As Alissa walked towards them, Zavier felt nervous for some reason while Dahila started to move towards Alissa.
When the two girls came across each other, Dahila whispered something in Alissa's ear before walking away.
"He asked me to protect you in the event that there are enemies blocking our path again. You have found yourself a good one. He's worth putting your trust in."
If it had been anyone else, they might not have been able to hear what she had said to Alissa but his perception ability wasn't exactly normal.
He had heard her exact words and couldn't help but be grateful to her. Even the icy princess could say something good every once in a while.
She had made it all good between Zavier and Alissa with a single sentence which was obviously a well-crafted lie. A lie that was spoken for the good of others was not exactly a lie. There was no ill intent involved. She had even thrown in some praise about him. That made it all sound even better.
As expected, Alissa had a 180 degree change in expression and behavior. She became chipper and giddy in an instant and practically skipped the rest of the way towards him.
Zavier couldn't help but marvel at this ability of hers.
Zavier thanked Dahila and her impromptu actions in his heart. Unlike the way she looked and acted, she was quite an understanding girl it seemed. And it looked like she had already known about the two of them from the beginning. Otherwise, she would have never explained herself like that to Alissa.
Alissa had a flush on her face that refused to leave her peachy skin even after she was standing right in front of him. Some of it was due to her previous anger and some of it was due to her guilt for jumping to conclusions on her own and not giving him a chance to explain.
"I am sorry. I thought that you two…that both of you…Uhm...I misunderstood you."
"It's okay. Anyone could have made that mistake. I am happy enough that you don't blame me for it."
Zavier acted generous and said it was nothing but in reality, he had been the one at fault and was only enjoying her good grace because of Dahila's quick thinking.
Zavier wasn't concerned with trivialities like this; he was more concerned with the monster that resided inside of her. It not only compromised her safety, it also rendered it impossible for her to learn magic. He wanted to get back and discuss her condition with her parents as soon as possible. Because what he had seen inside her had made him feel terrified, both for himself and her.
But before he could do that, he needed to get some information from her about her parents. He needed to make sure whether her parents knew about her condition or not. So, he prodded her with questions that didn't make his intentions very obvious to her.
"Tell me something, have you always been unable to use magic?"
Alissa was confused as to why he was asking such a question.
Seeing her confused expression, Zavier knew that he had to explain himself before she started to doubt his intentions.
"I just want to know more about the girl I like."
As expected, everything that he wanted to know, sprung out of her like an overflowing fountain.
"Ever since I knew what magic was, I have seen my parents' disappointed faces staring at me for not having any talent in that regard. So, I think that I was just born wrong."
"Didn't your parents try to teach you magic on their own like I tried to do?"
"No, at least I don't remember such an instance. They have always told me to stay away from magic, probably because they don't want to see me get hurt since I have no talent in this regard. I think they have always known that I couldn't make it as a mage and kept me away from it so I wouldn't feel bad.
Even though we live in a world where magic is an undeniable part of our lives, I only know as much about it as any other muggle or only what I have learnt in school.
Even when I wanted to attend school, they had initially refused me. I had to feign anger with my parents due to which they eventually relented and let me go to school."
Her words only confirmed what Zavier had been thinking. They were aware of the actual problem with Alissa and therefore kept her away from magic deliberately. Only an extremely optimistic person like Alissa could possibly think that all of this had been done for her own good. Anyone else would have thought that they were being deprived of their basic rights.
Zavier's worry for her was eating away at him from the inside. He wasn't sure whether her parents knew or not. He was only sure of one thing. And it was that there was a monster sealed inside of her which was like a ticking time bomb that could explode any minute. Therefore, he wanted to meet her parents to be sure about what was going on with her and why had her parents never told her about it?
He needed more information.
"Alissa, I want to meet your parents. Is that alright with you?"
Her breath left her for a moment when she heard those words. They had just taken the first step towards their relationship and Zavier already wanted to see her parents. Her face revealed a blossoming blush and her voice started to stumble but she somehow uttered her answer in the positive.
Even though she felt that they were moving too fast, Alissa had already decided on her part that she would eventually move on to that step with only Zavier and no one else.
Therefore, she did not hesitate to agree to his somewhat unreasonable demand.
On the other hand, Zavier didn't feel that he had asked a question with such a double meaning. He had only wanted to test the waters regarding her situation by interacting with her parents and had no other intention at all. He had been misunderstood once again.
Alissa did not have the courage to hide her bubbling emotions at the moment. So, she rushed off in a hurry to get away from Zavier lest he saw her fidgeting like that.
Zavier was left alone with his thoughts regarding her. He had a basic plan in mind about how to go about her situation with her parents. He was sure that they would either retaliate against him or would deny his claims altogether but he was willing to take the risk. He had to get to know the hurdle that he would have to cross eventually as he was already in a relationship with her.
A little bit later he managed to crawl out of his thoughts and returned to the campfire where not long ago all of them had been having fun conversing with each other.
But this time, it was completely deserted. The fire was close to being extinguished so he raked the coal a little with a nearby stick and put in some new firewood to keep it going.
He looked around but Valerie and Calista were nowhere to be seen. He went close to the tent of the girls and heard their voices. They were busy chattering among themselves.
Zavier could feel that her arrival had given the team a sense of confidence; after all they now had two A rank mages to assist them in getting back home safely. There was no other guarantee that could make them feel any safer. The two mages combined even had the ability to take on an S-rank mission and complete it.
Therefore, all of them were feeling especially comfortable that night but since the girls had shifted the party to their tent, Zavier could only go back to his tent to get some well-deserved shut eye. He had been awake most of the time the previous night as well, so he was considerably tired and his eyelids were especially droopy. He laid down in his tent and tried to sleep through the girly chatter next door.
It was a peaceful night for Zavier who had finally been able to rest without any worries.
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