First Move, Checkmate: How Will You Respond?

Caifla was still explaining.

“Once you marry Victor, you’ll be a part of the Clayvin family.”

“In that case, even if your father wants you to return, you have every right to refuse.”

Gwen: “……”

Under Gwen’s stunned gaze, Caifla was still pacing back and forth, mumbling to herself.

“As soon as I return, we can set a date, then I can serve as your wedding witness…”

“Ah, considering your ages, you should have been married by now. It’s not right to have waited this long.”

Unable to bear it any longer, Gwen finally shouted:

“Sister! I’m not planning to get married yet!”

Upon hearing Gwen’s words, Caifla turned her head back in feigned confusion.

“What? Victor doesn’t like you?”

“No…I mean…that’s not…”

Gwen recalled her conversation with Victor earlier that day. Although she wanted to firmly deny any affection, she inexplicably changed her words.

She lowered her head, her voice growing quieter.

“Well, that settles it then!”

Caifla laughed heartily, patting Gwen on the shoulder, and said with a grin:

“Little Gwen, you don’t want to go home either, do you?”

“……”

Gwen felt there was some malice behind Caifla’s words.

But she really didn’t want to return home.

Thinking of her strict father and her annoying second brother…

The only people she missed at home were her mother and her sister.

Seeing Gwen falling silent, Caifla took a few steps back, gently laughing:

“Alright, alright, I was just teasing you.”

“I won’t let you go back.”

Gwen lifted her head, looking at Caifla curiously.

Caifla seemed to be pondering something:

“Well…but if you don’t go back, we need a good reason.”

“Victor’s not a bad choice, I saw you came back together in his carriage.”

“I’ll send a message home saying you’re in a passionate romance with Victor. That should do it, right?”

Listening to her sister’s suggestion, Gwen’s face reddened. She wanted to argue, but knowing Caifla was trying to help and lacking a better excuse, she just pouted and shut her mouth.

Her sister didn’t know anything.

Her relationship with Victor wasn’t good at all.

“Oh! I remembered!”

Caifla moved closer to Gwen again, grinning:

“There’s actually another thing I need to sort out now that I’m back in the Royal Capital. I wasn’t planning on telling you.”

“But, seeing you have a good relationship with Victor, I would like you to ask him for a favor.”

“A favor?”

Gwen was taken aback. What could Caifla possibly need from Victor?

“Yes, after all, he’s a mage. And from what you’ve told me, he’s an extremely powerful one.”

“So, could you pass on a message for me?”

Suddenly, Caifla became serious. Her previous frivolity was gone. She seemed like a different person, as quiet and mysterious as a violet.

“Watch out for the ‘dirty thing’ infiltrating the Royal Capital.”

Gwen was startled by her sister’s reaction. However, after Caifla said these words, she reverted back to her lively self, grinning and wrapping an arm around Gwen’s shoulder.

“In any case, I want you to remind him. If he can find that thing, it would be a huge help!”

Gwen was curious about what the ‘dirty thing’ her sister referred to could be, that it required the help of a mage like Victor.

But before she could ask more, a hand had already mischievously slipped into the gap in her armor, onto her waist.

Gwen felt a warmth around her waist, her face instantly flushed, but Caifla’s voice had already sounded in her ear.

“Sweating a lot, aren’t you, little Gwen?”

“Do you want to take a warm bath with me? Let me check if your development is normal~”

Gwen blushed and refused firmly.

“Sis! I have long reached the age where I stopped growing!”

“Behave! Let me take a look!”

…….

‘Do you crave power?’

Several black letters reappeared on the book, tempting like a demon.

But Hennie was merely troubled.

This was the fourth time this has happened today.

Since the morning, this strange black text had been mysteriously surrounding her.

On the desk, on the walls, even when she was walking on campus, passing by the flower beds in the garden.

She didn’t know who was playing this cruel joke.

Yes, she had always seen this as a prank.

After all, who would take such a clichéd, ominous thing seriously?

Hennie tolerated it the first few times, assuming the prankster would eventually get bored.

But she hadn’t expected the perpetrator to be so relentless.

This time, she couldn’t stand it any longer.

She was sitting at a library table, preparing for today’s classes.

And then, these letters appeared on the page, covering the content she had just finished writing.

She was angry, but she had to swallow her anger.

As an ordinary magic apprentice, she was full of theory but couldn’t cast a single spell.

Talentless as she was, she could only watch as this annoying prank wrapped around her.

So, she wrote a few words on that page.

‘Sorry, I refuse.’

After she finished, she tore off the paper filled with content, threw it into a nearby trash can, picked up the book, and left the library.

She could remember these contents in her head.

But her cautious character made her feel safer to write it on paper.

Hennie decided to return to the Mage Tower—to Victor’s office, and quietly start writing again.

Victor had given her permission to enter his office before he left.

So Hennie could freely access the Mage Tower.

On the way to the Mage Tower, the bricks on the roadside once again raised those black letters.

‘Do you crave power?’

“Sorry, I don’t! Stop bothering me!”

Hennie said her refusal out loud, clutching her book, and ran away without looking back.

Soon, she arrived at the Mage Tower, panting heavily.

She, who had never really exercised intensely, felt a bit oxygen-deprived in her brain just from running a short distance.

After catching her breath for a while, she touched the Mage Tower.

[Identity authentication successful—Assistant Hennie, welcome back to the Mage Tower.]

After a voice sounded, the teleportation array quickly descended.

The next second, she appeared in Victor’s office.

The air in the room was fresh, neat and tidy, with a bright small flower placed on the windowsill, which she had given to Professor Victor.

Professor Victor was a bit of a clean freak, he liked a clean and tidy environment.

Hennie always kept this in mind, so she would clean Victor’s office every day.

She didn’t sit in Victor’s chair, but moved a chair to the front of the desk and sat down.

After putting down the book, she began to write feverishly.

Hennie knew her talent was lacking, so she always strived for knowledge.

An hour later, the book was filled with content, which was all of today’s coursework.

And those letters didn’t appear anymore.

“Indeed, it was a prank.”

Hennie took pride in her wit. Without proper authorization, no one could enter the Mage Tower, let alone casually step into Victor’s office.

The words did not reappear, confirming Hennie’s assumption.

“Such a prank, not even a ten-year-old would believe.”

Hennie calculated the time, it was almost time for her class.

She picked up the book full of notes, and before leaving, she glanced at Victor’s chair.

“…”

Hennie set down her book, carefully approached the chair, and then…

She reached out, embracing the chair.

Imagining something in her mind, her face turned a bit rosy, yet she inhaled the faint scent left on the chair with an almost greedy breath.

Not long after, she let go of the chair, straightened her clothes, her gaze firm.

“Professor! I will surely live up to your expectations!”

With that said, she picked up her book again, trotted off, and teleported out of the Mage Tower.

Walking on the road, Hennie’s mood returned to normal.

No matter how bad her mood was, she would always cheer up after returning to the Mage Tower.

She walked happily down the corridor with her book in her arms.

However, around the corner of the university, her eyes caught a glimpse of a piece of clothing.

Hennie wanted to step back immediately, but it was too late.

With a ‘thud’, she bumped into the other person.

She sat on the ground in pain, but she never let go of the textbook in her hand.

In front of her was a pudgy man with a small mustache. He looked gloomy, lowering his head to look at Hennie.

Hennie quickly stood up, not caring about brushing off the dust on her body, and quickly apologized.

“I’m… I’m sorry, Professor Devon, I wasn’t watching where I was going…”

“You certainly were not paying attention. If you had seen me, would you have bumped into me?”

The man known as Professor Devon seemed to be in a very bad mood, touching his small mustache with his orchid finger, cursing at Hennie:

“You’re dirty and cheap from head to toe, I really don’t know why you’re still in the university.”

Hennie kept her head down and remained silent. In fact, she did see the other person.

At the corner, she planned to step back and let the other person go first.

But the other person’s waist was too wide, she had no time to back off and was knocked down by him.

It was clearly his fault, why should she apologize…

Hennie endured the insult without rebutting.

Such things always happened in the past, she just needed to bear it…

She couldn’t trouble Professor Victor.

Suddenly, Devon looked at the textbook in Hennie’s hand and gave a cold laugh.

“Huh? What’s the matter?”

“You, a little teaching assistant, are off to teach the first class again?”