53 Hideous Wisteria
"Thank you for taking care of her, and I'm so sorry for what happened," Eli blurted out all of the sudden, a bit flustered and ashamed, much to Noah's surprise.
He only stared at her for a moment before slowly nodding. He doesn't know why she'd stoop so low to the point of apologizing to the person who just badmouthed her minutes ago. But then, at that second, he felt somewhat moved by how genuine she looked and sounded. It's as if she had completely forgotten what happened between them, or was just simply unbothered by it.
"I should go and report this to the Chairman. Noah, you're also coming," Allen chimed in, giving Noah a nudge before gesturing to follow him.
"Oh, I'll just come along. I'm about to go there, anyway," Zeke added before walking after them.
With that, they finally bid farewells to one another before parting ways.
Hal and Eli were left in the hallway, all alone. Silence eventually sprawled between them as they just continued looking at where the others went off to. Now that they're with each other again, she felt a bit strange. There's the sense of relief that he's there again, but she's also a bit too nervous to start a conversation.
That's until Hal tackled her in an embrace out of nowhere.
"H-Hal?! W-What's wrong?" she stammered in surprise, face flushed.
"I'm sorry you had to go through that," he murmured with a sullen expression.
"Why are you sorry? I'm the one who should apologize for being reckless-"
Eli abruptly paused when Hal only replied by hugging her tighter. For some reason, she discerned that this wasn't just his usual clinginess and playful impetuousness. He was just probably worried earlier, which was indeed a rare display of emotion for this pretentious classmate of hers.
"Just... Don't take those hurtful words to heart. Don't wander around empty halls from now on as well," he continued, burying his face in her hair.
Eli wanted to retort that she wasn't just wandering around and that she needed to pass through the hallways no matter the situation, but she only heaved a defeated sigh at this. Hearing this, Hal finally pulled away and stared at her with a smile to which she only returned a questioning look. Then, he suddenly started patting her head tenderly, surprising her even more.
"Good work out there, Eli."
With his lean figure bathing in the warm shades of the afternoon glow, Hal looked dazzlingly radiant with that grateful grin. The gesture caught her off guard, especially with how his words came out sincere. At this, her face slowly softened, a smile gracing her features.
"You too, Hal," Eli replied, mirroring his delighted expression.
---
As night time falls, amidst a soulless corridor of the academy, the sharp clacking of pointed heels could be heard.
A certain purple-haired woman was venturing the dimness all on her own. Outside, a lone wisteria flower, clouded with an ominously dark mist, was drifting through the air until it reached and hovered in front of one of the windows at the hall.
"Already back, my lord?"
She then turned to face the window and made an opening for it to enter. As soon as it came inside, it suddenly dispersed into black dusts and formed the figure of a human. From the ashes, a fine-looking gentleman in a black butler suit, with pointed and leaf-shaped ears, long milky white hair tied into a ponytail, and purple irises, materialized before the unappalled woman.
"Yes. My Realm was on the verge of collapsing by now. I had nowhere to go," the creature muttered before pacing towards her, a mischievous smirk splattered on his face.
"They got you, huh? What should we do, then? Surely, you're still able to gather information," the woman replied as she met his eyes and crossed her arms.
"That's right... I failed to greet her in the end, but I did confirm that she's a student here. What's more, she's acquainted with the Champions."
"A summoned creature disguised as a student and working with the Champions, is that it?"
The creature only leaned on the wall beside her and continued grinning from ear to ear. She then turned to stare outside the window, peering at the glowing silver moon in the night sky with a tranquil expression.
"It's a bit more complicated than that. Based on what I've observed, the lady seemed to be possessed by a villainess. Though she did attempt to save the sacrifice, she also started fighting with the Champions when they got there. They appeared to have a conflicting relationship," he mused out loud, deep in thought.
"Let's cut to the chase. You've already gone through all that trouble of letting them infiltrate your Realm... So, then, what are we gonna do about her?" the woman questioned, voice devoid of any emotion.
"She's a competent ally, that's for sure. I've never sensed such overflowing magic before... Even so, the results of my observation today are vague. I still hadn't confirmed a couple of things."
"Should we still spread words about it?"
With a scheming smile, the woman glanced at her companion. She then fished out a deck of cards from her pocket before gently drawing one from them. Raising the card in her hand, her smile grew bigger while her eyes lit up with zeal and amusement.
"No, not yet. The Champions were probably expecting that to happen. We have to turn the tables on them and see their real deal with that lady," the creature replied after a brief pause.
"A good pick, my lord... The goddess of fate seems to be smiling on us," she chimed in, showing him a tarot card of a golden wheel and a few red strings attached to it.
"Fantastic~"
"By the way, things are smoothly sailing on my end. The club finally have the permission to host the exhibition. With that, we can execute your plan."
Visibly ecstatic and pleased by the news, the creature only took her hand and kissed the back of it. Deep affection lingers in his amethyst irises as he stared back at her with a fond smile. At this, the woman just returned a soft one on her own, blushing at the gesture.
"I know I can count on you, Ms. Ivy."
"Anything for you, Lord Caspar."
They continue exchanging sincere looks of sheer devotion, with the moon as the sole witness to this clandestine rendezvous.
