Lord of Charm

Gale was sitting on his bed, wondering why Lena didn't come to have breakfast with him as always. He got up, stretched, and went to the dining room to have a cup of tea.

"Lord Gale, good morning. Should I prepare breakfast?"

Nina was there, playing her role as a maid perfectly.

"You don't have to act like a maid, I know you want to be undercover to offer me better protection, but we could hire another maid."

"There's no need, Lord Gale. I've always wanted to play the part but never did it because it was better to keep practicing my magic. Check out how cute this outfit is!"

She spun around, showing off her maid outfit. Now that Gale looked at it, it was much fancier than a normal maid's outfit should be. He rolled his eyes at her.

"How much did this outfit cost? wouldn't it be a shame to ruin it doing chores only to look cute?"

"I do the chores with magic anyway, so there it's risk-free."

This reminded Gale of another plan he thought of.

"Nina, could you teach me some fire magic?"

"No, Lady Lena already said she will teach you herself. Her skills with fire magic are far superior to mine, and I'd get my ass whipped if something happened to you under my teaching."

Gale had no choice but to say around the mansion and wait for Lena's arrival since he didn't have the keys to Mira's room.

Lena was standing in a deserted place, fire was slowly rising and swirling around her. At times, the fire took a form of a snake, at others, it took a form of an orb. The snakes were corrosive, they bit stones, sand, and everything in their path, setting them ablaze and making them burn to ashes, while the orbs would simply explode. Although she was a True Mage now, she couldn't fight another True Mage as she was right now due to her inability to use mana as mages should.

Her original plan was to go out for a vacation at home and go back to learn under her master, but now she had to learn how to control it by herself to control the situation in case something goes wrong with Gale's abilities.

Lena felt the mana was happy to help her, she still didn't have any Mage stage spells in her repertoire, but even the magician ones were cast faster and with more power. She felt from the mana's movement that it was fixing her spells, improving their power input.

Gale was left in suspense for a week as he had no idea what Lena was doing, and he couldn't go too far from the mansion considering he didn't know when Lena would come to search for him. Finally, she was there.

"I was practicing my mana usage."

Lena simply said what she was doing the past week without explaining, after all, she never felt she needed to explain her actions.

"Let's go."

2 additional weeks passed, during which Gale and Mira had sex like rabbits. They did it over the bed, the floor, in the shower, and once over the dining table, making them giggle when they ate lunch the following day. Gale finally rose to the Advanced Magician stage and was only one step away from getting to the Expert stage. However, Gale had conflicting feelings about taking this final step.

"No, you already have lost your capability to rise to the Mage Phase. If we continue, you'll lose your connection to mana completely."

Gale suddenly pushed Mira away from him when she tried riding him again. During those 2 weeks, he didn't only have sex with Mira. He learned about her likings, her background, some of her dreams, and more. Naturally, he started caring about her, and if he could, he would also bring her with him.

Unfortunately, she made it clear that she had her own life and couldn't follow him when she gets out. The truth was she wanted to follow Gale and have a noble backing her, but Lena already instructed her to refuse when Gale brings the topic up.

"Then what should we do? We still have 2 hours before you leave."

Gale moved his fingers on her thighs and started kissing her neck, inducing a soft moan from her mouth.

"I can control whether to absorb your energies or not."

Mira smiled, they were going to have 2 hours only for themselves, with no hidden motive.

"Mm, I'd like that."

Two hours passed early, and Lena opened the door without knocking.

"We're leaving."

Gale and Mira, who already knew Lena's ways of conducting herself, had already taken a shower and dressed up in advance, so Gale immediately parted with Mira and left with Lena.

"How long do you need to get to the Expert stage and be done with Mira?"

"Hmm about that, I decided not to."

"Not what?"

"Not to ruin Mira's connection with mana. I'd feel bad about it, her life would be ruined if I do it. Even her former job required her to be a magician, so crippling her would mean leaving her defenseless and unable to provide for herself in this life."

"Are you sure about it?"

Lena knew Gale had a strong moral code, and she wouldn't try to make him go against it. It was one of the reasons she liked him and treated him as a pure kid in the first place.

"I'm sure. Thank you for helping me to get stronger."

"Don't talk as if you're already done. You still have 2 ladies to eat."

"Eh, I'm not 'eating' them."

"Mira's screams tell a different story. Anyway, tomorrow be prepared to meet Rachel. Have a good night, I need to go back to my training."

Night arrived, and Lena revisited the jail.

"Release Mira from jail."

She instructed Neal, the prison manager, to uphold her promise. She had already found the kidnapped son as well. After bringing Mira out, Neal bowed and left, leaving the two women alone.

"Let's go, I have rented a house nearby."

Lena led Mira into the city. Mira didn't know what to expect, but she didn't expect Lena to lead her to the slums. They went past drunk beggars and homeless people who could barely cover their bodies with tattered clothes. The smell was terrible, it was a mix of alcohol, body odor, sewerage, and vomit. Mira felt nervous, why would Lena lead her here, was she really simply too cheap to rent a house in a decent area?

They reached an isolated house in the corner of the slums, and Lena took out a set of keys and opened the door. They entered directly into a small kitchen with a dining table for two in it. Mira could see there was one closed room and a bathroom further inside.

"Is this where I'm going to live?"

"Not quite."

"Is this where I'm going to die?"

"Yes, you know too many of Gale's secrets. I don't know the consequences of his powers becoming known, and I don't plan on finding out before I'm strong enough to protect him."

"Does he know I'm going to die here?"

"No, he is too soft."

"I see. What-what about my son? Will you keep your promise to me to save him? Please, let me live long enough to see him one last time."

Mira started sobbing and spoke hurriedly, she didn't want to die.

"I've saved him. I knew you'd wish for that, that's why I brought you here. This house is where the child traffickers kept him. I'll bring him out now, be careful of your words if you wish for him to live. As long as I believe he doesn't hold any grudge against me, I promise to take care of him and his future."

"Thank you."

Taking in deep inhales to calm herself, she asked to see her son.

"Bring him out."

A man opened the closed door and brought out a small kid. He was Dan, Mira's son, and he seemed healthy, well-fed, and wore nice clothes. It was a kind gesture by Lena to show he was in good hands and Mira didn't have to worry about his future. Dan ran to Mira's embrace as soon as he saw her.

"Mom! You're finally here!"

"I am, sweetie. Are you injured? Are you hungry?"

"No, mom. I was saved by that big man a few days ago. At first, I thought he was going to take me away too, but he took good care of me and promised me I will see you in a few days. Look! He kept his promise! Haha"

Little Dan giggled happily in his mother's embrace, as he spread his arms when he talked about the big man as if trying to convey how big he was with his gestures.

"Mm, it's true. Good people keep their promises, Dan."

Mira stroked his hair gently; she missed him greatly and felt a massive relief after seeing him safe.

"Mom has to go to work now, Dan. Go with the big man and follow his instructions, he knows mom and promised me he would take good care of you until I return. Be a good boy, ok?"

Mira barely held back her tears as her son nodded. Dan already felt comfortable with the man he considered to be his savior and didn't mind waiting for his mom to come back with him.

"Go, take him to their new home."

Lena played along with Mira's act and pretended he was going to go see her again when she sent the man away with Dan.

"Any last request?"

"As long as you raise Dan properly, I'm satisfied."

A few minutes later, a silhouette of a woman came out of the door, her red hair was easily seen even under the darkness of the night. Lena walked back home, feeling slightly troubled by her own heartless actions, but quickly thought of Gale's safety and felt she did the right thing.