Hello my lovely readers!
I hope you have been well and were able to rest and recharge over the weekend.^^
This week it’s time for our new monthly short story: My Dear Magician.
You already got a whole chapter of A Sweet Disruption last week, so you can see that this month is a special one with lots of fun things!
My Dear Magician is one of my earlier short stories that I wrote last year. It’s a cute story in a college setting about a witty young magician and a smart young lady who were chosen to partner for a project.
You may find a lot of elements similar to last week’s Chapter Two of A Sweet Disruption and that is because I took a lot of inspiration for it from this little short story!
Now without rambling any longer, I introduce to you this month’s short story: My Dear Magician.
The weather is wonderful today, the sun is shining and my mood is at an all-time high. My lessons are all done and I wave my friend goodbye before finally exiting the auditorium.
A smile steals its way onto my lips as I think of stopping by the campus bakery for a nice treat before going back to the dormitory.
Greeting a few passing students, I suddenly get pushed to the side and barely manage to catch myself before falling onto the ground. My good mood switches from content to annoyed and I turn to tell the person who bumped into me so rudely, that they should better watch where they’re going next time, when a pair of stunning violet eyes catches my gaze.
The guy in front of me is, to say the least, extremely gorgeous.
“Are you alright? I’m sorry for bumping into you, I didn’t watch where I was going.”
Mr. Handsome seems out of breath. His slightly longer, soft, brown hair is sticking out in every direction, the first few buttons of his black shirt are undone, his sleeves are messily rolled up and the black bag pack hanging over one of his shoulders is almost slipping off due to his hasty movements.
“Yes, I’m alright. You should be more careful next time.”
I watch as his eyes meet mine and he looks a bit taken aback, but a tumult at the end of the hallway distracts both of our attention.
“Lyonell!!” The mysterious, violet-eyed man seems in a pinch because he suddenly turns to me saying: “It was great to meet you. Sorry again for bumping into you earlier.”
As the tumult grows louder, he waves his hand and quickly bids his goodbye before he adds: “I have a strong feeling we will meet again!” And with that he is gone, disappearing between the crowd of students, out of my sight.
My confusion over this encounter is getting disrupted by a group of angry-looking senior students storming by, who seem to have been the origin of the tumult from earlier.
I watch as they chant a few not-very-civilized words until they also disappear into another corridor, then I sigh and make my way to finally get my well-earned bakery sweets.
Really, what a weird day…
Two days later, I stand in front of the big bulletin board, searching for my name on a piece of paper that our professor posted after a lesson earlier today.
It’s about the paired project for an additional class I enrolled in this semester: Tales and Folklore. The class is available for limited students across all semesters and I managed to snatch a spot, at the last minute.
My gaze wanders over the different surnames until I finally find mine, Serafin. I look at the name next to it and the gears in my head start turning. Lyonell. Where have I heard that name before?
As I ponder over it, a hand stretches out next to my head, grazing over the paper until it stops at the spot where my name is written. I turn around and a pair of violet eyes meet mine.
I’m surprised to see a familiar face and now I remember where I have heard the name Lyonell before. In front of me stands the guy who ran into me in the hallway a few days ago.
“Hello there! Long time no see.”, he flashes me a charming smile and then looks back at the bulletin board. “Are you perhaps also part of the Tales and Folklore class?”
Lyonell is still as handsome as the last time I saw him. He switched his black shirt for a white one, his upper buttons are still undone, and his sleeves are rolled up the same messy way as two days ago. His soft brown locks shine almost golden in the sunlight and I catch myself staring at him a second too long before I finally nod.
“You’re right. My name is Violet Serafin.” I extend my hand for a handshake and he quickly glances at the posted paper one more time before grabbing my palm enthusiastically. “Oh! Serafin! That means we are partners for this project.” A grin tugs at the corners of his lips and he adds: “Elio Lyonell. It’s great to meet you again.” I reply to his introduction with a smile.
Elio Lyonell…
“Are you by chance part of the magic department?” He laughs at my question and nods while letting go of my hand. I almost miss the warmth of his palm before I quickly shake the feeling off. I don’t even know this guy.
Cyndra University has four departments. Alchemy, Swordsmanship, Diplomacy and Economy, and Magic. I am in the Diplomacy and Economy department. Because my family is from the upper nobility my parents place great value on a good education and while my oldest brother has also studied diplomacy and economy as the next heir to the duchy, I feel a sense of obligation to support him in some way later on as much as I can.
Besides, I want to be able to establish more contacts with other kingdoms and help to expand our duchy’s trading market with other countries and different cultures.
I’m still lost in thought when Elio suddenly speaks up again. “Do you have any plans right now?” Shaking my head confused, I answer him: “No, why?”
A big smile beams across his face and then he takes my hand again and starts dragging me with him. “Great! Then let’s start with the project today. We’re both free and Professor Tiron already distributed the topics for the groups on the bulletin.”
At first, I want to protest, but after thinking about it for a second, he is right. I don’t have anything urgent to do today and the faster we are done with this project the more time I will have to concentrate on my other studies.
Elio leads me through the corridors of the old main building until we arrive in front of the universities library. He spots an empty space and we both sit down opposite of each other before we start to discuss our assigned topic.
“Arrange a presentation including five common weeds with their respective tales and usage.” His voice is deep and soothing as he reads the task out loud.
“Plant tales? Then I think we should search for books about native weeds and folklore first.” Elio agrees with my suggestion and we split up to search for useful material in different isles. I head over to the folklore section and skim over the book spines. Ancient Spirits And Their Natural Habitats, Magical Creatures Of The Old Times, The Top 10 Places To Experience Old Folklore…
I check book after book for something that could give me a hint about plant folklore until I find a volume with the title: Wishing On A Dandelion.
It piques my interest, so I take it out of the shelf and flip the first page open. Bingo!
The dedication in the book speaks about plant experts and people who want to know more about the wonders of different weeds and their respective tales. I gather two more books on similar topics and head back to our seats where Elio is already waiting for me while reading a thick black tome. His legs are propped up on the table and he has three more books piled next to him, all as thick as the one he is holding and with different titles indicating their contents.
“You’re back. Have you found something interesting?” The young magician looks up from the pages of the volume in his hands and welcomes me back with a smile.
“I have three books on plant folklore which could be useful for our topic. It seems your search was also successful.” I nod my head towards the stack of tomes and he tells me briefly about his finds before we both fall silent, skimming through the rustling paper pages and taking notes on the most important informations.
Time goes by and I get up to gather more books as I haven’t found all the information we need yet. A few minutes later, I come back again with two more volumes. One of them is sealed off with a thick black leather strap.
I try to open it, but the silver buckle just won’t budge. Elio notices my struggle and I hear his amused tone as he asks: “Do you need some help?”
I look up at him and he grins at me. I hesitate for a second, not quite liking the way he seems to find me struggling to be amusing, but then I sigh and push these childish thoughts to the side.
“Do you think you can open it?”
Without wasting much time, he stands up from his seat and walks around the table until he stops right behind me. His hands reach around my figure and he grabs the tome out of my palms.
He starts to explain: “It’s locked with a magic seal, but don’t worry. Because it was in the normal section of the library anyone can open it even if they can’t use a lot of magic.”
Even normal people, as he describes them, have some magic in them, although it is often not even enough for the simplest of spells. For these purposes, the magic tower has invented simple tools where all you have to do is pour some of your energy into it to work.
This buckle seems to be one of them, but while Elio tries to explain how to unlock the tome, I struggle to keep up with his words.
It’s my first time being this close to someone of the opposite sex and although I’m not normally fazed by many things so easily, the close proximity between the two of us makes my heart beat faster.
I can feel his warm breath fan over my neck as he speaks and his chest is touching my back. It’s like he’s hugging me while he calmly explains the procedure.
Calm down, Violet. Don’t let yourself be fazed by something this trivial.
While I brood over the situation, Elio has stopped talking and suddenly leans even closer as he whispers in my ear: “You’re not paying attention. Am I making you nervous?”
A shiver runs down my neck hearing his deep voice so closely and I back off towards the table, snatching the book out of his hands. “Of course, I have paid attention. Thank you for the thorough explanation.”
He chuckles but finally steps back, his arms raised in a conciliating gesture. “Alright then.”
The amused grin on his face annoys me to the bone, but I try my best not to make it too obvious and just focus on opening the tome as he explains it to me.
I did pay attention! … I was just a tiny bit distracted because of him.
After two more hours with no more noteworthy incidents, we finally finished writing all the important information down and I propose to Elio that we should each compile our half of the topic into a joint presentation so that we only have to rehearse it together before we present it to our class at the appointed date.
He agrees and we tidy up the work table and put all the books away to their respective places.
I’m on my way to leave the library as Elio calls my name: “Violet!” I turn around and shoot him a questioning look. “What is it?”
“I had fun today.” His backpack is slung over his shoulder and even though I have been looking at him the whole day, I still can’t seem to get used to his handsome looks.
“Me too. I’m glad that we got partnered together.”
And I mean it. He was actually really invested in finding the right information and helped me a lot with putting everything in order for the presentation.
A blush creeps up my cheeks as I think back to the incident before and how close he had been. I quickly try to shake the thought off.
A, now very familiar, sly grin tugs on the corners of his lips after hearing my answer and he takes a step forward, reducing the distance between us.
“I’m glad you think the same. I'm sure we will see each other a lot more often from now on.”
I’m confused by his statement.
“You mean for the presentation?”
He chuckles slowly and then closes the distance between us completely, his lips brushing over my ear.
“Studying together isn’t bad, but I was thinking more of a different kind of activity.
A date, for example.”
-End.
Thank you for reading this post, I would love to hear your thoughts on this little story in the comments.^^
This Wednesday we will have a special interview post coming up with another wonderful writer here on Substack, so stay tuned!
I wish all of you a wonderful week ahead!
-Nika.^^