Moonlight Ball

Elaine scoffed and roughened his disciple’s head. He was proud of his disciple, Iris, but if he found out what she actually did, he wouldn’t be like this. “If the Duke gave you this kind of info then it should be correct… But Iris, it doesn’t make sense,” he pointed out.

“Y, you think?” Iris asked.

“It’s too wide. There’s no way this treason would work. No matter how brave they are, there’s no way they would have this scale of treason. They would be revealed quickly. This is odd. What were you thinking of doing with this?” asked Elaine with a disapproving look. She probably wanted to give it to the king, he thought. But it didn’t matter. The king would’ve thought it peculiar the moment he saw it. It was more likely that the king would recognize it.

Elaine read the list of names belonging to the Magic Tower. He ought to confirm the involvement of these people.

“I, I’m going to give it to Sid.” Iris replied nonchalantly.

Wait, what did you just say? Elaine’s eyes suddenly became fiery. He turned to his disciple and asked with emphasis, “Who were you going to give it to?”

“Sid,” answered Iris. Very casually.

“Who’s Sid?” Elaine sneered the moment a realization dawned upon him. “Sidrain. Ah, His Majesty the King.”

Iris only smiled coyly without knowing how ‘dad <3’ felt.

Now, Elaine felt like he had plenty to say suddenly. He asked, “Sid, when did you start calling him like that?” His tone was too nice that it was alarming. He appeared like a snake slithering so quietly lest its prey would escape.

“Uh… Since the night of masquerade,” Iris answered willingly.

Elaine had always considered Iris’s most favourable trait was not being able to lie, but this time, that advantage felt like a curse. That king, son of a b*tch?! Elaine was livid inside his head. But Iris looked like she didn’t know what was wrong. As a matter of fact, what she did wrong… was nothing. Contrary to his liking, there was nothing Elaine could say. It seemed childish to call her a traitor for calling Sidrain en Letaire ‘Sid’…

As Elaine was pondering, Iris was worried about something else.

“But teacher, would it be ok if I show Sid-” she began. But Elaine completely exploded.

“I’m a teacher and that bastard is Sid?!” he bellowed.

Iris shut her mouth in confusion. W, why is he like this? He was, indeed, a teacher, and Sidrain was Sid, so she didn’t know why her teacher was very much enraged. While Iris was lost in confusion, Elaine took  a step in front of her and Iris stepped back in surprise.

“Iris Elaine,” called Elaine. It was rare for him to call her by her full name.

“Yes, yes, teacher,” answered Iris meekly.

“You.”

“Yes.”

“My disciple, you!”

“Yes.”

“My stepdaughter, you!”

“Yes…”

At this point, Iris contemplated whether she should kneel before her teacher. Her teacher was beyond furious. It was the first time she saw him so upset since the time she almost blew up the entire Magic Tower from doing a forbidden experiment.

“You call that king in a friendlier fashion than me?! You, a part of the Magic Tower, my stepdaughter, and a disciple of the master of that Tower, someone who will inherit everything!? What kind of relationship do you two have?!”

Instantaneously, the door slammed open, revealing a ‘Sid’.

***

The man with the most sculpted face and a body like steel. One of the three sword masters in the continent. Sidrain En Letaire was eavesdropping from the other side of the door.

He had already dismissed the servants and maids. The corridor was silent. The knights that stood on guard seemed like hollow armors. The moonlight peering through the massive window was soft yet cold. On the other side of the door, Elaine, this annoying wizard, was angry at Iris.

“What kind of relationship do you two have?!”

Sidrain couldn’t hold back the moment he heard those words. Without hesitation, he kicked the door wide open and leaned against the doorframe. As if it was the most obvious thing, he said, “Husband and wife.”

Elaine whipped his head to his direction, and his eyes could have never been so angry. He croaked, “What? Who?” But it was even worse that he had to address this bastard with respect and formality.

“Me,” Sidrain smiled and walked up to Iris, softly hugging her shoulders, “and Ris.”

Elaine was at the brink of insanity, but Iris just couldn’t empathize with Elaine’s rage. Sidrain had told her that ‘Ris’ was Rosemary’s nickname. There was a good chance that it was the truth, but there was also a good chance that it wasn’t, so Iris had no good reason to deny it. More so, she liked hearing it from Sidrain.

Meanwhile, Sidrain, the only person who knew exactly what was transpiring, tightened his embrace on Iris as if he was showing off, and at the same time, it seemed like a painful mock toward Elaine.

He said, “We have a husband and wife relationship.”

In other words, he meant they were doing everything a husband and wife did. Elaine’s eyes widened.

Iris didn’t understand the situation too well, but she wasn’t someone who would act too intimate with the king in front of her teacher, who was blatantly provoked at their sweetness. She twisted her body from Sidrain’s embrace, looking uncomfortable. However, her efforts remained naught as his grip even tightened, not allowing her escape.

As if to add fuel to the fire, Sidrain whispered teasingly, “Ris, be still. Your teacher is still here, hm? It’s not good to ask for it now.”