Lon3ly

I will be changing the cover for this story sometime next week so just a heads up!

“Why would I do that?! I can go alone.” Yue exclaimed with bright red cheeks.

“Eh? No! You don’t even speak French! You can’t go alone!” Mai whined and held onto Yue’s shoulders.

“I can’t just go on vacation with an unmarried man like that—that’s scandalous! Especially when we’re not in a relationship of any sort!” Yue exclaimed, his face turning more and more red as he started to get defensive.

“First of all you both definitely like each other, trust me. And you’ve been to his house before, and that’s pretty scandalous.” Mai teased.

“I can’t just ask him to go there with me…” Yue grumbled and continued eating. He was embarrassed to hear that Mai thought they both liked each other and he felt a little happy that she thought so but he knew things would be difficult once Viktor found out he was a boy and started learning about his past.

“Then don’t! I wi—!”

A knock at the door surprised both of them. Yue took part of the hanfu he was going to wear and put it over his shoulders. He was essentially only wearing his undergarments so he had to cover up a little more.

He opened the door curiously and was surprised to find Viktor’s head maid standing at his door.

“Young master Viktor would like to invite you to go to the Paris auction with him.” The maid said and handed Yue a letter.

Yue looked at Mai with a shocked look, he was almost wondering if she was a prophet as well or if she had said something to Viktor through telepathy. Mai raised her hands in an ‘I’m innocent’ kind of manner, she was also very surprised by the coincidence.

“The young master says that you may be interested in many auctions that will be happening but specifically he mentioned an auction full of foreign grimoires, the main attraction is a grimoire from a high-level dungeon.” The maid explained, her face was expressionless but she seemed to be carefully inspecting Yue.

Yue froze for a second, the Paris auction was actually just a broad name for hundreds of auctions that take place within a two week period in Paris. Many different auctions specializing in many different items were held and at varying price points. He had been interested in a few auctions but he never knew there was a grimoire auction, he definitely wanted to take up Viktor’s offer solely because of that but he was now conscious of how scandalous his odd friendship(?) Viktor was and felt hesitant. He also didn’t really want to “lose” to Mai by doing exactly as she wished.

“U-Uh…I don’t...These auctions all have very particular dress codes, don’t they…? I don’t have formal European style clothes so there’s no way I can—!”

“We have thoroughly prepared for that, we are currently compiling a list of the dress codes for each auction the Young Master plans on attending and sending clothes that are in line with them to the manor in Paris.”  The maid immediately responded, not even allowing Yue to finish speaking. 

Yue gulped, he couldn’t find a reason to object.

“Is his family aware of this…?” Yue murmured, his cheeks bright red.

“Other than the young master, no other members of the Ivanov family will be staying in the manor, although Mistress Natasha might drop by to visit at some point.” The maid responded.

“Wh—” Yue was going to ask who Natasha was but the Maid quickly answered, avoiding any misunderstandings.

“The Young Master’s older sister, she’s married so she won’t be staying in the manor.” 

Yue immediately felt embarrassed as both Mai and the maid were looking at him with a ‘you almost jumped to conclusions’ kind of look. He stared down at the invitation in his hand and finally gave in.

“Tell him I’ll go…” Yue murmured. The maid smiled and Mai cheered loudly, alerting some of the girls who were walking through the hall.

“Very well, I will be seeing you soon.” The maid said and went off to return to the Ivanov manor.

“What was that?” Aimee asked as she and Shirley looked into Yue’s room.

“Hehehe...Yue is going to Paris with her very close “friend”!” Mai said with air quotes around the word friend as she giggled. Yue faced away from them with bright red cheeks, he wanted to throw them all out of his room as they all started teasing him but he was currently focused on what would probably happen in Paris.

-

Mai left for Paris a couple of days before Yue did but they promised to meet at a specific auction they were both interested in that was auctioning off Asian jewelry and makeup. She went to Paris through the standard public teleportation hub. She wore a light pink Ao dai with intricate beading on the front of it and slightly loose sleeves. Her jewelry was simple but elegant, her earrings and hair accessories were diamonds in the shape of flowers and accented her loose up-do beautifully. A lot of people looked at her as she walked through the teleportation hub, she was eye-catching so it was easy for her family to find her.

Mai tried not to run as she spotted her mother in the crowds. She felt underdressed as her mother stood in a decorated but modest green Ao dai. Her mother seemed much more relaxed than she usually was when in public and spread her arms as a sign for her to go give her a hug.

Mai’s father was lagging behind a bit as he was in the middle of a conversation. After hugging and greeting her mother properly, Mai looked toward her father. She blushed, the wave of people moving through the teleportation hub was blocking her sight of the person her father was talking to but she already knew who it was.

Huy Pham had medium-length white hair and had red eyes, his figure and hair made him resemble Viktor but he was actually 4 or 5 years older and slightly shorter. Nevertheless, he was an incredibly handsome man, he was also very kind and elegant. Mai had known him all of her life her feelings for him practically indestructible. 

After greeting them, Mai walked beside Huy as they walked through the teleportation hub. As she stood in his presence she seemed to notice something that she had never noticed before.

“Is something wrong?” Huy asked in English, noticing Mai’s gaze on him.

“Oh...it’s nothing Anh, it’s just been a long time since I’ve seen you...” Mai said with a smile, she felt like she wouldn’t get an answer even if she asked.

—

The girls who had yet to leave for their vacations were peeking out from the front doors of the dorm as a carriage stopped at their door. 

It stopped right in front of Yue who was dressed in a turquoise and white hanfu. His jewelry was flowery and silver with several beads falling throughout his long earrings and dainty necklace. His ink-black hair was half up half down with turquoise and white flower accessories and a silver hairpin adorning it.

He was nervous as he quietly held his trunk in his hand. He had packed pretty lightly, he only brought a few hanfus and some of his favorite pieces of jewelry, including the necklace, and some makeup and his sword. Within the past week, he had been measured from head to toe by Viktor’s maids so they could have clothes tailored for him that fit the auction dress codes so he didn’t need to pack many clothes.

The carriage opened and showed Viktor who was dressed in a light blue and white three-piece suit. Yue pouted and felt a bit sad as he looked at Viktor’s hair which was now cut short. He still looked very handsome and perhaps even more handsome than he did with long hair but Yue had been fond of his long hair so he didn’t appreciate the change.

“Do you hate it that much?” Viktor chuckled and took Yue’s trunk from his hand and passed it to a servant. He reached out, silently asking for Yue’s hand so he could help him up into the carriage.

“I don’t hate it...I just liked your long hair…” Yue murmured and took Viktor’s hand.  Viktor smiled softly as he entered the carriage after Yue did and the girls who were watching the scene looked appalled. Viktor and Yue definitely seemed like they were in a relationship, No one had ever seen Viktor smile like that toward anyone else before.

On their way to the teleportation hub, Viktor handed Yue a list of all the Auctions he planned on attending.

“Only a few auctions overlap so if you have any others you want to go to just say the word.” 

The list was rather long and included a few Auctions that Yue didn’t expect Viktor to be interested in. Viktor inquired to his servants about the breakfast in the Paris Manor and translated for Yue.

"Is that alright with you?"

“That’s fine.” Yue replied and smiled softly.

They soon arrived at the teleportation hub and all eyes were on them. It was an odd combination, the well-known heir to Russia’s strongest mage family and an unknown Asian girl. They both stood out even if you didn’t know them. 

They were unfazed by the attention they were receiving from everyone and just went straight to the Paris platform and went on their way. In Paris, they were met with similar reactions, especially since a multitude of servants went up to greet them and lead them to the carriage they would be taking to the Ivanov manor.

Yue looked at the city with awe, It was actually much larger than academy city and was much more full. Lots of people in extravagant clothes and lots of tall buildings were settled in the streets.

“A lot of the auctions we’re going to are going to be there.” Viktor said and pointed to a tall building with a large banner that said ‘Magic item auctions’. There were a lot of similar buildings with banners that referred to the kind of auctions being held there.

The carriage went out toward the northern end of the city and reached a manor that looked almost exactly like the Academy city manor but even bigger. The garden was also much more extravagant and it took a while to get from the gates outside to the actual entrance to the manor. It was almost unnecessarily big but the Ivanov family was essentially royalty so anyone could see why their estates were so large.

Yue didn’t know whether to be shocked because the manor was so big or because Viktor was perfectly capable of telling him what each room’s purpose was. Viktor gave him a tour to try and avoid him getting lost while he stayed there. Yue could already tell he would get lost though, every time they entered a new area of the manor he forgot how they reached the previous area.

“This is essentially your closet.” Viktor said and opened the door in front of him. 

Inside the room was a large variety of dresses and jewelry and all kinds of clothes, in every color or style you could think of. Yue was shocked by the huge room of clothes. He had only expected to have the clothes he needed for each auction and not this many options.

“Th-This must have been expensive...y-you really didn’t have to..” Yue murmured, appalled by the expensive jewelry and dresses.

“The Young Master’s funds have practically not been affected, do not worry yourself, Miss Xia.” The maid who had informed Yue of Viktor’s invitation said and smiled softly.

Yue blinked a bit, everything in the room was definitely worth over 10 million so now he was wondering just how much money Viktor has for his funds to not be affected. They continued the tour and Yue saw his room and how it was right beside Viktor’s and felt a little embarrassed and slightly nervous. Viktor might be able to sense changes in his magic from that distance so he might not be able to remove his illusion.

That night Yue unpacked and took a bath before laying on his bed and staring up at his ceiling. He hadn’t been sleeping well lately. He didn’t feel excessively tired like he did when he was poisoned by the fog in Wolfsstadt, but he felt like he was constantly weighed down. He knew it was probably because of his injury and the creeping fear of the things that chased him out of China coming to Europe and eventually academy city but he wished it would go away.

He was avoiding things that reminded him of the past more than usual, even little things. He used to think that being in Europe and in Academy city would be so different from China that he would never think about the past but he was wrong.  He hoped that being in Paris wearing something that wasn’t a hanfu would make him forget and relax a bit.

He laid on his bed for a while and wondered if he should just get up and try some of the sleeping medicine he brought to try and fall asleep. Before he could do so, he felt an almost involuntary sort of relaxation flowing through his body and quickly ended up falling asleep.

-

Viktor’s head maid had a face mask over her mouth and nose as she snuffed the flame of a candle. She was standing in a small hidden entrance that led to Yue’s room. There was a latch that allowed the whole entrance to open so someone could walk into Yue’s room but there was also a small box on the secret entrance with holes on it facing the wall of Yue’s room. 

The area was made specifically for the time when a guest would stay in the manor and the head of the house had ‘business’ to take care of. A servant would light a special candle and put it in the small box and its scent would travel into the room and cause the guest to quickly fall asleep without even realizing.

Yue had actually held out for a lot longer than expected so the head maid had to work to keep herself from inhaling the scent of the candle for the time it took Yue to feel the effects.

She walked out of the hidden area and knocked on Viktor’s door, getting a reply before walking in.

“Miss Xia has fallen asleep. She has some resistance to it so it took a while, my apologies.” The maid said and lowered her head.

“It’s alright, I just want her to get a good night’s rest.” Viktor murmured and smiled.

He sat at his desk reviewing a letter from his father with his ‘demands’. The only reason Viktor was attending instead of his father was simply that his father couldn’t be bothered. He just sent him a list of things he wanted to buy no matter how much it cost, and made Viktor go instead.

Viktor felt annoyed as he looked at his father’s list but when he read his mother’s letter and her sweetly written request for a necklace that would probably cost over 100 million, he could only smile.

He wrote His mother’s request on the bottom of his father’s list and gave it to the maid, instructing her to add the items to the list he already had. Yue had been surprisingly frugal with his list so he had added some other stuff that he planned on gifting to him into his list. The list ended up becoming quite long because of that but Viktor didn't mind.

He knew Yue was probably afraid that he’d be disappointed if he knew he was a boy so he didn’t fault him for not realizing how obvious he was being about his affections. He still felt impatient though, he felt like Yue might disappear at some point and never return. Because of this, he wanted their relationship to move more quickly but he knew that there were things Yue was hiding and things in his own life that could hold them back. 

The feeling that there was a storm brewing in the world of mages was also a factor that couldn’t be ignored. Even this ‘vacation time’ was full of uncertainty. Even though it could be a wonderful time to just maybe have some fun, it could also turn into a war or murder mystery very quickly.

They were stuck in such a chaotic world that Viktor could only lay down and wonder if they’d ever have time to think about something like love.