"I've got it!"

After a long moment of silence that felt like days, Rey finally spoke up.

He had been in deep contemplation of Lucielle's unwanted, but growing feelings for him- particularly how to stop them from developing even further.

There didn't seem to be anything he could do about it... until now.

"I could help you get over me by doing things you dislike!" He said, having a broad smile plastered on his face.

He had to have thought his idea was grand and brilliant, for him to have displayed so much energy with his suggestion. Wasn't it genius, though?

'Sometimes, people like others without fully understanding what they're actually like. Once they do, though... such feelings fade away.'

If Rey could make Lucielle averse to him, he could correct the emotions that currently ravaged her teenage body.

But-

"Maybe that could work..." As soon as Lucielle said this, Rey brightened up.

His plan was genius, after all!

"... But I don't particularly have any dislikes."

"O-oh...?"

Rey's bright smile slowly dulled, and his glimmering eyes lost their shine. Somehow, he expected something to go wrong.

Just not like this.

"It's not like I focus on superficial details, so doing anything like that would be pointless. You would have known all of that if you paid the littlest of attention to me, and not... haa...

nevermind, Rey."

At this point, Lucielle seemed slightly irritated by Rey and his presence in her room.

She even began to glare at him.

"Sorry...?" He tried to apologize, but she cut him short by raising her hand and telling him to stop, before giving a sigh and shaking her head.

"I'll figure it out myself. It was a mistake to bring you into this, to begin with."

After muttering this, Lucielle gave Rey a sad smile and shrugged. "You should focus on your own feelings for Alicia."

The moment Rey heard this, there seemed to be a shattering feeling in his heart. He had thought that his only intention was to help Lucielle, but once she mentioned Alicia, he realized he was also trying to forget the girl he loved in the process.

He must have thought that if he could help Lucielle, then maybe... just maybe he could help himself get rid of his feelings for Alicia.

At least, before he lost her forever..

"I finally understand what it feels like to have feelings for someone, especially when you can't be with them." Lucielle broke his thoughts with her words, a sad smile still on her face. "In the past, I couldn't tell what the big fuss was all about, but now I know..."

"How does it feel?"

"Awful." She smiled at Rey, a bead of tears dripping down her eyes.

"It feels damn awful."

'Oh, wow!' Rey's eyes widened as he watched Lucielle cry for the first time.

Sure, it was just a small bead of tears, but this was uncharted territory for Rey. A part of him wanted to get close to Lucielle and hug her- at least, for some comfort-but what if that only made things worse for her?

As a result, he remained still... not moving a muscle as Lucielle recovered from her slight melancholy.

"Sorry about that, Rey." She sniffed, quickly wiping away the tears that were slowly forming in her eyes.

"It's no problem."

"It's been ages since I last cried. I think... since I was a kid? Who would have thought tears would be trying to rush out for something as silly as this?"

Talking about all of this to Rey had to have been breaking her heart, yet Lucielle tried to make light of how she was feeling when speaking to him. As a teenager himself, it wasn't like Rey had the best of emotional intelligence to deal with the matter.

Still, he wanted to try.

He tried to be more empathetic as he looked at Lucielle. He wanted to understand her more... since that was the least he could do.

"Can I ask you something? You don't have to answer if you don't want to." After seconds of silence and deliberation, Rey finally spoke up.

"Sure..."

Lucielle seemed a little guarded as she made this response, so Rey already had a bad feeling about what he was about to say.

Still, he went ahead with it.

"How was it like for you... growing up and all? I can't help but be curious."

The bombshell landed, and Rey braced for impact.

He didn't mean to be a prude, but he honestly knew nothing about the Grand Mage, and it constantly bugged him.

For someone as friendly and attractive as her, it was strange that she had never felt this way for anyone before. If this was all due to her obsession with Magic, then how did such an obsession come about?

All of these things were floating in his mind as questions, and he wanted to know why.

'Maybe I can help her more... if I knew more...'

After receiving no response for a few seconds, he concluded that this had to be a bad idea, swiftly opting to shut it all down.

"Sorry for asking. You don't have to-"

"I was miserable." She interrupted him with a simple, dark sentence. "Very miserable."

11

Lucielle looked up at Rey and smiled at him.

It wasn't a cheerful one.

"Before I was recognized for my talent, I was a dirt poor pauper. My parents incurred debt and

ran off, leaving me as the collateral to work until I paid off every last coin they owed." The

more she spoke, the more terrible Rey felt.

"Back then, slavery was still legal, so I spent my earliest years as one. It was awful, I'll tell you that. Hahaha... I guess you could have already figured that out."

Despite laughing about it, Rey could see embers of suppressed pain within her.

"There were times when I suffered so much abuse... physical... emotional... nearly sexual, but I would never let things come to that. I was a very stubborn girl, you know? I'd constantly get punished for it, but... anytime I reached my tipping point, I'd show defiance."

Rey could picture Lucielle doing that already.

She was that kind of person.

"And so, anytime I got too resistant, they would punish me with no meals, or beatings... that

sort of thing. When they realized that they couldn't control me with such punishments any longer, they resorted to the only thing people like me could never hope to resist." Lucielle paused for a second, staring hard at Rey.

It was at this point that her crimson eyes brightened, and a genuine smile formed on her face. "Magic!" She beamed. "They used Magic on me... trying to tame me... to make me obey and

fear them... to control my actions to their whims."

Rey remained silent as he began to hear her chuckles.

"That was my first time ever encountering such a thing. If only those fools knew the consequences of their actions, they wouldn't have done what they did."

Knowing the Lucielle of the present, Rey couldn't help but agree with her words.

"Once I got exposed to Magic, it was game over for my captors. I learned everything they showed me, and then I killed them all." Her smile felt crazed, almost like she was on the verge

of insanity.

"Every last one of them!"

*

*

I sincerely apologize for the break I took from this story. Some IRL stuff happened, and I

couldn't keep up with release.

Thanks for sticking around, and for your patience.

What do you think about Lucielle's story?