Tea Time With The Uncanniest Mage

Thankfully, Lenalee showed up right after his proposal and asked Phineas to excuse himself as I need to get properly dressed. A sigh of relief released from my lips as I didn’t want to stay naked during this conversation.

“What’s the difference? Dressed or not, I have no intention of touching you, Luna. Even I know my limits of angering the Alpha.”

As he said those words, Lenalee started preaching the mage before he finally conceded.

“Fine, it would be a waste of time arguing over a trifle matter.” He walked out and waited outside as he promised.

Now, alone with Lenalee, I turned to her as she gave me a worried look.

“It would be best if we ask him to leave and wait for Lord Varick to return. Don’t you think so, my lady?” She asked.

“No, it’s best I continue speaking to him as soon as I get dressed.” I paused for a bit, a thought came to my mind. “It would be preferable if we speak alone, Lenalee. I would prefer if you could accompany him to the tearoom and make him wait there.”

She looked like she was ready to refute, but only bowed. “As you wish, my lady.”

I gave her a silent “thank you” as I started dressing up with the clothes she prepared.

====

“Look what we have here,” Phineas complimented as he whistled, gazing at my dress with mirth. “Ever since the Alpha leader returned, you started looking like a Luna.”

I still didn’t understand how clothes would mean a change in my appearance. If anything, most women with high-class wear clothes worth ten gold coins. I just happened to wear the ones Varick bought on that day.

“Thank you,” I said.

“Well, it was better than the get-up you had with your scarf. Anyone would mistake you as a plebeian… no offense.”

“Anyone would take that as an offense, Master Phineas.”

He only chuckled but didn’t say anything. There were three soft gentle knocks and Lenalee opened the door before entering with a tray of some tea and refreshments.

He smiled at her, expressing his gratitude, before she excused herself and left once more. When she left and we were now alone, I started asking some questions.

Questions that bothered me a lot.

“I’ve realized that you speak as if you’ve met me. How exactly did you know what I wore before? In fact, you speak as if you knew my struggles despite your reputation to hide in your tower.”

“Through a magic mirror,” he simply stated.

“M-Magic mirror?”

“Yes, a gift from the Seer,” he continued. “It is a powerful mirror which was created by the great human, Merlin, himself. I don’t know how the Seer managed to snatch a precious artifact, but it helped me see anything outside the tower.” He dropped four cubes of sugar after pouring tea.

While he was busy stirring the excessive sugar to his cup, I was still unsure how to respond after learning he had been watching me. In fact, another thought resurfaced in my mind..

“T-Then, is it possible that you could see the world outside our pack?” I could never forget what Kozart told me of his search for the other Hatiist group.

He shook his head. “The magic mirror showed the places I had stepped in. Unfortunately, the only areas we, the Skollist pack, have been to were the battlefield near our pack and the surroundings around here.”

I frowned, and I felt disappointed. “I thought we could get answers about what the world looked like now.” Especially if there were indeed Hatiists lurking outside.

“Unfortunately, I don’t have such power.” There was a tone of sadness in his voice. I looked up and he was in deep thoughts of what I had said. So, I decided to ask another question. .

“When you said you could see everything, does that mean you had seen me perform a spell on my husband?”

He nodded after sipping tea. “I didn’t realize he was poisoned when we arrived. When I felt a strong mana within the woods, I looked at the mirror, finding its whereabouts… until I saw you performing a Forbidden spell.”

“It isn’t forbidden! That is Hati’s teachings from his scriptures!”

“It is to us, wolves whom you deemed non-believers,” he explained, calmly. “Anyone performing the spell, even outside our pack, would be executed immediately. Even if you spared our Alpha leader, he could have killed you that instant. Fortunately, you are his wife.”

I knew that the wolves outside Hatiism detested such magic. And now, after hearing it out in the open, I understood why Varick was blinded with rage when I saved him.

I didn’t want to remember that time.

“S-So,” I sighed, bracing myself. “Why are you so keen on learning Hati’s teachings?”

At that moment, I could have sworn I had seen his eyes flickered with worry and hopelessness, but he hid it too well as he took four pieces of the biscuits and dropped them directly into his mouth, munching them without a care of etiquette.

Phineas was indeed an uncanny one. And I didn’t know how to handle the conversation with him. Each second felt like minutes when he was in silence.

“Lord Phineas?” I called him.

He sighed again and slammed the table, irritation was visibly marred on his face. I flinched and I was ready to stand up until he said:

“Would you promise not to tell anyone outside this room? Even your maid or your husband?”

I felt the seriousness of his request and I meekly nodded, forcing myself to relax.

He stared at me straight to the eye as he frowned. “Has your husband mentioned the prophecy to you?”

I nodded and filled him in. “He told me that our child would be the reincarnation of Skoll.”

He grinned. “Lord Varick told you that?”

“Yes.”

He chuckled a bit but decided to go on. “Yes, the Seer said through the birth of your firstborn, the reincarnation of Skoll, is destined to end this long-ass war.”

“However, how could we be so sure if what the Seer said was true?”

The Seer is an enigma that I haven’t met despite my exposure outside the church for two months. But I knew such stories of his accurate predictions. Since each pack was blessed with a seer who was gifted with the ability to communicate with the Moon Goddess.

He noticed my silence as he leaned closer to my hearing distance. “Listen, seeing that we were stuck in this war for two centuries put a toll on the morale of our pack. Even if Skoll would be reincarnated, what would be the purpose of a potential powerful Alpha in the making if the father wouldn’t be around?”

“W-What do you mean if he wouldn’t be around?”

He hesitated for a while but I knew what he was going to say.

After all, all the previous Alpha Leaders didn’t last long. It was such a normal occurrence for them to perish before their next offspring took over and joined the war. It should be normal…

…yet, Varick was by far the strongest among his ancestors. He wouldn’t perish that easily.

“The Alpha Leader, Lord Varick, is destined to die after two years.”

Yet, I didn’t expect fate would bring his demise.

“That was the prophecy given by the Seer.”

I stared at him in shock, and I felt the time stopped after hearing the news. A memory of Varick entering the church with his eyes filled with fury.

Had he always been this furious before our marriage? Was the reason for his impatience after revealing the prophecy to him?

I shook my head. “If he dies, then we would be without a leader.” I frowned. “The child would still be too young to partake in bloodshed a-and…” I couldn’t say anything. My mind felt frazzled with more news to take in.

< You should be happy, Rosaria. The man who ruined your life is going to die. >

‘Shut up…’ I mentally thought, shaking my head feverishly as I ignored this blasted voice in my head.

Now it wasn’t the right time to listen to this voice. The overwhelming feeling that made me more and more confused.

I lift up my head. “O-Our pack… would be defenseless without a leader!”

“And I agree with you completely. If the prophecy is true, then many of our pack would be slaughtered and worse…” He frowned.

“...it would be the end of our pack.”

That would be the worst predicament!

“Then the prediction is blasphemy!” I yelled without thinking. “Hati’s words were completely different! He said he would save us all!”

“And that’s why I wanted to test out about Hati’s teachings, as they could help us with their advanced weaponry.”

I blinked, looking at the mage as he glanced away. “I… know that soon, Lord Varick wouldn’t stand a chance against the changes of time. He may be young and he still had a lot of potential to be a powerful warrior, but the battle two months ago wasn’t an easy feat.”

“With the dark elves?”

He nodded. “If the other packs could easily bring more allies outside from our knowledge, we wouldn’t stand a chance. Lord Varick couldn’t protect us alone.”

He then gripped my hands. “When I saw your spell, that time I heard another voice—that sounds like a melody that could warm my heart.”

“Y-You’ve heard H-Hati’s voice?” I couldn’t believe it.

“I don’t know,” he said. “But I know that spell of yours is too powerful to even dispel dark magic.”

“Earlier you said learning Hati’s teachings would lead to execution, so why?”

He released my hands as he smiled. “Even if it meant my execution, at least that damn fool won’t die from some stupid prophecy.”

I could tell that even if my husband showed signs of lacking companionship, the lack of skill of sociability, he still had him, the strange mage whom I first thought wouldn’t care about our pack.

“Please say yes. As you know, we aren’t allowed to go to the Hatiist Church. So, my only option is to reach out to you instead.”

I couldn’t put my finger on this man’s behavior, but I knew I could trust him.

“Sure,” I said with a smile. “I will teach you ONLY when my husband isn’t around.”

Who knew if this would be the end of the Head Mage.

Clasping my hand with a toothy grin, he said, “SPLENDID! It won’t be long since I am a fast learner!” He shook my hand repeatedly, and I felt like it would break from his brute strength.

But suddenly, the short happiness disappeared as a small parchment popped out in front of him. HIs smile faltered after reading the content.

“Are you pulling my leg here?” He sighed.

“Uh, Lord Phineas?”

Phineas’ expression quickly changed into irritation once more as he shook his head. “You won’t believe what one of the mages told me right now.” The parchment burned into crisp after he spoke.

“It seems that there will be an execution at the marketplace right now. And it was about that female beta vendor from one of the stalls.”