The Virtues' Magecraft

Page 59: A Strange Visit

"Uh..." Alexander uttered into his cell phone as he stared up at a grand mansion. "Did Anastasia say this was okay? It would make more sense for her to get her notebook another day, no?"

"She said it was fine. Just show up and ring the doorbell."

Alexander furrowed his eyebrows. "What if someone else is home?"

"Oh, yeah, her grandparents are there. But don't worry, they're lovely people."

The person on the other side of the phone was Lumiel Solaire.

"Yeah, but... This still makes no sense. Anastasia left her notebook at your house weeks ago. You gave it to me. And now... I have to give it to her?"

"Yep." Lumiel smiled. "To be fair, you didn't exactly have to, but you're already there anyway. Plus... I kind of gave it to you on accident. I thought it was yours."

Alexander took in a deep breath. "That makes sense."

"Okay, that's kind of insulting."

"You did admit to it, though."

Lumiel remained silent. "Anyway, have fun," she said. She hung up within the same second.

And with that, Alexander spat out a heavy sigh.

It was already a day after the whole ordeal that came with waking up in a prison.

To put it simply, Alexander was free.

Legally, he couldn't be detained until there were official charges done under an official procedure and all. The only reason he was imprisoned was because he lost consciousness with his transformation.

Alexander was free. But only for the time being.

Xerxes' words still echoed in his head. 'Things will get way worse.'

The thought of that was something Alexander was used to. Even then... He couldn't deny the fear it brought. Especially now. In these circumstances, any of the Virtues or even his own family could be caught up in the troubles that came with what Alexander did.

For now, all he could do was focus on pushing those thoughts away and fixate himself on his mission.

That is, to give Anastasia a notebook.

At the very least, it was something to ease his mind. The sights before him were so grand, they were all he could see. And through that, all he could think about.

It was an old, gothic mansion. The entire property size was massive, so much so that even from 15 yards from the iron black gates, he felt as if he were trespassing.

Still, he kept approaching the house. Because apparently... That was where Anastasia lived.

It was practically a palace. Three stories tall and built of stone and grey bricks. Grand windows and pointed arches could be seen from a distance, letting in plenty of sunlight underneath the stone.

Columns and pillars adorned the facade, building into geometric ornaments of windows of glass circles and carved designs of stone. Even flying buttresses stood on each end, holding support for the towers and spires that surrounded the grand home.

Of course, that was all behind meter-long rows of trees and flowers, gardened plants and trimmed shrubs.

Alexander was already afraid to see what the backyard would look like.

He approached the tall iron bars of the black gate. Directly across the center of the house, two giant pillars of stone bricks stood.

Alexander was standing next to one of them, noticing the black box