Anna, Barbara, Matilda and Wayde met up at the academy main gate at quarter before noon. Then they waited for Wolf and noon passed. He didn’t make it on time.

As the four of them waited, people passing by gave Anna odd looks. She did her best to endure being gawked at, but a certain someone wasn’t helping.

“What’s going on? Why is everyone looking at Anna strangely? Did something happen? Am I out of the loop?” Barbara unleashed a barrage of questions.

Wayde had an awkward expression on his face and avoided meeting Anna’s gaze. He had a lot of contacts.

While there were few nobles who’d gamble on his future, a number of commoners hoped to rise if Wayde won the power struggle in Northshield. Thanks to them, he had eyes and ears around the city.

As for Matilda, the woman kept telling Barbara to shut up with her eyes. Whenever Anna wasn’t looking at her, she mouthed ‘Stop it’, but none of these seemed to reach Barbara.

As for Anna, she didn’t say a word. She appeared to be angry and ready to explode.

Reading the room, Barbara knew something good must have happened. She decided to ask Anna directly. “Say Anna—”

“Barbara, if you don’t have anything nice to say, shut your trap,” Matilda lashed out, stunning everyone.

Her voice and words were so harsh that Anna thought she was hearing things. They all looked at Matilda with disbelief and kept silent.

The young woman seemed angrier than Anna.

It was around two in the afternoon when Anna couldn’t take it anymore

“He’s not coming,” she said with freakish calm. “If he doesn’t show up in the next couple of days, the two of us are through.”

Anna’s fury had boiled over and reached a new high, landing her in a zone of lucid rage. If that son of a bitch showed up now, Anna was liable to strangle him to death or die trying.

“Annabelle, he—” Matilda started, but instantly stopped herself when she realized Anna was still muttering something.

“What kind of a cunt of a man is he to do this to me and then run away?” Anna mumbled barely audibly.

Only Matilda, who was on the verge of becoming a Fifth Order Mage, managed to make out her words. The others would have to awaken their senses at least a bit to hear what she’d said.

Matilda immediately stopped talking, lest she anger her best friend even more. She understood that on one hand the situation was very bad, and yet on the other it was excellent.

They had taken a long mission. That way Wolf and Anna would be away from Silver City for two to three months, all the while until Barbara’s birthday.

The rumors would rage on, and the whole city would be abuzz about Wolf’s and Anna’s affair. However, by the time the two of them returned, the rumors should die down.

Also, since they would be together all the time, they would be forced to work out the problem and move on with their lives. Matilda was certain that even though Anna seemed so angry, she could swallow her anger for Wolf’s sake.

“I think we should head out. Wolf will catch up to us,” Matilda said, after running several scenarios through her head. However, no matter how much foresight she had, it couldn’t compare with a certain someone’s foolishness.

***

Wolf failed to meet his party that day, while Mandy failed to show up for work. The next morning, as soon as the sun rose, Wolf wanted to get out of the bed noiselessly.

Mandy spent the whole night hugging him tightly, unwilling to let go. Even now she pretended to be asleep, with her arms and legs wrapped around Wolf’s torso.

Wolf tried to get out of her hold gently. When that failed he forcefully tore himself away from her. Mandy still pretended to be asleep.

She clenched her eyes harder, and her lip quivered as tears started flowing down her face. Seeing this scene, Wolf didn’t even want to take a shower before leaving.

I’ll just cast Clean, he thought, then decided to do Mandy and the sheets while he was at it.

It feels like I’m destroying the evidence, Wolf thought as sweat and raspberry jam disappeared from him, his uniform, Mandy and the bed.

Mandy pretended she didn’t feel the magical breeze which blew across her body, nor the fact that both her body and the sheets were now spotless. Her chest nervously quivered as she shut her eyes even tighter, regretting that Wolf’s intoxicating scent was suddenly gone.

A moment later she turned and lay on her back, making the most tempting pose she could come up with. She hoped against hope that the man she loved would join her in bed, rather than leaving to chase after another woman. However, her efforts were in vain.

Looking at Mandy’s nervous expression Wolf clenched his teeth. This happened once and that’s it.

Hardening his heart he left.

***

Anna’s group moved much faster than usual. Matilda couldn’t help but feel Anna was trying to run away from her problems. Maybe she was testing Wolf? Matilda didn’t dare ask. Regardless of Anna’s motive, Wolf caught up to them by sundown on the second day.

When Barbara saw him approach she smiled. Things were about to become interesting.

“Hey Wolf! It seems you screwed up big time! Anna—” Barbara started pouring oil to the fire, but then the icy, murderous gaze Anna shot her froze her big mouth.

It was like magic. Barbara even subconsciously took a couple of steps back to show that she didn’t plan to get involved in this mess.

“We should give them some space,” Matilda said in the whispery voice she used to have before everyone got familiar with one-another. “It’s getting dark. The three of us can set up camp.”

Matilda walked some twenty, thirty meters away from Anna and Wolf and took out a tent from her Ring of Holding. Wayde was deep in thought for a moment, but ultimately followed. The only ones left were Anna, Wolf and Barbara, who didn’t seem eager to leave.

Barbara found herself in the middle of a lover’s quarrel. She had a front row seat to watch a drama unfold before her very eyes. She was about to say ‘I’m fine here, carry on’ when she saw the clear look of murder Anna was giving her. This drama could turn into a tragedy at the drop of a hat, and Barbara believed Anna would surely rather kill her than Wolf.

“Um, I’ll go help…” Barbara unwillingly retreated.

However, she walked backwards, afraid she might miss something.

“Speak,” Anna commanded after Barbara walked away.

The distance meant little to the senses of mid-order Mages, and Anna didn’t bother whispering either.

Other than the sense of privacy, there was barely any difference whether everyone was next to them, or thirty meters away.

Barbara thought they were giving the quarreling couple enough space so that things could escalate. To her great surprise, Matilda cast Silence with a flat face. The woman was already prepared for this.

“Speak.” Anna repeated coldly after Matilda finished her chant.

“I,” Wolf started, but then faltered. Last time he could still argue, since he’d done nothing against Anna’s wishes.

He held no emotions for those women, and only paid for their Soul Force. Now that he had done something wrong, there was no way in hell he was going to say anything on the subject.

“I don’t have anything to say,” he said with a downcast look.

“You went whoring,” Anna said sternly.

“Yes I did. You said—” Wolf started, but Anna didn’t let him finish.

“I was trying to sound magnanimous and broadminded,” Anna said, catching Wolf by surprise. “I shouldn’t have said that. I admit it was my mistake.”

Anna had gone through this conversation over and over in her head. She knew exactly how Wolf would try to worm his way out of it. The fact that he didn’t raise his voice and that he seemed to have a guilty expression exceeded her expectations. At least he had some conscience. If she knew why he was late, Anna would’ve fainted from anger straight away.

Anna took a deep breath. After holding it in for a moment she breathed out heavily.

“That was before, and it’s in the past. Now I would like you to stop doing that.” Her lip twitched when she said this, those pornographic sketches flashing before her eyes.

Anna tried to act as maturely as she could, given the circumstances. Objectively speaking, Wolf simply acted within the framework she had made. If she changed the framework and he continued conforming to it, then everything would be fine.

That’s what she believed. But Wolf shattered her concept with a single word.

“No,” he said resolutely, making Anna feel like she’d taken a blow to the guts. Then he continued before she could interrupt him.

“Why are you so obsessed with this?” he asked. “Why are you trying to force me? Did you notice anything strange or bad going on? If so, tell me, when did it start?”

The guilty feeling Wolf felt was gone just like that. Anna was trying to control him, which he wouldn’t have minded much, as long as it’s not something important. But with this she was trying to hamper his growth. The growth South said was too slow.

“In fact, you were happier,” Wolf pressed the subject. “I felt like I was trying to take advantage of you before. Whenever I touched you, you’d turn stiff as if you were afraid of me. You acted like you were enduring a torture. Now at least you can have some peace of mind.”

After comparing Anna, Mandy and prostitutes, Wolf came to certain conclusions based on how they acted.

Anna listened, struggling for words.

‘All you have to do is spread your legs and nature will take its course.’ That curse rang in her mind like a giant bell, making Anna want to scream, but she reined in her temper. Or at least she tried.

“I have to endure,” she shouted. “Otherwise you would go all the way! And then it would be too late for regret! Wolf, I—”

She recalled those vile drawings. “I can’t—” her voice shook. “I can’t do what those women do. You know that already?”

‘All you have to do is spread your legs and nature will take its course.’

Will you shut up! Anna screamed inwardly. She looked like a tiny furry animal, scared and begging for mercy. Tears streamed down her cheeks as her lip quivered.

“I know, but what do you want me to do?” Wolf asked, also raising his voice. “You want me to wait until you’re eighty years old?”

And even then you wouldn’t reach a high Order. But he refrained from saying that. He knew that Anna was well aware of her own circumstances, but he didn’t want to say it to her face.

Instead, Wolf grabbed her hand and pulled her into his embrace. He buried his face in her chest, regretting for gods know which time that he was so short.

“I don’t care about those women, and trust me those women only care about my money,” he said with all the honesty he could muster. “They can’t change the way I feel about you in the slightest.”

“And how do you feel about me?” A warm smile broke through the gloom of Anna’s face.

“I love you, you silly. As for those women, you can view them as single use items. Nothing more.” Wolf was on the right track, but then had to mention the problem again.

Anna squirmed out of his embrace and looked at him. Her gaze wasn’t that of hatred, but there was no warmth in it either. In fact there was a hint of madness lurking in its depth.

“You want me to view them as potions?” Anna’s mouth twisted as a vial of liquid appeared in her hand. She threw down to the ground and stomped it. “Can I crush those potions if I want?”

Wolf suddenly felt uneasy. They are still humans. It’s just that for practical reasons I can view them as potions in human form.

I can’t tell her that I’m tricking their bodies into believing they conceived and then snatching the chunk of Soul Force they release to form a baby.

Wolf’s mind raced. He didn’t want those women getting hurt on his account. Finally he came up with what to say.

“I’d prefer it if you didn’t,” he said calmly, trying to explain things. “Those women are unfortunate creatures. You should pity them, rather than be angry with them.”

Seeing Anna’s murderous glare, Wolf cleared his throat. “But what you do is up to you. They will agree to anything, as long as you pay them enough. They do what they do for money, not out of boredom. I have no feelings about them whatsoever. You said that shared women are nothing but pieces of flesh? You were spot on. That’s exactly what they are to me.”

Anna kept silently glaring at Wolf.

“You’re not going to change my mind,” Wolf continued, standing his ground before that gaze. “I’m getting enough benefits that I don’t want to stop visiting those women any time soon. If it’s any consolation, I’ll never take the same one twice.”

“How’s that supposed to make me feel better!” Anna screamed in rage, frustration and mostly in humiliation.

‘All you have to do is spread your legs and nature will take its course.’ Dammit! Should I just give up being a Mage? she thought. Maybe then we wouldn’t have been in this mess?

“Give me time. I— I need to think about everything,” she said weakly and walked towards the camp Matilda was setting up on her own.