How to be the Villain When Every Character Likes Me

9 - Encounter with the Second Prince

Rewan scurried out of the closet before his mind could catch up. His lips, sucked a rosy red, felt like they were burning as his thoughts turned. His mana, controlled so greatly by his emotions, felt like they were crashing against every crevice of his skin, screaming to escape from his body and run amok with his magic.

He turned a corner of the corridor, his sprint coming to a sudden halt as he collided with hard flesh. Stumbling back, he subconsciously shot a wisp of pure mana out, wrapping the figure in front of him and causing them both to fall to the floor in a heap.

Silver hair, reminiscent of moonlight, was the first thing the dizzied youth registered as he tried to regain his wits that were thrown out the window since this morning. A pulse of mana, latent in the body of the other, so strong it made Rewan fascinated. An aura of earthy charm and the feeling of a flowing river, propagated by magic, caught his attention next. But the final thing that caught his scrutiny was the fierce and wild features, welcoming yet intrusive, with the very look of pure fascination Rewan had when he first saw him that seemed to bore into the black-haired youth with untainted interest.

Llewyn Voraphite, the second prince of the kingdom.

Their eyes locked, the same pulsing curiosity and mana latent in their gazes, pushing the other to further interest. Llewyn propped himself up, hovering over Rewan with a sultry smirk before he stood.

"My first interaction with the Chosen Mage and you're already all over me, huh," he joked as he gestured to the wisp of mana still circling around his waist. Rewan felt a familiarity with his words, a natural affinity with him as the comfortable feeling of talking with an old friend surfaced.

He laughed carefreely, withdrawing the wavebending spell with a sheepish grin. "Sorry about that," he replied informally. He dusted off his wrinkled clothes and was about to excuse himself before Llewyn's hand grasped his forearm, stopping him from leaving.

Shining, probing eyes pierced through his own as he turned back to face him with a befuddled yet unperturbed expression. Llewyn's hand retreated, grazing past the part of his waist so firmly grasped by what seemed like an invisible force, curiosity growing thicker.

"What kind of magic was that?" Llewyn laughed incredulously, feeling the invisible force retreat before he could try and gauge its power. "How'd you get your Fire to do that? It didn't even burn."

Rewan cast his eyes to the side knowingly. "I'll tell you it wasn't my Fire," he responded coolly like dangling meat before a lion.

Llewyn's forefinger rubbed against his thumb, letting a steady stream of mana diffuse into the air, causing water to appear in front of them as floating crystal droplets. Rewan's eyes grew wide as he saw them dance, gathering in greater numbers and becoming a translucent, misty sphere. "How did you concentrate magic like that after diffusing it from a gesture?" Rewan gaped, his nose crinkling as he scrutinized the flowing abundance of water in front of him.

The corners of Llewyn's mouth quirked up as he gave a teasing, lopsided grin. Leaning closer, he muttered flirtatiously into the astonished youth's small ear, "I'll tell you if you tell me."

Rewan's nose crinkled like a rabbit's, betraying his internal conflict as he found himself wedged between a rock and a hard place. He opened and closed his mouth with furrowed brows before his heart wavered, conceding just enough to spark a flicker of mischief, then with a deft pulse of wavebending, he channeled his mana to seize the prince's arm and declared, "Let's go to the library."

----

"You can't just 'do it,' you know. Having precision even with that much mana diffusion! You can't just 'do it!'" Rewan insisted, his eyes growing with frustration as he disputed Llewyn's blasé answer. He bounced up and down on the tips of his toes, circling Llewyn like a rabid shark waiting for chum.

His fluffy, jet-black hair bobbed up and down with his movements, enticing even the most tame hand to reach out and ruffle it to feel the grazing softness. Llewyn's face, although nonchalant, twinkled with concealed amusement as he watched the black-haired youth's impatient, indignant actions, like a hedgehog jutting out its thorns furiously.

"...especially when you're Water! Controlling such an untamed element in itself is hard. But after mana diffusion? You can't seriously be..." the young mage continued to fume, jets of hot steam puffing out of his small ears as his entire face turned red in jittery restlessness.

Llewyn couldn't hold back the smirk as he saw the mage a head shorter than him fume. A vivacious air seemed to exude from the small fellow, rife with energy and mana.

"...stop trying to lie to me! Seriously, how frustrating..." Rewan mumbled, pausing and stroking his chin in deliberation. He squeezed his eyebrows together and hunched his back, mumbling incoherently.

Llewyn slung his arm around Rewan's still figure and ruffled his hair familiarly. "Alright, cheer up. Look what I dug up from the westmost side of the library a few days ago." He pulled out a small, pocket-sized leatherback notebook, its pages worn and aged. The binding was an autumn-leaved golden brown, showing how much it was opened and closed.

Rewan's attention was diverted in a half-second as he scrutinized the page curiously. Llewyn flipped open the cover, revealing a messy script inside with a name etched into the bottom of the page: Isaan Perestus.

"Crazy thing is, it was wedged into the backside of the last part of the stacks, covered with a discreet magical rune only Water Mages of high rank can see." The black-haired youth's eyes widened in fascination as he examined the name again. Llewyn flipped to the next page and pointed at the first rune on the topmost side. "The carvings on that shelf were in ancient Voraphitian. It took ten straight hours of deciphering and mana feeding to get the rune to break," he sighed, his breath tickling the ends of Rewan's neck, brushing past his ear.

"You want it?" he tightened his arm, pulling Rewan a little closer to his body. He felt his back pressed against a hard chest behind him, but it felt so natural the black-haired mage took no notice of it.

Rewan's eyes shone with suspicion as he said warily, "yeah. What do you want for it?"

"Tell me what kind of magic you used to grope me earlier."

"I didn't use it to grope you! I was falling. I wasn't thinking! I could have grabbed a wall for all I care!"

"It sure felt intentional when it slithered around my waist, Mr. Mage." Llewyn drawled, his grin sharp as a fox's.

"Aw, screw you!" Rewan barked, shoving at the arm draped casually over his shoulder.

Llewyn laughed, unbothered, his arm holding firm. "Alright, alright, calm down," he said, amusement sparking in his eyes. "So? Tell me. What was it? Your Fire? Your Earth? Or..." He tilted his head, "Can you combine them? Do they get in each other's way?"

Rewan blinked, his frown giving way to a grin that spread like sunshine after rain. He puffed up, pounding his chest with exaggerated confidence. "Ha! Yeah, I'm a rarity, aren't I? First person in history to wield two elements. Sometimes I forget." His grin widened as he rubbed his nose with theatrical smugness. "Heh. Haha. Yeah, that's me. One of a kind. Hahaha—"

Llewyn's temple throbbed as Rewan's cheeks puffed up in pride. "Shut it, dimple cheeks," he squeezed the flesh, annoyed.

"Ow!"