Emil walked across the courtyard with his hands in his pockets and his tongue in cheek.

After a few minutes of him standing there awkwardly, Mary had dismissed him in her usual cold tone. Her eyes had chilled a few more degrees the longer she looked at him and Emil got the impression that the woman did not like him.

Her dislike for him wasn’t completely unfounded.

From what he had gathered from his father, Emil had basically stolen Mary’s position when he was only supposed to be her aide. Because of Johan’s insistence, Emil had been “promoted” to his favored personal servant. Which meant that all of the benefits that she had from working so closely with Johan had slowly came to an end and she was barely higher than the rest of the maid staff.

Anyway, Emil felt that if she could, Mary would not hesitate to kill him. He didn’t say this lightly, either—it was not a pleasant feeling. But in her eyes, he could see that his life was insignificant to her and that he was nothing more than a nuisance. After being looked at that by so many others, Emil had came to recognize it.

He sighed and walked over to a tree that was across the way from the office, sitting at the base of it. Emil held out his palm like he had done earlier and caused anima to gather at the center. He began to concentrate it, watching as a yellowish core began to condense in the center.

In all honesty, he did not know what this really meant for him. Johan had obviously been shocked, but before Emil could find out anything, they were interrupted.

Was this power that he held in his hands? He wasn’t sure, but it was certainly a beginning. He had a feeling that the different colors of the anima indicated its level. Grey and white were exceedingly common, but the yellow was a purer, more condensed form. It was more difficult for him to control this color as well and he couldn’t get it to appear in large quantities like the others.

Of course, he had no way to confirm this theory.

A rare smile formed on his small face as he bounced the ball of anima up and down in his hand.

He pinched the ends of it with his fingers pulling on the blob until it formed a rod. Emil pressed the tip of the rod against the bark of the tree and began to push, watching as the energies merged peacefully.

In that moment, he felt as if someone’s eyes had locked onto him. Something within his consciousness had warned him and Emil’s head snapped to the side, trying to find the source.

But other than Mary who was across the courtyard staring at the door, there was nobody else out. After all, an important guest was here so those with low statuses gave it a clear field of space in case they offended them.

Still, he couldn’t shake that sticky feeling that had overcame his body. Emil bit down on his inner cheek as he looked around, confused. Maybe he was imagining it?

He twisted his lips and relaxed once more. It wasn’t like he was doing anything bad, anyway. No one could even see what was in his hands.

It was then that an unseen hand clamped down on Emil’s shoulder and his vision blurred. In the next second, he found himself standing in a new location.

“Huh?” He looked around and saw that he was inside of the office.

Johan was standing by his father’s side with thinly masked irritation. Whereas Alexander looked particularly gloomy as he gazed forward. And even more shockingly, the hand on his shoulder belonged to the unknown man.

“Hah, Alexander, since you don’t need him, I’ll take the little boy,” the scholar’s voice sounded. “Consider it payment.”

Johan looked as if he wanted to speak, but all that happened was his cheeks growing redder. He focused his eyes on Emil and the latter simply blinked.

Take the little boy? Wasn’t that him? Why was he being taken? What about his father? Would he still be safe if he left? Why did he have to be used as payment? Payment for what? Questions bubbled up in Emil’s mind as his eyes darted around.

“If you are fine with it,” Alexander said without difficulty. Obviously, Emil was not important to him and was cheaper than the Night Sage’s usual fees. The Night Sage was already an eccentric so he didn’t think much of handing off Emil to him.

“Good!” His hold on Emil loosened and he smiled kindly at him. “Let’s go.”

“Oh…” Without much of a choice, he was easily pulled along by the tall man. He glanced back at the office but the doors were closed and receding into the distance. They were moving fast but it didn’t feel like it. It was like they were drifting through the air. “Um, sir?”

“Yes?”

“May I ask what’s happening?”

“Oh, right!” He let out a raspy but carefree laugh. “From today forward, you’re going to be my protégé. Call me Teacher.”

Emil’s face cramped. What was this man talking about? And where were they going? And his father?

“Don’t worry. I’ll take your dad along with us, too,” the Night Sage said, as if he knew what Emil was concerned about. “We’ll depart soon. I already sent someone to go and get him. You don’t have anything you need here, right?”

“Well… no.” The only worldly possession he had was the clothing he wore.

Before Emil could even process it, they had arrived in front of the Lund’s shed. Felix was already standing outside of it wearing a proud look.

When he saw the two arrive, he bowed. “Lord Night Sage!” Felix cried, eyes glowing.

“You’re ready?” the man responded, quietly patting Emil’s shoulder.

“Yes,” Felix answered before his son could. He had been surprised when an unknown man had appeared in front of him, but when he heard their offer, he felt as if he was dreaming.

Emil nodded his head slowly. If his father was okay with it, then surely, it wasn’t anything that should worry him. In fact, since his dad looked rather content, Emil was even more confused about what was happening.

He didn’t have any attachment to Johan or the Damgaard family, but the thought of leaving the life he had already grown used to was also strange to him.

But, he could tell that this Night Sage was set on taking him away and that the duke did not care.

In a silent gust of wind, the trio disappeared from where they stood.