Chapter 14

Everard was on the other side of the door and knocking at it. If that wizard saw Elvira, he would kick her out of the castle after the most brutal public humiliation.

Was it true that no one dared enter Wivior's room without his permission? It was hard to conclude who was in charge yet. Her only certainty was that Everard was someone to be feared.

Elvira's initial plan was to hide in the toilet, but the knocking grew louder. "If you're in there, I need to have a word with you. Come outside and see me when you're ready. I'll be in my chambers."

After he said that, his footfalls grew distant until they completely vanished. 

"Phew!" Elvira wiped the beads of sweat that had formed on her forehead and took a sigh of relief on the fainting couch.

Perhaps Wivior was a man of power after all. Things could be a lot easier for her if it were true.

Not much later, there was another knock at the door. It was Wivior himself. The moment he crossed the threshold, the aroma of savory and sweet foods filled the room, pleasing Elvira's senses. 

A tray full of food was placed before her. The meal consisted of chicken, fish, vegetable stew, and a small pie.

Elvira gave him a confused look. He didn't need to do that much for nothing. That wizard was wasting his time if he planned to sweep her off her feet. Elvira was too smart to fall for a man's trick of being nice to a woman with his words and actions to make her act better to him in his bed.

"I know you're wondering where all this food came from, right?" Wivior guessed.

"You got me!" Elvira coughed.

"Thankfully, there were enough raw ingredients in the pantry to make this scrumptious meal for you. I am terrible at cooking unless someone wants to have boiled potatoes for a meal, so_ I had to use magic for this." Wivior ran his fingers through his curly locks and bit his tongue in embarrassment. 

"I may sound like a lazy pig to you. As a wizard, it feels like a tedious task to do chores using magic. That's why we have servants in the castle for cooking and cleaning," he added.

"Thank you for this meal. You didn't have to make so much for me," said Elvira.

"How else am I supposed to treat a lord's daughter?" Wivior sat next to her, leaving only a foot of space between them."You must be so used to a lavish lifestyle."

Elvira moved slightly away to create more distance. "I can adjust. Aren't you going to eat with me?"

"We already ate in Berkton. Magical beings don't need to eat much to survive. We also don't feel hunger as much as humans. Eating without an appetite is hard," Wivior answered.

Elvira was also a magical being who wasn't fond of chores. She didn't have anyone to serve her. That raised a question in her mind, "Are you royalty yourself?"

Wivior exhaled loudly. "At this point, I don't know what I am."

"Did anyone come to the door while I was gone?" he asked the next moment.

"Uh, I forgot to tell you. Everard knocked at the door, asking for your presence in his chambers. He needs to talk to you," Elvira answered.

"If you were in any other room in this palace, he would have walked right in." Wivior smiled through his eyes."I told you this is the safest room to hide."

"I must go and see him now," he said as he stood up. "In the meantime, please enjoy your meal."

After Wivior was out of the room, Elvira forced some food down as quickly as possible to make time to do a quick search around the room.

Her reason to be there wasn't merriment. Also, Wivior was making her uncomfortable by being a smiley, helpful man.

Only four to five people cared for her unconditionally, and that list excluded her very own mother!

Elvira's legs froze in place. Stealth wasn't one of her skills, and getting caught in the act could result in death. 

Her gaze moved around the room for a clue, and she found at least five portraits of Wivior hanging on the walls. A painting of Wivior's face on the ceiling most shocked her. He had a toothy smile in it. What a self-obsessed man he was!

Elvira wanted to go through every nook and cranny of his room, but she lacked the courage and the time to do so. After some nervous thinking, she decided to open one huge cupboard only.

Upon opening it, a heavy, thin object fell out, causing her to lose balance and land on the floor. She dared to look at what it was. That object resembled the staff-like weapon the wizards had with them in the forest. A glowing red light was emanating from the one before her, and it was spinning rapidly in circles on the stone floor. 

Once she grabbed that staff, instead of hindering its movements, it moved her in circles with itself. That staff was unbelievably mighty, and it seemed impossible to stop it with strength.

In absolute defeat, she moved away from the staff. She should have never opened that cupboard! If Wivior saw that she was doomed, she had to put it back somehow before his return.

Out of desperation, Elvira quickly pulled out the small book her uncle had given her about magical beings of the world before her departure. Maybe it could provide her with some guidance.

She flipped the pages like a madwoman but couldn't find anything there. The book was small yet thick and written in what seemed like microscopic letters. Rushing in anxiety and fear wasn't going to lead her anywhere, so she stopped and took a few deep breaths before moving to the index page. Luckily, she found an entire chapter about magical staffs.

She quickly got to that page and saw many images of different staffs before finding the red one. 

It was accompanied by a passage titled: The Power of the Witch Killer. A wave of fear went through her body.

She made no delay to read the words underneath the title:

A staff that glows like a red fire is something to be feared. Wizards have used it as a special weapon during wars with us. In the fall of great witch kingdoms like Zovell and Kravia, it killed and captured thousands of its residents and demolished the kingdom's sacred temple and castle...

Those statements about that staff made Elvira gulp in fear, so she closed the book without finishing the passage and put it in her satchel bag.

Elvira was up against a great weapon designed to kill her kind. She watched the staff that was still spinning from a careful distance. It was best not to touch it again. The weapon could not speak, so it wasn't like it could say something to Wivior if she lied to him about it falling out of the cupboard on its own.

The plan seemed reasonable until she heard the word 'witch' in a high-pitched voice, coming from that staff's direction.

Elvira walked toward that staff that was surprisingly static on the ground. She picked it up, and it said 'witch' again in an even higher-pitched voice that hurt her ears. Elvira dropped it and covered her ears with her hands. 

The staff was now screaming that word.

Why was that staff saying that? And how could an object speak? Did it know that she was a witch? Why didn't it attack her if it could sense her true energy? Could it not function fully without a master?

In her case, the phrase, 'Out of the fire into the frying pan,' was fitting.

She couldn't afford to let Wivior see the staff now that it was yelling that word. Elvira mustered the courage to pick it up again, and as soon as she touched it, it screamed bloody murder.

"Shut up, you stupid object. Go back to sleep." Elvira slapped the object to put some sense into it.

The staff exerted so much force on Elvira that she fell again. 

"Ugh!" Elvira got up in frustration immediately and ran to get a hold of it, but it was too fast and cunning. The worst part was that it kept screaming witch while running away like it was mocking her.

"Stop, you stupid brat!" she yelled at that staff. Elvira had enough of that staff's nonsense. She succeeded in catching it after using magic for extra speed.

The staff started glowing like red fire in her hands. Before she could react, it hit her with such an immense blow of power that she flew into the air and hit a wall. Elvira felt drained and helpless on the floor, and the staff still wouldn't shut up!

Before she could think of another plan, Wivior walked in.