‘At first, I thought it was just a stain or something, but it’s a clear X. You said you wouldn’t hide the key in any of our rooms, so what’s the story?’

‘So you have one in your room too, Rion?’ Fuka asked. The group turned to look at her, eyes wide. ‘I’m pretty sure there’s one under the desk in my room. I thought it was just my imagination. It looks like an X, but maybe it isn’t …’

‘There’s one in the bathroom, too,’ Subaru said. ‘The bathroom next to the dining room. I thought it was weird that there were taps but no water, and I found the X when I was investigating. There was a laundry basket lying in the bathtub, and when I moved it I found an X. I thought maybe it was just a scratch.’

‘There’s one inside the dining-room fireplace,’ said Kokoro.

Like Subaru, she’d been curious to know why there was a fireplace, if there was no fuel.

‘Dining room?’ Masamune sounded on edge. ‘That means I found one too. In the summer. There’s one in the kitchen, isn’t there? Behind the pantry shelves.’

‘Really?’

‘Yeah.’ He frowned. ‘I thought perhaps the key was somewhere there, so I banged and scraped around, but nothing ever came out. So I thought the same, that it was just a stain.’

They exchanged a look, then silently turned to the Wolf Queen.

‘Were these clues too?’ asked Aki.

‘You can decide that for yourselves,’ said the Wolf Queen primly. ‘Like I said, you’ve had plenty of hints. I leave the rest up to you. Including whether the wish is to be granted or not.’

She took a breath. ‘But I do make one promise,’ she said quietly. ‘Even if someone has their wish granted, no one’s world is going to disappear. As I said before, once the wish is granted, this castle will vanish from your memories. And you will all simply return to your own realities. These will never disappear.

‘For better or for worse,’ she added.

‘So, can I ask one more thing?’ Rion said.

The Wolf Queen pointed her muzzle in his direction. Rion waited until they were face to face.

‘What is your favourite fairy tale, Wolf Queen?’

The question came from left field, and the Wolf Queen had clearly not expected it. She was for an instant speechless. ‘Do you really need to ask me?’ she said. ‘Just look at my face. It’s Little Red Riding Hood.’

Kokoro wasn’t sure at all why Rion had asked this. Maybe he just wanted to take her by surprise.

‘Anything else?’ the Wolf Queen asked.

Kokoro felt like she had a million things she needed to ask, but no idea how to ask them. That evasive answer still didn’t make it totally clear whether they could – or could not – meet up outside.