Departure

Gwendolyn glanced back at Eugene and gave him a smile that seemed both comforting and relieved. Eugene had been saved. The arcanists had an organization called the Council. No matter what, that was far better than the two of them fighting alone.

The contract scroll burst into flames. The agreement had been sealed and could not be changed. Eugene did not know what penalty Odovish had set for breaking the contract, but it certainly would not be pleasant. Eugene knew the punishments arcanists commonly used: losing one's voice, losing one's eyes, losing everything that could be lost, even one's life. Those were the simplest terms of exchange. The other kind involved bizarre punishments tailored to mages' peculiar tastes.

There was no doubt that, on the surface, Odovish was a standard noble—elegant and reserved. Yet it was precisely that nearly perfect facade that made him all the more unreadable.

Gwendolyn left. Hearing the door close, Odovish spoke. "I think you can introduce yourself, Mage Eugene."

Eugene hesitated and looked toward Elufiel. She pulled over a chair and assumed an attentive posture, a faint smile at the corner of her lips as she said with interest, "Go on, tell us your love story."

"She is my honored guest," Odovish said, seeing Eugene's hesitation.

Eugene slowly sat back down beside the bed. "My teacher and I once lived near Raven Hill. Later, my teacher passed away. I wanted to attend this Circle Gathering, so I came here."

"That sounds very simple." Odovish paced over to Elufiel and sat on the armrest of her chair. "Was there no trickery from the goddess of fate involved?"

"My lord, what are you implying?" Eugene looked Odovish directly in the eye.

Elufiel rested one hand on the other armrest and propped up her chin. "Obviously, the deadly curse on you is not the same as the one spreading through Bitter City. Who did you fight? Or rather, who cursed you?"

Eugene did not answer immediately. Looking at the two of them sitting so close together, he suddenly felt an inexplicable envy. Could an arcanist and a divine caster truly have a future? He and Gwendolyn, that kind and gentle divine caster mercenary, might never be able to become like the two before him.

"It was the Holy See," Eugene said.

"..." Elufiel rolled her eyes at Eugene. "Of course, of course, the Holy See. The Holy See is practically omnipotent. Anywhere Arcane magic is involved, you can drag out the Holy See's banner. Can you provide anything more useful?"

"If I wanted to harm you, do you think I would have waited until now? A mere mercenary group is not enough to stop me." Odovish's indifferent tone carried undisguised arrogance.

Just a mercenary group, that was all, wasn't it?

Eugene stared blankly at a small patch of floor before him. "For a long time, alliances among mages have been loose. How am I supposed to trust you? Trust a mage who travels with a divine caster?"

"Snow, or Weston. Call me whatever you like. I will take Eluer to Everlook Canyon to attend this Circle Gathering," Odovish said. "In truth, your wishes are not that important. If I wanted to know something by force, I would not have asked you."

"It seems Mage Eugene does not wish to talk with us. Shall we go back, or do you want to look around a little longer?" Odovish rose and asked Elufiel.

"That's it?" Elufiel sounded bored. "I suddenly feel like I wasted a hymn."

The two reached the door, and Odovish had already placed his hand on the handle. Eugene's voice came from behind them. "Wait."

However, Odovish did not stop. Without pausing, he turned the latch and opened the door. "I gave you an opportunity, but you did not cherish it."

With that, the mage left the Lionheart Guild headquarters with the elf.

"You do not seem like someone who would make an unprofitable deal." Elufiel glanced back at the Lionheart Guild headquarters some distance away.

"Of course not," Odovish said. "He will come to us himself."

"Eugene, they have left. What will you do now?" Gwendolyn looked worriedly at the grim-faced arcanist. He picked up the Shielding Crystal on the dining table. "He left a message. Mages are mostly arrogant. I refused him once, so naturally he would not immediately give me a second chance."

As dusk fell, the orange light of the candleholders shone through the windows, adding a trace of warmth to the cold winter night. In the sitting room, Odovish sat on the sofa reading a book. The faint sound of a lyre drifted down from upstairs, where Sharon was giving Goliath a music lesson, while Gabriel maintained equipment in the basement.

The entire setting was so tranquil that, watching the mage slowly turn the pages, Elufiel leaned against the sofa and gradually reclined onto her side. She was not someone who could sit still by nature. If she were in Azeroth, what did she do whenever she was not asleep?

Did she run around Eversong Woods chasing Mana Wyrms, enduring her nausea as she dismantled spider legs to roast them? Or did she ambush the Alliance in Stranglethorn Vale, fish in the Valley of the Four Winds, stake out Dalaran to read mages' books, and search the sewers for amusing transformation potions? Or perhaps travel the world to admire the scenery and collect little pets...

Elufiel thought carefully about her former life, then compared it to the days she had spent following Odovish. They seemed far more comfortable. No, she could not exactly call them comfortable. Those hidden dangers had merely concealed themselves in the darkness, and at least for now, they did not give Elufiel any thrilling sense of tension.

Odovish closed his book. Elufiel's posture on the sofa, so bored she was practically about to start rolling around, affected him every moment.

"Eluer, I thought you were an elegant lady."

"I thought elven elegance was inborn." Elufiel lazily glanced at the mage and casually toyed with a lock of her slightly curled golden hair. "Do you think I do not deserve to be called elegant now?"