“Do… I have to?” My voice came out quieter than I intended, barely above a whisper. I turned my head toward Catherine, searg her face for an answer—any ahat would make this easier.I gnced down at the knife again. The weight of it felt unnatural in my grasp, as if my hands weren’t meant to hold something like this. The reality of Catherine’s words pressed down on me like a heavy stone, suffog.Catheri out a slow sigh before shaking her head. “No, you don’t have to,” she admitted, but then her expression hardened. “But as your mentor, I want you to. I don’t want you to be weak.”Her words made my stomach twist. Before I could respond, a sharp ugh cut through the tense air.S scowled at Catherine before bursting into mog ughter. “Yeah, listen to your mentor, Mashiro. I’m sure she knows exactly what’s best for you.”Catherine’s expression darkened as she pointed her staff directly at him. “Shut it. Or else.”S simply smiled, unfazed. “Or what?” His voice dripped with amusement. “Are you so riddled with guilt from the War of the Witches that you’re trying to make up for it by kidnapping a fox-kin to do your dirty work?”Catherine moved before I eveered it. With a sharp crack, she swuaff, striking him hard across the face.A siing crack echoed in the air as Catherine’s staff struck S’s cheek, sending him sprawling onto the ground. Blood dripped from the er of his mouth, but his expression barely ged—his smirk only wavered for a brief moment before settling bato pce, twisted and defiant.Lisa gasped, clutg Elise tightly as they both took a step back. My hands trembled as I held the knife, my grip weak and uain. I wasn’t sure if it was fear, shock, or something else entirely, but my legs felt unsteady beh me.Catherine loomed over S, her usually calm eyes burning with cold fury. “You’re in no position to speak of guilt,” she hissed. “Not when you were willing to destroy aire vilge for your own selfish survival.”S chuckled darkly, wiping the blood from his mouth with the back of his hand. “A, here you are, demanding blood from the hands of your little apprentice.” His gaze flicked to me, something unreadable lurking in his expression. “Go on, Mashiro. If yoing to kill me, do it already.”I swallowed hard, my stomach twisting. He wasn’t pleading. He wasn’t afraid. He was daring me. I didn’t know what to do. The knife in my ha heavier than a I’d ever carried. My mind screamed for an answer, but all I could feel was the suffog pressure of the choice before me.“I’m sure that witch gave you a potion to obey her, didn’t she?” S let out a breathless ugh, his eyes gleaming with mockery. “After all, witches are your natural enemy.”Before he could say another word, Catherine flicked her wrist, and an ice ball the size of an apple shot forward, smming into his chest. The impact sent him reeling, knog the air from his lungs as he hit the ground with a thud.Then, a sudden cry shattered the tense air.“Big sister? Big sister?!”Elise’s frantic voice cut through everything. I turned just in time to see Lisa’s body go limp. Elise barely mao catch her before she colpsed entirely. Panic surged through me. I dropped the knife and the doll, rushing to their side. “Lisa—?! Lisa, what’s wrong?” My hands hovered over her trembling form, unsure of what to do.Lisa’s face had gohly pale, her breathing shallow and uneven. A thin sheen of sweat g to her skin, and her normally warm, lively presence felt like it was slipping away. “Elise, what’s happening to her?” My voice came out more desperate than I intended.“I—I don’t know!” Elise clutched Lisa tightly, struggling to keep her upright. “She was fine earlier! Just a little tired, but now—!”Lisa coughed weakly, her lips barely curling into a reassuring smile despite the pain evident in her eyes. “I’m fine…” she rasped. “It’s just… my heart… It’s always been weak. I guess… it’s gotten worse.” Her words sent a chill through me, colder than the night air. My breath hitched. Heart disease? No… This wasn’t happening. Not now. Catherine finally moved, stepping closer, her sharp gaze sing Lisa’s dition. “She needs immediate treatment,” she said grimly. “Elise, do you have any medie stored away?”Elise’s ears fttened, panic flooding her expression. “W-We ran out st week… and we haven’t been able to afford more…”Damn it. I ched my fists. This wasn’t fair. Lisa had always been so kind, so full of warmth. Seeing her like this—weak, barely able to stand—made my chest tighten unbearably.I turned desperately to Catherine. “Do you have anything that could help?”Catheriated. “I have healing potions, but heart ditions aren’t like surface wounds. It might help temporarily, but it won’t cure her.”Elise’s grip on Lisa tightened. “Then we need a real cure! There has to be something, right? Right?”Lisa let out a weak chuckle, trying to soothe her little sister despite her own pain. “It’s… okay, Elise. I’ve lived with this for a long time. Don’t cry, okay?”“No!” Elise shook her head furiously, her small hands balling into fists. “You’re not allowed to say that! We’ll fix this! We have to!” I bit my lip, my mind rag. There had to be a way to help her. There had to be—“I’m… sorry…” Catherine suddenly broke down as she fell to the ground.Catherine’s sudden breakdow a shockwave through me. I had never seen her like this—her voice raw, her usual posed demeanor shattered. She fell to her knees, gripping the earth as if trying to steady herself against a storm only she could feel.“I take it back,” she choked out. “I said I didn’t care about ahat every geion is just a blink in the eye. But I was wrong.” She lifted her head, eyes filled with something I’d never seen in her before. Desperatiret. Pain. “Please, Mashiro. Help me.”My breath caught in my throat. Catherihe woman who had always been so posed, so fident—who had never hesitated to face danger—was now pleading with me. Her usual strength seemed to crumble before my eyes, and I didn’t know how to respond. What could I say to someone who had been nothing but a mentor to me?Lisa let out another weak cough, the sound breaking through the haze of my fusion. Her fragile breath sent a sharp pang through my chest, snapping me back to the urgency of the situation. There was no more time for hesitation. I needed answers—a.I moved quickly, grabbing Catherine’s shoulders and f her to look at me, desperate. “Then tell me how. Tell me what we o do.”Catherine’s breath hitched as she spoke, her words rushing out in a flurry. “I thought about it during our first meeting... I don’t know why you trust me…” Her eyes darted from Lisa, weakly held by Elise, to S, who y motionless on the ground. “I’m a witch, and you’re a fox girl.”Her words were lost on me in the haze of panic that ed me. All I could think about was Lisa’s shallow breaths and the pallor of her face, the fading warmth of her once-lively body. I squeezed Catherine’s shoulders harder, desperation spilling from my voice. “Catherine, please save her!”The darkened sky loomed overhead, the stars barely visible through the thick, uling clouds. The quiet of the night felt oppressive, the sound of Elise’s sobbing mixing with the distant wind rustling the trees. Even in the midst of this chaos, the st of the nearby woods, damp ahy, seemed so distant—unimportant. All that mattered now was Lisa.She hesitated, eyes glistening with uears, her normally calm demeanor unraveling. “Please,” she whispered, voice trembling. “I know it might be hard to believe, but trust me. I’ve never hurt a single fox kin, even during the War of the Witches. You must believe me.”“Catherine!” I repeated, my heart rag, desperation surging through my veins.Finally, Catheriook a deep breath, her expression darkening as her gaze shifted to the unscious S and Lisa. The air around us was thick with tension, the cold night creeping in as the moonlight filtered through the trees. A faint breeze stirred the leaves, rustling in the silehat followed her words.She spoke softly, her voice steadyie the weight of what she was about to propose. “Let me borrow your Spatial Magic power, Mashiro. I’ll use it tically remove his heart and repce it with Lisa’s. It’s the only way to save her.”I stared at Catherine, my mind whirling. “Spatial magic?” I repeated, barely above a whisper.Catherine weakly smiled, but it didn’t reach her eyes. “Yes. I know… A witch like me would never deserve the gift of a fox girl, but please, I’m begging you.” Her hands trembled as she reached for mine. “I just for a few moments.”