Longing
Longing
The white and slender knuckles of Seuseung-nim's hand gripping the right armrest turned bone-white.
Kwadeuk—the sound of the highest-grade magical wood screaming as it failed to withstand the pressure of magical power embedded itself clearly in my ears.
Seueuk.
Seuseung-nim's head turned to the side very slowly. Her gaze met my face.
"......!"
She desperately inhaled.
Suuuu—.
The frost of magical power that had been spreading through her entire body faded away like spring snow melting into nothingness.
Seuseung-nim removed her hand from the shattered armrest, hid it beneath the hem of her robe, and steadied her trembling breath.
Then, once again, she asked back in a low voice toward Licia standing below the podium.
"Licia Lowell. Who did you just point to...... I will ask you once more. Who is the teacher you have truly requested?"
Though she still feigned calmness, a heavy pressure urging rejection lurked beneath that surface.
It was a warning so cold that if the head of the Lowell family had been present, he would have immediately turned pale and smashed his daughter's head against the floor.
"The top apprentice of the 24th batch, Licia Lowell. I state it clearly once more."
As the girl took another step forward, a shimmering heat haze of fire mana spread from the tips of her feet.
"The teacher I desire is only one person. It is the mage Rion-nim, who established the Mana Backflow Control Formula. According to the iron rule of the Magic Tower, I intend to exercise the rightful authority of the top apprentice."
She was audacious.
Whether she had failed to notice Seuseung-nim's fury, or had noticed and pushed forward with the arrogance of her own talent, I could not tell—but she was using the laws of the Magic Tower as a shield to want me.
"Rion."
Seuseung-nim turned her head and looked at me.
In her eyes facing me, there was only a heart-wrenching affection and a restless anxiety that could not settle.
"Your will is the most important. If you do not wish it...... such petty rules, I don't care if I abolish them right now, in this very place. So tell me. Will you refuse that child's request?"
Her voice was trembling faintly.
I slowly rose from my seat.
The hem of the blue uniform fluttered lightly. As I moved, all the eyes in the banquet hall focused solely on me.
"Rion......?"
Seuseung-nim urgently grabbed my sleeve.
"Seuseung-nim."
"......Rion, no. That child is not acceptable. I will create a more perfect environment for you......"
"I will accept."
My firm and dry words mercilessly cut off Seuseung-nim's speech.
"Since I have nothing to do while staying at the Magic Tower anyway, checking that apprentice's qualifications seems like a decent pastime. I do not wish to cause a disturbance by breaking the Magic Tower's iron rule."
"......Then do so. If that is truly your will."
Seuseung-nim barely squeezed out her voice and turned back to her seat.
Tak, tak.
As I fastened the buttons of my uniform and stepped out of the room, the Tower Master's direct attendant was already waiting before the door with his head bowed.
"Rion-nim. The Tower Master-nim is waiting in the office."
"Understood. Let us go."
My footsteps were light, but my heart was the exact opposite.
It was because Seuseung-nim's strange attitude from yesterday—when she could not look at me and avoided my gaze—refused to leave my mind.
I stood before the door of the Tower Master's office, steadied my breath for a moment, and then knocked.
Dalkak.
The security magic was released, and the door opened.
As I walked into the room, I saw Seuseung-nim sitting behind a massive desk, reviewing a bundle of magic tomes.
"......You have come, Rion."
Seuseung-nim raised her head. Her eyes turned toward my face, lingered for the briefest moment around the edges of my lips, then scattered away hastily.
"Yes, Seuseung-nim. I heard you called for me."
I bowed my head calmly as usual.
"Yes. I called you because there is something I wish to discuss regarding yesterday's matter. I wanted to confirm once more whether you truly intend to take that Lowell family child as your disciple."
Seuseung-nim closed the magic tome and slowly rose from her seat.
With each step she took, the faint scent of aged paper and the lingering fragrance of the Magic Tower library spread subtly. It was a terribly familiar smell, but for some reason, today it felt slightly more intense.
"It is already a matter that has been announced. Reversing it now would cause problems for the Magic Tower's prestige."
"The Magic Tower's prestige is not a problem at all, Rion."
Seuseung-nim came right before me and stopped.
Her slender fingers rose to adjust my collar.
Every time her soft fingertips lightly brushed my neck, I could feel her breath becoming subtly quicker.
"I think only of you. I do not wish for your heart—which returned torn apart by those bitches—to waver once more. If that child causes you even a little trouble or stress......"
"It is fine."
Without avoiding Seuseung-nim's touch, I quietly gazed into her eyes.
"It is truly fine, Seuseung-nim. That child cannot have any effect on me. Rather...... having something like this to focus on seems like it will help erase the futile memories of the past."
At my dry and emotionless answer, Seuseung-nim's eyes shook wildly, unable to find their bearings.
"......Futile memories, you say."
She muttered quietly.
"Yes...... if you say so much, I will not stop you further. But remember this. You are my only disciple and the most precious being in this Magic Tower. If some mere apprentice dares to try to stand on equal footing with you, tell me anytime. I will personally stop that child's mana circuits."
Seuseung-nim showed a kind and benevolent smile.
"And Rion. Now that you are active again as a mage of the Magic Tower...... as your teacher, and as the mother who raised you, I have a few gifts prepared."
Seuseung-nim walked over to the desk and brought back several small, high-grade wooden boxes.
"Gifts...... you say?"
"Yes. You don't know how much my heart was torn seeing you relying on shabby armor in the outside world. A disciple of the Tower Master naturally should wear artifacts befitting that status."
Seuseung-nim opened the first box.
What emerged from within was a deep navy blue magic robe.
Surprisingly, the magical weaving method and the pattern embroidered on the chest of that robe were identical, without a single thread of difference, to the exclusive Tower Master robe Seuseung-nim was currently wearing.
Only the size had been adjusted to fit me; it was an item anyone could see was made in the exact same way.
"This...... isn't the design identical to Seuseung-nim's robe?"
"Hm, hm! I-it is because the magical weaving formula I usually use is the most stable. Rather than devising a new formula, applying the design of the robe I wear directly is the most optimized for protecting your mana circuits. There is no other meaning."
Seuseung-nim averted her gaze furtively and let out a dry cough.
"I will gratefully accept it."
"A-and wear this together as well."
Seuseung-nim opened the second box.
Inside was a blue star-shaped brooch, as if carved from the entire starlight of the night sky.
"It is a high-grade mental defense artifact. Any high-level illusion or mental interference magic will be neutralized before this brooch. It will suit you very well pinned on your chest."
Saying that, Seuseung-nim pointed to her own hat.
There, too, a blue star brooch of exactly the same shape and size was shining. Two brooches forming a perfect symmetry.
It was a continuous arrangement as if to prove that she and I were a single set.
"......It seems like it's the same brooch as Seuseung-nim's."
"......!"
At my suspicious remark, Seuseung-nim's breath momentarily stopped.
Her starlight eyes were stained for an instant with a bursting lust and embarrassment, then she desperately squeezed out her reason and smiled awkwardly.
"......You speak nonsense, Rion. This is...... yes, a concept like a fraternal mark indicating that you are the direct disciple of the Magic Tower's Archmage. Since you suffered from getting tangled up with strange bitches outside, I just want to clearly mark that you are my direct disciple. Do not misunderstand."
Seuseung-nim's ample chest could be seen heaving in fluster.
"And lastly...... extend your left hand."
Seuseung-nim opened the last small box and whispered quietly.
Between her fingers was a ring exquisitely crafted from platinum.
On the inside of the ring, tiny ancient characters for forcibly controlling mana flow were densely engraved.
I obediently extended my hand.
Seueuk.
Seuseung-nim's white and slender fingers clasped my hand.
Seuseung-nim carefully delved into each of my finger joints.
The platinum ring touched the tip of my finger.
With a subtle sound of magical resonance, dalkak, the ring began to slide onto my skin.
"......Ah."
A very faint moan escaped from between Seuseung-nim's lips.
The ring was not heading for the index finger, nor the middle finger.
Her fingers, as if drawn by a magnet, or as if dominated by a terrible longing she had secretly harbored for a long time, were pushing the ring toward the fourth finger of my left hand—the ring finger.
The ring finger.
No barbaric tribe on the continent, no noble aristocrat of the empire, was ignorant of the meaning that finger held.
Eternal vow. Binding of souls.
And the token of a bond promising eternal love between a man and a woman.
The moment the cold platinum rim of the ring passed over the first joint of my ring finger, her starlight eyes rippled as if possessed, as if mad.