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Chapter 13: The Magus
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2021-04-07 20:58:34The sprawling hallways were nothing but a giant labyrinth in Lili’s eyes. Each corner they turned skewed her sense of direction. It turned haywire. She couldn’t even determine which was north or south anymore. What’s worse is that even though the magicites illuminated their path, she could feel that someone was watching them from the thinly veiled shadows.
Lili trudged forwards, keeping her eyes focused on the middle-aged lady named Loth. Death could only be the ending once she loses her way in this place. She was sure of it. She could feel that the deeper they go, the worse the feeling became.
She stared at the back of the middle-aged lady, thinking whether if she should ask a question.
“The castle itself is a maze,” said Loth as she started a conversation, breaking the suffocating silence of the eerie castle halls. Perhaps sensing the confusion of the young lady trailing behind her. “A spell to deal with thieves and trespass
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Lili gulped and gathered all the courage she could muster. The eerie pitch-black door creaked open. She marched despite her shaky limbs. With every step, the pressure also grew. She gasped but continued to tramp forwards.If this was the test from the magus, then she mustn't disappoint, both for her and the old headmistress's sake."Hoho? An exceptional mental strength," said an old wearing a long pitch-black robe. The skittering quill pen stopped as he watched the guest standing near the door. He had a well-combed beard, mirth flickered in those wizened unfathomable eyes."Not everyone could withstand my presence. And even though I'm holding it back, many still faint." The old man threw a curious stare, watching Lili in a scrutinizing light. "So you're the lass Anna has been hiding from me. Interesting. I never thought she'd hide nothing from me until today."The young lady shuddered in response. Though the old magus had a lax tone, she sensed the irrita
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"Please provide better accommodation and education for the orphans." Lili lowered her head, waiting for the response of the old noble magus. She originally wanted to ask for the orphans' freedom, but immediately double-take after she realized that it’d be a big mistake and would only make things more difficult if she did that.The old noble magus's influence, through the old headmistress, was probably the one shielding the orphanage from other forces. Perhaps it was also the reason that fake fat noble limited his actions and could only act as much as the old magus had allowed.After meeting the old magus, Lili determined that every child in the orphanage was the old powerful man’s possession. Thus her wish for the orphan’s freedom would only set the children to a far worse scenario. The old noble’s protection in exchange for the orphanage’s freedom. That was the price the orphanage had to pay, and that included her.And so, she wish
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“Lass, I’ve done the part of the deal. I’ll make sure that your potential suitors would be practitioners of the word decency.” The old magus chortled. He then counted with his fingers and it stopped at eight before gazing at Lili. “Decent nobles. ‘Pfft’. They exist within the Antacastian nobility, but most of them have weird quirks. Eight of them. That’s all I could do. Are you fine with that?”“I couldn’t ask for more, old master.” Lili’s crimson dress swayed as she bowed towards the old man.“It’s decided then, I’ll write the letters. Your luck would depend on whether they’ll accept my invitation or not.” The old magus waved his hands. He took the ringer bell on the large table and shook it. “The same people will guide you back. Ready yourself for tomorrow and make your presentable for the masked ball. If you wish for the best, you must first make the bes
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Lili opened and closed her mouth as her brain shut down for a moment. She rubbed her ears, wondering if she heard it wrong. She felt muddled and confused. Her face slowly turned ashen white. Not only her but also the middle-aged lady and the guard who wore full-plated armor had a flabbergasted expression on their faces. Slack-jawed and floored after hearing the incredulous proposal coming from the mysterious noble.And then… there was silence.Lili had read a lot of romance novels about knights from the books in the orphanage’s attic. She even read a few ones with bizarre plots just like this one from an author named Ms. Carman. Still, she never thought that it’d actually happen to her in reality, especially when she’s not some princess like the main female character in those stories.‘This noble is probably playing with me.’ Lili shut her eyes, recollecting her thoughts. A stiff smile slipped out of her lips as she thought a
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The pitch-black door swung wide-open, and soon closed with a loud bang as the shadows of the duke left the room, leaving Lili and the old magus alone once again. Lili felt giddy as she felt the old man staring at her like he was planning to dig a hole in her face.“Do you know of the Duke, lassie?” The old magus asked, and his eyes shone with a glint of curiosity. His pupils slowly turned into a snaky slit as he tried to smile. It was as clear as day that he was nothing but curious about Lili’s relationship with the infamous Duke of Avalon.“I have not, old master.” Lili took a deep breath and answered. The duke’s strange interest in her had also made her puzzled. “Truthfully, today was the first time I have met him. I, myself, know nothing why the duke reacted like that to me.”Lili suddenly remembered how the Duke went to his knees and asked for her hands as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Her chee
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After escorting Lili back, Loth and Zaab gave Lili the key and quickly bid their goodbyes. According to Loth, the old magus asked her to give the key to Lili. Apparently, it was also part of the gift given by the old magus, a reward for entertaining the bored old man.Without further ado, Loth and Zaab didn’t waste time and excused themselves, since they still had to tend to their other responsibilities in the auction house. From the looks of it, Lili was sure that they had quite a high position and the old magus valued them for their skills.With a smile, Lili thanked them and then bid them goodbye. She didn’t want to delay them any further, realizing that she might have wasted a lot of their time by simply accompanying and waiting for her.After assuring that the Loth and Zaab had already returned, Lili let out a tired sigh and deemed that her luck today had been in the dumps. She threw a glanced at the intricate key given to her and slowly turned
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“Lili… Lili… Wake up.” A voice rang, waking up Lili from her deep slumber, cutting her off from another strange dream of hers. Feeling dizzy from the light nudging she had received from the owner of the voice, Lili groaned. With difficulty, she squinted and tried to open her rebellious eyelids. She felt like her eyes still wished to lengthen their rest. She squirmed out of the embrace of the warm quilt and glanced sideways, searching for the origin of the familiar voice. The old mistress sat on the side of the bed. She wore a warm, but tired smile on her face as she stared at Lili. There were also dark lines forming under her eyes, a good proof that she possibly hadn’t taken even a wink yet. “Old mistress,” Lili said. She yawned as she rubbed her eyes. Sleeping there on a fluffy bed really made it easier to enjoy sleep as compared to when she was still in the orphanage. She stretched and hugged the old lady’s waist, something that had always calmed her down when she
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“H-Headmistress?” Lili tilted her head, confused. She shifted her gaze to the left and saw the fake noble who dragged her into this. The once prideful fake noble was shuddering on the side. But unlike the last time, he didn’t dare to show courage and just lowered his head. He kept silent as he slumped on his knees. He was sweating like a pig under a roasting blaze. “What is happening?” His pudgy chin trembled, and if a pit suddenly appeared somewhere, he looked like he’d be more than willing to jump. And after seeing Lili, the fatty lowered his head, his quivering lips paling. On the other hand, the headmistress’ eyes lit up after seeing Lili. She stood up from her seat, circling around Lili, making sure she was safe and sound. Assured that Lili was fine, the headmistress let out a sigh of relief. She then gave the confused Lili a deep hug. “Thank god you’re safe. Lili, listen to me. Please wait for me in the other room. I will need to talk to the old master.”
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Lili jumped out of her feet and almost tripped on her crimson dress in shock. The intricate butterfly mask she wore slipped out of her face. Fortunately, Loth immediately stepped forward and caught the mask before it could even hit the floor. With a hand on her chest, Lili sighed in relief after seeing the butterfly mask safe. It was a unique artifact personally crafted by the old magus, and if the butterfly mask broke because of her carelessness… She would owe a debt. Just the thought of it was enough to pull a grimace out of her. She glimpsed at the nobles within the wide halls. Even those nobles invited by the old magus seemed to take extra care in handling those magical artifacts, almost as if they were taking care of babies. From that alone, she already surmised that the masks were something quite costly and rare, even among the nobility. Lili threw a glance at Loth, staring specifically at the butterfly mask on her hands. The middle-aged
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