Zora's POV:
"Shit, this doesn't work..."
Zora spoke out as she looked at her failed product, her frustration leaving her mouth, gazing at the bubbling solution that would have granted her more access to the library back at the church.
'Sigh...looks like I need to change the combination again...'
Thinking until here, she left her experiment room, walking up to her sofa. She sat on it, relaxing her mind as she started to take sips of the drink she had prepared, one that let her mind relax.
"Ufff....that's the stuff."
She spoke out as she lazily leaned on the sofa after a drink. Her mind became much clearer as she gazed at the room around her, everywhere cluttered with different stuff, ranging from different herbs to papers consisting of her experiment plans. For a moment, a complex light flashed through Zora's eyes as she gazed at some of the ingredients.
'To think I had a good impression of him, once...'
Some of the ingredients in the room were procured for her by Leonardo. He had helped her out at times, and she had formed a good opinion of him. However, that opinion completely changed when she saw how he was reacting toward Austin, being completely unreasonable under the pretense of Austin's power.
'Urgh...why am I reacting like this?'
Zora clutched her heart as the image of Austin passed through her mind. To her, Austin was her savior, someone who gave her a chance in this world when she was at her lowest point in life. She had awakened with abilities related to the path of the witch and, forsaking the possibility of a happy family, she took on the path of a witch.
She did it at first to repay her family and lift them out of poverty. Zora still remembers the happiness that filled her household when she showed an affinity to be a witch. Her parents had gone far and beyond that day to help her become a witch, pushing their poverty-filled life towards one of being full-blown beggars, all in the hope of Zora changing her fate. But fate seemed cruel to her back then, as her talents in the path of the witch didn't seem promising. Moreover, her unorthodox approach to potion-making wasn't accepted by the witches, adding more pressure on her.
It was at this low point in her life that Austin gave her a second chance. He sponsored her and saved her family from falling into ruin. He gave her everything and trusted her completely. He believed in her when she didn't believe in herself. Overall, she owed a great deal to Austin.
And having Leonardo look down on him, he completely landed on her blacklist. Even above that, she had great thanks for Austin, who awakened her desire for potion-making. It was all thanks to Austin that she gained her passion, which helped push her to where she stood now.
Until this point, she did everything to help Austin. And she had a 100% guarantee that she was doing well.
Zora couldn't lie to herself. She did have a huge crush on Austin after spending all their time together. It was natural for feelings to develop within her. But she never tried to pursue such feelings, as she knew it was futile. Any desire for a family was struck from her life. Also she isn't as good as any of the girls besides Austin, Zora knew her worth, and she knew that getting into a relationship with Austin was not possible for her. So she suppressed any such feelings and started to move on with her life. Until she met Austin again.
"Um~"
Just as she thought so, a fire burned deep within her loins. She didn't know what changed in Austin during the time they didn't meet, but the moment she laid her eyes on him again, something within her screamed with desire. It was different from the normal like she felt for Austin. This time, she felt primal, raw emotions flooding her, something drilling in her mind that Austin in front of her was to be followed, to be watched, and to be loved completely.
Zora couldn't quite name it, but she felt a belief toward Goddess Razellia trembling upon Austin. It was as if the limitations of the family placed upon her when she took the path of a witch were removed when Austin came into her life. Heck, she could even feel the blessing within her urging her to devour Austin, to present her body and soul to Austin.
And such new feelings didn't help Zora when she already had a huge crush on Austin. Hence, once again, problems arose for Zora. With a bleeding heart, she tried to push these feelings away as she focused on her work, using it as an anchor to distract herself from thinking about Austin and understanding that she had no chance.
She took her work as a way out, spending time away from Austin. But the more she interacted with Austin, the more her mind clouded over with thoughts of him. And it was during this time that another thing started to affect her—the constant pain in her eyes.
Zora had talked to a healer about this, but no problem was found. Yet, she experienced intense bursts of pain in her eyes on several occasions, making it harder for her to focus. The bigger problem was that these bursts of pain kept increasing as time went on.
"Argh!"
Zora clutched her head as the new pain hit her eyes. Unbeknownst to her, her eyes turned star-like, twinkling like never before before fading away. The pain lasted for some time before fading away, and Zora once again leaned back on the sofa.
"What should I do?"
Zora asked herself. No matter what she tried, she couldn't seem to push away these feelings within her. Not doing anything about it was only taking her focus off her work. Soon her rational mind started to turn, and several ideas passed through her mind until she landed on the last one.
"Guess I will have to confess...."
Those words left her as her eyes narrowed. Perhaps it would be better for her to get rid of all her feelings. Maybe that might help her shape her mind. After all, there is nothing like a good rejection to move forward. Maybe...
'No use hesitating. Once I am honest with him it will be done, I'm doing it.'
Finally making her vow, Zora stood up, heading back to her workspace. Her loins burned with fire, which quickly made her stop, a blush filling her face as she thought.
'It's better if I head to the bathroom first.'
Thinking so, she entered her bathroom, which soon became filled with lascivious sounds, all of them focused on a single male.
"Um~Austin....more~yes~...use me more~~"
It was a good thing that Zora's room was soundproof.
...
Emma POV:
"Mou~ what do you think I should do?"
Emily asked as she rolled around in the grass. Within her hand was a cute bunny she had caught, and the question she asked was directed toward the bunny, who just tilted its head cutely. Right now, Emma lay across the grass field with several other beasts lying all around her.
"I can't seem to get a good idea of how to make my hero fall in love with me."
Emma complained again as she hugged her bunny tightly. Her mind wandered back to the first time she met Austin. Back then, she lay in her bed, with death embracing her. She had fallen under the conspiracy of the Girol family's inheritance fight. While death was at her doorstep, the thing Emma feared most was leaving her brother behind.
Her childish mind didn't want to embrace death. She didn't want to be in this much pain anymore. All she wanted was to be healthy again and one day have all the pain go away. And one day she was cured as her closed mind started to open, and instead of expecting to see her brother first, she gazed upon Austin. His visage became her second chance.
To her childish mind, Austin became her hero. He freed her from her curse and gave both her and her brother a new life, far away from the family she had come to hate.
This was another reason that Emma was hooked on being a beast tamer. Other than her bloodline, which granted her a special ability over beasts, Emma herself embraced having more beasts by her side. She knew that they were all her family and wouldn't betray her.
To her innocent mind, Austin was like a big brother, just like her own big brother. But somewhere along the lines, something changed within her. Her pure emotions became much more defined, and as time passed, those emotions only grew stronger within her.
Being close to death, Emma gained a certain sense of ideology towards life. Her life-like personality arose from the chains of death that once bound her. In a sense, she could see much more in a person than others could. Hence, somewhere along the lines, she saw something in Austin. She saw a pure aura of chaos and love.
She could see his two sides, one she couldn't understand, while the other was filled with unending love.
Together, she, her brother, and Austin traveled around for a year, risking their lives, getting stronger, and becoming mature.
If Emma were asked what she liked about Austin, she would reply that she liked everything about him, but the most important thing would be how he makes her feel. Just being close to him makes her millions of times happier than being with anyone else. A floodgate of feelings would release from her heart, affecting her soul.
She didn't know the specifics, and she didn't want to know. All she knew was that her love for Austin was as sincere as it could be, and she wished for Austin to look at her as more than just the little girl he once played around with.
She's a young woman now, and she deserves some more love from Austin, a different kind of love than she is currently receiving. But she didn't know how to get there. Just the thought of holding Austin's hand was sending her into a frenzy of blush, overwhelming her mind.
"I want to ki-ki-kiss him..."
Emma spoke out in a stutter. Her lovely blonde hair sparkled around, while her blue eyes closed shyly at the thought of Austin kissing her. As she grew older, her mind seemed to bring in more ideas, and as shy as it is, she hopes to fulfill all those ideas.
'I wonder if I should dress a bit more to impress him?'
The shy thoughts of a blooming young love filled Emma's mind, one full of innocence.
"That's it! I can ask big sister Clara!"
Thinking of a bright idea, Emma jumped up from where she had been lying. She congratulated herself for her idea as she started to head towards Clara, not knowing that she was entering a wolf's den.
And perhaps today would mark the beginning of a change in the mind of the poor rabbit, hopping toward the wolf's den voluntarily.
