6
Lyren and Zephyr took rooms at the tavern for the night.
The proprietress saw my dejected state and shook her head. “Your talent for our arts is truly a once–in–a–millennium gift. But your skills at seduction are abysmal.”
I downed a cup of wine in frustration. Back in my room, I remembered what Lyren had sald earlier. They were here for the centennial Grand Tournament. Zephyr was
representing the Warlock clans, a gesture of temporary truce and peaceful coexistence with the orthodox powers.
The biggest news of the tournament was Kael’s new, final apprentice. They said that in just three months, she had already reached the pinnacle of the Initiate stage. A true prodigy.
Kael’s previous apprentice, on the other hand, had taken three hundred years to reach the Journeyman stage. While respectable among ordinary mages, for an appr-
entice of Kael, it was hardly impressive.
I looked at my own hands, now long and fair, no longer the calloused hands of a sword–wielding knight. If I had known there was a path so suited to me, I wouldn’t
have wasted three hundred years in the Order. Since leaving, it had taken me only three months to advance from a novice to a Journeyman.
Hmm… I guess I am a genius after all.
The wine must have been stronger than I thought. My head was spinning. The image of Zephyr’s devastatingly handsome face swam in my mind.
Tsk… still can’t get him out of my head. When will I ever cure myself of this habit of falling for everyone I meet? The proprietress says it’s not love, just a case of ter- minal lust.
Lost in thought, I found myself standing outside Zephyr’s door. I raised a hand and knocked.
When he opened the door, he was wearing only a red robe, loosely tied. He had just been bathing. Water dripped from his hair onto his chest, tracing a path down his abs. Before my eyes could travel further, a warm hand covered them.
“Stingy,” I muttered.
“Lady, were you a succubus in a past life?”
I considered myself thick–skinned, but hearing that from the object of my affection made me blush
“Lady Cora, don’t waste your energy. You’re not my type.”
Rejected. Again And again. Did Loffend the god of love? Not a single thread of fate for me
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Chapter 2
Rejected. Again. And again. Did I offend the god of love? Not a single thread of fate for me.
“Then what is your type?” I pressed.
“I go by feeling,” he said.
You… you absolute bastard.
Seeing my crestfallen face, Zephyr chuckled. “I walk the path of chaos. A union with you would bring you more harm than good. Banish the thought.”
“It was love at first sight. I’m not trying to use you to increase my power.”
The wine was really getting to me. My vision started to blur as I looked at him.
“I’d love you even if you had three heads.”
Somehow, that thought slipped out.
In the haze, I thought I heard him laugh. “This clinging, desperate act won’t win you a man. You have to play hard to get.”
His warm breath tickled my ear, sending shivers down my spine. The next moment, he swept me into his arms. The sudden weightlessness made me instinctively wrap my arms around his neck.
On the way back to my room, we ran into Lyren. As the scent of sandalwood reached me, I grabbed his sleeve.
Smells nice.”
The atmosphere froze.
“You two have a thing?” Zephyr asked.
www
All are at
www
Lyren’s expression was complicated. He gently pried my fingers from his sleeve. His hand was different from Zephyr’s. It was cold, like jade that had been buried for
millennia. Cold and smooth.
When the proprietress helped me recall these events, I was mortified. She just laughed at my flushed face. “You need more practice. Your skin is too thin.”
I nodded, not quite understanding.
For the next few days, I hovered around Zephyr and Lyren. My infatuation was impossible to ignore.
I placed their meals on the table and gave them the smile I had practiced all night. As I turned to leave, a soft voice called out.
“Sister:”
The voice was familiar. It was Elara.
I turned. It was her. And behind her were the two people I wanted to see least in the world.
Kael and Julian.
er, what are you doing working as a
When they saw me, they showed no surprise, just a fleeting, indifferent glance. It was Elara who ran up and took my arm. “Sister,
tavern wench?”
She seemed to know exactly why I had left.
I shook her hand off. “Because I deserted the Order,
Elara seemed stunned by my bluntness. After dropping that bombshell, I turned and left the main hall. I didn’t want to see any of them.
Later, as I was poking at ants in the courtyard, Julian approached. He stood behind me. “The Grand Tournament is about to begin. Sister Elara wanted to take a walk. I didn’t expect to see you here.”
“Sister, it’s been three months. Your anger should have cooled by now. Don’t be so willful.”
Willful? In their eyes, everything I did was willful.
“You are no longer my senior brother, and I am no longer a disciple of the Order of Light.”
“you are willing, you can always return to the Order. You can be our little sister again.”
“No, thank you.”
The position I had once treasured now stirred nothing in my heart. What was never mine could not be gained, no matter how hard I fought for it.
I dropped the stick I was using to torment the ants and prepared to leave As I turned, I came face to face with Kael. He looked at me with that same cold, distant expression.
As I passed him, I heard him say, “Cora, when did you become like this? Forsaking the path of light, casting aside your power, all to practice these seductive, dark
arts.
I stopped a few feet away. “I don’t consider them dark arts. At the very least, I am happy now.”
Chapter 2
I stopped a few feet away. “I don’t consider them dark arts. At the very least, I am happy now.”
Kael frowned and stepped towards me, reaching out to probe my magical aura. I dodged him. “Don’t move,” he said, his tone uncharacteristically commanding, all for the sake of checking my condition.
Once, in the Order, ing to life.
10:39
entered the Sword Vault alone to claim a blade. I had been impaled by a hundred swords. I had staggered out, covered in blood, barely cling-
Kael’s gaze had gone straight to the sword in my hand. When he saw it was just an ordinary enchanted blade, his disappointment was almost palpable. For the first time, the pain in my heart was worse than the pain in my body. He had turned and walked away, leaving me for dead.
A bitter smile touched my lips. Who was he putting on this show of concern for now?
He forcibly scanned my aura. As a Journeyman, I had no chance of resisting an Archmage.
“Lord Kael, what do you think you’r
doing to my little apprentice?” the proprietress’s voice rang out. But Kael paid her no mind.
He looked at me, his eyes a storm of conflicting emotions. Shock, and a barely perceptible sadness.
“How many… how many men have you performed the rite with?” I could hear the slight tremble in his voice.
Oh… so he thought my current power level was the result of carnal rites. A wicked thought took root.
started counting on my fingers. “Oh, you know, one or two… maybe seven, eight, nine, ten.”
The color drained from Kael’s face. Julian froze.
2
