𝔬𝒱𝑳xt.𝒸𝚘𝓂
Inside Ethan’s room, Chloe sat on Ethan’s bed, while the teenage boy sat on the chair across from her.
“I’m sure you’re wondering how I was able to suddenly use Magic a few weeks ago,” Ethan said.
Chloe nodded. “Yes. But, I know that you must have had a reason for not telling me, so I didn’t ask.”
She didn’t want to admit it, but she was really surprised when Ethan fought a Magical Duel with Langston for her sake.
Back then, Ethan looked so amazing that she even thought that she was dreaming. However, it didn’t take long before she realized that it wasn’t a dream, but reality.
Since then, she had wondered how the teenage boy was able to do it, but she stayed silent and simply waited for him to tell her everything.
“I’ll start from the very beginning.” Ethan took a deep breath in order to calm himself before he started his tale. “After returning from our camping trip in the Great Eagle Forest, I met the Chesmire Cat, Chessy.
“He just appeared in my room one day, and decided to tell me a way to awaken my Magic.”
Ethan paused for a bit to make sure that Chloe was taking him seriously. But after seeing how serious her expression was, he understood that she was giving him her full attention.
“According to Chessy, there are a few ways someone can awaken their Magic Power, and one of those methods is to use Moon Magic,” Ethan explained. “So, on the night of the full moon, Luna and I performed the ceremony to awaken my magic power.”
Chloe’s eyes widened in shock after knowing that the angelic beauty, Luna, had played a role in awakening her cousin’s magic power.
“The ceremony was a success, and I was able to use magic. However, my magic is a bit special.” Ethan sighed. “I have the power to Absorb the Magic of others. But, in order to do that, I need to kiss them.”
“Eh?” Chloe blinked once then twice because she thought that she had misheard the teenage boy in front of her. “You need to kiss them?”
“Yes.” Ethan nodded his head in affirmation. “But, this magic only works if I kiss girls.”
The young lady looked at Ethan in a daze. But, after thinking about it carefully, the events that followed afterwards could now be explained.
Even so, there was one thing that bothered Chloe, so she asked the teenage boy in front of her a question.
“W-Wait a minute,” Chloe stuttered. “Understanding your Origin Magic doesn’t happen in a day. How did you come to know that kissing girls allows you to absorb Magic?”
The moment Chloe asked this question, Ethan felt several beads of sweat instantly form on his forehead. He was hoping that his cousin would overlook this topic, but since he was already telling her everything, he decided to answer honestly.
“Actually, I don’t have much recollection about what happened after the ceremony succeeded,” Ethan answered. “But, I had this veeeeeeeeeery vague dream about kissing… Luna. In that dream, I took the initiative to kiss her without permission.”
“You kissed her without permission? You forcefully kissed her?”
“… Yes.”
Ethan didn’t want to sugarcoat the events that happened because it was really the truth.
He really had no control over his body at that time, so he thought that he was just dreaming.
“The night of the full moon was the night before you fought Langston in a duel, right?”
“Yes.”
“… So, the Magic you used back then was the Magic you absorbed from Luna?” Chloe inquired. “The magic where you used Partial Resonance?”
Ethan nodded. “Yes. After the duel with Langston, I used up all the magic power I absorbed from her.”
Chloe frowned as she digested the confession that Ethan made. Now that she knew how her cousin was able to wield magic, all the questions that she had before had been answered.
“So, the Fae Magic you used a few days ago came from Ruby and the other Fairies, right?”
“That’s right. I made a deal with them. They will kiss me in return for bags of candies.”
Chloe closed her eyes, and an awkward silence descended inside the room.
Ethan looked at his cousin with an anxious expression because he was worried that Chloe would send a letter to his Grandma and tell her about all of the shenanigans that he had been up to in the academy.
Finally, after a few minutes, Chloe opened her eyes and looked at Ethan with a complicated expression on her face.
“Thank you for telling me this,” Chloe said. “I truly appreciate it. But, I just want to tell you one thing.”
Ethan kept his silence and waited for the young lady to speak her mind.
“I wish you would have told me this sooner,” Chloe said with a face filled with injustice. “If I knew about it, I would have helped you to the best of my ability.”
“I’m sorry.” Ethan smiled bitterly. “Many things were happening at the same time, and it slipped my mind. I have always wanted to tell you this secret because you are one of the people I trust in the academy, Chloe. Believe me.”
“I believe you.” Chloe nodded. “But, can you tell me more about how your Origin Magic works? So you just kiss girls and you can use magic?”
“Yes, but there are some limitations,” Ethan explained. “Depending on the source of magic, and how powerful it is, it may only remain inside my body for a day.
“Moon Magic is powerful, and I believe if I hadn’t fought against Langston, I might have been able to use magic for an entire day. Fae Magic, on the other hand, only lasts for a few hours. This is why I need to use it sparingly.
“Also, I can only kiss a girl once a week. Even if I kiss them again, I will not be able to absorb magic from them until a week has passed. That is the limitation of my Magic. Of course, I can kiss multiple girls to increase my magic reserves, but… Oi! Don’t point your wand at me!”
Chloe seemed to have fallen in a daze after hearing the part about kissing multiple girls.
Before she knew it, she already had her wand in hand, and was pointing it at the teenage boy, whose face had now turned beet red.
The young lady reluctantly lowered the wand in her hand before glaring at her cousin.
“How many people know about your secret?” Chloe asked. “Also, how many girls have you kissed?”
“O-Only Luna and the Fairies know,” Lux replied. “As to how many girls, only Luna and the Fairies as well.”
“So, only Luna kissed you… wait, it is you who forcefully kissed her so it doesn’t count,” Chloe said.
“Um, I kissed Fairies as well.”
“Fairies don’t count.”
Similar to Ethan, Chloe didn’t consider the Fairies to be Humans, so she didn’t mind Ethan kissing them.
“Now I understand the current situation,” Chloe said after a minute had passed. “Since I am now aware of your secret, I will also help you as well.”
The young lady with light-brown hair’s face suddenly became flushed as she looked at Ethan with a determined gaze.
“On the day of your Duel, I will also let you absorb my magical powers,” Chloe stated.
Although she tried to look calm, her face had turned as red as a tomato, showing how embarrassed she was.
“A-Are you sure?” Ethan asked. “It means that I’m going to kiss you, you know?”
“I-It’s just a kiss,” Chloe stuttered. “It’s not a big deal. So, are you going to do it or not?”
Ethan wanted to say no, but seeing how determined Chloe was, he knew that saying No to her would definitely cause consequences that he couldn’t foresee.
“Understood,” Ethan replied. “Thank you, Chloe. I know that you always have my back.”
“Remember this, we should always look out for each other,” Chloe stated. “We are a team here in the academy. So, if something like this happens again, do not hesitate to tell me, okay?”
Ethan nodded. “Okay.”
After telling his cousin his secret, Ethan felt as if a great weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Even though he felt conflicted about Chloe’s offer to help him replenish his magic power before the match, he had already agreed, so he had to man up and do it.
What he didn’t know was that the young lady, who was still looking at him with a beet-red-face, was thinking of having a private talk with Luna after leaving Ethan’s room.
There were some things that girls needed to sort out for themselves.
Chloe believed that it was also time for her and Luna to have a serious talk, regarding the handsome teenage boy, whose popularity was steadily rising within the circle of Witches in Brynhildr Academy.