Chapter Text
Today marks the entrance ceremony at Night Raven College. From the staff dorm, you can hear the bustling of old and new students preparing for the beginning of the school year. As much as you’d want to look forward to seeing the youngins, your head throbs at the idea of dealing with those who decided to make the infirmary their home.
It is no secret that the school is filled with troublemakers. That means being greeted by students from all seven dorms with various injuries. From being scratched by rose bushes to almost committing homicide by shoving a mysterious potion down someone’s throat after an argument. Crewel was more than happy to punish the “bad puppies”.
Ever since the day you got the letter inviting you to accept the position as NRC’s Doctor, the headaches you’ve experienced for the past few years should have sent you to your deathbed. Treating their injuries was easy. It was the stress from questioning their clumsiness and bloodthirsty tendencies. You shake your head, leaving those thoughts for later as you make your way to the infirmary.
You have no plans to join in the entrance ceremony. You can already sense someone getting injured, which is why you chose to go on standby. Unsurprisingly, a group of students came with scratches on their arms and knees. When treating them, you are no stranger to gossip, but this one is quite interesting.
“It was wild! A magicless student with a cat covered in blue flames?!”
“How did they get admitted here?”
“With a familiar too.”
A student with no magic, and yet they have a mysterious creature as their companion? This school year is quite peculiar in a good way. Overall, it was a calm day. You glanced at the clock, and a small smile graced your lips.
“Is there something amusing about the clock, dear?”
Right on time, a certain fae appears in front of you, hanging upside down and pressing a soft kiss on your forehead as a greeting. This was the usual between you two, but that fluttering feeling and the heat rising to your cheeks will never disappear. Lilia seems happy to see your cute reaction as he gives you another kiss, but this time on the cheek.
Satisfied, Lilia now stood on the ground and took a seat on the infirmary bed right beside you. This was your agreed meeting every day. You entered NRC as the school’s staff much earlier than Lilia and Malleus were admitted as students. The majority are unaware of your relationship with the old fae. It would be scandalous to see a student and staff clinging to each other (even if said student and staff are roughly the same age and have a long history with each other).
“Did the kids settle in?”
“Oh, yes. Sebek and Silver are currently with Malleus in the dorm. I assume you heard of the fiasco in earlier’s entrance ceremony?”
You and Lilia would always talk about each other’s day. Now that the kids have finally entered NRC, you’re more than happy to be together in one place, but the restrictions and cautionary measures on your side dampen your mood a bit.
Noticing the slight shift in the air, Lilia is quick to hold your hands and rub his thumb over your glove-covered knuckles.
“I know, dear… Fear not, I’m sure the boys already came up with different ways to visit you.”
As if right on cue, the door to the infirmary bursts open. There stands Malleus with Sebek and Silver. As their eyes fall on you and Lilia, their faces instantly lit up.
“Father. Dama.”
“VANROUGE-SAMA!”
“That’s Doctor to both of you when in public.” You lightly scold them, but the smile on your face betrays your words.
You look at Malleus, and he gave you a nod with a small smile. This was far from being discreet, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. Looking at the time, you still have an hour before students are expected to return to their dorm.
The five of you spent some time talking about what happened. Malleus wasn’t present during the entrance ceremony, so he was intrigued. Time flies when you’re having fu,n so it wasn’t long until you had to say your goodbyes.
“We could arrange to meet during breaks. Especially by winter.” Silver proposes.
“Or when one of you gets injured.” You mused, and they know better than to do that just to see you.
That was when you noticed something was missing. Or someone.
“Waka-sama! Where did he go?!” Sebek panics and looks around frantically.
Malleus barely had any freedom before getting admitted to NRC, so it was no surprise that he would take advantage of his time here and roam around. He’s usually seen sneaking into abandoned buildings back in Briar Valley, seeking some peace and alone time. It got him in trouble too many times to the point he was banned from going beyond the castle walls for a while.
“Well, run along. If you need me, just knock on my window.” Silver and Sebek quickly headed out to find their wandering prince while Lilia stayed.
“Aren’t you going with them?”
“You don’t want me here? You wound me, dearest.” You roll your eyes at his dramatic display and are pulled into a hug. With warm lips hovering over your ear, he whispers.
“Have a good night.”
“Lilia!”
The fae steps back with a laugh, a smirk on his face as he savors your flustered state. It was a simple goodbye, but that nibble on your ear was far from innocent. You quickly pushed him out of the infirmary as his melodious voice soothes your racing heart.
As you watch his retreating figure, long hair with red streaks and green armor flash in your mind. You shook your head, getting back to work and cleaning up the materials you used for the day.
Alone again, your mind can’t help but bounce from different timelines of your long life. As if watching from a cinema, numerous memories played in front of you. Each one with varying sweetness, pain, longing, and anger. Looking back, your past self would spit on you if they saw you now.
As you leave the infirmary, you can’t help but laugh.
Truly, how much you and he have gone through.