Why is that fox being so intimate with Lukas right now? He was never like that to anyone else except me! What a traitor! Isn’t he supposed to be my spirit familiar? What the hell…

I watched them for a minute, feeling odd. When did they get closer?

“By the way, do you think Lord Janus is at the tower?” I broached as I gazed at the distance again, brushing the thing between Lukas and Kuro aside.

“How would I know?” he muttered blandly.

“I want to ask him to teach me about magic but he’s always not at the tower,” I sighed.

When I looked back, I saw Lukas staring down at Kuro who looked like he was waiting for him to pet him or something. That’s the expression he gives when he’s acting coy and wants cuddles. 

He then smirked evilly and lightly pulled Kuro’s whiskers which made the latter flinch its head away in recoil, tails wagging idly, and still acted coquettishly afterward.

I was speechless.

Who the hell is that?

“You want to learn magic?” Lukas questioned, breaking my reverie.

“I want to understand my abilities better and who else is suitable but the lord of the tower himself?” I remarked.

Lukas scoffed, “Too bad you won’t ever learn then.”

My mood instantly plummeted after he said that because of how true it is. Janus is always not around and just comes rolling in whenever he wants to. Even in the novel, I could vaguely remember that he likes to keep to himself and would just appear when things are getting interesting or turning out for the worse.

Honestly, I have completely forgotten what the novel was about at this point. I knew the characters, I knew some specific details about them, but that’s it. How did the story go, what happened to the plot, or the conflict, all of that is completely nonexistent in my head now.

I wanted to sulk but as my eyes rolled towards Lukas again, who’s currently bullying Kuro, an idea popped into my head. An absurd but completely compelling idea.

Isn’t there another person aside from Janus who can use magic and such? A person who has an inexhaustible source of mana? Powerful enough to be dubbed as a one-man army?

My eyes twinkled as I rushed forward and sat on the lone chair beside Lukas. He lifted his left brow as he looked at me curiously, staring at him like he’s my last hope.

“Then, can you teach me?” I blurted out loud.

“Haah?” Lukas’ face immediately fell.

“Teach me how to use magic,” I persisted, nonetheless.

“Are you serious? You want me to teach you,” he then tilted his head to the side and regarded me like I just told him a joke.

I nodded eagerly, “Yes. Please teach me. I will be forever grateful!” 

Lukas crossed his arms to his chest and leaned back.

“And why would I do that? My only job is to babysit you.”

Biting my lip, I spat out the most flattering words I could think.

“Because you are kind and generous, and very benevolent. You are also amazing so can you teach me how to be as awesome as you, Lu— Master Lukas?” I finished with wide hopeful eyes.

…

His eyes narrowed lazily, “Kind? Benevolent? Hmmm…” he then gave a lopsided smile that showed off his devilish charm, “That’s true.”

For a moment, I had almost forgotten how to breathe after seeing that view. But my resolve is much stronger than being easily seduced by good looks.

“So I’m hoping, His Grace will grant this lady’s request out of the goodness of his heart,” I preached.

Goodness, this is the only time I am praising you this much, Lukas. 

“Hmm I don’t know, I’m kind of busy…” he droned, clearly doing it on purpose.

How are you busy? All you ever do when there is no danger is to linger in my room and do nothing.

But of course, I won’t say that.

“I just want to learn how to control my magic and His Grace, being the best at it, surely won’t find it troublesome to impart some of that wisdom you have.”

One should not test my desire to achieve what I want because I have a rather unbridled determination. Even my stuck-up brother had to give in to me a lot of times. 

Lukas regarded me with an idle expression, probing me and my intentions.

“You sure have a sweet mouth, Little cat,” he muttered.

‘I could be sweeter than that! Try me!’ Is what I wanted to say but analyzing it, the meaning sounded rather ambiguous even to my ears.

“I’m trying my very best here. At least humor me,” I breathed while biting my lip. “Please—” with gritted teeth, I forced myself to say the next words which were against my feelings— “Master Lukas.”

Ugh, I can’t believe I’m saying all of that! The horror!

Lukas’s right hand crept up to cover his mouth as he tried to stifle his laughter. He’s laughing at me, I know it, which is more frustrating than I thought. He really enjoyed putting me in such a hard situation.

“Fine. But my students are not idiots. You should be grateful that I’m willing to teach you,” he bragged with an equally triumphant smile.

I rolled my eyes internally but smiled indulgently on the outside.

“Yes, yes, of course.”

He straightened his legs and pushed Kuro off of him.

“Alright, what do you want to know?”

I briefly glanced at Kuro before answering.

“How do you control mana?”

That was, after all, my main problem. I am terrible at controlling it because I have no idea how. So I am hoping Lukas could teach me a trick or two.

“You just do,” he then shrugged.

“Huh?”

“You just control them naturally and let it flow,” Lukas added.

I stared at him blankly for a few seconds before my face gradually twisted in confusion.

“I don’t get it. How do you do that? Can you elaborate on it?” At this point, I was a bit lost and frustrated.

What kind of answer was that?