Chapter 291

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Chapter 291

"Are you saying that you haven’t seen Sylas since she graduated?" Virgil stopped studying the storm outside and incredulously turned his head to ask.

"I saw her yesterday."

"Haven’t you seen her before yesterday?"

"…Um."

"Shouldn’t you be congratulating her on her new home?"

"It’s not necessary."

Virgil hurriedly approached, wishing he had a magnifying glass to see Xerath.

"She’s already a skilled magician, on par with you, and she’s been an adult for a long time. She’s twenty years old now, what are you waiting for?"

Xerath innocently blinked her eyes and asked, "What do I need to wait for?"

Virgil stammered, "Um…I really feel like you have a special connection with Sylas. It’s so special that you shouldn’t be looking like this right now."

"Then what should my expression be?"

Virgil stared at her intensely and asked, "Aren’t you happy with her?"

Xerath gestured for him to continue.

"Since you think she’s so suitable for you, and you two are already equals, and you’re happy together, what is stopping you…from developing a closer relationship with her?"

Xerath casually said, "Just because two people are suitable doesn’t mean they should be together. Do adults make lifelong commitments because they like each other?"

Virgil looked at her for a while and said seriously, "Men have intuition too. You can deceive my reasoning, but you can’t deceive my intuition."

Xerath confidently locked eyes with him without backing down.

"You’ve turned back into that dreadful old wizard, the kind without human emotions."

Xerath smiled uncertainly and walked to the window.

The storm outside grew increasingly fierce. The sharp edges of the stones sliced through the wind, creating a strange and eerie melody. In the distance, the restless silver core released flashes of lightning, illuminating the iron-gray sky with a mysterious silver-purple glow.

Xerath reached out as if she could touch that bright silver thing, but her fingers were stopped by transparent glass.

It seemed as though she had pierced through something transparent. Unlike the raging storm outside, the room fell into a deathly silence, even the most mischievous wind ceased.

The king is about to give a speech, and all the elements should be quiet.

"…There was a time when I was very happy, just like I had imagined." Xerath suddenly spoke, unconsciously poking the window with her finger. A radiant trail of light lingered in the air, leaving a mark on the glass.

Virgil was completely taken aback and didn’t expect the archmage to persist for so long. The air froze for a moment, and he stuttered, "When did this happen?"

"Probably during… the time when she was writing her thesis."

Virgil asked cautiously, "Before or after the attack from Lich?"

Xerath, with her eyes lowered, appeared in the reflective glass, "After we returned from Saint Trelanxi, Sylas had a breakthrough idea," a slight, almost imperceptible blush appeared on her saddened face, making it seem like it was due to inner turmoil, "I took her to… Mordant."

"How did you get there?"

"By carriage. I took her along the road and showed her the glaciers and mountains that I love."

"… Camped by Lake Saint Titis?"

"Also spent a night on the edge of the Rolorin Fields."

"… Did anything happen?"

"Nothing like what you imagine. I kept watch and she slept. She kept watch and I slept." Xerath’s lips twitched in a mocking smile, her previously unfocused gaze suddenly focused on Virgil’s face through the mirror, "Disappointed you, didn’t it?"

"No, no, don’t say that. I didn’t expect anything, so there’s no disappointment." Virgil scratched his face where he suddenly felt a slight pain. "What happened next?"

"We went to the library in Mordant and copied a handwritten book about alchemy. The copying took five days, during which we sat together… just like in primary school – shoulder to shoulder, hand in hand, sitting on one chair. I whispered in her ear, she whispered in mine. We went out together to find tasty food at noon, and in the evening, we took a stroll hand in hand in an unfamiliar city…"

"And she?"

Xerath lowered her head and revealed a shy and bashful smile. "I think she must have liked it too."

"And after you came back?"

The smile disappeared from Xerath’s face. She leaned her forehead against the glass and said in a low voice, "You wouldn’t believe how this journey changed my habits for many years. After coming back, every few days, I would go to the city with her to have dessert. About three or four times a week."

"Enjoyable dates, hmm?"

Xerath suddenly turned her head, smiled, and nodded. "Yes."

"Holding hands? Feeding each other cake?"

After thinking for a moment, Xerath nodded confidently.

"What happened afterwards that caused a change? Normally, you shouldn’t have gone so long without seeing each other. Star Song Castle and Withered Leaf City are not far apart."

"Nothing much happened to cause a change."

"That’s impossible! … Well, anyway, just tell me what happened afterwards."

"This continued until it was time to submit thesis. I was worried that she wouldn’t graduate, so I didn’t tell her about applying for an exemption."

"So she must have been angry because she thought she wouldn’t leave here so soon, right? That’s where you went wrong, you shouldn’t have treated her like that. You should have made her feel like you cherished her, so that when she started acting spoiled towards you…"

Xerath turned around, looking down at her own hands, and smiled gently. "But she didn’t. She was a bit anxious at first, but quickly accepted reality. She focused on choosing a place farthest away from Aimekotes, and wouldn’t even consider the vicinity of Withered Leaf City. She told me she wanted to go somewhere as far as possible."

"…There must be some misunderstanding in all of this."

Xerath tilted her head and looked at Virgil, keeping a smile on her face. "I thought she would be reluctant to leave, like when she didn’t want to go to school as a child. Then I could smoothly tell her to… settle our home on the piece of land I had previously chosen, and we could even have an extra two-way Portal."

"But things didn’t turn out as you expected… Listen, old friend, although you thought that you and her had a wonderful time together… it might just be seen as a normal interaction between female students by others. I bet Sylas and Luna do the same thing sometimes, even Sylas with Jane, Sylas with Caroline, and even Sylas with Swis, Sylas with Kuowa…"

The old master frowned and asked, "Did they still hold hands?"

"That’s not the point… The point is that you may have underestimated the significance of these extraordinary things to Sylas."

"What else do I have to do? I intentionally got close to her, intentionally held her hand, intentionally whispered in her ear. I even… I even—" She raised her voice slightly, as if talking about her failed experiment. "I even made her sleep with me on the same bed—"

"I don’t know what else I have that she might like."

Virgil opened his mouth several times, clearly struggling to accept the status of the archmage. He even grabbed Titus, hurting him, and bit the stool to protest.

"All the memories I cherished, she said she didn’t want them anymore and left without any nostalgia."

"This is the lowest point of my self-esteem. I won’t embarrass myself like this anymore."

As she tried to leave, Virgil was still processing the impact of everything. Suddenly, the wind started blowing, and the fox arrogantly followed Xerath, even pushing Virgil.

The door slammed shut, and Virgil muttered, "…You haven’t told me what happened after you saw the little beast yesterday…"

It seemed like when the old wizard heard this question, the flattering wind beside him "whoosh" pushed open the door. Xerath regained a proud face and looked at Virgil with her usual sarcastic and mocking eyes. She said, "I’m sorry to inform you that I can’t have dinner with you tonight. I will leave soon."

Virgil asked in a dazed manner, "Go? Where are you going?"

Xerath had already turned and walked away. Her voice was carried from afar by the busy little boys, "Lake Yongning!"

Virgil shrugged his shoulders and whispered to Titus, "It looks like I’ll be the one to take care of you, my old friend."

Titus howled and lowered his furry ears, swaying the back half of the footstool, looking at Virgil.

"After all this time together, can’t you tell me what happened between them every day?"

"Howl! Howl howl howl howl…"

"Hmm hmm, hmm hmm…"

They communicated for a while, one person and one stool. Xerath pushed open the door but didn’t come in. She asked, "Can you understand what Titus is saying?" Behind her, a blue giant water balloon was carrying luggage.

"Don’t understand? I’m just playing with it," Virgil moved the footstool with his feet.

"Take care of it for me," the archmage said and quickly closed the door. Outside the door, her footsteps could be heard, sounding a bit hurried for some reason.

Virgil lifted Titus up and said somewhat regretfully, "If only you could really speak."

Titus howled and it was clear that it also wanted to tell Virgil something, perhaps it was saying, "Virgil is incredibly foolish, he can’t even understand wolf language and yet dares to call himself a hunter!"