“Do you really need to go and see her ?”

  Thomas was clinging onto Bael’s arm with an anxious face, unwilling to let go. To the king, it seemed like the slim man was being weird, more stressed out than usual.

  ‘I understand that Mariane asked to have him destroyed, but even with some feeble mage power, she can’t do anything to me. Is he being overly cautious ?’

  Bael stroked Thomas’ hair with a warm smile, trying to calm him down.

  “The headmaster of the Magic Academy will arrive soon to assess her condition. I need to be present for diplomatic reasons, to prevent the mages from accusing us of harming one of them, I must expin why we didn’t know she had mana. I’m not happy about it either but I will keep it short, okay ?”

  But Thomas didn’t calm down. He was biting his lips in anxiety.

  “Don’t look her in the eyes. You must not fall for her, okay ? I have no idea what power she received, but since she is the protagonist…”

  The king tried to hide his smile as much as he could.

  ‘Oh my, is he being jealous ? I have no idea what the ‘protagonist’ thing means, but is he afraid I’ll leave him ? Maybe spending so much time together was a good idea !’

  He leaned towards Thomas to hug him tightly.

  “Okay, I promise. I won’t fall for her and I won’t even go near her if that’s what you want. I’ll listen to everything you ask, okay ? So calm down, nothing bad will happen.”

  Eventually, Thomas nodded and let Bael go. But when the king left the room, he could still see the slim man looking at him with an anxious face.

  ‘He is so cute ! No, I must forbid myself from running back to him. I have important things to do. But I’ll make it quick, I want to go back to him as fast as possible !’

  Bael fastened his pace, walking quickly in the hallways. Mariane was put in one of the guest rooms of the castle, on the opposite aisle from Bael and Thomas’ rooms. Since diseases didn’t exist in Hell and the only thing to fear were curses, which were easily resolved since it only required to track the magic signature of the caster, they didn’t have a hospital or anything simir. It was annoying, but having the girl under the same room was necessary.

  He finally reached the door and took a deep breath before opening it. Inside, the headmaster of the Magic Academy was speaking in a stern voice to Baam, who had his head lowered like a good servant. But his eyes were staring daggers at Bael, seemingly saying ‘Hurry up and calm this man or I’ll end up killing him’. Of course, observing this scene with a smile while sitting in bed was Mariane. She immediately brightened up upon seeing the king, and it somehow sent chills down his spine.

  ‘Thomas is right, let’s finish this quickly.’

  He cleared his throat to make his presence known and walked to the headmaster with his usual smile.

  “Hello old friend, it’s been a while !”

  The human lifted his head and frowned.

  “You are finally here ! Can you expin what all of this means ?”

  “Of course, it’s an easy thing to do !”

  Bael signaled Baam to get out of the way, and the aide nodded with grateful eyes, walking to the corner of the room.

  “You remember the agreement we had about the exchange program ? For some reason, this dy was sent to Hell in pce of your student, do you happen to know the reason ?”

  Shifting the topic was the best thing to do for now. The headmaster stroked his long beard.

  “I remember, yes. Our student had made great progress in his research, and we couldn’t possibly send him when he was about to have a breakthrough. Didn’t you receive our letter ?”

  “No, we didn’t. It’s strange.”

  Bael turned to Mariane. Somehow, her smile was making him uncomfortable.

  “Anyway, she arrived here but she had no idea what Hell or magic was, so we assumed she was a normal human who got somewhat entangled with the teleportation. We were going to send her back, but there were some circumstances and she ended up staying here. We had no way to know she was an undiscovered mage, it came as a shock to us as well when she touched the stone and fainted.”

  The headmaster constricted his face in a dissatisfied pout, but he couldn’t do anything about it, the king's words held power, and he couldn’t stay angry after this expnation.

  “An undiscovered mage… I see. Then the fault is on us. I assessed her amount of mana before you came, but it is very plentiful. I think she might be a hidden child of a noble dynasty.”

  ‘From a normal girl to a powerful mage ? What bullshit is this…’

  Bael stopped in his thoughts because his all seeing eyes were perceiving something. Contrary to Baam, he couldn’t read people’s thoughts, but he had the power to see what was hidden. That was how he had noticed Thomas when he was still in Mariane’s head, and this time he was also seeing something he shouldn’t. He couldn’t see it clearly, but he could feel it. There was something floating in front of the girl, like a textbox. He wasn’t able to read what was written on it, but he could recognize the magic power easily, since he was familiar with it, he had felt it since he was born.

  ‘Is it God’s power ? What is the old man doing here ? What is that ?’

  Before he could find any answer, Mariane spoke.

  “I don’t know what you are talking about, but I do remember a name from when I was really young. ‘Morgane Le Fay’, does it ring any bells ?”

  The headmaster opened his eyes wide.

  “Are you a descendant of Morgane ? The companion of Merlin ? If that’s the case, you are from one of the most noble dynasties ! We must immediately bring you back to the human world !”

  Bael was starting to shake. It didn’t make any sense. If she had such a prestigious background, Thomas would know. But how else to expin her abundance of mana ? It was confusing, and scary. The feeling amplified when Mariane turned to him, meeting his gaze.

  “But I don’t want to go to the human world, I want to stay in Hell ! I have a good life with people I like, it would be too cruel to leave ! I can stay, right ?”

  The girl’s eyes somehow helped Bael calm down. He was vaguely aware that a strange power was seeping into him, but he couldn’t fight it. It was warm and comforting, like Thomas’ embrace. Yes, what bad could it do if Mariane stayed for a bit ? She wasn’t a terrible person, she was simply confused by the change in environment. She was a good and charming girl, and having a mage in Hell was a good thing for his dream of a kingdom that could stand with the other dimensions, united with Heaven and the human realm. Maybe she was the key to creating this harmony.

  As he was about to open his mouth to allow it, suddenly a smoke of purple magic shielded him from the girl’s gaze and an angry Baam stood between them.

  “I would be grateful if you didn’t use charming spells on the king of Hell, this could warrant you an immediate execution.”

  The aide had his wings and horns out, his face contorted in such an enraged expression that Mariane started shaking.

  “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to !”

  The headmaster shook his hand, as if to chase away her excuses.

  “Don’t apologize, it’s normal to have trouble controlling your powers if you just awakened to your mana ! Anyway, it would indeed be better if you stayed in Hell to take the time necessary to learn how to use your magic. If you immediately followed me to the human realm, you would be thrown into politics because of your lineage, my judgement was rushed.”

  Baam turned to him to protest, but Bael, holding his head as if in pain, stopped him.

  “How is she supposed to learn here ? We don’t have any mages.”

  “We’ll bring the student who couldn’t come st time. He has now finished his research and he is a talented fellow, he will help Mariane without a doubt.”

  The king wanted to leave this room as soon as possible, so he simply nodded.

  “Do as you see fit. We’ll prepare a dorm room for him. However, considering Mariane’s actions just now, and her inability to control her magic, she will be forbidden from approaching the castle. I hope it doesn’t offend you.”

  The headmaster shook his head.

  “I perfectly understand, do not worry.”

  Once things were settled, Bael exited with his aide, still holding his head. Baam was looking at him with cold eyes.

  “You’re a king and you can’t even protect yourself from such a minor spell ? She was trying to seduce you and make you abandon Thomas.”

  Bael took a deep breath, trying to shake the awful sensation.

  “You don’t understand. Her power isn’t only her own.”

  He stopped and met Baam’s eyes, with a serious face.

  “God is involved.”

  The aide stayed silent for a bit, looking around to make sure nobody was listening.

  “The Creator lent her his powers ? What does he gain by messing with us ?”

  “I don’t know, but I’m sure of what I felt.”

  Baam thought for a bit, and whispered under his breath.

  “Thomas was right. Disaster is coming…”

  Bael raised a brow, tilting his head in confusion.

  “What do you mean ? What did Thomas say ?”

  His aide patted his shoulder, still looking awfully serious.

  “You should talk to your man, he has an incredible insight on the situation. Maybe with his knowledge, he would know what to do.”

  “Is it about the ‘protagonist’ thing ? He talks about that sometimes.”

  Baam nodded.

  “You probably won’t like it, but your life has been decided in advance. We are characters in a game.”