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 - Underground Workshop of Traps, Bloodstained Savior
Alisa's words from the library that afternoon kept replaying in Riche's mind, over and over.
*"Koko-senpai gets called to a separate room every night, and by morning she looks so pale…"*
Those words clung to his ears and wouldn't let go.
Riche sat at the small desk in the Blue Tricorne Inn. Spread across its surface were old research materials gathered from the Arcanon Academy, records of comings and goings at Keefree's atelier that he'd secretly collected since arriving in this city, and purchase histories of forbidden art materials he'd confirmed at the supply shop.
(*It all connects.*)
He stared at the bundle of parchment in his hands. Forbidden art materials were flowing into Keefree's atelier in quantities that couldn't be explained by ordinary magical research. And then there was Koko's mana—that golden radiance she'd shown him in the library. That was unmistakably pure mana.
The activation of the forbidden art "Celebrant Art" required pure mana.
(*Koko-san is being used as a test subject.*)
Something deep in his chest tightened painfully.
What surfaced in his mind was Koko's slightly troubled smile from the café. Her profile as she'd struggled for words when asked about her master. It was obvious she was hiding something. But he could also tell there were circumstances she couldn't speak of.
Riche stood up.
If he filed a formal investigation request, it would take at least a week for the Magic Council to grant approval. He had no idea what might happen to Koko in that time.
(*I can't wait.*)
Tonight, too, something might be happening in that underground chamber.
Riche threw on his robe and looked down from the inn window. The pale blue magelights of the streetlamps cast a dim glow over the old town's cobblestones.
He wanted to save Koko. Not because it was his investigation duty. For Koko's own sake—
For the first time, on this night, Riche became clearly aware of the name for that feeling.
Late night.
The alleys of the old town were silent. Pale blue magelight fell upon the cobblestones. Riche circled around to the back of Keefree's atelier. The old three-story building loomed against the dark sky.
His investigation materials noted that the entrance to the underground was through a floor hatch in the first-floor workshop. But entering from the front would be suicide. Riche examined the back wall. One third-floor window was slightly ajar.
(*Through there.*)
Riche chanted a short spell and activated a formula to lighten his body. He kicked off the wall and grabbed the window frame. He slipped inside without a sound.
The third floor was a document room. The smell of old books filled his nose. Riche silenced his footsteps and descended the stairs. He passed through the second-floor living quarters and reached the first floor.
In the center of the workshop stood a large stone operating table. Countless formulas were carved into the walls. And—on the floor, there was a heavy iron door.
(*Here.*)
Riche held his breath and reached for the door's handle.
In that instant—
The ancient-language formulas carved across the entire stone floor flared with pale blue light.
"What—!"
A surge of mana like an electric shock pierced through his entire body. The strength drained from Riche's limbs. He couldn't use magic. A sealing formula trap. The next moment, an invisible force blasted him backward, slamming him against the stone wall spine-first.
*Crunch.*
The sound of bones breaking. His breath stopped. As his body fell to the floor, the corner of a formula-carved shelf caught him. Sharp pain tore through his side. Blood gushed from the torn skin.
"Gh…"
The taste of blood spread through his mouth. He tried to crawl, but his limbs wouldn't obey. His own blood spreading across the floor reflected the magelight, gleaming black.
(*Damn… it…*)
He heard footsteps climbing the stairs. A slow, composed gait.
Keefree Van Aster appeared. His long silver hair swayed in the dim light. Cold gray eyes looked down at Riche collapsed on the floor.
"Just as I expected."
That voice held neither surprise nor anger. Only a matter-of-fact flatness.
"I've long been aware that you were conducting an investigation. How foolish."
Riche moved his lips. No voice came out. Only a blood-tinged breath escaped instead.
Just then, another set of footsteps echoed from below. Light footsteps running up the stairs.
Koko appeared.
"Sensei, what was that sound—"
Her words stopped mid-sentence. Koko's eyes caught Riche collapsed on the floor.
Blood. His purple hair was matted with it, plastered to the floor. His golden eyes stared vacantly in her direction.
"Riche-san…!?"
A voice like a scream rang through the workshop.
Koko stepped forward, trying to rush to Riche.
In that instant—
The engraving on her back blazed red.
"Ahh…!"
Hot. A searing heat spread from her back through her entire body, and her limbs stiffened like stone. The formula's restraint. She couldn't move. Riche was just one meter away. A single meter, yet it felt as distant as eternity.
Koko put her hands on the floor and tried to crawl. The engraving grew even hotter, and her muscles convulsed.
"Riche… san… Riche-san!"
Even as she called out, Riche's fingers didn't so much as twitch. The blood flowing from his side was forming a black puddle on the floor.
"Make it stop… Sensei, please…"
Tears spilled over. She didn't even know what she was pleading for. She just wanted this restraint released. She wanted to touch Riche. She wanted to save him.
Keefree slowly came to stand behind Koko.
Long white fingers lifted a lock of hair from her shoulder. The gesture was astonishingly gentle—and all the more chilling for it.
"What could this man possibly do for you?"
A low voice whispered right beside her ear. A cold shiver ran down Koko's spine.
"He cannot even protect you. He simply lies there, bleeding and broken. How powerless."
That's not true. Riche was trying to save me—
No voice came out. Only her throat trembled. Tears overflowed endlessly, falling to the floor.
Keefree's hand touched Koko's back. His fingers slowly traced over the engraving. From those fingertips, her master's mana flowed into her. It should have felt cold, yet deep inside her body grew hot.
"I am the only one who understands your mana. I alone can truly wield this pure radiance."
No.
Her mind screamed it. And yet—her body responded to her master's mana. The engraving on her back pulsed, and golden light seeped out. Resonating with her master's mana, an irresistible pleasure crawled up her spine.
"S… stop…"
She bit her lip and stifled her sobs. It was as if her body no longer belonged to her. Rage, terror, and a fierce self-loathing at her body's betrayal all crashed over her at once.
Keefree stroked Koko's hair as he coldly declared:
"You are mine."
A declaration of ownership.
Those words pierced Koko's heart—heavy, cold, and deep.
Keefree's hand held Koko's shoulder while his other hand pressed firmly against the engraving on her back. Mana flowed in deeper. Her body refused to listen. She tried to shake off her master's hand, but the engraving's restraint bound her movements, and she had no strength.
"Tonight, I shall deepen our bond. The ritual of the Permanent Engraving."
Koko's heart froze with terror.
The Permanent Engraving. That meant—she would never again be able to escape this domination.
"No… I don't want this…!"
Her voice trembled. Her vision blurred with tears.
Just then—
At the edge of her vision, something moved.
The fingers of Riche's right hand.
They moved ever so slightly, as if clawing at the floor.
(*—He's alive.*)
Koko's breath stopped. She opened her tear-blurred eyes wide and stared at those fingertips. They moved again. Just barely, his fingers curled as if trying to grasp something.
Riche wasn't dead. He was still alive.
That fact alone planted a small pillar at the center of Koko's crumbling heart.
Keefree placed his hand on Koko's chin and turned her face toward him.
"Do not look away."
Gray eyes peered into Koko's from up close. Cold. Cold eyes that concealed a fever of madness. That proximity, her master's low body temperature, the resonance of mana through the engraving—all of it stimulated Koko's senses while simultaneously evoking intense revulsion.
But something was different from before.
For the first time, a powerful feeling of *I don't want to lose* was born within Koko.
(*I want to protect… This time, I will.*)
With tear-wet eyes, Koko looked back at Keefree. The tears glistening in her eyes were no longer born of despair alone.
Keefree's brow furrowed for just an instant. He had not yet noticed the small flame kindled deep within Koko's eyes.
That same late night.
Outside the atelier, in a narrow alley of the old town, Alisa Verna stood with her back pressed against the wall.
The cold night air bit into her skin. Her pale aqua twintails swayed slightly, though there was no wind.
Alisa placed a hand inside her clothes. Hidden there was a bundle of parchment she had slipped from a document shelf on the first floor of Keefree's atelier several days ago. Excerpts from Keefree's research notes. Something she had kept all this time, unable to discard or use.
(*It's my fault.*)
The words she'd spoken to Riche in the library—
*"Lately, senpai's been acting kind of strange, you know? Doesn't that atelier seem kind of scary?"*
She hadn't said that out of concern for Koko. She just hadn't liked how close Koko and Riche were getting, and she'd wanted to divert Riche's attention away from Koko. Her own jealousy had sent Riche to the atelier.
"Oh no… this is bad, what do I do…"
Alisa muttered under her breath, standing here for hours with a stomach-churning sense of dread.
Just then—
*Crunch.*
A dull impact echoed from the atelier's first floor.
Alisa's body jolted.
A moment later—Koko's scream leaked through the walls.
"Riche-san…!"
Alisa clamped both hands over her own mouth.
"What do I do… what should I…"
She gripped the parchment inside her clothes tightly. If she gave this to Koko, maybe something would change. But—if she handed it over, it would be exposed that she'd stolen the documents. She had no idea what they would think of her.
Alisa took one step forward, then stopped again.
Koko's screams were still continuing.
"I'm sorry… I'm sorry, senpai…"
Even if she apologized, it wouldn't reach her.
Standing frozen in the alley, Alisa bit her lip. Her bright silver heterochromatic eyes caught the streetlamp's light, glistening wet. She still couldn't find the courage. But—the hand gripping the parchment beneath her clothes refused to let go.
The night deepened.
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