Headmistress approved of her determination and her endurance, before spending some more time giving her a few more tips and instructions about the technicalities of how she should act when it was time.
"…Good luck, young Melia," Headmistress Lenolia told her with a warm but serious tone. "Good luck and goodbye."
She nodded with a serious expression. "Thank you, Headmistress."
Soon enough, she departed from her office, closing the doors behind her.
CLACK
"Have you made your choice?"
Cæ's voice drew her attention.
She turned around to find him leaning against a wall with his arms crossed as the dull light of the clouded Sun reflected off his silver hair.
A determined expression appeared on her face.
"I have."
Cæ nodded with a hint of satisfaction in his eyes.
She gazed at him with black eyes filled with gratitude.
"Thank you…"
Her tone was soft.
Affectionate.
Cæ shook his head. "I haven't done much."
"You… tolerated me, even though you were suspicious of me," she spoke with a bittersweet smile. "And you showed me a way past my shackles. Thank you for that."
"You're welcome," Cæ replied with a slight shake of his head. "Get going and good luck."
She nodded at him with vigor as she ran towards her dormitory, prepared to call her personal butler and driver to get her home immediately. Her parents had managed to have staff meant to cater to Melia in the magicademy, who were at her beck and call twenty-four-seven.
"Deshun?" she spoke into her magiphone as she called up her driver. "Come pick me up at the front gate of the Institute immediately."
"Understood, Young Miss."
Within five minutes, a large, extravagant, luxury magicar pulled up from within the Institute's parking lot, drawing to the very front. Melia heaved a deep breath as she took a seat inside its lavish, yet uncomfortable and unnerving leather.
The crest of the Nelnmont Family inside and outside the car made her feel very insecure and unsafe, as though she was in the palm of her family's hands when she sat inside.
It made her feel trapped.
And yet, she bit her lip, closing the door as it automatically locked.
CLACK
"Where to, Young Miss?" her driver glanced at her from the rear view mirror.
"…The Nelnmont Manor."
She refused to call the place home any longer.
The hope she had gained from breaking free from the shackles of that prison, thanks to Cæ's idea, and the courage she had gained from speaking to the Headmistress.
It had molded a deep determination to break away from her family's influence and prison.
"Very well, Young Miss," her personal driver replied cheerily, apparently not noticing anything different in her.
She breathed deeply and slowly, as the Headmistress had instructed her, to calm her nerves and relax her racing heart.
Her nerves tingled the closer they got to Nelnmont Estate.
After all, the Elendir Institute of Magic was in the central districts, and so were the most expensive and extravagant housing manors, mansions, and domestic estates in the entire city.
It was another reason that her family had been confident in keeping her in the Elendir Institute of Magic, knowing that they were very close, both financially, politically, and geographically, despite picking a fight with the Headmistress of the magicademy.
The warm light of the clouded morning Sun gently illuminated the picturesque manors and homes that passed her by each second, each belonging to some affluent family or individual.
And yet, the very sight of it was nauseous.
She had seen it so many times that she associated it with an impending meeting with her parents or the sickening churning feeling in her stomach after a meeting with her parent.
In that moment, she resolved that she would never purchase a home in these districts if she did manage to break free. She would instead choose a place far, far away from home.
VRMMM…
The car slowed down, pulling to the curb of a rather large and expansive mansion with multiple sections and storeys barricaded by a large wall brimming with magical energy and covered across the entire surface with encrypted runes and magic circles.
She felt butterflies in her stomach as she beheld the name of the estate plastered proudly atop the front gate.
[The Nelnmont Manor]
She exhaled deeply, trying to soothe her tingling nerves, before departing from the car.
"Wait for me," she instructed the driver. "I will be returning home today."
She was certain of that.
Or rather, she would ensure that she would make it back to the Elendir Institute of Magic from this place.
And yet, she felt her heart gripping in a vice as she gazed at the front gate.
At the front gate, there was intense security behind it that was waiting for her.
They stood by the security scanner artifact, waiting for her with expectant eyes.
CLACK
The front gates opened for her.
She tried her very best to school her expression and body mannerisms to ensure that she didn't give anything away.
"I will have to request you to step through the scanning artifact, Young Miss," the apprentice mage remarked with a courteous tone.
And yet, she knew that it wasn't a request at all.
She abided by his words, stepping through the security scanner as her heart sank with the dreadful fear that she would be caught.
STEP
As she stepped through, she could feel the magical artifact getting to work as the magical energy it brimmed with was put to work, digging through every inch of her body, searching for anything that she knowingly or unknowingly had on her that was a threat to her own security and to that of the family.
She emerged on the other side, trying to continue walking as she normally did when she didn't have anything to be afraid of.
She held her breath as precious few seconds went by.
The scanner artifact didn't beep or ring an alarm.
Neither did any of the apprentice mages try to stop her from spotting something suspicious.
And yet, just before she could heave a sigh of relief—
"Miss Melia."
The chilling voice of a woman made her freeze in her tracks.
She felt her heart sinking with dread in fear of being caught.
And yet, she turned around it with a projected hint of irritation. "What is it now?"
STEP
A senior mage descended from the sky, carrying a powerful artifact in her hands.
It was in the shape of a magnifying glass with a potent purple crystal embedded right below the lens, made of enchanted orichalcum.
"Apologies, Young Miss," the woman remarked with a detached tone as her cold eyes remained fixed on Melia's black eyes. "However, I have been instructed by the Patriarch to exercise additional precautionary surveillance measures on your person to ensure that there are no security concerns.
She huffed with projected impatient petulance.
"Make it quick."
"Very well, Young Miss. This will be uncomfortable, so please bear with me."
She activated the artifact that projected a magical light, of the light element naturally, into her body.
She winced as she felt much greater physical discomfort as a faint sense of pressure and heat dug deep into her body, scouring every inch of it as it scrupulously searched for anything of magical nature or otherwise.
She tried her best to breathe deeply and relax her racing heart, which was perhaps only overlooked as a presumed side effect of the scanning discomfort.
A whole minute passed by the time the scan was done.
"Ngh…" Melia groaned, feeling violated and uncomfortable.
And yet, she was hyper aware of the senior mage's body language, as inscrutable as her poker face was, studying the results of the scan.
The air tingled with a profound tension.
The atmosphere grew electric.
For a moment, she thought that the gig was up.
"Scan complete and no anomalies detected, Young Miss," the senior mage informed with a detached tone. "Apologies for the delay and the discomfort, please go on, Young Miss."
"Hmph," she tried to hide her tremendous relief with sassy petulance. "Next time, don't waste my time."
"I will endeavor to abide by that, Young Miss."
Melia simply scurried past the expansive gardens of the Nelnmont Family with a brisk walk, trying to contain the relief and excitement she felt with having gamed the elite security measures of the Nelnmont Family.
Of course, the credit for this fully went to Headmistress Lenolia.
She was truly an incredible diviner if she was able to overcome not just the foreseen regular security measures, but also the irregular spontaneous measures that appeared to have been brought in just as a precaution.
Her admiration for the Headmistress grew even greater.
'I want to be just like her when I become a mage.'
She shook her head lightly, putting the thought aside as she grew more serious.
Unless she overcame the tribulations that were in wait for her, she would never be able to pursue her own destiny and her own dreams and ambitions.
STEP
She arrived at the front door, which was promptly opened.
The two doors flew open to reveal two young maids, who promptly bowed before Melia after opening the doors.
CLANG CLANG…
The gesture made their slave neck chains jingle with a macabre melody.
"Welcome back, Miss Melia."
They spoke perfectly in unison, just as they had been trained in their slave training.
Melia's expression darkened as she beheld their dark eyes as they stood up.
They were devoid of hope.
Devoid of light.
It was at moments like this when she was reminded that, as bad as she thought she had it, she was still born into a filthy rich, affluent family that was once aristocracy in the nation of Elendir before it became a democratic republic.
"Melia."
She flinched when the familiar rage-ridden voice of her father addressed her.
STEP
Her parents emerged from within the manor, arriving at the vast, spacious living room.
The air tingled with a faint tension.
The atmosphere boiled with peril.
Her mother gazed at her with a cold, imperious gaze, with a raised chin, while her father glared at her with a furious gaze, clad in a simple cotton shirt that barely fit his gargantuan body.
"You…" he growled at his daughter.
She flinched, lowering her head as she felt shivers crawling across her skin.
She felt a bit of her courage washing away at the very sound of his voice.
It inspired raw terror within her heart.
An ingrained, soul-wrenching fear that overpowered her heart.
She bit her lip hard.
Painfully hard, drawing blood, as she used the intensity of the pain to overwhelm the stronghold her terror had over her.
"Father…" she managed to squeeze out. "Mother."
She raised her head, meeting her parents' angered gaze.
"Who said you could meet the Headmistress without my permission and without my presence?" the Nelnmont Patriarch growled. "You willingly entered the den of our enemy?! Have you lost your mind, HAVE YOU?!"
He screamed at her with pure wrath, causing her to flinch.
"You foolish, stupid girl," her mother cursed at her with a soft but venomous voice. "Constantly impeding our plans. Constantly failing. After everything we have done for you, you can't even get the basics right. Tsk, if only I had given birth to a son."
Melia felt her eyes tearing up.
She felt her heart gripping in a vice and her throat choking with emotion.
"What did she speak to you about?" Patriarch Nelnmont growled. "What did you tell her?!"
The mood boiled with menacing intensity.
Her instincts screamed with danger.
She felt a horrid dread welling up within her, challenging her earlier confidence.
She felt her earlier determination faltering.
She felt terror gripping her heart.
And yet, she gritted her teeth and pushed through.
"…I won't tell you."
Her tone was defiant.
Defiance was the trigger to get the reaction that she needed for the plan to succeed.
It was difficult, but she managed to pull it off.
Her parents' eyes flew with shock.
With shock and anger.
More anger than she had ever seen in them.
Her father's eyes grew bloodshot as his face reddened.
"What did you just say?" his voice shook with anger. "Did you just… defy me, your own father, with insolence?"
Melia mustered up more courage, pushing through. "Father, I—"
SLAP!
Before she could even react, a powerful swing blasted into her face as she felt her father's burly hand smash her jaw harder than it ever had before.
THUD
She fell to the ground as her vision grew dizzy, an ugly bruise rapidly forming on her cheek.