Fiancée of the Wizard

Side Story 1 – Part 1

Widnichol Aide was in a hurry. Holding magical books in both hands, he ran as fast as he could through the Black Lotus Court, which was a part of the royal palace.

This was the Black Lotus Court that wizards all over the world were envious of, comprising the most elite of the elite wizards, that students at the Academy of Magic would dream of becoming one day.

Widnichol was prone to disrupting its tranquil atmosphere, looking like he just lost an easy game as he desperately held those books, but in any case, he ran at his full speed.

As he ran through the corridors, the wizards working there or people from other parts of the palace that had visited all stared at the source of the noise, wondering what was going on. Widnichol did see them stare from the corner of his eye, but right now he almost couldn’t bring himself to care about it.

The others, upon realizing that the boy running straight ahead without a glance to his left or right was in fact Widnichol, each said, 「Oh, again?」 as if they now understood, and went back to their respective duties.

Since he’d just started going to the Black Lotus Court, he’d experienced nothing but being separately called out and stopped, being scolded, and hearing people say rude things about him.

Compared to that, it might be fortunate that he could run as loudly as he could and no one reproached him for it. But even so, to just accept that running frantically without any time to waste as the ‘only natural’ thing to do for him, made him feel complicated things in itself. No, in fact.

——He was not happy at all!

He screamed that internally, and of course, no one could complain to him about that. But even so, he couldn’t help but to scream internally anyway.

Anyhow, the people he was dealing with gave him a hard time. Lord Dainan’s orders from a few hours ago rang again in his ears, and a shiver ran down Widnichol’s spine.

But, that’s right, the most important thing to do right now was to deliver the mountain of magical books in his arms, even if that would exhaust all his energy.

And then, Widnichol ran to the deepest, most innermost parts of the Black Lotus Court, passing through a corridor with almost no one around, and throwing open the door in front of him with all his might. Now, the battle began.

「Master! These are all the books you said!」

「You’re late. What were you doing?」

Widnichol’s heart already felt like it broke at his teacher’s pre-emptive attack.

「I-I’m sorry, I just got caught by Lord Dainan…」

「Dainan? Ah, that thin-haired guy? He just won’t give up, will he…」

Even though the name Widnichol had said was one of the authorities of this country, the head of this room didn’t look like he cared much, simply dropping his gaze once again to the books Widnichol carried.

Just how long were those upturned jet black eyelashes of his? Framed by the shadow of his upturned eyelashes, his pupils shook like a sunset with bitter orange and purple intermingling, bringing about an indescribable elegance.

His white skin that wouldn’t get sunburnt even if he sat by the window all day long was smooth like porcelain; his jet black hair was incredibly captivating in contrast to his white skin.

His perfected androgynous beauty seemed like what a night fairy would look like. But thanks to that beauty, the scar that ran below his left eye stood out. But he was such a beautiful creature that even then, that scar couldn’t be anything but an ingredient that made his beauty look even better.

Agedilus Von Lancent. As the head wizard of the royal palace, he was Widnichol’s mentor. And he was also one of the heroes who saved world.

While having him as a mentor, Widnichol couldn’t help but always think ‘he really is a beautiful person’ whenever he saw him.

Some years had passed since he’d started studying under him, so he had gotten considerably used to that beauty. But there were still times it startled him, as if suddenly stabbing him.

Widnichol put the books he’d been carrying on Agedilus’s table, started organising a heap of them, all the while thinking ‘gender really is irrelevant when someone is truly beautiful’ for the umpteenth time.

「Um, this is a book containing the list for all the books on the table, the librarian said I’ll need your signature here the next time I borrow more.」

「Got it. Widnichol, read the third chapter to the seventh chapter of this, and then each page from the 112th to the 158th page of this.」

「O-okay!」

Agedilus took out two books from the pile in front of him, one with a dark green cover and the other with a dark blue, and pushed them towards Widnichol without hesitation. His master somehow managed to ignore Widnichol’s face, instinctively stiffening at the weight of books against his chest.

His teacher had told him to read as simply as that, but they were both magical books written in the old magical language; they couldn’t be read as simply as that.

‘This is impossible, I’m not Master.’ He wanted to say that from the bottom of his heart, but those sunrise-colored eyes were unlikely to spare him if he did. He’d just nodded vigorously, so he ought to follow up by reading appropriately as well.

As if he’d lose here! His vision got a little blurry, but that was certainly not because of tears. That was his heart sweating.

「Tell me when you’re done reading.」

「Okay……」

He couldn’t do anything but nod. Dejectedly getting up and heading to the space made for him in a corner of Agedilus’s laboratory, Widnichol finally settled down. And then, he quietly stifle a sigh he was about to breathe out. Aah, the magical books were so thick they hurt to look at.

That was how Agedilus talked to his disciple, who had ran from the Black Party Court to the library, in this large palace — which was quite a distance in itself — and back, desperately bringing these books for him.

Widnichol was rather used to this, so he knew that was just how Agedilus was, but he couldn’t help thinking ‘couldn’t he just let me have a break for once?’

He knew it wasn’t like he was told to do something absurd or something he just couldn’t do, but he just wanted a little more compassion.

‘But, a teacher that sweet wouldn’t be a teacher after all,’ he thought, which was true as well.

As he slowly reached out for the dark green book, Widnichol peeked through the gaps between the piled up books and research tools in the room. He Peeked between the dried herbs, medicinal plants, and the lined up medicine bottles to check on his teacher.

He was reading the magical book he had on his hand as if obsessed, like usual. Watching his calm figure made it seem like that fight hadn’t happened at all; it felt so mysterious. Even though it had just been some months since then, it seemed like it had been years.

That fight. Even children younger than 5 years old knew what that was.

That fight, namely, the fight with the ancient demon king.

Widnichol knew very well that his teacher, Agedilus, was the main person that brought down the demon king revived after hundreds of years, restoring peace to the world.

The heroes who saved world. Although people glorified him as being one of them, he knew he had barely done anything for that. He had just received the news of his teacher, Agedilus’s death.

Then, he left the capital to somehow meet up with the party of heroes and fight the army of the demon king. Nothing he had achieved there and their success could be compared to his teacher.

His teacher, who everyone thought had died, taking along the close aide of the demon king after he casted a spell with great magic, ended up saving them.

When they had gotten stuck in a trap by the demon king’s army chiefs right in front of the demon king’s castle, preparing themselves to die, his teacher had appeared out of nowhere for them.

Just who could have thought that the man in disguise, waiting in front of them as one of the close aides of the demon chiefs was none other than Agedilus?

That masked man didn’t face them, but faced the chiefs, firing attacks at them. When Widnichol saw the face under that mask, he couldn’t help bursting into tears. In contrast, the hero said, 「I knew you were alive,」 the princess said, 「You’re late!」 and the head knight said, 「You’re just picking the best of both worlds, aren’t you?!」 All of them were laughing, with no way to describe it other than, ‘of course he’s alive’.

His teacher had been running about collecting information even in hiding, taking a risk as dangerous as invading the demon king’s army, and then showing up at the best timing for them. Widnichol was so proud of his teacher, from the bottom of his heart.

That beautiful wizard with jet black hair. That extraordinary wizard that had poems written for him by the poets, who would probably have his name recorded in history books before long.

How had Widnichol started studying under that kind of a man, Agedilus Von Lancent? The reason was simple: There was no one more suitable, in both the meaning that ‘there was no one else who could be Widnichol’s teacher’ and the meaning that ‘there was no one else who could be Agedilus’s student’.

In the beginning, he would lament in front of the goddess that was his guardian deity, 「Why does it have to be like this?」 but now, he couldn’t ever thank her enough for this reality.

Widnichol’s magical power was immense. His appearance was the best proof of that, namely his ashy silver hair mixed with black.

He was the third son of a merchant that lived in the capital, and upon seeing an opportunity, entered the Academy of Magic. But in contrast to his magical power, he had an introverted personality.

That must have been the ruin of him, since by the time he realized it, he had turned into a verbal punching bag for the students in his class to take out their anger on, falling prey to teasing and bullying.

Widnichol didn’t say anything back or do anything against them, but there was one time where Widnichol’s anger finally erupted.

His wild, reckless magical power mowed down his classmates, and Widnichol came close to instantly dropping out of school.

It was then that he was summoned by the Black Party Court, settling into the position of Agedilus’s disciple, who had his name known around the world with many different meanings.

The first time he met Agedilus, Widnichol thought, ‘wow, he really is so beautiful.’ Then at the same time he thought, ‘he really is so scary.’ And that impression of him, to be honest, hadn’t changed that much even now.

His teacher was always beautiful, especially in the middle of that battle. Even after that battle had ended and things had grown peaceful, he was a scary mentor for Widnichol.

But, Widnichol knew there was more to his teacher than just that. He found out sometime ago about that person.

「Master.」

「What?」

He gave a short reply without hesitation, his voice was pleasing to the ear. His blunt way of speaking used to make Widnichol twitch no matter what, which sometimes greatly irritated his teacher.

There was someone explaining to him that his teacher wasn’t angry at him, but that was just how he talked. When the face of that person came to his memory again, his mouth spoke by itself by the time he realized it.

「How has Miss Filmina been?」

The atmosphere stiffened at Widnichol’s words.