[ Disclaimer: Mentions of depression and emotional abuse. ]
"Will... Will she be okay?" Duke Nachtnebel did not look sure about his daughter's idea. He'd come to know of her antics by accident, when she'd been sneaking her familiars in, but it was still hard to believe she wanted to learn magic. In the last nineteen years of her life, she'd never shown interest.
Mary, standing beside him, seemed worried though she tried to appease him. "I... I think so. Lady Annette is very strong."
"Strong?" The Duke gave a small, bitter smile. "My girl has a gentle heart. I don't know if she'll succeed in mastering magic- summoning magic, of all things, at such an age."
Mary did not want to agree but there was an inkling of truth in the Duke's words. Anne had always been sensitive and naive, even as she tried to make herself stronger by being loud and confident.
So now, as the two of them watched Anne lock herself in her room, and refuse any communication for the entirety of the day, they couldn't help but worry.
Anne had convinced them to let her do so, telling them that she planned on studying and practising her magic. Though... Why she'd locked herself up in her room instead of practising in the open, with more space, they didn't understand.
Duke Nachtnebel was convinced that Anne had slipped into depression. One could only accept so many rejections from the man she loved, before one began to spiral. The Crown Prince had been nothing but dismissive to her, breaking her heart time and again through empty promises while frolicking with a Baron's daughter. Annette, who was still dumbly in love with him, and had been so since they'd been kids, desperately looked for a way by which Prince Emal would finally notice her worth.
Duke Nachtnebel pinched his nosebridge. He'd never interfered with her personal life, but now...
"Maybe I should try and annul her engagement." The Duke muttered.
Upon hearing this, Mary lit up. "Sir, you definitely should! I'm sure it's because of what happened today that made Miss like this in the first place."
That... Probably wasn't the right thing to say.
If looks could kill, Duke Nachtnebel could've massacred a state at that very moment. And in practice, he probably could. His aura had shifted, mana pouring out of him into dark tendrils as his summoned Aid emerged from his shadow, a lone bloodshot eye glaring at Mary. "... What happened at the boutique?"
Mary felt goosebumps run up her spine as she regretted every word that she'd uttered, seconds prior. "W-well... You see... What happened was..."
"Marianne Beenhouwer. I have little patience at the moment. What. Happened?"
If I die at this moment, it's definitely my own fault. Mary thought tearfully as she began to narrate Anne's most recent interaction with the Crown Prince.
The Duke listened in absolute silence and once Mary was done, the Duke turned away. "I see. So this is how the Crown Prince treats his own fiance."
-+-
Anne took in slow deep breaths, maintaining her stance, as her familiar circled around her, trying to help her work through her confusing mana situation. It was an exhausting process. She'd been at it for hours. Five hours easily, with proper breaks.
"Back straight, chin up. You're doing well, dear Host." Lily said as she flipped about lazily in the air, watching Anne practice stabilisation of mana.
"Why is it that a girl like you has so much mana but is unable to use any of it?" Azzy cawed. "Your own magic is strangling your soul, Host."
"Don't say stupid things that'll distract her." Lily said.
Azzy huffed, puffing up his fluffy chest. "Hmph! I'm only being truthful! At this pace, she'll be easily corrupted."
Anne faltered at the next step and fell back on the bed. "W-What?"
Lily flew over and slapped Azzy with her tail. "Look at what you did, idiot! She was finally getting a hang of the process!"
Azzy, in return, pecked at her tail in annoyance. "I'm just being honest! Holding back information won't help her, you know! She should know she doesn't have time to dilly-dally! "
"The two of you... Stop fighting." Anne panted as she lay back on her bed, exhausted. Her chest drummed with pain as she heaved. "What should... I do? I don't... Want to get corrupted." And become the monster that Emal kills with Penelope and the others.
"Oh, don't worry about it." Lily said. "It's... Being corrupted is a possibility, yes. But, if you learn to entangle the magic that binds you, you'll unleash a lot of your potential."
"How?" Anne asks. "More exercises? It hurts whenever I do the ones you instructed. "
"Finally! That's good!" Azzy quips. "That means your body is reacting to your attempt at reclaiming your mana!"
Anne closed her eyes. "It... It will take me a while till I can use magic, won't it?"
"It would take less time if you had some instrument to assist you." Azzy says.
Anne cranes her neck to glare at him. "Why didn't you say so before?"
"So that you could take the easy way out? No way!" Azzy caws loudly, flapping his wings. "You'll need to learn the basics till we move on to assisted help!"
Anne slowly sits up in annoyance. "You're horrid. "
"And you, are a coward."
"Uptight."
"Lazy."
"Loud-mouth."
Lily smacked both of them, at the back of their heads, with her tail. "Will you two stop? Bickering will get us nowhere. Host, why don't we start again? You're almost getting a gist of the exercises."
"Alright... Alright... " Anne re-positioned herself. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate on herself, ignoring everything around her. She could feel something warm churn at the pit of her stomach. It was sharp, almost stinging, but the more she worked on, the more it felt like it was spreading across her in spules of pain. The thin wire-like specks of energy reverbrated throughout her very being and she could feel them being slowly pushed out of her body, into her environment.
Then she felt something move. And the energy in her body dissipated.
Anne opened her eyes. "Did... Did I do anything?" She turned to her familiars who were looking at what was behind her.
She turned and then jumped when she saw her shadow move by itself. "What-" She watched as the shadow morphed and pulsated a little before it spat out a ball of black ooze.
"Mrrr!" The thing purred as it looked up at Anne with big, bug eyes and made its way towards her.
"Congratulations. You've summoned your first Aid." Lily said.
"What's an Aid?" Anne asked, holding out her hands to take the oncoming creature.
"Hm, a type of shadow that helps you in different situations depending on its specialty." Azzy said, flying over to take a better look at the tiny creature that had nestled itself at the palm of Anne's hand. It was tiny. Half Azzy's size. Which seemed to make him very happy. "But, this Aid of yours is really small. What can it do?"
"Mrrr!" The creature purred, telling Azzy of its feats.
Azzy did not look particularly impressed. "So, you can... Steal things?"
"Mreeaw!" The thing made tiny jumps on Anne's palm out of pride. "Mrrr!"
"Only things that weigh less than a hundred grams? How will that ever be useful?" Azzy said with scorn.
"That's really amazing!" Anne said, looking at the thing with a twinkle in her eyes. "You're cool. I'll name you Spot."
"Mrrrr!" Spot purred loudly in agreement.
"I want to show him to Mary. " Anne turned to her familiars with excitement.
"It's a pathetic little ball of nothing." Azzy said.
"It's my first proper summon!" Anne said. "I don't care if Spot isn't strong. He's proof I can actually use magic." She ran out, a grin on her face only for it to drop as she saw her father's menacing presence before her.
"Uh, dad?" Anne stared at him.
"Anne? " The Duke calmed a bit. "You're - is that a shadow?" He points at Spot.
Anne nodded. "Uhh, yeah."
"Mrrr!" Spot said.
"H-How?" Duke Nachtnebel looked flabbergasted. "I thought you weren't able to..."
"I can now! A little bit anyway." Anne beamed.
Duke Nachtnebel's aura completely changed as he hugged Anne tightly and lifted her up, swinging her around in joy. Mary ducked, to avoid being hit.
"Haha, see! I knew you had potential! Your first shadow aid!" The Duke squealed.
"Dad... You're squashing me... " Anne gasped out amidst the lack of oxygen in her squeezes lungs.
The Duke placed her back on the ground. "I get carried away sometimes. Now, what can your little friend do?"
"Mrrr!" Spot jumped on Anne's palm.
"He can steal little trinkets. " Anne said.
"Fascinating." The Duke said. He took out a tiny coin from his pocket and placed it in his palm which he made into a fist. "What do you say, can you take this from me?"
"Mrraw!" Spot said with pride and jumped up, to leap towards the Duke's hand, but deflated like a balloon and lay back in Anne's palm.
"Mrr... " Spot let out a small, pained squeak.
"He's hungry." Azzy said, nestling on Anne's head.
"Hungry? What does a shadow eat? " Anne asked.
"A shadow that eats?" The Duke looked intrigued, staring at Spot. "What would you like? Meat? "
"Mree." Spot shook his head.
"Fruits? Or plants?" Anne suggests. "Or maybe blood?"
"Mree." Spot shakes his head again.
"Should we... Take him to the kitchen?" Mary said. "Maybe we'll find something he likes."
Anne nodded in agreement. Thence, the pair and the summons made their way towards the main kitchen, looking for something to feed to the little ball of fluff. The Duke looked on, wiling away a stray tear with pride.
The first thing that Spot runs towards is the jar of sugar. For something that had no energy a minute ago, the shadow practically leaped into the jar of sugar before Azzy caught him in his beak.
"Behave, brat." Azzy scolded.
"Mrrr... " Spot deflated in shame.
"Oh, it has a sweet tooth?" Anne smiles. "It might enjoy desserts then. Perhaps a tart or-"
On cue, Spot shrugged Azzy off himself and leaped towards a tray of freshly baked fruit tarts that the chef had pulled out from the oven.
Seeing the little shadow creature, the chef screamed like a little girl and the tray clattered across the floor, the tarts flying everywhere, only to be saved by Spot's (comically) large mouth that gulped down each tart before they could reach the ground.
"Well... That answers the question." Lily said as she wrapped her tail around Spot and lifted the culprit up. "You've shown enough of your prowess for today. " She told the shadow being before flicking him against the table.
Spot landed on the kitchen table with a splat and flattened out against the marble surface. He quickly scurried away and merged in with Anne's shadow.
"Well... This is a start." Anne said. "My first summon ate a whole tray of food and then went away. "
"You're doing well. " Lily said. "You started late, you'll figure it out."
"I hope so." Anne said.
"That was amazing!" Mary suddenly quipped. "I was so stunned I couldn't even speak!"
"Over... A tiny summon?"
"He ate twelve tarts in one go!" Mary said with awe.
"..." Anne sighed. "Right, I'll- uh, I should probably practice more."
"Great idea!" Lily nodded. "We can put in another four hours of practice till you sleep!"
"But it's already nine at night." Anne whined.
"Exactly!" Lily said with enthusiasm, before pushing along a very reluctant Anne back to her room.
"This is NOT how I imagined learning magic would be like! It's not fun at all! "
But then again, what activity that must be repeatedly honed, is?