"William."
"Master."
Celine caressed the side of William's face. It had been four years, and the effect of the slave collar had finally lost its hold over the red-head boy.
"Do you hate me?" Celine asked. She stared at the handsome boy in front of her and waited for his answer.
"I would be lying if I said no, Master," William replied honestly. "Although I feel some resentment towards you, I will not forget that you treated me well over the past few years. I am very grateful to have become your disciple."
Celine smiled and patted the boy's head. "I will remove the collar now. You must be sick and tired of wearing it this entire time."
The beautiful elf was about to remove the collar from William's neck, when the boy held her hands and firmly shook his head.
"Leave it as it is, Master." William gave Celine a mischievous smile. "Didn't you tell me that this is your gift to me? Since it is a gift, you shouldn't take it back."
"Oh? You like being my slave that much?" Celine raised an eyebrow.
"It is the first gift I received from you, Master. Naturally, it is very precious to me," William answered.
"Hmp! You've become a sweet talker after growing up."
"Thank you for the praise. Please, praise me more, Master."
Celine flicked William's forehead, but it didn't have much force in it. The boy only smiled at his Master's attempt to act cute.
"Have you prepared everything for your journey?" Celine inquired. "The journey to the capital will take at least ten days from Lont. Make sure to pack extra food and water. Although you can hunt and find water along the way, it will be best to have food and water in stock in case of emergency."
"I already have, Master," William answered. "Aunt Helen gave me enough food and water to last me half a month."
"Good." Celine nodded her head. "The Royal Academy is a good place to learn. Just make sure to stay out of trouble, do you understand?"
"Don't worry, Master. Even if I don't go looking for trouble, trouble will definitely look for me."
"That is what I am afraid of."
Celine sighed helplessly. To be honest, she was very satisfied to have William as her disciple. Although he had lost his magic power, he never stopped doing his best to strengthen himself. Over the past few years, she made sure that he developed a very strong resistance against curses and poison to the best of her ability.
After all, Celine would become a big joke if her acquaintances were to find out that her disciple was easily affected by curses, which was the specialty of Dark Magicians.
"I hate goodbyes, so I won't follow you to the gate of Lont," Celine gave William a hug. "Come back after you've come of age. There is something that I need to teach you."
"Is it a new spell?" William asked in curiosity.
"Yes. A powerful spell that will allow you to surpass your limits," Celine replied with a smirk. "So, make sure to return after you feel that the Royal Academy can no longer teach you anything."
"For some reason, I'm looking forward to learning this spell that you are going to teach me, Master."
"Mmm. Look forward to it."
William waved goodbye to his Master as he mounted Ella's back. The enrollment for the Royal Academy would be starting soon. This was why he needed to go to the capital before the registration ended.
Celine and James both knew that they couldn't keep William in a small town like Lont forever. If they did, they would only hinder his growth and that was not a good thing. Although William was only fourteen-years-old, Celine and James both agreed that it was time for the boy to see the world.
Since that was the case, going to the Royal Academy of the Hellan Kingdom would be the best place to teach him another side of how the world worked outside the borders of Lont.
"Mistress, did you already know?" Oliver, the Parrot Monkey inquired.
"It's still too early to tell, Oliver," Celine replied as she watched her only disciple disappear in the distance. "Perhaps, when he returns in a few years, we will finally know the answer."
"... Understood, My Lady." Oliver nodded. He looked forward to the day when William returned to Lont. 'I hope that he is the one that is mentioned in the Prophecy.'
Oliver had watched William grow up and he could vouch for the boy's character. However, just like his Mistress, Celine, said, it was still too early to tell whether the red-headed boy was the one that would fulfill the Elven Prophecy.
----
Helen tidied William's clothes and wrapped a traveling cloak over his shoulders. When she thought that everything was in order, she gave William a kiss on the cheeks before taking a step back.
James, Mordred, and Anna said their goodbyes which almost made William tear up. Theo, and the rest of William's friends in Lont also gave him a hug and wished him a safe journey towards the capital.
Although Eve was only three years old, she was a very smart girl. She felt that her "Big Brother Will" was leaving her so she grabbed onto William's clothes and cried.
"Why is our little princess crying?" William asked as he carried the little girl in his arms.
"Wuwuwuwuwu, Will, Wuwuwuwuwu," Eve latched onto him like a leech as she covered William's traveling clothes with her tears and snot.
(A/N: Yes, Wuwuwuwu is the substitute word I used for Eve's crying.)
William kissed her cheeks as his hand softly rubbed the back of her head. If he still had his powers, he might have used a sleeping spell to put his cousin to sleep.
"Will. Wuwuwuwuwu. Leave?"
"Yes."
"Wuwuwuwuwu. Don't."
"Aunt Anna," William said with a pleading expression.
Anna stepped forward and coaxed Eve to let go of William. "Don't worry, your Big Brother will return soon. He's just going away for a while to study."
"Wuwuwuwuwu."
Eve grabbed hold of William's clothes, but Anna pried her fingers off him. The little girl bawled her eyes out as she tried to reach for her "Big Brother Will".
Seeing Eve's sad expression, William's heart ached so much that he decided to use one of his secret weapons in order to coax the crying girl.
William activated Lily's divinity and a lollipop appeared in his hand. He took the wrapper off the candy and presented it to Eve.
"Here you go. It's your favorite candy," William said like a kind uncle who liked to give candies to little children.
Eve's eyes locked onto the lollipop and reached for it. William handed it to her and her crying immediately stopped.
"Good girl," William patted her head. "When I come back, I'll bring you a lot of candies from the capital. Be a good girl until I return, okay?"
Eve reluctantly nodded her head as she started to lick the lollipop.
Lily's divinity was the ultimate weapon against little girls. No, it was an ultimate weapon for girls of all ages. As long as their height doesn't surpass 125 centimeters (4.11 feet) they would be unable to resist the lollipop's charms.
William mounted Ella's back and urged her to move forward. He was afraid that his tears would start to fall if he stayed any longer. Ella understood William's feelings so she started to run as fast as she could, leaving the town of Lont behind.
Only when they were a mile away from Lont did she stop. William turned his head to look back at the small town in the distance. It was the place where he grew up. A place filled with happiness, warmth, and love.
'I'm only a mile away and I'm already starting to feel homesick.' William sighed. He then hardened his heart and looked forward. "Mama, let's go. Let's march towards the capital of the Hellan Kingdom!"
"Meeeeeh!"
(A/N: Don't feed three-year-old children lollipops in real life. They might choke on it.)