing like that for a while, though it was hard to tell if it had been minutes or hours.

When Shien counted the score, it was brutal: he’d lost 2–25.

He sighed and looked at Ayame, who was just waking up.

She stretched, then returned to reading the slim transmutation tome.

Hours passed. Rouhuo and Shien kept playing while Ayame studied carefully.

After about two hours, Ayame closed the book with a heavy sigh.

"We can return to the palace now. I know what to do," she said in a grim tone.

"B-but, my lady, why you don’t sound happy?" Rouhuo asked, puzzled.

"Because... Haru won’t come out of this completely healed."

"Huh?!" Rouhuo and Shien exclaimed at once.

"You mean it was all for nothing?" Shien asked.

"Not entirely. I’ll save him, but..." Ayame sighed again.

"Oh, I get it – you can’t do it perfectly, right? I’ve known you for a while, hehe" Rouhuo smiled.

"Exactly. If what’s written here is true, the reversed transmutation won’t be complete. Some part of Haru’s body will remain gold forever – and there may be... mutations. The author only mentions that they happen, nothing more. It’s because I wasn’t the one who turned him to gold in the first place."

"You could always teach little Yuri to do it," Rouhuo suggested.

"Unfortunately not. Children can’t perform reverse transmutation. Their mana reserves are too low. Even a extraordinarily gifted child... would die in the process. Which means – the only option left is me. Thanks to what I... did with you, Shien was able to restore my old power."

When Ayame referred to the kiss indirectly, Rouhuo turned beet red.

"Thanks for your help, Shien. We’ll head back now – and I’ll take this book with me. Might still be useful."

"Go ahead, it’s just been gathering dust anyway."

Ayame nodded, reached into her dress pocket, and pulled out a small pouch of golden threads. She handed one to Rouhuo, then spoke the name of the Hoshigane Palace...

*

Ayame appeared in the royal bedroom — right beside Haru.

What they saw was... emptiness, and awful noises coming from outside.

"W-what’s happening out there?" Rouhuo asked, frightened.

"We’ll deal with that later. Right now, saving Haru comes first. Rouhuo, take the quill from Haru’s desk."

"Yes, my lady," she said, doing as told.

"Now, walk around Haru with it in your hand — like you’re drawing a circle. Yes, just like that. Now come back and stand behind me."

Shaken by emotion, Rouhuo grabbed the back of Ayame’s chair tightly.

"M-my lady, a-are you sure it’ll work? If it does, you’ll have done the impossible," she said nervously.

"It has to. There’s no other way," Ayame said, then opened the book in the middle and raised her hand toward Haru.

She began chanting the incantation aloud. The invisible circle Rouhuo had drawn began glowing white and gold, its light shooting upward, forming a wall of flashes.

Ayame looked straight into Haru’s eyes.

A faint smile appeared on her lips as the gold began to fade from his face, revealing the warm, soft features of the man she knew so well...