The Lady's Mandate
1226 Words
The Vanilla Tavern.
Charlie, Luke's close friend, had some unique insights about Luke’s recent experiences.
“I don’t think you need to worry about your identity being discovered; humans aren’t like us. They don’t have our keen sense of smell,” Charlie assured him.
Luke nodded, just about to lift his glass when Charlie interrupted with another concern.
"But let me remind you, there's something more dangerous than being found out."
"Oh?" Luke raised an eyebrow.
"Going around disguised as a human," Charlie said, raising his voice dramatically. "You’re a young and handsome man, Luke!”
Charlie’s words startled him, forcing a smile as he noticed some patrons glancing their way.
Unfazed by the attention, Charlie continued louder, “You're as dashing as I am, you know? Do you understand the fate of men like us?”
I don't, and I don't want to, thought Luke, rolling his eyes internally. Even if he voiced these thoughts, experience taught him that Charlie wouldn’t listen once he got into one of his speeches.
The tavern’s women turned to look, but with their view blocked by Luke's back and only catching Charlie's face, they soon lost interest.
To be exact, Charlie wasn't unattractive. He was quite charming, but not to the extent of bragging.
Especially after overhearing Charlie’s next remark, “Men like us are always coveted by women. It happens far too often!”
The women silently rolled their eyes, unimpressed.
“So, Luke,” Charlie lowered his voice conspiratorially, drawing Luke closer, “that old woman, she’s definitely interested in you. Making you her apprentice is just a front. Her real intention is…” The red-haired young man whispered a word that Luke just missed.
However, he had an inkling of what Charlie was implying.
“Please, don't talk about her that way. Professor Peggy isn’t like that, and besides, she looks... so young,” Luke replied, a tinge of disappointment in his voice.
“You truly know nothing, Luke. She merely appears young. Haven’t I already analyzed her age with you? I told you, these human mages obsess over preserving youth long before they dive into formal magic exercises. It’s common to see a supposedly seventeen-year-old who's actually seventy.”
“She’s so accomplished in natural magic studies that being seventy wouldn't be surprising. The academy principal is a centenarian, after all. Why focus on her age?”
“Carter doesn't plan on sleeping with you,” Charlie remarked snidely.
“I don’t want to continue this conversation.” Luke's brow furrowed deeply, ready to leave.
“I respect her, Charlie,” Luke stated as he paid with a silver coin, “and you know I need her. Her magic might help me.”
This gave Charlie pause; as his longtime friend, Charlie understood the kind of agony Luke was enduring.
Even if Charlie didn’t see it as insurmountable pain.
“You might think I’m meddling, but it's not me, it's my aunt,” Charlie insisted. “My aunt always says your kind rarely can master their nature, and only one remedy exists. You know what that is.”
“Please, no more,” Luke responded softly but firmly.
“Alright,” Charlie relented, changing the topic. “This is for you, from ‘them’.” He handed Luke a bracelet, recognizable from his studies as capable of housing hundreds of mana crystals needed for human magic.
Luke didn't need it himself, but he knew wearing it was crucial for maintaining his disguise as a human mage.
Taking it without a word, he put the bracelet on, thanked Charlie, and left the tavern.
Outside, the moon shone brightly. Luke raised his head, gazing at it, a lonely light glinting in his eyes.
He shouldn’t feel lonely; many watched him, with gazes ranging from kind to admiring to lascivious, he knew how to draw them near.
An innate knowledge, as his sisters insisted, was ingrained in their blood from the beginning. Attempting to defy it was futile.
But I haven’t lost, Luke whispered to himself, thinking of Professor Peggy.
Ever since learning about her groundbreaking magic years ago, he pledged to meet her.
Now, as her apprentice, he was in territory he dared not dream of.
The joy was immense, yet he hadn’t forgotten his sisters’ request before leaving.
At Bennett's Academy of Magic, beyond being a professor’s apprentice, he played a detective.
Because his sisters believed that whoever left the defilement in their home must belong to the academy.
A certain woman. His sisters said to locate her and tear her apart.
Rip her apart? Luke had no such intention, but he needed to find her and warn her.
Run, miss, run as far as you can.
--
The following day, Steve arrived, sooner than Peggy expected.
“How did you sleep?” Peggy greeted warmly.
“Thanks to you, I didn’t catch a wink,” Steve grimaced.
Those magically enchanted flowers in the greenhouse had kept up a racket till dawn.
At breakfast, his sister Anna bluntly encouraged him to yield.
“No way,” Steve declared.
Anna sighed, “But if you do, I’ll get more chances to see Lady Peggy.”
“Oh, I see, it’s about you,” Steve replied wryly.
“Brother, you look your best when you're earnestly practicing magic!”
So Steve had come, telling himself it was for Anna. But deep down, wasn’t there a part of him compelled by his own reason? He couldn't quite say.
In truth, what kept him awake was the flowers’ racket, or rather the lady’s words.
“Only the fiercest dogs dare to bite back,” she had said.
Why did she utter those words? What was her real stance towards the Magic Tower? Would she help him uncover the truth behind his parents' deaths?
Steve's mind was a whirlpool of questions, and to Peggy, his confusion was written all over his face.
She appraised the young man’s handsome features with a sigh—yet another simple soul. Would she never have a clever subordinate this year?
Amy, at least, was sharp-minded, though far too rigid. Peggy knew Amy would report her to the Magic Tower the first chance if she ever accidentally killed someone.
Just when she thought this, Amy arrived.
Her timing was impeccable, and Peggy was about to instruct her to guide Steve around the academy.
But Amy wasn’t alone; at her side was another young man.
The black-haired beauty was someone Peggy had just seen the previous night.
Holding her head in exasperation, Peggy groaned, “Luke, why are you here? Didn’t I tell you to come back in three days?”
Before Luke could respond, Amy interjected, “He wasn’t coming in. Someone reported a suspicious person near the academy, and when I checked, it was him. So I brought him inside.”
Peggy's headache worsened, “Luke, does this mean you didn’t… go home last night?”
Luke wanted to deny it, but he had. Not only that, he had gone to a tavern, which the professor would certainly disdain.
Drunken, he had wandered aimlessly and ended up here without realizing it.
Thus, speaking the truth was not an option. He hung his head, braced to endure his mentor’s reprimand.
The author speaks:
Luke: Professor Peggy must be a teetotaler. OvO
Luke’s sisters: Sharpening knives 😈
- Writer
