“Layla! Lay… Oh, aaa… you’re fine. That’s… good.” Narias came running from the other side of the arena. The huge ice glacier was blocking his view after it hit, so he couldn’t see what had happened. Before Narias could relax however, he felt something hit his head from behind. “Ouch!”
“Of course, she is.” Narias’s father smacked his son on the head after catching up with him. “Why’d you run off like that? Geez… don’t you dare blame me for it now.”
“That hurt, dad. And why would I blame you for something?” Narias was rubbing his head where his dad smacked him.
“Aghem…” His father gave Narias a stare, crossing his arms in front of him.
“Yo’, Narias. I didn’t know you were here. Where did you come from?” Flavia almost shouted in his ear.
“Aah!” Which was enough to startle Narias. “Oh, sorry. My dad and I arrived only a moment ago and were watching Emilia and Layla fight.”
“Were you? Did you see my fight too?” Flavia’s eyes sparkled with the hope that he did.
“Ah, no sorry. Emilia and Layla were already fighting when we got here.” He told Flavia, bursting her hopeful bubble.
“Bummer,” Flavia pouted her lips in response.
“Hello Narias. How did your duel against your father go?” Emilia asked with a smile.
“Oh, I lost… again…” Narias dropped his head, but perked up the next second. “That was so amazing, Emilia. I saw you dance on the ice. It was absolutely beautiful. And then you cast this huge ice glacier and I was afraid… Ahm… I mean, your magic is so incredible.”
“Thank you, Narias. Your words mean so much to me. And I’m sorry for making you worry. I had no intention of hurting Layla. I know how much you care for her.” Emilia answered, brushing her hair to the side, trying to hide her flushed face.
“Yeah, she’s… Huh? Aah… Well, Layla and I grew up together, so… I was a little worried about her.” Narias scratched the back of his head, averting his eyes away.
“Don’t look at me. It’s your own fault.” His father commented when their eyes met.
“Eh?” Narias’s face became red. “Sorry, I…”
“It’s ok, Narias.” Ileena spoke up. “We know you and Layla are close.”
“What? They’re what?” Flavia exclaimed in surprise, furrowing her eyebrows.
“My little Narias and Layla are dating? Now that’s a surprise. What makes you think that, Ileena?” Alvina pretended she was overly surprised to learn the news.
“Layla is wearing the red butterfly hairpin. I believe it is the same hairpin that Nicky wanted to buy at Growla’s shop. It was gone from the shop not long after, about the same time Narias was meeting Layla in El’Roonst. This is the same hairpin, isn’t it, Narias?” Ileena felt very confident with her deduction, coming strong with her words.
“Ah, yeah…” Narias couldn’t lie to his girlfriend.
“And Layla called Narias by his first name during our fight. Not something a regular house maid would do.” Emilia joined in with some more evidence. “She was also very sincere with her words when she spoke about Narias. That just confirmed she had feelings for him.”
“I… I’m sorry, Young Master. I… I made such a blunder… I apologize. I promise I won’t get in between Narias and you all from now on.” Layla bowed down, feeling very embarrassed about the situation.
“Layla… you…” Narias didn’t know what to say, but then noticed Ileena and Emilia looking at him with approval. Flavia was still looking confused, though. “I’m sorry everyone. I intended to tell you about Layla and I. It’s just that… we are not dating officially, so… I wanted to talk to Layla about it first.”
“Huh? Young Master?” Layla lifted her head up.
“Would you like to… be my girlfriend, Layla?” Narias went into it like a real man.
“But…” for the first time ever, Layla lacked words. She looked around, her eyes catching everyone’s approving faces, Narias’s parents included, and was doing everything she could to suppress the tears in her eyes. She smiled happily. “Yes, Narias.”
“Layla…” Narias couldn’t help but hug her, feeling Layla’s hands wrap around him right after.
“Aaah…” Alvina touched her face with one hand, sighing emotionally.
“That’s my boy.” Lorenard grinned wide.
“You could’ve told me Narias and Layla was going out.” Flavia complained to Ileena, crossing her arms in front of her.
“You should’ve noticed it yourself, Flavia.” Ileena said, adjusting her glasses. “What’s with the frown? That’s not like you at all, Flavia. You never complained about Emilia becoming Narias’s girlfriend.”
“I’m not complaining. I just want to be hugged too.” Flavia said, turning away.
“Oh… I…” Ileena suddenly felt an urge of wanting to be hugged as well.
“Who could’ve thought my little Narias will have four girlfriends?” Alvina said, still keeping an act it was a surprise for her.
“Mooom…” Narias turned to her after finally letting Layla go.
“Sorry, honey…” Narias’s mom chuckled, dropping the act. “I’m just very happy for you.”
“Wait, four girlfriends? Oh… hmm…” Narias’s father suddenly grinned cheekily.
“Huh? What’s wrong, dear? Did something happen?” Alvina was very quick to notice her husband’s strange facial expression.
“Ah? Nothing, nothing at all, my love. I’m just… very happy for my son as well. Hah…” Lorenard said, throwing one hand behind his back and laughing awkwardly. “My son has four girlfriends. Can you imagine? Four… Who could’ve thought, right son?”
“Huh?” Narias gave his father a strange look, but then realized what was going on. “Oh, yeah. Who… could’ve thought?”
“My, my. I feel a little sad for some reason.” Alvina added, touching her cheek with the palm of her hand.
“Aah… You know what? How about an early lunch, everyone? You must all feel exhausted after all this fighting. Especially you, Layla.” Lorenard suggested suddenly. “We have this apple cake that Narias loves so much too just waiting to be eaten.”
“Apple cake?” Narias liked apple cake, but he wouldn’t say it was his favorite dessert.
“What a wonderful idea.” Alvina clapped her hands. “How about all of you girls go take a bath first? And then let all of us meet at the dining room. That includes you too, Layla.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Layla bowed her head before turning to the other three girls. “This way, please.”
“Alright, bath time.” Flavia was looking forward to it.
“I did catch a little sweat, actually.” Emilia commented with a smile.
“See you later, Mr. and Mrs. Talrone.” Ileena said before turning to go.
“So, I’d like to do some reading in the library in the meantime. If you don’t mind, that is?” Narias asked his parents after all four of his girlfriends were gone.
“But of course. We had bought a few new books for you. They are on the lower shelf on that cupboard next to the table.” Alvina told Narias.
“Oh, wow. Nice. Thank you, mom.” Narias became excited in an instant.
“Say, son. How about I join you for some reading? You know, for some extra father and son time?” Lorenard asked, face painted with the cheesiest smile ever.
“Eh? What? You want to read a book together with me?” That was the weirdest thing Narias could’ve hoped to hear from his father.
“Yeah, why not? After all…” his father was about to throw his arm around Narias’s shoulder.
“What’s this, darling? Surely, you don’t intend to leave your lovely wife by herself all of a sudden?” Alvina had the most charming smile on her face, yet Lorenard was sweating for some reason. “I was so looking forward to have a private chat with you… my love.”
“Eek…” Lorenard shivered. “But of course. I’m always here for you, beautiful.”
“Sigh… dad…” Narias couldn’t quite get what was going on, but his parents playing word games among themselves wasn’t anything new to him. “I’ll see you later, mom.”
“Have fun, honey.” Alvina said lovingly, giving him a hug before he left. Then turned to her husband. “Well…”
“You’re really incredible, you know that, my love.” Lorenard spoke, giving his wife the sweetest smile.
“Trying to sweet talk me out of it, are you, darling?” Alvina chuckled, covering her mouth with one hand.
“Naah… I’m just amazed at how much our son has grown.” He sighed deeply, yet happily. “And I know you’ve picked up on the four girlfriends’ comment, but Narias said he wanted to tell you about it himself.”
“Aah… that is so sweet of him. I take it the time you two had spent together was well worth it?” Alvina wanted to know.
“Yeah. He beat me good. Well, I managed to survive after using my Wind Blade Vortex spell in the end, but if not for my surprise attack, I would’ve been done for. Narias thought he lost, but in reality, he’s way stronger than I am.” Lorenard shook his head.
“That’s our boy.” Alvina chuckled. “He’s grown so much.”
“Yeah. But… I was surprised to learn he and Layla were so close. She went to visit him only once after he left.” Lorenard wondered, holding his chin with one hand.
“Oh, our little Narias and Layla became close way before he even left for the academy.” Alvina told her husband, making him gasp in surprise.
“What? How come I learn everything last?” Alvina’s husband frowned at her, pretending to be upset about it.
“Not everything. You have learned our baby has more than four girlfriends before I did this time?” Alvina hugged her husband, instantly melting all of his pretentious anger.
“Aah… you’re right. So sorry, beautiful.” Lorenard made a grimace, pretending to add a slight sarcasm to his words.
“Do you think we should tell our son about… you know…” Alvina asked, placing her head on his shoulder.
“He’s fully grown now. He will be able to understand. Considering of how long I might be away this time, with the investigation and all the work coming my way, I think it’s better to let Narias know sooner rather than later.” Lorenard said, hugging his wife tighter.
“I hope it will go well for you, my love.” Alvina kept hugging him.
“I’ll make sure it will.” He reassured her.
{a little while later at the bath}
“Wow, you have such athletic body, Layla. You must be working out a lot.” Flavia was impressed with how Layla looked as soon as they dropped their towels and started to wash themselves.
“Why thank you, Flavia. You look very well built yourself.” Layla thanked her, returning a compliment back.
“I was really impressed by your performance, Layla. I would’ve never thought a maid would be so strong. You must be using all of your free time to train.” Ileena commented before starting to wash her hair.
“Oh… I sometimes assist Mrs. Talrone with her training. She is much stronger than I am.” Layla told her, giving a short pause before answering.
“Wow, Narias’s mom is even stronger than you? Impressive.” Flavia exclaimed, wiggling her tail to the sides as she slid the soapy sponge down her hips.
“If I may be open with my words, I believe all three of you are very capable. I was very impressed with how strong you all are. Especially, Emilia. I was taken aback by your last attack. I honestly thought I’ll be buried under the glacier for a moment there.” Layla complimented the girls, running her sponge over her bare chest and down her belly.
“Yeah. That spell was a total blast.” Flavia stood up from her chair, splashing some soapy water around her.
“Flavia!” Ileena exclaimed, trying to cover her face from getting the soap in her eyes.
“Ah, sorry.” Flavia sat back down, grinning wide.
“Sigh… But Flavia is right. That was some amazing magic. And the dance you performed to cast it was absolutely mesmerizing. Now I understand why Narias called your magic beautiful.” Ileena was rubbing her shoulders, sliding her sponge up and down her wet, soapy arms.
“Actually, I’d like to ask of you to forget what you saw today.” Emilia said, her sponge stopping right under her neck with her hand being pressed against her chest.
“Eh, why?” Flavia couldn’t understand it.
“That was an excellent performance on your part, Emilia. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it.” Layla thought Emilia was feeling embarrassed about it, noticing her cheeks catching a charming red.
“No, that’s not it. You see, I’m not allowed to use the Frost Dance magic whenever I want. It is my family’s forbidden magic which can be used only under certain circumstances. I was caught in the moment and… and when I saw Narias watching I just…” Emilia became slightly frightful, some uneasy thoughts entering her mind.
“Forbidden magic?” Her words got Flavia’s attention, and everyone’s else as well.
“Yes. The Frost Dance Magic is a Sacred Magic that only a handful of my family’s members were able to master throughout the generations. It cannot be taught. It can only be inherited. Apparently, I was blessed with the knowledge of learning it. For some reason, the dance comes natural for me. However, I can only perform the first two steps of it: the opening dance steps and the Ice Glacier spell, which is only a fraction of the Frost Dance Mirror Ice Glacier spell. I don’t know the full details, but apparently, the spell was used in some sort of ritual in the past. My parents hadn’t forbidden me from practicing the dance, but they forbade me from casting the Ice Glacier spell.” Emilia explained, her hands starting to shake for some reason.
“Only a fraction of the full spell? Wow…” Flavia put a finger to her chin, probably trying to imagine how the full spell would look.
“Emilia…” Ileena noticed Emilia becoming distressed.
“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have used the Ice Glacier spell, but at the same time, I wanted to show Narias what I can do. I thought… if I don’t do it now, I won’t have another opportunity to show it to him. But now… if anyone from my family were to find out I’ve cast it, they will…” Emilia covered her face with both hands, ignoring the fact they were covered in soap.
“What are you talking about, Emilia?” The Ice Princess felt Flavia’s hand on her shoulder. “All I know you’ve cast this huge Ice Block spell to protect yourself from Layla’s fire attacks. Isn’t that right, Layla? It would’ve been really bad if you got your beautiful hair burned.”
“All I saw was you perform a beautiful dance on the ice, nothing else.” Ileena added, pouring some water on herself to wash the soap from her breasts and her legs.
“Everyone…” Emilia removed her hands from her face, becoming emotional.
“I’m just a maid, serving Talrone’s family. I cannot imagine anyone would listen to what I have to say.” Layla stated in a calm voice, continuing to wash her underarms. “I believe you can trust Narias with keeping it to himself. And I am certain Narias’s parents will keep it a secret as well. They are very understanding with these things.”
“Thank you… so much.” Emilia felt happy, tears running down her cheeks.
“Hah, you got all this soap on your hair, Emilia. You’ll have to wash it again.” Flavia added a cheeky comment, changing the focus of the conversation and making the other girls laugh.
“You’re right, Flavia. I think I should.” Emilia said, adding the most adorable smile on her face.
Niuniax
━━━━━━━━━
Thank you for reading. Leave a comment and favorite the chapter if you enjoyed it. Apologies in advance if you find a weird sounding phrase or a grammar error. These are draft chapters after all.
Read 10+ extra chapters on my Patreon (including the artwork not available anywhere else) – Extra Chapters on Patreon
━━━━━━━━━
Extra thanks to nonomo4 and Lynderyn for extra support and help.
“Layla! Lay… Oh, aaa… you’re fine. That’s… good.” Narias came running from the other side of the arena. The huge ice glacier was blocking his view after it hit, so he couldn’t see what had happened. Before Narias could relax however, he felt something hit his head from behind. “Ouch!”
“Of course, she is.” Narias’s father smacked his son on the head after catching up with him. “Why’d you run off like that? Geez… don’t you dare blame me for it now.”
“That hurt, dad. And why would I blame you for something?” Narias was rubbing his head where his dad smacked him.
“Aghem…” His father gave Narias a stare, crossing his arms in front of him.
“Yo’, Narias. I didn’t know you were here. Where did you come from?” Flavia almost shouted in his ear.
“Aah!” Which was enough to startle Narias. “Oh, sorry. My dad and I arrived only a moment ago and were watching Emilia and Layla fight.”
“Were you? Did you see my fight too?” Flavia’s eyes sparkled with the hope that he did.
“Ah, no sorry. Emilia and Layla were already fighting when we got here.” He told Flavia, bursting her hopeful bubble.
“Bummer,” Flavia pouted her lips in response.
“Hello Narias. How did your duel against your father go?” Emilia asked with a smile.
“Oh, I lost… again…” Narias dropped his head, but perked up the next second. “That was so amazing, Emilia. I saw you dance on the ice. It was absolutely beautiful. And then you cast this huge ice glacier and I was afraid… Ahm… I mean, your magic is so incredible.”
“Thank you, Narias. Your words mean so much to me. And I’m sorry for making you worry. I had no intention of hurting Layla. I know how much you care for her.” Emilia answered, brushing her hair to the side, trying to hide her flushed face.
“Yeah, she’s… Huh? Aah… Well, Layla and I grew up together, so… I was a little worried about her.” Narias scratched the back of his head, averting his eyes away.
“Don’t look at me. It’s your own fault.” His father commented when their eyes met.
“Eh?” Narias’s face became red. “Sorry, I…”
“It’s ok, Narias.” Ileena spoke up. “We know you and Layla are close.”
“What? They’re what?” Flavia exclaimed in surprise, furrowing her eyebrows.
“My little Narias and Layla are dating? Now that’s a surprise. What makes you think that, Ileena?” Alvina pretended she was overly surprised to learn the news.
“Layla is wearing the red butterfly hairpin. I believe it is the same hairpin that Nicky wanted to buy at Growla’s shop. It was gone from the shop not long after, about the same time Narias was meeting Layla in El’Roonst. This is the same hairpin, isn’t it, Narias?” Ileena felt very confident with her deduction, coming strong with her words.
“Ah, yeah…” Narias couldn’t lie to his girlfriend.
“And Layla called Narias by his first name during our fight. Not something a regular house maid would do.” Emilia joined in with some more evidence. “She was also very sincere with her words when she spoke about Narias. That just confirmed she had feelings for him.”
“I… I’m sorry, Young Master. I… I made such a blunder… I apologize. I promise I won’t get in between Narias and you all from now on.” Layla bowed down, feeling very embarrassed about the situation.
“Layla… you…” Narias didn’t know what to say, but then noticed Ileena and Emilia looking at him with approval. Flavia was still looking confused, though. “I’m sorry everyone. I intended to tell you about Layla and I. It’s just that… we are not dating officially, so… I wanted to talk to Layla about it first.”
“Huh? Young Master?” Layla lifted her head up.
“Would you like to… be my girlfriend, Layla?” Narias went into it like a real man.
“But…” for the first time ever, Layla lacked words. She looked around, her eyes catching everyone’s approving faces, Narias’s parents included, and was doing everything she could to suppress the tears in her eyes. She smiled happily. “Yes, Narias.”
“Layla…” Narias couldn’t help but hug her, feeling Layla’s hands wrap around him right after.
“Aaah…” Alvina touched her face with one hand, sighing emotionally.
“That’s my boy.” Lorenard grinned wide.
“You could’ve told me Narias and Layla was going out.” Flavia complained to Ileena, crossing her arms in front of her.
“You should’ve noticed it yourself, Flavia.” Ileena said, adjusting her glasses. “What’s with the frown? That’s not like you at all, Flavia. You never complained about Emilia becoming Narias’s girlfriend.”
“I’m not complaining. I just want to be hugged too.” Flavia said, turning away.
“Oh… I…” Ileena suddenly felt an urge of wanting to be hugged as well.
“Who could’ve thought my little Narias will have four girlfriends?” Alvina said, still keeping an act it was a surprise for her.
“Mooom…” Narias turned to her after finally letting Layla go.
“Sorry, honey…” Narias’s mom chuckled, dropping the act. “I’m just very happy for you.”
“Wait, four girlfriends? Oh… hmm…” Narias’s father suddenly grinned cheekily.
“Huh? What’s wrong, dear? Did something happen?” Alvina was very quick to notice her husband’s strange facial expression.
“Ah? Nothing, nothing at all, my love. I’m just… very happy for my son as well. Hah…” Lorenard said, throwing one hand behind his back and laughing awkwardly. “My son has four girlfriends. Can you imagine? Four… Who could’ve thought, right son?”
“Huh?” Narias gave his father a strange look, but then realized what was going on. “Oh, yeah. Who… could’ve thought?”
“My, my. I feel a little sad for some reason.” Alvina added, touching her cheek with the palm of her hand.
“Aah… You know what? How about an early lunch, everyone? You must all feel exhausted after all this fighting. Especially you, Layla.” Lorenard suggested suddenly. “We have this apple cake that Narias loves so much too just waiting to be eaten.”
“Apple cake?” Narias liked apple cake, but he wouldn’t say it was his favorite dessert.
“What a wonderful idea.” Alvina clapped her hands. “How about all of you girls go take a bath first? And then let all of us meet at the dining room. That includes you too, Layla.”
“Yes, ma’am.” Layla bowed her head before turning to the other three girls. “This way, please.”
“Alright, bath time.” Flavia was looking forward to it.
“I did catch a little sweat, actually.” Emilia commented with a smile.
“See you later, Mr. and Mrs. Talrone.” Ileena said before turning to go.
“So, I’d like to do some reading in the library in the meantime. If you don’t mind, that is?” Narias asked his parents after all four of his girlfriends were gone.
“But of course. We had bought a few new books for you. They are on the lower shelf on that cupboard next to the table.” Alvina told Narias.
“Oh, wow. Nice. Thank you, mom.” Narias became excited in an instant.
“Say, son. How about I join you for some reading? You know, for some extra father and son time?” Lorenard asked, face painted with the cheesiest smile ever.
“Eh? What? You want to read a book together with me?” That was the weirdest thing Narias could’ve hoped to hear from his father.
“Yeah, why not? After all…” his father was about to throw his arm around Narias’s shoulder.
“What’s this, darling? Surely, you don’t intend to leave your lovely wife by herself all of a sudden?” Alvina had the most charming smile on her face, yet Lorenard was sweating for some reason. “I was so looking forward to have a private chat with you… my love.”
“Eek…” Lorenard shivered. “But of course. I’m always here for you, beautiful.”
“Sigh… dad…” Narias couldn’t quite get what was going on, but his parents playing word games among themselves wasn’t anything new to him. “I’ll see you later, mom.”
“Have fun, honey.” Alvina said lovingly, giving him a hug before he left. Then turned to her husband. “Well…”
“You’re really incredible, you know that, my love.” Lorenard spoke, giving his wife the sweetest smile.
“Trying to sweet talk me out of it, are you, darling?” Alvina chuckled, covering her mouth with one hand.
“Naah… I’m just amazed at how much our son has grown.” He sighed deeply, yet happily. “And I know you’ve picked up on the four girlfriends’ comment, but Narias said he wanted to tell you about it himself.”
“Aah… that is so sweet of him. I take it the time you two had spent together was well worth it?” Alvina wanted to know.
“Yeah. He beat me good. Well, I managed to survive after using my Wind Blade Vortex spell in the end, but if not for my surprise attack, I would’ve been done for. Narias thought he lost, but in reality, he’s way stronger than I am.” Lorenard shook his head.
“That’s our boy.” Alvina chuckled. “He’s grown so much.”
“Yeah. But… I was surprised to learn he and Layla were so close. She went to visit him only once after he left.” Lorenard wondered, holding his chin with one hand.
“Oh, our little Narias and Layla became close way before he even left for the academy.” Alvina told her husband, making him gasp in surprise.
“What? How come I learn everything last?” Alvina’s husband frowned at her, pretending to be upset about it.
“Not everything. You have learned our baby has more than four girlfriends before I did this time?” Alvina hugged her husband, instantly melting all of his pretentious anger.
“Aah… you’re right. So sorry, beautiful.” Lorenard made a grimace, pretending to add a slight sarcasm to his words.
“Do you think we should tell our son about… you know…” Alvina asked, placing her head on his shoulder.
“He’s fully grown now. He will be able to understand. Considering of how long I might be away this time, with the investigation and all the work coming my way, I think it’s better to let Narias know sooner rather than later.” Lorenard said, hugging his wife tighter.
“I hope it will go well for you, my love.” Alvina kept hugging him.
“I’ll make sure it will.” He reassured her.
{a little while later at the bath}
“Wow, you have such athletic body, Layla. You must be working out a lot.” Flavia was impressed with how Layla looked as soon as they dropped their towels and started to wash themselves.
“Why thank you, Flavia. You look very well built yourself.” Layla thanked her, returning a compliment back.
“I was really impressed by your performance, Layla. I would’ve never thought a maid would be so strong. You must be using all of your free time to train.” Ileena commented before starting to wash her hair.
“Oh… I sometimes assist Mrs. Talrone with her training. She is much stronger than I am.” Layla told her, giving a short pause before answering.
“Wow, Narias’s mom is even stronger than you? Impressive.” Flavia exclaimed, wiggling her tail to the sides as she slid the soapy sponge down her hips.
“If I may be open with my words, I believe all three of you are very capable. I was very impressed with how strong you all are. Especially, Emilia. I was taken aback by your last attack. I honestly thought I’ll be buried under the glacier for a moment there.” Layla complimented the girls, running her sponge over her bare chest and down her belly.
“Yeah. That spell was a total blast.” Flavia stood up from her chair, splashing some soapy water around her.
“Flavia!” Ileena exclaimed, trying to cover her face from getting the soap in her eyes.
“Ah, sorry.” Flavia sat back down, grinning wide.
“Sigh… But Flavia is right. That was some amazing magic. And the dance you performed to cast it was absolutely mesmerizing. Now I understand why Narias called your magic beautiful.” Ileena was rubbing her shoulders, sliding her sponge up and down her wet, soapy arms.
“Actually, I’d like to ask of you to forget what you saw today.” Emilia said, her sponge stopping right under her neck with her hand being pressed against her chest.
“Eh, why?” Flavia couldn’t understand it.
“That was an excellent performance on your part, Emilia. You shouldn’t be ashamed of it.” Layla thought Emilia was feeling embarrassed about it, noticing her cheeks catching a charming red.
“No, that’s not it. You see, I’m not allowed to use the Frost Dance magic whenever I want. It is my family’s forbidden magic which can be used only under certain circumstances. I was caught in the moment and… and when I saw Narias watching I just…” Emilia became slightly frightful, some uneasy thoughts entering her mind.
“Forbidden magic?” Her words got Flavia’s attention, and everyone’s else as well.
“Yes. The Frost Dance Magic is a Sacred Magic that only a handful of my family’s members were able to master throughout the generations. It cannot be taught. It can only be inherited. Apparently, I was blessed with the knowledge of learning it. For some reason, the dance comes natural for me. However, I can only perform the first two steps of it: the opening dance steps and the Ice Glacier spell, which is only a fraction of the Frost Dance Mirror Ice Glacier spell. I don’t know the full details, but apparently, the spell was used in some sort of ritual in the past. My parents hadn’t forbidden me from practicing the dance, but they forbade me from casting the Ice Glacier spell.” Emilia explained, her hands starting to shake for some reason.
“Only a fraction of the full spell? Wow…” Flavia put a finger to her chin, probably trying to imagine how the full spell would look.
“Emilia…” Ileena noticed Emilia becoming distressed.
“I’m so sorry. I shouldn’t have used the Ice Glacier spell, but at the same time, I wanted to show Narias what I can do. I thought… if I don’t do it now, I won’t have another opportunity to show it to him. But now… if anyone from my family were to find out I’ve cast it, they will…” Emilia covered her face with both hands, ignoring the fact they were covered in soap.
“What are you talking about, Emilia?” The Ice Princess felt Flavia’s hand on her shoulder. “All I know you’ve cast this huge Ice Block spell to protect yourself from Layla’s fire attacks. Isn’t that right, Layla? It would’ve been really bad if you got your beautiful hair burned.”
“All I saw was you perform a beautiful dance on the ice, nothing else.” Ileena added, pouring some water on herself to wash the soap from her breasts and her legs.
“Everyone…” Emilia removed her hands from her face, becoming emotional.
“I’m just a maid, serving Talrone’s family. I cannot imagine anyone would listen to what I have to say.” Layla stated in a calm voice, continuing to wash her underarms. “I believe you can trust Narias with keeping it to himself. And I am certain Narias’s parents will keep it a secret as well. They are very understanding with these things.”
“Thank you… so much.” Emilia felt happy, tears running down her cheeks.
“Hah, you got all this soap on your hair, Emilia. You’ll have to wash it again.” Flavia added a cheeky comment, changing the focus of the conversation and making the other girls laugh.
“You’re right, Flavia. I think I should.” Emilia said, adding the most adorable smile on her face.
Niuniax
━━━━━━━━━
Thank you for reading. Leave a comment and favorite the chapter if you enjoyed it. Apologies in advance if you find a weird sounding phrase or a grammar error. These are draft chapters after all.
Read 10+ extra chapters on my Patreon (including the artwork not available anywhere else) – Extra Chapters on Patreon
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Extra thanks to nonomo4 and Lynderyn for extra support and help.
