"May the accused stand up!" A man, dressed in golden linen, spoke.
A strong sense of authority lingers throughout his every word, making everyone in the room tremble in fear.
"Grandiana Mago, nice seeing you!" The man uttered after seeing the old woman standing before him.
"Great Mage!" The old woman smiled, unwavered by the man's authority in front of her.
"Finally removing the cloak?" The man, dressed in golden linen, titled as this era's Great Mage, asked.
"My only living grandson's finally free, I don't see any reason to hide anymore!" The old woman sneered.
Finally, she had the guts to defy the people who pursued her, ostracizing them for being too powerful and fearing their potential to become the leader of all Craftsmen. Though they chose to live in isolation, they were still seen as a threat to all the Lords who sit in power in the Society, an organization to keep, guide, and guard all People with Gifts to live in harmony with humans.
Even with their kind, they were still seen as outsiders, for their lineage possesses the ability to create new Magic, especially the women. The woman who gave birth to the origin of the new Magic called Magecraft, the First Mage.
"Then we shall start the prosecution, Grandiana, or should I say Grama?" The Great Mage said as he stared down at the chained-up old woman.
"In accusation for the alleged manipulation, deception against me, the Great Mage five years ago... Does one plead guilty?"
"Yes!" Grama answered without any hint of fear.
"What about the alleged colluding with the Darkness, and the intended attack against the First Mage, how does the accused plead?"
Grama's hair swayed into the air that just suddenly appeared inside the closed room, prepared to use her Magic.
"Guilty!" She smiled as she turned to an old man, smiling with contentment in the corner of the room. Thinking he's already won.
"Then, we shall punish the accused according to our law!" The Great Mage nodded before appearing in front of the old man.
"Great Mage? What are you doing?!" The old man yelled, confused by the sudden betrayal of his companion.
Or at least that's what he thought.
"Anyone who threatens my kind will never get to see tomorrow, Oleon, I hereby find you guilty of all said charges!" The Great Mage appeared in front of the old man, stopping him from getting out of his chair.
He thought he had the Great Mage in control, but that's just what the Great Mage made him think. His mind-controlling Spell had already been lifted by the Witch named Grandiana five years ago.
"Your power won't work here. The moment you stepped inside this room, you've already fallen into our trap!" Grama pointed to all four corners of the room.
Glowing ancient texts scattered around, Sigils that prevent the intended target from using Magic.
"You tricked me?!" Oleon exclaimed, shocked by the sudden turn of the tide that went against him.
He had longed for this moment, to finally get rid of the last Mago Witch, the only threat to his power, yet, even with all the preparations that he had made for years, it was still insufficient.
"You're the reason for the death of my entire Clan. I will never stop trying to avenge them, even if EVERY SINGLE ONE OF YOU went against me! For I am Grandiana Mago, the best Great Mage this world has ever seen. Even if I'm no longer in my prime, no one can ever beat me, even him!" She points to the Great Mage, who's just smiling on the side.
'My Master's too locked in, it's a shame no one would dare defy her. I wanna see her in action again, but now's not the time!' The Great Mage thought to himself.
All the Lords in the room just sat in silence, no one dared to talk back, for this woman, this Witch, will always be a Mago, the last and only Witch that could ever step on a level of a God-like power.
"I got it from here, Grama, say hi to the Scion and Successor for me!" The Great Mage bowed in front of her before grabbing Oleon and vanishing into thin air.
"Witch!" A Sorcerer whispered, despising the power and arrogance that the old woman displayed.
***
Achan's P.O.V
"When did you go earlier? I thought you'd be treating us to lunch?!" Sorene suddenly jumped on me from behind.
Startled, my newly bought book from the library flew into the air.
"Sorene!" I yelled at her as she tried to pick everything from the ground.
"Sorry, you're just too deep in your thoughts, you didn't even hear me calling for your name!" She apologized before handing me the books.
"It's not my fault your voice is too thin!" I teased her to try to act normal.
"Oy, there you are!" I heard Ori running after us, where Sorene also came from.
"What? I thought you'd be leaving first?" Sorene turned me and her to Ori's direction.
"Why are you- wait, are you okay?" Ori grabbed the books from my hand and looked at my face.
"Huh? Nothing! The classes are over, I just went to the library to get some books needed for my course!" I tried to explain and took back the books from him before walking off.
"What's with you? It's still the first day, we can go there next week!" Sorene followed me.
"Really? Or you're just waiting for us to head first, so that you could quietly go with your boyfriend?!" Ori squealed in excitement.
"What?!" Sorene and I turned to him.
"What? I saw Mr. Moralez standing in front of the school's gate. No need to act innocently!" He smiled, but I know he's not fine with it.
"Really? Can I see this mysterious ma- Ori, what the hell?!" Sorene complained after being dragged away by Ori.
'I'm fine, go!' He mouthed before waiving his Sigil in the air, vanishing with Sorene into the Magic Circle that his Sigil made.
He's even using his Magic in public places just to get away quickly, luckily, no one's around!
"He's not!" I sighed.
Of course, he's not gonna be okay, but he's trying to be strong, for me…
"Are you that serious for your first day back to school? It's already dark. Did you take night classes too?" A slightly annoyed voice caught my attention as I walked outside.
I found Uther outside the school, just like what Ori said earlier. Standing outside next to his luxurious-looking car, still dressed in a black suit.
What an attention-seeking type of guy is he?
"Who told you to go here and wait for me? I didn't!" I glared at him.
There are still a few students hanging out on the transport shelter, staring at us, confused by the sudden appearance of a famous young CEO in front of their school- OMG!
"Get in!" I immediately covered my face after realizing that thought.
I haven't realized it yet, but there might be people from the media. The Society could find us out!
"What? Are you scared to see us hanging out in public? Are you ashamed of us?!" He pouted after we both got into his car.
That was not my initial thought, but now that he said it out loud, I got even more embarrassed.
"What?! First, there's no us. Second, you're not supposed to be out here!" I yelled at him.
"Yet!" He smiled before starting his car and driving away.
Why is he here? Is he really serious about what he said earlier?
"Hey, go back! I live there!" I yelled at him as I pointed at the street that we just passed.
"What? You don't like living next to mine?" He pouted again.
Is he talking about the room I had in the company building?
"Dude, I am no longer your employee. Take me back. I am not gonna ask again!" I squint my eyes at him to look threatening.
"I guess it's cool to see your new place, might be more comfortable than my bed, tonight's my lucky night!" He smiled before turning the car around.
More comfortable than his bed? Lucky?!
"I-It's small..." He seemed at discomfort after entering my apartment.
One bedroom, a small kitchen, a toilet, and a bathroom, a very normal studio-type apartment for a student like me. Why does he look like he hasn't seen-
"Oh..." My mind finally grasped the situation.
"Is this... All?" He said as he walked around the apartment, staring at everything he could see.
"You haven't seen a normal student's habitat, haven't you?" I asked him after seeing his shocked look.
"I studied abroad, I didn't know that college students in our country move into houses like these just to study in universities. Can't you use your last paycheck to buy a condo or something better than this?" He sighed and sat on my bed.
"Excuse me, but I am saving those for emergencies!" I rolled my eyes and stood in front of him.
I can't just use that money, I know I wouldn't achieve something that big anytime soon. Better keep it on my bank, or make a time deposit or something!
"You know I could help you with that!" He loosened his tie and unbuttoned his shirt, revealing his collarbone-
"NO, can you leave? This normal college student needs his hard-earned rest!" I said to him before going to the bathroom.
"Fuck!" I whispered after closing the door.
I slowly touched my pounding chest and tried to calm down.
"What is he doing to me?"
I took a slow breath and slapped my cheeks.
"I can't fall for his tricks, I don't know what he wants… Yet!" I mumbled as I stared at myself in the mirror, cheeks a bit red from the slap.
After washing up, I slowly peeked outside the bathroom to see whether he's gone or not.
"Finally!" I whispered in relief and swung open the door.
"Finally, come, eat!" A voice struck me like lightning, hindering me from moving.
He hasn't left yet?!
"Why are you still here?!" I covered my upper body with my arms and turned to my kitchen behind me.
I only have a towel on me.
"We still haven't eaten dinner yet, so I figured I should get us some while you wash up." He just shrugged his shoulders before handing me a pair of pajamas from my cabinet.
We?
"What? Get out!" I tried to push him, but I felt a sudden breeze down there.
My towel, the only cover I had, fell!
"Fuck!" We both said in unison.
"You dumb fuck!" I cursed at him before grabbing the clothes in his hand, then ran for the bathroom.
*Sigh!*
"Calm down, don't get him into your nerves, he's still your boss, or was-"
A knock on the door ruined my meditation.
"GET OUT!" My meditation didn't work, I still feel the anger.
"Are you done? Please eat before the food gets cold. I'll be back tomorrow to pick you up for school." His voice got overwhelmed by the sudden loud thunder outside.
GREAT!
Nice timing!
"Tsk!" I rolled my eyes in front of the mirror when the rain suddenly poured.
Why does it gotta rain this hard at this moment?!
"Stay!" I opened the door and stopped him from getting out of the apartment.
It's already past nine, and the walk to the parking lot's too far, he'll just get wet from the rain- I just don't want him to get sick because of me, okay?!
His saddened face suddenly turned into a bright, smiling one.
"I bought roasted chicken with rosemary in it..." He said with glee like a kid who's been permitted to play outside.
Can he eat normal foods?
"Poulet rôti, luckily I found a good restaurant!" He smirked while showing me his phone.
"I guess not!" I whispered after hearing the dish name.
"What?" He said, still smiling as he prepared my plate.
"Nothing, are you sure you want to sleep here?"
"You want me to sleep here?" His eyes widened.
"WHAT?!" Why is he acting like I was asking him?
"I mean... If you insist!" His smirk couldn't be hidden.
After eating, he still couldn't hide his excitement.
"Ahh, FREEDOM RULES!" He yelled.
I almost forgot, this dude got locked up on an island for years… I guess I could be a little lenient towards him, I still felt pitiful towards hi-
"You can have this!" I said before throwing a new blanket on the sofa.
Tsk! What am I thinking?!
"What?" His face dropped after realizing that he's not gonna sleep with me on the bed.
"Why? Do you want to go home? In this weather?" I pointed at the storm outside.
"But I couldn't sleep without something to hug!" He acted like a grumpy kid before jumping into my bed.
*Sigh*
"Fine, you can have the bed!" I threw him the pillow I was holding.
Before I could even walk into the sofa, his hands already pulled me into bed.
"What are you doing?!" My whole body went into panic as soon as my back touched his body.
This is what I feared, this sudden change of his mood… He's playing with me!
"We're already dating, why are you acting like I'm a stranger?" He whispered to my ear as we both lay, still, on the bed.
"There's no way I said yes to that, and yes, you're still a stranger to me, now get off!" I yelled as I tried to stand up, but he pushed me back to the bed and jumped on top of me.
"That's why I wanted you to say yes, you'd get to know me if we started dating, right?" He smiled while his face hovered inches away from mine.
Is he playing with me?
"Now, what do you say?" He squints his eyes as he plays with my cheeks.
I hate this man!
"If I say yes, would you stop being like this?" I slowly said to him as I placed my hand on my mouth, stopping any future stolen kisses.
Yet I still let him…
"No!" He smirked before pulling my hands away from my mouth."Why?" I said, irritated.
"Because I want to get rid of this wall you're putting... How can I make you fall for me if I stop being sweet towards you?" He said while closing our gap.
I couldn't do anything else but close my eyes and let his body collide with mine.
Then there it goes, our fifth kiss.