Tomorrow came and Clavis arranged everything for Selena’s dismissal. The other Judges, Generals, Servus, and house leaders were informed of the decision but no detailed information was given except to the other Judges which gave the same reaction as the king did. They ended up teasing Clavis because of it.

Since Selena was currently staying in Meracus, with Rose, Lily and Iris, they didn’t have any house leaders to inform them of the news. So, when the Sortis’ family servants arrived at Meracus to fetch Selena, she was horrified.

​​

“What?!” Selena exclaimed. “I’m disqualified and you’re taking me to your master? That means I’m already given away to some stinky noble family?” She was almost crying.

Rose, Lily and Iris, hugged her back and tried to calm her down.

“Relax, maybe it’s not that bad of a family,” Iris cheered her.

“B-but, you saw at the banquet, it’s probably that old man again! What if it’s him?”

Rose and Lily looked at each other.

“Well, I certainly hope not. Besides, you’re beautiful! Remember the rules? Once a candidate falls out of the competition, the Judges get to pick first, then the Generals and on and on based on hierarchy,” Rose explained.

“Judges, first?” Selena thought hard. Then she remembered Clavis. In her mind, she thought, ‘Right! It’s all that guy’s fault! He’s the one who … who – he should take responsibility!’

“Selena,” Lily called her dearly. “Whomever you might end up with, always remember to be careful, okay?”

“Yes, I will”.

With a sorrowful farewell, Selena bid them goodbye. The servants took her belongings and carried them. One moment they were standing at the front gate of Meracus, and by the next moment, they were now walking towards another gigantic gate made of metal bathed in white, with a crest in the middle that says “Sortis”, only that it’s written in the language of Magi.

Upon entering the gates, Selena was welcomed into a very beautiful mansion designed like a castle covered in white and blue. From the gates, they were welcomed by an archway made of sturdy vines and blue flowers. After the archway was a straight line of trees and an outdoor water wall, alternating each other all the way to the mansion. The water wall fountain made walking along the pathway very relaxing since you could hear the sound of water all throughout the journey. And at the end of it was the mansion made of white quartz with roofs that were blue in color.

Upon entering, Selena was warmly welcomed by the other hundreds of servants of the Sortis family. She was surprised at how rich they were – whoever the guy who took her in was. In addition, the servants were all nice and their faces were always warmly smiling. This made her think that maybe she got lucky this time and ended up with a kind family.

After all the formalities from the butlers and head maids such as introducing the parts of the house, meeting the servants, and many others, at last, she was now left alone in the room that was given to her.

“Phew!” she sighed. “That was a lot to take in”. She then laid flat on the bed and stared at the ceiling. “At least this is a beautiful home. But this is weird …,” she pondered for a moment. She got up, surveyed her surroundings, and thought, “No matter how I look at it, this room doesn’t look like a girl’s room. Did they even prepare this for me? Or they thought that this is my taste?”

Indeed, the whole room gave off a bachelor’s pad feel. The floors and walls were pure white with light blue linings and brick designs every here and there. The furnitures were very masculine in appearance – like the L-shaped emperor sofa at the corner, the tables, the beddings, every dresser, mirror, paintings on the wall, the wall lamps, even the design of the rugs and carpet.

“Hmm … Even in Pemptos and Meracus, the rooms are not like this. Wait, is he perhaps a pervert who’s into men? And he’s planning on making me dress like a man, or transform me into a man? Is that even possible? But wait, do I look like a man?”

“You’re talking to yourself again, I see,” Clavis came out of nowhere again.

“Kyaaaa!” Selena screamed in her surprise. She held her chest and tried to calm down. “Hah … hah … You almost gave me a heart attack!” Despite her surprise, she figured out immediately whose voice it was. She glared at Clavis afterwards and said, “Why are you here? To see me suffer? Thanks to you, I got disqualified!”

“Oh? So you prefer to be in the king’s harem? I never knew you liked him,” as nonchalant as ever, Clavis replied while he paced himself and sat on the large sofa. He gestured his hands and a book came floating towards him from one of the bookshelves aligned on the wall. He began reading afterwards.

“I never said I liked him,” Selena responded. “It’s just that I have a less chance of being touched if I remain in the harem. Imagine, he has ten or twenty girls to choose from. I just need to make myself as invisible as possible and I can live a peaceful life”.

“Uhm, not a bad idea,” he replied while barely listening to what she was saying.

Noticing this, Selena walked out of the bed and towards Clavis and took his book. Clavis glared at him.

“What?”

“Are you not even gonna explain anything to me? Like, who’s the one that took me in? What kind of guy is he? Is he bad? Does he … well, is he lustful or anything like that? Is he a pervert? Or is he into men? Or … or …,” Selena got worried the more questions she asked. She tried to act brave but her tears were failing her.

Clavis wasn’t sure what got into him, but somehow, seeing Selena’s teary eyes, it made him feel like he wanted to … as ridiculous as it may sound to him … he wanted to tease her? Raising his eyebrows and with a faint smirk, he answered Selena’s questions.

“Oh, the man that took you in? It depends on what you mean by a pervert. If it’s someone who just kisses an unconscious girl, then you could say he’s one. And regarding if he’s into men, don’t worry he’s not. Besides, why would he take you, a girl, if he preferred men?”

“So, he’s a pervert afterall?!” Selena’s face went pale. Her knees weakened and she kneeled in front of Clavis. “Oh nooooo …. What do I do? Is this your revenge on me from biting your lips?”

“Well, it DID hurt,” Clavis shrugged his shoulders.

“Waaaaaa,” Selena wailed. “I’m doomed! I don’t want my first time to be with a pervert!” She was really crying now. Poor girl, she got so scared.

“Ah -” Clavis was taken aback again. He didn’t really intend to make her cry. What’s worse, he was feeling the presence of his mother nearby! She was now walking towards his room probably to check on him.

Clavis’ mother got very delighted upon hearing the news that Clavis finally decided to take in a wife. Well, not yet his wife since they haven’t married yet, but rather, this setting was considered an engagement to the Magi. Being her most unsociable son, her mother got worried that he’ll grow old with no one to take care of him and be with him. And since Clavis, cannot publicly declare that he shared his life energy with a human, he simply agreed with his mother’s assumption that he fell in love with this woman – which was Selena.

Thus, he could not possibly bear for her mother to see that he’s making her cry or else she won’t believe the story anymore and he’ll be punished severely. The Sortis family was a family of very honest and loyal people after all.

“Ugh, stop crying …,” he tried to calm her down. But Selena won’t stop.

Clack … clack … clack …

He could hear the sounds of the footsteps getting nearer now. He couldn’t just leave the room and teleport somewhere. His mother would be suspicious.

“Argh, this is such a headache,” Clavis muttered. “I shouldn’t have teased you, I’m sorry”.

“Huh?” Selena stopped crying for a moment. She lifted her head and saw Clavis looking at her. His light blue eyes were really captivating. “So, you were only teasing me? It’s not true?”

“I’m the one who took you in. And I’m not a pervert so you don’t need to worry,” Clavis breathed heavily. “The last thing I’ll do to you is to sleep with you”.

“You promise?” Wiping her tears, she held out her pinky finger.

“What’s that?”

“A pinky promise, it means you swear to me that you won’t touch me”.

“Tsk, Why do I even need to swear to something I’ll never do?”

“Well, you kissed me remember?”

“Would you rather die then?”

“No, but still. Just, promise me!”

“Ugh, fine, I promise”. And he copied Selena’s gesture.

Selena smiled gleefully after Clavis made his pinky swear. She was so cute that Clavis averted his eyes from her. Selena was indeed the most beautiful among the candidates especially when you see her smile.

Clavis cleared his throat. “Ahm, by the way, my mother is coming in any moment now, so I need you to cooperate with me”.

“Your mother? Cooperate? How?”

“Ugh, try to act … as if you’re in love with me, ugh,” his face grimaced at the mention of the word ‘love’.

“Huuhh?!”

BANG!

And the doors to Clavis room banged open.

“Hello, my dear son! Where’s your fiance? I want to see her!” an alluring woman suddenly came in bursting the doors wide open. She had light blue hair like Clavis, and a pair of blue eyes and a face that spelled “trouble”.