Evin woke up buried under a pile of softness, feeling unprecedently well-rested, as unlikely as that seemed. The bed under his body was also quite comfortable, nothing like the hard and squeaky one he usually slept on. He felt that he should be more worried about these new developments, but for whatever reason, he just couldn’t make himself care.

He only wished to sleep there forever. Though… the moment clarity came, Evin abruptly peeked his head out of the blanket and looked around his surroundings.

‘Where am I?’ his eyes went wide, as he observed the almost criminally luxurious room.

Two transparent windows on two of the walls, covered by a silky curtain; the whole floor which was covered in a fluffy looking carpet; a finely crafted desk and chair combo; and not to mention the gigantic bed which was probably bigger than Evin’s whole room.

<Have you woken up?> the voice asked from inside his head.

“Where am I?” Evin murmured.

<Don’t talk to me so openly. I’m sure this room has a recording device of some sorts,> the voice said with urgency.

“A what?”

The voice explained to Evin what a recording device was. He was a bit surprised by the revelation and the existence of such devices, but he still didn’t know what was happening.

“What’s happening?” he then murmured, acting confused.

<I’m sure the mage will be happy to explain everything to you. She’s likely downstairs.>

As Evin was about to get up, he heard the door open and saw a young teen dressed in servant’s clothing appear.

‘Is there seriously a recording device inside this room? Or else, how would they know that I just woke up?’ Evin thought and turned a bit wary.

“Master Evin,” the girl greeted.

“Master?” Evin asked.

“Lady Leanne told me to bring you to her.”

“Lady Leanne? Am I in her house?”

‘The voice did mention a mage…’

The girl ignored Evin’s question and had him wear some clothes from inside the house. Evin refused, as he saw that most of these clothing weren’t meant to be worn by him, but the servant explained that he didn’t have to worry about these things as much.

A few minutes later, Evin found himself standing in front of a brown lacquered door that emitted a weirdly calming smell.

‘Who knew mages had nice smelling doors…’ Evin wondered, as he waited for the servant to invite him in.

The house itself was fancily decorated, but it wasn’t as big as Evin had imagined at first. It was a simple two-story house and the room Evin was staying in turned out to be on the second floor. The servant told Evin about the bathroom near his room, another guestroom and two other rooms which Evin wasn’t allowed in: Leanne’s bedroom and her study, in front of which Evin was currently waiting.

<You should probably greet Leanne with a ‘Thank you’,> the voice suddenly said, <She healed all your scars and also did her best to heal your mind.>

Evin didn’t need the voice’s instructions to say his thanks. But he was kind of interested what it said next about her trying her best to heal Evin’s mind. Did that mean that Evin’s mind was ill somehow? Was he seriously crazy? Did that mean that the voice wasn’t real?

 

That would definitely be something.

As he was wondering about these things, the servant from before opened the door and gestured Evin inside.

Inside the room, rows and rows of books were lined up on practically every wall. Each and every one of them seemed to be old and used, judging by the state of their covers and papers. Aside from that, there was a desk, behind which Leanne was sitting and reading through a file of some sorts. She was wearing a more casual dress compared to the one Evin saw her before, but as always, she looked very pretty.

Seeing Evin, her lips quivered slightly and she glanced at the servant.

“Bee, close the door behind you and prepare for lunch, alright?” Leanne asked sweetly, “And please don’t disturb us.”

“Yes, Lady Leanne,” the girl replied with a nod and left the two behind.

Leanne eyed Evin casually, before gesturing him to sit down. Evin followed the order casually and sat down on a sofa that was placed in front of the desk. At this point, Evin remembered that he needed to say his thanks, but for whatever reason, saying it now felt very awkward.

‘Damn it, I can’t just stand up again and thank her now…’ he figured, ‘The chance will come soon, I’ll just thank her then.’

“How have you slept?” she asked.

“I slept fine… thank you,” Evin replied and added awkwardly, “And also… Thank you for letting me stay in your house and everything else…”

“Don’t mind that. I have such a big house; it would be a shame if I used only one room,” Leanne smiled.

However, tears started to form on her eyes, as she quickly looked away. She sniffled and hurriedly explained herself. Her eyes would fill up with care and pain whenever they made eye contact.

“Lady Leanne?”

“Sorry, sorry. Don’t worry about me.”

“I’m sorry… Could you tell me what happened? I’m very confused,” Evin asked.

Leanne stopped her tears and answered.

“Ah… do you not remember?”

Prompted by the question, Evin was reminded of the series of events that happened after he was declared as a mage.

The conversation with the voice, his father’s beatings, him being stubborn for a while, and eventually giving up. As for whatever happened next… he couldn’t really remember much. It was as if those memories were blocked by a wall of some sorts, not allowing Evin to access them.

But suddenly, his back started to sweat a bit at the thought of this incident. Was there really something so dreadful behind these walls?

“I remember my father beating me… telling me to refuse the Academy. But other than that, I can’t remember much,” Evin replied honestly, his voice shaking a bit.

Leanne heard the answer and frowned slightly.

“Do you remember how I asked you to come meet us in ten days, right?” she asked.

Evin thought a bit and nodded in agreement.

“Well, your father came to us, dragging you along. You looked extremely out of it, so I checked your head to see what was wrong…” Leanne said and paused with a grimace, “What I felt inside it wasn’t a feeling that a 10-year-old should have. To think that a parent would do this to their own child is… it is unthinkable to me.”

Evin listened silently, wondering what his father had done to him. But the more he thought about it, the more he was convinced that something terrible must’ve happened to him. Without his control, teardrops started to form in his eyes and his breathing became rough.

Leanne noticed this and quickly dashed over to Evin’s side. She pulled the child into a hug, and silently started weeping alongside him.

“It’ll be alright…” she whispered in Evin’s ears, “I’ll be here for you.”

Evin didn’t shy away from this hug, as something inside him was telling him that he deserved it. But that didn’t change the fact that he was confused. His heart and mind were at odds, so to speak.

<Remember how she tried to fix your head using magic? Well, apparently that doesn’t come without risks,> the voice explained, <I believe if she fails or stops abruptly during it, it forces her to sympathize with you in a level much deeper than what’s considered normal. I might be wrong though, so don’t take it at face value… It’s just something I heard her speak while you were unconscious.>

‘Huh?’

<But it doesn’t really matter much. It just means that she’ll be doting on you quite a bit these next few weeks or maybe months at maximum. It’s definitely not something permanent, as I heard her mention that she’ll grow out of it sometime in the future… For now, just cry your heart out. You deserve it.>

As Evin was already tearing up, these words were enough to break the dam he was holding inside his heart for so long.

<Even without your father doing those… things to you ten days ago… you deserve to cry for living through his abuse for so long.>

Some time later, Leanne was using her magic to heal Evin’s bruised eyes, as she spoke about what happened to Evin’s father.

“We’ve warned your father to stay away from you from this point on. He’s been added to our blacklist for his transgressions against a minor and a mage. Sadly, we couldn’t really push for his arrest, as he’s still your father. But if you are fine with it, you can disown him and try to become independent.”

Evin heard about what’s happened and realized that he didn’t really know what to think about the matter. Should he feel glad about it, or should be feel bad for his father? Evin didn’t know.

His head said yes immediately, but still, he found it hard to say it out loud.

“Isn’t it usually the parents who disown their children?”

“Not necessarily,” Leanne chuckled, “There are many cases where the child disowns their parents for various reasons. Especially so if the child is a mage or a noble.”

“It’s okay. I don’t want to disown him or anything,” Evin replied.

His statement made Leanne frown for a brief moment, but the woman quickly returned to her previous expression.

“Well, that’s fine as well… I think it’s not something you should decide on without properly thinking about it either.”

An awkward pause ensued between the two, before it was broken by Leanne.

“Ah, we should talk about your enrollment in the Academy.”