Chapter 23

Chapter 23

Drawing summoning circles wasn’t all that difficult and since Valeta had seen it so many times in books about elementals, she remembered what it looked like. Her pale finger traced out a red summoning circle on the scrap of fabric. It looked like she was summoning a demon. Gene’s whole body quivered. Every feather on his body was bristling.

“I don’t want to be summoned with such a ghastly summoning circle!”

Valeta gave a wry smile at Gene’s squawk, looking as though she couldn’t care less. “What do I do now?”

“The summoning spell. All you have to do is recite the summoning spell for wind elementals,” Gene replied sourly.

Valeta wracked her brains. She had a strong memory, but it wasn’t good enough to memorize a summoning spell. In the end, she asked the hawk for help.

Gene conceded, but not before giving her a long lecture. “You’re probably the only elementalist in the world who has asked an elemental for their summoning spell.”

Valeta looked at the wind elemental. “Riding on the winds that blow through the heavens, I summon thee. The great wind elemental, Gene.”

“Impossible...”

The summoning circle painted with crimson blood began to glow, and the transparent hawk behind the glass wall disappeared in a whirlwind. Before long, a small breeze began to blow above the summoning circle. It quickly picked up speed, turning into a tornado, and from within the tornado, a hawk twice the size of Valeta appeared, crushing the summoning circle.

“Oh, it worked,” she said as she rose, brushing off her dress. The newly summoned hawk had a stunned look on his face. He kept opening and closing his short beak.

“Who would have thought...?” he stammered.

“Guess I can summon you,” Valeta muttered as she looked up at the elemental. She didn’t think it would be difficult to summon him in the future if she kept a piece of paper with the summoning circle drawn on it in her pocket. At least she’d be able to protect herself among the sea of magicians.

In that moment, a bright light flashed behind Gene’s transparent body. Before Valeta could move, the hawk was hurled into the wall. He collided with the wall with a loud bang.

“Gah...”

“Are you all right, master?”

Reinhart walked to Valeta, a murderous look in his eyes. No, Valeta couldn’t describe his approach as a walk. She blinked and before she knew it, the magician was standing right in front of her. She glanced at Gene, who was pinned to the wall, immobilized by some mysterious force.

“What happened to your hand, master?”

“It’s none of your business.”

At her cold words, Reinhart slowly reached out and grabbed Valeta’s wrist. As he lifted her hand, a stream of blood started trickling down her finger.

“You cut yourself, master,” Reinhart said, his eyes unsmiling. His gaze fell on the scrap of fabric with the summoning circle, and he looked around for the source of the fabric. It wasn’t hard to guess where it had come from as one of Valeta’s thighs was exposed.

“If you needed a pen and some paper, you could have just asked.”

Silence.

“Hm, master?” Reinhart slowly licked Valeta’s finger. His lips parted, and a red tongue lapped up a single drop of blood. The hairs on Valeta’s body stood up.

Still close to her, his eyes flashed dangerously.

“This breaks my heart,” he said, his eyes glowing as he pressed his thumb against Valeta’s wound.

Her face contorted, and she gasped in pain.

Reinhart stroked her finger. The dripping blood disappeared and the wound was no more. Her gaze darkened the moment the sudden pain disappeared. That skill was beyond the ability of humans, but that was who Reinhart was... A lonely existence, born with more powers than any other human, destined to live in solitude. She slowly turned to avoid his gaze

“Master.”

When Valeta didn’t respond, he pushed her toward the bed. Then, as usual, he knelt before her. He looked up at her with eyes that hadn’t changed in the past ten years.

“Valeta.” Reinhart’s voice was sweet and seductive. He called to her, smiling, with the corners of his eyes crinkled, as if he was trying to prove how harmless he was.

Unaccustomed to the way he’d said her name, Valeta couldn’t ignore it. She slowly turned to meet Reinhart’s gaze.

“I’ll get you anything you need. All you have to do is say it.”

“I was just testing something out. Don’t be so dramatic,” she said with a sigh. She couldn’t tell what Reinhart was thinking, but his red gaze made her uncomfortable.

“How could you hurt yourself like this? What if it makes me go crazy?”

Valeta gave no reply. Instead, she narrowed her eyes. She wanted to ask why it would make him go crazy, but she knew the conversation wouldn’t go anywhere.

“I may end up killing whoever made this damned thing.”

Valeta knew that crazy people couldn’t be reasoned with. Reinhart was no different. She started brooding, wondering what to say next. She swallowed a sigh. “Then let Gene go.”

“Gene?” Reinhart questioned.

“The wind elemental you’ve pinned to the wall.”

“Oh, of course.”

Reinhart nodded in response. He snapped his fingers and Gene, who was stuck to the wall like a taxidermied animal, fell to the floor with a plop.

“Wh-why, that damn magician!” Gene’s angry voice filled Valeta’s head. However, he made no move to attack Reinhart, most likely recognizing the difference in their powers.

Is he no match for him? She had hoped that Gene would be powerful enough to take Reinhart on, but now it seemed unlikely. Through the corners of her eyes, she glanced at the magician and found that he had not reacted at all, as if he couldn’t hear the wind elemental’s voice.

“Master,” Reinhart started.

“Stop calling me ‘master,’” Valeta snapped.

“Why do you call that creature by its name?” he asked, his eyes curving into crescent moons. They burned with something akin to madness, as if they were lit with red-hot iron. Valeta swallowed yet another sigh.

“How can I make you mine, master?” Reinhart asked as he kissed her finger. “I want to have you completely. How do I do that?”

He held her hand, pressing his lips to her palm. It was a pleading kiss. Valeta flinched. It didn’t seem like his dark red gaze would leave her any time soon. She could feel the barely suppressed madness behind those eyes. Without a word, she merely continued to watch him.

“Let me out of here.”

“It’s dangerous. Is there somewhere you want to go, master?”

“There is,” Valeta replied with a nod. The magician slowly fiddled with the girl’s fingers as he gazed up at her. His head tilted to one side as if in contemplation.

“You don’t want to go to the crown prince, do you?”

“That doesn’t concern you.”

“If it doesn’t concern me, then who else is there to care for you, master?” Reinhart whispered sweetly. Valeta narrowed her eyes, unable to distinguish whether he was being sincere or not.

“I’m always so curious about what you think, to the point that I want to crack open your skull and take a peek inside.”

One of his hands moved to cup her cheek while the other still held her hand. He gave her a beautiful smile—a smile only meant for her. Her face hardened as she looked down at him. Reinhart sat on the floor and rested his head on her lap. He tilted his head and silently continued caressing her hand as Valeta remained staring at him silently.

There had been times when Reinhart would sit her down so that he could rest his head on her knees. Not just now, but also when they’d been back at the Delight Manor too. Every once in a blue moon, he would enter her room late at night under the pretense of waiting on her and then make her sit on the bed. Then, kneeling by her feet, he would rest his head on her knees or thighs.

How is that waiting on me?

She should have refused and pushed him away. However, she couldn’t bring herself to do it. These were the actions of a desperate man, someone who was hanging on by a thread. She felt he would snap and do something drastic if she pushed him away. Though it didn’t happen often, she knew that whenever he’d come to her, it was when he’d reached his limit.

So, she would let Reinhart do his own thing while she just looked away.

“Master.”

“What is it...?”

“Please, pet me,” he replied. He slowly gazed at Valeta, his eyes melting into hers.