《Chronicles of the red-eyed Girl》


 Chapter 1

    I lay in my bed, watching my face in a small mirror my mother had gifted me. Red eyes stared back at me through white hair that covered my face. After five minutes, I attempted to sleep. I closed my eyes, plunging into the darkness. I waited, but nothing changed¡ªthe same silent, eternal darkness. I tried to concentrate, to imagine the realm of unlimited possibilities, to enter a dream, but nothing came to me. Had mother lied to me? Were her stories about dreams pure fiction, a wicked prank? Or was it simply because it was impossible for me to sleep?


    Knock Knock.


    "Charlotte, can I come in?¡± asked my mother.


    ¡°Yes, mother,¡± I answered, giving up hope that I could ever dream.


    The door opened, and she came in.


    ¡°Make yourself some light, what are you doing here in the darkness?¡± said my mother and with a wave of her hand the candles in my room became lit.


    She was wearing the usual brown and black dress that matched her brown hair and caramel-colored eyes. I loved those eyes. They gave me a warmth that even the hottest fireplace could not give me.


    She looked at me with a smile that was emphasized by the little wrinkles that had formed around her mouth these past two years. She had grown older, while I had barely changed since I had turned sixteen years old, which had been two years ago.


    ¡°Nothing. Just some small experiments.¡± She raised an eyebrow at that but didn¡¯t continue to question me.


    ¡°Percival wanted to see you. He is quite nervous because he will officially become a student tomorrow, and he is too embarrassed to speak to me. Can you talk with him?¡± asked my mother, not demanding but asking friendly. Something she only did when she wanted something personal that had nothing to do with her job. In this case, it was personal and had something to do with her job, because my mother was Helga Humblehill. She and her three friends founded the school we lived in 14 years ago, and tomorrow was the 15th acceptance day.


    Percival, on the other hand, was my little brother. Barely eleven years old, and more mischief in his head than any of the school''s teachers would normally be willing to tolerate. The problem is that mother has been far too soft with him. At least when we were in private. I don¡¯t know how often a student complained to mother about him, and even my aunt and uncle weren¡¯t saved. He put tree resin into Uncle Severin''s beard wax, just last week. He also sometimes stole his father''s sword, but Uncle Gregor was as undisciplined with him as mother was. The only time both showed their consequent side was when it came to studying.


    They both had great expectations for him, so he was forced to study ahead before even officially attending the school with the other students. So even if I, as the older sister, who had taken on the duty of giving him some boundaries when it came to his mischief, could understand that he didn¡¯t want to talk with mother or uncle about his nervousness.


    ¡°Yes, mother. I will go immediately to see him. Where is he?¡± I asked, as one never knew where the little rascal was running around.


    ¡°He is in his room.¡±


    ¡°Is it so bad?¡± Percival was never someone who would spend a lot of time in his room. On the contrary, he loved playing outside. Especially with the few animals that lived on the castle grounds.


    So I went from my quarter, which was near the kitchen behind a portrait of an ancient Greek alchemist, through the dungeons towards the first floor.


    When I was old enough to get my own room, I chose the basement because it was less crowded. Even the classrooms in the basements were far away from where my room was.


    I was glad it was still early, as only a few students were awake and saw me. I didn¡¯t like the attention too much, but my pale skin and white hair were far too obvious, even if I tried to conceal them a little by wearing a sky-blue dress, which made me look like one of Aunt Seraphina¡¯s students who tried to mimic her looks. But even the dress couldn¡¯t conceal the white hair, and the moment I stopped and someone saw my red eyes for the first time, they would run away in panic. The end of a school year was always a little more relaxed in that regard, as most people had at least seen me once at that time.


    I arrived at the corridor where my brother¡¯s room was. The warm light flooded through the many colored windows that told stories about long-dead people. On the side stood various statues of said people who were chatting with each other. No matter if it were statues or pictures, everything in the castle seemed to have a mind of its own, while being strangely aware that they were just statues or pictures.


    My aunt had tried to explain it to me one time, but the process was far beyond what I would ever manage to do, so I didn¡¯t pay too much attention. But what I remembered was that if the artist created an image of a real person and the person participated in the creation process, it would have the character and some of the memories of said person.


    I walked past the statues, who ignored me as much as I ignored them, till I reached one that looked like a small, short-haired teenager in rags with a cunning face. It was the hero of one of the stories our mother told us when we were little, and the boy was publicly known for defeating a giant in a duel.


    I stared at the statue which looked at me with arrogance.


    ¡°You?¡±


    ¡°Yes me. Open the door.¡±


    ¡°Can¡¯t d¡­¡±


    ¡°Against all odds.¡± It was the password to open my brother¡¯s door.


    The teenage boy grinned as if he had fun annoying me.


    The stonewall behind him slowly transformed into an archway with a door made of stone that quickly swung open. The whole process barely took five seconds, before I was able to enter. The whole castle was plastered with so many ¡°secret passages¡± like this that it was honestly a little bothersome, but the founders thought it would make the school more mysterious and would help the students develop something they called an adventurous spirit.


    Percival¡¯s room looked sparsely decorated, and in the center of the room stood two big moving boxes. Even the wall that was enchanted to look like a lively savannah looked unusually desolate, even though the fake sun was still lightening and warming the whole room as usual. My brother had decided to give up his private quarters to live with the regular students in the castle, and from the looks of it, he had already packed.


    My brother lied on his bed, playing with a wooden sword made for really small children in his hand. Even in his small hands, the sword looked more like a dagger than anything else.


    This book''s true home is on another platform. Check it out there for the real experience.


    Percival


    "Hey, sis, why are you here? I thought you were busy.¡± asked my cute little brother, who stopped playing with his toy and looked at me. I felt a little bad because I had sent him away the last time he wanted to talk with me. For the last four weeks, he talked about nothing else than becoming a mighty wizard, and it got on my nerves.


    ¡°Mother told me you needed someone to talk to,¡± I answered unsure of how to approach the topic. It wasn¡¯t the first time I talked with him about his insecurities, but that didn¡¯t mean that I was a master at starting a conversation.


    ¡°She told you? I didn¡¯t ask her too!¡± he protested, but I could see in his face that he was glad I was here and ready to talk. He always pretended to be ¡°cool¡± and ¡°unaffected¡± by things until the last moment, when he would start to panic and overthink everything.


    "Well, now I¡¯m already here, so do you want to go for a walk? Getting some fresh air will be good for you.¡±


    He nodded and slowly crawled out of his bed. I decided to ignore the fact that he hadn¡¯t showered yet, as I was sure it would only make him feel worse if I pointed it out.


    As we left the room, and Percival started to guide me outside towards the garden. I know he felt more comfortable outside, so I didn¡¯t say anything.


    The flowers looked beautiful in the sun, and the scent of a dozen different flowers and grasses permeated the air. I hated it. Not because I actually hated it, but because the sun was quite uncomfortable on my skin, and I knew we needed to find a shadowy location fast.


    ¡°Sis, let''s go to the big cherry tree. The sun won¡¯t hit you there.¡± Said Percival knowing about my "condition,¡± and pointed at the large tree.


    ¡°So, what is worrying you? Is it because you don¡¯t know if you should go to mother''s or Uncle Gregor¡¯s house?¡± I tried to go to the core of the topic. It might have been a bit rushed, but that was the discomfort speaking out of me. I really disliked the sun. The real one, not the artificial one illuminating Percival¡¯s room.


    ¡°It¡¯s not that. I mean, it¡¯s not only that. Sis, what should I do if I¡¯m not good enough? Mom and Dad always tell me how great of a wizard I will become, and I know that other people are expecting it too, but besides the one time I sent Aunt Seraphina''s wine flying into her face when she asked mom if I was a Nowitz, I haven¡¯t used any magic. What if the other students are much better than me? Mom and Dad will hate me.¡± bubbled it out of Percival. If I didn¡¯t know any better, I would even say my little brother was cute and innocent. But I could understand his situation. And I knew that he wasn¡¯t the only one who had these problems. Especially with my own experience with it.


    ¡°Come here, Pev,¡± I said and hugged him. ¡°You know that I had the same, or at least similar, worries a few years ago? I mean, I only worried about mom; I don¡¯t care about what Uncle thinks of me, but that didn¡¯t mean I was any less nervous. And do you know what happened?¡±


    ¡°No, you never told me, and mom forbade me from asking.¡± Answered Percival quite curious but also worried. While I talked with my brother a lot, I refrained from talking about less pleasant topics with him. At least when they concerned me. I didn¡¯t want to earn his pity.


    ¡°Well, where should I begin? I guess it¡¯s easiest when we start on the day that is similar to this one. One day before the entrance ceremony. I was the first of the founders'' children to attend the ceremony, so many eyes were pointed at me. Because of my connection to mom, no one doubted that I would be sorted into her house. I swear, I don¡¯t know why the others agreed to Uncle Gregor''s proposal to let those strange spirit things do the sorting.¡±


    ¡°But isn¡¯t that the best way to do it? Aren¡¯t the spirits able to sense who would be the best fit for which house?¡± My brother was a little naive there. Unless the spirits were far better seers than any human could dream to be, that was nonsense. My guess was that they somehow read the minds of the students, but I wasn¡¯t sure about that.


    ¡°Best? Maybe. Anyway, I was there, a quivering mess, and the only thing mother told me was not to worry and that everything would be fine. This was the greatest lie she ever told me. Believe me. So the next day, I was still nervous, but not so much because I believed in mother''s lie, the entrance ceremony happened. As it was such a big event in my life, mother had invited a few of her friends, the parents of a few students were also present, and my sorting was the main attraction for everyone, so I had to go last.¡±


    ¡°Will I also need to go last? Will Mom also invite other people over?¡±


    ¡°I guess so. I mean, Hellena, as Aunt Seraphina¡¯s daughter, also needed to go last, and everything went well with her, so I wouldn¡¯t worry about it too much. The time doesn¡¯t really matter.¡± I lied a little there, because it just increased the time one needed to wait. Time one had to panic.


    ¡°So, when it was finally my time and everyone stared at me while the founders'' spirits began to sort me, the whole hall fell silent. To my great relief, I was sorted to mother. So far, so good, but as you know, each student receives his wand after the sorting. Mr. Birchcroft had prepared hundreds of different wands, four large tables full, so that everyone could get one that fit him.¡±


    ¡°Why only four? Doesn¡¯t he bring like twice that amount by now?¡±


    Yes, he does, just listen, and you will be able to guess the reason. I went towards Birchcroft, who was already waiting for me. He looks a bit creepy with his eyepatch, but he is a friendly old geezer. So, when I arrived there, he took a few measurements, gave me a wand, and asked me to flick it. Can you guess what happened?¡± I asked him, but just because I needed to pause myself to suppress my own bitterness a little.


    ¡°No? Did you send him flying? Did you set something on fire? I heard that could happen.¡± Answered Percival trying to guess, but the answer was much simpler.


    ¡°No. Nothing happened. I waved the wand around a few times, but nothing happened. I thought I would break down at that moment, but Mr. Birchcroft took the wand, asked me not to worry, and gave me another wand to try. And another wand. And another wand. And another wand. In front of hundreds of people, I had to go through all six hundred seventy-three wands, and every wand showed not the tiniest bit of magic. Do you know what was the worst in that moment?¡±


    Percival gulped down a bit in worry and looked at me with pity. That was the reason I didn¡¯t tell him about it beforehand. ¡°That you thought you couldn¡¯t cast magic?¡±


    ¡°No. It¡¯s the look of pity in the eyes of everyone present. Including mom. Including Uncle Severin and Gregor, including Aunt Seraphina. Everyone present felt pity for me, and I... I felt betrayed. I couldn¡¯t remember myself using any accidental magic, but mother said it happened when I was really little. I ran out of the castle. Luckily, it was already night because I had tested every wand. I ran into the forest and wanted to have nothing to do with anyone anymore. One day later, mother found me. I lay in the nest of a few moonhoppers when she found me. It was the first time mother had punched me. Not because I had failed to get a wand. Not because I had probably ruined her reputation among her friends. No, she had punched me because I ran into the forest, and she thought I had died. After she hit me, she gave me the longest hug ever, and she cried.¡± I felt a lump form in my throat as I remembered the event like it was yesterday.


    ¡°Mom cried?¡± I could understand his disbelief because mother was known in school for her iron-hard discipline. At least in her classroom, but even in private, where she was super caring, she never really cried.


    ¡°Yes. She cried. Helga Humblehill, the greatest seer of the century and one of the most powerful witches alive, cried because I had run into the forest, and she thought I had died. She cried because she loved me, Pev. And she loves you too. Probably even more than me. So no matter what happens tomorrow, no matter what goes wrong, mom will love you, and I will love you too.¡± I pulled him a little closer into something that resembled a hug.


    ¡°And don¡¯t worry too much. My case was the only one where something like that ever happened, so the chances of it happening to you are almost zero.¡± I explained, seeing on his face that my little anecdote had archived the desired effect.


    ¡°I love you too, sis,¡± he said, giving me another real hug. ¡°What about dad?¡± asked Percival, and ruined the moment.


    ¡°Ask him yourself.¡± I answered more harshly than I intended. Normally, I refrain from showing off my opinion about Uncle Gregor to Percival. He should form his own opinion about the man without my influence.


    Percival seemed to get the hint, and didn¡¯t question me further, and changed the topic.


    ¡°But Sis, when you didn¡¯t get a wand there, where did you get yours?¡± I flinched. I didn¡¯t want to relive another traumatic experience today.


    ¡°That¡¯s a story for another time.¡± I was glad Percival didn¡¯t press the matter and instead made himself ready to go back into the castle. Sometimes he surprises me with his ability to read the mood. He was far better at it than I was.


    We went back to the castle to mother¡¯s quarters. My brother immediately ran into mother''s arms. She patted his head while giving me a satisfied nod.


    ¡°You need a haircut. We wouldn¡¯t want you to look unkempt tomorrow.¡± Said mother to my brother and pulled one of his long brown strands of hair up.

 Chapter 2

    <div>


    Not wanting to stay any longer, I made my way back to my quarters. To my dismay, I run into the arms of William Whimsby, a sixth-year student of my least favorite founder with short red hair and a few freckles on his nose. He was a bit taller than me and grinned down at me. Before he opened his mouth, I already knew that the next few minutes would be annoying.


    <div>


    ¡°Charly, what a coincidence that I see you here. I was just about to get something for lunch. Do you want to accompany me? Or if you have already eaten, would you like to go for a walk with me? The weather is quite nice.¡±


    ¡°William, how often do I have to tell you to not call me Charly? And no, I don¡¯t want to eat with you!¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m deeply sorry, my dear Charlotte Elenore Humblehill. Am I right to assume that you would want to go for a walk then?¡± asked William with a sheepish grin. I hated that grin. I hated his attitude; he was far too pushy and seemed to make it his daily mission to invite me to dinner, a walk, some shopping, playing chess, or one time he even directly asked me if he could kiss me. I didn¡¯t know if I should really blame him for the last thing, as I was sure it was Conrad Windsor''s fault, because I overheard him and his friends making fun of William while observing the situation from a ¡°safe¡± distance. I don¡¯t know how they managed to get William to ask it so confidently; I also didn¡¯t care. William was annoying, and that was the end of the matter. The greatest problem I had with him was that he always pretended to know me... to understand me, when he didn¡¯t even know who or what I was.


    ¡°William, really. What do you think you will accomplish by annoying me? You know that doing this will only make me angry; why don¡¯t you finally give up?¡± I asked, not expecting to get a real answer.


    ¡°Charly, all I ever wanted was that you give me a chance. Is that really too much to ask for? One date?¡± answered William and surprised me with that. It wasn¡¯t the first time I had asked him the exact same question, but it was the first time he appeared so vulnerable and honest. Something had changed.


    ¡°One date? And then you will never bother me again if I don¡¯t want to?¡± I asked him almost regretting it before I even spoke it but his puppy eyes had gotten me before I even knew it. His expression immediately turned into a smile from ear to ear. A little freaky if you asked me, but like his earlier expression, it seemed honest.


    "Yes, one date, I promise. But you have to give me a real chance.¡± He answered quickly, as if he feared that I would change my mind. I didn¡¯t know how fair of a chance I could give him if I didn¡¯t really like him, but I guess not sending him away with a few sentences and spending a few hours with him would be honest enough.


    ¡°Okey, one evening. Next week on Friday.¡± I sighed silently as William literally jumped into the air. I needed to admit that it was nice to see someone so happy to just spend time with you, but I didn¡¯t want to give him any hopes. Give me any hope.


    "Yes, Friday is great. Do you have anything you want to do? Anything you like?¡± asked William, taking me by surprise.


    ¡°What? You ask me out for four or five years and don¡¯t even have a plan when I actually say yes?¡± I voiced my thoughts.


    He looked at me a little embarrassed. ¡°Well, it''s not like I don¡¯t have any ideas, but every time I asked you for something specific, you declined, so I decided years ago that I would ask you what you want or like.¡±


    That was the dumbest thing I ever heard, and yet somehow I could understand him. The only problem was that I couldn¡¯t really answer him. Sure, I could tell him that I want to stay away from the sun, but anything beyond that? That was difficult, and I had to properly think about it. It wasn¡¯t that I had planned to ask him out or accept his invitation when I left my room this morning, and I never gave the topic much thought, which reminded me that he was an idiot for making me choose something.


    While I thought about it, he stared at me, full of anticipation. It made me nervous, if I was honest. Couldn¡¯t he be a bit more sensible? I was thinking about what I wanted to do on my first date. After three minutes of silence between us, I surrendered.


    With puppy eyes, I asked him, ¡°got any suggestions. I honestly don¡¯t know.¡±


    I don¡¯t know what I expected, but I assume his dumpfounded face should have been far up on the list.


    After a few seconds, that dumbfounded face turned into a small giggle. ¡°Well, I heard that people like to watch the stars together or like to take a long walk and simply talk. It doesn¡¯t need to be something too special. I would say it¡¯s the person you do it with that makes it special. So how about you just show me your favorite spot in Toadwits and we talk a little? Maybe we can do a small picnic together.¡± He said, but from the sweat that flowed down his forehead, I guessed he feared that I would just decide not to go on a date with him. But he underestimates how enticing the promise of eternal peace from his advances was.


    ¡°Let¡¯s make it like that. I will pick you up on Friday at 8 pm and prepare a picnic basket while you pick the location.¡± he said still sweating.


    I nodded. ¡°Yes, but remember. Only one date, and you leave me alone after that.¡± I needed to remind him that he shouldn¡¯t get too hopeful. I mean, he was a nice guy even though he was annoying, but it just would never happen between us, and as annoying as I thought he was, I didn¡¯t wish him an unhappy life.


    What I said obviously had the desired effect as his jumpy steps returned to almost normal steps.


    After he left, I returned to my quarters without further ado. I picked up one of Uncle Severin''s books about potions and started to brew a sleeping potion. It was something I always wanted to try. Not the brewing but the potion itself. As potion was one of the few subjects I could study without many problems, I was quite good at that.


    After cleaning the cauldron after brewing a batch, I laid on my bed, and slowly sipped a vial, and closed my eyes.


    I felt the still-hot potion flow down my throat, but even after a few minutes, I didn¡¯t feel any different. While my eyes were closed, it was only so because I had closed them, not because I was asleep. ¡°Maybe a second one would do the trick.¡± I thought to myself and gulped down another one. Still nothing. After an hour, the batch I had brewed had disappeared into my stomach, but I didn¡¯t feel any change.


    After another half-hour of boring waiting in the last hope that the potions would show an effect, I decided that I was just wasting time and could instead be more productive, so I read the books I had already read a dozen times. The books about the magic curses in Toadwits. And when I said magic, I didn¡¯t mean something like potions or herbology, but real magic. Transfiguration was the most interesting topic, in my opinion. Sure, levitating something was cool, but transfiguring a chair into a dancing pig was something no other magic could ever beat. It was the only good thing about Uncle Gregor. The man had humor and knew how to use magic to entertain. After finishing the chapter about transfiguring a spoon into a knife, I decided that the spell was so simple that I could give it a try.


    I opened my drawer and pulled out my wand. The wand was bone white, slightly curved, and really, really pointy. And that is not only on one end but on both. I held the wand in my hand and waved it around a little, just to get the feel of it. The price I paid to get the wand was honestly far too high, considering its usability. I also didn¡¯t use the wand very often for obvious reasons, so despite our undeniable connection, my own wand felt unfamiliar to me.


    After some time weighing my wand, it was time to try it. I pointed my wand at the spoon and cast the spell.


    Nothing. Not even a pointier end of the spoon. No sharper edges, nothing.


    I sighed. I knew it would work. At least not like that. But was it really worth the price to change a spoon to a knife for a few minutes? The answer was yes. Yes, I wanted to use magic. I desired it with every fiber of my being. I didn¡¯t want to just watch anymore. I didn¡¯t want to stand on the sidelines. I wanted to do what everyone, even the people in their second year, could do.


    I grabbed my wand tightly. So tightly that the skin on my knuckles tensed and my pale skin became almost transparent. While grabbing the wand, its pointy end drilled into the palm of my hand. I could see the blood drops forming on my closed fist before falling to the floor, but that didn¡¯t matter to me.


    I cast the spell again, but this time the spoon transformed into a perfect knife.


    I couldn¡¯t even smile at my creation before I felt my vision blur and the nausea take over. I tried to puke into my trashcan, but nothing came out. I know that nothing could come out as I hadn¡¯t eaten in quite some time, but for some reason, the attempt to regurgitate something that wasn¡¯t even there reduced the nausea.


    I knew that I needed to eat something. I had a secret stash of beef jerky just for emergencies like this, but the problem was getting there. In my infinite wisdom, I had placed the box with the beefjerky at the height of my head on the shelf. Something that was unreachable at the moment. Or so it seemed until I practically climbed up my shelf of schoolbooks and pulled the box down.


    The box opened as it hit the ground, and the beefjerky flew everywhere. I didn¡¯t care, and grabbed the first piece I could grab and put it in my mouth. Then I grabbed the second and a third.


    After five minutes, the blurry vision lessened a little, and I started to feel better.


    Knock Knock


    ¡°Hey Charlotte, I just wanted to thank¡­ What are you doing on the ground?¡± My mother entered the room. As always, my mother, best seer in the world, always opens the door at the most embarrassing moments.


    This narrative has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. If you see it on Amazon, please report it.


    I gulped down the last piece of beef jerky and tried to put on an innocent smile.


    ¡°Cleaning?!¡± I lied shamlessly.


    ¡°And what do you intend to clean with your greasy fingers? Even your dress got dirty. Charlotte, what did you do?¡± asked mother, but not before flicking her wand to clean me up.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, mom.¡± I said knowing my mother would become a little softer if I called her mom.


    She helped me up and sat me on the bed before sitting down next to me.


    ¡°Is it because your brother is having his ceremony tomorrow?¡± asked my mother, her intention to help obvious.


    I wanted to answer, but it felt like I had a lump in my throat. ¡°Mom, I¡­ I know I can do it. I¡­¡± I couldn¡¯t finish the sentence as, unnoticed by me, tears had started to stream down my face and my mother had taken me into a comforting hug.


    ¡°I just want to be like everyone else mom. Why why can¡¯t I be like them? Why was I born like this?¡± I cried. Mom was right. Seeing that my brother would start to learn magic tomorrow just made me realize what I can¡¯t do, what I can¡¯t have.


    ¡°Sh, Shht, It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s okay to cry. It¡¯s okay to be sad. Just promise me that you won¡¯t try that alone again. You know I can help you. You know that I will always be there for you,¡± said mother patting my back, but this made me even more sad.


    "I c-c-c-can''t, m-m-mom, I w-w-won''t. I d-don''t want to h-h-hurt you. You''ve d-d-done so much for me, h-how could I d-d-do s-s-something like that to y-y-y-you?"


    ¡°It¡¯s okay, Charlotte. It doesn¡¯t hurt. Not as much as seeing you like this.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know how long we just sat on the bed, not saying anything after that anymore. We both knew that we had different opinions on the matter and that I wouldn¡¯t compromise, no matter how sweet the temptation was sometimes.


    I just lied on her lap while she kempt my hair with her hand. My tears have long since dried, and with that, my mood has returned to normal.


    It was only then that I noticed the tired eyes of my mother. I realized that even if I didn¡¯t need sleep, mother definitely needed to, and I was preventing her from getting it.


    ¡°Mom, please, you need to go to bed. You can barely keep your eyes open.¡± Instead of answering, mother just gave me an exhausted smile. I know she would have stayed the night with me if I hadn¡¯t noticed, but I didn¡¯t want to become more of a ballast than I already was.


    ¡°Mom, Pev will be sad if you sleep during his ceremony; you need to go now.¡± Thankfully, that moved her. But not after giving me one last hug and a good night kiss on my forehead. Mother always forgot that I¡¯m not ten anymore, but because of what happened earlier, I decided to not complain about it.


    After mother left, I sneaked into the kitchen to restock my beef jerky stock. I also realized that I should probably take a bath. While I don¡¯t sweat and mother cleaned me up earlier, a bath just gives you a different feeling of cleanliness. Something that magic couldn¡¯t substitute. To add to that, quite a few of my tears had soaked my hair, and the traces of what happened were also still visible on my face. For anyone else, that wouldn¡¯t have been so dramatic, but my tears were a little special. So special in fact that one could rank their usefulness just below the tears of a phoenix. And while my tears couldn¡¯t bring someone on the brink of death back to full health, they could stop the aging process for one week per teardrop. At least that what mother and I assumed after some simple tests. Luckily, no one knew about this, and I wanted to keep it that way, or people would probably hunt me down.


    So to stop any accidents from happening, I let in the bath water and waited a little. It was the bath that was usually used by the prefects, or, as I and my brother called them, the little spies.


    I didn¡¯t understand why they would get their own bath at first and why this bath needed to be so great, but I guess they wouldn¡¯t be able to convince the students to take the jobs otherwise. After a few minutes, the steam was filling the bath as hot water flooded the tub. Enough steam to cover the face of the stupid mermaid that was printed on the mosaics of the bathroom wall. Uncle Gregor¡¯s taste sometimes was really lacking, and I honestly don¡¯t understand why Uncle Severin let him design so much in the castle. At first, I thought it was because Uncle Severin had lost a bet, as they usually bet on stupid stuff to win stupid stuff, but Mother told me that even though the castle was originally in Severin''s family possession, he wanted the castle to represent the personalities of all founders.


    When the tub was almost full, I began to undress. I folded the blue dress and laid it where it wouldn¡¯t get wet. On my way to do that, I noticed myself in the big mirror.


    I flinched a little as I saw myself naked. Or to be more accurate, because I saw the long, nasty scar that covered my left arm from hand to elbow. I went a little closer to the mirror to look at the scar. I wasn¡¯t sure if I imagined it or if the scar had become a little less prominent since I last looked at it. I didn¡¯t have the hope that the scar would ever become even close to invisible, like the one on my right knee, but it was still good to see it growing back, even if just a little.


    I turned a little to the side so that my damaged arm wasn¡¯t visible anymore. I liked my slender figure, even though I had to agree with mother that maybe I really should eat a little more as a few ribs were faintly visible. I placed my hand a there and could immediately feel that I really should follow up on this plan.


    Then my attention turned to my chest. I had no hope for my chest to grow anymore, but if I were honest with myself, I didn¡¯t want that anyway. I had seen a few of the guys geezing at the girls who had really large breasts and knew that this wasn¡¯t the attention I wanted to get. I was perfectly happy that my were just a bit bigger than a full hand from myself. The perfect size, I would say. And what would I need them for anyway. It¡¯s not that I planned to have any kids. I didn¡¯t even know if I was able to have kids.


    For some reason, that reminds me of William. The poor boy had wasted all those years on me only to get a single date. A date that wouldn¡¯t lead to something more. I pitied him a little, but it wasn¡¯t as if I ever gave him any reason to have hope, and he knew that my mother wouldn¡¯t agree to an arranged marriage. Of that, I was sure, as mother had made it quite clear after many had requested my hand before my failure at the ceremony. Well, even after that, a few had asked, but they were mostly those who just wanted to earn some goodwill from mother.


    Fine, I just managed to pull my mood down again just by thinking about the past. Future me, stop doing that.


    I took one last glance at the mirror before I stepped into the bath. My white hair began to cover the surface of the water. I loved seeing my hair float on the water like that, but it usually didn¡¯t last long before the hair was soaked and sank. I sat down, played, and enjoyed the quiet a little. I also dove a little, as the bathtub was large enough for that. I loved the feeling of being completely under water. All noises I would usually be able to hear would disappear, and only the things happening in the water were really noticeable. It lets me feel like a huge burden has been taken from me.


    I spent a few hours in the bath thanks to the heating enchantment Aunt Seraphina had placed on the bathtub. I hadn¡¯t felt so refreshed and relaxed in years. Even though my hands were so wrinkled that they looked like those of an old woman, and even though I hadn¡¯t checked, I was sure my feet looked that way too.


    When I returned to my room, I realized that I hadn¡¯t even picked the right dress for Percival''s ceremony yet. I never wore the same dress two days in a row. It somehow made me feel dirty, even though mother would clean my things once a day.


    I looked at my red dress. I had never worn it, even though I liked it. It made me look confident, and I would even say sexy. Damn it, I looked really hot in the thing. It matched my scarlet eyes perfectly, and the contrast to my skin and hair gave me the aura of someone who got what she wanted even at the cost of blood. Which was actually my problem with the dress. It made me look like a crazy but hot psychopath. Something I didn¡¯t want to be or become.


    The psychopath part came from the fact that it was the only dress that didn''t cover my arm. Maybe I should wear this dress when I go out with William. Yeah, it will probably frighten him. I should definitely do that. But I probably won''t.


    That didn¡¯t solve my problem for today, though. Think, Charlotte, think, what can I wear to a ceremony where many people with blown-up egos want to show off their children.


    Ah damnit, you can never go wrong with something classical. I pulled out a dress mother had bought me for my sixteenth birthday party. Becoming sixteen was kind of a big thing because you officially became an adult at that point, but if someone asked me to live on my own, I would fight with my teeth and claws because I definitely didn¡¯t feel like an adult and I liked living with my mother. Another reason I was happy that my mother let me have the choice in my marriage, as I would be living in some random dudes, probably a noble considering mothers standing, house with the only task of giving him an heir.


    My cousin Helena, was in that kind of situation. I mean, she was trying to fight off that situation. I was really lucky mother found me as a baby and not Aunt Seraphina. While she didn¡¯t push her own daughter into the knife, she is not helping her either even thought she could.


    The Baron, her self-proclaimed fianc¨¦, was far worse than William, in my opinion. His father was a friend of Uncle Severin and had taken on some noble duties in the Nowitz world, the world of no-witches and no-wizards, but he had died shortly after the Baron¡¯s birth because some Nowitzes had attacked him when he was visiting another noble to discuss some trades. They had at first pretended to be friends and then stabbed him into the back. Probably the only way a Nowitz can kill a fully grown wizard.


    Uncle Severin has been taking care of the Baron since then. At least he occasionally assisted him for the sake of his old friend. The other students under Uncle Severin were a little jealous of that attention and then named him after his Nowitz title. Ironically, the title Nowitzs would die for was used to defame someone in Toadwits. Their smear campaign was so successful that I honestly forgot his real name. Something with Gil¡­ Gilbert? Gilderoy? Gilford? I honestly don¡¯t care; he is the Baron, and he is an idiot. He had abused Uncle Severin''s goodwill quite a lot and was abusing other students. He didn¡¯t cross certain boundaries, but that didn¡¯t change the fact that he was mean and used to getting what he wanted. A dangerous combination, if you ask me, and Helena was suffering because of that.


    Anyway, not my problem at the moment; I should quickly change, or I will miss breakfast.


    Well, I missed breakfast. That dress was far too difficult to change into without help. Who came up with something like that? Cords that needed to be closed from behind. Do they assume anyone has servants these days? Anyway, now I¡¯m here, and I will not go before I have eaten something. And that is definitely not because I used magic to tie the cords and can barely stand just now. To my luck, tying some cords is not as magic-intensive as transfiguring a spoon.


    Luckily, my mother and my dear brother had noticed my absence and packed a plate for me. I know that my brother helped because a few things on the plate were absolutely disgusting, and mother knows I wouldn¡¯t even eat them if I was about to die. Normally that is, just now I would have eaten anything just to get the feeling in my feet back.


    While I was stuffing myself to the point where I wished I could untie the cords of my dress, the others started to decorate the hall. The tables were moved so that they would form rows, and over each row were banners that presented the four Founders.


    A red tiger with a little sword in its mouth on black ground for Uncle Gregor Lionheart. A Honey Badger with golden stripes on caramel brown for Helga Humblehill. A Mole with big glasses on blue ground for Aunt Seraphina Nightquill and last but not least a Snake with far to big eyes that was eating a book for Uncle Severin Salamand.


    Normally, the tables were moved around on a regular basis, and the students of each house intermixed. It was just for the entrance ceremony that people were divided by that, so that the new students would get to know the people they would live with from then on better than someone from another house. This method has been used since the third year of Toadwits. The four founders were far too annoyed to have students want to change the house because ¡°their best friend was in another house." Just separating the students on the first day like that had reduced the number of these cases to almost zero. The only few exceptions were a few people that knew each other beforehand, but usually they integrated fast into their new houses as well, so it became more bearable for most.


    After finishing my meal, I naturally helped mother and the others. And this was something I could do almost as well as someone who could use magic, because I was far stronger than your usual girl. Lifting a table? No Problem. Lifting a carriage? Well, that was a problem, but I was working on it.


    With all four founders helping, the castle looked magnificent within a few hours. I had seen William in the meantime, and he had waved at me like an idiot, but I thought I would be able to endure it for one more week. Or six days eight hours plus the time we need for that date thingy.


    <div>

 Chapter 3

    "Charlotte, there you are. I wanted to talk to you. How are your studies progressing?¡± asked the most amazing, lovely uncle in the world.


    ¡°Great, great. I have finished the tasks you gave me, Uncle Severin.¡± I answered. Severin was the only one who really seemed interested in supporting my career. Sure, mother wanted me to be happy and all that, but Uncle Severin was giving me real challenges. He was the best potion master in the world. With him, brewing potions was more than just putting a few things in a pot and heating it up to the right temperature. With him, the only limit was your imagination. He had even theorized a potion that would make the consumer lucky. Luck in a bottle. I laughed so hard when he told me that, until I realized he was serious.


    He was also quite the prankster. One time he created a potion that made people tell the truth and mixed it into Uncle Gregor''s drink. When the students then asked him why he hadn¡¯t graded the papers yet, he blatantly told them that he was out chasing after the barmaid of the local pub and didn¡¯t sleep the whole night.


    Uncle Gregor, on the other hand, didn''t take the joke well and returned the favor by hiding a few Ilusiphobes in Uncle Severin''s lab, bedroom, and a few classrooms where he taught. Nasty little things that transform into the things that people fear the most, and the only way to deal with them is to lock them away where no one can see them. To say that the only people who benefited from Severin and Gregor''s prank war were the students would be an understatement. I mean, I like Severin, but I would have given up a few birthday presents to see how he was verbally abused in front of the entire class by his grandmother, because that is apparently his greatest fear.


    Which reminds me that I definitely need to ask mother for a few Gold Coins. I had a bet with Uncle Severin that he wouldn¡¯t get Uncle Gregor to confess his love to a student in class. Did I mention that Uncle Severin was the best potion master in the world. He developed a potion that let Gregor fall in love with a student. The hilarious thing was that it was not a pretty girl but the Baron. To Helena¡¯s sorrow, the potion only lasted half an hour. Still, the best money I ever spent. Or will spent, I haven¡¯t paid him yet. I also never really spent money on anything other than our bets but the point still stands.


    If I were honest with myself, I was a bit of a hypocrite when I berated Percival. I mean, it was clear that he just wanted to get along with his stupid father and maybe even his super awesome uncle, but the only thing they did was prank each other or do magic that was so far out of his reach that he was basically forced to prank them to spend time with them. Hopefully, that will change after he becomes their student.


    ¡°So you are finally ready to create your own potions?¡± asked Uncle Severin with enthusiasm in his voice, and interrupting my straying thoughts. I was probably the only student who really appreciated his potion lessons, and so I was kind of his favorite student. The others all wanted to learn the flashier things like curses, dark magic or in some rare cases, rituals. All things I couldn¡¯t learn even if I wanted to. At least beyond the theory.


    ¡°Definitely. Maybe. We can even try out your liquid luck potion first.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think so. I tested it last month. It didn¡¯t work. I don¡¯t know where the potion went wrong. My calculations were perfect, and to make sure everything worked, I even brewed the potion for a whole week to use the ingredients to their full potential.¡± Said Severin a little downcast. He is still the best uncle ever. Even if he hasn¡¯t developed liquid luck yet.


    ¡°Don¡¯t look so down, Uncle. I¡¯m sure that if it is possible, that you will manage to do it. We can do something else until you figure out what went wrong.¡± I said and his expression immediately changed back to his cheerful one.


    ¡°Yes, that¡¯s the spirit we need to have. We need to believe in ourselves and in our craft, and we can archive anything.¡±


    "Uncle, you are going into crazy mode.¡±


    "Oh, sorry, yeah. Like I said, we should do something interesting. I have theorized a shrinking potion that shrinks you so much that you would become smaller than the tip of my finger. Isn¡¯t that fantastic? Imagine what we could do with that.¡± Well, I had ideas what I could do with that, but shrinking Gregor and letting him battle against a rat would probably amuse the battlemaniac.


    With a comedic and scheming giggling, he led me to his lab. The moment we entered, the door closed.


    ¡°So, why did you cry?¡± asked my best and amazing but far too perceptive and now serious uncle.


    ¡°It was nothing. Really, Uncle, it¡¯s just, you know. With Percival¡¯s ceremony¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not Percival¡¯s ceremony, it¡¯s for every new student. So what is it really?¡± he interrupted a little rudely, but I know where he was going. There were ceremonies every year, except for the first, after my own, I didn¡¯t care. My inability to cast magic freely also wouldn¡¯t change no matter how many ceremonies went past, which was something I couldn¡¯t change no matter how much I wanted it.


    ¡°I¡¯m not jealous of my brother, if you mean that.¡± I answered, having thought I knew what he wanted to say.


    He hit me with a papyrus roll for that. "Hey, for what was that?¡±


    ¡°Because you are dumb. He is your brother, Charlotte, and just because he will be able to cast magic and get his own wand today doesn¡¯t mean he will change. He will still look up to his older sister, and he will still ask you to spend time with him. You won¡¯t become less worth to him just because he will be able to cast magic. The only person who could become responsible for something like that would be you yourself, if you let thoughts like that affect your behavior."


    I stared at him, thinking about what he said. I know I had a problem with my lack of magical abilities, but I didn¡¯t like it when Uncle rubbed me my problems under my nose. Which naturally didn¡¯t mean that I didn¡¯t take his advice to heart. But it still rubbed me the wrong way.


    ¡°If that is all you wanted to tell me, I will go back now.¡± I said wanting to show him that I didn¡¯t like seeing my own flaws.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that; you know I just want to help you; besides that with the shrinking potion was true,¡± said the great, amazing uncle who wanted my forgiveness. But after he forced me to reflect on my behavior toward my brother, I wouldn¡¯t be willing to reflect on my other problems, like knowingly acting like a spoiled princess in front of my uncle. We should have talked about that, damned... I thought and had to suppress my tears. I didn¡¯t want to lose my brother just because I was a little stupid.


    I stomped demonstratively away, and as soon as I was around the corner, I started to really cry. Stupid Uncle has to re-earn his title as amazing.


    I went to the bathroom to whip my tears away. I didn¡¯t want to show myself to other students or, even worse, to my brother like that. May the rats that drink the water from this bathroom have eternal life.


    I stayed in my room till my clock told me I needed to return for the ceremony. I was still five minutes early and could see that quite a few people had already arrived. Mostly parents of the kids that would be sorted.


    Seraphina would hold the entrance speech this time. The founders alternated every year, but it was only the third speech I heard from her. If the previous speeches could even be called that...


    With a wave of Seraphina¡¯s hand, the large door swung open, and a handful of little kids walked in. The last one was my little Percival.


    What shocked me, and obviously everyone else in the room, was the number of kids. Only twelve kids walked in. Twelve! Twelve kids for the entire wizard population in Britain. That number was far too low. Normally, around forty or sometimes even sixty new students arrive with each batch.


    ¡°Welcome to Toadwits, your new home for the next seven years. I hope you use your time here to study earnestly, or it will be wasted time. The spirits will now sort you into the different houses.¡± Only a few people clapped, as they couldn¡¯t believe that this was the speech from one of the founders of Toadwits. I was probably the only one who clapped and really meant it. Not because I liked the ¡°speech¡± in particular or because I liked short speeches. I clapped because Seraphina¡¯s speech was longer than her last one. The last time she just said welcome, this is your new home and now we will sort you. So it was an improvement. Now the students also shouldn¡¯t waste time.


    Stolen novel; please report.


    It wasn¡¯t even that I could be angry or disappointed with her. Seraphina hated speeches and actually was quite nervous around so many people. The only time that didn¡¯t affect her was when she could talk about her passion, which was the reason she held amazing lectures if one had the required knowledge to understand what she was talking about, which was a hurdle most people would never overcome.


    Mother had gifted her a diadem once and told her that she should just imagine herself to be an Empress and that she didn¡¯t need to worry about what other people thought about her during a speech.


    Judging from the fact that she wore the Diadem during every speech or lecture, it seemed to help her. It just let me wonder what she would have said without the diadem. Maybe she would just say welcome and be done with it.


    When clapping sounds filled the room, I focused back on what was happening before me. The first student was sorted. It looked like the idiot had gained another idiotic student. He walked to Mr. Birchcroft, who waited on the other side of the hall, quite close to us. Naturally, that idiot student got a dragon bone wand. Gregor loved teaching brutes, and if dragons were one thing, it was brutes. At least the normal ones. There were a few exceptions.


    This year, like every other time Seraphina gave the entrance speech, she had fewer students than usual. But this year was a first, as she only added one new student. The students may not realize it, but their preferences influenced the spirits. As a result of Seraphina''s lackluster speeches, she lost students who would otherwise have come to her house.


    The idiot, on the other hand, had gained four new students so far, while mother and uncle only gained three. The last one, Pecival, would surely go to mother unless that ungrateful brat decided that his stupid father was more important than mother.


    Percival looked nervous as he sat on the ceremonial chair. Four spiritual avatars that represented the founders will were walking around the chair as usual. They looked like children''s versions of the animals on their banner. For a short moment, I feared my nightmare would come true as the stupid spirits hesitated. Only after two full minutes did the honey badger stop circling him and transformed into a soft, glowing sphere that flew into Percival. The moment the sphere touched him, his school uniform began to match mother¡¯s students. Something that would be a blessing and a curse. To both of them as mother became responsible for his punishments, which she had a lackluster record of so far. But if I remember my own time, even though I only participated in the less flashy, non spellcaster classes, mother could become harder than any other founder if she wanted to.


    I was so happy when Percival, instead of running to mother, ran to me for a hug. I was almost about to cry again, but I suppressed it as I thought I had prolonged the lives of enough rats for one day. The feeling of happiness I felt when he came to me was exactly what I needed. My amazing and now rehabilitated uncle had been right. I shouldn¡¯t have worried about something like my lack of magic affecting my relationship with my brother. Sorry, mother, but I needed that that hug more than you.


    After that, it was already time for dinner. Something that should have been a nice meeting to get to know the new people turned, surprisingly, into something quite serious.


    The parents, who had previously sat in the back rows and watched the ceremony, were now crowding around the founders. The space that was usually reserved for new students, but I suppose I could understand the parents a little bit. They were curious as to why so few students had enrolled this year. Something I was curious about as much as they were, but the founders had all agreed that they should keep quiet until the dinner was over and that they would make another announcement to them and the older students after dinner.


    This was accepted with reluctance by the parents. I, too, wanted to protest at first, but I realized I was officially in my final year, so I would undoubtedly fall into the category of older students. The painful reality was that I would never be able to graduate on a regular basis due to my lack of magic, so I''m repeating the last year and will probably repeat it many more times.


    Not letting my mood fall to the bottom because of that, I celebrated with all of mother''s new students. Celebrating in this case meant introducing myself while mother was present. I already hated it when people wanted to chase me out of Toadwits when they saw me for the first time because they thought I was something that I wasn¡¯t. At least not really, and I wanted that at least my mother''s students understood that Toadwits was as much my home as theirs. Well, technically, even more so, as I had my own quarter, but I kept that information to myself most of the time. Besides my family, I never get visitors anyway.


    After dinner was cleaned up, the glorified spies of my family led the younger students to the dormitories.


    ¡°Attention please.¡± Yelled Uncle Severin, who could hold better speeches than Seraphina.


    ¡°As many of you have noticed, only twelve students enrolled this year. Many of you have asked us why that is the case. The reason for that should be quite obvious. There were no more students left that could have enrolled. Thirty-two students. All from Nowitz families, were killed before they were able to enroll in Toadwits. Thirty-two students were killed because they could use magic. Thirty-two students were cruelly tortured and executed by the church in the name of what Nowitzs call a god. Thirty-two innocent children lost their lives because of the delusion of a few people who fear what we can do. This phenomenon is not something that is limited to this year. Last year, fifteen students were killed. The year before ten. The year before that ¡°just¡± two. What had changed? Why is the church killing so many of our people without justification? Why is the church even able to spot those blessed children who received the gift of magic? The answer to all these questions is Toadwits. When Toadwits was founded, we hoped to teach all students who were able and willing to learn. A dream we still have, but that gets slowly killed by the people we ourselves taught. The first few Nowitzborn students graduated five years ago. What we never considered was what would happen if one of these students, who had never laid down his faith and loyalty to the church, returned after receiving our education. Since then, the church has started to optimize their way to hunt and kill us. With wizards, and competent ones, I might add, as their generals, the church has become a threat to our existence, and we...¡±


    ¡°ENOUGH! You have said enough, Severin!¡± Interrupted Gregor.


    ¡°And we need to protect our children.¡± finished Severin, with an obviously improvised ending.


    While the speech was much longer than Seraphina¡¯s, no one was clapping. Some were still shocked by what they were told. Others were a step further and were murmuring about what solution my ¡°amazing?¡± uncle with, according to the murmuring people, violent tendencies had proposed.


    Was Uncle really proposing a war with the Nowitzs? I couldn¡¯t believe that. Uncle was a softie. Anyone who had seen him talk with the children would know that he wouldn¡¯t harm a fly. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized that I might be wrong. Uncle cared. He really cared. He cared so much that he would wage war for the students.


    The problem was that the fight wouldn¡¯t be as onesided as one might believe. Sure, the church only had at most ten wizards, and all were weaker than one of the founders, but the church knew about us and how to identify us and the church had millions of followers. A wizard could easily block tens of arrows shot at him, but would he be able to block a hundred? A Thousand? At some point, wizards would lose, and if the church really felt threatened, they would storm Toadwits. It would become an absolute massaker. The other option would be to have a race against the church and snatch the children away from their parents as soon as they use magic for the first time. But even if they were faster 90% of the time, what would the last 10% experience? Not doing anything was also not an option. The only students that would arrive at Toadwits then would be the ones that were born into wizarding families.


    I wanted to ask mother what the best solution was, but from the shaking goblet in her hand, I could already guess that she was unsure too. Which was a problem as my uncles, while friends, could have quite serious fights with each other if the topic was important enough, and only my mother or aunt Seraphina would be able to stop them then.


    The discussion that filled the room afterwards was far from the structured ones we used to have during a lesson. People were screaming at each other, and I could even see a few people pulling out their wands.


    ¡°ENOUGH!¡± My least favorite family member yelled again, but no one seemed to listen to him.


    ¡°BANG!¡± Okay, now that he had pulled out his sword, and rammed it into the ground with a single fluid motion. The noise was so loud that my ears started to ring, but it apparently achieved the desired effect. People were getting quiet.


    ¡°Toadwits is first and foremost a school. The school as a whole will not become a place for politics. Everyone who wants to discuss the situation can do so outside the castle.¡± My uncle might be stupid, but with his large build, the sword in his hand, and his flaming red hair, he certainly looked imposing. The people, even if they looked as if they wanted to say something, fled the scene. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was because of his attitude or his notorious tendency to challenge people who disagreed with him to a duel.


    Gregor Lionheart.


    After two minutes, the founders and I were the last people in the hall. Even Helena, who had stretched some rules by staying earlier despite technically being too young, had left.


    ¡°Daughter. Leave us alone.¡± said the red-haired, grim-looking musclehead. I pretended to not hear him. He lost the right to call me daughter a long time ago.


    ¡°Charlotte Elenore Humblehill-Lionheart, I said you should leave.¡± repeated the idiot who thought I would be intimidated by him. Okey, maybe I was just a tiny little bit intimidated, but Uncle would save me, so I rushed behind him.


    "Uncle, that stranger is talking to me; please help me.¡± I said loud enough for Gregor to hear.


    I watched, satisfied, as I saw the vein on his forehead pulsating. ¡°Charlotte, it¡¯s enough. The adults need to talk.¡± Said Uncle Severin and I knew that I would lose that argument.


    A look at my mother also told me that she wanted to talk with me after they were done. I guess maybe I went a bit too far with that heartless, soulless redhead.

 Chapter 4

    I waited patiently in my room. It reminded me of when I was little and had colorized mother''s divination book. To be fair, I was only five at the time, and the diagrams in the book looked much better after.


    Knock Knock


    ¡°Come in.¡± It was clear who was there, so I didn¡¯t ask.


    ¡°Daughter, we need to talk.¡±


    ¡°To be fair, he started it.¡± I defended myself right from the start.


    ¡°Is it really so much to ask for that you behave civilized around him?¡± she asked, a little tired.


    ¡°Was it so much to ask of him to not cheat on you at any opportunity? What did you even like about him? He is a total douchebag.¡± My mother''s expression told me that I had said something wrong. I also regretted it immediately. That idiot somehow was still her weak spot even after they broke up. What he had done to her had scarred her for life. She had really loved him, and while I wouldn¡¯t rule out the possibility that he, at some point, had loved her too, he was treating her feelings like dirt. I had zero respect for the man, even if he tried to play my father for three years. Three years in which he had slept with eight other women. Eight! If I had been in my mother''s place, I would have cut off his head. Both of them. To make it worse, after mother couldn¡¯t bear their relationship anymore because of what he did and broke up with him, he hadn¡¯t even kept his outside relationships secret anymore.


    I saw that tears were forming in my mother''s eyes. At this moment, she wasn¡¯t a proud teacher, wizard, or even mother; she was just hurt.


    ¡°Mom, I¡¯m sorry; I didn¡¯t mean to...¡± I didn¡¯t finish the sentence out of fear that spelling out what I didn¡¯t would make it worse.


    She whipped her tears away as if they had never been there, but she couldn¡¯t hide her pain. Not from me. My senses were much sharper than those of an ordinary wizard.


    ¡°So your brother got his wand today. What do you say?¡± She changed the topic.


    ¡°It¡¯s great, I guess. I¡¯m happy he got sorted to you. I would have beaten him up if he hadn''t.¡±


    She suppressed a small, sad giggle. ¡°Don¡¯t do that. Never. I don¡¯t want you to quarrel over something so unimportant. And he wouldn¡¯t survive a hit from you. So even if it is important, you are not allowed to hit your brother.¡±


    I know that she knows that I would never hurt my brother. I still acted shocked.


    ¡°Even if he really deserves it?¡± I asked playfully, trying to change the mood to something more casual.


    ¡°No. Not even then.¡± She sighed, and I sighed because I knew that she wasn¡¯t willing to play along.


    ¡°Charlotte, I really want you to at least not openly antagonize him. Is that possible? We can¡¯t allow discord in our rows at these times. Only if we stay united can we stay strong.¡± She asked, and I knew that it wasn¡¯t the time to joke around anymore.


    ¡°I will behave, mom. For you, not for him.¡± I said.


    ¡°That is enough for me. Thank you. I love you,¡± said my mother, who gave me a small peck on the forehead. The second day in a row. What am I, fourteen?


    ¡°I love you too, mom.¡± I answered nonetheless. I didn¡¯t even need to lie; I really loved my mom. Age be damned.


    ¡°Can I ask you something?¡± I whispered, not knowing if she preferred to go instead.


    ¡°Always.¡± Came the prompt answer.


    ¡°Are Uncle and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named united? It didn¡¯t appear like that today.¡±


    Mother ignored my way of coping with my least favorite family member and answered.


    ¡°They will work it out, Charlotte. They always have.¡±


    With that, our discussion was ended. It worried me a little. A little too much. A potential war didn¡¯t sound like something that shouldn¡¯t worry me.


    With that, the next school year started. Surprisingly, despite the lingering doom over everyone¡¯s head, our lives continued as usual. The only thing I noticed was that the founders weren¡¯t sitting together during lunch anymore. Or any other meal. They usually sat at least for one meal together and discussed important school businesses, but now they sit with their students for every meal.


    While I thought that it was nice in a way, I know it wasn¡¯t right.


    So after the third day of an unchanged situation, I tried to talk with Uncle, but he said that I shouldn¡¯t worry about it. He hadn¡¯t even shown me his progress with the shrinking potion or told me about a new prank for the douche. From one day to the next, I had to stop worrying about Percival joining the family business of pranking his dearest and instead worry about the rest of my family abandoning that tradition.


    Toadwits wasn¡¯t fun anymore, I realized with terror.


    ¡°Mom. Mooom Mooooom. It¡¯s terrible. What should I do?¡±


    ¡°Growing up would be a start. If you don¡¯t know where to begin you could start with your herbology homework.¡± Said my mother while grading the first homework of the year.


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    ¡°That mean moom. You know I can¡¯t grow up.¡±


    ¡°Did you even try?¡± That went a bit too far in my opinion. I really couldn¡¯t grow up. I was eternally chained to this sixteen-year-old body. Cursed to stay young and beautiful forever. There was nothing I could ¡°try¡± to change that. It was the same as telling a Nowitz that he could use magic if he really tried.


    ¡°Mooom.¡±


    ¡°No Charlotte. You can see that I¡¯m busy. I can¡¯t force your uncles to be like before, even if I wanted to. If you really need someone to play with, you could start by talking to some of the students. And stop behaving like a ten-year-old. I know you are doing it just to annoy me.¡±


    I stared at her, mouth agape. While it was totally normal for mother to go back into her busy workaholic schedule as soon as the new school year started, she never sent me away like that. Even playing the part of a kid has failed. For the first time ever. And she suggested that I spend time with other students. That was outrageous. They hated me. All of them. Well, maybe with the exception of Helena, Percival, and William. But the rest only talked to me if they were forced to or if one of the founders stood right next to me, thinking it would earn them goodwill.


    So with no real option left, I did my herbology homework. Mother gave me special homework since I had finished the regular curriculum and far more after that, even though I wasn¡¯t particularly interested in plants. Their only interesting use was in potions, which was the only reason I even bothered with them.


    After I finished that, I helped Percival and Helena with their homework. They didn¡¯t really need help, but I was so incredibly bored that I offered to meet them and offer my highly necessary assistance. A decision I regretted immediately. Percival has learned his first spell. A spell that absolutely needed to be forbidden.


    He enchanted my chair in such a way that it made a farting noise when I sat down.


    ¡°Hahahahahaha¡± To my and Percivals surprise, it was Helena who found it the most funny. I had honestly always taken her for a stoic person who knew as much about fun as I knew about growing up. I guess one can always learn something else.


    ¡°Stop staring, Pev.¡± I reminded him as I saw that my dear brother was still staring at Helena even after she had stopped laughing.


    ¡°Hello Helena, I was searching for you all over the castle. Why didn¡¯t you tell me beforehand?¡± And there came the moodkiller in person. My brother was just having his first blush because he stared too long at a girl, and then her self-announced fianc¨¦ appeared.


    ¡°Buzz of Baron. You weren¡¯t invited.¡± I said, making it clear that we, or at least I, didn¡¯t want him at our table.


    The slimey baron stared at me with displeasure. As if I were the person who could be mistaken for a troll-teenager. I mean, seriously, is it so much to ask to use a cleaning spell on yourself after eating? He still had the greasy fingerprints all over his wannaby fancy robe. The robe was out when you bought it, little guy. Wait, he is a little higher than me. The robe was out when you bought it, tall guy.


    "Helena, come with me.¡± ordered the Baron like the control freak he was.


    ¡°No, I will stay here with my friends.¡± Friends? When did that happen? Since when were Helen and I friends? I thought we were more like a distant family that tolerated each other. But if she thought of me as a friend, I wouldn¡¯t stab her in the back. Especially because she looked quite nervous when she said it. I just wasn¡¯t sure if it was because of the Baron or because of me. Anyway, I stood up and placed my hand on her shoulder.


    ¡°You heard her. Now do yourself a favor and buzz off.¡± When I said it, I realized that the Baron was quite a bit taller than me, not just a little and probably twice as heavy. Not that it mattered. I would probably still be able to pick him up with one hand, but he didn¡¯t need to know that.


    ¡°Yeah, buzz of Baron.¡± My cute little bother had come to fight for his girlfriend. While I had my stare off with the slime, he had sprung in between Helena and the Baron. Wait, it is too soon to call her his girlfriend. We barely reached the status "friend" twenty seconds ago. So maybe I should wait before I tell mother. Wait a moment. What if he just wants to be a normal friend with her? What if I interpreted too much into the small blush he had when he stared at her or him standing up for her?


    ¡°Food won¡¯t be flying into your mouth, no matter how long you let him open. Especially not with that stench. Please spare us. Something like that should be banned by law.¡± Well, to say I put oil in the fire would put it mildly. It was more on the scale of putting a virgin into a volcano, and the volcano then explodes for whatever reason. Do volcanos hate virgins?


    Anyway, I had to dodge his spit as he was foaming in anger. I know we overstayed our welcome. I mean, he had, but that didn¡¯t matter in that situation, and I signaled Helena to pack the book and run with us. While a tad slow, she caught on quick enough, and we let the Baron stand there, drowning in his own spit and anger.


    We searched another classroom to continue our studies, and I regretted not being able to use magic once more. My brother, the idiot, thought it was funny to use the same trick twice and enchanted the chair again.


    Now I was in a small dilemma. Did I want to expose him in front of his or our new friend, trade chairs with Helena, or become the idiot who fell for the same prank twice?


    I decided that the atmosphere would be more relaxed if I started with a joke, or in this case, a fart, so I sat down, triggering the spell in such a way that the fart was especially loud and long.


    ¡°Hahahaha¡± once again, Helena laughed. Damn, was that girl easy to impress. My brother was laughing too.


    "Oh, sorry. That was probably my breakfast.¡± The change in their expression was grandiose; before we, after a moment of silence, could laugh together.


    The next day, I offered my help again, but the two declined. Apparently, they had to really do some homework this time. The little traitors had abandoned me at the first opportunity. But what wouldn¡¯t I be for a big sister if I stood in the way between my eleven-year-old brother and the fifteen-year-old Helena, who laughed about every joke my brother told her? Was that a thing now, younger innocent boys? I looked at one of Uncle¡¯s new students. A young boy with brown hair and a cute little birthmark on his neck. Experiment failed. Eleven-year-old boys are only mildly cute. Like a doll can be cute, nothing more, and I honestly doubt that the kid is funny.


    With nothing else to do, I decided to spend my whole day in the bath. If there was a competition to see who could take the longest baths, they would only compete for the second place as my reign in the bath is ¡°Eternal!¡± I giggled at my own joke, that made me sound like the dark lord of bathrooms, while I waited for the water to fill in.


    I watched my body again in the mirror. It was frustrating, but my ribs were still visible. I guess the lunch I missed during the entrance ceremony was to blame. I mean, I always ate all my vegetables, and... no, wait a moment, I don¡¯t eat any vegetables. Never. But I ate my chicken drumsticks during breakfast, and I¡¯m sure I also had an additional pork chop today. I really did my best.


    Oh, the water is ready. Ahhh, relaxing as always. The only thing missing would be something cool to drink. Now the only thing still ruining my mood was that stupid mermaid. As it wasn¡¯t in the middle of the night, she was awake and thought she found her life''s calling by singing. It wasn¡¯t bad singing, but she also wasn¡¯t the best. As someone who had quite sensible hearing, it annoyed me. Sadly, she didn¡¯t seem to see any reason. I had to threaten her to sing along with her while also missing all the notes barely or changing the tempo randomly.


    The little mermaid looked at me as if I had just threatened her family, but I didn¡¯t care. I asked her nicely beforehand.

 Chapter 5

    When I arrived back in my room in the evening, I once again lamented my lack of magic. Something that instantly dried my hair after a bath would make my life so much more comfortable.


    I stood in front of my collection of clothes and was about to decide what to wear.


    Knock Knock


    I was a little confused. I didn¡¯t know why my mother would visit me at this time, especially since I hadn''t created any trouble if one didn¡¯t count the little mermaid.


    ¡°Come in.¡± If she was already here, she could help me choose a dress.


    ¡°Do you think the blue or the green look nicer?¡± I asked and turned around.


    ¡°Ahhhhh, get out, get out.¡± Instead of my mother, I looked into the tomato-red William. I didn¡¯t know what to do, as I was standing there barely in my panties. I tried to cover my chest with my arms until I realized that my scar was visible that way, so I changed my position multiple times before Willim had finally left my room.


    Couldn¡¯t he have knocked? Couldn¡¯t he have announced who he was before entering? Couldn¡¯t he have stopped staring earlier? ¡°Ahhh damned.¡±


    I was angry and embarrassed. One of the two more than the other. The problem was that I couldn¡¯t really fault him for that. At least not for the entering part. For the staring part, I could definitely fault him. The only question was if he had left after seeing my scar or if he was still waiting for the "date."


    I threw something over and risked a look through a small slit after opening the door a little.


    He was still there. Why was he still there? Didn¡¯t he only want the date because he thought I was pretty, not knowing about my true self?


    ¡°Charly I¡­ I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t see anything. II..¡±


    ¡°Liar.¡± I had seen him ogling me, no need to lie about it. It won¡¯t change the fact that it happened.


    ¡°Sorry. I didn¡¯t know that you were naked. I swear, I wouldn¡¯t have come in if I knew.¡±


    Had that idiot just told me that he was too focused staring on my chest to notice my scar? Should that make me feel better? It kind of did, but I was still far from feeling good.


    ¡°Did you see it?¡± I asked. I wanted to be sure.


    ¡°See what?¡± he questioned, and I wasn¡¯t sure if he was playing dump. It was quite hard to read someone if one couldn¡¯t really see them.


    ¡°Do you still want the date?¡± I asked him.


    "Yes, of course. Why wouldn¡¯t I want to have a date with you?¡± That was definitely suspicious. Did someone pay him? Was he retarded? Was he trying to prank me?


    ¡°Wait a moment,¡± I said. I would give him one final test. If he was still willing to go out with me afterwards, I would give him his honest chance.


    I hurried and changed into my red dress. The one that made me look good. With the only exception that the dress didn¡¯t cover the scar on my arm.


    I looked one final time in the mirror and noticed that my hair was still partially wet and would normally need at least half an hour of care before I could go out.


    ¡°Come in.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure.¡±


    ¡°Yes, this time I am.¡± Couldn¡¯t he have been this careful before?


    ¡°Woow.¡± He stared at me, his eyes wide open. Not as wide as the first time we saw each other today, but it was close. It made me feel strange. On one side, I liked that he looked at me like that; on the other side, I didn¡¯t even like him. I didn¡¯t want to give him hope that there was a future for us. And as much as I wanted to deny it, I didn¡¯t want it to give me hope. I didn¡¯t want to get hurt. I had been hurt enough by hope. In my opinion, hope was the most cruel punishment one could give. For every step it pulled you up, you would fall ten downwards when you realized it was a false hope.


    ¡°Is the scar not ugly?¡± I asked him directly while staring at him. I didn¡¯t even blink when he answered or when I hoped for an answer.


    Instead of answering, he started to laugh. Not a full-out laughter, more like laughter that he had tried to suppress.


    ¡°Get out!¡± I yelled at him and realized that I indeed had hoped again and that once again I had been punished for it.


    "No, wait, it¡¯s a misunderstanding.¡± I didn¡¯t listen to him anymore and pushed him out of the door. He tried to struggle, but I was far stronger than him.


    ¡°Wait Charly I¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t call me Charly!¡± I yelled at the closed door.


    ¡°Please, just listen to me. I didn¡¯t laugh at you. I laughed at myself. You know¡­¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to hear it; please just leave." I feel my tears already streaming down my face.


    "No, I won¡¯t leave. Not after I just realized what our problem was. Please just listen. If you say that I¡¯m wrong, I will leave.¡±


    I didn¡¯t answer him and caught myself hoping again. Hoping that he wasn¡¯t lying. Hoping that there really was a misunderstanding.


    ¡°You know, I wanted to talk to you since my third grade, right?¡± He asked, but seemed to accept that I was just listening.


    ¡°The reason wasn¡¯t because I was attracted to your beauty. Even though I still think you are one of the most beautiful women I have ever seen." If he really needed to lie, he should at least make it believable. Especially after having seen my arm.


    He had stopped. Why had he stopped? Why didn¡¯t he continue to tell me why he asked me out in the first place?


    I waited.


    ¡°Will you tell me or not?¡± I asked, a little annoyed.


    ¡°I thought you weren¡¯t listening anymore, sorry.¡± He said but I could feel the happiness in his voice.


    ¡°When I was at the end of my second year, maybe you don¡¯t remember it, but you played a lot of pranks on Conrad Windsor and his gang. Maybe you remember me from then.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t.¡± I answered truthfully. A good memory was not one of my blessings, as today''s ¡°date¡± proved quite well.


    ¡°Anyway, the point is that you played a lot of pranks on them without them even noticing. The good and the bad part of the story is that they thought it was my doing it. They had bullied me before, but after you started to prank them, they started to fear me a little.¡±


    ¡°Is that all? I took care of you, bullies?¡± I asked a little perplexed that someone would want to date me because of that. Was love so cheap?


    ¡°No, that¡¯s not it. I mean, it''s part of it. After you helped me, I started to ask around about you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t see how this could have led to our current situation.¡±


    ¡°Just let me finish speaking.¡±


    ¡°Do you want to finish looking as well?¡±


    ¡°What?¡± Okay, I admit that was mean, even though I¡¯m not sure if the joke was at his or my cost.


    ¡°Just continue. It was a joke. Man, I can''t believe you thought I would let you for even a second.


    One didn¡¯t need to be able to look through doors to know that he was blushing.


    ¡°It just took me by surprise. So anyway. I asked around a bit and noticed that you had quite the bad reputation.¡±


    ¡°So you are into girls with a bad reputation?¡± I asked a little confused.


    ¡°What? No, that¡¯s not the point of the story. Just let me finish speaking.¡± He almost pleaded, and I could hear a little frustration in his voice. I decided that I had annoyed him enough. I actually wanted to know what he wanted to tell me, I was just punishing him a little because he was a little pervert.


    ¡°So then I asked around a little more. I noticed that many people who were talking badly about you had never really talked to you. It¡¯s just because of your eyes that they think...¡±


    ¡°I know that part; skip to the interesting part,¡± I interrupted. I didn¡¯t want a complete overview of the good and bad I had committed and what people attributed to me just because I was a tinsy little bit special.


    ¡°To sum it up, I know that you are a nice person. You just go to great lengths to hide it. And I wanted to get to know you. The real you. Not the picture of the silent savior I had about you for some time, not the girl that is hated for no real reason. Not the girl who tries to somehow push everyone away from herself. I wanted to get to know the real you.¡±


    Well, that was a big load of crap. I didn¡¯t push everyone away. I had mother, Percival, and Uncle Severin. But at least it was nice to know that he was not only looking after my appearance.


    I sighed. My consciousness told me that I should at least give him the one date I promised him. He had put so much effort into finding out about¡­ me. Well, that didn¡¯t speak for his intelligence, but a promise was a promise.


    I slowly opened the door and led him back in.


    ¡°Thank you; I thought I had screwed up.¡± He said visibly relived.


    ¡°You almost did. I have to admit, you are really stubborn. I¡¯m sorry for interrupting you the whole time. I know you just wanted to explain yourself, but I sometimes react that way if someone is coming closer to me."


    He stared at me. A little disbelieving.


    ¡°What? If you don¡¯t like it, you can go.¡±


    "No, that¡¯s not it; I was just surprised that you apologized for it. I didn¡¯t expect that.


    ¡°Why, shouldn¡¯t I apologize for something I did wrong?¡±


    ¡°That is a surprisingly mature attitude.¡± What should that mean? Was he trying to... Ah whatever.


    ¡°So where are we going to? I asked him, not wanting to linger too long on my errors. I was willing to apologize, but that didn¡¯t mean that I enjoyed it pretty much.


    ¡°Did you forget that you were responsible for picking the place?¡±


    I was what? Oh, wait, he is right. Damn, I forgot about that part.


    ¡°Well, would you be angry if I said I forgot?¡± I asked him. Half expecting him to get angry before I realized that if he was that easy to anger, we wouldn¡¯t even be in my room.


    ¡°No. But I still want to go to a place you pick. Like I said, I want to get to know you, and that¡¯s what dates are there for. So let''s just go to your favorite place if you want to.¡±


    ¡°You have seen enough already. I¡¯m not going to the bath with you.¡±


    He blushed a little, and to my surprise, I felt the warmth rise into my face too. I should stop making jokes about it. It was obviously not good for both of us. The problem is, the bath really was my favorite place.


    ¡°Then we go to your second favorite place.¡±


    Thankfully, he said that. Bought me time to decide which place I liked the most after the bath.


    ¡°I know where. Follow me.¡±


    ¡°Wait. The picnic basket.¡± He said, and I saw a small picnic basket with a few blankets and bottles next to my door .


    ¡°Can I finally get back into my frame?¡±


    Ups, I forgot that the portrait I used as an entrance was used by that Greek guy. Archi-something. Maybe I should treat him nicer. He normally never complains, even when I wake him up in the middle of the night.


    After I apologized to Achimedis and led William out of the castle,


    ¡°Where are you pulling me to?¡± Was he getting impatient? I didn¡¯t know. I didn¡¯t even know if what I was going out for was really there today.


    ¡°You wanted to see my second favorite spot. It¡¯s just that he is a little bit outside your usual routes.


    "Initially, I wanted to see your favorite spot.¡± He complained. I was contemplating giving him a soft kick for that, but I was scared that I would accidentally break his leg or something.


    On the other hand, I liked that he was picking up with my way of thinking. If what he asked for weren¡¯t so embarrassing, I would have applauded him for that.


    ¡°We are almost there. We are lucky.¡± I said as I saw the place. It was at the edge of the forest, but still on the planes. A small hill from which I could see the great lake, and on the hill walked one of the most majestic beasts I knew.


    ¡°Why are we lucky? Because there are no clouds? Do you want to see the stars together?¡± He asked, a little confused.


    I internally facepalmed. I forgot that not everyone can see them. Uncle told me that only those who had seen death could see them.


    ¡°Do you know anything about Morntrals?¡± I just wanted to make sure how much I needed to explain to him.


    ¡°Nothing?¡±


    Uneducated Idiot. Ups, did I say that out loud? No, I didn¡¯t. That was close. Brain, calm down. We want to be nice today.


    ¡°Morntrals are like the unpopular cousins of Lumosil. You know what a Lumosil is, right?¡± I asked him, hoping that he wasn¡¯t so uneducated to not even know what a Lumosil is.


    ¡°Yes naturally. Small dragons with white hair instead of scales that are said be the protectors of Love. It¡¯s said only those who experienced true love could see them. They are in so many stories, who doesn¡¯t know them? But what do they have to do with Morntrals, and why are they relevant right now?¡±


    </a>


    If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.


    The black one is a Mornthral and the white one is a Lumosil.


    They can fly via magic even thought they don''t have wings.


    ¡°Well, before I explain it, I want you to feel it.¡± I said, and grabbed his hand, and pulled him towards the big Morntral on the hill.


    When we were around ten meters away from him, he turned around and stared at me with his big yellow eyes. I recognized that Morntral. He had a scary scar on the right side of his face where no hair grew. I had met him a few months ago, when I was here the last time. I gave him the name Harvey. Or was it Steve? I should stop naming any animal I see. It was Harvey, I¡¯m sure. Almost.


    ¡°Most likely Harvey¡± stood up when we were five meters away. He was tall, almost two meter shoulder height, and his black hair reached to the ground.


    I could see that he was eyeing me cautiously but wasn¡¯t aggressive. I went slower and slower before I was able to reach out my hand and touch his snout.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked William, confused, as I was petting Harvey. It must look quite strange when one is unable to see Harvey, but I wanted to pull through with this.


    Instead of answering, I took his hand and slowly guided it towards Harvey. I wasn¡¯t sure if Harvey wanted to punish me for forgetting his name, but instead of staying still like when I patted him, he came a step closer and licked our hands with his slimy, long, coarse tongue. It was honestly quite disgusting, so I wasn¡¯t surprised when William jumped back in shock.


    ¡°What was that?¡±


    ¡°That was Harvey, a Morntral. Imagine him as a Lumosil, with the exception that his hair is pitch black and reaches to the ground. Even their eyes are covered by the long hair. They also can¡¯t be seen by everyone.¡± I explained, hesitating if I should tell him what kind of people could see them.


    The next few minutes were quite fascinating to watch as William tried multiple times to touch Harvey, who always moved a step away.


    ¡°Come here, I will help you.¡± After some time of watching the comedy in front of me, I decided that I should probably help him, so I guided him again.


    ¡°That is incredible. That such a large animal can live with us, and most can¡¯t even see them. How does that even work?¡± I flinched a little at that question. I didn¡¯t know if I wanted to talk about something personal on the first date.


    That was strange. Was my brain just telling me there will be a second? Brain, I said peaceful, not lovey-dovey mode.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know if I really want to tell you. I mean, it¡¯s not really a big secret, but I know what question will follow.¡±


    ¡°So you are saying I should look it up in the library by myself?¡± Was that guy dense? I just told him I didn¡¯t want to talk about it, and now he is trying to portray me as someone who would give him homework. I¡¯m not someone like that. I¡¯m not mother. I don¡¯t give homework.


    "Fine, you win. Only those who have experienced Death can see Morntrals.¡± What an idiot!


    ¡°Experienced Death?¡± The standard question What did I expect? I naturally mean the skeletal guy who uses an old, rusty farming tool to reap souls. That death.


    ¡°Those that have seen someone die. Someone they were close to. And they need to feel responsible for their death. They need to wish that they could have died instead. In some Legends a Lumosil who lost its partner transforms into a Morntral¡± Now it comes. The question we all have waited for.


    Except it didn¡¯t come. That fool instead did something I would have expected mother to do. He hugged me. His reaction surprised me so much that I even forgot to resist. I could smell his hair, his clothes and hear his breath in my neck. At least he had showered beforehand and brushed his teeth, unlike some other uncultured swiny Baron.


    ¡°Do you want to talk about it?¡± Yeah, naturally, I want to tell everyone my life story on the first date. Maybe I should make a flyer and throw it around at school. Now that I think about it, this is my first "first date". Mmmmhh do I tell him or not? I have never really talked with anyone about it. Even Percival doesn¡¯t know.


    ¡°Is this really a first date topic?¡± I asked him, a little unsure.


    ¡°Do you want a second date?¡± What a whity idiot! There can only be one answer to that question.


    ¡°No.¡±


    ¡°Then it is a first date question.¡± Damn, he got me. But do I really have to? When he asked me, there was as much curiosity in his face as there was worry. Even now, the worry still didn¡¯t disappear, and I knew he wouldn¡¯t force me to answer.


    ¡°Tell me something about yourself first, and then I will decide if I tell you.¡± Okay, now it would be fair trade. Wait a moment. I don¡¯t want to know anything about him. That is not a fair trade. I want my money back.


    ¡°Is there something specific you want to know?¡± he asked me, smiling a little. Could I bring it over my little heart to whip that smile from his face and say the truth? Say that I don¡¯t care and that everything is fine. Damn, yeah, I can.


    ¡°Tell me about your family." Mouth, I think I have a complaint. You missed our last meeting. We agreed to say that we don¡¯t care.


    ¡°My Family? Sure. Well, my father, William Whimsby Sr., owned a Fwooper farm in the Highlands until he got married to my mom. Her parents worked with dragons. Basically, every dragonheartstring core in the country was supplied by them, and almost every dragonlether glove was made by them. They naturally wanted that such a business gets continued, so my father closed the Fwooper Farm, and we now live in Bristol. I¡¯m the oldest of three brothers. The second one, Henry, is in his third year, and the youngest, Geroge, will enroll in Toadwits next year. My grandparents from both sides are both dead by now, but I wasn¡¯t present when it happened. Obviously. So yeah, I guess that¡¯s it, or do you want something more specific?¡±


    Wow. His father was really a genius. Naming his son after himself. Normally I would say that I would have probably forgotten the rest by tomorrow but a Dragon Farm sounded awesome. I would like to see a Dragon someday but mother told me it is to dangerous. But if they have a farm, it should be possible I think. He also had two brothers. Maybe one of them could become a friend for Percival. I know my brother has greater problems finding friends than me. No wait that is wrong. He just things that finding friends is more important.


    ¡°To be honest, I¡¯m not good with this stuff. I wouldn¡¯t even know what else I should ask. I mean, besides asking if your dad and mother are nice or how your siblings are, I wouldn¡¯t even know if there was something one could ask.¡± Okay, that was surprisingly honest. Brain I¡¯m currently contemplating whether you should get a promotion or a demotion.


    ¡°There is plenty of stuff you could ask, but it''s not like you need to ask. I mean, it¡¯s not like the founders of Toadwits are my family, where every little detail is interesting.¡± Well, they aren¡¯t mine either, so what do you want to tell me here? I guess he doesn¡¯t know. And here I assumed he had put effort into his research. So much for disappointing on the first date. But I guess he told me something, so it¡¯s my turn now.


    ¡°Is everything okay?¡± What was he talking about now?


    ¡°Your hands are shaking. But it''s quite warm here. Ohh. Wait a moment.¡±


    He pulled a blanket out of his picnic basket. No, he pulled out two blankets, one for us to sit on and one to cover us. I wasn¡¯t sure if I should tell him that we would be sitting barely a few inches away from Harvey, but I decided against it.


    ¡°Come, sit down.¡± I sat down at the edge of the blanket. Quite close to Harvey.


    "Hey, what are you doing?¡± I protested.


    ¡°Covering us both with a blanket?¡± he answered but looked more confused about what my problem was than the actual question.


    "Fine, but keep your hands to yourself.¡± I said, quite dissatisfied with the arrangement of sitting so close next to him under a blanket. How far did he want me to go for that single date? I mean, he has already seen me almost completely naked, so I think we can cross that off the list. I just hope he doesn¡¯t plan to kiss me later on. I didn¡¯t want to give him hope, but for some reason my body is doing what it wants today, and the situation afterwards would be quite awkward.


    ¡°Are you better now? Your hands at least stopped shaking.¡± Should I tell him that the cold barely affects me and let him live in his belief that he helped me? Well, it won¡¯t hurt me, and I guess it would make him happy.


    I lightly nodded.


    "Wow, the stars are beautiful. Do you see the reflections in the lake? This spot is awesome.¡± It''s my second favorite spot; what did he expect? Naturally, the view is awesome. If I only wanted him to see old Harvey, I would have drawn him a picture. I guess in that case he would have been able to see Harvey better than now, but my point still stands. But still, the sky is so clear tonight that the view is really awesome, even if one considers that the view would always be good from this spoot.


    I knew it. I felt a hand carefully touching mine. He can¡¯t keep his hands to himself. I will just let it go because he complimented my spot. And after a minute, I will pull my hand away. Yes, that sounds like a solid plan.


    Oh, no, is that a head that is coming near me? Stop. SoS. Momy. Help. I don¡¯t want this. I leaned so far away from him as our shared blanked allowed.


    He seemed to have realized that I didn¡¯t want it because he looked quite embarrassed.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, it was just in the heat of the moment.¡±


    ¡°I think you forgot the reason why I even agreed to this date in the first place. Why did you think that was a good idea?¡± Oh, I said that out loud. Ups. Sorry William. I didn¡¯t want to be so direct, you are a nice guy, and what you have done so far wasn¡¯t really that bad. Please don¡¯t take it personally.


    He did take it personally. He looked quite hurt. I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to.


    ¡°I think it would be better if we go back now.¡± No, please. I¡¯m really sorry.


    ¡°But I didn¡¯t tell you my story yet.¡± I stammered. Why was I working so hard to keep him here? I should be relieved that he finally accepted defeat.


    ¡°The story you didn¡¯t even want to tell me? Why would you want to tell me now if you did your best to keep me away till now?¡± That wasn¡¯t fair. I wasn¡¯t ready. I am not ready. I just¡­ Why can''t he just sit back down and talk a bit more about his family? It was so nice until now.


    "Fine, you win. But just a short one.¡± I said, gnashing my teeth.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± Did he want to humiliate me now?


    ¡°A kiss, you idiot. You wanted a kiss, didn¡¯t you? Sit back down, and I give you one.¡± I can''t believe I said that. What has become of my plan to let the poor guy go as pain-free as possible?


    ¡°Are you sure? You didn¡¯t look really enthusiastic about it just a minute ago.¡± I know. I know. Just sit down now and let''s get over it.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m sure.¡± Not really, but come on, it''s my first kiss. I would never be sure about that.


    He slowly sat back on the blanked and we were sitting closer than ever.


    He stared at me, waiting in anticipation. I could see his veins pulsate and could only guess that my own body was glowing like a red candle.


    I slowly went a little closer. I was close enough to feel the warmth of his body on my skin.


    ¡°No tongue. If you do that, I will bite.¡± I whispered, and before he could answer, I pecked him on the lips. Quick and efficient. That wasn¡¯t so bad, was it? I mean, I¡¯m not hurt, and he is smiling from ear to ear. This is a win, I guess. Oh brain, you will definitely get the demotion. Since when have my priorities shifted like that? Okey, who wants Brain¡¯s old job? No, Hearth, not you; I suspect you were a partner in crime. If liver could pump blood, you would lose your job too. Okey, Stomach, you got the promotion. New priorities are food.


    "Hey, what are you¡­?¡± Wow, while still working through the trauma of my first kiss, that idiot thought he could use the opportunity to snatch another one. Seriously.


    Wait, that doesn¡¯t feel so bad. The kiss is far longer than the fist. I can actually feel his lips on mine. Kind of salty, to be honest, but not really disgusting salty; more like just the right amount of salty. Is that a thing? I don¡¯t know. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have given my stomach the command.


    When his lips separated from mine, he grinned at me. ¡°Was that really so bad?¡± Yes, yes, it was. You didn¡¯t ask for permission.


    I realized that I was putting on a pouting face. Oh no, NOOOOOOO! Mother told me that women only did that when they wanted to look cute in front of their boyfriend. I don¡¯t want to look cute in front of him. Why did I do that? Do I really? No, that can¡¯t be. He doesn¡¯t even know. He needs to know. Now and fast. Otherwise, it will become horrible.


    "No, it wasn¡¯t.¡± I answered, but that idiot interrupted me.


    ¡°And yet you are not satisfied. What makes you unhappy? Speak to me?¡± Idiot, if you would let me talk, we could already be halfway through.


    ¡°You need to know a few things, and please don¡¯t interrupt me. I will only tell you this once.¡±


    He nodded. Thanks the magic, at least he listens now.


    ¡°So about the topic, I didn¡¯t talk about. My mom died during my birth. But she didn¡¯t die the usual death. She was killed. Killed by a vampire named Corvinus. I don¡¯t even know if that¡¯s really his name or just an identity he used at that time. Anyway, my mother became pregnant with me when she had just turned sixteen. It was a time before Toadwits, and she had Nowitz parents, so while she was a witch, she didn¡¯t really realize it herself. My father was just a run-of-the-mill farmer. Eight months later, Corvinus appeared on the farm. He had killed my father and did ¡­. Did things to my mother. He must have thought she was dead because he simply walked away when she lied in her own blood. But my mother was "alive", and she was slowly turning into a vampire. She knew probably instinctively that I wouldn¡¯t be able to survive the transformation, so she started to scratch her own stomach open and bit through the umbilical cord before dying. She died seconds after. Mother, I mean Helga Humblehill, told me that my birth was, in some sense, a wonder. Normally, during a vampire attack, the bite first kills the victim and then transforms the victim into a vampire. But because the poison was used up to kill my mother and the transformation was already starting before the poison could kill me as well, I became some kind of hybrid. Not Vampire but also not human. I¡¯m weaker than a vampire but far stronger than a human; I get sunburns within seconds, and I still have a mirror image. But like with vampires, my magic gets used to strengthen my cells. So when I use magic, I essentially steal the energy from my own body. There are a few other changes I won¡¯t explain now, but I think you get the gist of it.¡±


    He looked at me, eager to say something, but was waiting for my permission to speak. At least that has worked so far.


    ¡°Ask your questions. I¡¯m sure you have a lot.¡± I said. My mind, which was preciously jumping around like crazy, was surprisingly calm now.


    ¡°Can I give you a hug?¡± Is he serious? I tell him that I¡¯m not human, and his first idea is to hug me? Well maybe I should have told him that I could suck out his blood faster than he can count to twenty.


    ¡°You sure?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, or are you going to bite me now?¡± What an idiotic question. If I wanted to do that, he would already be lying on the seabed of the lake.


    His embrace felt warm, like the previous one, yet different. He knew what I was and still dared to. His survival instinct is probably underdeveloped.


    Why am I crying again? I don¡¯t feel hurt.


    ¡°No need to cry; everything is fine. I¡¯m here for you.¡± Yep, definitely a fool. I couldn¡¯t stop just because I wanted to.


    Crying or not, we laid there in each other''s arms, not moving an inch. Even when Harvey decided that he wanted to leave us alone.


    ¡°Charly?¡± he asked.


    ¡°You know that I hate it when you call me that. My name is Charlotte. ¡°


    ¡°Sorry I will..¡±


    ¡°You will do nothing. Its fine. But only you are allowed to call me that. You know, Charlotte was the name my mother had given me, and Elenor was my mother''s name. It¡¯s the only thing I have left from her.¡± I didn¡¯t know why I told him that, but I guess the most logical explanation would be that I want him to understand what it means to me when I allow him to call me by a different name.


    ¡°Thank you, Charly.¡± He gave me a small pec on the lips. This time I didn¡¯t resist, but instead waited patiently for the question he wanted to ask.


    ¡°How do you know that all? You were still a child, right?¡± Okey, I want another guy, this one is stupid.


    ¡°You do know that seers look as much into the past as they look into the future, with the difference that the past is actually fixed, right?¡± His eyes told me he didn¡¯t know. But at least I didn¡¯t need to explain the rest to him.


    ¡°I understand. Okay, next question. Vampires are immortal and unchanging. How do you look like this?¡± Honestly, this was a question even mother wasn¡¯t sure of.


    ¡°Our most likely theory is that I aged until I reached the same age as my mother. I used her cells to transform. But there might be other explanations too. Maybe that is just the age hybrids like me reach.


    ¡°And you will remain like that for the rest of your life?¡± Was he worried that I would grow old and ugly? No, if that were the case, he would have left the moment he saw my scar.


    ¡°Probably. I haven¡¯t aged for almost two years.¡±


    ¡°So, I will grow old and die while you will live on withoutf me.¡± Uh difficult question. Do I tell him about my tears? Mother told me not to. Uncle is the only other person that knows, but mother doesn¡¯t know that.


    ¡°Does that worry you?¡±


    ¡°Naturally. I mean, at the moment, that looks so far into the future, but my body will probably be older than yours at the end of the month.¡± Okey, I honestly don¡¯t know what he thinks I should do. He doesn¡¯t know about my tears, so he might think I could transform him.


    ¡°I can turn no one Will.¡±


    ¡°Will?¡± Does he really want to play that game now?


    ¡°Do you have a problem with that?¡± I asked him teasingly. If he had, he would have to return to Charlotte for the next fifty years.


    "No, its fine. I just didn¡¯t take you for a person who would use a short name.¡± What was that supposed to mean? Was that good or bad now that I did it? Brain, please, I need instructions.


    ¡°You were worrying about growing old. I just thought you wanted to save time.¡± Okey, that sounds like old me. Brain, we are happy now; we don¡¯t do that anymore.


    "Hey, I won¡¯t crumble to dust the next second.¡± Compared to eternity, he might as well do, but I wouldn¡¯t let that happen.


    The only problem. I couldn¡¯t cry on command, and the prospect of getting hurt to tears on a regular basis sounded not really enticing. Maybe I should catch every tear I shed from now on.


    ¡°Close your eyes.¡± I would just feed him one or two tears from earlier. They haven¡¯t completely dried yet. He doesn¡¯t need to know its effect yet.


    ¡°And now?¡± Now surprise. ¡°Did you just put your finger into my mouth?¡±


    ¡°Yes? Is that a problem?¡± I stare at him. He didn¡¯t know it, but I had just gifted him around one month of life.


    ¡°No? But you have to admit that it''s weird.¡± Well, I guess he would need to live with weirdness then.


    ¡°Did you hear that? I think I heard thunder in the distance. Maybe we should go back before the rain comes.¡± I didn¡¯t need to lie there to avoid the awkward situation, as there really was rain coming for us. In fact, I was too late to warn us, as the way was quite long and Will didn¡¯t want to get carried by me.


    So we both got wet because my boyfriend had a problem with his masculinity if I carried him. Wait, did I just call him my boyfriend? I needed to make that clear as soon as possible. It would be quite embarrassing if I told mother about it, and he then said they weren¡¯t at that stage yet. Is there some kind of guideline or checklist one needs to work through, and then it is an automatic process? I mean, he had seen me almost naked already, so that had to count for something.


    When we arrived at the castle, he was already completely soaked. I took him to my room, as it was a shorter way. I was just contemplating to let him strip for me in return for what he did when I realized something. He could use magic. What an idiot! Or maybe he was a genius, depending on what he wanted. To be honest, I would prefer if it were the letter. It would be more fun that way. I mean, dealing with a fox is more fun than dealing with a lapdog. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t compare him to animals; it might anger him.


    ¡°Use your wand to dry yourself up. Are you a wizard or not?¡±


    I saw how he immediately used the wand to dry himself up. Maybe he was a fox in sheepcoating. Or was it a wolf? Still, punishment was necessary.


    ¡°Nice try. Almost worked too. But now you need to go.¡± I said. I would have thrown him out anyway, but he didn¡¯t need to know that. I needed some time to process what had happened today. It felt like my emotions were a small fishing boat in a century storm, and I¡¯m honestly surprised it worked out so well. Which in itself was a bit strange, as just this morning this outcome was far from my definition of well.


    Oh noo, he looked at me with puppy eyes. Anyway, I threw him out.


    Well, he did manage to sneak another kiss in, but the more we did it, the more I enjoyed it. Not only the act itself but the whole game around it. It was like the prank wars with my uncle and He-Who-Shall-Not-Be-Named. It was a constant but friendly competition with an ever-changing dynamic. It was fun as long as one stayed within certain boundaries. Boundaries that he and I needed to set first. But I guess that could wait for our next meeting. Maybe I should also tell him about a few things I left out in my explanation. But was he really ready to hear the full story? Would he just hug me again? Would that be his answer to everything? I mean, I wouldn¡¯t complain, but I think I should give him some time to sort out his feelings too.


    The next day was a Saturday. The best day of the week. At least that¡¯s what Uncle always says because he doesn¡¯t work on Saturdays.


    I spent the night reading. The same page over and over. Maybe the past evening was distracting me a little, as I tried to evaluate my actions. To say I was difficult would be an understatement, but I wasn¡¯t sure if I should make it easier for him. Maybe he does like a bit of drama.


    Ahhh damned I can¡¯t do drama on command. Okay, that was not true, but I didn¡¯t enjoy it that way.

 Chapter 6

    <div>


    I went early to get breakfast. I hoped to meet Will there, but to my disappointment, he didn¡¯t show up. Not even till the end. Should I bring him something to his common room? Would that be strange? It surely would be. We barely had our first date. Yes, breakfast delivery to your bed is something for after the third, maybe the fourth date. On the other hand, if he was really ill, then it would be totally normal to do it after the first. Damned, why is there no guide for something like that? Can someone please give me a bit of common sense? My whole family lacks that, so we take the family package.


    I looked over to Severin''s tables and saw how a few students were cheering at the table¡­ Okey, that couldn¡¯t be true. I went over and saw how Uncle had betrayed me. He had completed the shrinking potion, and a one-inch version of him was fighting against animated chess figures.


    Besides the feeling that we should take the family package, common sense two times, the betrayal hit me hard. I had poked Uncle the whole week, and he always sent me off, and now he was fighting alone instead of together with me.


    I silently waited for him to finish while his students cheered him on. I know he noticed me. His movements became more stiff and less flashy than they could be. I know he held back because I developed a few of the flashier moves together with him. Naturally, these moves were just for pure aesthetics, but they were still our moves, and I know he felt bad for using them while having me excluded from the event without asking beforehand.


    "Uncle, we need to talk.¡± I said calmly. If he had done that the day before, I would have probably already started to curse him before running away, but Will had shown me that stubbornness and the endurance to finish a whole conversation could pay off.


    ¡°Charlotte, I¡¯m sorry. But your mother had¡­¡± Okey, I know where this was going and I already hated it.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care; you were the chosen one. You were the amazing Uncle. The person I could go to when I had something I couldn¡¯t talk about with mother. I have trusted you, and then without a word, you do this.¡± The broken chess pieces were just symbolic of what he had destroyed with his actions.


    ¡°What should I have done? Your mother and I have different opinions, and she said you should have absolutely nothing to do with it, but I cannot spend time with you and not talk openly. We have never done that, and I knew I couldn¡¯t.¡±


    Okey, I can say that I can understand him a little, but that doesn¡¯t mean that we can just return to how it was, especially if the situation hadn¡¯t changed. I mean, he was barely as big as a finger of mine, but I was under no illusion that it would change anything between us. Not that I ever considered fighting against him, but when I saw him battling the chess pieces, I had the urge to poke him a little with my nails.


    ¡°Why do you all think I can¡¯t decide what¡¯s best for me? I¡¯m an adult, you know.¡± Just a week ago, I would have never called me an adult. But if adults behaved like they did, I could do it too.


    ¡°Just legally, we both know that you are a child by choice.¡±


    ¡°But that¡¯s just for the unimportant matters. If there is a war¡­¡±


    ¡°Not If. When there is a war¡­ The war is inevitable; the question is just which site starts it.¡±


    ¡°What, Why? Can¡¯t we negotiate with them? If they don¡¯t want the children, they just need to send them over. No need to kill anyone.¡±


    Uncle smiled at me. I know that smile. He shows it when I say something na?ve or stupid.


    ¡°At this point, it¡¯s not about the children anymore. You fail to grasp the whole situation and, more importantly, the motives of each side.¡±


    ¡°Then explain it to me. Why is that so difficult? You did it multiple times in the past.¡±


    ¡°It''s not so easy. When I said you don¡¯t know the motives of each side, I was generous. You probably don¡¯t even know how many sides there are. We have the church. They hate all wizards and want to eliminate magic because it¡¯s a domain only their god should be able to possess. Then there are the church wizards. They get used by the church to achieve their goal, while the wizards try to get into positions that the church can¡¯t simply remove them afterwards. They achieve that by winning battles. If my idea about them is right, if they won, they would reconstruct the magic system and make it something like a divine energy system. My spies told me they are even discussing building a giant church and using it as a school. They would basically copy our system but attribute anything to their god. Then there are the religion-free wizards. There are people like me who think that we have two options. One is to eradicate the church wizards and then only accept children from wizarding households to prevent any repeat of what is happening at the moment. The other option is to wage a total, all-out war. While the initial casualties might be immeasurably high, after that, we could extinguish any faith with almost no effort, and all magical children would receive the support they needed. Then there is a faction around Gregor. While he doesn¡¯t want to start the war, he wants to win it. He would try to save as many children as possible and strike back in full force as soon as the war begins. He thinks we would have more support from the common wizards that way, but I think behind all his supposed bravery is a coward unwilling to do what needs to be done.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t help but smirk at Severin¡¯s comment about Gregor. Everyone idealized him as the mightiest wizard alive, so hearing that Severin called him a coward was quite satisfying.


    ¡°Then there is your mother. She believes in a prophecy that a wizard who graduates within the next ten years will stop the situation. She has a few supporters because of her reputation as a seer, but it''s not much compared to Gregors or my support. And lastly, there are a few oddballs like Seraphina. She has suggested two outrageous theories that might actually work but, in short term, would do nothing. She wants either all wizards to convert to the religion, support the Church wizard faction, and end the war before it even starts, or we could give the Nowitzs a few revolutionary technical improvements and introduce the belief that there is no higher power and that everything can be explained by science, and even if not, that is just because we lack the right tools for the moment. Then there are the parties that just want to profit from the situation. Trading groups on both sides try to fuel the war. But instead of finishing it fast, they want it to last for a long time. Then I heard about a wizard¡­¡±


    This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Stop it, Uncle. I don¡¯t need to know about every single wizard in Great Britain.¡± What relevance has it if there are three wizards that live in a shak that want to feed the top church people hallucinogens and then ¡°descend¡± as their gods to stop the war?


    ¡°And that¡¯s why I say you are a child. You need to understand people¡¯s goals and motivations if you want to rope them in.¡± blababla blabla. At this point, he just wants to convince me that he hasn¡¯t wasted his time collecting all this information.


    ¡°So, what can I do? How can I help?¡± That¡¯s the only relevant question for me. A war sounds terrible, and I don¡¯t want it to happen, but if there is a war, I want to make sure we win it.


    ¡°That depends on the side you want to pick. But if I should make a recommendation that would bring you the least amount of trouble, I would say you can help with your mother''s plan.¡± What''s mother¡¯s plan? I thought it was a Prophecy with a capital P. That thing should work without me doing it.


    ¡°Helga would be disappointed to see your expression right now. A Prophecy that gets ignored by everyone is really unlikely to happen. And as much as it steals my time at the moment, even I wouldn¡¯t ignore one of your mothers¡¯ prophecies, so I have taken in three personal students. Just like Seraphina and Gregor. Ironically, only your mother hasn''t, but she is spending all her energy to focus on all students. She is probably working herself to death right now.¡± Why did I hear about this for the first time? Oh right, Uncle didn¡¯t talk to me for the whole week, and Mother was obviously too busy.


    ¡°So you want me to take in a student too?¡± Did I just get a promotion? From student to teacher? Just wait, Will; you will get detention as soon as I see you.


    ¡°Not your own, no. But you could assist in a few lessons once in a while. You know, my three are quite the slacks in potions, so you could help me by teaching them the basics. Or you could help Gregor. He had just introduced his new course, Defense Against Martial Weapons. I¡¯m sure you could help there.¡± Defense Against Martial Weapons? That sounded so cool, and I wanted to go immediately. Sadly, my lecherous, perverted, cheater uncle was giving these lessons, so helping there was not an option.


    Still, Uncle Severin knows that I would never help my least favorite family member, so he was basically saying I should do his work. But on the other hand, teaching potions could be fun. And it would help Uncle and Mother.


    ¡°So when can I hold my first potion class?¡± Now that I said that, I was really eager to teach. I could meet a few people who were unable to run away from me. I can make them work. They have to laugh about my jokes. Wait. Is that even a thing? Uncle never told jokes in his lessons. Only HE does that. So no jokes in class.


    ¡°Wednesday, first lesson after breakfast. If it goes well, you can teach them permanently.¡±


    ¡°Fine¡­ But I want a few of these shrinking potions.¡± They looked so fun.


    After getting my well-earned potions, I needed to find something to do. I could prepare my first lesson. It needs to be super awesome and cool. Or I could find Will and talk with him about that boyfriend thingy. It was really difficult not to tell Uncle, but I don¡¯t believe I can remain silent for another few days.


    I guess, unless I run into Will, I should probably start with rereading the first year schoolbooks about potions.


    A few minutes later, as I hadn¡¯t meet Will on the way, I was in my room, I planning my first lesson. I spent hours working on it. Carefully planning how I would start the lesson and what I would teach them. It was a really marvelous experience. So marvelous that I forgot lunch. Damned, I needed to eat twice as much for dinner now. Don¡¯t want to become a skeleton now that I have a maybe boyfriend.


    But the lesson I planned was awesome and absolutely worth it. The brats better be grateful.


    So I went to dinner. I had high hopes of seeing Will again. But once again, my hopes were crushed. Was he avoiding me? Did I do something terrible? Was he just playing with me? No, No. I need to stay positive. There is probably a reasonable explanation for it. I mean, I forgot lunch too, so maybe he just forgot breakfast and dinner. Yeah, that¡¯s probably it. Can happen to anyone. Right?


    ¡°Charlotte. Come here. I want to introduce your students to you.¡± My favorite uncle appeared behind me, with three students behind him.


    Wait a moment. They aren¡¯t first graders. Nooo, my lesson. It was all for nothing.


    "Charlotte, this is Morgana Fay.¡± She looked around sixteen years old. Black long curly hair, light-tanned skin, black robe, sweet smile, and blue eyes. I would give a lot to look like that. I have two Gold Coins and ten Shillings. Do you want to trade?


    ¡°This is Merlin Smith¡± Wow, that guy''s chin looked like a butt. He should definitely grow a beard. A long and big one to cover it. He also looked as if someone had broken his nose once. Is he really a wizard? Why doesn¡¯t he fix that? Well, at least his brown hair looks like it''s well maintained. ¡°And this is Augustus Black.¡± Black, Black, Black? Where have I heard that? Oh yeah, a super-ancient family. A few hundred years old. They came to Britain with the Roman invasion 300 or 400 years ago, or something like that. His face looked like someone had chiseled it out of mamor, and he looked quite muscular. But he doesn¡¯t have those cute freckles that Will has, and his black hair is also boring compared to Will''s red. But he looks a bit taller than Will. Well, not that it''s important to me how that guy looks. He is my student. Damned, are those eyes cool. One eye is brown, and the other one is blue.


    They all looked around 15 to 16 years old. Was that an accident, or was there a reason Uncle picked them? Anyway, not my problem. I just need to do as I was told. Like good little workerbee. Bzz. Bzz.


    Ohh, they didn¡¯t look too amused to see this little workerbee. They all looked as if they were just polite because Uncle was there. Why did I accept teaching someone?


    ¡°Hello, Nice to meet you. I¡¯m Charlotte Elenor Humblehill, but you can call me Charlotte. Calling me Professor Humblehill would just cause confusion.¡±


    ¡°You are not a professor yet.¡± Oh, that was sweet, uncle. Humilate me in front of my students. What comes next? Giving me detention? Where will my authority go when this continues?


    ¡°Oh right. Yes, no professor, but I¡¯m good with potions, so I will be responsible for you this year.¡± They still look at me with that polite smile. Uncle, please help.


    ¡°She is really good, and I can guarantee you that you will learn something from her.¡± Thanks, uncle, you are the best. ¡°If, in the unexpected case that she doesn¡¯t know something, you can still come to me, but I think that won¡¯t be necessary.¡±


    Was it good or bad that he said that? They look at me like it was bad. Uncle shouldn¡¯t have mentioned that there is a possibility of me being unable to answer anything. I worked hard to get as good as I am, and some fifth or sixth graders won¡¯t be able to beat me.


    The dinner that followed was a little nightmare for me. Especially Morgana looked at me with contempt as I took my fifth chicken leg. I had skipped lunch, okay? I don¡¯t always stuff myself like that.


    ¡°So how come a beautiful girl like you is teaching us?¡± Oh no. Mother told me about those people. The good-looking, flirty types of men. Can I just tell him to screw himself? I mean, I¡¯m already taken. Will, fight for my honor right now! Ahh damned. Do I have to do everything myself.


    ¡°That¡¯s my niece. Keep it in your pants.¡± Yes, uncle, give him another clap against the head. And I was right¡ªhe is that type of guy. Uncle just wanted to warn me right now. I¡¯m sure.


    Butt-chin, on the other hand, was a nice guy. A little insecure, but that will go away as we get to know each other. At least as long as I¡¯m allowed to teach him like I want.


    <div>

 Chapter 7

    Knock Knock


    Who was that? Good, I make progress and ask this question now before inviting someone in. But seriously, who could that be? One of his roommates? Lorain?


    ¡°Come in.¡± William answered before I could say something like that.


    In panic, I pulled the blanket above my face before the door could open. What would other people think if they saw me in Williams'' bed? What if mother heard about it?


    ¡°Ohh, you are alone. Where is Charlotte? I didn¡¯t see her leaving.¡± Okey, it was definitely Lorain.


    I poked Will, hoping he would understand.


    ¡°Ahmm. She went earlier, you might have missed her.¡± Okay, he got it. Good Boyfriend.


    ¡°Ohh, did I? Then everything is fine. I was just worried that she did something to you.¡±


    ¡°She isn¡¯t like that, Lorain.¡± Good Boyfriend. Defend me.


    ¡°You are the only one who says that. You know that she is dangerous. Just look at her eyes. I honestly don¡¯t know why the founders even keep her. And she behaves like a maniac. Just last week, she met two second graders who were so scared that I needed to calm them down.¡± Bad bitch. What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t scare anyone. Well, not intentionally.


    ¡°Lorain, I¡¯m absolutely sure that it¡¯s just a misunderstanding. Did you ever hear about something she really did? I mean not people getting scared, but something where people did come to harm in any way.¡± Give it to her. I¡¯m innocent. Okay, almost innocent. Maybe I should apologize to the baron. Nope, never mind; he deserved it. The few bullies I bullied also deserved it.


    ¡°Just be careful, okey? I worry about you, Will. Why can¡¯t you just stop chasing after her? She has told you so many times that she has no interest in you. There are so many girls who would like to go out with you. Some are even closer than you think.¡± Okey bitch. If you want a war, you get a war. Just because I made one or two mistakes in the past doesn¡¯t mean she can hold them against me. I pulled the blanket away and sat up.


    ¡°What!¡± Ohh she looked scared.


    ¡°What what what? That, I should ask you. Why are you flirting with my boyfriend? Why are you badmouthing me in front of him when you don¡¯t even know me? Isn¡¯t it just because you are jealous of me?¡±


    ¡°Girls, plea..¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡± He did shut up.


    I would give the girl a reason to fear me if she thought I was so scary.


    I rushed to her. It must have been so fast that it was probably only a blink for her.


    I stared into her blue eyes, so close that I could see the reflection of my scarlet ones in hers. The look of surprise and terror was satisfying.


    I transformed one finger into a claw. The nail grew at a visible speed, and the finger became much stiffer. I glided that finger over her cheek. She couldn¡¯t even see the finger. Just feel its pointy end. She looked terrified, and her legs were wobbling a little.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you do or with whom, but it would be in your best interest to stop talking shit about me. Are we clear?¡± I pricked her check one final time with my pointy nail. It pierced the first layer of her skin, but she didn¡¯t bleed.


    She just nodded. I had never really done it before, but I was sure it was effective. All the rumors were good for something, at least. I put my hand away and carefully broke the tip of my nail off. It did hurt a little, but I didn¡¯t care. I didn¡¯t want to run around with proof of what I did. Her story would just be like all the other rumors, and if someone asked, I could just say that she was a jealous bitch. Which she was.


    She quickly hurried out of the room.


    ¡°Charlotte.¡± My boyfriend didn¡¯t look amused. Not even neutral. He was angry. But I could understand. His childhood friend had just talked shit about his girlfriend.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done that!¡± Wait, he was angry at me. Why was he angry at me?


    ¡°I know that you were angry at her, but you shouldn¡¯t have threatened her. I would have told her off. I know that she likes me, but I did see her as nothing more than a friend. And she knows that too. But despite that, she is really nice. She is a good friend that you can rely on even if you are in trouble. I¡¯m sure she would have stopped with it as soon as she learned that you and I are together.¡± I needed to calm down. Maybe he was right that I shouldn¡¯t have threatened her. Maybe I overreacted a little. But it annoyed me that he defended her, and she was still a bitch. If she knew he liked me, she should have stayed away even when we weren¡¯t together. Wait. Okay, maybe I really overreacted. When she didn¡¯t know we were together and she liked him, it was perfectly logical to try to get him away from me, especially as I had rejected him more than once. Anyway, she is a bitch, and it¡¯s not my job to make any rational decisions. If I did, I wouldn¡¯t be here, and Will wouldn¡¯t be my¡­my boyfriend. Boyfriend. Boyfriend. It has such a nice ring to it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It will not happen again.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize to me, but to her. She looked as if she were scared for her life.¡± What. No, I was not going to apologize to that bitch. I was sorry I angered him, not that I scared her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want...¡± he looked at me as if he wanted me to know that no matter what I said, he would still want me to do it. ¡°To let her wait, then...¡± I hated myself. Where was my spine? Why could I still stand.


    I should wobble on the ground like pudding. Well, at least he smiled.


    ¡°Thank you. Hurry up, or she will tell her friends.¡± Damned, I haven¡¯t thought about that.


    I ran out to catch up to her. I met her when she was halfway through the stairs. Luckily, the castle had so many.


    ¡°Wait.¡± She flinched and took two more steps.


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    ¡°I said wait.¡± She froze. Probably in fear.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry, I will never do it again.¡± Okey, at least she also knew that she did something wrong.


    ¡°Calm down. I need to apologize too. I overreacted a little, so I¡¯m sorry.¡± I hated apologizing.


    She looked at me in surprise and shock.


    ¡°I really mean it. Trust me.¡± Okey, those were not the right words as she took a step backwards.


    ¡°Please. I¡¯m really sorry. It¡¯s just that we haven''t been together for long, and when I heard you trying to flirt with him, I got angry.¡± Surprisingly, that worked. She probably could understand jealousy better than me. For all I know, she was the queen of jealousy.


    ¡°So you and him? Why were you under his blanket?¡± Wait. How did we change the topic from apologizing to talking about my love life? You aren¡¯t my friend, girl. And with the start we had, I doubt we will ever be.


    ¡°What would you have done if you had laid in his bed and someone knocked on the door?¡±


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t¡­?¡± Oh girl, you are a pervert.


    "No, we didn¡¯t. And while we are at the topic, it would be nice if you didn¡¯t tell it to your friends for the next two or three days.¡±


    ¡°Good. Really good. Why should I do that?¡± Was that little girl, who was really close to wetting herself just a minute ago, just blackmailing me? Should I use my claws again?


    ¡°Fine, what do you want?¡± I gnashed my teeth. I knew William would be angry if I threatened her again.


    ¡°A private lesson with Professor Lionheart.¡± Was she dump? Were her parents siblings? Why should I be able to get her a private lesson with that jerk. What did she want it for anyway? Uncle is much cooler and better than him. Ohh Wait. Did she want to? No, that couldn¡¯t be. She was his student.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really on good terms with Ppprofffesssor Lionheart; I can¡¯t organize a private lesson with him, and even if there is a rumor that he does, he has never had anything with a student. My mother would cut off his balls if he did.¡± It pained me that I had to say his name in connection with his honor title.


    "What? No, that¡¯s not what I wanted. He is just a good teacher. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t mind if he¡­ Never mind. What can you give me, then? The daughter of one of the founders would have certain privileges you could share with me.¡± That little dirty pervert. Just two minutes after realizing that your crush is already taken, you try to become my stepmother. Or maybe she really just wanted to have.... Yep, she is a pervert. But what can I give her? I mean, I couldn¡¯t exactly give her my room, which was the only real privilege I had compared to other people. Wait a moment. Nooooo. No. No No. I won¡¯t give her my bath. Never. It¡¯s mine. The little spies also almost never use it. I want it for myself, and I won¡¯t share. But what else could I give her?


    ¡°I give you all my money.¡± She looked at me, thinking about it.


    ¡°How much is it?¡±


    ¡°Two Gold Coins, five Shillings.¡± I didn¡¯t need to tell her that I held five Shillings back. It was a lot of money. Enough for four and a half bets with Uncle.


    ¡°Oh, sorry, I didn¡¯t know you were poor. I thought that your parents would give you more.¡± What poor? That were my life savings. Okay, not exactly. Mother had said I have a bank account somewhere, but it was all the money I currently had.


    ¡°Fine, you can get to use my bath. It¡¯s far better than the common ones for the students.¡± Unsurprisingly, I could see the excitement in her eyes. At least she knew what I was giving up here.


    "Deal.¡± Yeah, I guessed that from her expression.


    I let her go after telling her where it was and the password to enter. I know it was only for a year, as the password would change then. Maybe I could ask Uncle to build me a  bathroom that was really my own. Right next to my room, but I guess the chances were slim as Uncle was working hard because of the whole war affair.


    I went back to Will and told him that everything was fine now. He still reminded me that I should be a bit calmer next time and that I should probably talk with my mother if I wanted lunch duty.


    When I walked down the stairs. The other Lionhearts were as welcoming as ever, but the fact that they weren¡¯t whispering shit about me told me that Lorain had kept her promise. The atmosphere was still frosty, and I decided that I should hurry outside.


    I opened the portrait and stepped outside.


    Oh shit.


    HE stood in front of me.


    ¡°Ohh, hello, Uhm, Uncle Lionheart.¡± He didn¡¯t react to me calling him Uncle. We both knew I would never call him father.


    ¡°Hello Daughter. I heard you were creating trouble.¡± Okey, maybe he had hoped for me to call him father or even dad, but he didn¡¯t put any effort into it. Not now, and never before. I thought about what trouble he was talking about when he pointed at the portrait and saw my confused but nervous face.


    I could see the annoyance in his eyes. I know I was a bother to him, and yes, I was doing some stupid things once in a while, but each time he heard about it, he let me feel his disappointment, dissatisfaction, and annoyance. Couldn¡¯t he just yell at me for once? Uncle did it all the time, and we were doing well. He wasn¡¯t even honest with me when he said something. Always saying he cared about me and doing something that was ¡°best¡± for me. I had a thirty-centimeter-long scar that said otherwise. He was a pretentious prick who had mastered the art of deception. That is how he got all those women into his bed.


    ¡°I just wanted to get in, and the nice lady didn¡¯t want to let me in.¡± I was not intimidated by him. Not in the least. His grim look, his big statue, or the big sword on his back that was completely unpractical and was just carried around because he thought it was cool, looked not the least bit intimidating. I was just following common courtesy.


    ¡°The ¡°nice¡± lady told me something different. Is it really so difficult for you to remember a handful of passwords? I mean, you got the new list two weeks ago. You should know them by now. And what did you want in the common room of my students that was so important that you couldn¡¯t go back and take a look at the list or wait for another student?¡± Like I said, he was an expert at making me feel miserable. And what did he mean with a handful? There were at least twenty passwords. Did he have an extra pair of hands that were carrying his ego?


    ¡°I uhmm¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± Let me think; I need an explanation fast.


    ¡°I needed to talk to my brother, and uhhmm he wasn¡¯t in the great hall during breakfast, soooo I came here to talk to him.¡±


    ¡°Talk to him about?¡± Evil sadist. He knew I was lying.


    ¡°Talk to him about uhhmm my new job. Yes, I wanted to talk to him about my new job. I will assist Uncle Severin by teaching his personal students potions. Right that¡¯s what I wanted to do.¡± Brother, you need to cover for me. If you manage, I will do your homework or something for you.


    ¡°So if I were to go in there, Percival would tell me the same story?¡± Why can¡¯t he simply let me go?


    "No, uhmm, I didn¡¯t meet him. Apparently, we missed each other. He probably went to the bathroom before breakfast, so that was the reason I didn¡¯t see him.¡± perfect explanation, and he wouldn¡¯t get me by talking to my brother. Gotcha.


    ¡°Fine. But if your brother was not here, what did you do here for so long?¡± Come on. My explanation was perfect. Why are you ruining it?


    ¡°Now that I talked about it, I remember that I need to go to the bathroom too. See you later, Uncle.¡±


    ¡°Stay here.¡± He grabbed me by the arm. I know I could just pull him with me, but then he would pull out his wand. The one that could do magic. And I wasn¡¯t a great fan of eating a full-body-binding charm. I had better things to do than become a statue.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. I just talked with a friend?¡± I sounded a little whiny, but that was definitely my acting. I¡¯m not scared of him.


    ¡°A friend?¡± Don¡¯t look at me like that. Is it so unbelievable that I have friends?


    ¡°Yeah, a friend. He is ill, and I haven¡¯t seen him during breakfast, so I asked him if I should bring him some. Another friend of his did, but I will bring him lunch.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a fever? Are you not feeling well?¡± What hurt me the most was that I could see genuine worry in his face.


    ¡°No, can I go now?¡± My whiny acting reached new levels. It was so real, I swear. If I hadn¡¯t known I was acting, I would definitely believe myself. Okay, who am I trying to lie to? I just want to get out of the situation as soon as possible.


    ¡°Yeah, you can. Maybe you can introduce me to your friend some time. If you want to.¡± Wow. Now he was leaving me a choice. He knows I would never do that and is just pretending to care.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I left as soon as he let my arm go and immediately started to worry about another problem as I ran to my mothers office. How I should tell her about my relationship with Will. Was starting with a joke the right approach? No, mother would want me to be serious when it comes to topics like that. She always says, ¡°You don¡¯t joke about love and death,¡± so I never did.

 Chapter 8

    Knock Knock


    Who was that? Good, I make progress and ask this question now before inviting someone in. But seriously, who could that be? One of his roommates? Lorain?


    ¡°Come in.¡± William answered before I could say something like that.


    In panic, I pulled the blanket above my face before the door could open. What would other people think if they saw me in Williams'' bed? What if mother heard about it?


    ¡°Ohh, you are alone. Where is Charlotte? I didn¡¯t see her leaving.¡± Okey, it was definitely Lorain.


    I poked Will, hoping he would understand.


    ¡°Ahmm. She went earlier, you might have missed her.¡± Okay, he got it. Good Boyfriend.


    ¡°Ohh, did I? Then everything is fine. I was just worried that she did something to you.¡±


    ¡°She isn¡¯t like that, Lorain.¡± Good Boyfriend. Defend me.


    ¡°You are the only one who says that. You know that she is dangerous. Just look at her eyes. I honestly don¡¯t know why the founders even keep her. And she behaves like a maniac. Just last week, she met two second graders who were so scared that I needed to calm them down.¡± Bad bitch. What are you talking about? I didn¡¯t scare anyone. Well, not intentionally.


    ¡°Lorain, I¡¯m absolutely sure that it¡¯s just a misunderstanding. Did you ever hear about something she really did? I mean not people getting scared, but something where people did come to harm in any way.¡± Give it to her. I¡¯m innocent. Okay, almost innocent. Maybe I should apologize to the baron. Nope, never mind; he deserved it. The few bullies I bullied also deserved it.


    ¡°Just be careful, okey? I worry about you, Will. Why can¡¯t you just stop chasing after her? She has told you so many times that she has no interest in you. There are so many girls who would like to go out with you. Some are even closer than you think.¡± Okey bitch. If you want a war, you get a war. Just because I made one or two mistakes in the past doesn¡¯t mean she can hold them against me. I pulled the blanket away and sat up.


    ¡°What!¡± Ohh she looked scared.


    ¡°What what what? That, I should ask you. Why are you flirting with my boyfriend? Why are you badmouthing me in front of him when you don¡¯t even know me? Isn¡¯t it just because you are jealous of me?¡±


    ¡°Girls, plea..¡±


    ¡°Shut up.¡± He did shut up.


    I would give the girl a reason to fear me if she thought I was so scary.


    I rushed to her. It must have been so fast that it was probably only a blink for her.


    I stared into her blue eyes, so close that I could see the reflection of my scarlet ones in hers. The look of surprise and terror was satisfying.


    I transformed one finger into a claw. The nail grew at a visible speed, and the finger became much stiffer. I glided that finger over her cheek. She couldn¡¯t even see the finger. Just feel its pointy end. She looked terrified, and her legs were wobbling a little.


    ¡°I don¡¯t care what you do or with whom, but it would be in your best interest to stop talking shit about me. Are we clear?¡± I pricked her check one final time with my pointy nail. It pierced the first layer of her skin, but she didn¡¯t bleed.


    She just nodded. I had never really done it before, but I was sure it was effective. All the rumors were good for something, at least. I put my hand away and carefully broke the tip of my nail off. It did hurt a little, but I didn¡¯t care. I didn¡¯t want to run around with proof of what I did. Her story would just be like all the other rumors, and if someone asked, I could just say that she was a jealous bitch. Which she was.


    She quickly hurried out of the room.


    ¡°Charlotte.¡± My boyfriend didn¡¯t look amused. Not even neutral. He was angry. But I could understand. His childhood friend had just talked shit about his girlfriend.


    ¡°You shouldn¡¯t have done that!¡± Wait, he was angry at me. Why was he angry at me?


    ¡°I know that you were angry at her, but you shouldn¡¯t have threatened her. I would have told her off. I know that she likes me, but I did see her as nothing more than a friend. And she knows that too. But despite that, she is really nice. She is a good friend that you can rely on even if you are in trouble. I¡¯m sure she would have stopped with it as soon as she learned that you and I are together.¡± I needed to calm down. Maybe he was right that I shouldn¡¯t have threatened her. Maybe I overreacted a little. But it annoyed me that he defended her, and she was still a bitch. If she knew he liked me, she should have stayed away even when we weren¡¯t together. Wait. Okay, maybe I really overreacted. When she didn¡¯t know we were together and she liked him, it was perfectly logical to try to get him away from me, especially as I had rejected him more than once. Anyway, she is a bitch, and it¡¯s not my job to make any rational decisions. If I did, I wouldn¡¯t be here, and Will wouldn¡¯t be my¡­my boyfriend. Boyfriend. Boyfriend. It has such a nice ring to it.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. It will not happen again.¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to apologize to me, but to her. She looked as if she were scared for her life.¡± What. No, I was not going to apologize to that bitch. I was sorry I angered him, not that I scared her.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want...¡± he looked at me as if he wanted me to know that no matter what I said, he would still want me to do it. ¡°To let her wait, then...¡± I hated myself. Where was my spine? Why could I still stand.


    I should wobble on the ground like pudding. Well, at least he smiled.


    ¡°Thank you. Hurry up, or she will tell her friends.¡± Damned, I haven¡¯t thought about that.


    I ran out to catch up to her. I met her when she was halfway through the stairs. Luckily, the castle had so many.


    ¡°Wait.¡± She flinched and took two more steps.


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    ¡°I said wait.¡± She froze. Probably in fear.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I¡¯m really sorry, I will never do it again.¡± Okey, at least she also knew that she did something wrong.


    ¡°Calm down. I need to apologize too. I overreacted a little, so I¡¯m sorry.¡± I hated apologizing.


    She looked at me in surprise and shock.


    ¡°I really mean it. Trust me.¡± Okey, those were not the right words as she took a step backwards.


    ¡°Please. I¡¯m really sorry. It¡¯s just that we haven''t been together for long, and when I heard you trying to flirt with him, I got angry.¡± Surprisingly, that worked. She probably could understand jealousy better than me. For all I know, she was the queen of jealousy.


    ¡°So you and him? Why were you under his blanket?¡± Wait. How did we change the topic from apologizing to talking about my love life? You aren¡¯t my friend, girl. And with the start we had, I doubt we will ever be.


    ¡°What would you have done if you had laid in his bed and someone knocked on the door?¡±


    ¡°So you didn¡¯t¡­?¡± Oh girl, you are a pervert.


    "No, we didn¡¯t. And while we are at the topic, it would be nice if you didn¡¯t tell it to your friends for the next two or three days.¡±


    ¡°Good. Really good. Why should I do that?¡± Was that little girl, who was really close to wetting herself just a minute ago, just blackmailing me? Should I use my claws again?


    ¡°Fine, what do you want?¡± I gnashed my teeth. I knew William would be angry if I threatened her again.


    ¡°A private lesson with Professor Lionheart.¡± Was she dump? Were her parents siblings? Why should I be able to get her a private lesson with that jerk. What did she want it for anyway? Uncle is much cooler and better than him. Ohh Wait. Did she want to? No, that couldn¡¯t be. She was his student.


    ¡°I¡¯m not really on good terms with Ppprofffesssor Lionheart; I can¡¯t organize a private lesson with him, and even if there is a rumor that he does, he has never had anything with a student. My mother would cut off his balls if he did.¡± It pained me that I had to say his name in connection with his honor title.


    "What? No, that¡¯s not what I wanted. He is just a good teacher. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t mind if he¡­ Never mind. What can you give me, then? The daughter of one of the founders would have certain privileges you could share with me.¡± That little dirty pervert. Just two minutes after realizing that your crush is already taken, you try to become my stepmother. Or maybe she really just wanted to have.... Yep, she is a pervert. But what can I give her? I mean, I couldn¡¯t exactly give her my room, which was the only real privilege I had compared to other people. Wait a moment. Nooooo. No. No No. I won¡¯t give her my bath. Never. It¡¯s mine. The little spies also almost never use it. I want it for myself, and I won¡¯t share. But what else could I give her?


    ¡°I give you all my money.¡± She looked at me, thinking about it.


    ¡°How much is it?¡±


    ¡°Two Gold Coins, five Shillings.¡± I didn¡¯t need to tell her that I held five Shillings back. It was a lot of money. Enough for four and a half bets with Uncle.


    ¡°Oh, sorry, I didn¡¯t know you were poor. I thought that your parents would give you more.¡± What poor? That were my life savings. Okay, not exactly. Mother had said I have a bank account somewhere, but it was all the money I currently had.


    ¡°Fine, you can get to use my bath. It¡¯s far better than the common ones for the students.¡± Unsurprisingly, I could see the excitement in her eyes. At least she knew what I was giving up here.


    "Deal.¡± Yeah, I guessed that from her expression.


    I let her go after telling her where it was and the password to enter. I know it was only for a year, as the password would change then. Maybe I could ask Uncle to build me a  bathroom that was really my own. Right next to my room, but I guess the chances were slim as Uncle was working hard because of the whole war affair.


    I went back to Will and told him that everything was fine now. He still reminded me that I should be a bit calmer next time and that I should probably talk with my mother if I wanted lunch duty.


    When I walked down the stairs. The other Lionhearts were as welcoming as ever, but the fact that they weren¡¯t whispering shit about me told me that Lorain had kept her promise. The atmosphere was still frosty, and I decided that I should hurry outside.


    I opened the portrait and stepped outside.


    Oh shit.


    HE stood in front of me.


    ¡°Ohh, hello, Uhm, Uncle Lionheart.¡± He didn¡¯t react to me calling him Uncle. We both knew I would never call him father.


    ¡°Hello Daughter. I heard you were creating trouble.¡± Okey, maybe he had hoped for me to call him father or even dad, but he didn¡¯t put any effort into it. Not now, and never before. I thought about what trouble he was talking about when he pointed at the portrait and saw my confused but nervous face.


    I could see the annoyance in his eyes. I know I was a bother to him, and yes, I was doing some stupid things once in a while, but each time he heard about it, he let me feel his disappointment, dissatisfaction, and annoyance. Couldn¡¯t he just yell at me for once? Uncle did it all the time, and we were doing well. He wasn¡¯t even honest with me when he said something. Always saying he cared about me and doing something that was ¡°best¡± for me. I had a thirty-centimeter-long scar that said otherwise. He was a pretentious prick who had mastered the art of deception. That is how he got all those women into his bed.


    ¡°I just wanted to get in, and the nice lady didn¡¯t want to let me in.¡± I was not intimidated by him. Not in the least. His grim look, his big statue, or the big sword on his back that was completely unpractical and was just carried around because he thought it was cool, looked not the least bit intimidating. I was just following common courtesy.


    ¡°The ¡°nice¡± lady told me something different. Is it really so difficult for you to remember a handful of passwords? I mean, you got the new list two weeks ago. You should know them by now. And what did you want in the common room of my students that was so important that you couldn¡¯t go back and take a look at the list or wait for another student?¡± Like I said, he was an expert at making me feel miserable. And what did he mean with a handful? There were at least twenty passwords. Did he have an extra pair of hands that were carrying his ego?


    ¡°I uhmm¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡± Let me think; I need an explanation fast.


    ¡°I needed to talk to my brother, and uhhmm he wasn¡¯t in the great hall during breakfast, soooo I came here to talk to him.¡±


    ¡°Talk to him about?¡± Evil sadist. He knew I was lying.


    ¡°Talk to him about uhhmm my new job. Yes, I wanted to talk to him about my new job. I will assist Uncle Severin by teaching his personal students potions. Right that¡¯s what I wanted to do.¡± Brother, you need to cover for me. If you manage, I will do your homework or something for you.


    ¡°So if I were to go in there, Percival would tell me the same story?¡± Why can¡¯t he simply let me go?


    "No, uhmm, I didn¡¯t meet him. Apparently, we missed each other. He probably went to the bathroom before breakfast, so that was the reason I didn¡¯t see him.¡± perfect explanation, and he wouldn¡¯t get me by talking to my brother. Gotcha.


    ¡°Fine. But if your brother was not here, what did you do here for so long?¡± Come on. My explanation was perfect. Why are you ruining it?


    ¡°Now that I talked about it, I remember that I need to go to the bathroom too. See you later, Uncle.¡±


    ¡°Stay here.¡± He grabbed me by the arm. I know I could just pull him with me, but then he would pull out his wand. The one that could do magic. And I wasn¡¯t a great fan of eating a full-body-binding charm. I had better things to do than become a statue.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t do anything. I just talked with a friend?¡± I sounded a little whiny, but that was definitely my acting. I¡¯m not scared of him.


    ¡°A friend?¡± Don¡¯t look at me like that. Is it so unbelievable that I have friends?


    ¡°Yeah, a friend. He is ill, and I haven¡¯t seen him during breakfast, so I asked him if I should bring him some. Another friend of his did, but I will bring him lunch.¡±


    ¡°Do you have a fever? Are you not feeling well?¡± What hurt me the most was that I could see genuine worry in his face.


    ¡°No, can I go now?¡± My whiny acting reached new levels. It was so real, I swear. If I hadn¡¯t known I was acting, I would definitely believe myself. Okay, who am I trying to lie to? I just want to get out of the situation as soon as possible.


    ¡°Yeah, you can. Maybe you can introduce me to your friend some time. If you want to.¡± Wow. Now he was leaving me a choice. He knows I would never do that and is just pretending to care.


    ¡°Maybe.¡± I left as soon as he let my arm go and immediately started to worry about another problem as I ran to my mothers office. How should I tell her about my relationship with Will? Was starting with a joke the right approach? No, mother would want me to be serious when it comes to topics like that. She always says, ¡°You don¡¯t joke about love and death,¡± so I never did.

 Chapter 9

    ¡°You had no right to do that, Severin. She is still a kid.¡± Oh Severin is visiting. Are they talking about me? I better be quiet.


    ¡°She isn¡¯t a kid anymore, and you know that.¡± Yeah, Uncle is right. But I also like my kid status because I get away with so many things because of it so he shouldn¡¯t convince mother of that.


    ¡°It was still not up to you to decide to tell her about it. You should have asked me. I¡¯m her mother.¡±


    Tell me what? About the war? Was that really so terrible? I mean, what did she expect? Did she want me to stay in the unknown till the warbell rings.


    ¡°Don¡¯t use that mother excuse. You know quite well that I treat her as much as a daughter as you do. She just doesn¡¯t call me father because you had a crush on Gregor and wanted him to take up the role. Guess what? She doesn¡¯t like him.¡± Ohh sweet. My uncle is the best. He really sees me as his daughter. He would have been a far better father than that red-haired idiot. But I think mother won¡¯t be happy about getting HIS and her failed relationship thrown in the face. It was also kind of mean of uncle.


    ¡°And besides that, I didn¡¯t tell her what you feared. She will just be teaching my idiotic students. She is taking on some responsibilities. Responsibilities you are too afraid to give her. She will never grow up that way.¡±


    Wait a moment; I did get more responsibilities. Was the whole war thingy just a grand masterplan from my family so that I would grow up? Nah. They wouldn¡¯t go that far. Would they? But Uncle definitely tricked me. Not cool. And what didn¡¯t he tell me? I mean, if it wasn¡¯t the war, I have no clue what he meant.


    ¡°I know. I know. You are right. But she is still my little baby. Just thinking about the state we found her in still scares me at times, Severin. It would break her if it ever happened again. I just want to protect her.¡±


    How did I get from kid to baby? And what is she talking about? Was I really in such a bad state when she found me? I thought she had just picked me up from a nearby village. Was that a lie? And why would it change anything? I can¡¯t remember it anyway.


    ¡°Helga, just think about it. The earlier she knows, the more we can help her. We won¡¯t be here forever. And who knows what might happen in the war? It would be better if she knew, so that if she remembers at some point, and she will, she has someone she can lean on.¡±


    Okey. I¡¯m completely lost. What happened in that village? Was I raped by a priest or something? No, that couldn¡¯t be. I¡¯m 100% a virgin. But what else could be so disturbing that mother is so scared to tell me?


    ¡°I will tell her Severin. But not now. She needs a little more time. I need a little more time. So it¡¯s fine if she teaches your students, but please let me tell her the other things. And never suggest to her what we talked about in the meeting. I swear to you that if you tell her, I will hunt you down.¡±


    Okey, mother was really serious. Now I want to know what happened. It can¡¯t be as bad as they make it sound. I was still a baby, so I guess it can¡¯t be that bad, and mom is just overly dramatic.


    ¡°Fine. But don¡¯t wait for ten years or something like that. She is more mature than you think. And like I said, she will one day remember. And you don¡¯t want her to find out the hard way.¡± I think I needed to hide now, or Uncle would know I was listening in.


    Still, it felt kind of weird that my family kept secrets like these from me. Was something like that normal in a family? Do they have secrets about Percival too?


    I waited in the distance for five minutes before I knocked on my mother''s door. What I had listened to had made me think twice about telling her about Will, but I was sure that if that secret was really so important, mother would tell me when I¡¯m ready for it. Screw you Uncle, mother knows me best. And if she says I need time, I need time. But maybe I could get her to talk about it earlier. It¡¯s eating me up that I don¡¯t know what they were talking about. But demanding something from mother was as useless as asking a fish to climb a tree. So there was only one way. I just had to show her how mature I am. As simple as that. Should take a few days¡ªweeks at most. Easy peasy.


    Knock Knock.


    ¡°Who¡¯s there?¡± Should I? No, I didn¡¯t want to start with a joke.


    ¡°Mom, it¡¯s me.¡± I was a little nervous. I was about to tell my mom about my first friend. I mean boyfriend. And I was a little worried that she wouldn¡¯t like him.


    ¡°Come in.¡± She looked tired. And if I was not wrong, she had cried a little. Her eyes were a little red. Was it because of what Uncle said? Well, maybe it will cheer her up if I tell her about Will. At least I hope so.


    ¡°Mom, I need to tell you something. Do you have time?¡± She looked at her tower of papers a little, hesitating. She definitely didn¡¯t have time.


    ¡°Yes, but not too much. I need to correct all those papers until tomorrow morning.¡± Should I wait till tomorrow. Was this really the best time? No, I had to tell her today, or I wouldn¡¯t be able to bring Will his lunch or dinner. And I still needed to know how exactly she prepared the milk. Percival always felt better after drinking it. And HE did too. So I was sure it was more than just milk and honey.


    ¡°Can we perhaps talk in my room? It¡¯s really important, mom.¡± I didn¡¯t want to talk in her office. It was cramped, and she only had two uncomfortable chairs to sit on besides the one she sat on. It was a trick Uncle invented. If the chairs are uncomfortable, people only annoy you in your office when it is important. Or at least they stayed if it was important. An office was there to work and not to talk.


    ¡°If it''s really so important, we can go.¡± I could see that I had piqued her interest. I rarely told her that something was important when I called her mom. I only did it once, and that was when I had my first period. Who could expect your body to do something like that, and more importantly, why? Mom also doesn¡¯t know why, but she told me it made me a woman. The talk that followed was one of the most embarrassing of my life. The thing is, normally, after the first period, a woman can get pregnant, but we were unsure if that was even the case for me. Vampires weren¡¯t known for their natural reproduction, but there was generally little known about vampires, so we weren¡¯t really sure.


    I greeted Archimedes quite friendly, and he opened my door. I was still sorry about annoying him so much in recent days without even thanking him properly, but I tried my best now. He wasn¡¯t like a certain fat girl who only knew how to act as if she were someone important.


    ¡°So what do you want to tell me?¡± she said after sitting on my bed. I also had a small sofa, but it was never used beyond a place I could throw my dresses on. And my bed was also far greater and more comfy, so it was the place to go when you needed to have a serious talk.


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    ¡°Mom, you know this guy. William right?¡± I needed to make sure that she knew who I was talking about.


    ¡°The guy that always asks you out? What is with him? Did he do something?¡± she asked, a little concerned.


    "No, no, he did nothing. I mean, he did. He asked me out.¡± I looked at her, and she still looked curious, with a little smile on her face.


    ¡°He does that all the time. Oh, wait, did you accept? I¡¯m so happy for you. Do you want me to help you pick the right dress? When is your date? Why did you change your mind?¡± I guess if I had really planned and remembered that he invited me to a date, I could have asked Mom beforehand, and it would have gone far smoother than it did.


    ¡°Ohh you are smiling. I¡¯m right. I¡¯m so happy for you.¡± Mom didn¡¯t look tired anymore, and I knew we could talk for the whole night if we wanted to.


    ¡°I don¡¯t need you to help me pick a dress, mom. And I only accepted because he promised that he would stop asking me afterwards.¡± I teased her. If she was allowed to keep secrets from me, I was allowed to tease her a little.


    ¡°Ohh, that is¡­ Well, it is what it is.¡± I could see her disappointment, and I enjoyed it. It meant she would be far happier if she learned the whole story.


    ¡°So, when do you go, and what have you planned.¡± I could see that she had a little hope. Was me having a date really that important to mom?


    ¡°The date has already happened, mom.¡±


    ¡°How was it? Tell me everything.¡±


    ¡°Well, to make the story short, your amazing and totally lovable daughter has a... drum roll... boyfriend now.¡± The shock in her face. The disbelief. The happiness. I loved everything about it.


    She immediately hugged me, and I could feel tears flowing down my neck. No need to cry, mom. It''s something good. He isn¡¯t so terrible. Since when is she so close to tears. She cried more this week than in the past ten years.


    ¡°So, now I really want to know everything. Don¡¯t you dare to leave anything out. Oh, I can¡¯t believe it. My daughter has a boyfriend now. How could I not have seen the signs.¡±


    ¡°The date was last Friday. And I think it started around eight o''clock. I just came back from a bath. Honestly, I had completely forgotten about it.¡± She looked at me a little doubtfully. I know. Who in their right mind would forget their first ¡°first date¡±?


    ¡°So I stood in front of my wardrobe, choosing a dress I wanted to wear, when it knocked.¡± I just realized that maybe I shouldn¡¯t tell that part of the story to mom. She would be angry. But if I didn''t, the rest of the story wouldn¡¯t make sense.


    ¡°Well, I thought it was you, so I said that he could come in. I guess that was the most embarrassing start we could have had. At least for me.¡±


    ¡°You mean he did? You were completely?¡±


    ¡°No. I had panties on.¡± The look on her face as she tried to process it. Absolutely amazing.


    ¡°And what happened then.¡± Her tone said that she hadn¡¯t made up her mind on how she would react to that yet, and I was sure if it wasn¡¯t an accident, she would already be on her way to him with her most rusty scissor.


    But as I told her more and more, she just listened quietly to me. She only interrupted when she wanted to ask a question because I didn¡¯t explain something properly.


    She also never called out my stupid actions, which I certainly had a lot of.


    The only time she looked a little upset was when I told her that I told him about my past.


    ¡°That reminds me of something. Do mom and dad have a grave? I would like to visit them if it''s possible.


    ¡°No.¡± Her answer was shorter than expected, and she had that strange expression on her face. Was it because I asked about mom and dad? Was she jealous? She doesn¡¯t need to be; she will always be my mother.


    ¡°Mom, you will always be my mom. But I thought it would be nice. Mom did so much to keep me safe, so I just wanted to at least visit her once. Can we maybe visit the village I was born in?¡± I know it was a difficult topic for her from what I knew from her talk with uncle but a simple visit should be possible.


    ¡°No.¡± again just a short simple answer. So unlike mom.


    ¡°But.¡±


    ¡°No Buts. The village doesn¡¯t exist anymore. Please just tell me about what happened after you told him about your ¡­. birth. How did he react?¡± I answered her, but I didn¡¯t forget what she told me about the village. How could a whole village disappear?


    ¡°You gave him some of your tears? What if he tells anyone.¡± Once again, a dangerous topic. But this one I could understand. She just doesn¡¯t want me to get hunted down.


    ¡°He won¡¯t, and he doesn¡¯t know. He just thinks I put my finger in his mouth and that I¡¯m weird. But mom. I will need to tell him sometime. And I also want to collect my tears from now on. I mean, I don¡¯t want to cry, but if I do, I don¡¯t want to waste it. It¡¯s not like I will go out and hurt myself to get the tears.


    ¡°Charlotte, Daughter, I want you to listen to me carefully. It is really important that you understand what I am telling you now. Immortality is a gift more enticing than all the riches in the world. Even I, or your uncles and aunt, are not immune to its temptation. And once one gets a taste of it, you won¡¯t want to lose it. For you, it might be just some tears at the moment, but the price you would need to pay would just grow, trust me. I mean, it''s easy to say, that it''s just some tears, and we could live a month or two more. And then again, just a few tears¡ªmaybe we have a year longer. Or ten years or a hundred years. At some point, you won¡¯t be able to genuinely cry anymore. At some point, just giving you house arrest or not playing with you will not cause you to cry anymore. What would you do then? Would we need to hit you? Would we need to curse you? And what would we do if that stopped working? Would we start killing people you hold dear just to get that one extra year? Would we torture you emotionally and physically just so we could remain youthful? The temptation of immortality is far too great, and that¡¯s why I decided that not even your aunt and uncles should know about it. You might think now that it''s different if you want to give your tears to someone else, but it''s not. Fake tears don¡¯t have the same magic in them. That¡¯s the reason I know when you are just acting. You would need to really cry for your tears to have that effect. So I want you to think carefully about whether you are really willing to cry for William, because if you start to give him your tears and he knows what they do, you will never be able to stop unless you are willing to end your relationship completely. With that, I mean that you would most likely need to kill him because he would chase you all over the world and maybe even tell other people just to get you. I will give you something to store them. You can collect your tears and the decision is yours, but you need to think about it really, really carefully. Do you understand?¡±


    Mom was right. I didn¡¯t think about it too much. For me, it were just tears, but for them? For them, it was life. It made me waver in my decision. I wasn¡¯t even sure I wanted to collect them anymore. He was my boyfriend for three days, not three years or even longer. Maybe I could stick to the weirdo method and just put my finger into his mouth. Maybe I could put it in his drinks, but I didn¡¯t know if it would still work then. Magic was sometimes strange. Pheonix tears also couldn¡¯t be diluted. Either you used it pure or you would have warm, salty water.


    ¡°Thank you, mom. I will think about it.¡±


    "Good, that¡¯s all I want. So how did he react when you put your finger into his mouth?¡± It was nice to see that we were still able to change the topic. Especially since I slowly began to understand that mom too was resisting the temptation the whole time. I mean, I had cried more often than I could count, and she never even tried to get a tear out of me even after she knew what they could do.


    We talked for an hour more before I noticed that it was almost time for lunch.


    ¡°Mom, you definitely need to show me how you make that honey milk. It worked wonders on Percival, and I want to bring it to him with his lunch.¡±


    "Oh, Charlotte, it¡¯s so simple. Just put in two tablespoons of honey in a cup of hot milk.¡±


    ¡°Is it really all? Honey and milk make them feel healthy again?¡± I couldn¡¯t believe that it was that simple.


    ¡°Yes, if you also put in a large tablespoon of love, it surely will.¡± Okey, I was sure she was just pranking me now.


    ¡°A tablespoon of love?¡±


    ¡°Whiskey, Charlotte, Whiskey.¡± Wow. Did she just admit that she made my little brother drunk when he was ill?


    ¡°Yes, just a spoonful. Don¡¯t put in too much. It will make them cough less, and when they stop coughing, their throat is less irritated, which then leads them to cough less when the effects stops, and in the end, they will feel healthier and less whinier. Men can be quite whiny when they are ill. The whiskey is in the black bottle with the broccoli juice label.¡± Sometimes I thought my mom was a genius. I know no one in our family would ever look at a bottle of broccoli juice twice.

 Chapter 10

    I hurried to our private kitchen, not the one where the staff cooked, and prepared the milk. I also took a small basket with me to carry the lunch with me. It even had a pocket for bottles and glasses, which worked almost as well. One still had to be careful not to swing the basket around too much. The basket also had an enchantment to keep the stored things fresh and hot for longer. It was the main reason I took it. I wanted Will to get hot milk and a hot lunch.


    So I went to the great hall carefully but fast. I took a plate and began to choose what I would take with me. Chicken legs sounded good. I loved chicken legs. And bacon. Bacon was the best. And pork sticks. A few sausages couldn¡¯t hurt. When I put the plate into the basket, I noticed that I wasn¡¯t as careful as I thought I was, as a bit of the milk had sipped over. I cleaned it up with a napkin and added a few more to the basket just in case.


    I winked at my uncle when he saw me and made my way up the many many stairs. Carefully. Slowly.


    ¡°You again!¡± That old lady was really a bother.


    ¡°Carpe Diem.¡± I didn¡¯t want another talk with HIM again. The first one was terrible enough.


    I made it halfway through the common room when the people spotted me and fell silent again. Awkward silence. I should quickly go up.


    Oh, no, please grow a spine in the least good moment.


    A boy and a girl, both larger than me, barred me from the stairs.


    ¡°You are not welcome here. Leave.¡± What an ass. And what did he mean by I¡¯m not welcome? This is my castle; he was not welcome. Well, it was technically Uncle''s castle, but he said I¡¯m like a daughter to him, so it was basically the same. Still, I didn¡¯t want to start any trouble. I know that William wouldn¡¯t like it if I beat up his maybe friends. I didn¡¯t know if they were, which reminded me that I knew painfully little about him.


    ¡°No? I¡¯m not here for you. Just let me go up there, and we won¡¯t have any trouble.¡±


    ¡°Who do you think you are?" Do you think we are afraid of you? Leave now; this is my last warning.¡± The wand in his hand irritated me a little. It wasn¡¯t a nice feeling to have a weapon pointed at your head, and they looked old enough to even be capable of hurting me if I wasn¡¯t careful. If I struck first, the fight would be over before it even started, but then I would be blamed for everything.


    ¡°I¡¯m not here to play around. Just let me go up the stairs, and everyone can be happy.¡±


    Instead of making way, the girl pushed me a little back. I didn¡¯t fall or anything, but the dripping sound told me that even more of the milk had sipped over. Enough was enough. I carefully put the basket down. No need to risk anything.


    ¡°What are you doing? We want you to leave.¡± Said the girl as I was focused on the basket.


    ¡°And I said you should let me go up and we could both be happy, but you didn¡¯t want to listen.¡±


    ¡°Stay away, or we will¡­¡± He didn¡¯t speak till the end before he fired a spell after me. He needed to because I was fast. He naturally didn¡¯t hit me. Even in close range, the really focused and targeted spells they liked to use for dueling were unlikely to hit me. I grabbed his outstretched arm and twisted it a little. Just enough to hurt. He whimpered a little as I pulled the wand out of his hand.


    The girl had, in the meantime, decided that her friend was unable to beat me alone, and she fired a spell at me. Instead of dodging, I pulled the boy in front of me. I didn¡¯t really care about the spell''s effect, but my anger lessened a lot when I saw that it was just a full-body bind. I wouldn¡¯t have cared if she had used something lethal, as the boy was the perfect shield, but knowing her intention wasn¡¯t to really harm me was enough for me to show leniency. I threw the bound boy into her arms, dashed forward, and pulled the wand out of her hand while she struggled to free herself from the boy. She could have used the shield charm to block my throw, but then it would have been like throwing the boy into a wall, so I can understand she didn¡¯t even attempt it.


    ¡°I will give you your wand back when I leave. And now stop bothering me.¡±


    I took my basket in front of the silently watching, spineless group of Lionhearts and walked up the stairs.


    I knocked, and I was quickly called in.


    Lorain, that annoying bitch, was there happily, sitting on the edge of his bed, talking with him.


    ¡°Charly! You really brought me lunch?¡± Was that really so surprising? I told him I would.


    ¡°I will leave you two alone. Have fun.¡± That winking really was unnecessary, but I guess it was better than her staying.


    I carefully placed the basket next to his bed and opened it. Luckily, I had put in a few spare napkins, as they saved the food from being drowned in milk. Could I really still give him the half-full cup of milk? I guess it was better than nothing, even if it wasn¡¯t very presentable. I guess I should start with the food. Nothing wrong with that.


    I pulled out the plate and showed it to him.


    ¡°Tada. Lunch.¡± Why was he looking at me so strangely?


    ¡°You really don¡¯t eat vegetables, don¡¯t you?¡± Okay, that was embarrassing. I mean, it''s not like I would get sick from eating vegetables, but they tasted like mud to me. I never understood why someone would eat something like that. I wouldn¡¯t even consider it real food, even though mother wanted me to try every vegetable she knew of to change my mind. It didn¡¯t. But how do I explain that to him? Was it weird? Do I need to eat vegetables if I¡¯m with him? That would be a huge minus point on the list, I hadn¡¯t even started, about being together with him.


    ¡°It¡¯s a condition, alright. So do you want to eat now or not?¡±


    He coughed a bit before answering that it was fine. I put the plate on his lab before climbing into his bed. I stole a few chicken legs and bacon stripes, but I mainly watched him eat. He looked much healthier now than this morning. Maybe someone already made him milk with honey and¡­ and love.


    ¡°Did you bring anything to drink?¡± he asked a little shyly. I was sure he didn¡¯t want to make me feel bad in case I didn¡¯t bring any, but I guessed that after eating so much bacon, anyone would get thirsty.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I bought some, but there were some¡­ turbulences, so there is not much left.


    I climbed out of the bed and got him the cup of milk.


    ¡°Is that milk?¡±


    ¡°Yes, with honey, ahmm, and something else. You will like it.¡± I couldn¡¯t tell him it was made with love, but saying that there was whiskey in it was equally bad.


    ¡°It will make you feel better. I asked mother for a recipe.¡± My mother''s name gave the milk more credibility, and he didn¡¯t ask any further.


    He carefully took a sip. The milk was still hot, so he had to drink slowly.


    ¡°So you want to get me drunk now?¡± How did he know about the whiskey?


    ¡°My parents work on a dragon farm. If I know something, it''s whiskey. We need whole barrels of it to cook the dragoneggs, until they hedge when a mother doesn¡¯t take care of an egg for some reason.¡± Damned dragons. Why couldn¡¯t they be better parents?


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. Mother told me it will help with the coughing, and the coughing will¡­ I don¡¯t know; she told me it would help.¡±


    ¡°No need to be so defensive. My mother makes the milk like that too. Well she puts in more whiskey because she ¡°loves us so much,¡± but I honestly think she just wants us to fall asleep.¡±


    ¡°Can I try it? I never had it before. I was never ill, so mother never made it for me.¡±


    ¡°Sure.¡± He gave me the cup, and I took a small sip.


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    It was still hot and a little creamy. It tasted sweet, but not too sweet. The whiskey gave it a little bit of spicy and smoky flavor. It was delicious, but at the same time, I felt it made me feel a little dizzy. Was that the alcohol? I never had any before, and mother told me I shouldn¡¯t drink any, and if I really wanted to try it, I should do it when she was nearby. But could it really be the alcohol? I just drank a sip. I know that Uncle and HE could drink bottles of beer and wine before they became drunk, and I was almost immune to most potions, so I shouldn¡¯t even feel that little alcohol.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I like it. I feel weird.¡± I gave him the cup back and laid my head on his pillow. Everything was spinning a little. But every time I noticed the room moving, it seemed like it was resetting itself before starting to move again. I closed my eyes because it was making me dizzy.


    ¡°Hey, Charly, you need to wake up now.¡± I heard his voice in my ear. Didn¡¯t I tell him that I couldn¡¯t sleep? I just closed my eyes for a short moment because I was dizzy.


    ¡°It¡¯s already evening, people will talk if you stay much longer.¡±


    What was he talking about? I was barely past lunch. The sun was still.. where was the sun? I looked shocked to the window, but it looked dark outside.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be. I just closed my eyes, and now it''s dark. How is that possible?¡± I panicked a bit and felt my heart pumping faster.


    "Charly, calm down. You just fell asleep. Everything is fine.¡± His calm voice really did calm me down, but did I really sleep? I didn¡¯t dream, or at least I don¡¯t think I did. It was really just like blinking a bit longer. Was that really sleeping.


    ¡°But, but I can¡¯t sleep. I have never slept.¡±


    ¡°I can guarantee you, you just did. Like a rock. You didn¡¯t react to me talking to you. At least in the first few minutes. You even drooled on my pillow.¡± Now I was sure he was joking. I would never drool on anything. Okay, why is the pillow wet? Did I really? No, I didn¡¯t. But why else would the pillow be wet, and why else would it be dark outside?


    Great my first time sleeping, and I can¡¯t even remember what I did.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I didn¡¯t mean to... I¡­ I really have never slept. I didn¡¯t know I would do something like¡­ like that.¡± Why did it need to happen when I was with him? Why couldn¡¯t it have happened when I was in my room? Alone.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. It is fine. But did you really never sleep? What do you do all night?¡± Was it really okay, or was he just trying to calm me down? Anyway, I would take it either way.


    ¡°I mostly just take long baths. Sometimes I study a little, and in really rare cases, I go outside and look at the stars. It¡¯s really boring most of the time.¡± Which reminded me that, with the exception of our date, I hadn¡¯t left the castle for quite some time.


    ¡°You really like your baths.¡±


    ¡°I really do, they are the best. You should do it too; it¡¯s so amazing; so comfy. I absolutely love it; you should come with me next time. I will show you how to build a ship out of a soap bar.¡±


    He smiled at me.


    ¡°Do you really want to take a bath with me?¡± Ups, I might have been carried away. Baths are just that awesome.


    ¡°Maybe later. Much later.¡± I didn¡¯t want to admit that I just blurted it out without thinking about it, but never say never.


    ¡°Fine. By the way, Lorain was here and took the wands you took from Daisy and Tom. But don¡¯t worry, they are idiots, and Lorain has already scolded them. They won¡¯t do it again, and I guess, after Lorain¡¯s outburst, the others also won¡¯t do it.¡±


    ¡°Lorain did what? Why did she?¡±


    ¡°I told you she was a nice girl. You just had a bad start. After you left this morning, she came back and wanted to know everything. She was genuinely happy for us. I mean, sure, she is sad that it won¡¯t work between her and me, and she doesn¡¯t make a big secret out of it, but that doesn¡¯t mean she would sabotage us. And what Daisy and Tom did was just stupid, so naturally she gave them a bit of her mind.¡±


    Okay, maybe I should reevaluate her. She wasn''t an annoying bitch anymore; she was an annoying girl from now on. Annoying girl that had the potential to become annoying but nice girl. But I guess she was still closer to an annoying and perverted girl. I didn¡¯t forget what she said about HIM.


    ¡°I guess I should thank her then.¡± I sounded more downcast than I wanted. It wasn¡¯t really bad to thank someone. At least not as bad as apologizing.


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to if you don¡¯t want to. She did it mainly for me, but if you appreciate it, it would be good to do it. But you really should go now. I guess they are all waiting outside and want to know when you leave. Lorain¡¯s outburst did more than just cause a few rumors.¡±


    Hearing that, I wasn¡¯t so sure I really wanted to thank her anymore, but I would think about it later on.


    ¡°So bad?¡±


    ¡°It depends on what your definition of bad is. Lorain told me the most popular theories are that you used a love potion or that you have succubus blood. I guess the odds for succubus are higher because of your eyes. The meaner ones are that your mother pays me, or that I just do it for a good grade, or that you did it with every guy and that I was just one of many, or that you are a vampire and I have become your bloodslave, or that..."


    ¡°Stop, Stop. I get it. Its bad. I mean, the vampire part isn¡¯t too far from the truth, I guess. Except, I can¡¯t create bloodslaves.¡± It was ironic that, with all those romours going around, I still felt happy. It didn¡¯t even hurt me.


    ¡°Mother doesn¡¯t pay you, right?¡±


    ¡°No, of course not. What do you take me for?¡± For an idiot. My idiot.


    ¡°If she offers you something, accept it. I need a raise. Lorain said I was poor." I really should ask mom for more pocket money. I had a few unlucky bets with Uncle, so I really didn¡¯t have that much money.¡±


    ¡°How little does your mother give you for Lorain to call you poor? Her mother is a widow and is working part-time as a seamstress, so she is really not well off.¡± Okey, I didn¡¯t know how much a seamstress earned, but I felt a little offended at that.


    ¡°I have two Gold Coins and ten Shillings to my name.¡± I added the five Shillings I withheld my last time in the hope it would change his judgment.


    ¡°Okay, I understand now. Do you even know what a Gold Coin is worth? What a Shilling is worth or what a Penny is worth?


    ¡°What is a Penny? And naturally, I know how much a Gold Coin is worth nineteen Shillings. And ten Shillings is the minimum you need to bet once against Uncle.¡± I don¡¯t understand what''s so hard about that.


    Did he just hit his face with his bare hand? Was he retarded? Did he like pain? Should I punch him too? I should better ask to be sure, or I might cause him... unpleasurable pain? Is there something like pleasurable pain? How does that work anyway? Pain was pain. There was nothing good about that.


    ¡°You don¡¯t understand the concept of money, Charlotte. I can¡¯t believe no one taught you. 31 Pennys are worth one Shilling, so a Gold Coin is worth 589 Pennys. But what can you buy for a Gold Coin. A pack of flour, for example, is worth two Shillings and five Pennys. Sometimes ten Pennys. The bottle of milk is worth three Shillings. A full glass of honey is worth thirteen Shillings and a bottle of whiskey usually goes for three to ten Gold Coins, depending on the brand. Ten Gold Coins is around what a normal wizard earns in a day. Some earn a little less but never lower than eight Gold Coins. A seamstress that needs around two days to finishes a normal dress, not the ones you like to wear, in two days. Adding the costs of the materials, she needs to sell the dress for at least thirty Gold Coins. A more complex dress with better materials costs at least twice that. The dress you are wearing probably costs around two hundred Gold Coins. The normal seamstresses don¡¯t work with such expensive materials, and the better ones naturally get better paid as well. So no, you are not poor. You just don¡¯t have much money.¡±


    I was sure he was joking. I mean, I liked my dress, but was it really worth 380 bets with Uncle? That couldn¡¯t be. We could bet for years and wouldn¡¯t reach that number. I don¡¯t think we would even get to that many bets if I took all bets we ever made into account, and this was only one dress. I had at least thirty. But why would he tell me that if that wasn¡¯t true? There was no plausible reason, which meant it was probably true.


    ¡°Okay, now you really need to go. I¡¯m also tired, and I really need to go to the toilet. You laid on my arm, so I didn¡¯t go until now, but if I wait any longer, the bed will be as wet as the pillow.¡±


    Was that meant to be funny? Sometimes he was really weird. Why didn¡¯t he just push me away when I was sleeping so deep?


    Anyway, I knew my time had come, and I stood up. But not before giving him a good-night kiss. But unlike my mother, this one was not on the forehead.


    He needed to brush his teeth. I could still taste the bacon and the chicken. And now that I noticed it, I also realized that he really should take a bath. Should I take him with me now? Nope. Too soon.


    When I walked out, I was greeted by a lot of frosty but also curious eyes. It felt much less hate than I was used to from the group of Lionhearts. Wasn¡¯t it time to go to bed. Hush hush. Leave me alone.


    Lorain came forth from a group near the fireplace.


    She silently followed me to the door. What did she want?


    ¡°So, how was it?¡± Was what? Is it so hard to just tell me what you want to know without me needing to ask?


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡±


    ¡°Did you kiss again? How did it feel like to sleep in his bed? When do you plan to do IT? Everything!¡± Okay, that was a touch too intrusive. I didn¡¯t even know the answers to some of these things myself.


    ¡°Okey, but just because I heard you talked to that Daphne and Tom.¡±


    ¡°Daisy, but yes, tell me.¡± I think I will never get good at learning names. I mean, I can quickly come up with a ton of them, but remembering them was something different.


    ¡°Right. Daisy. So yes, we did kiss again. I drooled on his pillow, so I would say that the sleeping part was really terrible, and I never thought about the last thing yet. I mean, do you even plan something like that? Isn''t it meant to be more spontaneous? Or after marriage?¡± Okay, I repaid my guilt. I owe her nothing now.


    ¡°Oww sweet. I¡¯m sure he wasn¡¯t angry. I just hope he will clean the pillow. When is your next date?¡±


    ¡°Hey, I already answered your questions. And why wouldn¡¯t he clean the pillow? It was really wet, sticky, and¡­ unclean.¡±


    ¡°I said "everything." She pouted at me. Hey, don¡¯t do that; I have a boyfriend, and I don¡¯t tick that way. ¡°And you are really clueless. Boys do things like that. My first boyfriend had this shirt I wore once. He didn¡¯t wash it for three weeks. Always saying that he liked the scent of it. I needed to wear another one to get him to clean that. My second boyfriend wasn¡¯t any better. Boys just do weird stuff like that. It''s idiotic, sometimes disgusting, but sometimes a little cute, don¡¯t you think?¡±


    ¡°Well, I agree with the disgusting part. And no, we don¡¯t have our next date planned. He first needs to get healthy again before we plan anything. But I really need to go now. I really need a bath.¡± I felt really dirty. Not only had I a few drops of milk on my beautiful dress, but the whole drolling story just made everything worse.


    ¡°I can come with you, and you can tell me more.¡±


    ¡°Don¡¯t you dare. I will get mother to change the password.¡±


    "Hey, that¡¯s not fair. I kept my promise.¡±


    ¡°Go at another time. I bathe alone!¡± How did that annoying girl change from talking shit about me to wanting to bathe with me? Sometimes I think I¡¯m the only normal person in this castle.

 Chapter 11

    "Ohhh, bath, you don¡¯t know how I missed you.¡± The water was hot, as I liked it, and the mermaid was "sleeping." I know she was pretending to, but it was better for both of us.


    I used the time to do some nail filing. Breaking off the tip wasn¡¯t really a clean thing, and I didn¡¯t want to run around with an ugly nail like that.


    Should I make me some braids? Lorain¡¯s braids looked really nice, and I think they would look nice on me. But my hair was so long. It would take ages to make them. Maybe I could go with a crown braid. That would look pretty, I think. Or maybe I could go with a ponytail. I haven¡¯t had one in quite a while, and it¡¯s not much effort. I think I will keep the crown braid for something special. Like another date. Wait a moment. Since when do I care so much? Since when is letting my hair dry and just combing it a little not an option anymore? What has he done to me? I want my old life back. It was so simple.


    Oh, the face I was making looks funny in the mirror. Now I¡¯m curious. How do I look when I pout?


    Did I really do that in front of him? Why does he like me? That looks so childish. Maybe I should train to make a different face. One that doesn¡¯t make me look like a spoiled brat but still shows him what I want.


    Is that the sun? But I did just make a few faces in the mirror. How can that be? That can at most have taken a few hours. Okay, my hair is all curly and dry; maybe I really let myself go too long. I should quickly take my dress and go before the spies come. They usually use the bath in the morning, and I don¡¯t want to meet them here. No, I don¡¯t want to meet them in general.


    Okey, maybe I should start bringing spare clothes to the bath. Wearing a dress again that was ruined by milk and something that was probably droll on the shoulder made me feel dirty again. Still, I can¡¯t run back naked, so I guess I just needed to bathe again. Do I have time for that? Probably not. I needed to bring Will his breakfast, and I also needed to talk with mom about how to prepare a lesson properly. I also hadn¡¯t met my brother in the last two days. What a busy day. But what dress do I wear for that. The pink one? No, it makes me too girly. Not that I disliked being girly, but it made me look like the daughter of an old wizard family that was about to be sold off. I was more than just a girl to be sold off. I was... well, what was I? I couldn¡¯t remain the cute daughter of one of the founders forever. Right, I was Uncle¡¯s successor in potions. I would be a teacher. Maybe I should be careful when saying that. Mother or Uncle will put more classes on me, and I didn¡¯t even hold my first lesson. Anyway, the turquoise dress looked good as well. Or maybe I could wear the school uniform. It would be far more comfortable when I visited Will. That reminds me. Do I even have one in my size? I can¡¯t remember wearing one in the last three or four years, and I have grown since then. Not much, but still, the uniform wouldn¡¯t fit anymore. Oh, it looks like mother has replaced my old one. It¡¯s even brand new. So, school uniform it is. It didn¡¯t even look too bad. I was just not used to wearing a skirt and tights, but the white shirt and the black robe did look good. I abstained from wearing a tie. I know it was good for people to notice in which house you were, but I think I was a little outside the regular system. I mean, unlike my brother, I didn¡¯t even sleep in the regular dormitory.


    I went to the great hall, and most tables were already used. They weren¡¯r filled to the brim, but if there were any free tables, new groups would take them instead of sitting next to others.


    Okay, I just noticed that I forgot to bring the basket with me. I guess I just needed to hurry then so that we don¡¯t need to eat cold. I began to pack the plate when I remembered that he might want something besides just meat. But what would he like? The tomatoes didn¡¯t really look like something that should be eaten. It felt far to squishy. Maybe an apple.


    ¡°Hello daughter.¡± I heard a voice in my back, but I ignored it. I had a mission to fulfill. So, an apple and the orange thingies looked okay too. Carrots, yes, he would want carrots, I¡¯m sure.


    ¡°Hello daughter.¡± Can¡¯t he see that I¡¯m busy.


    ¡°So, I heard an interesting rumor and wanted to know if it¡¯s true.¡± I can¡¯t hear you, Lalala.


    ¡°Okay, just listen to me. I know we aren¡¯t always on best terms, but I just want you to know that I¡¯m happy for you. And if you are willing, I would be happy if you introduced him to me. I mean, I could probably ask around, but it would be nice if YOU introduced me to him.¡± Lalala. Lala. Oh, he is still talking. Lalala. Wait? Did he just say he wants me to introduce Will to him? Who does he think he is?


    ¡°Are you sure he wants to eat all that?¡± I stared at my plate and noticed that maybe I had packed too many apples and too much of everything on the plate. Okay, now keep ignoring him. Will will just need to eat a bit more.


    I went away stoically, not glancing back. I didn¡¯t want to introduce Will to him. If he wanted to, he could ask around all he wanted; I didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°Carpe Diem.¡± This time, the fat girl didn¡¯t comment on me and just opened the door. She was learning too, I guess.


    The Lionhearts also didn¡¯t really notice me. Or at least most didn¡¯t notice me. I think it was the advantage of wearing the school uniform.


    Knock knock.


    ¡°Wait a moment.¡± That was close. I was about to open the door.


    ¡°You can come in now.¡± He was in his bed as yesterday, but he wore a different pyjama. I¡¯m sure he had even cleaned up a little.


    ¡°Sorry, I just came back from the bath. I thought that even though I am a little ill, that doesn¡¯t mean that I can become a savage.¡± Damned right you are. You were stinking yesterday. I just didn¡¯t say anything because you are ill. That I drolled on his pillow was probably also another reason. Still, I think a nod would be enough of a comment to him taking the much-needed bath.


    ¡°I brought you breakfast. With vegetables and everything this time.¡±


    ¡°I can see that. Is that a whole onion on the plate?¡± He sounded like there shouldn¡¯t be a whole onion on the plate. Can I throw the second one away before he notices? Nope, he was totally focused on me. Damned. Another embarrassing moment. Maybe I should just stop the whole farce and burry myself in the garden.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. That can happen.¡± At least he was understanding. So I will save the garden for another time.


    I gave him the plate and took off my shoes before I wanted to climb into his bed.


    That reminded me of something.


    ¡°Give me one of your shirts.¡± Oh no, he started choking. What do I do? Would patting on the back be enough?


    ¡°Sorry, I¡¯m fine now. Why do you want one of my shirts?¡± Stupid question.


    ¡°So that you can wash the pillow.¡±


    ¡°What has that to do with my pillow?¡± he looked genuinely confused. Was he not like the boys Loraine had described? Or did he want the shirt and the pillow? Was he worse than the boys Lorain talked about?


    ¡°Lorain told me¡­ She told me that¡­ you know¡­ that boys like to keep something that smells like the girls they like. And I don¡¯t want you to not wash that stinky pillow for two weeks.¡± Lorain, I swear, if you pranked me, your life will become living hell.


    He giggled. Was that a good or a bad sign?


    ¡°I cleaned the pillow yesterday right after you left, so you don¡¯t need to worry about it.¡± Lorain I¡¯m going to kill you.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know what Lorain told you, but I clean everything in my room every second day, so even if THAT didn¡¯t happen, I would have cleaned it today. Okay, maybe tomorrow. I don¡¯t feel fit enough to clean everything today, even if it just takes a few minutes with magic.¡±


    ¡°So you don¡¯t want me to wear a shirt for you?¡± I asked just to be sure.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that.¡± So he was like the boys Lorain told me about.


    ¡°You need to relax, Charly. You are overthinking things. Can you promise me something?¡± What did he mean by overthinking things? I always think like that. And I am relaxed. Okay, maybe not. Maybe meeting HIM had put me more on edge than I thought. But I don¡¯t think it should have been really noticeable. And what did he want me to promise him? I nodded to him to show him that I was at least listening.


    ¡°I want you to promise me that you won¡¯t do anything that you feel uncomfortable with just because you think it might please me.¡± Why was he so serious about it? It was just about wearing a shirt. I would have survived it.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t¡­¡±


    ¡°You did. You have been doing it since you came here yesterday. Listen Charly. I have tried to invite you for a date more times than I can count, but when I did, I never tried to change who I was to please you. I was always me. And at the moment, you are just trying to find ways just so that you would look good in front of me. At least it feels that way to me. I really appreciate that, but I don¡¯t want you to become unhappy because of that.¡± What was he talking about? I was 100% me. I was more me than I had been in years. I mean, it¡¯s a different side of me, but I think I did nothing; I did little I would have liked to avoid.


    ¡°But I thought¡­ But I really don¡¯t care. If you want a shirt that smells like me, you just need to ask. I¡­¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s not about the shirt. I mean, not only. But I think you don¡¯t even realize how tense you are all the time.¡± Was it really that obvious? And I mean, wasn¡¯t it normal to be a little tense? I mean, most of the things are things I do for the first time, and I¡¯m really unsure if I¡¯m doing them right, but they don¡¯t make me unhappy, even if they''re not really relaxing.


    ¡°What if that¡¯s the real me?¡± I mean, I was unsure about that, but at the moment, it did feel right. Who was he to tell me who I am? Oh, that took him off-guard. He looked¡­ well, he looked still tired and ill, but he also looked as if he were thinking about what I said. He blinks more when he does that. I least I think he does.


    ¡°So you are telling me that you bringing me food, cuddling with me all day, wearing a shirt for me, and even dressing differently than usual is the real you? I mean, I won¡¯t stop you. I like it, I really do, but if you don¡¯t want to do anything of these things, you can just say it.¡±


    ¡°I have the feeling you really don¡¯t know me well.¡± I said it with a grin. It was nice that he worried, even if I was a little offended by the way he said it.


    ¡°That¡¯s because you didn¡¯t tell me much about yourself yet. I could only make my own observations.¡± Okey, that was fair, but still, it wasn¡¯t like I knew more about him.


    ¡°Okay, then I will tell you something you seem to not know about me.¡± I grinned, I wanted him to understand that I was really sure about one thing. ¡°I never do something I don¡¯t want to do.¡±


    Did you know this story is from Royal Road? Read the official version for free and support the author.


    ¡°That¡¯s the girl I know.¡± He returned my smile. That wasn¡¯t what I was expecting, but fine.


    ¡°And do you want to know what I want to do right now?¡± If he wanted me to be me, I would just be me. Take it or leave it, but that¡¯s what you wanted.


    ¡°No?¡± he looked interested and even a little expecting. I could feel my heart beating faster. What was he thinking about? I was sure he was thinking about something different than me. Would he tell me? I went closer to his head so that our lips almost touched.


    ¡°So what were you thinking about just now?¡± I really wanted to know. Maybe he had an even more "exciting" idea than mine.


    ¡°I uhhhm, I would rather not say.¡± Hey that wasn¡¯t fair. I was always honest. Why was he acting like that now.


    ¡°And if I want you to tell me?¡± speak now. I want to know. I really, really wanna know.


    ¡°Promise me that you don¡¯t get angry.¡± Okay, did I really want to know it now? Yes, I wanted to.


    ¡°I promise.¡± He was basically blackmailing me, so that promise didn¡¯t count.


    ¡°I wanted too¡­, well let''s just say I was inspired by the good view.¡± Good view? What was he talking about? I didn¡¯t make a fake promise for that answer.


    ¡°What are you talking about?¡± In that position, he couldn¡¯t have seen anything besides me and maybe a bit of the room, so what was he talking about?


    "Answer,¡± he was looking away now. Was it really so embarrassing to say it? I mean, at this point, I was sure it was something perverted, but was there really a need to make so much drama about it?


    ¡°The top bottoms of your shirt are open. What do you think I would think about in that moment?¡± Ups. That wasn¡¯t intended. I guess I didn¡¯t close them properly this morning because I wanted to get here fast. But was it really so bad that he was even unable to look into my eyes? I mean, he has already seen my breast once. I mean, it was just for a moment, but he was making a much bigger deal out of it than it needed to be. Oh wait. I was his first girlfriend, right? Did breasts really make all men go dump? I mean, HE got dump when he saw someone with big breasts, but mine weren¡¯t so big. The question was now: did I still want to do what I wanted to do with him or should I be upset about it? Mother always said I shouldn¡¯t let anyone do perverted things with me, but I was sure that didn¡¯t include my boyfriend. I mean, she did it with HIM too, and more.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I couldn¡¯t stop myself from looking.¡± He looked really sorry. But I wasn¡¯t really mad at him. I mean, I didn¡¯t even know if I should be. If we ever wanted to do IT he would see it anyway, right?


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, I guess. I mean, don¡¯t do it again without asking, but I guess I should have closed the buttons properly.¡± I tried to be reasonable here. I mean, I know that Aunt Seraphina was quite prudish, and she was still single, so I didn¡¯t want to end up like her. Wait a moment. How did she get Helena? Who was her father? I mean, she got pregnant during the year they founded the school, but I have never seen her with a man. I mean, I was quite little back then. Only four years old, and I don¡¯t remember everything, but I¡¯m sure I would remember if Aunt had a man following her around. I mean, besides the ones that came to the school and wanted to marry her because she was the smartest witch alive. I mean, a man she didn¡¯t send away the moment they even came up with the topic. Anyway, I didn¡¯t want to end up like her, so I guess being a bit more open wouldn¡¯t hurt. Still my mood was a little runined.


    ¡°What do you mean without asking?¡± What is he¡­ Oh no, that¡¯s not how I meant it.


    ¡°Just don¡¯t look.¡± Did he need to make it so complicated?


    ¡°I can¡¯t promise that.¡± What? Why not. It¡¯s not so hard to behave yourself. Okey mother told me the same, but that is something different, and her definition of behaving is boring.


    ¡°Is it really so difficult not to look?¡± I wanted to understand what went through his head.


    ¡°Have you seen yourself in the mirror? That I¡¯m not drooling is all I can manage.¡± Okey, I could feel how my head was heating up. I could even feel my heart beat in my ears.


    ¡°If you drool, you need to find yourself a new girlfriend.¡± My heart was still beating like crazy. Was I a pervert as well because I liked what he said?


    Suddenly, the door to the dormity opened. A boy of Will¡¯s age came in, threw his bag in a corner, and threw himself on one of the empty beds.


    He didn¡¯t seem to have noticed me.


    ¡°Hey Red, why are you back already?¡± Why are you talking to him, Will? I don¡¯t want to be seen like that. I found cover under the blanket again. If I don¡¯t move, wait till the night, he will never see me lying here.¡±


    ¡°Professor Nightquill threw me out of her classroom after I had blown up one of her gadgets. I mean, why was she putting something into the classroom that a repair spell couldn¡¯t fix?¡±


    ¡°What did you do?¡± I poked Will in the side. He should give me an opportunity to get out.


    ¡°We were training with shield charms to deflect incoming spells. Well, turns out you can use multiple at the same time, and the spells get a little accelerated when deflected, so Jordan and I built a loop. After around five seconds, the spell flew out of the loop and hit her desk.¡± That sounded surprisingly funny. Man, I wish I could use magic as well. It would be so awesome.


    ¡°By the way, your girlfriend can come out; I have seen her. I mean, what¡¯s the great deal? Yesterday she was sleeping without a care in the world.¡± Ouch. Another embarrassing moment to add to the long list of embarrassing moments from the past week.


    "Hi, I¡¯m Charlotte,¡± I came out from under the blanket. No need to stay there if he knew I was there.


    ¡°Hello Charlotte, I¡¯m Brian, but you can call me Red.¡± Okay, I was confused. How do you get to Red from Brian?


    ¡°He made a mistake in the first year and brewed a potion that turned him red, but he tells the younger students that he gets called that because he fought a gryffon and got covered in its blood when he was out on an adventure.¡± Wow, that was sooo lame. Should I call him Red the Lame? Red the fraud?


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t ruin my image. I never did something like that.¡± Okey, I know that sound in his voice. He definitely did it.


    ¡°Anyway, Charlotte, what about you? There are so many theories about you, and I¡¯m curious. Are you really a werecat? Or is the demon story true? Do you drink blood like wine? Are you really unable to use magic? Did Professor Humblehill make a deal with the devil because she thought she couldn''t get children? Can you really mind-control people that look into your eyes?¡±


    ¡°Stop it, Red. That¡¯s rude.¡± Yes, it definitely was. But I honestly could deal with such bluntness better than with those spinless cowards who only talked behind my back.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine, Will. I guess only the magic part is somewhat true. When did they come up with that mind control crap?¡± It wasn¡¯t as if I didn¡¯t know what people said about me. I mean, as a child, it really bothered me, but after a few years, I got used to it. I mean, most people didn¡¯t even know I could hear them because my hearing is a little more sensitive, and it wasn¡¯t the first time someone asked me so directly either. But it was the first time someone asked out of curiosity and not out of fear. So I was inclined to answer his questions. And it had nothing to do with me wanting to stay in Will''s bed any longer instead of leaving to avoid the talk. Not in the least.


    ¡°Is that really new? I mean, I was told about it in my second year, so I don¡¯t really know. I mean, the theory got a lot more popular in the last two days, but I guess you know the reason for that.¡± Yeah, I get it. I¡¯m an ugly, evil girl that can only get Will¡¯s attention because I mind-control him. I would bet that these rumors are spread by some jealous bitches. If I ever find out which one of them is spreading those rumors, I will throw them from the highest tower. They always forget that my fist is the best tool to ¡°mind control¡± someone.


    ¡°So, Will, when do you think you are fit enough to go to the lessons again? Or did you start to get comfortable with getting treated like a little prince by your girlfriend?¡± Hey, I didn¡¯t treat him like a prince. Princes have competent personnel. I brought him an onion and drolled on his pillow. He would surely want to get healthy as soon as possible. I mean, it''s not that I would mind¡­ I mean, I¡¯m getting better at it, aren¡¯t I? I mean, at least he got his vegetables. The onion was just a small mistake.


    ¡°Why? Do you miss me? Or are you jealous? Maybe you just don¡¯t want to work with Keith and Joshua anymore?¡± Miss him? Jealous? No, Nonono, I need to get these pictures out of my head. He isn¡¯t like that. I¡¯m sure. Not after what he said about my breast. Should I test it again just to be sure? No, I will give him the benefit of the doubt here. It¡¯s probably just a boy thing. Are Keith and Joshua the guys that sleep in the other two empty beds?


    ¡°What if I am? So when are you coming back?¡± Why is he looking at me? ¡°I feel much better already. Maybe tomorrow or the day after.¡± Did that mean I won¡¯t be able to visit him that much after he is healthy again? I mean, we still just had one date, and this was just first-date healthcare, right? But maybe he wouldn¡¯t mind me visiting either way. But he would have much more to do then, too.


    ¡°He needs to stay in bed for two more days.¡± I wouldn¡¯t let him take that away from me. I wanted to do it. I wanted to spend as much time with him as I wanted.


    ¡°Look how she cares about you. You lucky devil.¡± Hehe, right. He was a lucky devil. But he was my lucky devil. Wait a moment. Was I his lucky charm? Oh, he kissed me. That came as a surprise. Was that the first public kiss? Semi-public, we only had Red looking at us.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m lucky. Really lucky. How is it working with Morgana? Is she still rejecting you?¡± Wait a moment. Are they talking about Morgana Fay? My new student? Red had a crush on her?


    ¡°Don¡¯t ask. She doesn¡¯t even look at me. I mean, I tried everything, and I believed she would slowly open up a little, but now she has become his personal student, so we don¡¯t even have lessons together anymore. I mean, besides Defence against Mundane Weapons. But in our first lessons, she picked that gigolo Augustus as a partner. I mean, she totally trashed him, and I was glad she beat him up instead of me, but still.¡± Okay, they were definitely talking about my students. Should I tell them? Should I stay silent? And Augustus is really what I took him for, it seems. Even the boys think that.


    ¡°Sorry Bro. I can¡¯t help you there. But persistence might pay off. Maybe just talk to her during dinner?¡± Oh noo. William is really the last person who should give advice on that. I hated it when he disturbed me during my meals. Maybe I should say something. But do I really want to meddle in one of my students'' relationships?


    ¡°She always sits with Professor Snake, and you know¡­ He and I. That would end in chaos?¡± Hey, what did he have against uncle? Uncle is awesome. I¡¯m sure Red is in the wrong there. Or maybe he is just a terrible student. I mean, even Aunt Seraphina threw him out of class. Yeah, it has to be that.


    ¡°Then try your luck during the Walpurgis Ball, or if you can¡¯t wait, ask her to be your date for the New Year''s party. I know that she didn¡¯t go last year, but that also means that she also had no partner last year. Try your luck.¡± Oh shit. I totally forgot about those things as I never attended them, but Will would surely want to go there. I mean, even Aunt Seraphina said those parties were not so terrible, and she really wasn¡¯t the social type. I mean, she hated to stop her research for anything she deemed unnecessary, and parties definitely counted towards that. So saying that it was not terrible was the greatest compliment she could give to a party. I mean, she was forced to attend one of the noble houses¡¯ parties, and for one week she complained about how much time she had lost. Walpurgisnight was even more highly celebrated, and for some reason, it became a thing that people invited each other as dance partners for the whole evening. It was heavily frowned upon attending without a date and would make you an outcast. It was an incredibly judgy event, and I heard a story about a couple that became a laughingstock because they slipped up during a dance. I couldn¡¯t dance. I never learned to. Never saw the reason too. And now? I knew that Will would want to attend. It was practically expected of him to attend, as he has a girlfriend now. In this case, me. Okey, don¡¯t panic, I can manage that. I still have... around three months for the New Year''s party and almost seven months for the Walpurgis night. So seven months to learn how to dance. But I needed someone to teach me. Would my mother show me? She was so busy recently that I would feel bad asking her. Uncle was also busy, which was a pity, because I heard he was an incredibly good dancer. Could I ask Will? Would he laugh because I don¡¯t know? I mean, everyone learns how to dance in year one or two. There was just never someone who was willing to dance with me. Okey never might be an overstatement because I only visited the first lesson, but it wouldn¡¯t have changed anything.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know, man. I mean, would she really accept if I just asked her? If it were so easy, she would have accepted to go on a date months ago.¡± Poor Red.


    ¡°Do you have an idea?¡± I was surprised that Will even considered asking me. This looked more like a discussion between him and his friend. At least he whispered so that Red wouldn¡¯t expect me to have a solution. But was that normal? I mean, that I as his girlfriend, needed to advise his friends on how to get their crushes'' attention? If yes, was I really qualified to do that? I didn¡¯t even know Morgana that well. Please let me just stay out of this. She will also become my student, so I don¡¯t want to have anything to do with that.


    ¡°No, and I need to go now. I still have work to do. I still need to take a closer look at Merlin¡¯s homework.¡± Nice, perfect. Now he thinks that work is more important to me than him or his friend. But I still hadn¡¯t figured out how I could teach Merlin in the best way possible, so I needed to figure out the similarities between the potions he didn¡¯t do perfectly.


    ¡°Oh, okay, I didn¡¯t know you had plans today. Who is Merlin?¡± Could I hear a little jealousy in his voice? Yes, that definitely was jealousy. Hihi.


    ¡°Oh, he is just one of Uncle¡¯s students and I help him with his potion studies. And he needs a lot of attention.¡± Hehe. A little tease can never hurt. Now he will think about me until I come back. The look on his face was also priceless. Maybe I should compensate him later on. I still wanted to try that thing. But I don¡¯t know if he dares to.


    ¡°See you later, Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°See you later Red.¡±


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t I get a goodbye-kiss?¡±


    ¡°Fine.¡± Ups, forgot about it because of the teasing.


    ¡°Do I get one too?¡± What? Red, what are you talking about? Not cool. Did he have some brain damage? Why would I kiss him? He didn¡¯t even look as good as Will. He didn¡¯t have cute little frickles; he had boring brown hair, and compared to Will, he was a twig. And HE WASN''T MY BOYFRIEND.


    ¡°Shut up, Red. See you later, Charly.¡± Okey, I definitely needed to get used to their interactions. It was just too different from what I was used to. Boys were strange. It reminded me of what Lorain said. Boys do stupid, sometimes disgusting, and sometimes cute things. I guess I was beginning to understand what she meant there.


    The Lionhearts just gave me the usual glare, but I could hear them returning to their usual business before I even left the door.

 Chapter 12

    As I lied about needing to do some work, I had some spare time. After a few short moments, I remembered that I hadn¡¯t used magic for over a week. But this time I wanted to be better prepared, so I went to the kitchen to ask for some snacks.


    Most of the Stuff recognized me, so it wasn¡¯t really a problem. Especially because Majestro, the chef, was there. He was one of three wizards in the kitchen. He did most of the cooking with a few flicks of his wand, but apparently seasoning the dishes was incredibly difficult with magic. One small hic up and the whole meal would be too salty, too spicy, too bitter, or anything else that spices did. So the Nowitzs just needed to stand in front of the different cooking panels and add the spices at the right time while cut vegetables and meat were flying through the room. The Nowitzs feared me even more than the other students did, which was a little sad as I never did something to them, but at least they came up with more creative names. Daughter of the Morningstar had a nice ring to it. Dawn-bringer also sounded nice. But I assumed these names had some meaning I didn¡¯t understand. Maybe dawn-bringer meant I would bring the apocalypse or something, but I honestly didn¡¯t care. They didn¡¯t know any better. Unlike some students.


    With a handful of fresh snacks in hand, I retreated to the solace of my room. It was my haven, the only place where I could wrestle with the fragile state I found myself in after each attempt to harness magic. I''d rather keep my struggles hidden; the last thing I wanted was for them to witness my vulnerability.


    This time, I promised myself I wouldn''t push too hard. Transfiguration always drained me beyond measure, so I opted for something simpler.


    I quickly took out my wand from my nightstand and thought about what spell to practice. Usually, I practiced with the levitation spell as it was easy to control how much magic power I wanted to spend, and there were also quite a few exercises to increase my control over magic. The most common exercise was using the levitation charm to control a pen to write. Most considered it quite a boring exercise and quickly moved to the more advanced methods, but those required more magic power. Power which I lacked.


    Still, there were other spells I could use for training, even if they were less popular. One of which was a spell to control fire. I always imagined myself controlling fires so large they could burn down Toadwitz, but the reality was quite far from that.


    Placing one of my ever-burning candles on the desk, I aimed my wand at the flickering flame. Casting the spell, I watched as the flame responded, seemingly drawn to my wand. With focused intent, I nudged the flame in the opposite direction. The magic required was so minimal that I didn''t need to resort to drawing blood unless I sought to make the flame bigger.


    After around a minute, I felt my hand shaking. It was a sign that I needed to eat something. I grabbed a piece of beef jerky and thought about how awesome it would be if I could use magic as freely as the other students. I would probably become even more of a workaholic than mother, and a greater witch then even Aunt Seraphina. Too bad that it would never become true.


    Ten minutes later, revitalized, I resumed casting the spell. This time, I compressed the flame into a perfect sphere, an unnatural and mesmerizing sight.


    After around an hour, I decided to do something a little more advanced. I wanted to increase the temperature of the flame. Just a little bit.


    I focused on the flickering flame as I cast the spell, but the moment I saw that the flame was turning blue, I had to stop. Maybe it was already too late at that time, as I barely managed to move afterwards. If I wasn¡¯t sitting on my chair, I was sure I would have collapsed.


    But I still couldn¡¯t help but smile. I never managed to even get the flame to turn blue before, so my training definitely had been worth it. All those hours of training were slowly showing signs of paying off. Maybe, perhaps, in the far future, I could be able to at least use the most simple magic because I could use my magic to the outmost efficiency. Nothing too great; just a little bit would be enough. The others would probably see me in a completely different light then. And even if not, magic was just awesome. Any bit of progress felt better than even winning a bet with Severin, or¡­ well, I wasn¡¯t sure if it was better than getting cuddled by Will. But magic would always be my own, and it felt so good to get better at it.


    After I recovered from my training session, I considered visiting my brother, but looking at the time, I knew that he was having a lesson with Aunt Seraphina. He would probably drown in homework afterwards, and from my own experience, I knew that unless you were an absolute genius, you would never leave Aunt¡¯s classes happy. She had that way to make you feel dump without even meaning to, which only made it worse.


    Maybe I could talk with Helena. She had called me a friend too, and maybe I would get to know if she really LIKED my brother or if she just liked him. I mean, she had never spent much time with him before because she never got her nose out of some books. I don¡¯t know if she was as smart as her mother, but she was certainly trying to get there.


    So, with nothing else to do, I decided that I could visit the library. I hadn¡¯t been there since the beginning of the year, but now would be a good time. I needed to stay ahead in my potion studies if I wanted to teach the subject after all. The problem was that I had read almost all books about potions. The only books I hadn¡¯t read were the unpopular ones that were about oddly specific topics that, in the grand scheme of things, didn¡¯t matter. I mean, who would want to read about the effect that a full moon had on the brewing process of a cure for boils? I mean, the effect was so little that I wasn¡¯t even sure the author''s experiments were enough to prove that it had an influence, even though his reasoning was logical. Other topics, like how the storage time affected a few ingredients, were more valuable but increadibly dry to read. I still did. Now the only things that remained were things like how a cauldron was changed during a brewing process and what potions would have what effect on future brewing attempts.


    All of these things could be useful in certain situations, but Uncle already told me that I was on a level where I needed to invent my own potions to get better. Sure, once in a while we would get new books or someone would revolutionize an old recipe, but those things happened twice or three times every year, so I would mostly stagnate the rest of the time.


    The common misconception about potions was that it was quite limited compared to magic, but that was not true. The only limitation was your imagination. Almost everything that magic could do, potions could do too, and maybe even more. I mean, uncles'' attempts to create liquid luck were one such example. There was no spell that could affect someone''s luck. I mean, there were one or two rituals, but not something that was readily available to the common wizard.


    Still, I wanted to read all books about potions before I started to traverse the unknown without uncles'' help. So boring books here I come.


    Like I thought, the library was almost empty, as everyone was still having lessons. Only three different grades had spare time as the founders were all teaching all houses at the same time. And most of the people in these grades were too lazy to go to the library. Stupid idiots. If I were able to use magic, I would stay in the library the whole night. I mean, technically, I could, but it was so meager that it would just be torturing myself if I were to read up on all the cool stuff.


    As usual, no one was in the potion section. They don¡¯t appreciate the art at all. I took the book about the cauldrons and began to read.


    Who in their right mind was bored enough to test all this? I mean, if one brewed 1048 healing potions in a copper cauldron, the next sleeping connoction brewed in the potion would be only half as efficient. There was even a graph to show how the effectiveness gradually lessened until it stopped dropping after 1048 potions. I mean was there really a need to go to 2000 potions after the first 100 after this had stopped to show any sign of change?


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    ¡°Can I sit here?¡± What? Who is talking to me? Oh, it''s Morgana.


    ¡°Sure.¡± I mean, there were many different free tables, but if she wanted to sit near her dear teacher, I wouldn¡¯t stop her.


    ¡°What are you reading?¡± Girl, don¡¯t you know the basic rules of a library? No talking.


    ¡°A thousand ways to ruin your cauldron.¡± The title was a lie. There were at least three thousand ways described in the book.


    ¡°Is it a good book? Should we read it for your lesson?¡± Only if they annoy me.


    ¡°No, it¡¯s just some side reading of mine. I wouldn¡¯t recommend reading it if you have anything else left in the library.¡± She looked at me, surprised.


    ¡°Have you read the whole library?¡± Ups. Yeah, I get that it might have sounded like that.


    ¡°Just the potion part. And the herbology part. And the magical beast part. And then, no wait, that was it. I didn¡¯t finish the other sections.¡± I mean, I dumbled a little in everything, but I didn¡¯t want her to think I could answer her questions about everything. I also didn¡¯t want to mention that I might have read one or two less decent books. I mean, I¡¯m a girl; I was curious, okay? Now that I think about it, they should definitely build a forbidden section in the library. I wouldn¡¯t want little Percival to read these books. I wouldn¡¯t want him to become a pervert. Not that the stories focused on it but some things were described quite explicit to say the least.


    ¡°That is incredible. Why did you choose those topics?¡± It wasn¡¯t incredible. I was just bored. I didn¡¯t always take seven hour baths. I just started taking them because the nights were so long and so boring.


    ¡°Herbology and Potions are quite closely related. Magical beast as well, even if not so strong. I mean, if you want to brew a potion that has never existed before and just have an idea of what it should do, where would you start to look for ingredients? So if you want to become a potion master that is able to create its own potions, it¡¯s necessary to know a few things, but if you just treat potions as a hobby, it is unnecessary.¡± What I left out was that I would teach them to become awesome portioners and not just mediocre ones, so even if I hadn¡¯t brewed my own potion yet and thus wasn¡¯t a master yet, I was as close as one could get, and they would suff¡­ profit because of that.


    ¡°That is amazing, I never thought about it that way. I want to focus on enchanting, and potions but I never considered that the other subjects are really a prerequisite to getting there.¡±


    ¡°Most potion books already tell you the basics about the ingredients, so it¡¯s not really a strict requirement, but it certainly helps.¡± I didn¡¯t want to lie to her. What I did was far beyond what was required. The main reason I wasn¡¯t a master yet was that I always worked with uncle together. You would only be recognized as a master if you created the potion without the help of a master, so everything I did was attributed to uncle. I naturally didn¡¯t mind. In most cases, he was also the one who did most of the work, so he also deserved it, but I would dare to say that there were potion masters that were worse than me.


    ¡°Still, that you read all those books would certainly make it easier for you.¡± Yeah, it will, but was she trying to get on my good side for some reason?


    ¡°So, what can I help you with? You surely want something, or you wouldn¡¯t have come to sit with me.¡± I just hope she will answer honestly. I didn¡¯t have the nerves to deal with someone like those noble brats who tried to hide their intentions all the time while also being blatantly obvious about them.


    ¡°Oh, I don¡¯t want anything. I just wanted to get to know my teacher. I mean, if you can recommend me a book to read for your lessons, then that would be great, but it was only by chance that I saw you here.¡± Well, at least that I could believe. I mean, even I didn¡¯t know that I would go to the library this morning, so she couldn¡¯t have waited for me here.


    ¡°Ohh, fine. Just ask away if you want to know anything. I have seen your grades, and I know you have the basics down, but I honestly can¡¯t recommend anything to you without having seen you work. And my lessons don¡¯t follow a strict plan where we follow a preset number of potions. At least that¡¯s not the plan at the moment. I would only do that if I deem you too untalented or unprepared for what I want to teach you.¡± That seemed to shock her, and I could even see her clenching her fists. Was she afraid to fail?


    ¡°Can I do anything to prepare?¡± Does she have some kind of trauma? She is sweating quite a lot.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I will just test if you understand what you have learned until now. It won¡¯t be too difficult.¡± She paled even more. Did I do something wrong? Help! What do I do in such a situation? I don¡¯t want her to be scared of my lessons. Maybe I should change the topic. Yes, that sounds good.


    ¡°So, uhm, do you have someone to go out with?¡± What am I talking about? That was not professional. I wanted to stay out of it. Stupid brain. Think of something different.


    "Ah, sorry, I mean, ahm, what is your favorite color?¡± What am I doing here. I will lose all respect even before the first lesson that way. I need to ask something decent.


    ¡°I mean, ahm, enchanting is your other favorite topic. Why is that?¡± Okay, that¡¯s better. Why couldn¡¯t I ask that in the beginning? She will think I¡¯m a weirdo now. Now she even looks at me like I¡¯m a weirdo. Okay, at least she doesn¡¯t look scared anymore.


    ¡°Has it anything to do with the lessons? I mean, if you really need to know, no, I don¡¯t have someone I go out with. My favorite color is green, and I love enchanting because it can do something permanent. It isn¡¯t as fickle as other types of magic.¡± She really answered all my stupid questions. I¡¯m sorry, Morgana. I didn¡¯t want to embarrass you. I try to be a good teacher, I swear.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, I shouldn''t have asked that; I just¡­¡± Yeah, why did I ask that?


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry?¡± was she trying to calm me down now. Oh, how the tables turn. Have I really just lost the respect of one of my students even before the first lesson?


    ¡°Okey, I think it''s time for lunch now anyway.¡± I need to escape. If I say anything more than this, I¡¯m sure it will only get worse.


    ¡°Yes, I¡¯m hungry too. We should go now.¡± Did she just say we? Leave me some decency and let me go alone.


    ¡°I just need to put the book away. You can go ahead.¡±


    ¡°I will wait, don¡¯t worry.¡± Girl, I¡¯m getting angry now. You do it on purpose, don¡¯t you?


    "Okey, listen, Morgana, you are a nice girl, and you don¡¯t need to take it personally, but I will eat with my boyfriend, so you don¡¯t need to wait.¡±


    ¡°Ohh, Sorry. I didn¡¯t want to intrude. I just thought we could go together. Who is your boyfriend? I never heard about you having one.¡± Don¡¯t apologize for intruding if you continue to do it. But I guess I started it, and she did answer me too. And why would she have heard about me having a boyfriend. I mean, I suspect that the last two years in Toadwits were just for people to find someone to marry, so it''s quite common news for people to get together or break up. So me having a boyfriend wouldn''t really be "news."


    ¡°His name is William Whimsby. He is in sixth grade in Lionheart.¡±


    ¡°The one with the red hair and the frickles? The one that is always together with this idiot, Brian.¡± Okay, she didn¡¯t like Red. I shouldn¡¯t meddle. Not anymore than I already did.


    "Yes, that one.¡± Maybe I declared that a bit more proudly than I wanted to.


    ¡°Good for you. He seemed like a nice guy. At least he never bothered me like his friend.¡±


    ¡°What did his friends do? Should I talk with them?¡± Okay, that would be meddling, but if someone bothered my student, I had to step in, right?


    ¡°No, No. You don¡¯t need to. I just wanted to vent a little. It''s not so terrible. He just asked me out at the most inopportune moments. I mean, he managed to ask me two times when I was on my way to the toilet. What did he expect me to answer? "Yes, good bye. I gotta pee." And then that one time he asked me after Professor Humblehill just told me that I had no aptitude for divination and that I should choose something else. Or that one time when he asked me right after he did some sports and was still sweating all over.¡± Okey, I¡¯m not sure if she likes or dislikes him now. Was it just the timing that was always bad, or did she not like him?


    ¡°Okey? So do you want him to ask you at the right moment, or do you don¡¯t want him to ask you?¡± My curiosity got the better of me, I guess.


    ¡°I don¡¯t know.¡± Wow. That girl was complicated. ¡°I need to have good grades, or my mom will marry me off to some noble from my hometown, so I don¡¯t know if I have time for something like that.¡±


    Okay, that was at least more understandable.


    ¡°So theoretically, you want him to ask?¡± Thanks, mother, for not putting me through that shit.


    ¡°Well, I don¡¯t know. I mean, he wasn¡¯t the only one who asked me out. I mean, Augustus asks me repeatedly, but I definitely don¡¯t want to go out with him. But there are others too.¡± Wow, she was really popular. She could basically choose. I only had William, but I guess that is fine. Not everyone can be as popular as her.


    ¡°Is Augustus really that bad?¡± I mean, he was also my student, and it wouldn¡¯t hurt to know.


    ¡°It depends on who you ask. I mean, some more open girls were more than satisfied if that is what you want, but some others were left in tears after he left them after a week.¡± Ohhhkey, that might have been more than I wanted to know.


    ¡°Anyway, we are there. I need to pack some lunch for Will. See you in two days. Don¡¯t be late.¡±

 Chapter 13

    So beans, carrots, an apple, and salat. Then a few sausages and chicken. Maybe I should wait for mother to come here. I could ask her if this is okay or if the beans or the salat are in some way strange. I mean, he ate the apple, so the apple should be fine. Why do they even put things like onions on the table if you can''t eat them? Maybe I should look at what the others eat. That would make it simpler. Okay, they don¡¯t eat the apple. Was Will just nice to me, or are the others the strange ones? Only half of the people have the salat. But half means that it''s not ridiculous for me to bring it. Okey, I should be fine this time.


    On the way, I met Brian or ¡°Red¡± and two other boys. One looked tall and muscular with long, curly black hair, and he hadn¡¯t shaved for a few days. The other one had kempt blond hair but was more of an average size. He also didn¡¯t have a beard, but he had a nasty laugh. Those were probably Joshua and Keith. I just winked and went ahead, as they were probably on their way to the great hall.


    When I arrived, graciously delivering a perfect meal, I asked Will which of the two was Keith and which was Joshua.


    Turned out Keith was the one who needed a shave, and Joshua was the one with the nasty laugh.


    ¡°What is so funny?¡±


    ¡°Well, Joshua¡¯s ex-girlfriend said the same about his laugh.¡± Yeah, because his laugh was nasty.


    ¡°Don¡¯t you want to come under the blanket?¡± I wanted to. I was just considering if I wanted to take off the robe too. I mean, a shirt was more than enough, right? The bottoms were closed too. But would that be too¡­ too slutty? I don¡¯t want to look slutty, but on the other hand, it was just a robe, right? Ah damned, no robe for me today.


    Yes, he is smiling. Definitely the right choice.


    We ate together in his bed, which meant that he was eating the vegetables while I sneaked off all the chicken from the plate. He cleaned up our fingers with a flick of his wand, and we cuddled a little. How would his body feel under the pyjama? Should I risk it? No, we are lying here quite comfortably, and I don¡¯t want to ruin it.


    ¡°So you want to play nurse for a day longer than needed?¡± Oh, why was he bringing that up now?


    ¡°Ohh, but you are ill, very ill.¡± I won¡¯t admit to anything. Not without a lawyer.


    "Oh, right, I forgot. How could that have happened. So if I am HEALTHY again in two days and were to ask you what you have planned in three days, would you have time? I mean, I know you only wanted a single date, but we could just call it something else. A picnic, maybe? A normal walk with a friend?¡± I know he wouldn¡¯t be able to not rub it under my nose.


    "Ah, in three days, I think I would need to look into my calendar.¡± Two can play that game, and from his grinning, I assumed he liked to play.


    ¡°Yeah, I guess I could make some time.¡± Yeah, just you wait, hihi. ¡°But are you sure you are really HEALTHY again at that time? You look really, really ill. Maybe we should wait for another week, maybe a month, or even a year.¡±


    His grinning didn¡¯t even stop. ¡°Oh, that won¡¯t be a problem; I will just ask my nurse to give me something to cheer me up faster.¡± Damned, he was good.


    ¡°And what cure could have such magical effects?¡± Now say what you want, my sweet little perv¡­ ahm patient.


    ¡°Wouldn¡¯t that be for the nurse to decide? I mean, she is a professional healer after all.¡± Damned, okay, how do I turn this around. I want him to say something, not me. Who even said I was a professional nurse? I attended the "after-the-first-date healthcare academy," and my grades were terrible. Oh, I have an idea.


    ¡°There are certain ways to make sure you are cured till then, but they come with great risks; even death is a possibility.¡± Got him. Yes he faltered.


    ¡°But there must be ways to reduce that risk, right? Otherwise, the nurse wouldn¡¯t have proposed such a solution, right?¡± Now I have to decide. Do I want to do what I want, or do I want to know what he wants and eventually do that. What a difficult choice. But I really want to try it. Okay, we do what I want, but not because he won, but because I won.


    "Indeed, there is a way, you just need to follow the instructions of your nurse to the letter. Do you have that trust in your nurse? Your life might be forfeited if your trust is misplaced.¡± Okey, but how do I instruct him without going out of character? That will be a little difficult.


    ¡°Who should I trust with my life if not my nurse.¡± Yeah, you do that. I wouldn¡¯t trust myself.


    ¡°Then come a little closer, and this nurse will suck out the illness out of your body.¡± Oh, he got a little red. Hihi. So now I need to describe what he needs to look out for, or it can get really dangerous.


    ¡°My life won¡¯t be in real danger, right? I mean, sucking out an illness sounds nice and all, but what exactly are you really talking about?¡± Did I scare him? Was he worried I would suck his blood or something? He looked a little worried, but not really scared. But it makes it easier now that he broke the play first.


    ¡°Do you remember that during our first kiss I said no tongue or I would bite? I wanted to try that. In a book I read, it¡¯s described as so much much better than a normal kiss. But you need to be careful because I have two really sharp and pointy teeth. And blood makes me a little, mmhhh, let''s say unfocused.¡± Was it too soon? In the books I read, some couples started with that kind of kiss. He looked so doubtful. Did I ruin it? Doesn¡¯t he trust me? Is he scared? By the magic, I shouldn¡¯t have asked. What a terrible idea.


    ¡°You really want to try it, don¡¯t you? Don¡¯t be angry, but can you explain exactly what you mean by unfocused? I mean, if it''s really risky, some additional safety measures would be nice, if I¡¯m honest. Hey, everything is fine. Don¡¯t worry, I won¡¯t run away.¡± Was it really that obvious? Could he read me that well already? But how do I describe that state? The last time I had it was so long ago. Oh, sweet, a kiss on the cheek. What was that for?


    ¡°Take your time, I really won¡¯t run away.¡± Okey, good to know. I mean, not that he could run away if I wanted to stop him, but I guess he just misinterpreted my expression. But I take the kiss anyway. It¡¯s nice that he cares so much. It makes me feel so... so cozy.


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    ¡°Can you hug me a little bit? I¡¯m just sorting my mind a little bit. I don¡¯t know how to describe the feeling to someone who hasn¡¯t experienced it.¡± He nodded, and before I knew what happened, I sat in his lab while he hugged me from behind, kissing my neck and checking on me from time to time.


    ¡°So, do you want to try to explain it or do you want to just stay like this?¡± Can¡¯t I do both? I mean, I¡¯m not in the mood for any experiments anymore, but I still like the way he holds me right now. But when we want to experiment at a later date, ideally when he is healthy again, I should give him an explanation and time to think about it.


    ¡°I will give it a try, but it''s really not so easy to describe.¡± He didn¡¯t say anything and just held me tight.


    ¡°So when I drink blood. I mean human, or I think magical blood in general, then my senses get much sharper. That might sound like something good at first, but it''s just too much. It¡¯s a little like when you go from a dark room into a bright room. You won¡¯t be able to see for a short moment. But unlike my eyes, the other senses are much slower. I mean, I can smell someone a dozen meters away. I can hear someone breathing who is in another room. I can taste the air; I can feel every small movement of the wind. Its just so much and distracting. But at the same time, I feel healthier and stronger than at any other time. Do you remember how I said that casting magic would use up the energy in my body? If I drink blood, enough blood to give me time to get used to these senses, I could even use magic. Real magic, Will! Even though it shortens the time I am in that state. The feeling is exhilarating and frightening at the same time. It''s addicting, and at the same time, it makes me want to puke. It¡¯s the feeling of wanting more that is the worst. That¡¯s the reason I never do it. I fear that I would be unable to live without it once I get used to it, because when I do and the effect is over, it''s like returning to a dark room. It''s depressing, it''s frightening, and I feel so weak, and helpless, and guilty afterwards.¡±


    I couldn¡¯t see his face, but I could feel his rhythmic breath on my neck. He didn¡¯t lose his grip on me, which was a good sign, I hoped. I could feel my heartbeat rising as I waited for an answer. By know I was at least willing to hope that he wouldn¡¯t abandon me because I was more vampire than I liked, but that didn¡¯t stop me from having doubts and being nervous.


    ¡°That was surprisingly understandable and incomprehensible at the same time. But I think I get the gist of it. Do you mind if I ask a few things, even if they might be uncomfortable?¡± Not an instant break up was a good thing, and he didn¡¯t sound particularly frightened or anything like that. Damn, I would like to see his face, but at the same time, I¡¯m glad I don¡¯t. What if I could see something I didn¡¯t want to see? Would I blame him? Could I even blame him? I would¡­ probably. He probably wants to know if I can control myself in case something happens, but luckily that shouldn¡¯t be a problem. A few drops won¡¯t make me go crazy.


    ¡°Did you ever kill someone?¡± What? Why would he ask that? Does he really think I would do something like that? Does he think¡­ think that I¡¯m a monster? Does he think I¡¯m capable of killing someone? Am I really so scary to him? Why is he even together with me when he thinks I could do something like that? Why am I even together with him when he thinks I could do that? He is just like everyone else. He probably just spent time with me to get something from mother.


    I felt my heart cramp and my body go stiff. It was a pain I haven¡¯t felt in a long time. He really thinks that I¡¯m a monster. I should have never accepted that date. I should never have accepted anything at all. I should just stay alone. Alone where no one can find me.


    ¡°Charly stop! I didn¡¯t mean it like that. Please wait.¡± I was already halfway through the door when he said that. I could feel the hot tears forming in my eyes. I needed to get out of there. I needed to¡­ I don¡¯t know; it just hurts. I thought he was different. That he would see me for who I am, but he probably thought I was a monster since I told him about who and what I was. He was probably just too scared to admit it.


    I ran down the stairs, ignoring his calls, ignoring that he was trying to catch up, ignoring that he was chaughing and struggling to keep up. I ignored the Lionhearts that stared at me as he ran through the room. I ignored the fat girl who was complaining about how I opened the door. I just ran. I didn¡¯t even know where I wanted to run, but I didn¡¯t want to stay there anymore.


    I couldn¡¯t leave the castle as the sun was high up, so I ran to the only place I knew I could hide. I ran to the bathroom. My bathroom. I ran so fast that a few students could only feel the wind move past them.


    I looked into the mirror. The mirror I had spent the past day before just doing stupid faces. I could see that my eyes were slightly red, which gave them an even scarier look as they blended far too well with my naturally red iris. They portrait me as the monster I was. No that wasn¡¯t me. I¡¯m not like this. I¡¯m just¡­ just¡­ Its not my fault I was born like that. I just want to be like everyone else. I¡¯m not that thing.


    Krck


    I could feel a sharp pain in my hand as I punched the mirror. The mirror was broken but stabilized by my hand, which still stuck in. The shards were quickly drenched in blood. My blood. The pain made me able to think clearly again. I realized that I shouldn¡¯t have punched the mirror. I didn¡¯t even know if I should have run. He warned me that the question might be uncomfortable. I should just have told him no and said that it was insensible.


    I ignored the mirror shards falling to the ground as I pulled out my hand. I ignored that the shards were lying everywhere. The only feeling I had left was regret.


    I regretted running away. I regretted leaving the question unanswered. I regretted asking for that kind of kiss. I regretted opening up a little. I regretted everything. And now? I couldn¡¯t go back. Not after leaving him like that. I wish I could ask mom, but she gives a lesson now. Will I end up alone again?


    I looked at my blood-dripping hand. A few small cuts all over the hand and a few splinters in my knuckles. I should probably pull them out and treat the bleeding. It wouldn¡¯t be good if I collapsed in the bath.


    I started with the smaller splinters and worked myself up to the bigger ones. The sink was already colored red, and a few drops of blood covered the way from the mirror to the sink. I looked into the much smaller mirror over the sink, and my only thought was how pitiful I looked. Dried tears all over the face, a white shirt sprinkled with blood and hair that looks like I was hit by a storm. That happens when you start to hope again. It feels good for a short time and then crushes you until nothing is left.


    I should probably go to my room before I crush another mirror. And I needed to tell mom to clean up the bath before someone else entered it. Would she ask questions? Would she scold me? Would she tell me I did something stupid?


    I took one of the towels from the bath and made myself a bandage, as the bleeding still hadn¡¯t stopped before I went on my way. The students that saw me looked frightened. For the first time, I could understand them. I looked horrifying.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry; she will probably calm down soon. Let me tell you, in my time, the girls always acted like that when they wanted attention. Just let her be for some time, and she will come begging to take you back.¡± Was that Archimedis? With whom was he talking? And what the fuck was he talking about.


    I glimpsed around the corner and saw Will sitting in front of Archimedis portrait. He was still in his pajamas and looked paler than when I left him. Did he try to follow me here? Didn¡¯t he realize that I didn¡¯t want to talk with him? But what should I do now? He doesn¡¯t look like he will move soon. But what does he want to accomplish? Is getting into mother¡¯s good graces so important that he would even put up with a monster?


    ¡°She isn¡¯t like any other girl, Archy. You should see how she smiles at you if she is happy and how she likes to make even the smallest thing into an exciting adventure. How cute she is when she is nervous. How important it was for her to take care of me just because I have a little cold. And I? I asked her the most terrible thing I could have asked Archy. I mean, just because I was a little worried, I began to doubt her. I questioned her humanity, Archy. How can I ever get her to forgive me? You should have seen her face. She looked so hurt, and now I don¡¯t even know where she is to apologize. I don¡¯t even know if she would give me the chance to, even if she was her now.¡±


    I sank down on the wall and listened. Was that really how he felt about me? Should I go to him? Should I apologize? Does he really understand?

 Chapter 14

    "Ah, young love. So naive. Listen here. She might make you feel special now, but so would any other girl. Trust me, I had a dozen, and all were "special." I mean, she is indeed special, but you get what I mean, right? So go to her, apologize, and if she doesn¡¯t want to talk, find the next girl. It''s as easy as that. Don¡¯t linger on a woman who doesn¡¯t want you. You will die alone if you do that.¡° Hey, "Archy¡± shouldn¡¯t you be on my side? Why are you saying something like that? Should I just go to him before he tells Will even more stupid things?


    ¡°It¡¯s not like that. She isn¡¯t just a special girl. She is THE special girl, Archy. She is worth the risk. She is worth the wait. I mean, I tried to get close to her for years; I won¡¯t let it all go to waste after she finally began to recognize me. Not because I made ONE stupid mistake. Even if I need to apologize a hundred times.¡± Ohh, Will. You are a fool. What if I hadn¡¯t heard you now? I would probably... Well, let''s not think about it. I should probably talk to him before he changes his mind. Or Archimedis changes his mind. I didn¡¯t know the guy was such a chauvinist.


    ¡°Then you will probably die a virgin boy.¡±


    ¡°Shut up Archimedis.¡± Damned I was to late.


    ¡°Maybe I should place you next to the portraits of the sleeping farting orgre and the one-eyed cat lady.¡±


    ¡°Please don¡¯t. You are the most beautiful, merciful, intelligent, gracious, elegant, wonderful, friendly, captivating, gentle, stylish, classy, kind-hearted¡­¡±


    ¡°Just stop, or I will really place you there,¡± I said, but was just staring at Will. He looked even paler than before, and I could see some sweat drops on his head.


    ¡°Thank the magic, I was running out of nice words anyway. Now you are on your own, little boy.¡±


    ¡°Will, I¡­I¡­¡±


    ¡°What happened to you? Whose blood is that? Are you hurt?¡± he looked at me, worried but also a little hesitant. But I guess considering my current outfit, that should have been expected. Should I change clothes before we talk?


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. It¡¯s just my own.¡± I sounded more downcast than expected. I felt even worse when I showed him my bloody bandage as "proof,¡± as I felt the need to justify myself. Why am I justifying myself? Shouldn¡¯t he trust me? Wasn¡¯t that the whole reason we were in this situation? Because he didn¡¯t trust me? No, wait. I¡¯m sure he would have asked the same questions if someone else appeared with a shirt drenched in blood. So I shouldn¡¯t hold that one against him, right? Or should I, because he was my boyfriend and should trust me? Hold on. I still think of him as my boyfriend. That is a good sign, I hope. I mean, from what I heard, he wanted that I forgive him, so I think he wants me to stay his girlfriend too. At least, I hope. Damned hope.


    ¡°It¡¯s not fine. We need to find a teacher. So much blood, how are you even walking right now?¡± He could be quite cute if he wanted to. I¡¯m sure it just looks so bad because my shirt was white. I mean, I felt worse after using a little magic. I just needed to eat a bit of beefjerky, and I would be fine.


    ¡°It looks worse than it is. But that¡¯s not important right now, Will. I¡¯m sorry for running away. It was stupid, I know. I just thought for a moment that you, too, thought I was a monster. It made me feel so... so alone. I¡­¡±


    ¡°Charlotte stop. It¡¯s not your fault. I should have been more sensible. You know, when you talked about it, talked about using magic, you looked so¡­ so wanting, and for a short moment, I was scared that you would be unable to stop. Especially as you yourself said, it was addicting. When I tried to imagine it, I forgot for a moment that you are¡­ well, you. You wouldn¡¯t intentionally hurt someone. At least not without good reason. Can you forgive me?¡± He called me Charlotte again. That had to be a bad sign. Did I really look so frightening when I talked about it? And most importantly, do I want to end the topic here? I mean, looking back at the last few days, I was really happy. I still am somewhat, if I''m honest, but I won¡¯t forget the pain either. Is it too much to ask for to be sure that he is the right one?


    He now stood in front of me. Close enough that he just needed to stretch his arm out. He looked so exhausted that I was sure a small wind would blow him over, and yet he looked at me in a way that made me feel that he would always protect me if I let him. I didn¡¯t need protection, but that feeling was just too comforting. How could I really say no to him now?


    I took a step forward and hugged him. It wasn¡¯t a tight hug. It was more like a soft embrace.


    ¡°Can you call me Charly again?¡± It felt strange when he called me Charlotte. As if he was getting away from me. I had to get him to call me Charly again before it was too late.


    ¡°Yes Charly. Definitely yes.¡± The embrace got a bit tighter, but the feeling of softness didn¡¯t disappear.


    ¡°I heard your talk with Archimedis just now. Am I really that special to you?¡± I wanted to hear it again. I wanted him to say it to my face. I wanted to see if he really thought that.


    ¡°You are Charly. You are the most special person to me. And you get more important to me with each day.¡± I saw that he wanted to kiss me. Was I ready for it again? Would it become awkward if I wanted him to wait a little? Oh, too late; his lips are already on mine.


    The moment could have been perfect if I hadn¡¯t seen Archimedis give Will thumbs up from the corner of my eyes. Why was I friendly to him in the past few days again?


    ¡°We should still find you one of the professors. Someone should look after that.¡± He was probably right. I didn¡¯t want to have any more scars, so taking care of that should be a priority.


    ¡°You are right, but¡­ but you should go back now. You are still ill and should be in bed. And Will¡­ I won¡¯t be visiting tomorrow. I think it was too much at once. The last few days felt like a rush. It was nice, but I realized that maybe I was wanting too much too quickly. So, let¡¯s just start with a second date for now. Is that okay for you? I mean, mom said that good things take time, and I¡­ I think we should go a little slower and get to know each other a little more. And as weird as it sounds, we should learn to trust each other. I mean, I shouldn¡¯t have run away, but I wouldn¡¯t have if I had been sure you¡­ you know. And if you knew me better, you also wouldn¡¯t have asked that question, right?¡± He looked at me a little hesitantly before sighing. Did I say something wrong? Did I ruin everything on the last step.


    ¡°Maybe you are right. I don¡¯t like it, but you are right. And yes, a second date sounds good. In three days, on Friday again, right? But don¡¯t forget it again.¡±


    ¡°That was just one time!¡± I protested.


    ¡°Which is every time till now.¡± Okay, fine, I guess that was right. Now, hush hush, before I change my mind.


    ¡°Okay, same time, but this time you show me your favorite place. And now go to bed; I don¡¯t want you to be ill during the date.¡± I regretted a little that I had to wait for Friday to spend time with him now, but it was for the best. At least I hoped that.


    ¡°I will. But you go to find someone to treat you. I don¡¯t want you to fall over because you lost so much blood.¡± He wanted to turn around and go, but I held him back and gave him one last long kiss before I let him go.


    ¡°Archimedis, you are on thin ice. Behave yourself the next time he is here, and don¡¯t think I didn¡¯t see what you showed him.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, my lady. When the boy sits crying in front of me again, I will just send him back.¡±


    ¡°Did he really cry?¡± I hope not, but I guess everything is fine now, right?


    ¡°A gentleman takes a brother''s secrets to the tomb.¡± Did he really try to play the honor card after what he said to Will? Fine, I have different priorities now.


    I went into my room to check mom''s schedule. As it changes every year, I was unsure where she was at the moment. I mean, Uncle Severin only uses three classrooms that are all next to each other, so it would be easy to test all three, but mom sometimes taught in the greenhouse, and as amazing as Uncle was, I wanted to go to mom.


    She has a divination curse right now with the fifth graders.


    I thought for a short moment that maybe I should change clothes but decided that I could just cover the bloody spots with a towel. No need to ruin a perfectly good dress. I mean, mother could clean it easily, but she would have enough to do with cleaning up the bath and my current clothes.


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    I sneaked to her classroom, awkwardly carrying my bag in front of me. The lesson was still ongoing, and I heard how mother taught them how to block scrying spells. The subject was called divination, but the real divination only started in the sixth year. The five previous years were just about scrying into the past or the present and how to block those things. Everyone could learn it. No, everyone who was able to use magic freely could learn it. Divination, on the other hand, required a natural talent that only a few people possessed. For that reason, the classes after the sixth are increadibly small. One time, there wasn¡¯t even a class, as no student had the talent or wanted to attend the class.


    I doubted that I had a talent for it, but we never really tested it. It wouldn¡¯t change anything for me, even if I did, so it would just ruin my mood if we tested it.


    When the lesson ended, the students left the classroom. A few students glared at me but non stayed to say something, which was good as I didn¡¯t know how I would have reacted at the moment. By now, the blood loss was giving me a terrible headache, so my mood was at its lowest, even though my quarrel with Will was over. I grinned a little at the thought that we had had our first quarrel. But I didn¡¯t need a second one too soon. I like it more if we cuddle instead of quarreling.


    "Charlotte, what are you doing here?¡± mother looked a little worried, and I know she wouldn¡¯t be pleased with me when I told her what happened.


    "Charlotte, what happened? All this blood, are you okay? Let me take a look at you.¡± Yeah, that was to be expected. Mother pulled out her wand, and the blood in my clothes was sucked out, while she checked for the source of the problem.


    ¡°It''s just my hand, mom. I¡­ I hit the mirror in the bathroom.¡± I flinched a little as mother removed my amateur-made bandage. I was glad that mother remained silent and didn¡¯t immediately begin to question me. It was nice that mother always helped first and questioned later, but I know that I wouldn¡¯t be able to escape the questioning.


    It hurt a little when she pulled out the small and almost invisible splinters I had missed before, but the pain lessened immediately when a green light came from her wand. The freshly cut, open wounds were beginning to meld together. My skin looked like liquid copper that was reflecting the sun as it happened.


    This time, it didn¡¯t leave behind a scar. I guess that was the advantage of getting hurt without ¡°transforming.¡± I just wish it would have been so easy for my arm.


    ¡°Are you feeling fine? Do you need to eat something?¡± I shook my head. I needed something to eat, but that could wait. I ¡°wanted¡± to get over with it.


    ¡°I had a quarrel with Will. We are fine now, but I was so hurt, mom. I thought I was alone again.¡±


    ¡°I understand. It¡¯s fine, Charlotte. It¡¯s fine. I¡¯m here; don¡¯t worry. You are not alone.¡± Mother said and gave me a hug, pressing my head against her chest. ¡°You know, Charlotte, it¡¯s normal to sometimes feel hurt. It just means that you like the other person so much that it hurts so much more when he¡­ when you quarrel. I¡¯m sure whatever the reason was, he was as hurt as you.¡± He was. At least, I think he was. But that only makes me feel worse.


    ¡°I don¡¯t want to feel hurt, mom. I don¡¯t want him to feel hurt either. We were just¡­ I think we just need time.¡± I know mom was still struggling with Uncle after all those years, and that she made up all kinds of reasons why he did what he did, but I didn¡¯t want to have a relationship where hurting each other is something normal. It just shouldn¡¯t be.


    ¡°I hope that for you too, Charlotte. I really do. But we need to finish our talk this evening. The next class is standing in front of the door. I will fix the bath, so don¡¯t worry about it.¡±


    ¡°Thanks mom. You are the best.¡± I gave her a quick hug before I ran to the kitchen. I really needed something to eat. I could eat a whole cow.


    Majestro wasn¡¯t amused about me sneaking off with some food, as he was busy preparing dinner for everyone, and a whole chicken missing on the table would be against his perfectionism. Still, he knew that I was allowed to ¡°sneak¡± everything off as long as it was within certain boundaries. I didn¡¯t even wait till I was back in my room before I started to eat the chicken. Its crusty skin, its juicy meat, and the smell¡ªby the magic, the smell of the chicken and the various spices was simply irresistable. From a certain perspective, I was honoring the chicken by not letting it grow cold along the way.


    After eating the whole chicken, I felt a lot better. Stuffed, yes, but also better.


    I laid on my bed, rubbing my belly in satisfaction, when I remembered that this time I should probably write the date into my calendar. Just in case, I also marked the New Year''s Party and the Walpurgis Ball on April 20th. My mind drifted off a little, thinking about if Will would really ask me and what I should wear then and how far our relationship would have progressed till then, when I realized that I should probably look over the lesson I had to give the next day after breakfast.


    I was quite satisfied with what I planned, but how well the lesson worked depended on how well my new students really were. I had assumed a few things based on their grades, but I knew that grades and real understanding were something different. Especially Morgana would need to show me that she understood what she learned. I knew she had perfect grades, but I also knew that Uncle Severin only started to challenge his students after they were competent enough to blow themselves up, which was after 5th grade. Before that, he tried to engrave the basic methods into their brains, like distilling, controlling the flames, weighing the ingredients, preparing them accordingly, etc. Only after the fifth grade did potions became a real science; before that, it was just fancy cooking. I was sure that his personal students were above average, even in their weakest subjects, so I could expect that they wouldn¡¯t try to kill us all.


    I remember when I was in my favorite uncle¡¯s regular class, there were some students who almost killed the whole class because they were unable to follow simple instructions, and toxic gas formed because of their concoction. Luckily, Uncle noticed and evacuated the room before taking care of the matter. Remembering this, I grew a little nervous. What if my students were, against all odds, complete morons? What if I was unable to detect gas forming? What would I do if I detected gas forming?


    Knock Knock


    That was probably my mother, but just for confirmation, I asked beforehand. I should probably make this a habit. I mean, starting tomorrow, I had students that hopefully wouldn¡¯t kill us all, and they might come to me with questions; I had a boyfriend that might want to come over; and Mother and Uncle also visited from time to time, even if I suspected that it wouldn¡¯t be as much as in the past until that whole war thingy was taken care of.


    My mother walked in with a soft smile.


    ¡°Are you better now? You lost quite a lot of blood. If I had known how much beforehand, I would have escorted you to the kitchen.¡± Mother didn¡¯t look angry at me, but a little stressed. She was taking care of so many things, and I just handed her some extra work. Unnecessary extra work and worry. Sometimes I asked myself why she put herself through so much suffering, as she could have a pretty relaxed life with her abilities.


    ¡°Yes mom. Everything is fine now.¡± She looked as if some of her burden was taken off when I said that. I wasn¡¯t sure if she wanted to ask for a more detailed explanation of what exactly happened, and now that I was feeling better, I didn¡¯t want to add a new burden to her. She shouldn¡¯t need to worry about my love life. If she should worry about someone''s love life, it would be her own. She didn¡¯t have a new boyfriend since HIM and I was worried that she would not change it unless someone pushed her towards it. There had to be a nice guy out there who was her age and not married yet. Okey, that was unlikely, as most people married at sixteen or seventeen. I think the main reason was that parents were able to marry off their children before they turned seventeen. After that, it wasn¡¯t as easy anymore as they were officially adults, and most parents needed to resort to some other pressure to get their children to marry. But even if the parents had a hands-off approach, most got married before eighteen or nineteen. So the probability of finding a decent single man at mother''s age was increadibly slim. Maybe a widower was an option. Preferably without kids. I didn¡¯t need any additional siblings. Uncle Severin was, in my opinion, also an option, but I assume if that were a possibility, then it would have happened years ago.


    ¡°That is good to hear. I¡¯m sorry I didn¡¯t have time for you... the time you would have needed. Do you want to talk about it?¡± Mother was like my best friend, so I normally would want to discuss everything with her, but I had decided that I needed to become a little more independent, or, as Uncle said, responsible. So I wouldn¡¯t take hours of her time unless absolutely necessary.


    ¡°If you change your mind, I will always have an open door for you. Before I forget it, I have prepared a bottle and a small vial for you. They are enchanted to preserve anything in them, and they are nearly unbreakable. But please don¡¯t limit-test that charm; it was not so easy to make.¡± I looked at the vial; it was easy to carry around, and in case I needed to cry, it would be enough to catch the tears even if I cried a lot. The bottle was so big that I honestly hoped that I would never need to cry so much. That ¡°bottle¡± was larger than my head. But even with these things prepared, I realized another problem. Would I really be willing to collect tears when I was sad? Would I be willing to collect tears for Will when I was angry at him? I know that I didn¡¯t even think about collecting tears this morning. Damnit, I probably lost months worth of tears just by not collecting them today. I packed the long vial where other wizards usually placed their wands, just in case.


    ¡°Thanks mom. I have another topic I want to talk about. Tomorrow is my first lesson, and I¡¯m unsure if what I planned would even work. Can you look over my plan?¡±


    ¡°The potion lesson for Severin¡¯s students, right?¡± Ups, I forgot that I hadn¡¯t told mother about it officially. I just know that she knows from Uncle Severin, but she looked at me a bit judgingly because I hadn¡¯t told her personally. Anyway, this is the perfect time to show mother that I can take on some responsibilities.


    ¡°Yes, Mother, I want to help too. You all are doing so much, and even if I can¡¯t do as much as you, I can certainly help. Even if it''s just by teaching Severins students.¡± She looked at me like she wanted to scold an unruly student, and I was relieved when her expression softened.


    ¡°Fine. Show me your plan.¡± I showed her a bit proudly what I had planned, and she carefully read through my plan. After around five minutes, she put the plan down and thought about it for a minute.


    ¡°It''s too stuffed. I know that you mean well, but they are still just students. If you really try to go through with the plan, you will only archive half of what is on the list. If I¡¯m correct, you want to test their abilities and show them their weaknesses. That in itself is fine, but you need to consider that they have less practice than you and need more time to do certain things. I¡¯m not the most versed person in potions, but even I know that five minutes to find and weigh so many ingredients is just too short of a timeframe for a normal class. Even if the class only has three people. The rest of the class looks good, even if I would say that investing the time to make an individual plan for all three students will not be sustainable for a long time. Unless of course, you plan to invest multiple hours each day just to prepare the lessons...¡± Wow, that was more critique than I expected. I honestly thought the lesson was perfect as it was, but maybe mother had a few valid points. So I guess I will have another busy night instead of a relaxed bath.

 Chapter 15

    ¡°Finally finished!¡± I stared at my new plan for the first lesson and was satisfied. It would work perfectly. I was sure about that, but I was also aware that the real challenge would be the second lesson. After really knowing if I was right with my assumptions about their abilities and weaknesses, I would need to create a plan to beat those weaknesses out of them and push them on the true path of potions.


    I went to breakfast and saw my three students sitting near Uncle. They looked still a little tired, but I was hopeful that they would feel better after breakfast.


    I didn¡¯t see Will, but I wasn¡¯t expecting him to be here today. I was sure that he really needed at least this day for a full recovery. It pained me to admit that I was struggling with not simply preparing him a plate for breakfast to see him, but I wanted to slow down a little. BUT WHY DID I DO THAT? I wanted to see him. I wanted to cuddle him; I wanted to kiss him. Preparing the lesson had distracted me quite well from thinking about him, but now my thoughts were simply straying away. Focus, Charlotte, focus. You have a lesson to hold after breakfast.


    ¡°And, are you nervous?¡± My uncle asked, probably to make sure I didn¡¯t forget it or maybe just because he wanted to wish me luck.


    ¡°Just a little. I worked so much, and I think I should be fine. How do you prepare so many lessons? I took ages just for the first.¡±


    ¡°Haha. I know what you mean. It needs a lot of practice, but the main reason is that we don¡¯t need to really prepare so many lessons. We prepared them once after the founding, and by now, most lessons are just slight variations of the old ones. We naturally try to optimize the old ones, but good planning can only get you so far. What I mean to say is that you need to learn to be a little flexible, as no plan will survive contact with a class full of teenagers. But it will all become manageable if you learn that not every lesson can be perfect. So don¡¯t worry too much; learn from your mistakes and try to find your way of teaching.¡± That wasn¡¯t calming me at all. What if I ruin everything at the first lesson and they don¡¯t want to be taught by me again? I can¡¯t just say, ¡°Don¡¯t worry, next time will be better."


    ¡°I can see in your face that you have doubts, but I can guarantee you, even if your first lesson is the worst lesson ever taught, which I really doubt, the worst that could happen is that they would lose two hours. So stop worrying now and start eating.¡± Somehow, uncle managed that I was more worried now than I was before our talk, but realizing that I couldn¡¯t change my plan anyway calmed me down again.


    After breakfast, my three students stared at me with full expectations and curiosity. I took a deep breath before commanding them to follow me.


    ¡°Uncle, why are you coming too?¡± I was a bit confused that Uncle seemed to follow us down into the dungeons. I knew he should teach dark arts now instead of following us.


    ¡°Did you expect me to just give you my three personal students and not at least watch one or two lessons?¡± Okey, that seemed fair in a way, but it would have been nice if he had said that beforehand. Or maybe it was better that he didn¡¯t. I would have been really nervous then.


    We entered the potion classroom, and I immediately noticed that Morgana sat in the first of three rows while Augustus and Merlin sat in the last row. I was immediately a little annoyed that I would need to waste time to make them move, but I thought I needed to make it clear that hiding wasn¡¯t an option in my class.


    ¡°Before I start my class and formally introduce myself, I would like to ask you all to sit down in the first row.¡° They moved without saying anything, but they were so slow. Was it too much to ask for them to move a little faster? At least Uncle was sensible enough to not move with them and stayed in the last row.


    ¡°Good. Now that we are all here, I want to introduce myself again. I¡¯m Charlotte Elenore Humblehill, and you are allowed to call me Charlotte. I¡¯m 18 years old and, technically, a seventh year student at Toadwitz. As you might or might not have heard, I can¡¯t use magic, which makes me unable to graduate normally, but my inability to use magic will be your boon as I spent quite a considerable time learning potions and all associated crafts. As this is my first lesson with you, I would like to spend this lesson getting to know you to create customized lessons that are adjusted to your individual abilities. But first of all, I want you to introduce yourself, as besides your names and the grades from your past years, I know nothing about most of you. So I want you to tell me what you think you will need potions for in the future.


    ¡°Yes, Miss Charlotte. I¡¯m Augustus Black, 16 years old, and currently single. I think the main use I have for potions is that they are an easy way to make a considerable amount of money, but honestly, I need personal power more than money, so it¡¯s not so far up my priority list.¡± Was it really necessary for him to mention that he is single?


    ¡°And what do you need personal power for?¡± It annoyed me a little that he thought that potions wouldn¡¯t be able to increase his personal strength, but I guess if that¡¯s what he thought, he wouldn¡¯t have invested the necessary time to learn about a few more complicated potions.


    ¡°To return my family to their rightful place on the throne on the mainland.¡± So he really was from that Black family. But his goal was far too ambiguous. As far as I knew, the Roman empire crumbled around three generations ago, and even before that, they had been out of power for a hundred years. I mean, sure, their family, together with the Whites, had ruled the empire even during the time it was still a republic, but claiming any type of right to a throne from an empire that was torn into dozens of pieces was blinded nepotism at its finest. I mean, sure, the eastern Roman part was still united, but it was in the firm hands of Anastasius White, and I don¡¯t believe that the blacks will be able to convince him to help them back into power. Still, who am I to judge? Maybe he will surprise me and succeed.


    ¡°That is quite an ambiguous goal. But I think you underestimate the usefulness of potions. While potions fail to give you a significant, permanent increase in personal power, they can surely assist you in your growth. That growth is not only limited to the more commonly known physical growth enhancements but also potions that increase your perception of magic for a limited time, which would help you understand any magic faster than you otherwise would. So maybe potions might become more than just a tool for you to make some money.¡± That worked better than expected. I wanted him to have a reason to study earnestly. I was honestly the most worried about him. His attitude towards potions was reflected quite well in his grades, so an additional motivation might work wonders.


    ¡°Merlin, for what reasons do you need potions in the future?¡± Please don¡¯t say that it will help you grow a beard, or I wouldn¡¯t be able to stop myself from laughing out loud.


    ¡°I¡¯m Merlin Smith, 16-years old, and ¡­ and single too. I think I want to learn to brew potions because they are so versatile. You can use them in almost every situation, be it combat, training, healing, or even increasing your lifespan.¡± I think Augustus set a precedent here. Who needs to know if they are single or not? Anyway, his goal is a bit too untangible to be a real motivation, but considering his grades so far, it should be enough.


    ¡°That is right, potions can be used everywhere if you are skilled and creative enough. And yes, potions are able to increase your lifespan, but they are unable to make you really have eternal life. So if that is your goal, you would need to invest a lot of effort, and maybe with a bit of luck, you might succeed in brewing the first potion that might be able to do that.¡± The discussions with mother about my tears made me realize how enticing eternal life could be to some, so maybe if he has that hope, he will work even harder than before.


    ¡°I¡¯m Morgana Fay, and also 16 years old. I study potions and enhancements to become independent from my family. Financially and otherwise.¡± Nothing surprising considering that her family would like to marry her off. I think that is enough motivation.


    ¡°Good. Now that we know each other, I have a task prepared for each of you. If I¡¯m right, these tasks will be quite challenging for all of you. But even if they are not, they will show me what you are capable of, which is necessary for me to prepare something for you so that you all will be able to take a step towards achieving your goals. Augustus, you need to brew the following recipe. It¡¯s a recipe for a sleeping potion, and you need to follow each step to the letter, or either the potion might be nothing more than slightly herbal water or the person drinking it might possibly never wake up again. So be careful. Morgana, I want you to brew a simple pesticide, but instead of killing all kinds of pests, I want it to only kill insects, and only the pests of those, not the beneficial ones. You can use your schoolbooks and notes from previous lessons as references. Merlin, you need to wait for two more minutes before you get your task.¡± Okay, so far, I¡¯m almost perfectly on time. I just hope the tasks will produce the desired results.


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.


    ¡°Why do I need to wait?¡± because I want you to feel pressured because you don¡¯t have enough time. But I guess I can¡¯t tell you that now.


    ¡°Quite impatient for someone aiming for immortality. But fine, you need to brew a potion that increases beard growth with the following recipe. You have time until ten minutes before the lesson ends.¡± I definitely didn¡¯t choose a beard growth potion to tell him he should grow a beard to cover his butty chin. Definitely not. The reason was purely academical. I mean, there were a few other potions that would have required him to do many different things in quick succession, but why not kill two birds with one stone?


    The moment everyone had their tasks, they hurriedly set up their cauldrons with a bit of water and set up a magical fire under them with their wands, before they rushed off to the old but perfectly cleaned shelves on the side of the room to get the ingredients they needed. If I were honest, I was really envious of that. I mean, I could regulate the heat as well or even better with the enchanted stove Seraphine made for me, but it was just something different to rely on your own power to do it.


    As I was keeping them all busy doing what I wanted them to do, I saw my uncle mildly smiling at the back of the class. It calmed me to see that he didn¡¯t show me his judgy frown.


    I refocused my attention on my busy students. Augustus seemed to be the most relaxed. His potion was by far the easiest, but it required him to stay focused for the whole brewing process, even though some of the things he had to do were a bit simple or even boring. Merlin was, as I had planned, hastily weighing the ingredients before preparing them for the potion, and I could see him turning around multiple times on the spot because he was unsure if he remembered the recipe right before realizing that he didn¡¯t have the time to look at it every time he was unsure. The reason I put him through that was because I realized that the only potions he failed to get a good grade in were the ones that had a few more stressful brewing phases in them. He was excellent when he had the time to think about each step twice, but he seemed to struggle when pressured even a little.


    Morgana, the girl who got the highest grade in every potion, was surprisingly struggling the most. What I wanted her to do was simply take a basic insecticide and replace a single ingredient to reduce its toxity so that it only kills a selected few insect types. I wanted to see if she really understood the potions or if she was just good at cooking after a recipe. Apparently, it was the latter. It was really a shame, if you ask me, but something that I had hope of fixing. I was just wondering why Uncle never noticed or commented on it in his notes, but I guess it was different if you had thirty people to teach instead of three.


    Oh noo, she looks like she is about to cry. What do I do now? Do I help her? But that would make the exercise pointless. But I also couldn¡¯t let her cry just because she was about to fail a simple assessment test.


    ¡°Hey, Morgana. Where are you struggling? What is your problem?¡± Please don¡¯t cry, please.


    ¡°I¡­I just can¡¯t find the right recipe in my notes. I have looked through everything, but I only found something to kill everything.¡± Good, she was at least able to speak. I didn¡¯t make it worse.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry. I know that you didn¡¯t learn that specific recipe. But you have everything in your notes to brew what I asked you to. You just need to slightly modify an existing recipe. It¡¯s not something really special, trust me. Think about it a little more logically. What did I ask you to brew?¡±


    ¡°A selective insecticide.¡± She answered, and I was glad that at least the goal was clear.


    ¡°Yes, and if you don¡¯t have a recipe for that, what kind of recipe is the one that most likely helps you create what you want?¡± Okey, that was a basic hint; the real challenge was identifying the ingredient that needed to be substituted.


    ¡°The normal insecticide?¡± Why is that a question, girl? That should have been the obvious answer.


    ¡°Yes, right. A broad spectrum insecticide. Now you need to find out what in that recipe is responsible for killing the insects, and then substitute it with some other toxin. Where would you look for a weaker toxin?¡± Don¡¯t look at me like that, girl. You have spent the whole third year studying poisons and antidotes; you should be able to answer that easily.


    I have the feeling that I might have expected too much. This is transforming into a staring battle.


    Damned, I think she is really a little clueless, but maybe she is just overwhelmed because she didn¡¯t even know where to start.


    ¡°Okey, Morgana, I know that there might be thousands of things flying through your head right now, but you should calm down a little. In your third year, you had a guide to toxins that classified toxins into five different classes of toxity, with 1 being the most toxic and 5 being completely harmless. The broad spectrum insecticide uses a class 3 poison that is moderately toxic, and to lessen the toxity, you should substitute the poison with a class 4 one that is as close to the previous poison in its exact function as possible. So just look through the recipe to identify what needs to be replaced, and then look through the class 4 poisons.¡± Okey, any more help, and I would need to brew the potion myself. Damned girl, you disappointed me a little. But from what I¡¯m smelling right now, you are not the only one.


    ¡°Augustus, I think you put in the magnolia oil too early. Do you smell that aromatic smell? It should be much fainter if you waited for the alcohol to vaporize completely. Use your wand to vanquish the smell and increase the heat by ten percent for two minutes.¡± That was just a minor setback, so I wasn¡¯t really that worried. I mean, he shouldn¡¯t drink the potion afterwards, but theoretically, it shouldn¡¯t be too bad.


    Surprisingly, Merlin was the only one to do well so far, even though it didn¡¯t look like he would be able to finish the potion. That was probably on me, as I gave him too little time. He was generally working much slower than me, so I might have calculated the time wrong.


    I watched the three of them for an hour and had to say that I was disappointed. I hoped they were better at dark magic or rituals, or my uncle should really rethink his choice of personal students.


    ¡°I think that is enough for today. Please stop the fire.¡± The relief in their faces that it was over hurt me a little, but I guess they were at their limits. At least if one looked at their frustration level.


    ¡°Before you all leave, I want to talk about what we learned today and I want to discuss how we will proceed in the future. So first of all, I want to say that you all did great today. I know it doesn¡¯t feel that way right now because you didn¡¯t have a successfully brewed potion in hand at the end, but that was not the goal of this lesson. I wanted to see if I was right about your weaknesses, and I wanted you to see how you could overcome them. Augustus, you were a little casual about handling your ingredients, and you were a little hasty at times, but your heat control was amazing. Still, your main problem was judging if a step like cooking the alcohol out was already completed or not. But that is something we can work on. If you understand exactly what each step does, you will be able to better judge if it is completed. In this case, for example, after the alcohol is vaporized completely, it takes some time to heat the solution up to the point where it boils again. If you watch out for things like that, you should realize when to cut corners and when not to. Merlin, I think I need to apologize to you. The task was maybe a bit too much to manage in that time, but until that point, you didn¡¯t make a single error. I noticed that you failed a few potions where time was of essence, so I thought you had problems working under pressure, but apparently, even if you sometimes lack a bit of decisiveness and doubt yourself too often, this leads you to make fewer errors down the line. I think you should be ready to start modifying basic potions as well. Morgana, I know that your basics are excellent because of your previous grades. The task I gave you was something that normally comes at the end of the year, so you don¡¯t need to worry if you don¡¯t manage to get it immediately. And before you all start to worry about your grades because of a little failure, I want to tell you that you won¡¯t get any grades in my class unless I specifically tell you that you are tested. I want you to learn, to ask questions, to make errors, and to learn from them. That won¡¯t happen if you are always worried about your grade, so feel free to ask me anything at any time, even if you think it is stupid. If there are no further questions, you can go after you have cleaned up.¡± Okey, that sounded more professionally than I expected but less than I had hoped. I just hope Uncle is satisfied.


    As soon as the trio left the door, I could hear them talk about the lesson. I would need to lie if I said that they were complimenting my lesson, but I guess I said worse things about aunt Seraphina¡¯s lessons, so it should be fine, or at least not too terrible.


    ¡°Charlotte, I have to say, that I¡¯m impressed. While you were a bit too ambitious with your goals, it isn¡¯t something bad. They need to be challenged. The only thing you might want to reconsider is letting them call you Charlotte in class. A bit of distance to your students can¡¯t hurt. Especially if you want to give them grades. A too personal relationship can be problematic for that. Another thing is that maybe it would be better, if you ever teach another class, to start with something more positive than showing them weaknesses or testing their limits. I know you grew through failure, but try to see it from their perspective. If they don¡¯t like potions, they can just focus on something else. A privilege that you didn¡¯t have, and it caused you to not give up, even if it was depressing. So enough of the critique, let me hug you; you did well.¡± I hugged uncle and was happy that he was satisfied, but that didn¡¯t stop me from thinking about what he said. Maybe he was right, and the lesson might have been a bit demotivating. Maybe I should try to make up for it in the next, which was on Friday after lunch. So I didn¡¯t have too much time to prepare. I already fear for my precious bath time. No, I earned it today. I will have my bath!

 Chapter 16

    While Uncle went to his next class, I went into my room to take a few notes on what I could have improved in my lesson. I didn¡¯t quite agree with uncle''s attitude towards my relationship with my students. I mean, it would sound so weird if they called me Miss Humblehill or something like that, and I don¡¯t believe that it would hinder me from judging them fairly.


    Time flew by when I focused on revising my lesson, and it was only when my stomach made weird noises that I realized that it was already time for lunch. To my surprise, Mother, Uncle, Aunt and HE were sitting at a separate table discussing something. I was unsure if it was a good or bad sign that they sat together again. I knew that they wouldn¡¯t allow me to sit with them, and they always put up a sound barrier so that the students were unable to listen in. So instead of telling mother about my first lesson, I decided that my little brother needed to know about it. He was sitting at a table with Helena and the Baron. Judging from their expressions, I was sure that none of them were exactly happy with this arrangement, but I also know that it went against some sort of rule to send someone away during mealtime. While the space wasn¡¯t exactly limited and everyone would get a place to sit, the hall wasn¡¯t so great that every small group could have their own table, and I could already guess that the Baron would just follow them instead of sitting somewhere else.


    ¡°Percival good to see you. How is the second week? Did you learn any new spells to prank me?¡±


    ¡°Hey sis. No, I didn¡¯t have the time. There was so much to do that I didn¡¯t have the time.¡± Little liar, I can see it in your face.


    ¡°That is unfortunate.¡± I would let myself be surprised, and if I were honest, I wanted to know which kind of the easier spells with pranking potential he had learned. I would give him a pass for one, maybe even two more attempts to prank me before I would return the favor.


    ¡°Anyway, I wanted to tell you something. But I would like to tell you in private.¡± I said and glared at the Baron who decided to demonstratively look away. ¡°Can we go to another table? This one smells like an unwashed pig.¡±


    I could see a vein on the Barons head pulsate, but otherwise he didn¡¯t react to my comment. My little brother looked between me and Helena, unsure if he wanted to really leave her behind. Was my dear brother really thinking about rejecting me for her? He definitely had a crush on her if he needed to think that long about it. Damned Brother, she is five years older an you.


    ¡°She can come with us if she wants to.¡± I said, a little annoyed that I had to make this concession just to get around my brother''s obsession with her. Why was she not saying anything about his behavior? I mean, she is giving him hope where there should be none. Maybe she was a bit dense. Maybe she is a bit too much like aunt Seraphina and is basically blind to these kinds of things.


    ¡°Sit down. I don¡¯t want you near me.¡± Did the Baron really think I would let him follow us to another table when we left this one just because of him? At least him standing up with us would suggest that he was indeed that dumb.


    ¡°So what do you want to tell me?¡± asked my brother curiously, and I told him everything about my first class. Even Helena was interested in listening and even asked about a few specifics about the potions. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was her way of opening up to someone, but I answered her question even if it interrupted my story.


    ¡°You are evil. Did you really let him brew something to grow a beard because you thought his chin looked like a butt?¡± He said it as if he were judging me, but his laughter beforehand betrayed his real thoughts.


    ¡°If you had seen his chin, you would understand. Besides, it just fit the requirements. On another note, do you know if Mother and the rest get along again? Did mother say something?¡± I had the faint hope that they had, for some reason, made peace with each other and that everything could be like before, but I didn¡¯t know how much my brother even knew.


    ¡°Do you really think mom would tell me anything? I have the feeling that the only thing she said to me since the ceremony was that I should do my homework and that my performance in class could be better if I just studied more. She didn¡¯t even want to see the new spell I had learned. Why did no one tell me that mom could be so¡­ so¡­ heartless in class?¡± I needed to suppress a smile. If it came to the education of her students, mother expected everyone to put in a certain amount of work. I had experienced it firsthand. She made me go through the first four years of theoretical knowledge of spells I would never be able to cast. I think I had it even worse, as mother knew I didn¡¯t need to sleep and thought I should use the time more productive. I guess in the end she failed there, but that doesn¡¯t mean she didn¡¯t try to make me into a workaholic. I think Percival is as shocked as I was at that time at how much mother could suddenly expect from you just because you had one little tinsy ceremony.


    ¡°My mother said the whole quarrel was useless from the beginning. So maybe they worked it out.¡± Wow, Helena took the initiative to participate in our conversation. But I didn¡¯t know what I should think about Seraphina thinking that the quarrel was useless. She also thought that joking around was useless, or holidays, or the newest fashion trends, or making sure that even the stupid students understood her lessons, or taking care of her daughter, or love in general. Okey, I don¡¯t know about the last, as I still don¡¯t know about Helena¡¯s father, but Seraphina had a strange perception of what was important.


    ¡°Did she say anything more than that?¡± Maybe Seraphina thought that keeping a war secret from her daughter was useless too.


    ¡°Only that she is annoyed that it was reasonable to take in some personal students because of Aunt Helga¡¯s prophecy. Her three smartest students are probably not smart enough for her. But who am I to judge, she didn¡¯t even consider me.¡± Okey maybe we should change the topic. It doesn¡¯t seem like she knows anything and she seemed angry that Seraphine had once again ignored her existence. Okay, maybe that was wrong as they still talked from time to time but it was always Helena that needed to take the initiative.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    ¡°What prophecy? What are you talking about?¡± Oh, my brother knew even less than we did. But was it right to tell him? He would probably annoy mother or his father to death to make him a personal student, and he would probably think that this would make him the child of the prophecy. And that would probably put him in the center of the war, and if he wasn¡¯t the child of the prophecy or if mother''s prophecy was simply wrong, then it was quite likely that he would get hurt or worse.


    ¡°Oh, you don¡¯t know? Your mother uch!¡± Helena probably didn¡¯t see the problem with telling him and wanted to spell the beans, so I carefully kicked her under the table.


    ¡°It¡¯s just that mother made a prophecy that one of the students that graduate in the next few years will become extraordinarily excellent, and now they want to make sure the prophecy comes true. Maybe your father will teach you in private too after you learn the basics. So maybe in two or three years.¡± He looked at me, doubting what I said. It was quite obvious that I was hiding something because I interrupted Helena, but I wouldn¡¯t tell him that it would be a student that would end the war.


    ¡°What are you hiding, sis?¡± Sometimes I question my brother''s intelligence. Just because he knows I''m hiding something doesn¡¯t mean he can get me to talk just by pointing it out. If that were the case, mother would just ask me if I did something if someone in the family got pranked again.


    ¡°Nothing. You can ask Helena. What I said is the truth. I just wanted to be the one to tell you.¡± I touched Helena¡¯s shin with the tip of my shoe to signal her that I would kick her the moment she said something wrong. It¡¯s for the greater good. I¡¯m sure she understands.


    ¡°Ahm, yes, yes. It¡¯s as Charlotte says.¡± Ohh, come on, brother, you don¡¯t even trust your crush now. Don¡¯t look at me like that.


    ¡°Tell me, or I will tell mom about the rumor that you have a boyfriend now. She will pester you for months then.¡± Did my evil little bother just try to blackmail me? With a rumor that for once is actually true. But I guess my dear little brother isn¡¯t up to date. Mother already knows.


    ¡°Oh, you can tell her. She already knows.¡± Haha, the look on his face. He really didn¡¯t know that it wasn''t just a rumor.


    ¡°You? A boyfriend? Don¡¯t lie to me. Just imagine yourself as a housewife for a second. You can¡¯t even cook.¡± Okey, that hurt me a little. I mean, I can¡¯t cook. At least not yet, but maybe for Will I could learn it. Wait a moment, how did me having a boyfriend turn me into a housewife. I¡¯m not married yet. And even if so, why would that make me an housewife. I mean, it''s not like its likely that I can get kids, so becoming a housewife would be the most boring job ever. I could become a potion master or even a teacher instead of just cleaning the house.


    "Wait, you are not jocking? That¡¯s even funnier.¡± I love my brother; I should not hit him. I love my brother; I should not hit him. I love my brother¡­


    ¡°So who is the unlucky one?¡± I would have gladly told him if he hadn¡¯t made fun of me a second ago.


    ¡°It¡¯s William Whimsby.¡± I relented.


    ¡°I thought you didn¡¯t like him. Why did you change your mind?¡± How do I answer something like that? It¡¯s not that I can tell my little brother the details of my date. He doesn¡¯t even understand why I have the problems I have in the first place.


    ¡°I just gave him a chance, and it turned out that he can be quite sweet. I will introduce you two after he has recovered from his cold.¡± He nodded at me, thinking about something.


    ¡°Is that the reason you didn¡¯t eat in the great hall in the recent days? Did you take care of him? Maybe you will become a good housewife.¡±


    ¡°Percival, listen to me. Just because I have a boyfriend now doesn¡¯t mean I will instantly become a housewife.¡± It was probably his stupid father who influenced him to think like that. I hoped the influence stopped there. I didn¡¯t want my brother to become one of the women chasing idiots who only had one thing in mind.


    ¡°But even mom said¡­¡± So mother was to blame too. Still, he needed to understand that this is not how it is.


    ¡°No buts, Pev. It¡¯s my choice, and if I become a housewife, it''s because I want to be one. Besides just because he is my boyfriend doesn¡¯t mean we have to instantly marry.¡± Why does Helena look at me like I just revealed some kind of world-shaking secret? And why do I have the feeling that it should be mother¡¯s job to have this talk with him? Oh, right, because I enjoy what comes next.


    ¡°Just imagine for a second that Helena was your girlfriend.¡± Sweet Revenge. The two of them grew so red that it was funny to watch. Still, I shouldn¡¯t interpret too much into that. I would have reacted the same way. Maybe not as intense as Helena, but I guess she was exceedingly vulnerable to teasing. ¡°So, you knew each other for a long time, but you have not been her boyfriend or girlfriend before. At the beginning, you would not immediately think about marriage. You would instead try to get to know her better. Marriage is something that binds you together for life, so it''s normal to wait a little and be sure you choose the right partner. You wouldn¡¯t expect Helena to live with you and do your household chores just because you are boyfriend and girlfriend, right?¡± I refrained from saying that there were a few lines you shouldn¡¯t cross until you were married, as his father was the prime example of doing the opposite. I also didn¡¯t want to talk about arranged marriages, as it changed things a lot. But I was sure that mother would give him the same freedom as me.


    ¡°I¡­I don¡¯t know. I mean, I wouldn¡¯t mind. I mean, I ¡­. Marrying ¡­ Helena?¡± I think I fried my brother''s brain. But now I was sure that he definitely had a crush on her. How did that happen? Just because they learned together? But I could also see that Helena was having similar thoughts as me. She looked at him as if she were sorry before she looked at me a little helpless. Well, maybe my revenge was a bit to cruel. I wanted to tease them while teaching him a little lesson, but I didn¡¯t mean for this to happen.


    ¡°Hey Pev, calm down I¡­¡±


    ¡°I need to go to the bathroom. See you later.¡± Said my little brother and ran off before I could calm him down.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Helena. I didn¡¯t mean to.¡± How could I fix this situation? Damned Charlotte, why do you have to always ruin everything.


    ¡°It¡¯s not your fault, I guess. But I don¡¯t know what I should do now. I mean, he is like family. It was nice to spend time with him because I thought he was one of the few who liked spending time with me, not because of mom, but because he actually liked spending time with me, but I didn¡¯t think he would¡­ I mean, he is far too young; he has to understand that too, right? Do you think he will get over it? Do you think I should stop spending time with him?¡± How should I know all this? He might be my brother, but it''s not like I can read his mind.


    ¡°Honestly, I¡¯m not really sure. I mean, when I was his age, I too had a crush on an older boy, but I got over it in a few weeks. Maybe he just needs some time. I¡¯m sorry that I made it more complicated than it needed to be. I just wanted to tease him a little bit; I didn¡¯t know that he would just run off. I don¡¯t know if he would want to talk with me at the moment. Maybe it would be better if you did it. I mean, he would surely be willing to at least listen to you. The last time he ran off like that and I went after him, he just screamed at me.¡±


    ¡°I will try. After the next class. I don¡¯t think it would be wise to talk to him when I would need to leave in five minutes. I just hope he will get over it in a few weeks, as you said. It wouldn¡¯t be good for any of us.¡±


    ¡°Thank you. I owe you one, Helena.¡± Thanks the magic, Helena was so understanding.

 Chapter 17

    After Helena left for her next class, I felt a little lost. Instead of finding out what the founders were talking about, I embarrassed my brother in front of his crush. No matter how pointless his ¡°feelings¡± for her are, I felt bad because of it.Especially after discovering how pleasant it can be to be close to someone one likes.


    With nothing else to do, I decided to take my bath ahead of time. I needed that mental break right now.


    ¡°Bad day?¡± Nice. Now I get pitied by the mermaid. Can¡¯t she pretend to sleep again?


    ¡°Not as bad as yours if you don¡¯t shut up.¡± Why do we have to go through that every time? Can¡¯t she go and visit some of her mermaid friends?


    As soon as the bath was halfway filled with water, I stripped off my clothes and entered. I wasn¡¯t in the mood to pose in front of the fixed mirror or spend any more time thinking about how to best disassemble the mermaid. I wanted to relax.


    I stood under the small waterfall that was used to fill the bath and felt the water push against my back. It was a weird, pressuring feeling that gave me something to concentrate on that had nothing to do with my mistakes.


    It was almost as if my mind was reset until the waterfall stopped because the bath was full. But even then, my mind slowly drifted to what we talked about.


    I had just wanted to tease him because I couldn¡¯t imagine myself as a housewife. Even the whole talk about the phase in front of a marriage was, in most cases, not really accurate. Too many people had an arranged marriage, and then it was more or less expected for them to take on some roles if they wanted to or not.


    Mother told me that at least most parents were not as forceful as they had been twenty years ago. Now they at least let the married couple finish school before they introduced them to the family business. This included the part about getting children as soon as possible. It was still quite common for some of the girls in the last year to get pregnant during the holidays, so I wouldn¡¯t say it got so much better.


    The problem is that I haven¡¯t told Will about the possibility of not being able to get children. And I already dreaded the moment I needed to tell him. I mean, maybe he already guessed it, but maybe he also didn¡¯t think about it. It wasn¡¯t really a topic anyone talked about; it was simply normal or expected for married people to get children, and people who failed to follow this custom would soon become outcasts. No one wanted to invest in a family that was bound to die out. Most family networks were created tens of generations ago. Okay, maybe not that long ago, but wizard families did their best to pass on their network to the next generation.


    People like the founders were quite the oddballs in our society from what I know. Technically, everyone except Uncle Severin had a child, but what really made them strange was that they didn¡¯t try to invest too much effort into networking. In my opinion, the only reason they could get away with it was because they founded the school and because they were powerful enough to keep others out. At least from the marriage proposals the founders and Helena and I got, I was certain that there was no lack of attempts from other families to somehow get into the school.


    Except for the problem of being able to get children or not, I wasn¡¯t sure if I even wanted children. I was sure I would be a terrible mother. I couldn¡¯t cook, I didn¡¯t know how to treat a child if it got ill, and I didn¡¯t know what to do if a child was crying. There were so many things I didn¡¯t know. And Will made it clear that there were many other things I didn¡¯t even know I had. The money thing was probably just one example of many other problems I didn¡¯t know how to handle that might affect the kid or family in a bad way. The only thing that didn¡¯t worry me were actual household chores like cleaning. I had a whole night more to do these things than other women, so even without magic, I should be able to manage that.


    Damned, I wanted to talk to Will about it. I wanted to know if I was just needlessly worrying about it. Maybe he didn¡¯t even want children. As rare as it was, people like that existed. Uncle Severin was the prime example of that.


    Wait a moment. What was that sound? Did the door just open?


    ¡°What are you doing here?¡± I really can¡¯t get my time to relax, can¡¯t I?


    ¡°Hello Charlotte, I didn¡¯t know you were here.¡± said Lorain, standing there in her uniform with a pink towel in her hand. I already contemplated leaving, as I thought I couldn¡¯t send her away as I had traded the usage rights to the bath with her and she had kept her side of the deal. Damned, I was too quick to give it away.


    ¡°Yeah, I decided to take a bath early to relax a bit. But I can go now if you want to take a bath.¡±


    ¡°No, no. You don¡¯t need to go. We can bathe together. The bath is big enough.¡± I didn¡¯t know what to say to that. On one side, I enjoyed my bath, and my bathing time was far from over. On the other side, I didn¡¯t want to bathe with other people in general. I didn¡¯t want other people to see my arm, and the bath wasn¡¯t exactly a place where you could hide anything. The problem was that even if I left now, it would be difficult to hide it anyway.


    ¡°Fine, but I like my quiet.¡±


    ¡°Yes, definitely. I¡¯m as quiet as a fox.¡± Were foxes quiet? I didn¡¯t know. I never saw one in person, but I guessed that they had to be.


    I watched as Lorain was carefully undressing and neatly folding her clothes. Like I used to do it many times, she watched herself in the big mirror before entering. She opened her braids and shook her head so that the hair straightened up. I had to admit that her blond hair looked beautiful.


    I would even admit that I was a little envious of how she looked in general. Her skin had a much healthier tone than mine, without being too dark; she was slim but without looking too thin; and her breasts were a bit bigger than mine. It wasn¡¯t that I wanted to glare, but seeing them bounce up and down as she walked into the bath just drew my eyes there.


    ¡°Do you need to come so close?¡± The bath was really big; why did she have to come directly next to me.


    ¡°Yes.¡± Was she trying to trigger me on purpose? Even the mermaid is grinning in schadenfreude.


    ¡°And why?¡±


    ¡°Because I want to.¡± It was a mistake not to leave the bath. Was it too late to change my mind?


    ¡°Don¡¯t be like that, Charlotte. I just wanted to chat a little bit. You know I had to take care of Will again and wanted to ask you what happened.¡± So foxes are quite chatty animals, I guess. Damn those foxes.


    ¡°Fine, but don¡¯t come any closer. I don¡¯t like that.¡± It was already difficult enough to hide my arm out of view, and I didn¡¯t want her to come even closer.


    ¡°So what happened? I thought you were doing fine. You even slept in his bed already?¡± She said coming a little closer. She was now close enough that I could feel her every movement through the water.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°We had a little quarrel that made me realize that we knew almost nothing about each other, and I wanted to slowly get to know him instead of treating him like a husband from one day to another. So I decided that we should go on another date and kept a bit of distance till then.¡± I said, not really sure what exactly I should tell her.


    ¡°So it''s not because you are still angry? He just told me that you quarreled and that you wouldn¡¯t meet until Friday.¡± So she already talked with him about it.


    ¡°What? No, I wasn¡¯t angry at him. I mean, maybe a little at the beginning, but not anymore. I actually regret doing it a little bit, but it''s probably still for the best. Was he very disappointed that I proposed something like that?¡±


    ¡°Ohh, don¡¯t worry about it. If it were any other guy, I would tell you that what you did was reckless, and I wouldn¡¯t wonder if another girl would snatch him from you if you did something like that, but if Will was so easy to steal away, he would have a different girlfriend right now. So while he was a little sad about it, you don¡¯t need to worry.¡± I don¡¯t know if that should calm me down or upset me. But I still felt sorry for Will. I should probably make it up for him during the date.


    ¡°And who would that different girlfriend be?¡± I asked a little threateningly, but obviously not seriously.


    ¡°Oh, there come many girls to my mind. Alicia, Gwendoline, I think there was also a Nightquill girl that tried to ask him out, or naturally me as well. There were also a bunch of girls who tried to get close to him because their parents wanted it. His family is quite old, and with the dragonbreeding business, his parents were also quite well off. Many new or medium-aged families would want to marry into such a family. And with the deadline his parents set him, he would be pressured to accept one of them sooner or later. If you had waited any longer, he would have probably needed to find someone else. I was sure you would reject him forever so that he would look for someone else. In the best case, me.¡±


    ¡°Wait a moment. What kind of deadline?¡± I decided to ignore her comments about her being interested in my boyfriend. I was unsure if it was normal for other people to talk so openly about it, and I didn¡¯t care, as she was right. Will wouldn¡¯t leave me for someone else. But that deadline was something I needed to know about.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t he tell you? Damned, I thought that was how he got you to accept the date in the first place. His parents told him that if he didn¡¯t come home with a girl during the next holidays, they would arrange something for him.¡± Wait a moment. The next holidays? That was in around three months. Right after the New Year''s party. Does that mean I have to decide if I want to marry him until then? I¡¯m not ready for this.


    "No, he didn¡¯t tell me. So does that mean we need to... if I go with him, his parents would want us to get married as soon as possible?¡±


    "Well, yes, but I think they won¡¯t push for it instantly. I think they just wanted him to bring someone home. His parents normally aren¡¯t super fixated on that. They were probably concerned that if he waited too long, all good matches would be taken. And even if they took it more seriously, they would probably be more lenient with their demands, as the connection to your mother is far too valuable to risk it over a few months. Especially because it will probably increase the odds for Will''s brothers to get better matches. You are really lucky in that regard. I mean, my mother just wants me out of the house as soon as possible, and it''s not so easy to find someone decent if your family isn¡¯t old or super connected.¡± I remembered that Will told me that her mother was a widow who worked part-time as a seamstress. With all I knew about it, it was probably difficult to find a family that was eager to have her as a marriage partner.


    ¡°That is good to hear, I think. I mean that they won¡¯t push for it instantly. Do you have someone in mind? Someone besides Will!¡±


    "Well, there are a few. I mean, it''s not like there aren¡¯t any rich boys who are interested in me. The problem is that they want to do IT all the time, but I don¡¯t want to do IT until I¡¯m sure I want to marry someone. That was the reason my previous two relationships broke apart. But as much as I want to do it, if I don¡¯t marry them, then it will become basically impossible for me to find someone after that. I mean, the girls from the old families are doing it with whoever they want, and no one cares, but I¡¯m not so lucky.¡± Wow, I never considered all those things. Her life probably isn¡¯t as easy as I thought. ¡­Wait a moment.


    ¡°Didn¡¯t you ask me about when I planned to do IT with Will? I thought it was something normal to do because of you. I thought you did it too with all your talk about your boyfriends.¡±


    ¡°Hey, it¡¯s not like I have no experience. I just didn¡¯t do IT. And if I were in your shoes, I wouldn¡¯t even need to think about doing it with Will. I have known him since I was little, and I know he would take responsibility for it. He isn¡¯t like those other horny boys.¡± I knew it. Will was the best. Haha. But what experiences could she have if she hadn¡¯t done it? Is she talking about kissing? I have done that too.


    ¡°What exactly do you mean with experiences?¡± I was a little curious. Maybe I could learn something and surprise Will with it later. If it wasn¡¯t too perverted.


    ¡°You really have no idea, don¡¯t you? Did your mother never talk with you about it?¡±


    ¡°Talk about what exactly?¡±


    ¡°Oh, you are such a sweet, innocent child. How could I ever think you are an evil monster when you are so innocent?¡± Is she trying to provoke me there? Because she is on a good way to fly out of the bath. Naked or not.


    ¡°Don¡¯t glare at me like that. I will tell you, don¡¯t worry. Okay, first of all, you know what sex is, right?¡±


    ¡°Yeah, but I thought you meant something else.¡± Okay, now I was confused. Did she have sex with her boyfriends or not, and what was IT if not sex?


    ¡°Yes, I just wanted to make sure that you at least knew that. So then you know that a man changes his size if he is aroused right?¡± Did I really want to answer that? How could she talk about that without even blushing, because I sure as hell am. I decided that simple nodding would be enough to answer.


    ¡°So, the question is: how can you get them aroused, and what do you do when they are? I¡¯m sure you know that most boys like big breasts and a well shaped butt, and most of the time it is enough to show these to them, but there are more ways. If you touch them close to their thing or even touch it directly, it works just as well. And if they are aroused, you can actually grab it. Not too tight, but not so loose that they think you don¡¯t want to do it. Then, if you rub it for some time, they will, ... you know, shoot their load. If you are really brave, you can even lick or suck on it. But prepare for the taste. It¡¯s not exactly delicious. I mean, it also isn¡¯t really that bad, but if you don¡¯t know what is coming¡­¡±


    ¡°Are you serious?¡± I mean I could imagine doing that if it was really necessary but the thought was weird to say the least. Okey sex in general was a little weird but I guess it was normal if one wanted to have children, right?


    ¡°Well yes. But it''s not like you can¡¯t have fun either. Have you ever mastubated?¡± Hold on, that was quite some personal stuff. Okay, now that I think about it, the whole talk was quite personal. Still, it¡¯s not something you just ask about.


    ¡°No.¡± I answered truthfully. I know what it was from some of the books I read even thought they didn¡¯t really go into much detail, but so far I never really thought about doing it myself.


    ¡°Wow. I never thought I would meet someone so innocent at your age. So anyway. Instead of rubbing yourself down there, you let them lick you there. It feels amazing, but I must warn you. If you let him do it, you and he would want to go a step further, it is really not easy to say no after that.¡± Okay, now I don¡¯t know what I would rather do. It was surely embarrassing to let Will lick me down there. On the other hand, sucking his thing was less embarrassing but promised less ¡­ fun? I should probably wait until I talk with Will about something like that. Would I even talk with him about something like that, or would it just ¡­ happen at some point? Should I ask Lorain? Should I have another talk with mother?


    ¡°Did you think about Will just now?¡± About whom should I think, if not him, girl?


    ¡°Yes, why?¡±


    ¡°Let''s just say I can see that. Hihi. You are actually really cute, you know.¡± Why is she coming closer?


    ¡°Stay away from me. Hey, don¡¯t touch me. I¡¯m not such a kind of girl; let me go.¡± I tried to push her away without hurting her, but she was clinging to me, trying to grab my chest¡­ again. Why did she do something like that?


    ¡°You are quite inhibited, Charlotte. I just wanted to tease you a little. Consider it payment for my lesson. Hihi.¡± I¡¯m never letting her enter the bath with me again. But at least she didn¡¯t seem to have seen the scar yet.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Charlotte. I won¡¯t do it again. You can stay still now.¡± I wasn¡¯t sure if I trusted her, but I slowed down. She wouldn¡¯t be able to catch me now that I was alerted, but it made the bath quite more stressful than it needed to be.


    We talked a bit longer about some more casual stuff, like how she was a little overworked now and how she worried about her grades, while I told her about my worries about the lessons I had to give. Naturally, that ended in me somehow promising her to give her some help if she struggled with potions. I couldn¡¯t reject her after she told me that a graduation with decent grades would increase her odds of getting a good marriage or a good life in case she didn¡¯t find someone in the next two years.

 Chapter 18

    <div>


    With nothing else to do, I decided it was time to finish the last books in the library. There were only two more books after a thousand ways to ruin your cauldron I hadn¡¯t read, so I should manage it in two, maybe three days. At least if I did nothing but read and eat. But I guess those times were over, as I wanted to spend time with Will and I needed to prepare lessons as well.


    This time I only met a first grade boy in the potion section, but he was so immersed in a book that he didn¡¯t even notice me. I noticed that he was in aunt¡¯s house, which reminded me that he was the only one in his house and his grade. He is probably lonely.


    I sat down and started to read one of the three most boring books this section had to offer, but I couldn¡¯t concentrate on it. The boy painfully reminded me of myself. While I wasn¡¯t exactly the only one in mother¡¯s house at the time, I could as well have been. No one wanted to talk to the girl, who didn¡¯t even get a wand. I also started to get absorbed into the library and spent most of my time reading about potions. That I didn¡¯t finish the section until now is only because it was one of the largest. The Herbology section wasn¡¯t even half as large, and the Magical Creature ¡°section¡± was barely half a shelf full of books. It was quite apparent that the library, which had existed even before the castle became a school, was in the possession of a family of potion masters.


    ¡°What are you reading?¡± I decided to give in to my wish to help him. No need for him to feel as alone as I did.


    He looked up to answer me only for his eyes to widen when he saw me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. No matter what you heard about me, I won¡¯t harm you.¡± It was always the same with the first years. By now, I thought even the parents at home were telling them farytails about an evil white-haired girl with red eyes, or I wouldn¡¯t be able to explain how they started to fear me so instinctively.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­. I¡¯m sorry; I didn¡¯t know you were reading here. I will leave immediately.¡± said the boy and frantically started to collect his stuff.


    ¡°No wait. I really meant it. I won¡¯t do anything to you. On the contrary, I wanted to help you. Maybe talk to you. My name is Charlotte.¡± He looked at me doubtingly.


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know your name because I didn¡¯t really listen at the entrance ceremony, but I¡¯m a student like you. Just a little older than you. But I swear that despite playing a few pranks on people who deserved it, I have never done anything bad to someone.¡± He seemed to calm down a little. Good, I feared that my attempt at talking to the boy would have just led to him fleeing.


    ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°Bernhard Cynric, Madam.¡± Ouch, that hurt. Did he really just call me Madam? I¡¯m not that old, and I look even younger. Damned kids these days.


    ¡°Please call me Charlotte. So, what were you reading?¡±


    He looked a little embarrassed and just showed me the book cover.


    ¡°Potion¡¯s for idiots; well, you don¡¯t look like an idiot to me, Mr. Cynric, or can I call you Bernhard? All students call each other by their first names.¡± I waited for him to nod before I continued, ¡°Great. So, Bernhard, the thing is that this book is not only old; it was also written by an idiot. The author wasn¡¯t even a proper potion master. He was just some hobby herbalist who tried to earn some money on the side with potions. Well, he wasn¡¯t really that incompetent, but there are better books to get started. Here, look at this book. Don¡¯t worry about the title, somehow it became a custom to belittle the reader of beginner books. But this book has a better structure to get into the topic, no errors I''m aware of, and most things you learn in your first year are in there too, but quite simplified.¡±


    He stared between me and the book I handed him.


    ¡°Potions even a troll could brew? Really?¡± he stared at me with scepsis.


    ¡°Yes really. Look at the author''s name, and you will understand.¡±


    ¡°Severin Salamand. You mean Founder Salamand wrote this book?¡±


    "Yes, he wrote it, around five years after the founding.¡± I don¡¯t need to tell him that he wrote it to make me interested in potions when I was nine years old. But I guess one story wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    ¡°And believe it or not, Uncle had tested if trolls could brew them after some students challenged him to proof it. Turns out that they can actually learn the first three potions of the book. I mean, three different trolls managed to learn one potion each. But still, trolls could technically learn those potions.¡± Well, Uncle had to put really a lot of effort into it, and it took him half a year because trolls were so increadibly stupid and they didn¡¯t really understand what they were doing. They were just mimicking Uncle because they earned some snacks by doing so. But hey, a troll brewed a potion that removes the smell of sweaty feet. Hopefully, it will become part of troll culture.


    ¡°Thank you. Does Uncle mean that you are related to Founder Salamand?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°Yes, I mean, I was adopted when I was little, and all founders are kind of my family, but Helga Humblehill is my adoptive mother.¡± I told him, and the emotions in his eyes transformed from curiosity to envy.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as great as it sounds. I can¡¯t use magic. That¡¯s the reason I spent quite a lot of time with potions.¡± His reaction was the usual one. Pity. I couldn¡¯t really blame him. After all this time, I got used to it. The only thing that still irritates me is that they pity me, not for being adopted or for being an orphan. As if getting adopted was the cure for losing your real parents, but not being able to use magic was the worst one could experience.


    ¡°So anyway, if you have any questions regarding it, I will be glad to answer them. Generally, if there is no foolish wand waving involved, you can ask me. If you want to, I can introduce you to my brother too. He is a first year as well, so maybe you can become friends.¡± He looked at me a little skeptically. Was it that I called wand waving foolish, or was it that I wanted to introduce my brother to him?


    You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.


    ¡°Is he also unable to use magic?¡±


    ¡°What? No. My situation is just a little... unique, he is... normal.¡± Okay, I was officially not interested in helping him anymore. Or at least not as enthusiastic as before. Magic wasn¡¯t the most important thing in the world.


    ¡°Then yes.¡± Kids could be so brutally honest sometimes without realizing what they are doing, but I guess I can¡¯t really blame him. He was probably eager to talk about the things he learned in the past two weeks, and only someone who can use magic is able to really understand what a spell feels like when you cast it.


    ¡°Good, I will introduce you during dinner. For now, we should continue to do what we came here for.¡± I didn¡¯t want to delay finishing these books any longer. I procrastinated too much already. Technically, reading these books was also a form of procrastination because I was already fully capable of starting to work on my own potion recipe. Anyway, brewing a lot of snake venom antidotes in the same cauldron can make the next hair grow tincture taste spicy, but it stays the same otherwise. How interesting. Not.


    I finished the book around four hours later. Bernhard had already left because he needed to attend a lesson. In a way, I was a little envious. Getting everything spoon-fed during a lesson was heaven compared to aimlessly reading books in the library. But I guess studying by yourself was an important step into becoming an independent researcher. Not that I wanted to become a dedicated one, but being able to learn things by yourself without a teacher holding your hand was something I should learn sooner rather than later, as I was sure to reach a level where no teacher would be able to teach me in any subject that interested me. The reason for that was my inability to age. Even if I invested only an hour a day in a subject after six or seven hundred years, I would know more about the subject than anyone who dedicated his entire life to it. An idea that was still so foreign to me that I had to admit that the realization hadn¡¯t really struck me yet. At least not on a level where I could say that I would make plans that need hundreds of years to be achieved. But learning a few fundamentals early on couldn¡¯t hurt.


    Just as I was about to arrive at the great hall, I was hugged from behind. I was so shocked and surprised that my whole body tensed.


    "Hello, Charly, how was it in the library?¡± Couldn¡¯t Will just greet me like a normal person? If I hadn¡¯t frozen, I was sure that I could have seriously hurt him by accident.


    ¡°Yes, just two more books. How was dark magic with uncle?¡± I said not wanting to remind him just yet, as I realized that it was nice if one overlocked the surprise factor.


    ¡°Dark magic will never be my favorite subject, I think. In most cases, it''s just gruesome and destructive. I mean, today we learned a spell that can painfully kill someone within 3 days if one doesn¡¯t cast the counter-spell. The bad thing is that it kills not only your target but every person your target comes into contact with. Which is also the only way you can actually survive longer because the spell gets weakened a little with each infection. That is a spell to wipe out entire villages. Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.¡± That really sounded gruesome. I wasn¡¯t sure why Uncle taught them something like that, but it was probably because of the war. Maybe it was also a regular topic in Uncle''s classes in the sixth year, but I was sure that spells like this were normally not taught. At least I hoped so. But Uncle probably only wanted to teach them the counterspell, or maybe it was just a lesson for them to learn what could be used in the war and to be able to defend themselves against things like that. Yes, probably was that.


    ¡°Well, dark magic is quite extreme, no matter what you do with it. Don¡¯t forget that dark magic can also have quite powerful healing spells. Anyway, can I do something to cheer you up?¡± Healing spells were the only thing I studied about dark magic because I hoped for a spell that could heal my arm. Turns out that was a false hope. At least if the caster wasn¡¯t willing to sacrifice a significant amount of his life force in exchange for my arm. So much in fact, that it would probably take the person out for months until he recovered. That was the main reason why dark magic was labeled as such. The risks for the caster were sometimes higher than for the victim. Even death was a possibility. For some time, I thought, with my inability to use normal magic, that black magic was the answer, but it just amplified the negative impact by ten times. So, no black magic for me.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I just wanted to rant a little. Also, you left quite a good impression on my friends. They couldn¡¯t stop talking about you on the whole way to dark magic and afterwards to transfiguration.¡±


    ¡°What, why would they talk about me? What did they say?¡± Now I was curious. I already got a glimpse at how they talked about girls, and hearing them talk about me now made me wish I could have listened in.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡­ Ahm¡­ I would rather not repeat it. I mean, it was all positive, but... well, let''s just say you trust me on the fact that they have a good impression of you.¡± What? How could he tease me like that and then let me hang? That wasn¡¯t fair. And coming up with trust after I told him we needed to slowly build it up was unfair as well.


    ¡°You look cute when you make that face. But I won¡¯t repeat what they said.¡± Oh no, I pouted again. I¡¯m a lost cause, ain¡¯t I? But he said I looked cute. So maybe¡­. No, no I need to keep some dignity. It¡¯s fine if I play the child in front of mother, but I don¡¯t want to make it a habit in front of him.


    ¡°You are mean. And because you are mean, you and those friends that have such a good impression of me have to eat alone.¡± I mean, I still needed to introduce Bernhard to my brother, so I wouldn¡¯t have time anyway, but he doesn¡¯t need to know that.


    ¡°Haha. Don¡¯t be like that. I promise that I will make it up to you.¡± Oh, that sounded interesting. But I couldn¡¯t make it too easy for him, right? And I also couldn¡¯t eat with him as I didn¡¯t have the time.


    ¡°How? What will you do?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s meant to be a surprise for tomorrow. But if you want to know, I will tell you.¡± I contemplated it a little and realized I was in a small dilemma. I wanted him to tell me, but then I would probably need to eat with him. Okey, let''s be real; if I explained it to him, he would understand it, but it would still feel a little mean.


    ¡°Then let it be a surprise. I forgive you, but I will still eat with my brother, because I wanted to introduce him to a first-year student I met in the library. He is Aunt Seraphina¡¯s new student. The only one, and I thought he would want to have a friend.¡±


    ¡°That is fine. It¡¯s always nice to see you taking care of other students.¡± Oh right, he thought for some time that I¡¯m some kind of vigilante that helps new students. Glad that isn¡¯t the case anymore. Behaving like some kind of moral role model would be quite tiring.


    ¡°Lorain told me you take care of younger students too. You even help them with their homework. Compared to that, introducing someone to my brother is not really worth mentioning.¡±


    ¡°Just on the weekends, and even that will get less when we spend more time together.¡± Great, now I¡¯m the reason he stops to help the young ones. I can already imagine the rumors of how I corrupted him. But it was still sweet that spending time with me was more important to him than helping a few clueless kids.


    ¡°When not if?¡± I asked him teasingly.


    ¡°Definitely. Can¡¯t let you get away now.¡± It felt good that he got a little more confident and pushy. I mean, haven¡¯t I told him that we should let it start a little bit slower? But asking to spend the weekends together isn¡¯t too much to ask for, I guess. Unless, of course, we only want to see each other during the meals, which would probably get a little monotonic after some time.


    ¡°Awww, how could I say no to something like that.¡± I said and gave him a small peck on his slightly dry lips.

 Chapter 19

    With nothing else to do, I decided it was time to finish the last books in the library. There were only two more books after a thousand ways to ruin your cauldron I hadn¡¯t read, so I should manage it in two, maybe three days. At least if I did nothing but read and eat. But I guess those times were over, as I wanted to spend time with Will and I needed to prepare lessons as well.


    This time I only met a first grade boy in the potion section, but he was so immersed in a book that he didn¡¯t even notice me. I noticed that he was in aunt¡¯s house, which reminded me that he was the only one in his house and his grade. He is probably lonely.


    I sat down and started to read one of the three most boring books this section had to offer, but I couldn¡¯t concentrate on it. The boy painfully reminded me of myself. While I wasn¡¯t exactly the only one in mother¡¯s house at the time, I could as well have been. No one wanted to talk to the girl, who didn¡¯t even get a wand. I also started to get absorbed into the library and spent most of my time reading about potions. That I didn¡¯t finish the section until now is only because it was one of the largest. The Herbology section wasn¡¯t even half as large, and the Magical Creature ¡°section¡± was barely half a shelf full of books. It was quite apparent that the library, which had existed even before the castle became a school, was in the possession of a family of potion masters.


    ¡°What are you reading?¡± I decided to give in to my wish to help him. No need for him to feel as alone as I did.


    He looked up to answer me only for his eyes to widen when he saw me.


    ¡°Don¡¯t be scared. No matter what you heard about me, I won¡¯t harm you.¡± It was always the same with the first years. By now, I thought even the parents at home were telling them farytails about an evil white-haired girl with red eyes, or I wouldn¡¯t be able to explain how they started to fear me so instinctively.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡­. I¡¯m sorry; I didn¡¯t know you were reading here. I will leave immediately.¡± said the boy and frantically started to collect his stuff.


    ¡°No wait. I really meant it. I won¡¯t do anything to you. On the contrary, I wanted to help you. Maybe talk to you. My name is Charlotte.¡± He looked at me doubtingly.


    ¡°Look, I don¡¯t know your name because I didn¡¯t really listen at the entrance ceremony, but I¡¯m a student like you. Just a little older than you. But I swear that despite playing a few pranks on people who deserved it, I have never done anything bad to someone.¡± He seemed to calm down a little. Good, I feared that my attempt at talking to the boy would have just led to him fleeing.


    ¡°What is your name?¡±


    ¡°Bernhard Cynric, Madam.¡± Ouch, that hurt. Did he really just call me Madam? I¡¯m not that old, and I look even younger. Damned kids these days.


    ¡°Please call me Charlotte. So, what were you reading?¡±


    He looked a little embarrassed and just showed me the book cover.


    ¡°Potion¡¯s for idiots; well, you don¡¯t look like an idiot to me, Mr. Cynric, or can I call you Bernhard? All students call each other by their first names.¡± I waited for him to nod before I continued, ¡°Great. So, Bernhard, the thing is that this book is not only old; it was also written by an idiot. The author wasn¡¯t even a proper potion master. He was just some hobby herbalist who tried to earn some money on the side with potions. Well, he wasn¡¯t really that incompetent, but there are better books to get started. Here, look at this book. Don¡¯t worry about the title, somehow it became a custom to belittle the reader of beginner books. But this book has a better structure to get into the topic, no errors I''m aware of, and most things you learn in your first year are in there too, but quite simplified.¡±


    He stared between me and the book I handed him.


    ¡°Potions even a troll could brew? Really?¡± he stared at me with scepsis.


    ¡°Yes really. Look at the author''s name, and you will understand.¡±


    ¡°Severin Salamand. You mean Founder Salamand wrote this book?¡±


    "Yes, he wrote it, around five years after the founding.¡± I don¡¯t need to tell him that he wrote it to make me interested in potions when I was nine years old. But I guess one story wouldn¡¯t hurt.


    ¡°And believe it or not, Uncle had tested if trolls could brew them after some students challenged him to proof it. Turns out that they can actually learn the first three potions of the book. I mean, three different trolls managed to learn one potion each. But still, trolls could technically learn those potions.¡± Well, Uncle had to put really a lot of effort into it, and it took him half a year because trolls were so increadibly stupid and they didn¡¯t really understand what they were doing. They were just mimicking Uncle because they earned some snacks by doing so. But hey, a troll brewed a potion that removes the smell of sweaty feet. Hopefully, it will become part of troll culture.


    ¡°Thank you. Does Uncle mean that you are related to Founder Salamand?¡± he asked curiously.


    ¡°Yes, I mean, I was adopted when I was little, and all founders are kind of my family, but Helga Humblehill is my adoptive mother.¡± I told him, and the emotions in his eyes transformed from curiosity to envy.


    ¡°It¡¯s not as great as it sounds. I can¡¯t use magic. That¡¯s the reason I spent quite a lot of time with potions.¡± His reaction was the usual one. Pity. I couldn¡¯t really blame him. After all this time, I got used to it. The only thing that still irritates me is that they pity me, not for being adopted or for being an orphan. As if getting adopted was the cure for losing your real parents, but not being able to use magic was the worst one could experience.


    ¡°So anyway, if you have any questions regarding it, I will be glad to answer them. Generally, if there is no foolish wand waving involved, you can ask me. If you want to, I can introduce you to my brother too. He is a first year as well, so maybe you can become friends.¡± He looked at me a little skeptically. Was it that I called wand waving foolish, or was it that I wanted to introduce my brother to him?


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    ¡°Is he also unable to use magic?¡±


    ¡°What? No. My situation is just a little... unique, he is... normal.¡± Okay, I was officially not interested in helping him anymore. Or at least not as enthusiastic as before. Magic wasn¡¯t the most important thing in the world.


    ¡°Then yes.¡± Kids could be so brutally honest sometimes without realizing what they are doing, but I guess I can¡¯t really blame him. He was probably eager to talk about the things he learned in the past two weeks, and only someone who can use magic is able to really understand what a spell feels like when you cast it.


    ¡°Good, I will introduce you during dinner. For now, we should continue to do what we came here for.¡± I didn¡¯t want to delay finishing these books any longer. I procrastinated too much already. Technically, reading these books was also a form of procrastination because I was already fully capable of starting to work on my own potion recipe. Anyway, brewing a lot of snake venom antidotes in the same cauldron can make the next hair grow tincture taste spicy, but it stays the same otherwise. How interesting. Not.


    I finished the book around four hours later. Bernhard had already left because he needed to attend a lesson. In a way, I was a little envious. Getting everything spoon-fed during a lesson was heaven compared to aimlessly reading books in the library. But I guess studying by yourself was an important step into becoming an independent researcher. Not that I wanted to become a dedicated one, but being able to learn things by yourself without a teacher holding your hand was something I should learn sooner rather than later, as I was sure to reach a level where no teacher would be able to teach me in any subject that interested me. The reason for that was my inability to age. Even if I invested only an hour a day in a subject after six or seven hundred years, I would know more about the subject than anyone who dedicated his entire life to it. An idea that was still so foreign to me that I had to admit that the realization hadn¡¯t really struck me yet. At least not on a level where I could say that I would make plans that need hundreds of years to be achieved. But learning a few fundamentals early on couldn¡¯t hurt.


    Just as I was about to arrive at the great hall, I was hugged from behind. I was so shocked and surprised that my whole body tensed.


    "Hello, Charly, how was it in the library?¡± Couldn¡¯t Will just greet me like a normal person? If I hadn¡¯t frozen, I was sure that I could have seriously hurt him by accident.


    ¡°Yes, just two more books. How was dark magic with uncle?¡± I said not wanting to remind him just yet, as I realized that it was nice if one overlocked the surprise factor.


    ¡°Dark magic will never be my favorite subject, I think. In most cases, it''s just gruesome and destructive. I mean, today we learned a spell that can painfully kill someone within 3 days if one doesn¡¯t cast the counter-spell. The bad thing is that it kills not only your target but every person your target comes into contact with. Which is also the only way you can actually survive longer because the spell gets weakened a little with each infection. That is a spell to wipe out entire villages. Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit.¡± That really sounded gruesome. I wasn¡¯t sure why Uncle taught them something like that, but it was probably because of the war. Maybe it was also a regular topic in Uncle''s classes in the sixth year, but I was sure that spells like this were normally not taught. At least I hoped so. But Uncle probably only wanted to teach them the counterspell, or maybe it was just a lesson for them to learn what could be used in the war and to be able to defend themselves against things like that. Yes, probably was that.


    ¡°Well, dark magic is quite extreme, no matter what you do with it. Don¡¯t forget that dark magic can also have quite powerful healing spells. Anyway, can I do something to cheer you up?¡± Healing spells were the only thing I studied about dark magic because I hoped for a spell that could heal my arm. Turns out that was a false hope. At least if the caster wasn¡¯t willing to sacrifice a significant amount of his life force in exchange for my arm. So much in fact, that it would probably take the person out for months until he recovered. That was the main reason why dark magic was labeled as such. The risks for the caster were sometimes higher than for the victim. Even death was a possibility. For some time, I thought, with my inability to use normal magic, that black magic was the answer, but it just amplified the negative impact by ten times. So, no black magic for me.


    ¡°It¡¯s fine. I just wanted to rant a little. Also, you left quite a good impression on my friends. They couldn¡¯t stop talking about you on the whole way to dark magic and afterwards to transfiguration.¡±


    ¡°What, why would they talk about me? What did they say?¡± Now I was curious. I already got a glimpse at how they talked about girls, and hearing them talk about me now made me wish I could have listened in.¡±


    ¡°Oh, that¡­ Ahm¡­ I would rather not repeat it. I mean, it was all positive, but... well, let''s just say you trust me on the fact that they have a good impression of you.¡± What? How could he tease me like that and then let me hang? That wasn¡¯t fair. And coming up with trust after I told him we needed to slowly build it up was unfair as well.


    ¡°You look cute when you make that face. But I won¡¯t repeat what they said.¡± Oh no, I pouted again. I¡¯m a lost cause, ain¡¯t I? But he said I looked cute. So maybe¡­. No, no I need to keep some dignity. It¡¯s fine if I play the child in front of mother, but I don¡¯t want to make it a habit in front of him.


    ¡°You are mean. And because you are mean, you and those friends that have such a good impression of me have to eat alone.¡± I mean, I still needed to introduce Bernhard to my brother, so I wouldn¡¯t have time anyway, but he doesn¡¯t need to know that.


    ¡°Haha. Don¡¯t be like that. I promise that I will make it up to you.¡± Oh, that sounded interesting. But I couldn¡¯t make it too easy for him, right? And I also couldn¡¯t eat with him as I didn¡¯t have the time.


    ¡°How? What will you do?¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s meant to be a surprise for tomorrow. But if you want to know, I will tell you.¡± I contemplated it a little and realized I was in a small dilemma. I wanted him to tell me, but then I would probably need to eat with him. Okey, let''s be real; if I explained it to him, he would understand it, but it would still feel a little mean.


    ¡°Then let it be a surprise. I forgive you, but I will still eat with my brother, because I wanted to introduce him to a first-year student I met in the library. He is Aunt Seraphina¡¯s new student. The only one, and I thought he would want to have a friend.¡±


    ¡°That is fine. It¡¯s always nice to see you taking care of other students.¡± Oh right, he thought for some time that I¡¯m some kind of vigilante that helps new students. Glad that isn¡¯t the case anymore. Behaving like some kind of moral role model would be quite tiring.


    ¡°Lorain told me you take care of younger students too. You even help them with their homework. Compared to that, introducing someone to my brother is not really worth mentioning.¡±


    ¡°Just on the weekends, and even that will get less when we spend more time together.¡± Great, now I¡¯m the reason he stops to help the young ones. I can already imagine the rumors of how I corrupted him. But it was still sweet that spending time with me was more important to him than helping a few clueless kids.


    ¡°When not if?¡± I asked him teasingly.


    ¡°Definitely. Can¡¯t let you get away now.¡± It felt good that he got a little more confident and pushy. I mean, haven¡¯t I told him that we should let it start a little bit slower? But asking to spend the weekends together isn¡¯t too much to ask for, I guess. Unless, of course, we only want to see each other during the meals, which would probably get a little monotonic after some time.


    ¡°Awww, how could I say no to something like that.¡± I said and gave him a small peck on his slightly dry lips.

 Chapter 20

    <div>


    When I entered the great hall, my attention was immediately drawn to the table where the founders sat. They had multiple letters placed all over the table and were heatedly discussing something. Just when I wanted to go over to take a glimpse, I ran into Bernhard. I cursed my bad luck, but greeted him friendly.


    ¡°Good, you are on time. My brother should arrive at any... Oh, he is there. Let¡¯s get over to him.¡± I said and went towards my brother, but not without taking one last look at the founders papers. I could definitely see faces on these papers. Were they victims? Bounties? The traitors? I didn¡¯t know. Damn, I wanted to know. Why are they so secretive about it?


    "Hey, sis, do you want to eat together?¡± said my little brother, seemingly in a good mood.


    ¡°Yes, sure. But I also want to introduce someone to you.¡±


    "Please, sis, don¡¯t. If you plan to introduce me a girl my age, I will leave.¡± What? That¡¯s not what I had planned, but the idea is good. But I guess the girls his age would surely not follow me. Even Bernhard is more of an exception because he really has no one else in Toadwitz. And it¡¯s not like my cute little brother would need to worry about it. The girls will swarm him soon enough, I¡¯m sure. I only hope he has forgotten Helena until then.


    ¡°No, no, you misunderstand. I want to introduce Bernhard to you. He is in my aunt''s house, and I met him when studying in the library. I thought you could study together, play together¡­ you know, things you do with friends.¡± Okay, that was a bit awkward. What can one do with friends when one is their age? I have no clue. Taking baths is definitely not on top of the list. Maybe just pranking each other is enough to be friends. Uncle Severin and my other uncle do it all the time, and they could be considered best friends. At least I think they could. Anyway, I pushed Bernhard a little in the direction of my brother. So that they could greet each other.


    After an awkward greeting, we began to eat, and my brother carefully started to ask Bernhard about what subjects he liked, what spells he had already successfully cast, and which teacher he liked the most.


    I just listened in and learned that my brother had learned a spell to make any surface act like glue for ten minutes. That spell had so much potential to prank someone that even I had learned the spell. Well, the only time I actually cast it, I fell to the floor before my plan could work. I had put mother''s underwear into a package and cast the spell on it, but I failed to deliver the package to uncle, even though i had already informed mother to come five minutes later so that she could see uncle. It was one of my poor attempts to make Uncle into my father when I was young. At least now, I think that was the reason I did it. Maybe I just wanted to put him in an awkward situation. Ah, my memories are as fleeting as my mother¡¯s pants. Hehe. It was one hundred percent worth the scolding that followed. Ahh, Simpler times. Now that I was older, mother and uncle wouldn¡¯t let me get away so easily anymore.


    While refocusing on what my brother and Bernhard were saying, I realized another oddity. Helena wasn¡¯t there. Not on our table and not in the great hall. Well, it was probably for the better.


    After the meal, where he and Bernhard seemed to grow into best friends, my brother asked me for another talk. At first, I thought he wanted to talk about Helena again, but instead, he stared at me like I had done something to him.


    ¡°Why me, sis? Couldn¡¯t you find anyone else to take care of him?¡± Okay, that was surprising. I thought they understood each other well. What was his problem?


    ¡°What do you mean? It looked like you understood each other well.¡±


    ¡°He is a nerd. One of the worst sorts, sis. Didn¡¯t you listen while we talked? You could probably throw him into the library and throw the keys away, and he would still be happy. What do you expect me to do with him?¡± Okey, I really didn¡¯t listen so attentively, but I was sure my brother was just overreacting.


    ¡°Pev, he is alone in his house. The others all have someone to talk to after the lessons, and only he is left outside. Don¡¯t you think you are a bit hard on him? I mean, what should he do except study if no one likes him? I did the same when I was his age.¡±


    ¡°But you are¡­ are¡­ Fine. I will take care of him, but I won¡¯t be his babysitter. And if he doesn¡¯t at least become a bit better in the next month, he can grow old in the library for all I care.¡± What did he want to say about me? I have the tingling urge to beat his ass, but I guess I promised mother that I would never hurt that little rascal. Still, as long as he gave Bernhard a chance, I was satisfied.


    ¡°Fine. But don¡¯t just hang out with him when you do your homework.¡± I didn¡¯t want my brother to just use Bernhard, and I also didn¡¯t want to let him become lazy. He should have quite an advantage compared to other students his age because he lived here, but I don¡¯t think that he can profit from that for long if he doesn¡¯t use the advantage to study ahead.


    ¡°Oh, by the way. You should introduce your boyfriend to mom. We talked about it during breakfast, and she is still waiting for you to do it.¡± Oh damn, I totally forgot about that. I mean, I told her about him, but I didn¡¯t really have time to introduce him yet. Uncle Severin also needs to get to know him. Maybe he can also help Will get past his dislike for dark magic. Would Will even want to get to know my family? They are his professors, so I could understand that it would be awkward for him.


    ¡°Yeah, will do. Maybe. Soon. When I have time.¡± Well, one day more or less would change anything, right? And tomorrow was our second date, where I could ask him. And I also have a lesson to give, so doing it tomorrow would be difficult. I mean, I could just take him over during the meals, but I think we should do it in a more private setting. I don¡¯t want the others to think that Will would get any preferential treatment from them just because of me.


    ¡°Also, Dad said he wanted to meet him too. Maybe we could make a family dinner and invite him over.¡± Well, how do I tell him that this won¡¯t be happening? Not as long as I had a choice. Not for this. Not now. The bad thing was that I felt bad for Percival. I don¡¯t know if he really understands the problems in our ¡°family¡±, and while I hate that guy, I would never attempt to sabotage Percival¡¯s and his father-son relationship.


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    ¡°I don¡¯t think we should do that. He is super busy currently, so it might be better to do it at a later date.¡±


    ¡°But I¡¯m sure he would¡­¡±


    ¡°No, Pev. It¡¯s not about if he would; it''s about if he should. What he does is important. And we shouldn¡¯t distract him more than necessary.¡± Okay, I didn¡¯t even know what exactly he was doing or how important it really was, but my brother didn¡¯t need to know that. And considering how busy everyone was, it was probably even true. Hey, don¡¯t look at me like that. Why does he have to look so downcast? He knows I get weak when he does that. Little manipulator.


    ¡°Fine, we will make a family dinner. But with Uncle Severin and Aunt Seraphina too. And Helena too. And only after I introduced Will to mom. I don¡¯t want our family to scare him away.¡± With so many people present, I could probably avoid Gregor. I know that Percival misses the time we spent together as a family once a week. Now even our private kitchen is no more than a storage room for Uncle''s drinks and sweets for Percival. I guess the last family meal was five years ago. How time flies.


    ¡°But I wanted¡­. Thanks sis.¡± I know it wasn¡¯t the same as eating with just the four of us, but I just couldn¡¯t.


    ¡°No problem, Pev, I think we can make it the next weekend. I will ask Seraphina and Severin, and you will ask mother, Gregor and Helena. But wait till the weekend. I want to ask Will first.¡±


    ¡°Yes, will do. Then see you soon, sis. I still have mom¡¯s extra homework to do.¡± Mom¡¯s extra homework. She could really be cruel when teaching us. That reminded me that she didn¡¯t give me any new herbology homework. She was probably too busy.


    After a few more hours in the library I decided that it was to boring and that I still hadn¡¯t chosen what to wear tomorrow. I needed appropriate clothing for the lesson I prepared to give, which was quite easy as I only had three different sets of clothes for the lab. The major problem was the dress for the date. My first thought was to wear the red dress again as I didn¡¯t have any other opportunities of wearing it but I couldn¡¯t bring myself to wearing the same dress on the first and second date. I didn¡¯t want to appear uncivilised or something like that.


    The choice was quite difficult. I had so many nice dresses, but somehow none caught my eye. I spent hours dressing and looking in the mirror, only to realize that it wasn¡¯t really the right thing. It frustrated me so much that just before dinner, I decided I needed someone to give me advice. Mom. She was the only one who could help me at that moment.


    So before dinner, I went to her. I caught her on her way to the office after her last lesson.


    ¡°Ohh Charlotte. Nice to see you. I thought you already forgot about me and only spent time with your little boyfriend; I haven¡¯t met till now.¡±


    ¡°Mom, sorry I¡­ He was ill and tomorrow we have our second date and the lesson and¡­¡±


    ¡°Calm down. I just wanted to tease you a little. I¡¯m not angry. So, the second date already? So I can assume your little quarrel is resolved?¡± Quarrel? Quarrel? What quarrel? Oh, that quarrel.


    "Yes, everything is fine. But I need your advice. I don¡¯t know what to wear.¡±


    ¡°When is your date? Because I¡¯m really in a hurry, so if it''s not today, I can help you tomorrow. I¡¯m sorry. I wish I had more time, but we are in the middle of the preparations for the weekend.¡±


    ¡°Preparations for the weekend? And no, it''s tomorrow at eight.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s a surprise. But I will have time for you after dinner, so that is perfect, and after this week I will have more time again. And then I really want to meet William in person. Outside of a lesson, that is.¡± I hated surprises. Why can¡¯t she tell me now? But knowing that mom will have time to help me gave me some peace of mind.


    ¡°Thanks mom. Oh, and I promised Pev that we would make a family dinner. You know how he is. But I will ask Seraphina, and Severin too. And I will invite Will, too. I just wanted to give you some heads up because Pev should ask you and his father. And can you please tell him that he should behave himself around Will? I don¡¯t want him to be¡­ like he always is.¡± Mom looked like she had a sudden migraine. Understandable, but I guess we both had to overcome this challenge.


    ¡°Fine. I will talk to him after your brother ¡°informs¡± me about this family dinner.¡± I knew I could put my trust in mom.


    The next day, during lunch, I talked with Uncle Severin. He looked tired, as if he had worked through the night, but he was as cheerful as ever. My three students also looked¡­ well, not as pessimistic as I feared. Augustus even earned himself another slap from Uncle because he asked me for extracurricular lessons. That guy really was weird. On one side, he was talking about shaking the world by reestablishing the great empire, and on the other side, he was the most carefree person I know. After Gregor, that is. It was a weird mix, and I honestly didn¡¯t know how I should handle him. I just hoped that his ambition was great enough to invest some time studying instead of just making several girls unhappy¡­ happy? Morgana said some were ¡°satisfied¡± so I guess I can¡¯t really put all the blame on him.


    When the time for the lesson finally came, he at least behaved. Merlin looked like he hadn¡¯t shaved for two days, which I took as a good sign and hoped that he got my message. But apparently not clear enough, as he didn¡¯t brew himself a beard-growing tincture. Morgana also looked quite more confident than last time. It was the confidence of someone who had studied for an exam and knew that they were well prepared.


    Well, I was sure that she would be able to manage it this time. I only increased the difficulty by a little, but she already knew how it worked, and Merline would get almost the same task. They both needed to adjust a fertilizer to a specific plant. So instead of just looking at the fertilizer, they also needed to look up their specific plants and change or add the ingredients accordingly. Calling it potion brewing was honestly a bit of a stretch, but they needed to understand the method. And if they struggled with the mundane challenges, I didn¡¯t want them to experiment with adjusting a potion for a magical being.


    Augustus, on the other hand, needed to brew another simple potion that required a lot of different basic procedures. I also gave him the manual I wrote for him and made it clear that we would both profit if he invested some time studying it. But the progress he showed just within this hour was astonishing enough that i had high hopes that it wouldn''t take too long. It honestly made me question if uncle ever spent the time explaining everything to him one-on-one. But then I remembered that he had to teach ten times the students at the same time, and even Augustus would be above average. Even with just three people to teach, I almost missed that Merlin seemingly instantly knew what he needed to look out for without further instructions, which was something Morgana seemed to struggle with. I naturally could give her more support, but I wanted to teach them to work as independently as possible. So as long as she didn¡¯t ask, I would try to stay in the background unless she absolutely made no progress, which I doubted would happen any time soon.


    At the end of the lesson, everyone achieved the goal I set for them, which felt way better than the last lesson. For me as well, as seeing depressed students was not really motivating. Well, Uncle was satisfied with the lesson despite the fact that I ignored his advice about letting them call me Charlotte. It just didn¡¯t feel right to me. And I think it was good that I was a bit closer to my students. Morgana even asked if I could help her study sometime, to which I happily agreed. I know it was a bit unprofessional, but at the same time I needed to use the fact that I only had three students to teach to the fullest, so individual tutoring was definitely something I could do even if all three asked me.


    <div>

 Chapter 21

    "So, Charlotte, what was your impression of this lesson?¡± asked Uncle with a cheery expression that failed to hide the tired look his eyes had.


    ¡°I think it went well. I believe they slowly realize that potions is more than just remembering a recipe.¡±


    ¡°Yes, that seems to be the case. If I had to point something out, it would be that you were too focused on Augustus, but considering the circumstances, it was probably reasonable. Merlin also showed a surprising talent, even though I believe that Morgana will probably outcompete the other two just because she works like a maniac. And if you really plan to give them individual tasks each time and her progress speed isn¡¯t limited by her classmates, I¡¯m sure she will surprise both of us. Augustus, on the other hand, will probably neglect everything besides dark magic. He has quite a talent for it. The control he has over his magic is truly admirable. At least for someone his age. Anyway, I won¡¯t sit in on your next lessons. A weekly report should be enough. Anyway, have you made any progress towards your own recipe? Do you already have an idea what effect the potion should have?¡±


    ¡°I had some thoughts, but I had so many things on my mind¡­¡± I felt bad. It was as if I was disappointing uncle, who had spent so much time teaching me.


    ¡°Ohh, of that, I have heard. It¡¯s fine, Charlotte. You shouldn¡¯t forget to live as well. Just don¡¯t wait too long. Stagnation is a trap many masters fell into, and it just becomes harder the longer you wait.¡± Ohh, how embarrassing. Well, I guess it was inevitable for gossip to spread. But I guess it''s fine as long as I convince Will that coming to a dinner with my whole family present is a good idea. Well, I also had to convince myself of that, as I remembered how those things could escalate.


    ¡°I will keep it in mind.¡±


    ¡°Great. If you need someone to talk to or if you have any questions, you can come to me. For both topics.¡± It could have been embarrassing, but I felt that Uncle genuinely just wanted to support me, and it made me feel happy instead. How nice it would have been if mother had loved him instead of Gregor.


    After saying goodbye to Uncle Severin, I went to the bath. I wanted to feel extra clean for the date, so I planned to stay until dinner. To my horror, I detected that I was getting a pimple on the chin. A pimple that hadn¡¯t been there since the last time I was in the bath. I tried not to panic. While it was not really great, I still had some tunic in my room and could take care of it within an hour. Just the thought of going to my second date with a pimple sends chills down my spine. So in a way, I decided that I was lucky to have noticed it now and quickly ran back to my room to get the tincture. While I was there, I also decided to take a few other bathing utensils with me. I rarely used them, as mother told me I should use them sparingly as they were expensive, but I think there was no better day to use them than now.


    The next hour I spent inspecting my whole body in search of other pimples, but luckily the one on my chin was the only one. After this, I slowly began to prepare my bath. I chose the lavender oil not only because I liked the smell but also because it helped me relax a little. And if I wanted to be something during the date, it was to be relaxed. I don¡¯t want to do something stupid because I am stressed out or nervous.


    The next step was washing my hair. Mother would probably tell me I¡¯m wasteful because I planned to use the Camomile and honey based shampoo she gifted me. She got it as a gift from a noble lady after divining something for her. I could immediately feel how my hair turned soft and fragrant as soon as I applied the shampoo. Then I slowly walked into the bath. Step by step I eased into the hot water. It felt like entering paradise. The soothing wamth of the water took away all the stress I had from teaching, or from my family. It was the best feeling in the world.


    After washing out my hair, I started to relax. I didn¡¯t even comment on the mermaid that was curiously ogling me. Instead, I thought about what Will might have planned for the date today. If I remember correctly, some couples liked to meet on the second-highest tower because of the phantastic view and the atmosphere there. But I told him that we should go to his favorite place, so unless I have a completely wrong picture of him, it is unlikely to be the tower. Maybe a place near the lake that isn¡¯t so far away as the hill I like to go to? Maybe he also just loves his bedroom. It would be quite boring, and I would hope he would at least throw out his dormmates, but I guess I could live with that. At least his bed was comfy. He also promised me to make it up to me that he teased me with what his friends said about me. But I have no idea what he has planned. It was kind of exciting, and I couldn¡¯t wait for the date to finally happen.


    I spent the next few hours in the bath thinking about how the date could possibly go. Some things made me a little nervous, and I feared I could ruin everything if I acted¡­ well like I normally react to something that stresses me out but in the end, that didn¡¯t stop me from being optimistic that it would be an amazing date.


    When I left the bath, I carefully patted myself dry with my towel and saw with satisfaction that there was no trace of the pimple left. Even my skin looked completely recovered and healthy. A bit pale, but I guess I can only offer pale or sunburn red. Maybe that would be a good idea for a potion recipe. A potion that automatically gives you some tan. I think no one has developed something similar so far.


    Well, that is for later. Now I should hurry to get some dinner. It would be quite embarrassing if my stomach grumbled during the date.


    When I arrived at the great hall, Will was already waiting for me. His friends were already sitting at a table, and after a quick kiss, he whispered to me that we should eat alone today. It felt like a prelude to our date, but I liked that he wanted to eat with me alone. I realized with satisfaction that, for a moment, after kissing me, he stayed close and almost unnoticeable sniffed. From his smile, I could tell that he liked the smell of my special deluxe bath. Absolutely worth it.


    He looked a little shy after we sat down. I could see a few people looking at us, and even I got a little red. I only then realized that the kiss was probably in the most public way, even though it was casual enough to be overlooked by most people, as it wasn¡¯t really an uncommon occurrence among other students. But that, together with us sitting together, gave people some time to notice the oddity. So if someone doubted the rumors, now they are more or less confirmed. But while that was the reason I blushed a little, William apparently was a little shy to talk to me.


    I thought it was a little strange, as he had never had problems before, but maybe it was something awkward to say. Well, in the end, he started by asking me about how my lesson went. While I thought it was nice that he was interested in what I did, I had something different in mind when he even made the effort to invite me to sit alone with him. But after that, he seemed to relax a little bit. I tried to find out where he would take me, but he still insisted that it had to be a surprise, as he also didn¡¯t know where we were going on our first date until we reached the spot. In the end, dinner was over faster than expected, and he told me that he was looking forward to our date and that he would pick me up at my room.


    Just when he went around the corner, my mother stood next to me. I was a bit surprised by how sudden she appeared and suspected that she had observed us the whole dinner. But I didn¡¯t pay attention to her or anyone else except Will so I didn¡¯t notice.


    ¡°He looks good. You have a good taste, Charlotte. He looks almost like Gr¡­¡±


    ¡°He looks nothing like him. Never say that again. The red hair is the only thing they have alike.¡±


    ¡°Yes, yes. So should we look for the perfect dress for today?¡± At least mother knew when not to push an issue. But seriously. They had nothing in common. Will was nice, loyal, sometimes funny, good-looking, and most importantly, he cared for me, while Gregor was just a womanizing drunkard that couldn¡¯t be trusted.


    A few minutes later, we arrived at my room.


    ¡°So, do you already know where you will be going? Knowing that makes it easier to pick the right dress.¡±


    "No, mom, he is so secretive about it. I mean he just repeated it''s his favourite spot but why should I know what his favourite spot is. Its just the second date.¡±


    ¡°Calm down, Charlotte, no need to be upset about it. It¡¯s normal to need some time to get to know each other. So if you have no idea where you will be going, we definitely won¡¯t pick the white dress. It will get dirty too fast, and you will look like a beggar after five minutes if you go outside. You told me you picked the sleeveless red dress for the first date, right?¡±


    ¡°Yes?¡±


    ¡°Good. Then I think a blue dress would be perfect, not the dark blue one but the light one. The one with the wide sleeves. Yes this one.¡± I pulled out all the blue dresses I thought Mom could mean and held them in front of me until Mother picked the one she thought was right. No, she picked the one that was perfect. I know I look super cute in that one. It was one of the three dresses that were in my preselection and I was glad that mother had picked one that I liked. It made me somehow more confident, that we came to the same conclusion. I quickly tried the dress on and spinned around a few times so that the long skirt spiraled around me. I loved doing that.


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    "Good, now we only need to take care of your hair. It¡¯s a mess. Did you not comb it after bathing?¡± Well, I spent so much time in that super relaxing, probably super expensive, bath that I forgot time and was almost late for dinner, so yes, I forgot. Was it worth it? Probably yes.


    ¡°Come sit here; I will do it for you.¡± I felt like a little girl again, but I didn¡¯t mind. Mother was better than me at taking care of my hair, and I was not ashamed of asking her on this special occasion.


    ¡°Charlotte, if you use the shampoo I gifted you, at least take care of your hair afterwards. Especially on a day like this. You don¡¯t want your hair to look like a bird nestled in it, don¡¯t you?¡± Okey, getting called out for it like that felt a little unpleasant, but just pretending to look ashamed was enough of an apology.


    After a few minutes of silent combing, mother began to speak again. ¡°You know, Charlotte, I¡¯m really happy for you that you found someone. It felt like yesterday when I taught you how to read, and now you are almost an adult. Maybe it¡¯s because of Percival¡¯s entrance ceremony, but it just felt like it was a few days ago that you had yours, and then when I didn¡¯t look after you for a few days, you tell me you have a boyfriend. I can¡¯t believe how fast you grew up.¡± Oh, mom is getting nostalgic. Maybe I should have considered how she felt about all this. She probably expected me to stay here for the next decades.


    ¡°Mom, just because I have a boyfriend now doesn¡¯t mean I will go away. Will has an entire year before he finishes school, and I will probably never graduate. So don¡¯t worry too much.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t worry about you going. I worry about you not going, Charlotte. Seeing you grow up was one of the best things in my life, but becoming independent is also a part of life you have to eventually accept. And don¡¯t worry about your graduation. If you gain the master rank in any subject, you theoretically have a higher standing than any normal graduate, so you only stay if you really want to.¡±


    ¡°What? Why did no one tell me beforehand? Was Uncle trying to trick me?¡± If that was true, I would use the shrinking potion on him and throw him into the public toilet.


    ¡°No one tried to trick you, Charlotte. Don¡¯t always assume the worst. Like I said, you can stay as long as you want, but you don¡¯t need to feel obligated to. And if you decide after some time that you want to come back, you are always welcome to. Especially if you take on a few of Severin''s potions classes. He was praising you endlessly in the last few meetings.¡± I immediately hugged mother. I ignored the brush that was pressed into my chest, as she had no time to put it away. Somehow I always knew that they wouldn¡¯t push me away, but long and lonely nights make you think the weirdest things, so it felt good to hear that. And uncle definitely didn¡¯t deserve to be thrown into the toilet.


    ¡°Thanks mom.¡± I think it was a long time ago that saying it felt so genuine.


    ¡°Charlotte, you really worry yourself too much. And we can discuss these things at a later date. What I originally wanted to talk to you about was something else. You know, because it came as such a surprise. I mean you and William. I might have neglected to teach you a few things. You know there are a few things you should know before going on another date with William, and even if it''s embarrassing, I want you to listen to me, okay?¡± Oh no. I could already guess where this was going. But I guess it was better than hoping what Lorain told me was true.


    I weakly nodded before mom continued.


    ¡°So the most important thing is that no matter what you do, you need to feel comfortable and sure that what you do is something you want to do. I know you are probably curious about William¡¯s... body, and he is probably almost as curious about yours. And it''s fine if you slowly test what you like and don¡¯t like, but you should always make sure that you are not doing it because you feel pressured to do something.¡± Wow, that was unexpectedly unclear.


    ¡°Mom, I know that, but you know, what if I want something and don¡¯t know how to do it and everything.¡± I didn¡¯t know how I should tell her about the things Lorain told me, but I hoped she would understand me anyway.


    ¡°Okay, let¡¯s not beat around the bush. I think we will sit here till tomorrow if we continue like that. So, to make it short, speak with him. Tell him what you want to do, and he will surely guide you. It might not be the most romantic way of doing things, and if you are sure something is fine, you can just do it, but if you are unsure, just ask. Everyone likes different things, and it takes some time to get to know each other¡¯s preferences. But you probably want to know something more specific, right? Just ask me what you want to know. I know that the girls in this castle are the greatest gossip girls, and you surely have heard a thing or two.¡± I don¡¯t know if that made the situation better or worse, but at least I could now openly ask.


    ¡°So you told me about sex, remember? But we never talked about what really comes before that or what one needs to do to get to the part. Lora¡­ I mean, a friend told me that, well, do you really let him lick you down there, and do I need to do the same? Isn¡¯t that, like, super weird and unhygienic, and I don¡¯t know, it just sounds so weird?¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess when you bathe beforehand, it''s not really unhygienic, so you don¡¯t need to worry about that. But yes, those two things are quite common, to say the least. But don¡¯t let yourself get pressured into it if you don¡¯t feel like it. I also just tell you those things because it''s better to know them than not know them, not because I expect you to do anything like that on your second date. You have all the time in the world, Charlotte.¡± Okay, that means Lorain, at least, didn¡¯t lie to me. How would Will taste? How do I taste? Probably lavender. I put almost the whole lavender oil bottle into the bath. Is it good that I taste and smell like that? What if it¡¯s strange?


    ¡°What is worrying you?¡±


    ¡°How does it taste¡­? Is it something to look forward to?¡±


    "Well, I wouldn¡¯t really say it tastes good, but it''s also not really terrible. And it also tastes slightly different each time. You don¡¯t have to¡­ swallow it if it tastes bad.¡±


    ¡°And would he like... you know ¡­ me?¡±


    "Well, Gregor liked doing it, so I guess maybe women ¡°taste¡± better, but I¡¯m not really an expert on that topic.¡± Well, I guess it would be strange if she knew the answer to that. And I don¡¯t know if Gregor is the best person to orient on.


    ¡°And the first time? I read somewhere that it might hurt?¡±


    ¡°What are you reading? No, don¡¯t answer that; it''s fine. It''s something normal. So the first time¡­ I guess it''s different from person to person. In my case, it didn¡¯t really hurt. It was a bit uncomfortable at first, but that was all. I think it''s best if you do it when you are really relaxed. I¡¯m sure that helps. Just don¡¯t pressure yourself too much. I don¡¯t know anyone who really thinks that the first time was the best time they had. If someday you really do it with Will or anyone else, you will probably do it many more times with him, and each time you get to know more about what he likes or what you like, and it will get better and better. The important thing is that you communicate with each other. Be open about what you like. Especially during the first time. Even if it¡¯s not the best thing you will ever do, it¡¯s not meant to be something you just endure.¡± Ups. I shouldn¡¯t have told her about the books. But relaxing sounds good. The only question is: how can one relax in that situation? And does that mean sex is like studying? Well, I probably shouldn¡¯t worry about that too much.


    ¡°Was that the last question?¡± Wasn¡¯t it embarrassing enough, mom? Are you so eager to answer more questions? Besides, I need to process all this first.


    "Yes, I guess.¡±


    ¡°Good. But if you have any more questions, don¡¯t hesitate to come to me. But I have a few things, I want to give you.¡± Mother pulled out two small vials. One with a blue liquid and one with a violet one.


    ¡°Those two are in case you want to do it but don¡¯t want to have kids yet. The blue one is for you, but as I don¡¯t really know if it would work differently on you, I also prepared the violet one. That one is for William. The duration is around eight hours, and you can do whatever you want in that time. While I wanted to keep you safe from any social problems, I think even in your case, it would be best if you only thought about having kids if you are married.¡± Okey, that sounded somewhat reasonable. I mean, the only person I know who has a kid outside of marriage is Aunt Seraphina, and she is arguably the most brilliant witch alive and doesn¡¯t care about what other people think about her. But even then, it was quite a scandal when Helena was born. At least from what I remember, which is admittedly not much. But it reminded me of another topic I needed to talk about.


    ¡°Mom, I have another topic we need to talk about. You know, I heard from Lorain that Will has some kind of deadline and that he needs to marry till then. But that deadline is not really that far away, and I¡¯m really unsure of what I should do. I mean, officially, Will didn¡¯t even tell me, so I don¡¯t really know what his opinion on the matter is, but it just goes too fast, and also, I don¡¯t even know if I can have kids, and it''s part of a marriage, right? And what if his parents don¡¯t like me and...?¡±


    "Charlotte, calm down. You talk far too fast. So if I understood you correctly, Williams'' parents want him to find someone to marry. Which is not unusual at his age. I guess half the boys in his grade have a deadline like that. But just because they have a ¡°deadline¡± doesn¡¯t mean that you have one. So when he really tells you about a deadline and you think you are not ready yet, I will write a letter to his parents. I¡¯m sure they would do me the favor and give you more time. For the second part, I sadly don¡¯t have an answer for you. I mean, I think, theoretically, you should be able to get pregnant, but I¡¯m not sure if you should really risk that. I mean, you are quite sensible when it comes to blood loss, and giving birth could be quite risky for you. The next question is if your kid would be just a normal human or have a few of your traits. Which is not really a bad thing, but not knowing what the child needs carries its own set of problems. But if you really, really want it, I will do my best to find a way to help you. But you should definitely talk with William about it before you decide on marrying or something else like that. An heir for the family is something most families value more than a mountain of gold.¡±


    Okay, getting kids didn¡¯t sound like a good idea. But what if Will definitely wants an heir? Would he leave me? Would he marry someone else? Well, maybe I can convince him that it¡¯s not necessary to have an heir if he drinks enough of my tears, but I would need to solve the problem of a ¡°steady¡± supply first.


    ¡°So, I guess we don¡¯t have much time anymore. If you really want to talk more about these things, we should do it after your date and after you know more from William himself, and not just from some gossip. For now, you should focus on relaxing before William comes. And let me braid your hair. I think a crown braid would fit perfectly with your blue dress, and it will look more elegant than just your usual open hairstyle.¡±

 Chapter 22

    Knock knock.


    "Oh, I think he''s here, mom." My heartbeat quickened as I spoke. "Give me a minute, I''m on my way!"


    I locked my gaze on my mother once more before asking, "Do I look good?"


    My mother smiled as she looked at me. I knew she''d lie if she thought it would make me happy, but with my preparation, I was confident she wouldn''t have to.


    ¡°You look absolutely gorgeous, Charlotte. And now, don¡¯t make him wait any longer, and don¡¯t forget to have fun.¡±


    Fun? I¡¯m not sure about that. I mean, I kind of hoped it would be fun, but shouldn¡¯t my priority be to get to know Will better? I mean, I don¡¯t have too much time left, right? No matter how much mother emphasised that she would take care of that, if needed.


    Before I opened the door, I checked if my dress was sitting right. Especially in my chest area. The dress was perfect for this date because it allowed him to see without actually seeing anything. Not that he didn¡¯t already see everything, but I couldn¡¯t deny that I liked how the dress was making it look like I had a bit more than I actually had.


    I opened the door and saw a blushing Will in an elegant white shirt with intricate weave patterns that fit so perfectly that I was sure it was woven specially for him. He had combed his hair to a center part, which looked a bit unusual compared to his usually a little unkempt hair, and I couldn¡¯t decide yet if I liked it or not.


    When I stopped inspecting his clothes, I saw that he was still staring at me.


    ¡°Y-You look absolutely stunning, Charly.¡± It seems like all the effort and preparations have been worth it. Just from his widened eyes, I could see that he truly meant it. But that reminded me that I should give him a compliment too, right? Think, Charlotte, think. Say something nice.


    ¡°Ahm, you look really handsome as well. I didn¡¯t know you had such a nice shirt.¡± Good, that was acceptable. No wait. Did I just say that I didn¡¯t believe he had nice clothes?


    ¡°Haha, thank you. I don¡¯t usually wear it, and it is usually part of a whole set with a robe and everything, but I didn¡¯t want to look like one of the stuck-up noble idiots.¡± That was definitely a wise choice. I think if he had turned up dressed like one of the ¡°prestigious¡± idiots, I would have laughed at him. I don¡¯t really know if they really believe that it looks good or if they just want to flaunt their wealth, but in my opinion, wearing such clothes anywhere outside of a formal event is just stupid.


    He offered his hand with a small grin and said in a voice that was exaggeratedly formal. ¡°Dearest Lady Humblehill, with the utmost reverence and profound deference, may I humbly beseech your esteemed presence for a momentary sojourn to a locale with a more fitting ambience?¡±


    I had to suppress a laugh at that and try to think of an appropriate answer. I wasn¡¯t exactly used to such formal speech. But somehow, it was a nice way to break the ice.


    ¡°It would be my profound pleasure to embark upon this refined sojourn with one as distinguished as yourself. Lead on, kind sir, and let the splendors of our chosen destination pale in comparison to the radiance of your chivalrous spirit."


    As soon as I took his hand and thought he would lead me somewhere, he pulled me close, giving me a small kiss on the lips, but because we were both grinning from ear to ear, it felt a little weird, and for some reason, he tasted like mint.


    ¡°It will never get boring with you, won¡¯t it? Come I will lead the way.¡± What was that about? Wasn¡¯t he the one who started it? Shouldn¡¯t I say something like that? Well, I will take the compliment for now.


    "So, where will we go now?¡±


    ¡°To my favorite place.¡± I pouted at him. And this time, not by accident. Was there really a need to tease me like this when we were already on the way? It seemed like it was, as he led me outside the castle, but instead of aiming for a place outside the castle grounds, we walked along the castle walls for a few minutes and arrived at a place I hadn¡¯t visited for five years.


    ¡°Really, the training ground for Uncle''s classes?¡± I wasn¡¯t sure what I should think about that. Would it hurt him if I asked him if he was serious? I mean, I really wasn¡¯t sure he was serious, so he couldn¡¯t blame me, right?


    ¡°Yes. It is my favorite place. I know it isn¡¯t the most romantic place and doesn¡¯t have the same fantastic view as your most favorite place, but this place is special to me. I will tell you in a minute why, but let me prepare the blanket to sit on. I don¡¯t want your dress to be ruined just because I brought you here.¡±


    ¡°Well, you mean my second favorite place. But now I¡¯m interested in why you really think that place is special.¡±


    ¡°Right. Sorry. The second one Come, let¡¯s sit down. If you want to drink something, I have brought a bit of¡­ water.¡± Oh, that was surprisingly thoughtful of him. I knew that it was custom to drink wine during events like that, but with my recent whiskey experience, I was glad I was spared from having to experiment with it again.


    As I sat down, I noticed that the moon was covered by the castle, but before I could ask Will if it wasn¡¯t too dark for him, he ignited a few candles with his wand. The weak candlelight showered the area around them in a warm light, and I had to admit that it compensated somewhat for the lackluster atmosphere the place offered.


    As soon as he finished preparing everything, he sat next to me. So close, in fact, that he would need to sit on my lap if he wanted to come any closer. He then leaned over to kiss me. It was a softer and much gentler kiss than usually, and I couldn¡¯t help but blush. It felt nice, and yet I could feel that he was far from as calm as the kiss could have led me to believe. It was as if he was trying to hold back.


    I remembered my talk with mom and could feel how my body heated up. Was it my dress that made him act like that? Was it too revealing? I mean, it certainly did have more cleavage than the dresses I usually wear. Should I feel happy that he felt like that? What should I do now?! Was it even the reason he was like that? What would he think of me if I just misunderstood the kiss?


    ¡°Charly, it¡¯s really nice to be here with you. You know, even if this is our second date, it¡¯s the first one you agreed to because you wanted to spend time with me. It just feels so much better.¡± I felt a little ashamed. I hadn¡¯t even thought about how he might have felt during the last date. Looking back at it, it must have really hurt him, that I only accepted because he promised to leave me alone after it.


    I didn¡¯t know what to answer him at this moment. Should I apologize?


    ¡°So, you wanted to know why it¡¯s my favourite place right? Well as you probably guessed it¡¯s not because of the great view or even the dusty hard ground we sit on.¡± I apparently waited too long as he tried to change the topic back to this place. But could I really let something like that stand between us and pretend it didn¡¯t happen? What if he thought I didn¡¯t like being on this date, too?


    ¡°Wait a moment, Will. I¡­ I really like spending time with you,¡± I hugged him, I wanted to let him feel that I meant it. ¡°And I¡¯m sorry that I made it so difficult for you. I¡¯m just¡­ I never¡­ I¡¯m sorry if I hurt you. Can you forgive me?¡±


    I could feel how he put his hand around me to pull me even closer before he whispered in my ears.


    ¡°I¡¯m not angry, Charly. There is nothing to forgive, and I¡¯m just glad that you changed your mind.¡±


    As he spoke, he leaned back until we both lay on the blanket, with me almost laying half over him.


    ¡°And despite everything, I still ended up with the most beautiful, eccentric, and lovable girl in my arms, so isn¡¯t that a happy end everyone would be envious of?¡±


    ¡°But¡­¡±


    ¡°No, buts, Charly. I like you, and I¡¯m happy we are here together now, and we shouldn¡¯t ruin the evening by dwelling on the past. What is the need to talk about what had been or what could have been if we can¡¯t change it anyway.¡±


    If that was really how he thought, I won¡¯t press any further. It would be stupid to demand that he should be angry or dissatisfied with how things turned out if we are both happy at the moment.


    I snuggled into a more comfortable position in his arms, which were more muscular than I had expected.


    ¡°I¡¯m not¡­¡±


    ¡°You are, and I love you for it.¡±


    Can¡¯t he even let me finish? Did he even know what I wanted to say? Okay, considering what he said, I guess he knew, but how? But was I really so eccentric that he needed to mention it? I mean, yes, I wasn¡¯t exactly like the other girls, but still... Well, at least he said I was beautiful and loveable, so I guess I can overlook it this time. And he also said he liked the way I am, so why do I even care?


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    ¡°What¡¯s with that smug grin?¡± Was he so proud of himself that he guessed what I wanted to say?


    ¡°Nothing. I just realized how honest your expressions are. It¡¯s cute.¡±


    Honest expressions? Really? Well, maybe because I didn¡¯t try to lie to him. I guess if he told mom or uncle that I have an honest expression, they would laugh till they were old and gray.


    ¡°Anyway, as I was about to say before my precious, cute, but rude girlfriend interrupted me, I like this place not because of its looks.¡± Should I protest that he called me rude? No, from his grin I knew he was just waiting for it. I don¡¯t want to give him the satisfaction. Maybe I get a little revenge later. Hihi.


    ¡°You remember the time I told you about when I was¡­ not really popular?¡±


    ¡°You mean that you were bullied? Do you want me to get revenge for you? I will beat them up. I know places in the castle where even Uncle wouldn¡¯t search after them.¡± Even if I meant it as a joke. Maybe a little revenge really couldn¡¯t hurt. But were there others besides that Windsor guy and his Friends?


    ¡°No, please don¡¯t. I think I got my revenge. One way or another. I mean, we still aren¡¯t friends, but besides a friendly competition in a few courses, we have sorted everything out. But that¡¯s the point I just wanted to talk about. After realizing that fighting back was more effective than just taking a punch due to your actions, I began to train a lot harder. Every day, for the next three years, I went here and trained here for an hour. The lessons here, which previously felt like torture, turned into my favorite classes. You know, the feeling if you fight against someone and the only thing that matters is you and your opponent, the feeling of your senses sharpening so that not even the smallest twitch from the enemy escapes your attention, the heart that beats rhythmically like war drums, and the feeling of winning a fight. It¡¯s just amazing. I don¡¯t know how to describe it any better, but in a sparring match, in those short two minutes that feel like a whole lifetime goes by, I feel more alive than at any other moment.¡±


    Oh, no. Will was a combat fanatic like Uncle Gregor. I don¡¯t want him to be like Uncle Gregor. Okay, Charlotte, calm down. What would you think about it if Uncle Gregor didn¡¯t exist? Should I be supportive? But what how can I be supportive of battling? But he seemed so happy when he talked about it.


    ¡°Do you really like it so much? Is it really so great?¡±


    ¡°For me, it is. Its freeing. It¡¯s as if all the responsibilities vanish for that short moment. No thoughts about taking over the family business, no thoughts about taking care of my brothers, no thoughts about my grades, no thoughts about the future. For this short moment, the only one that counts is me. Have you never felt like that?¡±


    I thought about it for a moment. His previous description reminded me a little about the state I am in when drinking blood, but in that case, everything seems to revolve around that instead of really me. But after thinking about it more, I realized something.


    ¡°You know, when I was little, I thought that everyone had huge expectations for me. And when it turned out that even after finally getting a wand, I couldn¡¯t cast magic freely, it felt as if all those expectations had vanished. But it wasn¡¯t a good kind of vanishing. I was frustrated, I was angry, and I was sad because I couldn¡¯t fulfill these expectations. But after some time of studying like crazy in an attempt to somehow reach these standards, I had to admit to myself that it was impossible. From then on, I did what I wanted. I played around, played some pranks, the usual things. But without anyone having any expectations of me, the only moments I really feel that I do something for myself are when I use magic. Something I dreaded when it was expected of me. It''s silly, really. But the moment before I feel the backlash¡ªthe moment I use magic even for something as silly as transfiguring a bread knife¡ªmakes me feel so alive. That¡¯s the reason I sometimes do it, despite knowing the consequences.¡±


    Maybe I said too much, as it felt like I had a lump in the throat at the end. Why did I have to ruin the atmosphere like that? It''s not like me to reveal my vulnerabilities so easily. What if he thinks I''m just seeking sympathy? Why am I always oversharing things when I¡¯m with him?


    Will remained silent for a moment, absorbing my words. When he finally spoke, his tone was gentle, understanding. ¡°It¡¯s not silly, Charly. I can¡¯t imagine what it¡¯s like to not be able to do what you love. So if you really want to¡­ I mean, we can carefully test it, but if magical blood could really¡­¡±


    ¡°NO! NEVER! I¡¯m not some kind of monster that would drink blood to play around a bit. Never. Do you understand me?¡±


    ¡°Sorry, I didn¡¯t mean too. I just wanted to¡­ to make you happy.¡±


    He looked shocked at my outburst, and I immediately knew that I overreacted. Just like mother, he just wanted to help.


    ¡°Thank you, Will. I really appreciate the gesture, but I really, really don¡¯t want to drink blood if it is not absolutely unavoidable. But if you really want to help me, you can, maybe, stay with me when I practice.¡±


    I was a bit embarrassed by my suggestion. Even my mother rarely stayed with me when I practiced. I didn¡¯t want to waste her time, especially since I knew that she would probably reduce her sleep time even further to make time for me. But Will was different. Not that I wanted him to waste time, but he was far less busy than mother and he was also my boyfriend, so maybe I could even enjoy the time I would need to recover if we cuddled a bit or if he fed me. Yes, that would definitely be nice.


    ¡°I will. Definitely.¡±


    It was a simple answer, but his reassuring smile and the kiss that followed told me more than a grand speech would have. I was sure I could have asked him for anything in that moment, and he would have promised it to me. But at the same time, it didn¡¯t feel like pity.


    ¡°Thank you. And if you want to, I can even spar with you if that makes you happy.¡±


    I wanted to give him something back, and while I couldn¡¯t really use magic, a stone thrown by me had enough firepower to count as a deadly spell, and my speed was also an unfair advantage in close combat.


    ¡°Charly, you don¡¯t need to try to give something back. Our relationship isn¡¯t some kind of trade where everyone should get something out of it. At least I don¡¯t want it to be. So, it''s okay if you just accept things I do for you or give you, and I will do the same, but there is no need to always think of making up for everything at any given time. Besides, I don¡¯t want to hurt you.¡±


    ¡°It¡¯s sweet, and I agree about the first part, but do you really think you can hurt me?¡±


    Maybe I shouldn¡¯t have said that. He was a man. He would naturally want to be the ¡°strong¡± one. And even if I were stronger than him, does that really matter?


    ¡°We won¡¯t fight it out, but Charly, I think you seriously underestimate what a wizard can do in an open field. And with enough distance between you and a wizard, your speed alone won¡¯t be enough. Especially if you fight against anyone in the sixth grade and above, where they start to learn how to affect the whole terrain.¡±


    I agreed that we shouldn¡¯t fight it out, but somehow I still felt curious.


    ¡°I will come and watch one of your sparring matches then. And you are right. I also don¡¯t want to fight against you.¡±


    ¡°I don¡¯t think Professor Lionheart would¡­ No, I forgot who you are. He would definitely let you watch the lessons.¡±


    I almost forgot that Uncle Gregor was forced to prohibit spectators from watching the sparring matches as the huge audience led to people trying to show off or humiliate other people. The other founders thought that sparring should be a training exercise where the focus should be on improving yourself and not on showing the flashiest magic or finding the most embarrassing way to eliminate the opponent.


    Uncle Gregor initially rejected the idea of banning it because, in his opinion, the humiliation could drive people to try harder, and that wanting to show off would be a motivation to study new spells, but he was outvoted by the others. But this limitation was only limited to sparring and not dueling. Anyone could go to a professor and request a non lethal duel with another student. Technically, with the agreement of both parties, their guardians, and all four founders, even a duel to the death was possible, but so far that has never happened. Even though one time was really close because one pesky noble brat thought it was fine to pressure the fiance of someone else into leaving him with his family''s influence. The only people who disagreed with the duel were the parents of the noble.


    But if I remember correctly, the noble idiot and his whole family were banned from Toadwitz for the next three generations.


    I was ripped out of my thoughts when Will waved his hands in front of my face.


    ¡°Hey stop that.¡±


    ¡°Sorry. Am I so boring that you drift of while talking with me?¡±


    He pretended to be hurt, but I could tell from his expression that he wasn¡¯t really bothered by it. He looked more curious than anything else.


    ¡°Well, I thought about when you would give me the surprise you promised me for teasing me with the gossip from your friends.¡±


    I tried to redirect my attention toward him. I could reminisce about the past another time; now was date time.


    "Oh, I see. Well, I wanted to wait a little longer, but if you ask me about it now..." he said, shifting our position carefully. Now I was lying on the blanket, and he was on all fours, leaning over me.


    I could feel my face blush a little when I noticed how close his face was to mine.


    ¡°And what exactly is the surprise now?¡±


    I was quite proud of myself for how calm I sounded, because I certainly didn¡¯t feel that way.


    ¡°You know, after our first quarrel, I thought that the reason we even had that quarrel was because we didn¡¯t trust each other yet. And what I want to give you now is my trust.¡±


    ¡°How can you give som¡­.¡±


    I felt how his lips pressed on mine before I could finish the sentence, but unlike usually, I felt his tongue carefully entering my mouth. I was surprised and shocked, but quickly opened my mouth a little more to make sure his tongue would definitely not get accidentally hurt by my fangs. Our teeth touched for a moment, creating a brief, awkward pause, but his tongue soon began to carefully explore my mouth.


    I felt my heart starting to race, and I felt so flushed that I was almost sure that my body must be glowing. I didn¡¯t know what to do and decided to mimic his movements. My tongue intertwined with his, and it felt like a warm, intimate dance.


    He gently caressed my cheek with his hand, and my skin tingled where he touched it. His hand slowly slid into my hair on the back of my head as if to guide me to come even closer, as if that were even possible.


    I could feel a tingling warmth rush from my lips, from my tongue, through my whole body. A mix of excitement and intimacy. I was sure I never felt so connected to someone as I felt to Will in this moment, and I closed my eyes to enjoy the moment.


    My body felt strangely sensitive; everywhere he touched me, it tingled, and each tingle was stronger than the previous one. I could even feel my nipples becoming slightly hard, and a strong desire was building up within me. My breath quickened, and any thoughts of doing something wrong or inadvertently hurting him vanished as I returned the kiss with even more excitement.


    My tongue slowly entered his mouth, and the taste of mint intensified, but I was more focused on the warmth and passion I felt from him as his tongue started to move around mine again.


    After what felt like a blissful eternity, our lips slowly separated.


    I still had his lingering taste on my tongue as I reopened my eyes and gazed into his beautiful blue eyes.


    Before I could say anything he gave me another quick peck on the lips and whispered the three magical words into my ears.


    ¡°I love you.¡±


    Without thinking about it, I pulled him closer into my embrace and whispered back.


    ¡°I love you too.¡±


    I could feel him stiffen for an instance at that. Had I said something wrong? Or did I just imagine it?

 Chapter 23

    ¡°Do you really mean it?¡± asked Will, who stared into my eyes. Somehow this felt just as intimate as the kiss just seconds before, and my heart, which hadn¡¯t even calmed down, was beating heavily in my chest.


    I love you. Had I really just said that? It happened so naturally that I hadn¡¯t even given it much thought. And it seemed Will had noticed it. Was that the reason he stiffened for a short moment? But how should I answer him now? Can I really repeat those words without lying to him? We were together for like a week, and I think it is too soon to speak of love, but it felt so right. Should I just say it and hope that I really love him? But what if he tells his parents about it? It would be totally awkward if I won¡¯t go with him later¡­ but that is unlikely¡­ right? And I don¡¯t want to lie to him. Not about that.


    ¡°I¡­ I¡¯m not sure. I mean, I think I do, but I don¡¯t really know.¡± I felt ashamed when I said it. He was probably sad and disappointed. Maybe even angry. But I couldn¡¯t bring myself to lie about it.


    I didn¡¯t dare to look him in the eyes. I didn¡¯t want to see him hurt.


    After what felt like an eternity where he didn¡¯t say anything, I looked back at him. His eyes stared at me unwaveringly, and somehow it calmed me down. He didn¡¯t look at me like he blamed me; he also didn¡¯t look particularly surprised or even disappointed. I didn¡¯t know if that was a good thing, but it was better than seeing him hurt.


    ¡°Thank you for being honest with me.¡± As he said it, he let his body slowly glide beside me, but we never lost eye contact. ¡°Don¡¯t worry about it. It honestly surprised me when you said it, and it made me happy that you said it even if you didn¡¯t mean it.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say I didn¡¯t mean it; I just¡­¡± How could I explain it to him?


    ¡°Charly, it¡¯s okay. I know you¡­ no, we need more time. That you even consider it is enough for me for now. And when you are really sure about it, I would be happy to hear it from you again.¡± How could he be so understanding? Did I ruin our second date too?


    ¡°Is that really okay with you?¡± He smiled at me, but his smile didn¡¯t quite reach his eyes. Did that mean it was not okay with him? Or did he just want to be nice?


    ¡°It is, Charly. It really is. Come here, and let me cuddle you. You worry too much again.¡± As he said it, he pulled me into his arms. My head rested on his shoulders as he was gently petting my back.


    ¡°How are you so confident about it?¡± It was a question that lingered in my mind since our first date. His story about me fighting off his bullies and helping others didn¡¯t really convince me. At least not on a level where I could understand why he loved me.


    ¡°Who said I am?¡±


    What? Wait a moment. Didn¡¯t he tell me just seconds ago that he loved me? And didn¡¯t he ask me for a date for three damn years?


    ¡°But you¡­ I don¡¯t understand, you always asked me¡­ How could you not be confident?¡±


    ¡°I was confident that I wanted to go out with you at least once. I wanted to get to know the mysterious person that everyone seemed to hate for no reason despite being nice, funny, and beautiful, but I wasn¡¯t confident that I loved you. At least not at that time. But now that I have spent time with you, I realize that you are much much more charming than I knew beforehand.¡± I stared at him. Was a week really enough to say that he loved me? I was sure he was just exaggerating to make me feel better.


    ¡°You look like you don¡¯t understand. I think you don¡¯t realize just how wonderful you are. I mean, our first date, despite everything, was thrilling, it felt like an adventure. And even when I was ill, you showed me a caring side of you I didn¡¯t know you even had, while also making the time I needed to spend in bed one of the most memorable in my life. I mean, when you attacked Lorain¡­¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t attack her!¡± I mean, I scared the shit out of her, but I apologized, and we were kind of friends now, so he couldn¡¯t hold that against me.


    ¡°Right, you just threatened her because you got jealous. And while I didn¡¯t really like how you handled it, you were willing to admit that you made a mistake. You apologized even though I could see how it hurt your pride. Everything because you liked me, and I have to admit that after everything was sorted, I was happy that you got jealous because of me. That doesn¡¯t mean that you should be, but at that moment, I realized that you were really serious about us. So serious that you even told your mother about us.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, while we are at it¡­¡± I still needed to invite him to our family dinner.


    ¡°Nope, I first want to finish telling you how amazing I think you are!¡± he interrupted and gave me a kiss on my forehead so that I didn¡¯t need to move my head from his shoulder. I couldn¡¯t help but grin. It was kind of nice to hear what he thought about all this. And as embarrassing as some moments were, it was all kind of¡­ fun.


    ¡°So, I realized you were serious about us, and it made me really happy. I had almost given up hope that you would ever say yes to a date, and a few days later you were bringing me milk with whiskey because you wanted to take care of me. And while you showed more than once that you were clueless about almost everything, it felt so good that you tried for my sake. And then after that, every time we talked, it always felt like something interesting could happen at any moment. I even wished that I could have really stayed longer in bed and let you take care of me just because I feared we would spend less time if I had to go to my lessons again.¡±


    He paused a little, as if he was a bit troubled, but I chose to let him think about it without interrupting him. If someone could understand that one needed some time to think about what one wanted to say, it was me.


    ¡°And then, when we had our¡­ misunderstanding, I thought I had ruined it. It was as if I fell into a dark pit. I felt as if I had lost something really important to me. Something that I would never get back, no matter how hard I tried. I realized that no matter what I would do, without you, I would always be missing something. I don¡¯t know if it was because after such a long time, it felt like a dream had come true¡ªno, something that I hadn¡¯t even dared to dream of had come true, but at that moment, I knew that I would do everything to not lose you. I wanted you to be part of my life. And then, when we had sorted out our problems, everything with you just felt like an exciting adventure, and seeing that you seemed to feel the same thing for me was just so fulfilling. And when we kissed just now, I just blurted it out because it felt so right.¡±


    This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.


    I had to admit that it felt nice to hear someone so genuinely happy about spending time with you, even though it felt incredibly kitschy. And somehow I felt as if his worship was kind of undeserved. I mean, I just¡­ well, I did what I did. The good and the bad.


    ¡°You know that you sound incredibly corny sometimes, right?¡± I waited a moment and placed my hand on his chest so I could feel the warmth of his body and his heartbeat. ¡°But I like it. I don¡¯t understand why you like all the stupid things I do, but I like that you like it. And I like listening to it. And I also like spending time with you, like that you seem to accept me for who I am, but I have doubts, Will. Not because of something you did, but¡­ but because of what I am. I mean, where do you see us in five years? In ten, twenty, or even fifty years?¡±


    ¡°Is that what is bothering you? Well, I haven¡¯t really thought so far ahead, but¡­ I mean, you don¡¯t have to decide that right now, but if things are going well, maybe we could live together after finishing school and¡­ I don¡¯t know; my parents want me to take over the family business, but if you don¡¯t want to, my brother Henry could take it over too.¡± I could feel his rhythmic puls that had remained unchanged. I was sure he didn¡¯t get what I wanted to tell him, at least not entirely.


    ¡°Let¡¯s say you take over the family business and we¡­ we marry. What do you think would happen then?¡± I felt his pulse raising. Without seeing his face, I knew he was finally catching on.


    ¡°Are you worried about you not being able to age? I¡¯m sorry. I haven¡¯t really considered it until now. I mean, you told me about it, but it hasn¡¯t really sunk in yet. I¡¯m sorry.¡± Well, the aging was definitely part of my worries. But that was actually a solvable problem. At least I hoped that my tears would be able to take care of it.


    ¡°But is it really so bad that I age and you don¡¯t? Does that change how we feel for each other?¡± It would be weird if he really aged and I did not. I mean, a few years, no problem. But if he was like 80 and I still looked like I did now, it would be weird. But I couldn¡¯t just tell him that that wouldn¡¯t necessarily be the case.


    ¡°Let¡¯s assume I don¡¯t have a problem with it. What do you think our relationship will be when we leave school? What do you want me to do when I live with you?¡± I felt a bit of fear rising within me. What if having kids was more important to him than being with me? Would I need to convince him with my tears? Would I even want that? It would feel like buying his love while also robbing him of something he probably really wanted.


    ¡°Are you worried about household chores? If that is really troubling you, we could hire someone. It wouldn¡¯t be too cheap, but I think we would be able to afford it.¡± Okay, he didn¡¯t get the problem. It seemed like I needed to be more blunt about it. Please, Will, don¡¯t disappoint me.


    ¡°I¡¯m not worried about household chores. But Will, you know my condition. You probably haven¡¯t thought about it too much, but my body is just a little different. I don¡¯t know if we can have¡­ children.¡±


    I waited for a response. From his pulse, I could guess nothing. Time seemed to stretch on, and I thought about looking at him directly to at least read his face. I continued to wait¡­ and wait.


    After what felt like an eternity, I decided to look. I wanted to see his face. I know it was an uncomfortable decision to make, and I wanted to give him time to think about it, but the time he needed to answer told me that kids were important to him. He probably imagined us as a happy family with four or five children who played happily in the garden while I cooked and while he relaxed from a hard day of taking care of the farm. But that future was unlikely, no matter how much I wanted it to become real too.


    His face looked frozen. Emotionless. I knew he made that face when he seriously thought about something, but when he looked into my eyes, he sighed. He wanted to answer me, but I pressed my finger on his lips to silence him. His sighing had already told me what he would say. At least I thought so. But I realized at that moment that I was being unreasonable to demand an answer now, so I stopped him before he could promise me something he would regret later on.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Will. I shouldn¡¯t have confronted you like that. But¡­ But you needed to know. If you don¡¯t want to¡­ If you want to find someone else I¡­¡±


    ¡°No. No, I want you. I don¡¯t want anyone else.¡± It was sweet, but I felt my heart arch at the thought of taking the future he dreamed of from him.


    ¡°Will, please take some time to think over it. I¡­ I could¡­ I accept your decision, even if it might hurt me. I don¡¯t want to take that from you.¡±


    ¡°Can you tell me something, Charly? It¡¯s something important for my decision. Do you want children? I mean, you said you don¡¯t know if it would¡­ work, but you didn¡¯t say if you wanted children or not.¡±


    I didn¡¯t know how to answer this question. At least not on the spot. I spent a lot of time thinking about it in a bathing session this week, but mother¡¯s warning about the potential risks made me hesitate. I potentially had an eternity in front of me, but getting a kid could potentially kill me. Another thing I hadn¡¯t told him about yet. But I wouldn¡¯t tell him about that. Not yet, at least, and I didn¡¯t even know if I wanted to tell it to him at all. He would probably say he didn¡¯t want any children if I told him about it.


    In the end, I had to decide between living safely for potentially ever or whether I wanted to risk my life to have a family of my own. But mother told me she would find a way if I really wanted, and after thinking about it, I could definitely imagine myself as the mother of Will''s children. Playing with them, cooking for them, teaching them how to read, how to brew potions, how to prank their grandparents, taking care of them when they are ill, having awkward talks with them like I had with my mom, I could imagine everything of that and liked it. Compared to that becoming a lone potion professor at Toadwitz or something like that and teaching generation after generation of students sounded far less fulfilling.


    ¡°I think¡­ If it¡¯s possible¡­ I would like to have children.¡± It felt so unreal when I said it. Not so long ago, we were discussing whether I loved him or not, and now I said I could imagine having children with him.


    ¡°If that is the case, I have decided too. I would be willing to bet on our future together. You know, if you said you didn¡¯t want to, I don¡¯t know if I could have really accepted it. I mean, while it would have been fine for a few years, I would have probably resented you for it, for taking that from me even though we could have tried, but I¡¯m absolutely sure that I could never blame you for that if it¡¯s just because it just doesn¡¯t work. Does that sound somehow reasonable?¡±


    I wasn¡¯t sure. I think I could understand that there was a difference between not trying and not being able to do something despite trying.


    ¡°I guess, yes. But I know it is quite a lot to think about, so maybe we should talk about it again at another time. After we had some time to sort our thoughts, okay? I just wanted you to know that, well, I might not be able to¡­ I thought it was better to speak about it earlier rather than later. I really want it to work, but not because I lied or hid something from you.¡±


    He slowly nodded. I didn¡¯t know if that was usually something you talked about during your second date, but it felt as if a burden was taken from my shoulders. If he still wanted me despite all that, I could really imagine going to his family for the next holidays. Which reminded me that he still hadn¡¯t told me about it. And I still needed to invite him to the family dinner. But was that really a good choice when we just had such a talk? Wouldn¡¯t that force him to make a decision now?

 Chapter 24

    ¡°Do you have anything else you want to tell me or ask me, or should we do something more enjoyable?¡± Should I tell him about the family dinner now? But we already talked about so much today, and I don¡¯t want to ruin the date any further.


    ¡°You have something more; I can see it in your face. What is bothering you?¡± He isn¡¯t leaving me a choice now, right? But I don¡¯t want to talk about something serious again. I just want to enjoy the date.


    ¡°Don¡¯t worry, Charly. Just say it. We have time. And whatever it is, we can still enjoy our date afterwards.¡±


    ¡°Fine. You win. My family wants to meet you. Not as a student, but you know, as my boyfriend.¡± I hope he doesn¡¯t feel forced to accept it, or worse, think that if he accepts that, he won¡¯t be getting out of our relationship because my family would do something to him if it didn¡¯t work. I didn¡¯t want to be with him if he felt forced; I wanted him to be with me because of me and no one else.


    ¡°Is that really something that worries you? I thought your mother knew already. What is the big deal if I meet her?¡±


    ¡°Not just my mom. Percival, Uncle Gregor, Uncle Severin, even Aunt Seraphina and Helena will be there.¡±


    ¡°You mean a dinner with all founders? That is indeed¡­ Well, from a student¡¯s point of view, I would say it¡¯s overwhelming, but I guess I should try to not see them like that, right? Were you worried that I didn¡¯t want to go to the dinner?¡±


    ¡°Not exactly, it¡¯s just that my family can be a bit¡­ unique. And I don¡¯t particularly like Gregor. Oh, but you have to meet Mom and Pev beforehand. I don¡¯t want to let them wait for a whole week to finally meet you.¡±


    ¡°They can¡¯t be that bad. I mean, every family is a bit crazy, and I¡¯m sure we will have an amazing evening with them. And Professor Lionheart will surely¡­¡±


    ¡°You don¡¯t know him!¡± I didn¡¯t want to hear him praise my uncle. He might be a decent teacher and the world''s strongest wizard, but he is a terrible husband and even worse father. And I can¡¯t forgive him for what he did.


    ¡°Do you want to tell me about him or about what happened? Because currently, I don¡¯t understand it.¡± I didn¡¯t want to talk about it. It would ruin my mood for the rest of the evening. But I also couldn¡¯t do nothing.


    ¡°Just know that¡­¡± I rolled up the sleeve on my left arm and showed him the deep scar that was like a small canyon on my arm. ¡°This is his fault. But I don¡¯t want to talk about it. Not now.¡±


    ¡°Okay. But if you ever want to talk about it, know that I will be willing to listen.¡± He gave me a kiss, but I wasn¡¯t really in the mood. He seemed to notice it as he changed the topic instead.


    ¡°My brother, Henry, also wants to meet you. Well, I told him quite late about you because I was ill and all, but he is quite eager to meet you. He has also seen how you beat up Daisy and Tom and was quite impressed, and I think he wants you to teach him how you did it.¡±


    ¡°I didn¡¯t beat them up. I just disarmed them. But I will be happy to meet him. I mean, I can¡¯t exactly teach him how I did it because¡­ well, they were quite slow, and being fast is not something you can just learn.¡± He smiled at my answer as if he expected it.


    ¡°Just one thing. I didn¡¯t tell him about your¡­ unique constitution. And I¡¯m sure if you tell him, he will tell mom and dad, but I would prefer it if I could tell them myself. So maybe wait a little before telling him about it. Just show him what you did and let him try. Maybe it will humble him a bit, as he has become quite a handful since he became one of the best fighters in his year.¡±


    ¡°Okay. I won¡¯t tell him.¡± I could understand his feelings on the matter. It was a bit similar to when I wanted Mom to hear about Will from me instead of through some rumors. Another thing was that I was sure that his parents wouldn¡¯t be amused to learn about it, and I wasn¡¯t so naive that I would believe that they would just let Will do what he wanted, even though Will told me that if I didn¡¯t want him to take over the family business, he could just tell them that.


    ¡°Good, then I will meet your mother tomorrow, and you will meet my brother in two days. How does that sound?¡±


    ¡°Sounds good, I guess. I mean, it feels much more official now than just a few hours ago, and it feels as if we are rushing it, but I guess I¡¯m fine with it. How about you?¡±


    ¡°Not really. I mean, just because we introduce our family to each other doesn¡¯t mean we have to instantly marry, right? And just because we talk about a possible future together doesn¡¯t mean we have to decide everything right now. But in my opinion, it is better to talk about those things earlier rather than later. My dad always says, "Don''t put off until tomorrow what you can do today,¡± and I think he is right. At least most of the time. And if anything, it just means we are serious about it, right?¡±


    That sounded like a good motto. A motto that would perfectly fit mother. But I immediately remembered that he still hadn¡¯t told me about the deadline his parents had given him. Wasn¡¯t that something you shouldn¡¯t put off until tomorrow? But I guess I started so many difficult topics today that it is his turn if he wants to talk about it. I mean, it''s not my deadline. At least not until he tells me about it. Is that the reason he doesn¡¯t tell me?


    ¡°Do you hear that?¡± I asked him because I heard something akin to a gush of wind blowing through the trees, but unlike normal wind, it was getting louder and louder and sounded almost rythmically.


    ¡°No. What do you¡­ Wait do you see that? What is that? Is that¡­ a dragon?¡± I could hear the tension in his voice and immediately turned my eyes where he pointed them.


    I squinted my eyes because I was blinded by the magical candlelight Will had summoned for our date, and my eyes weren¡¯t so good at blending it out, but even then, I immediately saw what he meant. A black dragon that was slowly flapping its wings was getting closer and closer to the castle.


    The closer he got the more I realized just how big the dragon was. Its head had to be big enough to eat the biggest carriage I had seen with one bite and its wings were so large that each beat of them cause the trees below them to cry out as if in a storm. Red eyes, glowing like fiery orbs, pierced the darkness, visible from miles away.


    Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.


    ¡°We should hurry inside and warn the founders.¡± said Will, who hastily waved his wand to turn off the lights before grabbing my arm, pulling me towards the castle.


    As we ran, the dragon got closer, and I thought about just taking Will and running at my top speed, but after my eyes got used to the dark again, I could see a small silhouette atop the dragon¡¯s head. The silhouette of a woman whose hair was windswept because of the dragon¡¯s speed. Even without seeing her clearly, I could feel a regality from the woman; I had only felt it from the founders when they had an official meeting with an outsider.


    ¡°There is a woman on the dragon''s head.¡± I said and stopped Will from running.


    ¡°That can¡¯t be. The only person known to have tamed a true dragon that is still alive is Kate Winter, and she is supposed to be in Greece right now.¡±


    ¡°But if it¡¯s not her, who else could have tamed a dragon. A black dragon of that size at that. It has to be her. But why would she be here?¡± I could feel my heart beating faster. Kate Winter was somewhat of an idol to me. She came from a small family, but now she commands as much authority as an entire ancient family. In a way, she was on par with the founders in that regard. And she had chosen a way that didn¡¯t involve high-level magic to do that.


    ¡°How would I know? Your mother is a founder, not mine.¡± He was right about that, but they weren¡¯t particularly interested in sharing anything with me since the whole war thing started.


    ¡°But they don¡¯t tell me everything. We should still keep running. What if Kate is here to create trouble? What if Gregor did something stupid again and she wants revenge now?¡± I said, racking my brain, why Kate Winter would be here, and even seeing her landing a few hundred meters outside from the castle with her behemoth of a dragon didn¡¯t stop me from running towards the castle entrance that was only a few steps away.


    ¡°Even he wouldn¡¯t be so stupid, Charlotte.¡± Said the tired voice of my uncle, who came out of the castle, followed by my mother, aunt, Gregor, and the wizard I had hoped to never see again. Edward. The first head boy of Toadwitz, favourite student of Aunt Seraphina, and my first embarrassing crush.


    Edward


    His charming smile and his kempt and stylish hair let me forget a moment when we were running from a dragon just seconds ago. He looked even better than the last time I saw him. Wait, why am I thinking about something like that? I have Will, and Will looks ten times¡­ okay, no need to lie. Edward looked absolutely perfect, but that didn¡¯t matter. Not to me, at least. Not anymore.


    ¡°Hello Uncle, Mom, ahm¡­ have you seen that big black dragon that just landed in front of our home? Ahm. Is that Kate Winter?¡± What was I saying? I was already sure that it was Kate Winter. Stupid Edward, why did he have to appear right now?


    ¡°How could one overlook an adult, stygian hellfire dragon. That thing is enormous.¡± I could hear the thrilled voice of Gregor, who didn¡¯t look at me but at the dragon with more battle lust than I would have liked.


    ¡°Charlotte, I¡¯m sorry you have to learn about it like that. I didn¡¯t know you would have your date outside. I hope it''s going well. But please go inside now. You will hear the rest tomorrow, like everyone else.¡± I could see her smile at Will while saying it. I hope it doesn¡¯t bother him too much.


    I looked at Will, then at the Dragon, and then at the founders and Edward, and decided that if I had to choose between them, then Will would take priority today, even though I knew I wouldn¡¯t get them out of my mind. I mean, Kate Winter is here. I want to talk to her if possible. Maybe she will stay for a few days.


    Just when I was about to leave with Will, I heard Edward¡¯s voice.


    ¡°Good Night, Charlotte. Don¡¯t cause any trouble.¡±


    I could feel a vein on my head pulsating. That arrogant, stupid ass. He might look good, but he is annoying as hell. I¡¯m not a little child anymore, which causes trouble everywhere I go.


    We were halfway to my room when I realized that I was quite literally stomping through the castle while pulling my boyfriend along to my room. The moment I noticed, I stopped stomping and returned to a normal pace.


    ¡°Sorry, Will. I didn¡¯t want to act like that. Did you have anything else planned for the date?¡± I asked, sounding a little more deflated than I intended to. Why did the stupid dragon have to arrive during the time I was on a date? Why did I have to see Edward while I was on a date? Am I cursed or something like that?


    ¡°You don¡¯t need to be. It¡¯s just that I feel that I¡¯m missing a lot of context right now. Were you angry that you couldn¡¯t meet Kate Winter, or was it something else?¡±


    "No, it¡¯s nothing like that. I mean, I would have liked to meet her. But it''s something else. I will tell you later, okay? I just want to enjoy the evening with you. No more problematic talks, no more dragons, just the two of us. Is that fine with you?¡±


    He looked at me with a soft smile before giving me a soft kiss. ¡°I would like nothing more than that.¡±


    ¡°Good, then we go to my room. You can even sleep there with me if you want.¡± I could see his face blushing when I realized how this could be interpreted.


    ¡°I didn¡¯t mean it like that.¡± I wasn¡¯t ready for that. Not yet. No matter what other girls my age did. No matter what mom thought I would do. ¡°Just normal sleeping. I mean, you sleep, and I can lie next to you if you want. You know what? Forget I said anything.¡±


    ¡°Charly, calm down. I know you didn¡¯t mean it like that. Just let¡¯s go to your room.¡± I considered pointing out that his blush indicated otherwise, but decided against it. We were almost at my room anyway.


    The moment Archimedes opened the door, I realized that a few dresses and other pieces of clothing were still lying around in my room.


    ¡°Normally, my room is more orderly. Almost spotless. Believe me.¡± I tried to explain myself as I hurriedly tried to throw my clothes into my wardrobe. I could feel my face blush a little as I put away a pair of panties.


    ¡°You have seen my dorm, so I guess this much is nothing. Do you need help?¡±


    ¡°No!¡± It was one thing for him to see me put away my panties, but an entirely different thing if he had to put them away for me.


    After around two minutes, my room looked almost presentable. Just my desk still looked like I was just taking a break from work, but that was fine.


    ¡°So, this is my humble home. Do you want snacks? I think I still have beefjerky somewhere.¡±


    ¡°No, I¡¯m fine. Wow, so many books. Is that a cauldron in the corner? Do you brew potions in here as well?¡± I felt kind of embarrassed at him walking around and commenting on everything he saw, but I guess I didn¡¯t have anything in my room to really be embarrassed about.


    ¡°What is this jar with the tear label on it for? Is it a potion ingredient? But what kind of potion would need so many tears that you need such a large jar for them?¡± Okay, I did have something to be embarrassed about in my room. How do I explain that to him. Maybe I shouldn¡¯t Maybe I can just distract him. I mean in my opinion we cuddled far to less anyway. It would also keep my thoughts from straying away so it was two birds with one stone.


    ¡°Do you want to discuss my furniture or do you want to... mmm, sit down and talk a bit?¡± I said and pointed towards my bed. I had a small sofa, but my bed was more comfortable, even though it wasn¡¯t as big as the ones other students had. It was as if theirs were made for two people, while mine was just large enough for me to roll around one time. I didn¡¯t use it as much, but I still liked lying down there if I had to think about a problem. Usually, academic ones, because the bed was close to the desk in case I had a sudden enlightenment. The bath was used for all other problems.


    ¡°Talk?¡± he teased me. Well, at least this time, I really meant something like that. But I couldn¡¯t just say that, right? So I guess a little teasing was the price I needed to be willing to pay. Would it be too much to ask for a massage? It would surely help me calm down.

 Chapter 25

    Before I could respond, his lips were pressed against mine, and he shoved me into the bed. I felt his hands gently, but firmly stroking my back. My entire body trembled at the sensation of the kiss and his touch, and I felt the same way I had earlier this day. A longing that was progressively growing. The emotion became stronger with each kiss he gave me, and his kisses gradually moved from my lips to my chin and neck. With each kiss, my heart pounded quicker. I was nervous. Would he descend any further? Did I want that? Every fiber of my being was screaming yes, but I wasn''t certain. Would it truly feel that good? How far would he go? I knew where this might be going, and with each kiss, my hesitance was replaced with anticipation. I felt the soft fabric of my bra becoming more uncomfortable as my breasts became more sensitive, and my nipples almost hurt from how hard they were. Almost. I could feel how my body was heating up, and I slowly turned wet down there.


    I closed my eyes enjoying the feeling of his descending touch, not caring about the ¡°consequences¡± anymore. But just when I decided to let it happen, he stopped right as he was about to kiss me right between my breasts.


    I only realised I was breathing heavily when I noticed my breast moving up and down, almost touching his chin when I breathed in, as he glanced up at me. I wanted him to continue, but I didn''t want to beg for it.


    But instead of continuing, he moved back and kissed me on the lips, but it was considerably shorter and less passionate than any others he had given me today.


    "What is wrong?" I sounded quite disappointed. Was I truly like this...? Charlotte, you aren''t that type of girl, right? I didn''t even ask for it; he simply misinterpreted my intentions. Okay, perhaps he didn''t. What exactly is wrong with me? I''m not prepared for this, right? But it felt so good.


    ¡°We should stop here for now, Charlotte.¡± He sounded resolute, but I didn¡¯t know why he wanted to stop. I wasn¡¯t even sure if I wanted him to stop. Had I done something wrong? Didn¡¯t he want to do something like that? Doesn¡¯t he like me? Didn¡¯t he say that he thinks I¡¯m pretty? So why wouldn¡¯t he want to do it? Isn¡¯t it normal for people like us to do it? Even Edward did it with¡­ Why am I thinking about him in this situation? Out of my head! ¡­ Will should be the only man in my head, especially now. Again, by the magic, what is wrong with me? It¡¯s just that idiot¡¯s fault. The date was going well until he appeared.


    ¡°Hey, everything is okay. I still love you. It¡¯s just¡­ if we continue, I¡­ I wouldn¡¯t¡­ I wouldn¡¯t want to stop. But we shouldn¡¯t! We really shouldn¡¯t do something like that before we¡­ you know¡­ are at least engaged or something like that. And if we do it, I want to do it the right way.¡±


    Again, I realized that he knew me well, and his awkwardly embarrassed words calmed me down. Or at least my body was calming down. And, most importantly, he had said it again. He loved me. And he just wanted to be considerate, right? I mean, people are already talking behind my back, but I didn¡¯t want to give them even more gossip. Now that I think about it, Will is probably the only guy in the whole castle with that much decency. I¡¯m sure anyone else would just have continued. I¡¯m sure he would have wanted to continue and was just to¡­ to nice. Sometimes I think he thinks more about what I want or need instead of what he wants. I don¡¯t want that. He should be happy too.


    ¡°Thank you.¡± I didn¡¯t dare to look him in the eyes and looked down on his white perfectly fitting shirt, that didn¡¯t leave to much up to imagination. ¡°You know, I wouldn¡¯t have stopped you. But I¡¯m glad you did. I mean, you can be a bit pushier sometimes if you want something, but¡­ but that¡­ I don¡¯t know if I¡¯m ready for it. But I like it if you are open about what you want.¡±


    I slowly raised my eyes again, not believing what I was about to say as I stared into his eyes. ¡°So, if there is anything I can do to make it up for you¡­?¡±


    I could see his eyes widen for a second before they wandered all over my face. I was blushing so hard that I feared that the color wouldn¡¯t go away anymore, but he remained silent.


    Didn¡¯t he want me to¡­ no if that was the case, he would have said no. That meant he wanted me to but was to shy to say it. Was it a mistake to want to ¡°reward¡± him for his decency? Was I weird again?


    We remained like that, staring at each other silently for what felt like an eternity, until I realized if I wanted to go through with this, I just needed to start. Damned, why did he give me so much time to think about it?


    Okay, no going back now. I will do it. Everyone does it, so it shouldn¡¯t be so hard.


    With a gentle kiss on his lips, I slowly guided him to change our position until I lied on top of him. He still didn¡¯t say a word, and his expression was frozen, but his eyes were following my every move, and I could hear his breathing getting heavy.


    With a last peck on his lips, I sat up straight on his legs, just below his... member. I carefully began to open his pants when I noticed something moving there. Or instead of moving, it was¡­ growing.


    I could see my hands shaking a little. The only thing left now was to pull down his pants. But as I looked at him before, I was about to pull down his pants. He was still just silently staring at me, his eyes wide open, and I was unable to read the rest of his expression, and I began to have doubts. What if he was only going along with it, as I had been going along with it previously?


    ¡°Are you really fine with it? I can stop if you want.¡±


    ¡°Yes. If you are really willing to, then yes. Definitely yes.¡± He said and his expression seemed to relax a bit. Less tense.


    I nodded. By now, I was almost as curious as I was nervous. ¡°But it¡¯s the first time I¡¯m doing something like that. If it hurts or something, you have to tell me.¡±


    He laughed; he really laughed at that.


    ¡°You know, this should have been my text.¡±


    If the red color on my face had receded even a bit, it was now back to fully red. But somehow, I was fine with that. I would do it. Now, no going back.


    With a swift pull, his pants were down.


    I wasn¡¯t sure what I had expected, but it still came as a surprise to me as his member bounced upwards the moment it wasn¡¯t confined by his pants anymore. I wasn¡¯t sure if it was big, but it certainly was larger than the long side of my hand. It was still swinging around a little, and I could see his balls moving along a little bit.


    As I was studying his member, I could see from the corner of my eyes that he was staring at me awkwardly. Was he nervous? Shouldn¡¯t I be the nervous one? He just has to lie down. Or was he embarrassed? Was it because of his size? I didn¡¯t know how he compared to others, but it looked big.


    I took a deep breath, focusing on what was before me, and carefully grabbed his dick with my right hand. I could feel the blood pulse in his dick, and I saw him close his eyes for a moment and inhale loudly. Was this a good sign?


    I waited for a second before slowly moving my hand up and down his hard dick. I could feel the soft skin move along with my hand a little, covering his tip when I moved up and baring it when I moved down. The veins pulsed with each beat of his racing heart. It felt as if his dick was growing a little more in my hands.


    His breathing grew even more erratic as I moved my hand more quickly. I enjoyed his delicate reaction to every movement I made. I liked seeing his face as I did it, how his stiff face was gradually giving way.


    Seeing him like that made me loose up as well. This was¡­ easy. He didn¡¯t need to tell me I did it right because I could see that he was enjoying it.


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    With my other hand, I started to fondle his balls. I wasn¡¯t sure if that was a good idea because, for a moment, he flinched a little but didn¡¯t protest it. I made sure to proceed extremely carefully, as I didn¡¯t want to hurt him.


    His right hand was slowly creeping up my arm until he reached my face, caressing my cheek. Somehow, this made me want to kiss him, but I decided to keep focusing on his dick. For a short moment, I even thought about kissing it, but that thought vanished as quickly as it came. What if he came just when I was about to do it?


    ¡°Your hands feel so warm, so good. Please don¡¯t stop now.¡± Was he about to? I could feel the legs under my butt tense as he started to groan. He even arched his back a little. For some reason, my heart started to beat fast too as the pulsing in his dick got stronger.


    Hot white liquid was shooting out of his dick, hitting my dress, arm, and bedsheet, but that was of no concern to me at that moment. Following the initial burst, his sperm poured out in small waves, eventually drenching my still-moving hand.


    It felt warm and sticky as I kept moving.


    His dick was slowly softening a little but still standing upwards. But before I could ask him if I should continue or not, he pulled me down on him and kissed me. His dick and my sticky hand stuck between us.


    ¡°That felt so good, Charly. Thank you.¡± He looked tired, but happy. It reminded me that it was already quite late.


    ¡°Don¡¯t thank me. Not for this. I¡¯m glad you liked it.¡± I said and returned the kiss while slowly trying to get my hand out from between us, as it was uncomfortable.


    ¡°Do you want me to¡­ you know?¡± Despite the way he asked, it didn¡¯t appear awkward at all. It somehow felt natural, and I couldn¡¯t help but think about how Lorain described it. I was tempted to accept his offer, but after the whole evening, the running because of the dragon, and the one or two temptations in between, I had sweated a lot. And I wanted to be absolutely clean when he touched me there. My now sticky hand and dirty dress didn¡¯t help with the feeling of being unclean.


    ¡°No. Not today. Maybe next time.¡± I already had an idea for our next "date." Maybe if we took a bath together¡­ But maybe I was a little too enthusiastic about it now that we had our first experience. It was as if a barrier I didn¡¯t know was between us had shattered and a thousand new ideas were coming to my mind. Dirty ideas.


    ¡°Are you sure? I¡¯d gladly do it?¡± I could almost see the eagerness in his eyes. Do guys like to do that? Or does he just want to be nice or return something? I mean I can¡¯t say I particularly disliked doing what I did. It was¡­ nice to see his reactions.


    ¡°Don¡¯t tempt me. I will just cuddle you till you fall asleep now. You don¡¯t want to be too be tired to hear tomorrow¡¯s announcement. With Kate Winter here, I¡¯m sure it¡¯s important.¡±


    ¡°You are probably right.¡± His words were giving me right, but his face indicated that he had different priorities. It was a strange feeling to see someone you liked so aroused just by imagining doing something with you. I mean, there had been a few perverted people in the school, and I never liked their glares, but it just felt different coming from him. It was as if receiving a compliment and a thought-provoking invitation at the same time.


    ¡°Good.¡± Just because I noticed his look doesn¡¯t mean I can¡¯t ignore it, even thought it really wasn¡¯t easy. I stood up and began to undress, I didn¡¯t want to ¡°sleep¡± in my dress. Even less with his cum still on my sleeves and skirt.


    ¡°What are you doing?¡± asked Will surprised. He had his pants pulled up again in the time I had stood up but I could still see the obvious budge in it.


    ¡°Getting ready to sleep? Or do you feel uncomfortable if I only wear my underwear?¡± I asked half teasing half serious. I mean, if it prevented him from sleeping, I would just wear a different dress.


    ¡°No, it''s fine. I was just surprised. You look really beautiful, you know.¡± I couldn¡¯t help but blush. I was a little weak to his compliments. I mean, I knew that one or two pounds more wouldn¡¯t hurt me, and my scar looked as eye-catching and ugly as always, but it still felt good to hear him say that. Even more so because he made me feel like it was really true.


    After undressing, I wanted to climb into bed as soon as possible, as it was a little cold and my nipples were still trying to piece through my underwear. But I noticed that my hand was still covered in cum. It was even stickier now than at the beginning. I don¡¯t know why I did it, but I tried to smell it. It didn¡¯t have a strong odor like I expected. On the contrary, it had just a weak, salty smell.


    ¡°I just hope mom doesn¡¯t ask to many questions about the dress.¡± I said more to myself than to Will as I tried to clean my hand with the already ruined dress.


    ¡°Sorry, I will clean it up immediately.¡± I actually forgot again that Will could use magic as well. No need to wait for mom to clean up after us.


    I enviously watched how Will cleaned everything within a minute of swinging his wand around, we went to bed. We argued a bit back and forth about whether I should hug him or if he should hug me while sleeping, but, in the end, he insisted on being ¡°the big spoon."


    It was comfortably strange. I knew I was absolutely safe, and I still believed that I was the stronger one of the two of us, but being embraced like that made me feel protected, loved, and cared for. It was as if nothing in the world could hurt me now. It was pure bliss. At least until Will fell asleep. He snored a little. Not like Uncle Gregor, who snored so loudly that mother thought that silencing charms were a necessity on every bed in Toadwitz, but still loud enough that it was distracting me. Well, it wasn''t really distracting as I wasn¡¯t doing anything besides being hugged, but it was still annoying. At least a little. I think I could bear with it for Will.


    What was harder to ignore was that he got a bit touchier during his sleep. I had to stop his hand from groping me at least two times. I mean, if he were awake, I might have considered letting him do it, but like that, it felt just annoying. Even more so because my breasts were strangely sensitive today.


    I spent the night doing what I always did at night. Reflecting my day and planning the next. I could have probably spent more time thinking about what Edward and Kate wanted in the school, but I was sure I would learn about it tomorrow, and it would just be a waste of time and nerves to try to figure it out today. Besides, I had too many problems focusing on anything at all because my thoughts were always returning to what I did with him. I also thought about what he meant to me, and the conclusion that I had was that he made me happy. Really happy. And I wanted to spend more time with him. But I also had doubts. I hadn¡¯t given him enough time to realize the drawbacks of choosing me, and I feared that he would one day wake up and regret it. So I would try to at least give him the time to think it through. And if he decides wants to marry me despite all of that, I would probably accept it. I couldn¡¯t imagine that someone else would make me feel that way and I think he likes me enough that I have hope.


    Under his rhythmic snoring my thoughts wandered around, until about half an hour before we had to get up, I felt something in my back. Or my butt, to be precise.


    Was this the famous morning wood? How should I react to it? Will it go away on its own? Would he need to¡­ Should I help him with it? I should probably wait till he is awake and ask him.


    ¡°Good morning, beautiful.¡± as if he had read my mind, I heard his soft groaning whisper in my ear.


    ¡°Good morning, Snuggle-Snore.¡±


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I hope it wasn¡¯t to annoying.¡± He said still barely awake.


    ¡°It was¡­ bearable, Snuggle-Snore.¡±


    ¡°Be honest with me. How much time did you spent on that name?¡±


    ¡°An hour perhaps. Maybe two. Snuggles, Snoozy, Cuddly or Snory were the other options. But I liked Snuggle-Snore. Because you liked to cuddle me inappropriately in your sleep and kept snoring.¡±


    I turned around to him. Now that he was awake, I could do that without fearing he would wake up because of me.


    ¡°What do you mean inappropriately? I would never¡­¡±


    ¡°Your sleepy you isn¡¯t as well behaved as you are. That¡¯s why your sleepy you isn¡¯t allowed to touch.¡±


    I had thought a lot about if I wanted to say that or not. I somehow wanted him to get the implicit meaning and at the same time not.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry if I made you feel uncomfortable.¡± He pulled me closer, giving me a kiss. His hands on my bare back felt much warmer and gentler now that I wasn¡¯t wearing my dress. ¡°But I prefer Snuggles or Snoozy.¡±


    Apparently, he didn¡¯t get it.


    ¡°Wait. You don¡¯t get to vote on this.¡± I said and touched his bare chest with my hand, pushing him a little away. I must admit, I like that he is in such a good shape and it was the first time a got to look at it for an extended period. The day before he jumped right under the blanked after taking it off. Did he get these muscles from the training he did for Uncle¡¯s classes. And the tan stripes on his arm and neck were probably because his training shirt didn¡¯t have long sleeves. I should probably go and watch him train sometime.


    ¡°But because I¡¯m a good girlfriend, Snoozy is fine.¡±


    He couldn¡¯t stop himself from grinning widely. ¡°You are the best.¡±


    ¡°As much as I like your flattery, Snoozy, we should probably get ready, or we will be late for the announcement. Do you need to¡­ take care of that, or will it go away on its own?¡± He blushed a little as I poked his still-erect tent with my finger.


    ¡°No¡­Ahm¡­ It will go away when I go to the toilette.¡± That was¡­ interesting. I wasn¡¯t sure if he would need to¡­ take care of it every morning. I wasn¡¯t sure if I would have been willing to do that every day. I mean, I had half prepared to do it again today, but it was good to know that it wasn¡¯t necessary.


    ¡°The toilet is in the corridor to the right. You should probably wear something. Occasionally a student gets lost and comes by this corridor, and I¡¯m sure half of them are already on their way to the great hall, so you shouldn¡¯t risk it.¡± I should probably really ask Uncle Severin if I could get my personal bathroom.


    He climbed over me to get out of bed, and I watched him as he was dressing himself. He really had a well-trained body.

 Chapter 26

    After Will left, I quickly pulled out a dress. I didn¡¯t take too much time picking this time, as I didn¡¯t really care, and I knew that, with a few exceptions, all my dresses were at least decent. And as luck wanted it, I picked quite a fancy black dress with red cuffs, ruffles, and bottoms. But while trying to wiggle my arm through the long sleeve, I decided that something less attention-grabbing was needed and quickly changed to the normal plain black school uniform.


    Unless I was completely wrong, Kate Winter will attend breakfast today, and I don¡¯t want to look like an oddball to her. At least not more than necessary. And Edward will be there too. Damned, screw that guy.


    ¡°Good morning, my lady.¡± Said Archimedes, failing to hide a big grin.


    ¡°Shut up, Archie. Or do you think I didn¡¯t hear what you said to Will? Why can you just be decent for once?¡± I knew the question was useless. You can¡¯t change the personality of a picture, a stature, or anything that was imbued like that. After completing a piece of art like that, the personality was fixed, and I didn¡¯t hear of anyone who wasn¡¯t involved in the creation process influencing the picture afterwards. It was paradoxical because the pictures could actually learn something new, and just their personalities would remain as their creator imagined them.


    ¡°No need to feel embarrassed, my lady. It¡¯s the most natural thing in the world. Ah, you grew up so fast. I remember it like it was yesterday when I was first tasked with keeping guard at your door. You were such an innocent, almost lovely little girl¡­¡± Was it really necessary to whip fake tears away? Why does he have to be so overly dramatic all the time? Does he really think Will and I¡­? How much can he hear from here anyway?


    ¡°The next time, just keep it to yourself.¡± I threw him a glare that I was sure would signal him that I would find the most annoying place for him in the castle if he didn¡¯t stop now.


    I left him as he was covering his mouth with his hand, pretending to be silenced.


    I picked up Will on my way to the great hall and asked him to cast a cleaning spell on both of us. It was his fault; I hadn¡¯t been able to take a bath, so it was the least he could do. Well, not that I blame him, but I just didn¡¯t want to feel dirty during breakfast.


    The great hall wasn¡¯t in its usual disorder, and the tables formed a large ¡°U¡±. The founders weren¡¯t there yet, and I could hear a few students speculating what the reason for the change was. The seats at the head were empty, and I could see small cards that said that those places were reserved. It was an odd experience. No one had ever ¡°reserved¡± a seat in the great hall. Not even if some pesky noble family head came over. But if Kate Winter visits, I guess it isn¡¯t too abnormal.


    Will and I took a place close to the head. I was a bit annoyed, but the closest ones were already taken because we were a bit late compared to the others. But at least Will¡¯s roommates sat opposite us. I tried to ignore their ¡°proud¡± grins towards Will and even the repetitive raising of their eyebrows as if to ask him something. It wasn¡¯t that I was ashamed of what I did, but the thought that the whole school would probably know soon made me uncomfortable. I poked Will in the side to get his attention and whispered into his ear that he should stay quiet. I knew that it would only let them guess more, but guessing was not knowing.


    I returned my attention to the entrance. The founders and Kate must arrive at any moment.  Hopefully, maybe I could ask mother so that I can talk to Kate. It would be sooo awesome.


    After some time, after every student had arrived, I saw Uncle Severin arriving with a whole entourage of people. Behind him came mother who was talking to the old, grim looking man with the walking stick, followed by Gregor, who was talking to a blond woman with a severe burn on the left side of her face. She looked barely older than some of the students, and next to Gregor, she looked even more like a little girl. From the newspaper articles and pictures I had seen, I immediately knew that this was the one and only Kate Winter. She carried herself with the same pride as the other founders. As if no one could do anything to her, no matter what she did. And the dark adventurer clothes with the dragonscale underarmor looked so cool. I just hope the jerk isn¡¯t going to flirt with her. Or maybe he should. Her dragon is famous for eating a few annoying suitors of hers. Even though I¡¯m not sure if those are just rumors or if that truly happened.


    Behind them were Seraphina and Edward. Seraphina, for once, looked like she was enjoying herself as she talked with him. I¡¯m sure she was happy that her favorite student had returned. If she could show half the smile when talking to Helena, the poor girl would be twice as happy.


    Uncle was standing in the middle at the head of the table and tipped his wand against a crystal glass. The pinging noise echoed a few times through the hall, and even the murmuring students were silenced.


    ¡°Good morning, everybody. As you have most certainly noticed, we have a few newcomers. But before I introduce them, I think a small explanation might be necessary. For all those who haven¡¯t heard about it yet, a war between us, witches and wizards, and a religious order of the Nowitz is brewing. It is uncertain how long the brittle peace we have will be able to last as the conflicts between us are becoming more and more violent.¡± Uncle paused for a second to let this information sink in, ¡°Toadwitz, since its founding, has been neutral and unpolitical, but even we can¡¯t escape the consequences of a war. So, after careful consideration and many requests from most of your families, we agreed to expand our curriculum to prepare you for what hopefully will never come.¡± Uncle¡¯s disapproval and hesitations about sending students to war became clearer from his tone than from his words.


    ¡°To make this possible, we hired five new professors, who are known to be at the top of their fields. Allow me to introduce you to Professor Hector Castle, your teacher for  the healing arts; Professor Kate Winter, your professor for survival and magical creatures; and Professor Edward Riddle, your teacher for magical engineering, as well as the fundamentals of magic up to the fourth grade, instead of Professor Nightquill. Professor Victoria Butler as well as Assistant Professor Eugen Rommel will arrive tomorrow. Professor Butler will teach Infiltration and Investigation, and Assistant Professor Rommel will teach you about Nowitz military strategy and will assist Professor Lionheart in his lesson about Defense Against Mundane Weapons. With the exception of the fundamentals of magic and defense against mundane weapons, all other curses are electable and not mandatory. The teaching professors can decide the requirements for those courses by themselves.¡± Severin¡¯s gaze shifted to the professor with the walking stick in the elegant but simple blue robe, who looked like he hated being there. ¡°Professor Castle, please introduce yourself to the students.¡±


    Professor Castle nodded and walked slowly next to Uncle Severin. Despite his limping he looked a little intimidating with his grim expression.


    ¡°Healing, the art of saving people, is probably the most misunderstood magic. Too many fools who merely dabbled in it and called themselves healers ran around and ruined people¡¯s lives by using spells they didn¡¯t understand for illnesses they never heard about. If you want to learn how to heal someone, I expect you to give it your all and not become fools like those people. Anyone who shows me that he is not willing to do that will be dismissed from any of my courses. During your studies under me, you will often feel like I¡¯m unfair, mean, or extreme. You will curse me in your sleep or blatantly in my face. I don¡¯t care. The only thing I care about is that, at the end of your studies, you don¡¯t cause more harm than good. So, in the first year, you won¡¯t be learning anything beyond healing a few scratches from me and instead learning the methods to diagnose a patient. Something that you will continue to learn for the rest of your career if you really wish to be a healer. Because only if you know what your patient has can you help him. And if I think you aren¡¯t ready for it, you won¡¯t learn healing magic the year after that either, or the year after that. So do your best or stop trying. That is all.¡±


    This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.


    ¡°Haha, what a first impression, Hector.¡± Said Severin a little awkwardly, as he probably hadn¡¯t expected such an introduction. Or maybe he did, because the guy didn''t look like he would pretend to do anything else. I was unsure what to think of the guy. But I would probably take a look at his class anyway. Maybe he had a method to heal my arm, and maybe he could help with a few other issues, even if I won¡¯t be able to become a healer.


    ¡°Edward, will you go next?¡±


    ¡°Sure,¡± said Edward, and I could hear a few girls close to me murmuring how good he looked and that they would definitely pick his class. They will surely be disappointed when they learn that he is already married to that girl he got together with in school. And even if he wasn¡¯t he wasn¡¯t a womanizer like Augustus.


    ¡°So first of all, I want to say it¡¯s an honor for me that the professors think so highly of me and want me to teach here. You must know that I was one of the first students that Toadwitz accepted fifteen years ago and that the castle had become somewhat of a second home for me at that time. So, when I got the offer, I didn¡¯t have to think long about it and immediately accepted it. But enough about me. Magical engineering is quite a diverse field that utilizes many different branches of magic. So, the requirement to attend my classes is that you have at least finished the fourth grade with above-average grades in the fundamentals of magic, previously taught by Professor Nightquill, and transfiguration, taught by Professor Lionheart. If you are below the fourth grade and have excellent grades in these two subjects, you can come to me, and I will test you if you think that you could elect the course ahead of time. That is all for now.¡±


    Well, I didn¡¯t plan to attend his classes, even if I could. And getting those grades without using magic is practically impossible.


    ¡°It¡¯s my turn now, isn¡¯t it?¡± Oh, it''s Kate. Finally.


    ¡°I¡¯m Kate Winter, and I¡¯m happy to be here. Ahm, I... I will teach you how to survive in the wilderness, how to read tracks, how to take care of all kinds of animals, and even how to contract magical beasts. While Magical Creatures and Survival are two separate courses, I encourage you to take both as they complement each other well. As anyone can learn about those things, these courses don¡¯t have any requirements. Thanks for listening.¡± She sat down as quickly as she had gotten up.


    What was that? She almost looked... nervous? Why would Kate Winter be nervous? Don¡¯t tell me she is like Seraphina and has a problem with large crowds. Okay, never mind. Everyone can have a weakness. I¡¯m sure her lessons will be awesome, so I will definitely elect them. I just hope they don¡¯t collide with the potion lessons I give.


    ¡°Thank you all. While Professor Butler and Rommel are not here, they asked me to tell you that anyone is welcome to apply to their courses, but they reserve the right to dismiss anyone they think is unfit for their courses. Now, I¡¯m sure you have a lot to discuss, but don¡¯t forget to enjoy your breakfast. The schedule for the new classes will be stuck to the blackboard before lunch. You can apply to the courses by your house teacher or who teaches the subject.¡± Said Severin and discussions started immediately all over the great hall. No one really cared for breakfast. Well, except for me, but I already knew what courses I wanted to take.


    ¡°Will, what are you going to choose? I will definitely pick magical creatures. Contracting a beast is just too useful. I mean, if you find a beast that can fly while carrying you, transportation won¡¯t be an issue anymore. Do you think your parents would let me contract a dragon from your farm? I mean, even if they don¡¯t count as true dragons, it would be absolutely badass to ride a wyvern.¡± Asked Red who was sitting opposite me.


    ¡°Ahm, I don¡¯t think my parents would allow something like that. Besides, would you even be able to pay for that? Do you know what a wyvern costs? Not to mention, to contract a beast, the beast itself must be willing to accept the contract. So even if you have the money, the wyverns we have would probably roast you as soon as you enter their territory.¡± Answered Will, crushing Red''s dream instantly.


    ¡°You never know, Will. And I can still dream, can¡¯t I? Maybe, with a bit of luck, I will find a dragon egg during the holidays. So, what will you choose?¡± A bit of luck? If that is a bit of luck, then a truly lucky person would become invincible just because he wishes so. I think even if Uncle eventually succeeds with the luck potion, hoping that a dragon egg somehow lands in your pockets would be plain stupid.


    I stopped thinking about the absurdity and looked at Will because I too wanted to know what he would choose. It would be nice to have classes with him. I never had classes with people I liked, so maybe it would be nice if he chose Kate¡¯s lessons too. At least one of them.


    ¡°Well, if a war really is coming, I think choosing Rommel¡¯s classes might be the most useful. Survival also sounds interesting. Healing would be interesting, but I don¡¯t see myself investing so much time that Professor Castle would teach me anything useful. Magical engineering is interesting, but I think I will pass on that. I¡¯m more of a user than a creator when it comes to things like that. And I don¡¯t think I would be good at infiltration or investigation. I mean, my last attempts at investigating someone were subpar at best.¡±


    His hand grabbed mine under the table, and I realized that he meant his poor attempts to find out about my past. He definitely shouldn¡¯t pick that class; he has no talent for it. I mean, I¡¯m glad he did it, but I think this investigation has twisted his view of me. For the good and the bad. Should I ask him about it in detail to clear up all fake news to prevent any more misunderstandings, or should I just hope for the best? Okay, I know I should talk about it, but we had so many talks about our problems that I don¡¯t want to create more drama than necessary. Hopefully, that is the right decision.


    ¡°Will you pick something too?¡± He turned his full attention to me. Why does he think I wouldn¡¯t pick anything? I¡¯m still a normal student, so naturally, I would pick a course. Okay, maybe not the most normal student, but still a student. And if someone has time to pick those courses, it would be me.


    ¡°I will definitely take Kate¡¯s courses, but I think those healing courses might be interesting as well. I mean, if something ever happens to you, it would be good to be able to patch you up in a blink. And it didn¡¯t sound like magic was the most important thing for this course. At least in the first year.¡±


    ¡°Should we really be discussing our courses if a war is brewing? Do you really think they would let students fight? Besides, why is a war with the Nowitz such a big thing?¡± asked Keith, joining the discussion.


    Should I tell them about the prophecy? It would probably be better if I didn''t. I don¡¯t want anyone to join the war and get himself killed because they think they are the hero from the prophecy.


    ¡°Uncle said there are hundreds of thousands of followers of that religion, and some of them have weapons that can kill you if you are not careful. So yes, the war is a big thing. And if the war hasn¡¯t started yet, it is not unlikely that you will have already graduated before the war ends. I don¡¯t believe actual students would really ¡°need¡± to fight.¡± Well, so much should be public knowledge.


    ¡°Did your uncle tell you anything more?¡± asked Keith, leaning over the table a bit.


    Well, unless I want to tell them about the different fractions in the war, I think I can¡¯t say anything anymore without revealing something that isn¡¯t common knowledge. I should probably ask Uncle before I say anything. I don¡¯t want to be at fault if some of his plans go to ruin because I couldn¡¯t keep my mouth shut.


    "No, not really.¡± Okay, since when do I lie so badly? Even Will looks doubtful at me. I don¡¯t even know if I know anything useful. Don''t question me any further.

 Chapter 27

    ¡°I really know nothing more about the war.¡± I shut down the questioning gazes of the others. Was it really so difficult to understand that I couldn¡¯t say anything more?


    ¡°Well, in that case, I guess it would be best to plan as if we would be involved in the war. I mean, I hope we are not, but I prefer to be prepared in case we are,¡± said Keith with a resigned voice.


    ¡°Really? Against some bloody Nowitz? Even if they are thousands, each of us could take on tens of them,¡± said Joshua with contempt. Is this typical male behavior? Pretending the war is something of no concern to not show weakness. I¡¯m glad Will isn¡¯t like that.


    ¡°Joshua, especially you should take this seriously. Your performance in the last few spars was subpar at best. And if the founders and the old families think that including those curses is necessary, it probably is. I wouldn¡¯t be surprised if the Nowitz have some kind of weapon that can¡¯t be blocked so easily. Otherwise, Professor Lionheart and Professor Winter alone could wipe out a thousand of them every other day,¡± scolded Will, blushing Joshua. But damn, he was right. Maybe they really had some kind of secret weapon. How could I not think of that? I should really question Uncle Severin about it.


    ¡°Keith is right, guys, no matter what the real reason is, we should train like we will need to participate. So everyone should take the survival course. I guess it''s not really about combat, but my grandpa told me multiple times about how he had to fight his way through the wild after half his squad was massacred in the last war. I think everyone should take the strategy course. It can¡¯t hurt if every one of us understands how those Nowitz fight. Defense against mundane weapons should be mandatory as well. That leaves artificing, investigation and infiltration, magical beasts, and healing. While I think we should leave the artificing part to Nightquill¡¯s nerds, it wouldn¡¯t hurt to have one who knows how to fix the equipment. So one of us needs to sacrifice himself,¡± said Red and stared into the group. It is surprising and frightening how serious the goofball could be. Maybe I judged him too early. Were all of Will¡¯s friends like that? Wait a moment, if Will took artificing, that meant¡­


    ¡°I can take artificing if necessary. I don¡¯t really see myself in the other lessons. Well, maybe magical beasts, but I guess we all know that I¡¯m the only one who has the required grades and patience for artificing,¡± said Will, making my nightmares come true. Will and Edward would see each other regularly. That is a disaster. But maybe, if Edward doesn¡¯t find out about¡­ No, he had seen me and Will yesterday, he already knows. How unlucky could I be?


    ¡°Good, good. Really good. The most difficult one is out of the way then. I think Keith should take healing,¡± continued Red, and everyone at the table except me nodded. Did I miss something, or why was Keith so unanimously selected as the healer? ¡°And Josh should go to infiltration and investigation.¡±


    ¡°What? Why me? Why not you?¡± asked Josh in protest.


    ¡°Because if you put half the energy into the courses ¡®investigation¡¯ and ¡®infiltration¡¯ that you put into finding out a girl¡¯s¡­¡± he stopped there and looked at me and Lorain. ¡°Just know you are the best for the job.¡±


    Lorain looked at me, shrugging her shoulders. She knew the boys longer than me, so maybe it was normal for her if they acted like that. And was it really such a great secret that Josh was a pervert? Well, maybe Red didn¡¯t want to embarrass Josh more than necessary.


    ¡°And I will take the beast taming course,¡± finished Red. Well, with how he talked about taming a wyvern or finding a dragon egg, I already knew he was excited for the course. And who could blame him, when Kate was the teacher? But this still doesn¡¯t resolve the problem of Will taking lessons from Edward. Do I really need to reveal my embarrassing past to him? It would be better than if he learned about it from Edward. But maybe I could make a deal with Edward to keep quiet about it. Yes, that would be preferable. Embarrassing myself in front of Edward would be far better than doing it in front of Will.


    ¡°Guys, do you really think you would be fighting as a team if war broke out? Does it even make sense to take the courses like that if you don¡¯t know that?¡± asked Lorain.


    ¡°Well, even in the times of the Roman Empire, people from the same origin were put in the same squads, so it should be the same now, don¡¯t you think?¡± answered Josh with a frown. Maybe he wasn¡¯t too sure of it himself. Another thing to ask Uncle when I have time.


    ¡°Anyway, breakfast time is over, and I still need to do some homework for Professor Severin. Why can¡¯t they spare us from potions when a war is this close,¡± lamented Josh. It seems like he is one of the uneducated idiots who don¡¯t know about the true power of potions.


    ¡°You do that. I have an important talk with Charlotte, so see you later, guys,¡± said Lorain.


    Wait, what? Since when did I have an ¡°important¡± talk with Lorain planned? Why didn¡¯t I know about that?


    ¡°Okay, see you girls later then,¡± said Red and pulled Will with him.


    ¡°See you later, Charly,¡± said Will as he was dragged away by his friends. Did I miss something again or what was happening right now?


    Lorain dragged me in the opposite direction of Will and just when I was wondering where she wanted to go, she turned around with a bright, expectant smile.


    ¡°So, how far did you go? Everyone knows that Will didn¡¯t return last night. So tell me everything.¡± Oh, no. The gossip machine in Toadwitz is already working at 100% capacity it seems. But was it fine to tell Lorain about it? Wasn¡¯t that something that should stay between Will and me? But other girls definitely talked about it.


    ¡°Come on, don¡¯t tell me you didn¡¯t do anything.¡± Okay, to hell with it. Lorain was a friend, right? And friends tell each other things like that.


    ¡°Well, I will tell you, but I really need a bath right now. You know, I didn¡¯t get the chance to bathe last night.¡± It was funny to see her burning curiosity flare up even more. And I just realized I really wanted to talk with her about it. But I didn¡¯t lie. I really needed a bath. And I knew that there wouldn¡¯t be any gossip girls spying on us.


    Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.


    The moment the door to the bath closed behind us, I couldn¡¯t stop myself anymore, it practically burst out of me.


    ¡°Will is amazing, I mean he is so sweet and lovely, and he can be so cute as well, you know we talked about so many things and I really, really like him and he doesn¡¯t care about my scar and he tasted like mint, and the clothes he wore, he looked so handsome and¡­¡±


    ¡°Girl, not everything at once. I know he is amazing, but please start at the beginning. You don¡¯t make any sense right now.¡± Oops, maybe I was getting a little too excited.


    ¡°You are right. Well, so we had our second date. And he looked like a handsome but humble prince. I mean, he always does, but he had this elegant white shirt and it just fit him so perfectly. And well, after he picked me up, he brought me to his favorite place, which is the stupid arena for Uncle Gregor¡¯s stupid fighting lessons, but anyway, we cuddled a bit, and we kissed a lot. You know, not the usual kissing but the kind where he uses his tongue and it was incredible. Well, I guess he used something for it, but he tasted like mint.¡±


    ¡°I heard the other girls talk about it. It¡¯s the newest trend right now. But it¡¯s expensive because the mint needs to be imported from Germania,¡± interrupted Lorain.


    ¡°Oh, okay, anyway, we talked a lot, and he can be so understanding. I mean, I have so many things I¡¯m unsure about and he listens and cares, and I don¡¯t really know how I deserve him.¡±


    ¡°Well, there is a reason why almost every girl in school tried to get him.¡±


    ¡°He is mine. Don¡¯t even think about it.¡±


    ¡°I know, I know. He has no eyes for someone else, anyway. So, what did you do? Did you let him touch you? Did you do more than just kissing?¡± asked Lorain and came suspiciously close to me. But I didn¡¯t care.


    ¡°Well, I would have let him, but he is¡­ too well-behaved, I think.¡± Now that I think about it, he really was a bit shy in that regard, if we discount the time he was asleep.


    ¡°So you mean he could resist those two?¡± asked Lorain and poked me in my breasts.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t touch me! Ahhh!¡± Before I could shove her away, the blond devil jumped at me and sank us both in the water.


    ¡°Great, now I need half an hour to take care of my hair.¡± Stupid Lorain. And what does she mean he could resist those two? It¡¯s not like I flaunted them in his face or something. Well, not really. And he only resisted because he wanted to be a gentleman.


    ¡°Hehe, you need to relax a bit. So, he didn¡¯t touch you? Not even once? Did you not try to tempt him?¡±


    ¡°Well, technically he did. You know, during the date, Kate came flying on her stygian hellfire dragon, which interrupted our date and when we went into the castle, I invited him to stay in my room.¡±


    ¡°So, he did sleep in your room? I knew it.¡±


    ¡°Yes, he did. And he only got a little touchy after he fell asleep, so I don¡¯t know if that counts.¡±


    ¡°Are you sure he was asleep? Maybe he just pretended.¡±


    Well, I hadn¡¯t thought about that possibility, but it¡¯s not like I would have stopped him if he was awake. And he also looked a bit ashamed when I told him about it.


    ¡°No, he was definitely asleep.¡±


    ¡°A shame, so nothing really happened?¡± What was that disappointment in her voice?


    ¡°I didn¡¯t say that. I mean, we didn¡¯t do it, but that¡¯s mainly because he wanted to be nice. I mean, I didn¡¯t really want it, but at that moment, well, anyway, I think he still was satisfied in the end. Hehe.¡±


    Oops, I think I broke Lorain. Why is she grinning like a pervert? Is she having weird thoughts about my boyfriend? Girl, you better not.


    ¡°So how big is he?¡± Is that your first question after having indecent thoughts about my boyfriend? You think I will answer you now?


    ¡°I won¡¯t tell you.¡± Despite her behavior, I really don¡¯t think that it should be something to share with others.


    ¡°Okay, just stay stop.¡± Said Lorain and put her hands together, and slowly seperated them further and further.


    ¡°I said, say stop,¡± repeated Lorain.


    ¡°I said, no.¡±


    ¡°Please, there are so many bets going on about it. And the person who gives the information always gets a share,¡± insisted Lorain.


    ¡°Still not going to say it. And I get the feeling that the girls in this castle are more depraved than the boys. Seriously, what is wrong with you guys?¡±


    ¡°Well, I guess gossip is one of the major entertainments in the castle. Do you want to know who has the biggest?¡± said Lorain like a devil trying to entice me.


    ¡°No.¡± I mean, I was a bit curious, but I had a hunch that this information came at a cost. And what if it was someone I knew? I would forever see them with different eyes.


    ¡°Prudish.¡± Better than being like those gossip girls, I guess.


    ¡°So, when is the third date?¡± That was a good question. Does a meeting with my mother and brother count? Or with his brother?


    ¡°I don¡¯t really know. There is so much going on right now. I mean, my family wants to get to know him, his brother wants to get to know me, and with the new courses, we will be quite busy. What courses are you going to take? You didn¡¯t say anything this morning.¡±


    ¡°Boring. But well, I guess it means it will be more or less officially between you guys then. It will definitely keep the hyenas away from Will. No one wants to get on the bad side of the founders for something like that. And I think I will try myself at healing. I mean, if I¡¯m good at it, it will definitely help me. Do you know how many children die young? Being a good healer would definitely be a huge plus for any potential marriage partner. The other courses, on the other hand, are not really useful for me. I mean, as girls, we won¡¯t really be expected to fight unless we really want to, so those things are not really useful for me. Investigation might be interesting, even if it''s just to learn how to get better at navigating the political drama between families. Magical beasts is an absolute no-go. I mean, no sane family would want to take care of the additional costs of keeping a magical beast if it¡¯s not necessary, so I guess only the heirs of a family will really take this course with the intention to tame something.¡±


    Wow, this was quite a different view on it than I had. But in a way, it made sense. Lorain had different problems than me. But what she said about children dying young worried me a bit. Maybe I should really take that course. I mean, my case is special anyway, so I can¡¯t even hope that a random healer would be able to take care of my children or me, so it might even be necessary for me to take the course.


    ¡°I guess we have healing together then. I just hope Professor Castle won¡¯t throw me out. You know, with my inability to use magic, I¡¯m not so sure he is willing to invest the effort to teach me.¡±


    ¡°Haha, as if a professor at Toadwitz would dare to throw you out. I bet even that handsome Professor Riddle would rethink his requirements if you wanted to take his lessons.¡±


    Well, I suddenly felt ostracized and sad. Would the new professors really make exceptions for me? Would they treat me differently because of Mother? If I really insisted on it, they probably would. Even Edward, who was a stickler for rules, would bend if I asked Aunt Seraphina. Probably just a request from my mother would be enough. Did I even deserve to be in their lessons if that was the only reason I was allowed to attend them?


    ¡°Hey, why do you look so downcast? It was just a joke.¡±


    ¡°Yeah, sorry. I¡­ I don¡¯t really like the thought of it. Anyway, you are always talking about chances with your marriage, do you have someone in mind? And no, Will isn¡¯t an option.¡± Now it was her turn to look a bit blushed and embarrassed.


    ¡°Well, if we are talking about realistic chances, I think that Keith is quite a nice guy. I mean, his family isn¡¯t the wealthiest or most influential, but he is a good person. Always nice and caring even if he is sometimes a bit clumsy. He also isn¡¯t known for chasing after girls randomly. And while he isn¡¯t the most handsome and some say he is a bit boring; I think I could be happy with him.¡±


    ¡°That doesn¡¯t really sound convincing. Is he really the one you want?¡± I asked, but she just nodded. Well, it wasn¡¯t really the most enthusiastic nod I had seen, but I guess it was all I was getting.

 Chapter 28

    ¡°So, how do you plan on trying to get Keith?¡± I asked. It was a weird feeling to take the opposite role in that conversation.


    ¡°Well, I haven¡¯t really thought about that yet. I mean, until a few weeks ago, I hoped¡­ you know.¡± Well, I guess she really bet on me not getting together with Will.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry. I mean, I won¡¯t leave him, but still¡­¡± I didn¡¯t really know what to say. I never needed to cheer someone up after ¡°stealing¡± their potential husband, so I was a bit lost.


    ¡°I don¡¯t expect you to. It just would have been like a dream come true. But let¡¯s talk about Keith. I mean he is kind, like I said, and he always helps others in need more or less out of principle. Maybe he makes a joke or two about it afterwards, but he means well. But in the end, playing the damsel in distress won¡¯t work. The general problem with him is, he is basically blind when it comes to seeing the signs. I mean, while you had your date with Will, I tried to get a little closer to him. We studied together and I sat especially close to him. I even put on a better perfume and after some time I even used my secret weapon and took off my cardigan because ¡®it was too hot¡¯. He is dense like a tree.¡± Wow, I didn¡¯t expect that. And was playing damsel in distress really a legitimate way of getting a guy''s attention? Isn¡¯t it like lying if it¡¯s fake?


    ¡°Mmm. Maybe you need to be more direct? I mean, as a ¡®dense like a tree¡¯ person myself, I guess if Will wasn¡¯t the way he was, I would have never even given a second thought about him. Or maybe I can ask Will for a tip or something like that. They are friends, aren¡¯t they? And if he thinks it¡¯s a good idea, which he will after I talk to him, he would surely be willing to help. I mean, at least he could help you get a chance.¡±


    ¡°But what if he isn¡¯t interested?¡±


    ¡°Girl, look at you. You think I look good, but have you ever looked in the mirror? You look absolutely amazing. That blonde shining hair is to die for, your blue eyes look like they were made by an artist, and your figure is probably ten times more tempting than mine. I mean, not only do you have those¡­¡± I paused to grab her breast. Wow, they were so soft and bouncy. And the curves were so perfect. Wait a moment, did Lorain infect me with that perverted behavior? Well, it kind of feels good. They also had some real weight to them. And the smooth skin that became so slippery because of the soap.


    ¡°Are you finished?¡± Oops, maybe I groped her a little too long.


    ¡°Ahm, yes¡­¡± I grinned like an idiot. ¡°Lorain, the point is, you look stunning, you are smart, and for years you trained to be the perfect housewife. Only an idiot would reject you. Is Keith an idiot?¡±


    ¡°Well, if you say it like that¡­ but what if his family isn¡¯t in favor of that? You know my situation.¡± She really didn¡¯t make it easy for me. It¡¯s my first time giving others advice for something like that. Cut me some slack. I don¡¯t have answers for everything.


    ¡°Maybe, just assume they don¡¯t. I mean, you won¡¯t know until you try. And if Keith really loves you, maybe he can convince his parents.¡±


    ¡°You really are naive, aren¡¯t you? But thank you. I needed that,¡± said Lorain and hugged me. Well, I guess thank you too.


    ¡°Hey, don¡¯t touch my ass!¡±


    ¡°Sweet, sweet revenge, Charlotte. Haha.¡± Damn girl, she got me. But at least she is cheerful again.


    A playful hour later, we walked towards the great hall again. On the way, we ran into someone I didn¡¯t want to meet at all.


    ¡°Hello Charlotte. I see you are doing well. We didn¡¯t have any time to talk yesterday, but it¡¯s good to see that you don¡¯t sneak around the corridors alone anymore,¡± said the most handsome stickler for rules.


    ¡°Hello Edward, long time no see.¡± I gnashed my teeth.


    ¡°It¡¯s Professor Riddle now. But I guess for old times'' sake, it¡¯s fine unless it¡¯s in class. Will you visit any of my courses? I know the practical part isn¡¯t your forte, but I know that you studied the theory behind it extensively.¡± Well, he was right, but why should I put myself through more torture than necessary?


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I will,¡± I answered shortly. But then I remembered that Will would take his classes, and I still needed to talk with Edward about keeping quiet. My dark past can¡¯t be revealed now.


    ¡°A pity. Anyway, if you change your mind, you can come to me at any time. Oh, and before I forget, I bought a book about potions when I was in Constantinople. You can read it before I put it in the library if you want to. With the speed you are reading, you¡¯ve probably almost finished the library, haven¡¯t you?¡± He was as friendly as ever. Why can¡¯t he just be an ass? It would make it easier to hate him. And a book about potions was a nice gesture, and I was a little tempted.


    ¡°I don¡¯t think I will. But the book sounds interesting. And, ahm, I know it¡¯s a bit sudden, but can I ask you for a favor?¡± I needed to get the part with Will out of the way as soon as possible.


    ¡°Sure, what can I help you with?¡± he asked, a bit curious but not overly so.


    I could see that Lorain, who had kept quiet until now, was listening attentively. Well, she didn¡¯t need to know, so I leaned over to Edward. Too damn close, but sacrifices need to be made for the greater good.


    ¡°The guy you saw me with last night. Don¡¯t tell him about what happened in the past, okay?¡±


    If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.


    ¡°No need to be embarrassed about something like that. You were just a little girl back then. But sure, I will keep quiet.¡± He answered in his always understanding manner. Not even showing a sign of wanting to ridicule me. And I decided not to throw a tantrum because he just mentioned that I was ¡°just a little girl¡± back then in my face. Not that it wasn¡¯t true, but I was still angry at being dismissed like that.


    ¡°Good. I will visit you for the book. See you.¡± Or maybe not. I don¡¯t know if the book is worth it, even if it¡¯s a bit exotic.


    ¡°See you later, Charlotte.¡±


    ¡°Whoa, you didn¡¯t tell me you know Professor Riddle like that,¡± started Lorain the moment we were around the corner. And I was sure she wanted to ask what I wanted to hide, but I had no plans of answering that. A secret was only a secret if only two people knew about it.


    ¡°He was in his last year when I was in my first. And the first batch of students was quite small. We basically all sat on one table during lunch. So yeah, we know each other. And before you get any ideas, he is already married,¡± I said.


    ¡°Well, I didn¡¯t think¡­ I mean he is¡­ We just talked about getting Keith,¡± she answered a little defensively.


    ¡°Sorry. I just know how¡­ desirable he might seem,¡± I replied, and we remained silent for the rest of the walk.


    Near the great hall, a great crowd had gathered around the blackboard. To my surprise, each course was scheduled three times a day, five times a week. The courses got numbers next to them, and the even numbers were like the first lesson of the week and the odd numbers were the second lesson of the week. So a student had to pick two of those lessons if they wanted to choose the module. It was a way not only to prevent classes from getting too crowded, but also to make it possible for students of different years to attend all courses. Survival, and surprisingly Healing, had excursions on the weekends once a month starting the second month of the lessons. That was a bit bothersome as it meant I couldn¡¯t spend every weekend cuddling with Will, but I guess we would at least go on the survival excursion together.


    I was probably the only student who didn¡¯t need to worry about any schedule, so I was relatively free to pick the lessons I wanted. But I decided to pick the same healing lessons as Keith. Maybe I could help Lorain a little, and even if not, it would be nice to get to know Will¡¯s friends a little better.


    Survival was also an obvious choice, as it was the only lesson I could take together with Will. Magical beasts, aka Beast taming, was a more difficult choice because Red had chosen one of the few slots where I didn¡¯t have time because I needed to teach my three little pupils. So, in the end, I had only one lesson with Red together.


    It was a weird feeling, knowing I would attend classes again after not doing it for a year. Especially since the students there weren¡¯t technically in my year. I hope it won¡¯t be as bad as in the past. I mean, except for the one lesson without Red, I should be fine, hopefully.


    ¡°Charly, did you talk with your mother about today?¡± asked Will from behind me.


    Damn, I forgot to inform Mother about it. Well, I can just ask her in a few minutes. No problem.


    ¡°I will ask her during lunch. Did you ask your brother about tomorrow?¡±


    ¡°Yes, he is quite excited about it and wants to meet up after dinner. I asked him not to bother us until then. If it weren¡¯t for the announcement this morning, he would have surely come, so I thought it would be better to get to know each other in a more private setting.¡± Well, he was a bit overdramatic about it, but who am I to tell him that? His nagging girlfriend? Nope, not me. I don¡¯t nag¡­ too often.


    ¡°Sounds good,¡± I said as we walked into the great hall. The tables were still in a U-formation, and the front seats were reserved. I hope that won¡¯t become the new normal. It was so impersonal.


    As we took our seats, a quite angry-looking Kate stomped into the hall, followed by Mother, Uncle Gregor, and Aunt Seraphina, who was the only one with her usual stoic expression.


    ¡°Listen here, you little shits. I never thought I would need to say this, but here is a little survival lesson for all of you. NEVER! YOU HEAR ME! NEVER TRY TO TOUCH A SLEEPING STYGIAN HELLFIRE DRAGON!¡± yelled Kate, and all previous thoughts about her not being able to speak in front of crowds vanished.


    ¡°What Professor Winter is trying to say is that getting near her dragon without her permission is at all times prohibited. So unless you get explicit permission, you are to stay 100 meters away from the dragon, or we can¡¯t guarantee your survival. The dragon will be housed at the outer perimeters of the castle, and we will build an appropriate nest for him in the coming days, which will be an off-limit zone. Don¡¯t assume that, just because the dragon is tamed, that he is not dangerous. One student is currently being treated by Professor Castle because he carelessly approached the dragon, and while he will survive, I think I don¡¯t need to mention that I don¡¯t want an accident like that to repeat. And of course, these rules will also apply to all of Professor Winter¡¯s tamed beasts,¡± interrupted my mother, and somehow her calm was even more frightening than Kate¡¯s shouts.


    But by the magic. Someone dared to go near that behemoth of black pure killing potential. That person must definitely be insane. But I guess I should wait until the end of lunch to talk to Mother now.


    Of course, during lunch, the only topic was the dragon. Well, and the idiot who thought it was a good idea to approach it. I was 99% sure it was one of Uncle Gregor¡¯s students. Only a Lionheart could be so stupid.


    After lunch, I grabbed Will and pulled him with me towards my mother and the other professors.


    ¡°Mom, I know you are busy and all with that dragon story, but do you have time this evening?¡±


    My mother stared at me and at Will, who looked a little apologetic towards her.


    ¡°I¡¯m sorry, Professor Humblehill. I wish we met under different circumstances, and I¡¯m sure you are quite busy. So if it¡¯s not possible, we can also meet at a later time,¡± stammered my idiotic boyfriend.


    ¡°Dear, I will always have time for my daughter. Especially for important moments like this,¡± said my mother and stared at William. Was she trying to intimidate him? Please, Mom, don¡¯t do that. He is my only boyfriend, and I don¡¯t want to lose him. ¡°But I think I could ask Majestro to bring us some food into our private dining hall. What do you think, Charlotte?¡±


    Well, I guess talking over dinner was as good as talking after it. So why not?


    ¡°Sure, Mom. Oh, and I think Percival wanted to come too. I mean, unless you think it¡¯s a better idea if he¡­¡±


    ¡°If you don¡¯t have a problem with it, I will naturally invite him too. But I need to go now, Charlotte. I still need to write a letter to the injured student¡¯s parents,¡± said my mother, leaving us behind.


    ¡°See, no problem,¡± I said to Will and grabbed his hands, which were quite sweaty. Well, I guess I would be nervous too when talking to his parents.


    ¡°Yeah, no problem,¡± he said almost weakly.


    ¡°Hey, no need to worry. My mother is really great once you get to know her. So, what do we do in the five hours till dinner?¡±


    ¡°Well, I want to train for at least one hour. I mean, if you have something different in mind, I can make an exception, but I want to keep up with my training. Especially with the war ahead.¡± Damn war. Such a mood killer.


    ¡°Are you worried?¡± I asked softly as we walked more or less aimlessly through the corridors.


    ¡°I would be a fool not to be. A war always requires sacrifices on both sides. And I just¡­ want to be prepared.¡±