Wizard World Irregular

Edmond, who had disappeared from the arena, reappeared at the North end of the Academy, near the tower where the statue of Brynhildr resided.

“How is he, Master?”

“Not bad.”

The young lady arched an eyebrow as she looked at her Master with a sweet smile on her face.

“Only not bad?” the young lady asked. “If that is the case, then why is Master looking like he just suffered a loss? Did Ethan perhaps beat you in the duel?”

“He’s a hundred years too early to beat me in a duel,” Edmon snorted. “But I have to admit that I can now understand why you did what you did. I guess you can say that you made a good choice.”

“That’s high praise coming from you, Master. It seems that Ethan has exceeded your expectations.”

“Nonsense. He wasn’t even able to take a single blow from me.”

“More like you hadn’t had the chance to give him a single blow, Master.”

Edmond clicked his tongue. He didn’t know if Ethan was truly the reason why his disciple had a sudden change of heart.

He thought that it was just a phase of teenagers when they felt like rebelling against their parents, so he thought it as such.

But after seeing the young man himself, he couldn't help but feel that the gamble that his apprentice took was worthwhile.

“Are you going to the party?” Edmond asked.

“No,” the young lady replied. “Things will just get messy if I go there.”

Edmond nodded. “Well, I can already see that happening. Do you want me to pass a message to your mother?”

The young lady thought about it for a while before nodding her head.

“Tell her that I’m happy here, and I’m doing my best to follow my heart,” the young lady said. “Just as she did when she was young.”

“… Your mother suffered because she followed her heart, you know?”

“Indeed. But she didn’t regret anything, right? I also don’t want to regret anything, so I am here.”

Edmond sighed. “Like mother, like daughter. The two of you will be the death of me.”

The young lady giggled after hearing her Master’s helpless words.

Within the Palace, the Grand Archmage, who was her Master, was her strongest ally.

Because of this, other nobles weren’t able to do anything to her. Because of this, she learned how to scheme at a very young age

But after meeting Ethan, she felt that she could stop lying to herself. Whenever she was with him, she could be her true self without worrying about the consequences.

“I changed my mind,” Edmond stated. “Just write her a letter. I’ll be here for three days. You will have enough time to write one, no?”

“Understood.” The young lady nodded. “I’ll do as you say, Master.”

——————————

“It seems that you’ll only be able to wield Areadbhair’s full power after your magic circuits have been fixed,” Ethan’s Other Half commented. “So how about you go and fix them by taking Lilian to your secret treehouse and pushing her down? Good idea, no?”

“More like a bad idea,” Ethan replied.

“What’s wrong? You’ve been doing it with Luna and Lily. What’s stopping you from doing it with Lilian as well? I’m sure that she will be more than happy to be embraced by you.”

“It doesn’t feel right. I know she loves me, and I’m starting to love her too, but this and that is different.”

Sebastian chuckled after hearing his friends’ banter.

“I guess Ethan feels that the timing is still not right,” Sebastian commented. “The fruit is not still ripe for the picking, so he is taking his sweet time to nurture and grow it.”

“Bah!” Ethan’s Other Half snorted. “It’s because you aren’t decisive enough that Chloe left you. If you had done it with her, she wouldn’t have a choice but to stay with you for life.”

Ethan frowned because his Other Half was digging into a wound that still hadn't healed.

“Don’t take what he’s saying to heart, Ethan,” Sebastian said. “Your Other Half is just frustrated because the key to unlocking the true potential of your Legacy is dangling in front of you, but you still won’t bite it.

“It’s frustrating for him to see you this powerless, so he’s saying something that he doesn’t mean.”

The Guardian of the City of Zentris then gave his comrade a reprimanding look and crossed his arms over his chest.

“You should apologize when an apology is due. You already know Ethan’s stance on the matter, and you brought Chloe in out of frustration. We both decided to no longer touch this issue, did we not?”

Ethan’s Other Half sighed before raising both of his hands.

“Fine. I admit I got frustrated and said something mean,” Ethan’s Other Half apologized, which was something that was nearly impossible to happen. “I’m sorry, Ethan.”

However, he also understood that he went too far by bringing out Chloe in the conversation when he knew that Ethan was still hurting about their separation.

“Okay. Just stop bringing up this topic again,” Ethan replied. “If I’m going to do it with Lilian, I want to do it right. I hope that both of you understand me. Although I want to be strong, I don’t want to treat my lovers as tools to achieve my goals in life.”

Sebastian wiped an invisible tear from his eye after hearing Ethan’s declaration.

“The Tidebringer would be proud if he heard you say this,” Sebastian commented. “That guy may have had a lot of women, but he cared for all of them even if they were just mortal women.”

“Well, among Ethan’s family members, he’s the only one following his Ancestor’s footsteps,” Ethan’s Other Half commented. “His uncle and his father are both henpecked husbands, meaning they only have one wife each.”

Ethan’s ears perked up because he was once again hearing something about his parents and relatives.

The small bits of information that his Other Half would say from time to time made him want to know about them more.

But he resisted this urge, telling himself that he only needed to wait for a few more months before he would come of age.

At that time, he would take his coming-of-age ceremony and finally learn the answers to the questions that were on his mind.

Ethan didn’t know that while he was thinking about these things, three people were making their way towards Brynhildr Academy from Southshire.

And they were traveling just to meet the young man who didn’t show up to their family gathering during the winter solstice.