Chapter 7

They were both flying steadily and was using wind magic to make them float and move through the air. Celestine was on the attack while Wilhelm was on defense.

"Advance magic, [Pure Lightning]" Celestine threw in a very powerful attack.

A solid layer of magical sphere blocks the attack. Celestine's attack didn't even land any damage on it. It was the same barrier that protected Runa from her attacks.

The sight of the barrier forced Celestine to frown at him, she knew for sure that his barrier was one hard nut to crack but she didn't stop, she was furious, angry, sad, and a couple of emotions mixed up.

She knows why she was feeling them. It was jealousy. She was feeling jealous about his treatment, about Runa. Just why was his eyes looked so different to her? Does he love her? She doesn't know which is why she's mad about it.

She was throwing magic spells at him like a child making a tantrum. But her attacks couldn't pierce through the barrier.

"Just why..!?" She couldn't help but vent out her thought. The tough barrier irritated her, and she wanted to at least land a hit at him at least one time.

Whilhem wanted to ask why as well. What does she mean why? Why is she angry in the first place?

But he was just there enforcing his barrier and accepting everything she shot at him. Celestine charged a very condensed magic circle and fired it straight into the barrier challenging its defense.

Weirdly enough her attack looked like a straight line that was the same size as a pencil. There was a strong collusion between Wilhelm's defense and her attack.

Wilhelm was impressed that his barrier was getting pierced making Celestine's attack stronger than his barriers.

He was forced to teleport himself to avoid getting hit by her attack.

And he used one of his cards to finally put an end to the fight.

"Activate, [Zero Magic Field]..."

The wind magic supporting Celestine to float in the sky suddenly disappeared, she took a quick gasp and started falling from a height.

By the name itself, it causes every magic around the area to vanish, completely erasing them and stopping them from materializing,

"Spirit arts, Summon [Garuda]" A giant bird appeared, and Wilhelm mounted its back, he was so large that riding it like a horse would be impossible therefore he remained standing on his back.

"Dale, catch her..!" He ordered the giant monster, the bird flew as fast as it could towards the falling Celestine. Wilhelm caught her with both arms and held her like a princess.

"What's gotten into you?" He asked as his eyes frowned.

"Put me down!"

"Not unless you tell me why you're acting weird"

"I SAID PUT ME DOWN!"

She shouted while she was struggling to release herself. Without magic, Celestine is no more than a woman. In terms of physical strength, she can't overpower Wilhelm.

She stopped her struggle to break free. It seems like she has toned down. Celestine then talked to Wilhelm's summon,

"Dale, please fly a bit higher..." He obediently flew higher and gently kept a certain height as he glided his wings against the ocean air.

The strong wind breeze and the fluffly clouds across the ocean was seen by her naked eyes. But it took a few minutes of silence before she could finally calm herself down.

"Are you fine now?" Wilhelm asked.

"Hm."

"Alright, I'll put you down--"

"Don't.,! Not yet... Hold me for a while..."

She insisted for him to hold her like that for a bit longer.

"But you're heavy~" Or so he said...

Celestine gave him a sharp look, she wanted to deny his statement. It was rude of him to say that to a lady. Celestine doesn't weigh that much, she's not that heavy but he wanted to tease her to ease the tension.

That's the reason why he said it but it could also create a more complicated situation if she took that at heart.

"Tell me." She mumbled.

"About what?"

"That girl."

"Runa?"

"Hmm."

"Okay"

Celestine was ready to hear it, or so she thought she was but then again she was scared of hearing it. She doesn't want to hear him telling her that he likes her. She'll certainly cry if he would. But she is dying to know what their relationship is and what does he think of her.

"She's a slave that I bought, Lagus asked me to save her in exchange for learning new magic from him but that aside I just wanted to help her, she was full of bruises and scars before I bought her."

"She had eyes like a dead fish so I helped her, she's been doing great nowadays, she even regained body mass"

She was glad to know that they weren't a thing but she wanted to confirm his feelings for her. That's what matters for her now.

"Do you like her?" A nosy question from Celestine.

"If you mean as a person then yes, she's kind and shy. Also, she's a fast learner--"

"That's not what I meant, idiot."

"I see, well I do not have any romantic feelings for her,"

Her worries began to fade, so he didn't like her romantically. If he did then she'd find herself running all the way back to her home crying under her pillow while eating chocolate the whole day.

"Then, do you like me?" Another nosy question but with a bit of hesitation when she asked. Even she was surprised that she asked him that, it was too bold of a question but it was already spoken and she couldn't take it back.

The question left Wilhelm thinking. Which 'like' does she mean? She looked at Wilhelm's eyes with an alluring look of curiosity. The way she looked at him seemed like she wanted to hear something positive from him as a reply, Wilhelm looked away because she was too beautiful to look at.

"I-it's not like I hate you or anything" a flimsy reply.

Within those very moments, he placed her down and faced a different direction. It was not the answer that she wanted to hear and it sounded like he was trying to avoid telling straight to the point.

"That's not the question, you jerk."

"Argh! What's gotten into you all of a sudden?! This is even more annoying than usual!" He raised his voice but no anger mixed with his voice. Him trying to escape the question made Celestine burst out.

"Oh for God's sake Wilhelm! Just tell me if you like me or not! What's so hard about that?!"

"Everything about that is hard! You're such an annoying! troublesome! and nerve-wracking woman!"

"And?! So what if I'm annoying? You can just not get yourself involved with me!"

"Hah?! You're the one who keeps getting involved with me! Even back at the academy, you would always do that!"

"So?! What of it?! Tell me Wilhelm what's wrong with me wanting to have time with the person I like?! Even if it means annoying him all the time?!"

"It's wrong to bother other----" Wilhelm stopped talking as realized what he just heard, it was a confession. An accidental slip of her tongue out of overflowing emotions.

"Argh!! You are so irritating you dense jerk! Hmph!" She added and saw that he looked away and curled himself.

"Say something! It's embarrassing if you won't say anything!" Celestine was all red after the sudden confession. As she looked at Wilhelm's back, she noticed that his earlobes were bright red.

"Wait..! A-are you? Blushing?" She asked, not believing what she saw and hoping that she was wrong about it. There's no way someone such as him would blush. Not the way she knew him.

"No..! Why the hell would I blush?!" He replied and that's when she wanted to know for herself if he was telling the truth, if he wasn't blushing then he wouldn't even try to look away to hide his face.

She wanted to know so badly that's why she told him, "If you're not blushing then turn around!"

"Why would I?" He stubbornly faced a different direction.

"You're acting like a child! Come here and face me!" Impatiently, Celestine forcefully pulled his head to get to see a good look at his face and she was happy with what she saw.

"Look at you, you're as red as a tomato" She told him that but her face was as red as his. She smiles widely, a victorious smile full of happiness and relief.

"Tsk. Let go of my head woman..."

"You like me don't you?"

". . . . Ye, I like you, as a person."

"That's not what I meant you know?"

". . . . Who knows, beats me."