Chapter 1
Thank you for the ko-fi Winzie
Vivian stopped in the door upon discovering black hair as dark as the night sky.
“…Master?”
She, who had been gloomy just a moment ago, opened her mouth in astonishment. In response to her almost shocking call, most of the people in the parlor turned their gaze toward the door. Without even realizing her disheveled appearance, dirtier than usual, Vivian faced her teacher with a surprised expression.
“Oh? Vivian.”
Her Master was quite composed. He crossed his legs and greeted her casually with a relaxed wave of his hand.
“My Lady, do you know this person?”
It was not her Master, Gray, who asked the question, but the person sitting across from him, Enka. Many knights, including Enka, were puzzled by the familiar appearance of Gray and Vivian.
“Are you the Master Vivian mentioned back then?”
Roger, who had been standing behind Vivian as they descended to the first floor, asked subtly. The term ‘back then’ referred to the day when it was pouring rain, and they had a conversation in the reception room.
Vivian nodded quickly and hurriedly entered the reception room.
“What brings you here?”
“Camilla received an urgent request from Mosbana.”
It was only then that Vivian noticed the person sitting next to Gray. A woman with chestnut brown hair smiled at Vivian and greeted her. The somewhat familiar face belonged to Camilla, the magician who had been commissioned by the Royal Family to come.
The word “magician” triggered a memory. A magician who had been commissioned by the Royal Family. That magician was none other than Camilla.
Enka gestured to Roger, who followed Vivian into the reception room, informing her that he was the commander of the knights and the leader of this mission.
“I think we need to take a look around for the investigation. Would it be okay to ask for your guidance?”
As Camilla stood up from the sofa and asked Enka, though her gaze remained fixed on Roger. Recognizing the situation and guessing it had something to do with the people suddenly appearing, he nodded to indicate that he would guide them.
“It seems there’s a lot to discuss, so why don’t the two of you have a comfortable conversation?”
Camilla smiled at Vivian as she followed the knights out.
As people flowed out like a tidal wave, only Vivian and Gray remained in the reception room.
“How have you been?”
Gray greeted Vivian, who was still standing by the door, with a perplexed expression on his face. It seemed even he found it inexplicable that he had suddenly appeared like this.
“I was actually planning to come see you after receiving your letter. I expected it would take more time because of the commission, but then Camilla mentioned that she had urgent business in Mosbana, so I hurriedly came along…”
“…”
“Vivian?”
Until this morning, she didn’t know how desperate she had been. But the sky, as if it hadn’t abandoned her yet, shone brightly with a ray of hope.
“Master!”
Feeling both anxious and relieved, Vivian embraced Gray. Startled by her intense expression, Gray coughed awkwardly.
“Did you miss me that much?”
His voice was filled with embarrassment and a touch of pride.
Vivian released her hold on her teacher and briefly explained the events of this morning. Gray’s expression gradually became more serious as he listened, his surprise fading away.
“So, your power is gone now?”
In response to the somewhat intimidating question, Vivian nodded gloomily. Even at this moment, there was no trace of power at her fingertips.
Vivian, who silently lowered her gaze, opened her mouth to confirm if her assumption was correct.
“Is this related to the dream I had?”
“Yes. But something seems strange.”
Gray scratched his cheek with a puzzled expression.
“What do you mean by strange?”
“It seems like your condition is a mix of sleep and s3xual desire… Normally, the conditions for elemental magic happen in the subconscious of an elemental mage. It doesn’t make sense that your consciousness is mixed in with someone else’s.”
“Consciousness mixed together?”
“Right. A dream is a space you can enter only when you’re asleep, and at the same time, it fulfills the conditions for your elemental magic. Dreams are unconscious and happen without your will. You can’t enter them just because you want to, and you can’t exit them either.”
Although she didn’t fully grasp it, Vivian nodded.
“But you’ve only encountered one man in your dreams and said that having s3x with him could wake you up. This means that you were consciously aware and in control of the subconscious space. At least, it’s clear that not only your own consciousness but also that man’s consciousness was involved. So, this can only be seen as a mix of consciousness.”
“It’s too complicated.”
“Simply put, the conditions for using elemental magic were fulfilled in a conscious state, not the subconscious.”
“Is there a difference between subconscious and conscious states?”
“Of course. The subconscious is not subject to control, so it’s less likely to be disturbed. But in a conscious state, even if one small thing goes wrong, the conditions might not be met. Your loss of power is probably due to this.”
Having finished his explanation, Gray sighed as he looked at Vivian’s expression, which seemed utterly baffled.
“Don’t you have any guesses? Perhaps an event that could have distorted the conditions for consciousness.”
In response to Gray’s question, Vivian suddenly recalled the night from two weeks ago. The memory of that night when she had been shocked, rolling around, thinking it was a dream.
Although it was on her mind, Vivian hesitated to speak it aloud due to embarrassment, but steeled herself because she knew she had to bring it up in order to restore her elemental magic.
“Well… I really did it once.”
“What are you saying?”
At Vivian’s hesitant response, Gray furrowed his brow and asked again. Vivian struggled to bring forth the voice that wanted to crawl back into her throat.
“I… I really had s3x with that man.”
She whispered, her voice slightly louder than before. Although her voice had been soft, it echoed endlessly in the room.
“Really? You really had s3x?”
Gray, who had regained his senses not long ago, was astonished and asked. Vivian covered her face with both hands, unable to face her teacher.
Smiling at her modesty, Gray reached out and gently held Vivian’s hands. He continued to ask if it was really true. Even though it was embarrassing, Vivian couldn’t bring herself to meet her teacher’s gaze.
In response to her shy and timid response, Gray laughed heartily. The question of whether it was real or not continued to flow endlessly from his mouth. However, amidst their laughter, Gray suddenly paused, lost in thought.
“Hey, could it be… one of those knights you saw earlier?”
Vivian, who had always thought of her Master as slow-witted, was taken aback by his unexpected insight. Gray, who was observing her closely, opened his eyes wide.
“You’ve been here for quite some time now, but you only lost your power today, which means the incident with that man didn’t happen too long ago.”
“…”
“In other words, that man you saw in your dream is one of those knights I saw earlier.”
“Master, please! That’s not the important thing right now!”
Vivian pushed Gray’s hands away, pretending not to care. But her face was as red as a beet, making her actions ineffective.
Gray found it remarkable that his usually composed and modest student was reacting so intensely. At the same time, he found it amusing. He wanted to tease her even more, but he held back, fearing she might burst into tears if he went any further. But his hidden mischievousness caused the corners of his mouth to twitch.
“Well, anyway, it seems the conditions were broken because of that incident.”
Gray said, straightening his mouth once again.
“So, maybe your condition is not related to both sleep and s3xual desire, but only s3xual desire.”
“What? Why?”
“Because it seems like the dream doesn’t matter anymore.”
“But I started having new dreams a week ago.”
“They are probably the warnings conveyed by your spirit magic. A warning that if you continue like this, your power will vanish. Despite dreaming, you ultimately lost your strength.”
It was a valid point. However, even so, Vivian’s expression did not loosen. In fact, it became even more rigid.
“So, to regain my spirit magic, do I need to unleash my s3xual desires?”
“Considering the conditions in your dream were somewhat similar, that might be the case.”
Vivian lowered her head in frustration. Her face, which she thought could not get any redder, burned.
“How on earth do I unleash my s3xual desires…?”
“You mean you haven’t actually been with that man?”
Gray chuckled as he looked at Vivian as if she were a child.
“Well, you can always do it again.”
“What do you mean?”
“You know, have s3x.”
Vivian casually covered Gray’s lips with her hand. She wasn’t sure if she should be more embarrassed than the person who was saying these embarrassing words.
“That day was an accident, an accident! I thought it was a dream!”
“Just because you call it an accident doesn’t mean it didn’t happen. If you enjoyed it, that’s the end of it.”
“I… didn’t enjoy it.”
Vivian really wanted to cover her teacher’s mouth. The more she heard his words, the more she wanted to erase the night she couldn’t forget.
“Really… it was a mistake.”
Honestly, she could stand by that. What happened that day was an accident. Vivian cried and suffered in pain like she had never experienced before, and he was taken aback by the sight of her in such agony.
Anyone could see that it was a mistake. But Vivian couldn’t bring herself to confess what happened so vividly in her mind.
“Okay, let’s leave it at that.”
Her teacher reluctantly accepted it with a skeptical expression. Vivian vaguely sensed that this incident would be fodder for mockery in the future.
“Hmm.”
Gray mumbled and stared into the distance. His contemplative gaze remained stagnant.
“Come to think of it, I think I’ve heard of a similar case before.”
“A similar incident?”
“An incident where someone’s consciousness intruded into the subconscious of a spirit mage, just like what happened to you.”
Gray furrowed his brow as he delved into memories that seemed buried in dust. He was so focused on recalling the past that Vivian fell silent for a while.
It was a long time before Gray spoke again.
“By any chance, did you meet that man before you awakened as a spirit mage?”
“Before I awakened?”
Vivian, momentarily flustered by the unexpected question, soon lost herself in thought.
Vivian had awakened as a spirit mage when she was 14 years old. Did she meet Roger before that?
“No, I didn’t.”
“Are you sure?”
“Why are you asking that?”
Since it was a long time ago, it wasn’t as vivid as yesterday’s events. So instead of giving a definitive answer, she asked why he was asking such a question.
“Before awakening, spirit magic has fluidity. Especially the nature of a spirit that is friendly to humans can transfer its power to someone else.”
“Is that possible?”
“Yes. Awakening is necessary for spirit magic to properly settle within the mage’s body. There have been cases where power has actually transferred.”
As if emphasizing the point, Gray strengthened his voice.
“That’s exactly what happened to someone like you. In cases where the power from before awakening transferred to another person and invaded the mage’s subconscious.”