Chapter 1: Girl, Enrolls

 

 

 

Act 5: Infiltrating the Magic Academy!

 

Chapter 1: Girl, Enrolls

IN the center of Arcanshiel, a lush forest of towering trees surrounded Elminage Academy for Gifted Witches and Wizards. Magic prevented outsiders from seeing past the greenery to the academy grounds, and rumor had it trespassers would be ejected outside the forest.

“So this is the place?” Nichika stood at the forest entrance checking over her appearance for the hundredth time that day. She couldn’t help raising her concerns with her friends. “Hey, am I pulling off this rich girl look okay? It doesn’t scream impostor to you?”

“You’re super-duper cute!”

Wolfie’s stamp of approval helped boost her confidence a smidge. Nichika was wearing the red dress she had received from Makina in Lolo Village. She tied up half of her magically dyed reddish-brown hair with a big ribbon and tapped the tip of her knee-high lace-up boots against the dirt. She looked the part of a fancy young lady from a rich family, or so she hoped.

Confirming she had finished her self-assessment, the wolf sitting at her feet proudly puffed out his chest. “Look at me! Look at me! I get to wear a bowtie, too!”

“Make sure you don’t talk in front of other people, okay?” Nichika reminded him for the thousandth time that day as she straightened out his lopsided bow. He barely passed as a big dog, she hoped.

“Shall we head inside, my lady?” asked an uncannily serene voice behind them.

“……”

Nichika suspiciously turned around. Before her stood an impeccably perfect butler from every visible angle, offering her a dashing smile. Silken locks of brown hair fell on his round glasses, his starched black dress shirt accentuated the broad chest hidden under a waistcoat and matching white jacket. The look was topped off with unwrinkled trousers and white gloves.

After gaping at him with an indescribable expression, Nichika finally managed to say “Excuse me?”

“Yes, m’lady?”

“Why are you so into this, Oswald?”

The young butler was indeed Oswald in disguise. He was normally a handsome man with a frosty edge, but his butler act shockingly turned him into an approachable and charming youth. Amazing was about the only thing she could say for his ability to completely change how people viewed him.

“I believe I asked you to please call me Will, my lady,” her master advised with an affable smile, the entire aura about him shifting to fit his role.

“How can I?!” Flabbergasted, she searched for the right word to describe her problem.

I’d be instantly convinced if he said he was someone else Oswald hired to fill in for him… Actually, maybe that’s exactly what he did?

Displaying a polished smile capable of stealing anyone’s breath away, the butler gracefully offered his hand to his charge. “Come along. We should make haste through the forest before you tire, my lady. Please take my hand.”

“……”

Any normal girl would have happily jumped at the chance to be escorted by him. Nichika, however, knew that behind the charming butler’s smile was actually her arrogant, narcissist, eccentric master. Cheeks twitching, she pushed passed his proffered hand.

 

***

ANGELICA Rubens, her attendant Will, and pet Jon.

The gatekeeper compared the information on the admittance papers to the actual young lady, young man, and accompanying pet before nodding once and granting them permission to enter.

“You’re good. Your papers appear legit. You’re free to enter.”

“Th-Thank you very much.”

“Congratulations on your admittance. Good luck with your witchery.”

Nichika, disguised as the transfer student Angelica, internalized her sigh of relief as she passed through the poorly lit stone gateway into a magic tunnel invisible to those without permission to enter. Her eyes widened in awe over what she saw on the other side. She had been under the impression the forest only housed a magic academy, but she also discovered a bustling town.

Directly ahead was a castle that screamed of a hidden history, and rows of fascinating shops in peculiar shapes lined the gently sloping hill leading to it. Boys and girls walked in every direction wearing the same black robes that designated them as students. Closer inspection revealed different color fabric lined each of their robes.

Growing more excited by the second, Nichika squeezed her hands together and looked around with stars shining in her eyes. “Oh my gosh! It’s exactly like what I’ve read about in books!”

“What books?”

“There was this children’s book I read a long time ago about a magic school just like this. Wow! I’m so moved!”

The students walking by stared at the enthused Nichika like she was some sort of rare animal let loose into their midst. The butler urged his charge ahead and away from those needling stares.

“Elminage Academy for Gifted Witches and Wizards was originally made up of only the castle you see before you, but the locals slowly gathered here to do business with the students, eventually creating the town you see today,” he kindly explained for her benefit.

“Cool. That’s a graduate for you. You know a lot about your alma—” Nichika darted her gaze around to make sure no one heard her careless slip of the tongue. Fortunately, no one seemed to be paying them that much attention. She unwillingly raised her gaze to the butler beside her, but he naturally changed the topic without a hint of anger.

“I understand the town fascinates you, but let’s finish your enrollment formalities first, my lady.”

“Oh, okay.”

Let down that she couldn’t enjoy the town now, Nichika followed Oswald up the hill. He was being kind today. Too kind. Obviously it was all part of his act, but his behavior threw her for a loop anyway.

He usually jumps down my throat and mocks me like it’s a big deal whenever I goof. It’s disturbing that he’s not doing it now… Hold on! That makes it sound like I want him to make fun of me! I so don’t!

But I also feel like something’s missing… I’ve been totally poisoned by him, Nichika concluded just as they arrived in front of the castle.

A deep moat surrounded the castle, and students had to either fly on their brooms or cross the long drawbridge to enter the grounds. Nichika crossed the bridge trying her best not to look over the side at the rumbling river below.

A girl was waiting for her when she arrived at the imposing arched gate leading inside. She appeared around the same age as Nichika, and a black robe with red lining covered her well-rounded frame. Her green eyes practically shot into her forehead the moment she spotted Nichika.

“You’re five minutes late!” she snapped in a cutting voice.

“I am? I-I’m sorry?”

The girl flipped her flashy pink curls over her shoulder and broke into a shrill lecture as if she didn’t deign Nichika’s apology worth hearing. “Great Spirits, this is why I DESPISE spoiled girlies who hail from the nobility! Hurry up and follow me! Man, why am I stuck with this stupid job?”

The girl marched into the entrance hall and up the imperial staircase ranting complaints under her breath without waiting for them. Nichika hurried after her as she unenthusiastically listed off the names of the different wings and pointed in their general direction…but she spoke so fast it was hard to catch what she said.

“The central wing is for the Department of General Magic and other common area facilities. The west wing that can be reached from here is the Wizard Department. The east wing that can be accessed from there is the Witch Department. If you go straight ahead, you will reach the General Department’s dormitory. Okay, here’s the key to your room.”

“Ooph!”

Nichika barely managed to catch the key the girl tossed in her general direction. She glanced up from the gold skeleton key to where the girl glared scornfully down at her from atop the stairs.

“Not only did you enroll at the oddest time, but you even got the best room in the dorms, and brought along a manservant and even your pet to boot… I bet you’re just after an academic record to score yourself a better nobleman, but this academy won’t be as easy on you as your doting parents led you to believe.”

“Excuse me?”

“I showed you around. Bye.”

The nameless girl turned on her heel and stormed away. For whatever reason, she hated Nichika with a passion, which was a shock to say the least.

“The students admitted into this school are split into two groups: those who passed the entrance exams and those whose rich parents paid their way in through ‘donations,’” her butler explained in gentle tones as he picked up her trunk. “She’s envious because they rolled out the royal treatment for you, not her. You needn’t concern yourself with her, my lady.”

“…Would you give the act a rest already?” Nichika requested, her master’s formalities giving her hives.

“Nonsense. We don’t know who might be listening, my lady,” he rejected on the spot.

His grin was so wide she seriously wanted to ask him if he was enjoying himself that much.

***

THE gold key opened the penthouse room on the top floor of the dormitory. Astoundingly, they had the entire floor to themselves. Nichika was stunned by the gorgeous, palatial interior.

“What in the world does Lady Angelica’s family do…?”

The girl she was posing as had kicked the royal treatment at school to the curb and fled to do who knows what instead. Was she enjoying a leisurely walk in a quaint town with her manservant in tow right about now?

Oswald answered her query as he lowered their things on top of the plush carpet. “Your family, the illustrious Rubens, operate inns across the world. You are expected to be in attendance at the academy for the next year, my lady.”

“I am?”

“Please develop at least a basic awareness about your own family. You never know when you might be questioned.”

“Ugh.” Nichika struggled to come up with a good comeback. She didn’t know when or where she might slip up. Averting her eyes, she began muttering excuses. “Easy for you to say when you’ve lived your whole life with a glib tongue meant for deceiving others.”

She didn’t mean for him to hear her, but the butler’s gentle gaze temporarily gleamed with the icy chill of Oswald’s blue eyes. The apprentice sat up straight on the bed and started speaking fast before her master could.

“Y-You are absolutely right! Please give me the papers on them! I’ll cram it all into my brain!”

“Good girl.” Oswald turned from her and crouched behind the wolf intently sniffing every corner of the room, happily wagging his big, bushy tail. “Jon,” he called Wolfie by his undercover name.

“…Hm? Oh, that’s me!”

“There is a big building behind Elminage Castle. If you go inside and enter the second room on the left, you will find an old man who loves dogs. Please befriend him,” Oswald ordered, maintaining his butler voice even with Wolfie.

“Befriend? As in become friends? I want friends! Yippie!” Wolfie leapt with joy. He had grown much more confident about making friends since the incident in Lolo Village. The brown furball shot out of the room through an open window, not the penthouse double doors.

“Oh my gosh, Jon!” Nichika instinctively reached out to stop him.

“Don’t fret, my lady. He’s running along the ledge to get there.”

“What if someone sees him?”

Oswald glanced at the grandfather clock and asked her a question instead of answering hers. “You have one general magic class in the afternoon. Do you wish to attend, my lady?”

“Sure. Why wouldn’t I?” she asked like it was only obvious.

What was the point of enrolling if she didn’t attend?

“…Well, it won’t hurt for you to find out for yourself,” he replied with hidden meaning.

While a part of her was bothered by the implication there, she was even more excited than worried. Her mind filled with scenes from her favorite magic school books that she had devoured as a kid.

I get to take magic classes! I wonder what they’ll teach. I should really learn more about magic before using it.

When she thought about it, fighting from instinct until now seemed like courting danger. This was the perfect opportunity for her to absorb all sorts of information and new skills.

 

***

“WHAT the?”

Nichika stumbled into the classroom; everything she envisioned dashed the moment she opened the door.

Though the people here called it a classroom, it was a far cry from anything found at a modern school on Earth. The lecture hall was shaped like a mortar, with the students sitting on the dimly lit flat floor with concave walls rising high above them. It was more like a coliseum than a classroom with its lack of a ceiling. But that’s not what took her by surprise. The second she stepped inside, a row of glowing letters sparked in front of her eyes.

“This isn’t a ballroom, princess.”

I can see that?

“Whoa!”

Before she had the chance to process, new glowing letters started slapping her in the face at the speed of a kid sending hate texts on their smart phone.

“Why don’t you go sip tea and eat off a silver spoon in the comfort of your private rooms?”

“Wizards study here. You don’t belong.”

“How much did you bribe them with? Gimme some spending cash!”

“Real cute!” Nichika huffed, swatting away the tenacious letters.

Their spiteful remarks reminded her of what Oswald said about students being jealous of Angelica for getting in without taking the entrance exams.

Now I get what he was hinting at. She figured it out, but swinging her arms at the ever-increasing “posts” did nothing to stop them from sticking to her.

“Oh, c’mon! Give it a rest already, brats!”

The laughter rising from all over the classroom ticked her off. She clenched her fists and shouted from the pit of her stomach, “I came here to study! Don’t get in my way!”

The annoying letters popping up endlessly around her like a bad computer virus abruptly vanished. A single sentence exploded in front of her eyes after a few moments.

“Why don’t you take a seat already?”

Fired up by their challenge, Nichika hopped off the ledge into the bowl of the hall and claimed the seat at the front of the class. Their childish bullying was no skin off her back. Like she would let them scare her away. Admittedly, the glowing words smacking her in the back of the head like spitballs were beyond annoying. They couldn’t have come up with a more irritating gimmick if they tried.

Ignore it. Ignore it. Don’t light them on fire and get yourself kicked out on your first day of school, Nichika told herself in a weakening attempt to keep from exploding with anger and lashing out.

“You won’t understand even if you study.”

“Why don’t you go crying back to Papa? Not that you know who’s casting this spell!”

“Annoyed, aren’t you? Getting to you, isn’t it?”

Ticked. Ticked. So damn ticked. Nichika was nearing her snapping point, when a brilliant idea hit her and she snapped her fingers under the desk.

BURST.

She grinned from ear to ear as all the posted words went up in flame around her. Magic really was the best way to deal with magic. Hearing the gasps behind her brought such satisfaction she internalized her grinning and faced forward with her features schooled.

The professor had arrived while the students were having their hidden battle of magic words. An elderly witch wearing a pointed hat rode in on a broom from the open ceiling. She landed with a heavy thud and scowled after surveying the hall.

“Oh goodness me. It reeks of magic in here. You all know magic is forbidden in the classroom. All right, get your books out. Class is starting.”

***

“YOU’RE not half bad at holding your own, girl.”

After class, Nichika was trailing behind the students leaving the room in droves when a girl spoke to her. She looked over her shoulder to find the pink-haired girl who had shown her around school with her arms crossed at her chest and a humored smile.

“You’re—”

“I didn’t think you’d burn the Chirps. An aggressive but effective move.”

Nichika instantly went into defensive mode and shot her down before she had a chance to say something nasty again. “What do you want? Did you have fun pestering me with those things?”

“Me? I wouldn’t dream of it! I wish you wouldn’t lump me in with those babies.” The girl’s catlike green eyes widened like she was offended by the assertion. “I had assumed you were a self-important noble, but I saw you taking class seriously,” she admitted, sounding touched.

“I didn’t come here to play around.” Nichika pouted.

The girl broke out in a big smile and apologetically held out her hand. “Sorry, sorry. I know that now. I never did introduce myself, did I? I’m Melissa. It was rude of me to be so cold before I even knew you.”

“…Angelica.”

Nichika returned her handshake while trying to get over how unexpected the apology was. Melissa tugged Nichika up to the door and out of the classroom.

“I’ll treat you to some Magico Beer in town! To apologize!”

“Wah! Hey!”

They were the same height yet Melissa was a lot stronger. She charged through the hallway dragging Nichika behind her. The other students gave them funny looks.

“Hey, what’re you looking at?!” the girl clipped out in response. “If you’ve got enough time to stare you aren’t studying hard enough. Ruppa! You haven’t forgotten about the magic herb quiz tomorrow, have you? You can’t graduate if you fail again! Celi, you napped through class again. The professor caught you.”

The students called out by name bitterly saw Melissa off. She paid them little attention as she left the castle with her head held high. Nichika panicked as she ran to keep up with her.

Wh-What’s with this girl? She seems like an honor student, but does a horrible job at interacting with others…

Nichika worried whether it was smart to get involved with her. She and Oswald had disguised themselves and enrolled in Elminage in order to dig up information on the Witch’s Council. Standing out in a bad way should be avoided at all costs. But she was reluctant to push away someone who was trying so hard to be her friend.

They arrived at their destination while she debated whether to shake off the other girl or not. Melissa had brought her down the hill to a shop in town. Laughter and young voices spilled outside the antiquated but welcoming shop walls. Nichika looked up at the hanging wood sign and read the letters engraved there. The name “Pointy Hat Pub” drew a small scream from her.

“You brought me to a pub?! We’re underage!”

“Hm? It’s all good. There’s not a drop of alcohol in Magico Beer. I mean, it is a type of stimulant, but one approved by the school,” Melissa cheerfully explained and headed for the counter where she placed an order with an apron-clad bartender. “Master! Two mugs of Magico Beer, please! Angelica, you can take it straight, right?”

“Um, sure?”

Melissa returned with two full mugs and placed one down on the table in front of Nichika with a loud clank. It was a bubbly carbonated cocktail with a gradient that changed from vibrant blue to hot pink.

“Without further ado, cheers!”

The girls clinked their mugs and took their first sip. The refreshing feeling of cool liquid sliding down her throat brought Nichika untold pleasure. Tasting the unknown gourmet drink finally brightened her mood.

“It’s delicious!”

“Right? This is the most popular pub among students.”

Nichika’s wariness for the girl smiling happily across from her finally waned. Her first impression was about as bad as they came, but she didn’t seem to be an intentionally mean girl.

Melissa placed her mug on the round table for two and frowned with guilt. “I need to apologize to you again for earlier. I just assumed you were like all the other nobles who enroll for impure motives.”

“You take learning seriously, don’t you?”

The advice she threw out at the other students on their way here was said for their own good. Nichika’s honest opinion drew a bright smile from the other girl who proudly put her hand on her chest.

“Of course I am. I mean, I am Headmaster Grindieda’s granddaughter, after all!”

That unexpected confession stayed Nichika’s hand before she could bring the mug to her lips. She placed it back down on the table and the square ice cubes clinked against the glass.

“You’re the headmaster’s granddaughter?”

“What, you don’t believe me?” She shot Nichika a reproachful look.

“No, I don’t doubt you,” Nichika promptly replied with a shake of her head. “So that’s why you were advising the other students on the way here.”

“Oh my Spirits, not a single one of those children takes their studies seriously.” Melissa slammed her mug down on the table and burst into a rant with a glint in her eyes. “That’s right, someday I will become headmaster! I can’t have this school start in the pits when I take over. I’ve got to reform things before it’s too late!”

“Ahahaha…”

It was anyone’s guess if she would become headmaster, but she was a bigshot in her own right being able to ignore the other students’ apathetic, irritated glares the way she did.

Nichika poured herself another glass of Magico Beer and asked, “What’s all this about nobles enrolling with impure motives?”

Melissa twirled a pink curl around her finger as she contemplated how to best answer her. Playing with her hair seemed to be a habit whenever she was deep in thought.

“Okay, here’s the thing: while the headmaster has the most authority over Elminage, there’s also a group that’s only second to her in power called the Five Eldra Steorra. This group is made up of professors selected from each department, but there’s been some seriously fishy rumors going around about them lately…”

Nichika knocked back the Magico Beer while listening to her. Man, is this drink delicious.

“Rumor has it they’re letting noble kids enroll after receiving hefty bribes and that they’re actually secretly in cahoots with the Witch’s Council. Hard to know what to do with them without clear-cut proof.”

“Uh-huh, uh-huh.”

I just got ahold of some unexpected intel, Nichika absently noted as she tipped back her glass, only to realize it was empty.

“Heyy, Melissa? Can I have…another?”

“Sure? I don’t mind. It’s on me as an apology for earlier. Have as many as you want.” Melissa raised her hand and another pitcher appeared on their table. “And get this: if the Five Eldra Steorra all agree on something, not even the headmaster can overturn it. It seems like Grandmother is having a hard time lately because of that.”

“Fa-ive…Elda…Steorraaa…and the Witch’s Couuuncil?” Nichika slurred.

“I believe they’re connected. Don’t you think the Witch’s Council has grown more radical since Spirit Goddess Yuna went into hiding? It’s looking more and more like the Five Eldra Steorra have a direct say in the direction the council takes—”

“Scaryyy.”

Melissa only then realized that several dozen empty mugs filled the table in front of the slurring, inarticulate girl. The nobleman’s daughter had both hands wrapped around the new pitcher and was staring dreamily into its contents as if she were holding the Holy Grail of bliss.

“…Angelica?” Melissa called, sensing something amiss with the girl.

“This is yummmm—y! I could drinks lots and lots of it,” she replied, sounding more like a four-year-old than a teenager.

“Uh, don’t tell me you got drunk on Magico Beer? Very few people get drunk on ether.”

“Ahahahaa! I’m not dwunkkk. Melissha, your head is sooo curly and cute. Like a poooodle.”

“Hey!”

Nichika pulled on a pink curl and added the sound effect “Boing!”

The noble young lady felt so good she passed tipsy. Red flushed her cheeks and her eyes shimmered. Learning how easily her new friend became inebriated, Melissa took a mild approach to stopping her from drinking more.

“Angelica, you should stop drinking—”

“Don’t wanna. Gimme more!” Nichika hugged the pitcher to her chest like a child when their mother threatened to take away their favorite toy. But when someone snatched it up from behind her, she tilted her head back with a curious expression. Excitement blossomed on her intoxicated face at the man she saw. “Oh! Oswa—”

“So this is where you were, my lady. I have been looking all over for you.” He covered her entire face with his large, gloved hand. The noble young lady giggled and happily squirmed under his hold.

Melissa apologetically came to her feet on the other side of the table. “If I’m not mistaken, you’re Angelica’s attendant?”

“I apologize for the trouble my lady has caused you. Lady Angelica has a low ether tolerance, so even the weakest amount takes immediate effect.”

“I shouldn’t have treated her to it then. We should take her back to the dorm to rest.”

“I agree. I shall take responsibility for her. My Lady. Lady Angelica.”

Tapping Nichika on the shoulder only got a wimpy reaction out of her as her head lolled to the side. Sighing with resignation, the butler wrapped a supportive arm around her waist and helped her stand. He shifted her under one arm and tried to pull some bills from his pocket.

Melissa waved it away. “Oh, I have it. She didn’t cost much. Besides,” a bashful smile lit up her face as she continued in a voice that sounded delighted from the bottom of her heart, “she gave me the chance to have fun drinking with someone for the first time in a long time. Would you mind telling her I had fun once she sobers up?”

The butler gave a slight smile and a bow in return before leaving the pub with his charge. Melissa sat back down and brought a mug filled with the remaining Magico Beer to her lips.

“What a suave butler…”

The man had only been present for a whole minute and he turned the head of every female student in the pub who now excitedly gossiped about how handsome he was. Melissa pretended not to notice their hopeful glances.

At the same time, she tried to figure out why she felt like she had seen him somewhere before.

I know I’ve seen his face somewhere, but the personality doesn’t match up with who I’m thinking of.

She tipped back the rest of her drink while she fought with the aggravating sense of déjà vu that she just couldn’t put her finger on.

 

***

“I’M bein’ carried like a primcess! Ahaha! Can’t believe Master’s carrying me. Are spears gonna rain from the sky? Ah, wait, I want spearmint instead of spear-rain! Spearmints gonna rain!”

Oswald wanted to groan over the girl innocently throwing her arms in the air trying to catch imaginary candy. The people walking the evening-lit road chuckled as they watched them go by. It took every ounce of self-control for him to maintain a gentle smile as he softly admonished the girl in his arms.

“My lady, you are more susceptible to curses and hypnotism because you haven’t been baptized yet. Please tread extra carefully.”

“Ahahahaha! Hey, hey. Why you talk so funny? What’s wrong with yousss?”

“What’s wrong indeed.”

Feeling his smile twitch at the corners, the sham-butler hurried. He never expected the girl who tried so hard to be independent at all times would turn into such a baby after drinking a basic stimulant.

By the time they finally returned to the dorm room, the sun had settled beyond the forest, leaving only a speck of orange light. In darkness navigable without light, he gently lowered the girl he had been carrying onto the bed. The spoiled princess who had been in such elated spirits until then darted her unfocused gaze around the room with a glazed look. Yet when her eyes found his, her whole face lit up and she began chirping away like a pesky little bird in the wee hours of the morning.

“Listen, listen. So yesterday, Mommy kneaded the steak in bed!”

Oswald peeled the wrapper off the candy capable of suppressing the Fake Lover parasite and pushed it into her mouth. And still her chitter chattering didn’t stop.

“It made this ooey-gooey, slurpy-urpy sound. And then the sausage went kaplooy!”

“Why don’t you lie down and get some sleep, my lady?”

Annoyed by his suggestion, the girl puffed out her cheeks and tugged him to her by his hair. He scowled from the pain, but found himself lost in her clear eyes only inches from his face. When he said nothing, she put an unexpected request to him.

“Name.”

“…Excuse me?”

“I’m not your lady. Call me by name!”

What are you? A toddler throwing a fit? Oswald suppressed his thousandth sigh that day. He reluctantly called her by the name she currently went by.

“Lady Angelica.”

“Not! That! One!” The girl shook her head back and forth and pinned him down with a commanding glare. Then she pressed another demand on him. “I hate you being all prim and proper.”

“You have my deepest apologies.”

“Talk to me like you usually do.”

“You have my deepest apologies.”

Her expression clouded over the more he treated her like a stranger. Unease filled her voice when she called his name.

“Oswald…?”

“Please call me Will.”

“C’mon, Oswaaaald!”

“My lady, please listen to—”

She yanked him the last few inches separating them, erasing the smile off his lips and the next words off his tongue. She childishly pecked him on the lips and quickly withdrew. Her eyes glistened as she clung to his shirt until crystalline teardrops rolled down her cheeks.

“Do you hate me now…?”

He wiped away her messy tears with the pad of his thumb. The sham-butler maintained a troubled smiled as he placated her by stroking her hair. He purposefully spoke in a soothing voice to appease her.

“How could I hate you, my lady?”

“I hate it when you don’t kiss me.”

Oswald’s hand stopped midstroke. Unaware that she had thrown off his perfect actions as butler, Nichika begged with him to drop the act.

“I don’t want the butler Will. I want Oswald.”

Hers was likely an innocent request for him to stop acting like another person. But the meaning was changed entirely by her inebriated state and pink cheeks. Tears stained her face still shaped by the vestiges of adolescence, and the moonlight traversed a white trail across her thighs exposed by her slightly hitched up skirt.

She wasn’t a woman. Nor was she a child. Before he knew it, Nichika’s hands had moved from his chest to his back. She let out a sigh of relief like a wanderer who had finally found a place to rest their weary soul.

“So warm.”

Her husky whisper gnawed at his heart, transforming his desire to protect her into something altogether different. Oswald pretended not to notice that unknown feeling and forcefully tossed it to the wind.

He decided to sober her up once and for all. As her master, he needed to teach her what happens when you carelessly cling to a man. Finally discarding his butler mask, Oswald lifted her face from his chest and gazed intently into her eyes.

“Are you…inviting me to take you?”

“Um…”

“All right.” The corner of his lips curled up in a wicked smirk as he brought them closer to her ear and whispered in the sexiest voice imaginable, “If you so desire it, I’ll love you until you’re begging me to stop.”