𝐋𝐎𝐕𝐄'𝐒 𝐋𝐀𝐁𝐘𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐓𝐇 ~ [Darius x fem!oc]

Chapter 1

Marigold peered over some books on the shelf she was hiding behind.

Perhaps she was a bit paranoid, but one could never be too careful. Since the Emperor had passed a new law, it was practically impossible to borrow books on magic unless you attended the right track at school.

She loved plant magic, otherwise she would never have joined the plant track, but she was also incredibly interested in other types of magic. Bard magic, for example. She was lucky to be friends with Raine Whispers. They and Eda were also in the library, as they both were also interested in other types of magic.

They each picked out books on the other types of magic and then Raine borrowed all the ones that had to do with bard magic, Marigold the ones that had to do with plant magic, and Eda the ones about potions. It may not have been optional, but it was the most effective way to learn more about these types of magic.

However, when they had entered the library, a supervisor at the counter had made sure that they didn't just go into the wrong section, so Marigold had had to go into the plant magic section first.

The supervisor had moved to the back, however, so she now saw a chance to scurry over to the section with the books on bard magic.

She walked straight past the counter and had to stifle a laugh when she saw that Raine seemed to have had exactly the same idea.

They smiled at her and they winked at each other as they walked past one another.

Marigold glanced at the counter again, but was relieved to see that it was still empty before she disappeared behind another shelf of books. She did it!

She looked to the other side and saw that Raine had also made it.

Immediately she turned to the books and began to run her finger over the leather-bound spines.
She hoped there would come a day when children were allowed to learn any kind of magic before joining a coven.

How else would one know what magic one was best at? Sure, she learned plant magic on Hexside because she was good at it, but what if she had made a bad decision? Or what if she wasn't sure? What if she was actually much better at bard magic, but never found out because she wasn't allowed to read books about it?

Her dad always said, "I guess the emperor has his reasons." But Marigold knew him too well to believe that. He didn't really believe what he said. But that was okay. He was just trying to protect Marigold, after all, her mom had been a wild witch and was turned into a statue by the Emperor. Her dad was just trying to prevent something similar from happening to her, and Marigold could hardly criticize him for that.

And yet she wished she had someone besides Eda and Raine to talk to about it.

She pulled a book with the title: 'Deadly Sounds' from the shelf and briefly flipped through the pages to see if there was any content in it that interested her. The smell of old books rose to her nose and she smiled slightly. Her love of books would probably never go away.

The book looked good, so she nodded to herself and smiled.

Marigold got up to look for more books but when she turned around she bumped into another student of Hexside. It was Darius Deamonne.

He was wearing his purple school uniform, just like she was hers in green, and was looking at her out of his bright green eyes that reminded Marigold of the blossoms of the flower Chloromyst that grew around the schoolgrounds of Hexside.

"Can I help you in any way?" asked Marigold, who was a bit confused by the look with which he was still looking at her.

Instead of answering her question, he nodded in the direction of the book she held pressed to her chest. "Is that a book on bard magic?"

She swallowed and felt a queasy feeling spread through her. He had gotten to her. Did he perhaps work for the library and was supposed to keep students from breaking the rules? Marigold didn't know Darius well enough to rule out that possibility.

She drummed her fingers on the book cover before sighing, "Yes it is. I know it's against-"

"I never thought you'd go against the rules," Darius laughed and grinned, "I always thought of you as one of those who follow the rules no matter what they say."

Marigold stared at him for a while as a wave of relief flooded through her and she also began to laugh.

"Well, don't take this the wrong way, but I like to go by the rules," Marigold explained, "but only as long as those rules aren't complete bullshit. I mean, why can't we try every kind of magic once?"

Darius nodded eagerly. "I agree. I never thought you'd rebel, though."

Before Marigold could reply she saw Eda do fingerguns at Darius and her out of the corner of her eye and wink at her. Marigold glared at her and turned back to Darius.

"I'm not rebeling. It's just a little bending of the rules." she said, shrugging.

Darius raised his eyebrows. "If you ever need help with the 'not rebeling' then I'd be happy to help." He winked.

What did that mean now?

But before she could think about it further, Darius disappeared behind another shelf.

She stared after him for a while until Eda appeared out of nowhere, grinning broadly. Marigold eyed her skeptically.
"What's the meaning of this?"

"You and Darius, "Eda winked, "you know."

Marigold's eyes moved to the shelf behind which Darius had just disappeared and back to Eda. "Do you mean-"

"Yes."

"We were just talking. Don't read too much into it," Marigold said, sinking against the shelf behind her.

Eda did the same. "Well, you never know. Maybe something will develop if you two 'rebel' together."

"Eda!"

"I'm just saying," she raised her hands defensively.

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Hey, so here is the first chapter♡

Hope you enjoy it so far. Always let me know what you think in the comments!!!!🥰🥰🥰🥰

-Susi