"You look exactly the sa, haha. What's your secret? A face-mask?" Anne asked as Van walked beside her, the two slipping out of the Capital unnoticed.
"Don't worry about it..." he replied with a smile, eyes forward, leading her across the plains toward a certain cave.
"Hmm... A dungeon for a date. You're really clueless, aren't you?"
"I guess..." he muttered simply, matching her pace as they entered the mouth of the cavern.
Sothing about the place made her skin crawl.
'Sothing feels... wrong...'
She glanced around warily, her footsteps faltering. Van was ahead now, pushing open an old wooden door embedded in the stone.
The sight inside made her stomach drop.
About a dozen students were bound and gagged, their eyes wide and desperate. So were trembling. Others wept silently. She recognized them instantly—these were the sa students who had mocked her, spread vile rumors about her. Now they looked terrified. Broken.
'...!!'
Her eyes flared as they locked onto the scene. And there, standing before the hostages, was one of the academy's magic professors—smirking like the devil herself.
"What the...!?" Anne turned sharply toward Van.
But Van was gone.
In his place stood a man she didn't recognize, wearing the sa clothes—but his presence, his aura, his expression were twisted into soone else's.
SLAP.
The sound cracked through the cave like a whip. His hand struck her face, and she fell hard beside the others, gasping.
"Shut up, slave," he sneered, towering over her with cold eyes.
"You took yer sweet ti, Avn," The female professor let out, unimpressed. "What, fancying little girls now?"
"Oh shut yer trap, Aicila," he snapped, his voice gruff and harsh, barely resembling Van's. "Not everyone's got that fancy magic of yers...!"
He leaned in close, his glare sharp as a blade.
Anne's breath caught.
'This... this is not Van...!! Those... those are... BANDITS!'
Panic surged in her chest. She stumbled backward, scrambling to her feet, heart pounding like it was trying to escape her ribcage.
Aicila turned on her heel, thrusting a finger at Anne. "Faux: Bind."
In an instant, magical ropes coiled around Anne's arms and legs, a spectral gag wrapping tightly across her mouth.
'Binding magic..!!' Her mind flared in alarm as her knees buckled. She crashed to the ground again—gagged, bound, helpless.
Aicila scoffed, shifting her gaze back to Avn—the man behind the illusion.
"Hmph. Excuses..." She crossed her arms. "You've got the rarest damn magic I've ever seen—'See-mories-Of-Everyone-You-Want-And-Transform-To-The-Person-In-Their-mories.' You don't get to make excuses."
At that mont, Anne and the kidnapped students all shared the sa stunned thought:
'That's... a really convenient type of magic...'
Anne gritted her teeth behind the gag.
'Fuck... FUCK... But that doesn't change the situation...'
She looked down, rage boiling beneath her skin.
'I was fooled... FUCK...!! Of course he wouldn't really be here...!!'
'Why would he co back to of all people...'
Anne's lips trembled as she stared at the man who had worn Van's face. A quiet sniffle escaped her, and she turned her eyes away.
The kidnappers continued arguing in the background, their voices muffled by the fog of dread sinking into the room.
'Fuck...! We're all FUCKED!' one student thought, tied and trembling. 'How the hell did a lowly kidnapper sneak into the academy!? And to think I believed her... when she said we'd get a reward for helping...!! FUCK!!!'
Another student glanced at Anne as she laid there bound.
'Tch... To think the cock-slut's here too...'
The girl's expression twisted behind the gag. 'Either way... No. No, I'm probably about to be sold into slavery, right? No... NO... I don't want to—MOMMY... MOMMY!!' Her cries were muffled sobs as tears stread down her cheeks, soaking the gag.
'We're all dood..!!' another thought desperately. 'These ropes...!! They're draining my mana... I can't cast a single spell!'
"You lot," Aicila's voice cracked like a whip, dragging their focus. Her eyes glinted with contempt. "Be silent. Or I'll rip your tongues out. Our buyer doesn't give a damn if you can speak."
She strode forward, heels echoing nacingly against the cave floor, stopping before a trembling male student. Without pause, she kicked him in the face. His body jerked sideways, but before he could recover, she stepped down on his shoulder, pinning him with ease.
Gasps rippled through the group as they tried to inch away, fear radiating from every bound body.
Aicila bent low, face inches from the boy's, her tone like ice. "You keep making a ruckus, I'll punish ya'. You hear ?"
The student didn't dare blink. His eyes locked with hers—wide, wild, terrified. He gave a frantic nod, his whole body trembling.
'She's... the... the devil..!!' he thought, cold sweat breaking over his skin as she finally stepped away.
Silence fell. A heavy, stifling quiet.
Avn grumbled under his breath, frustration etched across his face as he looked away.
Aicila caught it. With a sly chuckle, she sauntered toward him, slow and deliberate, leaning in close—her breath warm against his skin.
"You're so cute when you're jealous..." she whispered.
"No one's jealous..." he muttered, voice low, eyes avoiding hers. "I know you're just committed to the act... Why would I be jealous of you terrifying so kid..."
"Huuuh..." she humd, leaning even closer. Her lips hovered just above his ear.
"Tell you what... if this plays out well..."
Her voice dropped to a sultry whisper.
"I'll make sure to punish you properly tonight.
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