Secrets of the Atelier: Nights of Magic and Command
In the town of Kieferly, Coco runs a magical atelier. She's a kind but clumsy witch who finally achieves her dream of becoming the apprentice of the master she's admired for so long, Kiefer.
But that very night, Coco learns the truth. The 'special magic' Kiefer teaches requires a deep, physical and mental bond through a ritual of dominance and submission. She's terrified, yet her body burns with an unfamiliar heat as she's ordered to reveal her adult self.
Kiefer has a hidden agenda: to collec
Secrets of the Atelier: Nights of Magic and Command - The Mage of Light and the Flames of Jealousy
Passing through the doors of the Municipal Magic Library, the dusty scent of paper and ink tickled her nose.
Koko took a small breath, then a deeper one. She'd already finished the errand Keefree had sent her on—buying moonlit moss and starfrost grass. But on the way back from the Grimoire Trading Company, her feet had naturally carried her here. Ever since she'd seen those forbidden incantation characters, an unease had been stirring in her chest, and she'd desperately wanted to think about something else.
Bookshelves reaching up to the high ceiling cast maze-like shadows. Sunlight streaming through the windows dyed the slowly dancing dust a golden hue.
Today, she'd come to the Ancient Magical Ingredients section. She didn't know herself how the materials Keefree always used were connected to the forbidden arts, but she wanted to learn even a little.
Her finger traced the spines.
*Encyclopedia of Ancient Magical Ingredients*.
She picked it up—it was surprisingly heavy. Opening it, she found pages densely packed with complex ritual diagrams and minute lettering.
(*This is hard...*)
She was frowning, following the text, when a voice came from the next bookshelf over.
"Excuse me, do you have a moment?"
Koko's shoulders jumped.
Turning around, she saw a young man standing there. His soft, pale purple short hair caught the light from the window, glowing gently. Clear golden eyes peered down at the book in her hands. Several small silver piercings swayed in his left ear.
"That book—it's the encyclopedia of ancient magical ingredients, right? I was just thinking you're reading something pretty niche."
He spoke in a tone that was a little shy, yet clear.
"Um... yes. I was just a bit curious."
Words didn't come easily, and Koko gave a vague nod.
For the past two weeks, she'd been in a world with only Keefree. Terrifying rituals at night. Quiet days spent simply enduring them. She'd barely had any normal conversations with anyone. So being suddenly addressed by a man her own age, she didn't know how to react.
Riche smiled just a little.
"I'm Riche. Riche Valensia. I just moved here from the Arcanon Academy last week. The town of Keefree has so many magical documents—it's a real help."
"Ah, I'm Koko. I study magic at... Keefree's atelier."
"Keefree?"
Riche's golden eyes narrowed for just an instant.
But the reaction vanished immediately.
"Is that so? That's amazing, having a proper master. I'm still just a novice, trying to make it on my own here."
His way of speaking was gentle, with no sense of sizing her up at all. He'd spoken to her simply because he genuinely wanted to talk. That fact loosened something tightly wound inside Koko, just a little.
Riche peered at the encyclopedia's pages.
"Ah, moonlit moss. I was looking for this the other day too. Apparently, it won't glow properly unless the mage has pure magical power. It's a mysterious ingredient, isn't it—"
Mildly surprised, Koko, still listening, channeled just a tiny bit of magic into her fingertip.
The ritual notes in the encyclopedia glowed softly gold.
Riche's hand stopped dead.
His golden eyes widened slightly.
"—"
Silence.
A pure, unclouded golden radiance, clearly different from ordinary magic. A strange magical color he'd never seen even at the Academy.
Riche started to say something, then quickly closed his mouth. His expression returned to a soft smile.
"Sorry, did I startle you? No, I just thought it was an interesting magical waveform. But it's rude to stare at someone's magic, isn't it?"
It was a slightly unnatural apology, as if he'd deliberately chosen his words again.
A faint sense of unease lingered in Koko's chest.
But Riche spoke so kindly that she decided not to dwell on it.
"Do you come to the library often?"
"Um... occasionally."
"I see. I'm here a lot too. If you ever need to look something up again—well, if you'd like."
Looking a little embarrassed, Riche fiddled with his ear piercings.
A warmth spread deep in Koko's chest.
(*Maybe I'll see him again.*)
How many days had it been since she'd held such a small hope?
It was completely different from being with Keefree. No commands, no evaluation, no control. Just the ordinary hope that "maybe we can talk again"—something that felt so distant, and so desperately wanted, to Koko right now.
The two of them walked side-by-side toward the library exit.
That's when—
"Wahoo! Senpai, found you!"
The one who came bounding over energetically was her kouhai, Alisa. Her long, pale aqua hair bounced in twin tails. Her bright silver odd eyes—heterochromia—twinkled as she laughed, her left eye closing in a playful wink.
Koko stumbled, barely keeping her footing.
"Alisa, you startled me..."
"Well, you never come hang out with me, senpai! I've got tons of stuff to do too, you know!—Wait, huh?"
Alisa pointed at Riche.
"Who's this? This tall person."
Riche's eyebrows lowered slightly, looking a bit troubled.
"I'm Riche. I moved here from the Arcanon Academy and I'm studying here. Koko was just helping me with a book."
"Hmm?"
Alisa's odd eyes stared intently at the distance between Riche and Koko.
—Measuring.
Two seconds of silence.
Then, a beaming smile blossomed.
"Oh, I see, I see! But senpai, you've got shopping to do now, right? I'm coming too!"
"Wha—Alisa?"
Koko's arm was tugged firmly.
Alisa deftly wedged herself between Riche and Koko. When Riche said amiably, "So you have a senpai," Alisa puffed out her chest. "Of course! I'm *always* with my senpai!"
Her eyes were directed at Riche.
She herself didn't notice that they held a slightly different heat than the admiring gaze she directed at Koko.
"Well, I'll be going now. Koko, thank you for today."
With that, Riche gave a small bow and left.
As Koko watched his retreating back, Alisa suddenly lowered her voice.
"—Senpai, could you go check that bookshelf over there for a sec? There's a book I'm kinda curious about."
"Huh? Yeah, okay."
As Koko nodded obediently and started toward the back, Alisa's softly spoken words to Riche faintly reached her ears.
"...You know, lately, senpai's been acting a little strange. That atelier... isn't it kind of scary?"
She saw Riche's feet stop abruptly.
"...What do you mean?"
The gentleness from moments ago was gone; his tone had dropped a level.
Alisa tilted her head, her face showing no awareness that she'd just lit a fuse.
"Who knows? I don't really get it myself!"
Saying that, she bounced off and ran toward Koko.
Riche's golden eyes continued to stare at the library exit for a long while.
Evening.
As Koko, having finished procuring materials, walked through the central plaza, she unexpectedly ran into Riche.
"Oh, Riche."
"Ah, Koko. What a coincidence. Just for a little while—how about some tea? There's a café nearby."
A stirring rose in Koko's chest.
She had to get back to Keefree. But—looking into this person's direct gaze, she couldn't find a reason to refuse.
"...Yes, just for a little while."
The Waterpipe Pavilion.
They didn't order the famous frozen cocktail; the two of them simply drank warm tea.
In the bright afternoon light, Riche talked cheerfully. About the ancient magic he'd researched at the Arcanon Academy. About how the town of Keefree was a treasure trove of magical ingredients.
As Koko nodded along, she felt something deep in her chest begin to thaw.
No commands, no evaluation, no control.
Just two people talking.
The warm tea quietly taught her just how distant such a time had been these past two weeks.
"What kind of master is Keefree?"
Koko's hands stopped dead.
For the first time, the boundary between what she could say and what she couldn't rose clearly before her.
"...Um."
Her throat went dry.
Riche didn't rush her silence.
"Sorry, that was a strange thing to ask."
He retracted the question, a little flustered.
That small consideration pierced Koko's heart instead.
(*If I could talk to him, would I feel better?*)
But—she couldn't speak. If she did, her master would abandon her.
As Koko hung her head in silence, their elbows on the table touched ever so slightly.
Koko's heart skipped a beat.
She instinctively averted her gaze.
Hot. Why was it so—.
That's when it happened.
Through the café's window glass, a tall shadow standing on the street was staring intently inside.
Long, silver-tinged hair. Cold gray eyes.
Keefree.
Under the sleeve of his cloak, he slowly crushed the magic pen he was holding.
—*Crack*.
A dry, very small breaking sound.
His face was completely expressionless, but fine fragments trickled from between his fingers.
As if nothing had happened, Keefree walked away.
---
Evening. When she returned to the atelier, Keefree, in a voice completely unchanged from usual, simply said, "You're late."
"I'm sorry, the materials took a little longer than expected..."
Koko answered, noticing nothing.
Keefree stood behind her silently and lightly touched the engraving on her back with cold fingers.
"Tonight, we do it in the basement."
Short words.
The temperature of that hand was just a little higher than usual.
---
Late night.
For the first time, Koko was led to the atelier's basement.
A hidden workshop.
The door closed with a heavy sound. A narrow stone room, its walls intricately carved with ancient ritual formulas. The air was chilly, yet somehow suffocating.
"I will apply the third layer of the engraving. Lie down."
With trembling hands, Koko removed her clothes and lay face down on the cold ritual table.
The brush touched her skin.
In that instant—
"Ah—!"
A deep flow of magic, completely different from anything before, pierced into her back.
Pain and heat spread all at once from her shoulder blades to her hip bones. Complex formulas pulsed on her skin, and each time the lines glowed gold, strength drained from Koko's body.
It hurt. It was terrifying.
Yet from deep within her body, an irresistible, sweet numbness welled up.
"Nn... ah, n-no... aaaah...!"
Even biting her lip, her voice leaked out.
Keefree's gray eyes gleamed up close. Harboring a heat akin to madness, they stared at the golden engraving rising on Koko's back.
"Let out more. Show this unworthy one all of that purity."
In his voice, only tonight, there was a heat as if something had melted out from beneath his usual composure.
In a corner of her mind, Koko desperately recalled Riche's smiling face at the café.
—No commands, no evaluation, no control. Just a conversation.
An afternoon saved by that alone.
(*Riche...*)
But—her body responded to her master's magic.
Her back blazed gold, and with each pulse of the engraving, the sensation of connecting deeply with Keefree's magic grew stronger.
She could no longer stop it by her own will.
The ritual ended.
Keefree slowly stroked Koko's hair with cold fingers.
"Do not let your eyes wander."
Was it a command, or emotion—Koko couldn't tell.
Back in her room, Koko pulled the blanket over her head.
The engraving on her back continued to pulse with a new heat.
When she closed her eyes, Riche's gentle golden eyes and Keefree's cold, mad eyes mingled in her mind and wouldn't disappear.
Her body understood that the synchronization with her master's magic had deepened further.
(*I can't escape...*)
She thought that—yet at the same time, the "ordinary kindness" of Riche, whom she'd only just met today, felt so distant, and so desperately wanted, that her heart felt like it might burst.
The night quietly deepened.
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