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As Palladium walked down the hall and past the students going to the dining room, he caught a hint of what the girls were talking about. His ear gave a flick as he discreetly listened in on what they were saying.
“I love Valentine’s Day!” one of the girls sighed dreamily. “I just know that boys are gonna be falling all over themselves to give us all their Valentine’s Day gifts! I hope I get some! Oh, even some gratitude chocolates would be nice!”
“I bet you 20 credits I’m gonna get more valentines than you!” her friend challenged playfully.
“Fine, bet!”
After the two girls went out of his hearing range, Palladium couldn’t help but laugh. He’d almost forgotten about Valentine’s Day. By contrast, for the students, it was a day everyone had marked on their calendars. Gods only know how many Specialists will be stopping by to profess their love.
It was then Palladium had realized that something was missing from his arms.
“Oh by nature’s voice, I completely forgot my lesson plan folder! It wasn’t in my room, so I must’ve put it in the teacher’s lounge…”
Palladium made haste and rushed to the staff room. He almost threw the door open when he got there.
“You looking for a place to hide from the girls hoping to give you Valentine’s Day presents?” Wizgiz joked as he watched his colleague rifle around a file cabinet.
“Ha ha, very funny Wizgiz,” Palladium amusedly answered. “No, I’m trying to find my folder of lesson plans I left here…”
“You mean these?”
Palladium turned around to face Professor Wizgiz, who now had a familiar green binder stuffed with papers.
“Oh thank you,” Palladium breathed a sigh of relief, taking the folder from Wizgiz’s hand. “You’re a life-saver… My first class is starting right now…!”
“Then you’d better get a move on, young man! You don’t want to leave the children unattended for too long, otherwise who knows what could happen?”
“I know precisely what could happen, and I’d rather not deal with it… Thanks again, Wizgiz!” with his lesson plans now in hand, Palladium practically ran out of the teacher’s lounge.
Once he was in front of his classroom door, Palladium took a moment to breathe and compose himself, so the girls wouldn’t see his panic. Then when his heart stopped beating a million times a minute, he turned the knob and stepped inside his classroom. He greeted everyone with a pleased smile and said;
“Good morning, girls! Happy Valentine’s Day! Now, as your potionology professor, I feel as though I should iterate: Love Potions are strictly forbidden, and they are not something you or even I should be— What are you all giggling at…?”
One of the students managed to stifle her laughter long enough to tell him; “Look on your desk, professor!”
Curiously, Palladium directed his attention to his desk. Instantly, he knew why everyone was giggling. His sun-kissed face turned a bright red.
Someone had left him a vase of beautiful maroon colored roses. Attached to one of the thorn-laden stems was a note secured with ribbon.
“Who could’ve possibly…” he murmured to himself as he loosened the notecard’s ribbon and looked at the hand-written note inside.
“ For my favorite professor, a bouquet as exquisite as you are. Happy Valentine’s, your secret admirer. ” The stranger had penned elegantly in rich black ink.
After a moment’s silence, Palladium awkwardly laughed. “Alright, which one of you was it?”
The girls had stopped their laughing, and they all looked at each other. “It… It wasn’t us, professor…”
“Come now, you don’t need to lie…!” Palladium said. “These flowers were freshly picked, they couldn't have been waiting here for long, so it must have been one of you who brought them.”
“I swear, it wasn’t us…!” one of the students cried.
“None of you are in trouble!” Palladium insisted. “But I cannot accept this grand of a gift from a student, it’s improper… Especially if money was spent on it…!”
“We’re telling you, it wasn’t any of us,” Bloom shook her head.
“Well… I suppose since you all are so adamant that you didn’t…” Palladium muttered. “But who could it have been, then? Do you have any clue?”
The class all chorused in a variety of no’s.
“Well isn’t this quite the mystery,” Palladium said, stroking the cardstock note with his thumb. “No matter…! Let’s set that aside and get on with our plans for today! And because it’s a day of love and flowers, I’ll teach you how to craft a perfuming potion!”
He taught his class without another word about the roses or Palladium’s secret admirer. Though they still stole glances at the black matte vase, including Palladium himself.
A few hours and a few classes later, the students of Alfea were dismissed for lunch, and Palladium could really investigate the rose conundrum.
“Alright little flowers, what do you have to tell me,” Palladium whispered as magic flowed from his fingers to the roses’ stems, carefully listening for their dainty voices.
Their words were too faint to detect, likely because they’ve been picked. But Palladium did pick up something else that was much more telling. Dark magic. Just a wisp, but it was there.
“Oh dear… Could this be some kind of trick from the witches of Cloud Tower? I’d better take this to Faragonda, she’s better at finding hidden curses than I am. And she’s well-acquainted with Headmistress Griffin.”
Palladium carefully picked up the vase of immaculate flowers and left his classroom to go to Faragonda’s office.
“Faragonda? May I request a few minutes of your time?” Palladium asked as he opened one of the room’s double doors. Faragonda swallowed a bite of her lunch and set aside the container to talk to the worried elven professor.
Palladium set down the vase with a soft clink on the wooden desk. Faragonda pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose to better see what was in front of her.
“How delightful, you got a Valentine’s gift!” Faragonda smiled.
“It’s not just that,” Palladium explained. “No one knows where they came from, and even more curiously, there are trace amounts of dark magic… Could you take a closer look and make sure they’re not hexed? I’m afraid there’s a chance of this being a cruel joke orchestrated by one of the witches.”
Faragonda slid the vase of flowers closer to herself, then quietly cast a spell. She waited a moment, then addressed Palladium, who was waiting in anticipation.
“A wielder of dark magic had indeed come into contact with these roses,” she started. “But there are no hexes, jinxes, or curses in this bouquet. You’re safe. Perhaps it was Parker who gave these to you…? Her shadow-travel ability would explain how they showed up so quickly on your desk.”
“Look me in the eye and tell me Parker would give me anything for Valentine’s Day, let alone care about the holiday. Plus, I think she swings in the… other direction…”
“Good point. In that case, I wouldn’t worry about it. It is from a secret admirer, is it not?” Faragonda said with a wink. “You don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
“Thank you for your insight, headmistress,” Palladium smiled at her respectfully.
He picked the vase up and left her office, taking the flowers back to his classroom to find a good place for them. Palladium settled for putting them by the corner of his desk, taking out the note so he can reread it. However, instead of the initial message written on it, there was now something different inked on the paper.
“ Check your desk drawer, dearest. I’m not quite finished with you yet. ”
“Hm?”
Palladium did as the card bade and opened the topmost drawer in his desk. Sure enough, there was something inside that wasn’t there before. A small purple box, tied shut with a bow on top.
He took it out, carefully undid the bow, and opened the box. Inside was a collection of chocolate covered fruits, mostly strawberries.
Palladium picked one up and examined it. It still had the hints of dark magic the flowers had, but still no enchantments.
He hesitated, then took a small bite of the strawberry, which was coated in dark chocolate and drizzled with white chocolate. His expression brightened at the sweet flavor.
“Mmm, Oh I love white chocolate…” he said quietly, his mouth half-full.
Those sweet treats were the perfect companion for his lunch, and great to snack on while he taught his students for the second half of the day. Not that they paid much attention, they were too busy gossiping and making theories for who Palladium’s secret admirer could be. Not to mention chatting about their own Valentine’s Day happenings.
In between classes, Palladium would occasionally peek inside the note to see if it had changed again. For the most part, it stayed static, the same words being shown to the professor every time he opened the card.
But then, right after the final bell rang, the ink making up the message changed once again, morphing itself into a new message.
“ Come to your room as soon as possible, I have one final surprise for you. Aren’t you curious to see the true identity of your secret admirer? ”
Those last few words made Palladium’s heart shoot up into his throat. Was he really going to see who had made his heart flutter throughout the entire day? Or was it just going to be revealed that this was all some sick prank to get his hopes up? Either way, he was electric with anticipation. He took his lesson binder and headed straight for his quarters.
However, when he got there… He froze. He was one step away when he stopped in his tracks, his hand reaching for the door’s handle lingering in the air.
There was no telling what or who was going to be beyond that door. It was an exhilarating feeling, but also an anxious one.
Despite that, Palladium broke out of his state of inaction and opened the door with a slight creak.
“Hello? You wanted me to come here?” he called out to the seemingly empty room. Keyword here being, seemingly .
When he was met with silence, he steeled his nerves and prepared for the worst outcome. “If this is a student, and this is your idea of a joke, I do not appreciate it. You will be reported to the headmistress and punished accordingly for disobeying school rules.”
Surprisingly, there was no sign of any juvenile tomfoolery either. No held-back snickers, rustle of clothing, or anything else that would indicate the presence of an errant freshman, or someone of the like.
“ Are they in my bedroom…? That is if there’s anyone even here… ”
As Palladium walked to his bedroom, his shoulders sighed in resignation. “I’m such a hopeless romantic… Of course I’d fall for such a trick. I mean— Why on earth would anyone take this much time just to dote on me?”
It was not a trick.
There was a man laying in his bed.
It wasn’t a professor, but it was definitely someone he knew. Someone the whole school knew, but not in a good context. In fact, the man that lay languidly with the covers draping over his body, wearing Palladium’s bathrobe, was the same one that completely took over Andros almost effortlessly.
Palladium couldn’t muster up a single word, much less move. It felt like he was in some odd dream that would linger in his mind once he woke up. Except it wasn’t a dream. This was real. Valtor was actually in his room. Wait— This doesn't mean what he thinks it means, right? No, it had to be some… twisted coincidence…! Valtor had to be here for some alternate reason… Right?
“…aren’t you going to say something to me, love?”
“G— Globus lucis!” Palladium forced out of his mouth.
He threw his hand out in front of him and a ball of light gathered in his palm, ready to attack Valtor. But as quickly the light attack shot from Palladium’s hand, Valtor was just as quick to wave it away with his own magic.
“I’m almost offended,” Valtor put a hand to his chest, quirking his eyebrow in a smile. “I go through all this trouble to infiltrate Alfea undetected to give you a good Valentine’s Day, and you greet me with an attack? Actually, now that I think about it, I don’t think I’ve ever formally introduced myself to you. My apologies.”
“With what you’ve done, you need no introduction…!”
Regardless, Valtor stood up, the blankets sliding off of his figure, which was shown off rather flatteringly by the bathrobe. He dipped his chest down in a slight theatrical bow. “I am Valtor, bearer of the Dragonflame and the greatest wizard of the century. And I do mean that last part.”
“I know who you are! The only thing I want to know is what you want from me!” Palladium snapped, finally coming to his senses. A shield of magic formed on his arm as he held it out to defend himself. “Answer that, or I’ll make quick work of getting you out of here!”
“You’re a smart man, you can figure it out,” Valtor smiled cheekily, taking a step closer to the professor despite his threats. “Who do you think gave you those flowers? Those chocolates?”
“But why?! Are they cursed? Are you plotting to kill me? Abduct me? You can’t honestly think I’ll believe you got me Valentine’s Day gifts just for… for…”
“Romance? Believe it or not, I’m a bit of a romantic myself,” Valtor replied. “I find that the idea of a secret admirer creates a good bit of thrill . Especially if the secret admirer is an enemy.”
Palladium’s front of cold courage began to melt into confusion. “But… Why me? Surely you don’t think me so easily tricked by you…”
“Because you’re the most beautiful man I’ve seen in a long time. Beautiful both in mind…” Valtor’s eyes flicked up and down Palladium’s appearance. “…and body.”
“How— How can you possibly have these feelings for someone who wants you dead?” Palladium asked, a little more innocently than he would have liked.
Valtor sighed, almost lovingly. “Because no matter how much power I amass, I am a mere man. So easily tempted by what he can’t have. But that's the beauty of the power I’ve mastered. All the things that were previously out of my reach, they’re now within my grasp. Like say… A lover on the opposite side of a battle?”
“What makes you think you can have me? What makes you think that I’m even the slightest bit interested in you?”
“First of all, if you weren’t the slightest bit enticed by me, we would have been fighting by now,” Valtor explained. “Second, I know who you are too. I know that you’re starved for emotional connection. You want so desperately for someone to see you, to care about you. And you deserve that. I could give you anything you wanted, even if all you want is a little bit of love.”
When Valtor had come closer to Palladium, Palladium didn’t make a move to back away. He just followed the wizard with his gaze as he closed the distance between them.
“I… I don’t even know what to think…” Palladium muttered. “This is all just so— Jarring…”
“Oh I assure you, this won’t be the last time we see each other,” Valtor brushed a stray lock of golden hair out of Palladium’s reddened face. “I somewhat expected this to happen, so you don’t need to give me an answer now. But something I would like you to give me is a little reward for my pains. Because trust me, getting in here was not an easy task.”
“What… What is it you want?”
“Kiss me?”
“What?!”
“Just a short one,” Valtor tried to assuage Palladium’s sudden panic. “And after that, I’ll make myself scarce. I don’t want to get caught, after all.”
“Oh for the love of— Just one kiss?”
“Just one kiss.”
“Fine, if just to make you go away…!”
Before Valtor could wax on again, Palladium pressed his lips to the wizards in what was supposed to be a quick peck. However, he couldn’t bring himself to pull away… He lingered there long enough for Valtor’s gloved fingers to run through his hair. He pulled back and took a step away from him.
“I thought you only wanted a short kiss?” Valtor’s kittenish smile widened.
“You said you were going to make yourself scarce, so do it! Before Faragonda finds out you were here!”
“Fine, fine. Good night, dearest .”
In a swirl of dark magic, Valtor disappeared.
Palladium stood there in stunned silence, that is until he made a realization.
“That bastard took my bathrobe!”