Youya's POV:
Since that day, it was kind of awkward to talk to Ayane-san, I think I really messed up, huh? She was acting fine and cheerful as she always did, a little naughty and evil, but yeah totally normal. The only difference was that she stopped picking fights with me. Actually... she is clearly trying to avoid me lately. And that made me.... unexpectedly.... sad.
*At the royal palace*
"It's not working!" a voice said with a clearly irritated tone. "It's no use" the voice said again, this time with sadness and sorrow.
"Sebastian" the young voice echoed in the big empty royal room. There was only silence and no answer was heard. "SEBASTIAN!" the voice owner yelled once again. He was so furious that he grabbed a vase from his table and threw it at the wall.
A loud crash was heard and the broken pieces spread on the floor, the red luxurious carpet started absorbing the spilled water from the vase, and the expensive vase was gone.
Of course, the noise was loud enough for Sebastian to hear, he ran as fast as he could and slammed the door open. "Ouji, are you alright?!". He asked with concern, even if that was the prince, Sebastian still had the kindness to worry about him.
"Are you DEAF?!" screamed the prince. "I called for you twice! Are you ignoring me on purpose? Are you looking down on me too? You think I'm weak and pitiful?" The prince started shouting and walked towards Sebastian with an all grumpy face as if he was ready to murder a person right now.
"No, my lord, I won't dare ignore your highness" said the calmly looking butler with a soft voice and a bow, who actually was internally freaking out and cursing the moment he thought it was a good idea to work in this place.
"LIAR" said the prince frowning and doing his most loved move on poor Sebastian, which was making Sebastian's eyes meet his with pulling his head up by the hair while he bowed.
"You're all the same!" The prince said more quietly this time, tears were shaping in the corner of his eyes. He didn't want Sebastian to see that so he turned his head and (miraculously) let Sebastian go this time without even a scratch. "Clean it and go, NOW" He added before entering his own bathroom and locking the door.
Sebastian sighed in relief and a bit of sympathy for the kid. After all, Sebastian knew how the prince was feeling because of not being able to use magic. Being a noble, moreover, a prince, without magical powers would only make him miserable and disrespected. In the time being, no one did bully the prince or hurt him, except for those low whispers that are always heard wherever the prince was, or the malicious questions and comments about him, but yeah, nothing much. And that was of course because people feared his mother, the queen, but what will happen to the prince when his mother is gone?
That was the only reason Sebastian was bearing with (or at least trying to) the prince's bad treatment and his slight abuse.
Anyway, Sebastian pushed those ideas away and started gathering the shattered pieces silently, while he knew that these barely heard, low, low noises from the bathroom where pitiful hopeless sobs.
*******
Youya's POV:
To avoid the tension between me and Ayane-san, I started to go on missions alone, well I won't call them missions, since there was nothing I could do alone, but I was at least trying to find a job that even I can do. And today I was doing the same thing, I wandered the Capital asking for part-time jobs or anything like that, but apparently, they don't hire minors like me. The Obaa-san (old lady/grandma) of the bakery was a special case since she was so kind and loving.
But then, all of a sudden, I felt something, or someone, I don't know.
I started using what Hina-san taught me all these weeks to detect any nearby auras, and there was it.... or should I say, them.
There were two auras at the same place, but they gave me this strange, horrible feeling. It actually kind of hurt physically to keep detecting them, so I immediately shut my senses off. I was out of breath, nearly suffocating, but after a minute or so of me panting heavily, I was able to breathe again.
I debated in my mind if I should go to their position. That was probably the dumbest and the riskiest act I could do, so I nearly gave up on that idea, but I suddenly remembered what Ayane-san was doing this whole time. She was looking for someone. Probably the magician I met that day who saved me and disappeared mysteriously. So I really thought that it could be him. I mean, how many magicians would be wandering secretly like this in that abandoned part of the city? Probably not many.
So I did the most and the only thing I wasn't supposed to do. I went to meet them!