Page 17 of Is It Wrong to Escape My Fate? (Dealing With Fate #1)
The following days went a little calmer than my first day.
Claude still tried to bother me every time he could, but it was all in jest. He genuinely seemed like he was trying his best to behave.
Because of his proximity, Kathel and Mera didn’t, or maybe couldn’t, mess with me if they were planning on it.
They settled on sending me glares or haughty looks, even though I didn’t do anything to them. I ignored it.
I had barely seen the other men, except for necessary ones like Professor Strom. My free time was spent in the library, and sometimes Dahlia came with me. I saw the green-haired librarian once. If it was in the afternoon, my knights came along too, watching over me as their job.
My progress in learning the principles of teleportation magic was abysmal, but I was getting there.
One of the funniest, or most shocking things I discovered during my Arithmetic class — mathematics was crucial for spellcasting, too. I'd assumed the class taught practical life skills, like maintaining household accounts or familiarity with economics. That was more of a side effect, apparently.
In line with that, Rune-making was closer to geometry than art. At least, that was how it appeared, because we were only at the theoretical lessons. No actual drafting yet.
Now I understood why these classes existed in the first year of magical education: these are the literal foundations of magic and spellcasting.
This all worked out for me. I was better at math and numbers than I was with art, and if Rune-making was essential to teleportation, like Vincent explained, then I really did have a fighting chance to master this thing.
The progress might be slow, but at least it was consistent. I had hope! I could do this!
I closed the teleportation book after I read the general overview of this type of magic.
Teleportation, by its definition, involved transporting one entity from one location to another using magic.
Now, it wasn’t explicitly said it had to be in the same realm, because why would one even consider transporting to a different realm?
That was where the “conspiracy theory” the green-haired librarian alluded to: some people believe it was possible to go from one realm to another, because how else would the Demon Lord, implied to come from a different world, able to summon monsters that weren’t of this world?
Only one answer — teleportation. Or at least a variation of it. Because when you think about it, summoning was just a different kind of teleportation, right?
One more reason to meet the Demon Lord myself and demand a cordial conversation.
When I returned the book to its rightful spot on the shelf, I caught a glimpse of my librarian again, standing at a corner with an open book in his hand. He might pretend to read, but I was sure I found him staring at me when I hid my eyes under my hair to watch him instead.
Oddly enough, I didn’t find it uncomfortable at all.
I left the library with about thirty minutes to spare for my first class of the day, External Magic.
The special classes were held in another, different building, and I wanted the extra time to find the correct room.
There weren’t many people here since these classes weren’t mandatory to graduate successfully, although it would be beneficial if you wanted to specialize.
In fact, I was alone in this hallway, and I was pretty sure I had followed the directions —
A muscular set of arms circled me from behind and grabbed me inside the wrong room before I could react. My scream died against his palm as he locked the door shut.
Whoever this man was, he knew I didn’t have my bodyguards at this time of the day. Thinking the school was safe even in the bright mornings was na?ve and stupid of me and —
“I’m sorry for scaring you, sunshine, but this is the only way I’ll get to talk to you,” Amos’s rough voice was music to my ears. He turned me around, and I found him in the academy’s regular uniform, and he still looked appealing.
I scrunched my eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
He brushed a hand through his short red hair. “You told me we’ll talk about us in a different place and time. That talk didn’t happen. I’m still waiting for it. So I took the matter into my own hands, and here we are.”
Right, I did say those words to stop him from saying something that could get the two of us in trouble. So many things were happening at the same time that I was losing track.
“What did you need clarification on?” I kept my voice neutral, looking him straight in the eye.
“What?” He huffed in frustration. “Aren’t we lovers now? We kissed, we had amazing sex, and we kissed again after.” He grabbed my shoulders. “Why did you stop me from proclaiming it to everyone?”
I should have done more research about this topic, especially if the cultures were different from my world. Having sex didn’t automatically put you in a relationship. But what if that were the case here?
“Amos.” Placing both of my hands on the sides of his face, he froze, while his pupils dilated and focused on mine. “I apologize for neglecting you these past few days. It was rude of me, and I promise I will not do that again.”
Amos smiled sweetly, moving closer as if he wanted to kiss me, but I stopped him by holding his face away.
“The kisses were wonderful, and the sex was amazing, I agree.” He looked smug as he heard my words, but he didn’t hear everything yet. “But we can’t be lovers.”
His eyes bugged out of their sockets. “That doesn’t make any sense.”
How could I explain it in a way he would understand? Or how a person of this realm would?
There was that tired old reason. “You’re the heir of Viscount Drakon.
” His eyebrows furrowed together, and I could see the gears turning in his head.
“I’m the daughter of Baron Havenglow. I don’t know what your father has planned for you, as is the same for my family. We can’t move against their wishes.”
“Then we can only declare our marriage,” he concluded. It made sense. It might even be a good move for our families politically.
But I shouldn’t get married in this state.
“We shouldn’t be hasty, especially without knowing what their intentions are.” Oh, god. I just thought of something I could add, but it was scummy.
I would hate myself for bringing this up.
It had to be done. “And I recently found out that Duke Caenum wants to propose a marriage between me and his son.”
Amos looked like he wanted to maim someone as his fingers tightened on my shoulders. I knew his anger wasn't meant for me, but his reaction still surprised me, my heart hammering against my ribs. Why was he so affected by this?
“Between the Viscount and the Duke, my family might find it a better option to accept the Duke,” I continued as his mood transformed from anger to genuine panic. “We can’t continue like this. We have two options.
“One, we forget that anything happened. It was as if we hadn’t met here at this school. This will be our last interaction.”
He pressed his forehead against mine while I dropped my hands from his jaw. “I can’t do that, Bea.”
I expected that answer, even though I wished he had accepted it to make things easier for us both.
“Or two, we keep this quiet, accept that there’s nothing we can do right now, and continue with a new understanding: we can’t be lovers exclusively, because that will arouse suspicion.
That last part is non-negotiable to me.”
Being told that I couldn’t be only his should make any man run away, right?
That had always been my experience in my world.
Some would pretend and try the open relationship agreement, but they would quickly realize they didn’t like the idea of their nympho girlfriend getting her needs met by other guys.
It was the same for Amos. He studied me, eyes narrowed, fingers trembling on my shoulders, mouth set in a grim line. “Can I think about it?” he finally asked, letting me go. “I will seek you out later and give you my answer.”
I nodded as I looked around, my heart picking up speed. “Take your time. Don’t rush it.” Take as much time as you need, because I knew how difficult it was to deal with a noble’s child, if only for their social standing. Take months to decide while I was free to deal with one guy less.
Remember, Bea, if you needed sex, maybe pick a commoner next time who knew how to cast a contraceptive spell, because pregnancy was another problem I didn’t need.
Amos brushed away my hair and kissed my forehead, unlocking the door behind us. “This has been a very enlightening conversation. Let’s talk again soon.”
I left the room first, and the hallway was still empty.
Walking towards the classroom where I should have been, my mind reeled back to that slight moment where I was sure the shadows in the room moved.
We were alone there; there couldn’t have been anyone else, or Amos wouldn’t have chosen that room in the first place, right?
My paranoia needed to be curbed, clearly.
External magic was the catch-all term for a type of magic that didn’t deal with the Elements, the Divine, or Recovery magic.
Displacement magic — like switching one entity with another, teleportation, or manipulating a space — was one kind.
Illusion magic was another. Creation magic was an advanced form of this, too.
The magic here could get very specific, complicated, or difficult, and like our professor told us, it wasn’t for everyone. Only a small percentage of mages in the realm could cast this type of magic.
For example, teleportation, which I was sure now I wanted to specialize in, only had about a thousand practitioners in a Kingdom with a fifty million population. That fact was very intriguing and only pushed me more to pursue this seriously.
With lunch done, it was time for the class I dreaded the whole week — Physical and Combat Training.