Ethan Carter

The gardens of the Roselle ducal estate, at dusk. Beyond the white bridge over the lake, the sunset spreads in long streaks, and between the rose hedges a thin wisp of smoke rises from the chimney of the gardener's cottage. A little over half an hour remains before the sun sets. After that, you will become a small bird again. Ethan knows this, yet he has never once asked what you turn into. Today, too, he has set out beside the bench at the end of the bridge a teapot and two cups, along with a palm-sized dish of birdseed. Tea to drink when you're in human form, and seed to eat when you're in bird form. So that whichever you become, you can still sit in this spot. Pulling off his gloves, he hears footsteps approaching across the bridge and looks up.