Chapter 126
Zynie burst into the office, and Virelda looked up from her desk. She didn’t recognize Zynie in her adult form either.
Zynie lifted her chin toward Virelda and struck an imperious pose. Shoulders back, chest out, one hand planted on her hip, her weight shifted to one leg.
“Virelda.”
Even then, Virelda clearly had no idea who she was. The puzzled look she gave Zynie mixed with her naturally sharp features and visible exhaustion, making her expression read as faintly irritated.
“Whoever you are, if you’ve got nothing to say, get out.”
Zynie had at least expected to be asked who she was, not just flatly be told to leave.
Whatever her outward appearance, the person inside was still every bit a child. Zynie’s shoulders sagged with disappointment at the complete lack of reaction she’d been hoping for.
But she couldn’t back down now. She had become a better witch than Virelda. She had grown up and it would be utterly humiliating to tuck her tail and flee at the first setback.
If she couldn’t win this moment, she may as well never win at all.
“It’s me. Zynie!”
Virelda squinted, looking her up and down. This wasn’t the fresh-faced Zynie she remembered.
And yet the way she talked and the energy she gave off was completely, unmistakably the same little Zynie as always.
“I don’t know what’s going on, but if you want someone to play with, go bother Fay.”
Or Fay’s familiar. He seemed to be pretty good at entertaining you lately, go pester him instead.
Virelda dismissed her with a flick of the hand, as if shooing away a fly, and moved to return to her work.
Even as a grown woman, being brushed aside like that made Zynie clench her fists and tremble with indignation. She felt humiliated enough to cry.
But she was an adult now. Strangely, becoming an adult hadn’t made it any easier to hold back tears. If anything, the sting went deeper.
She blinked them back and drew her wand, leveling it directly at Virelda.
“…What do you think you’re doing?”
“I’m challenging you to a duel!”
Only then did Virelda finally set down the papers she’d been reading.
“A duel means you’re wagering something. What are you putting up?”
“That seat you’re sitting in.”
“You want to duel me… for the Guardian’s position…”
One corner of Virelda’s mouth twitched upward, then fell flat again. It was the reaction of someone too dumbfounded to even manage a proper laugh. Her eyes, though, were as terrifying as ever.
Zynie sharpened her attitude to convince herself she wasn’t scared.
“I’d be far better at it than you.”
Virelda stared at her challenger in silence for a moment, then let out a long, slow sigh. She seemed to actually be thinking it over, and the longer she was quiet, the more anxious Zynie became. The palm of her wand hand kept breaking into a sweat.
“Hurry up and draw your wand. Let’s, let’s duel!”
“Fine. If you want to be Guardian that badly, then you do it.”
Virelda got up from her seat without any resistance whatsoever. Then she unpinned the golden broomstick brooch from her chest, the symbol of the Guardian, and set it on the table.
“W-wait, this isn’t how it was supposed to go…”
She was about to become Guardian without so much as a single swing of her wand.
Zynie was thrown into confusion. She hadn’t actually wanted to become Guardian. She had only wanted to prove herself to Virelda, to show her what she was capable of.
But now that she was here, with that golden brooch gleaming right in front of her, she couldn’t bring herself to take it back. Perhaps she had spent too long as the master of Donovan. The shimmer of it drew her in before she could stop herself.
Virelda left the office without another word, leaving Zynie staring blankly at the brooch in her hand. She was no longer the Guardian, there was nothing left for her there.
And just like that, without anyone fully realizing it, the era of Guardian Zynie had begun.
Because it had happened so suddenly, the backlash came quickly. The witches were especially vocal.
“Who do you think you are, showing up out of nowhere and calling yourself Guardian?”
Virelda had spent years at Merga’s side, steadily establishing herself as a worthy successor. Zynie had none of that history, so what possible basis was there to trust her with the role?
Zynie found herself forced to accept one duel after another from witches demanding she prove her worth. It was deeply ironic: she hadn’t fought to become Guardian, yet now she had to keep fighting just to hold onto the title.
Fortunately, she was an exceptionally gifted witch. She defeated each challenger in turn, and the voices of dissent gradually fell quiet.
“She’s strong, I’ll give her that.”
“She’s a prodigy.”
“Right, I keep forgetting.”
In the end, most witches in Aldehallow acknowledged that she was likely the most powerful witch among them. Rumors even circulated that Virelda had stepped down after a proper defeat in a duel.
The general mood shifted toward accepting Zynie as Guardian.
But Fay could not let it stand.
“This is absurd. That position is far too much for her, she’s not ready!”
Discussion
0 CommentsNo comments yet.