Lilia's Tale: Freyja's Endeavor

Chapter 7: Mistake

I eventually woke up, feeling something atop my head and around me. It took me some time before my eyes started functioning, as I saw my wings having wrapped themselves around me. It was comfortable, yet something was off.

I then checked atop my head by tilting it upwards, taking an abnormal amount of time to realise this would simply not work, as whatever was on my head would simply be displaced alongside my head tilting.

"Master, you're awake?" I heard in my head.

"Oh, Alice. Is it you on my head?"

"Master, are you okay?" she asked without answering my question.

"I feel kind of fine, at least. Groggy, but fine."

"I'm glad. Your magic has stabilised, too."

"My magic has..? Oh, right, I had some kind of magic circuit injury."

"It stopped hurting, so I'm sure you're fine now, Master."

"I guess. You didn't answer, is it you on my head?"

"Yes. I made sure to take care of you while you rested!" she said proudly. "I kept your head out of the water the whole time! Though these wings that suddenly came out were weird."

"Thank you," I said awkwardly.

The matter of whatever was on my head having been solved, I had to get out now. I opened my wings up, still wondering why something felt so oddly out of place, and got out of the water.

As I headed out of the room, it hit me. I was at school, my wings should have stayed hidden. Yet, they were out. I immediately started panicking, though I managed to calm myself down in a relatively short time.

Alice said my wings had suddenly appeared, meaning Sayuri likely did not see them. Additionally, my magic had apparently stabilised, so I should be able to recast the proper spells. I took a slow breath and initiated the magic.

Unlike what I expected, using it was still very painful, yet manageable. I ended up successfully hiding my wings, though due to the constant nature of the spell, so was the pain. It was like my back had suddenly gotten half ripped off and my nerves were immediately exposed and in contact with the air.

It was painful enough it disrupted my breathing, forcing me to focus on it to keep it consistent and sufficient. I wasn't sure how long I would be able to keep it up, but I had to get out eventually, so I could only hope for the pain to slowly dissipate. It did help me get back to reality, however

I left the bathroom and looked for my clothes in the changing room. I couldn't find them anywhere, so I figured I simply forgot to take them since I was so exhausted the day prior. I got out of the changing room and headed straight for my closet to grab a uniform and panties.

As I exited, the door to our room suddenly opened. I turned around and saw Mark standing there.

"Oh, sorry," he just said as soon as he saw me, closing the door. "Tell me when you're dressed up."

It was a bit awkward but I wasn't going to really take it out on me. It reminded me of Kyo, back when he accidentally entered the bathroom as I was getting out, which filled me with both anger and sorrow. The pain kept me from being filled with these emotions, however, so I hurried up with putting on some clothes.

After putting on my underwear and shirt, I told him he could enter as I was putting on the rest of the outfit. He did, and was still surprised to see me with that little clothing. He reacted by hurriedly closing the door before nearly shouting:

"Lilia why aren't you clothed?"

"I'm clothed enough that you won't see anything, so it's fine by me."