"Ah, so this is Mizuwari City?" the black bird chirps, admiring the beauty of the small but crowded city.

"This is Mizuwari City, Inspirit," the young boy repeats the bird's words with a calm smile, letting his eyes to wander. He tucks his hands inside of his trenchcoat's pockets.

"Well then...," the bird named Inspirit turns to look at the boy, resting itself on the boy's shoulder, "...where is our target, L?"

The boy smiles at his partner and answers the question simply, pointing a high tower with his finger, "There."

"It's inside a tower?!" Inspirit speaks loudly, earning attention from citizens around. It's not because of a talking bird but because it mentions about the tower.

"Don't say it out loud, Inspirit," L walks to the tower location while the black bird follows him, flapping its wings slowly. "I will get the Jewel of Moonwalk. Whatever it takes."

"Of course you will," the bird smirks with confidence. "Nothing can get in the way of King of Bandit, right?"

L just chuckles at his partner's words since he has heard it a million times.

"But I want to find lovely girls here!" Inspirit grabs L's sleeve, stopping him from continuing his steps. "Can I find one? Love journey is waiting for me!"

"I'm sure your love can wait," L quickly grabs Inspirit before it flies away to flirt girls. "Our target takes priority first."

"Yah! You don't even know who the owner is!" Inspirit blurts out the reason for it to run away. "The only information we know is the fact that the shine of Jewel of Moonwalk when you put it under the moonlight is really beautiful. Only that, L!"

Inspirit stops struggling from L's grip and hits his head lightly with its wing, "Before you send the announcement letter to the owner, you must find more information!"

"You said it all like you're going to help me," L doesn't loosen his grip on the bird, dragging it along with him. "However I have found more information while you're flirting with the waitress during our lunch."

"Really?!" Inspirit sounds surprised yet excited by its partner's sudden statement. "What kind of information?"

L doesn't answer until they reach a tree. He leans his back against the trunk of the tree and releases the bird, "The owner of the Jewel of Moonwalk is the King of this country. Since Mizuwari City is the capital city, the residents of the kingdom stay here."

"However since ten years ago, the King lost his beloved wife because of an illness. He also lost his oldest son for war an his youngest son due to an accident. The King finally became stressed after the recurring incidents," L crosses his arms together, closing his eyes to remember the exact information.

"His only beloved daughter is his only treasure. The Jewel of Moonwalk, people said, captured the King's heart. It makes him forget every painful incident. The King treasures the Jewel of Moonwalk so much that he seals the Jewel of Moonwalk inside of his own daughter," L explains the details carefully. "To protect it, the King even locks his daughter inside that tower and never let the Princess out from there."

"A Princess is inside that old tower for ten years?!" Inspirit raises its voice but it quickly covers its mouth, realizing that it can make them suspicious.

"That's terrible!" it hisses with shock all written on its face.

"Of course it is," L straightens his body and continues to walk to the tower. "You can consider this target as saving the Princess as well, Inspirit."

"But what do you mean by the Jewel of Moonwalk is 'inside' her body?" Inspirit tilts its head, wondering about the meaning of the sentence.

"I have no idea about that for now. Well, anyway, we can't storm in the tower easily because the King hires people to guard around the tower," L stops his steps when they have arrived in front of the castle gate. "It will be a quite difficult mission."

He doesn't enter it because there are guardians all around. L turns to the bird and tells it, "Here we are. The castle of the King."

"Wait a minute!" Inspirit whispers to him with disbelief. "You come to the castle without knowing how to enter the tower?!"

L laughs softly, "I did say that it's difficult but I never said that I can't go inside the tower."

"You see, there's a way to enter the tower. A guardian will not stay at place for the whole day. There must be shifts for them," L walks backwards, taking another way to get closer to the tower. "When they change their shifts, we can go inside the tower, right to the Princess' room, from the only window."

"Ah!" Inspirit grins as it finally understands their plan. It stops when L also pauses his steps, staring at the high stone wall which blocks their way to the tower.

"Well then, it's time," L grabs Inspirit with a wide smile on his face. "Fly me there, Inspirit! No complaint or you will never see the Princess!"

"What?" Inspirit raises its eyebrows with confusion. "Won't you send the announcement letter first to the King if you want to steal the Jewel of Moonwalk?"

"Who said that I will steal the Jewel of Moonwalk now?" L retorts the question. "I just want to check the battlefield. Now, fly, Inspirit!"

Inspirit heaves a sigh and finally takes L as strong as it can, flying pass the stone wall. The guardians walk away to change places with other guardians. Inspirit, along with L, manage to enter the tower from the window just in time so the guardians don't notice their presence.

"You must pay me equally for this, L!" Inspirit whispers as it releases L after he lands his feet on the tower; the first part of their plan has done successfully.

Both of them are in a a simple but beautiful room with only two wooden doors and one window, the one they entered from.

"Who are you?"

A soft voice echoes in the room. They turn to see a girl with long hair and blue eyes, standing at the corner of the room with confused expression. She is holding a book in her hand, wondering who just entered the tower from the window.

"WOW! What a beautiful lady!" Inspirit blinks with amazement as it makes its way to the girl but L stops it immediately.

"Are you the Princess?" L asks her politely, preventing Inspirit to slip away from his grip.

The girl takes a step closer to them and answers, "Yes, I am. Who are you?"

"Our apology for our impoliteness," Inspirit mumbles quickly, wanting to get closer to the girl as soon as possible. "My name is Inspirit, Princess."

L bows slighty to her in a gentleman manner, "I'm L. May I know your name, Princess?"

The Princess puts a curious expression but she answers it anyway, "Amaretto. My name is Amaretto."

"Amaretto?" Inspirit mentions the adorable name. "Such a beautiful name. It suits you perfectly!"

"How can both of you reach this place?" Amaretto decides to ignore the bird, staring at L. "No one is allowed to come here except the maids and my father."

"Forgive us, Princess Amaretto," L smiles to him, bowing to her. "We just arrived in this city. After we heard the story of yours, we thought that we can be your friends. Someone you can talk with."

Amaretto keeps silence for seconds but then she smiles softly, "Thank you..."

L thinks that it's the right moment to ask her the question so he straightens his body to look at her, "Princess Amaretto, may I ask you a question?"

"It's alright to call me by my name," Amaretto steps closer to the stranger. "You come here secretly, don't you? Ask it before anyone notice your presence and try to catch you."

L smiles slightly and asks her without hesitation, "Is it true that the Jewel of Moonwalk is inside of you?"

The Princess doesn't say anything as she is slightly taken aback by the question. She walks to the book shelf and puts the book back to its place before asks, "Do you know about the incidents of this Kingdom?"

"Do you mean about your mother and your siblings?" Inspirit cuts in, studying Amaretto's expression.

"Since that day, my father locks me inside this tower. All the maids and guardians only come here to do their duties. After that they will leave me alone," Amaretto leans her back to the shelf. "When I was a child, I tried to reassure myself that my father locked me here for my good. I finally realized that he did this for the Jewel of Moonwalk..."

Amaretto looks up until her eyes meet with L's, "Is this jewel more valuable than me?"

"Princess Amaretto...," Inspirit murmurs vividly, feeling sad after listening to her story. It never expected that the beautiful young girl must suffer such a sad loneliness.

"Princess?" a voice from outside of the room breaks the silence. "Who are you talking to?"

Amaretto quickly pulls L to her bed and covers him with her blanket. L understands that she is trying to hide him. Inspirit itself pretends to be a statue on the bookshelf.

An old woman enters the room and looks around, looking for someone else in the room besides the Princess.

"No one," Amaretto answers her calmly, pretending to check the books. "Maybe you heard something else from outside."

The maid frowns because she is pretty sure that she heard the Princess was talking to someone. She looks around once again before excuses herself from the room.

Inspirit, which has held its breath for seconds because of nervousness, sighs in relief. L pulls off the blanket and looks at the Princess.

"Are you here for the jewel too?" she finally asks the question which has been crossing her mind the moment L asked about the jewel where about.

L stands up and asks back, "What if I say 'yes'?"

For his surprise, Amaretto points her right eyes with her index finger, "It's in my eye."

"W-What?!" Inspirit covers its mouth, afraid that the maid will enter the room again.

"What will you do, L?" Amaretto whispers slowly but the hint of sadness is obvious in her tone. "Are you going to take my eye out or maybe kill me?"

"I will do neither," L smiles softly and turns to grab the black bird, walking to the window. "It's more than enough for today. I take my leave then, Princess Amaretto."

L gives a sign to Inspirit that they will leave the tower now from the window, the same way they entered the tower.

The guardians finally notice the intruders and try to chase both L and Inspirit just to end up with failure.

"The Jewel of Moonwalk...," Amaretto murmurs as she runs her hand to touch her right eye. "When will you stop taking my place in this world?"