Eunji felt herself starving but didn't want to succumb to her helplessness, the thought of her not fighting hard was eating her alive with the fact that she had always denied being pushed around especially with the arranged marriage that was proposed to her if it weren't for the headmaster who helped her out.
She always hated being in debt to people who had helped her a lot which is why the strawberry blonde had always trained diligently and pushed her limits despite the obvious exhaustion that Rinka would always catch on. The headmaster even tried to give her easy tasks yet the student-sorceress would always finish it too quickly before requesting for higher ranked missions.
Her only goal was to surpass her current strength in order to protect herself and those who she cares about. Eunji cares for her family the most, especially her little sister who is still innocent to the world to which she wanted to protect her from. If only Neon and Hari weren't in the academy to begin with, then maybe she wouldn't have to see her little sister having a tough time especially with Keitaro who keeps defending her away from the golden spoiled child.
She was glad that her strength was enough to subdue Haru but what she needed to accomplish was to have enough strength to push Neon away from her life and to those who she cares about. The green haired male had always harassed her, either from catcalling her or simply forcing himself on her which would've gone worse if it weren't for Eri, the headmaster or Jinwoo intervening with them.
However, with the recent events with Rei and Sylvie joining the academy is where she could feel her stress level increasing or decreasing depending on the things that were happening. There were times that she was glad that Rei humbled Haru then the fact that he also showed Keitaro not to hold back.
Although, there were times that she hated herself for not being there during the incident with them, especially with the deaths of Hinata Hayasaka, Erika Delilah and Haruki Nakamura. Then the fact that she almost failed to notice Rei's attempted suicide when her own best friend already took notice of it.
Eunji was disappointed at herself all because of focusing on her own growth as a sorceress to protect her own family and close friends when she couldn't even prevent a death or to look over her own juniors. She was proud to be seniors but recent events made her feel self conscious of her own worth.
Everything was the repeat of the same day of her trying to do better by guiding her juniors like Rei, Sylvie and Keitaro on how to be a better sorcerer or to be a respected individual then helping her little sister out for their own growth.
That is until she finally met him for the first time rather than the first encounter. The ancient being who humiliated her and had given her the trauma of his overwhelming strength during their first meeting. She expected to see something hideous after seeing his animal fox form that had exactly three to four tails, probably from the relics that she assumed had been absorbed into themselves.
After all, the relics that they always try to secure always belonged to the ancient being. The appearance she expected was to see it as a humanoid fox creature but the one she got was the total opposite.
A handsome male, body build like a god that made her smitten especially with the tattoo markings yet still restrained herself since this was the same person that harassed her and who continued to catcall her whenever she was near Rei where the Fallen would often manifest a mouth on Rei's cheeks or hand to either comment at her or make gestures of something only she would catch.
There are times that he would come to her personally in either the fox form or that form but it would always end up with him teasing her lightly rather than pushing it to which surprised her. Rare times would be where he would observe her and help her personally with her homework or give her tips for her training.
Eunji could bear his presence to the best she can since the latter was rather acting more calm and composed which surprised her but still had the tendencies to tease her to a degree between perverted or normal things regarding her profession and skill level.
Keith was somewhat the reason why she felt much better than before. After all, most of the males that she had interacted with like Jinwoo, Rei and Keitaro were the only ones who were respectful to her without looking at her like an object.
Despite how the ancient being would comment with her usual looks, he sometimes showers her with affection that would've melted her if it weren't for her stubbornness and logical thinking that the being in front of her is an ancient being that lived for almost a millennium.
She felt like being spoiled since he was treating her right for the first time from their interaction and in her life since most people were just eager to get in her pants but Keith was a gentleman. He might be an asshxle or a prick but the ancient being knew when to be serious, professional and well-mannered.
It was almost like an entirely different person to the first encounter with him. In addition, due to her hobbies of reading romance books aka smut. She seldom thinks of him in a certain way that makes her feel like a maiden rather than being a proud individual woman who had pride in herself.
The shame was pinned in her mind when she immediately thought of him being on top of her and doing things from the smuts that she has read for over the years. At first, it was weird since how on earth she could've thought of Keith doing that to her especially with their first encounter with him harassing her.
Then the fact that he was always catcalling her whenever it was possible within Rei's vicinity to which the black haired male would slap wherever Keith's mouth manifested on him. It was confusing to her before being able to find some great things about him.
Keith was somehow humble when needed to be when she had commented something about his strength to which he stated as 'Wisdom is not my gift. It's something that I worked hard for which is why I am the strongest in history. Never will I call myself as the strongest as people could surpass at any moment.'. That was something that she learned to keep since knowing how to be strong and how to show being strong was a different thing.
The day that the two had embraced each other during that one tension between them being at such a high level. She could never forget it with the way she touched him and the way he touched her.
The tall fox was gentle with her surprisingly but the only reason why she got those hickey and shaky legs from the aftermath was all because of her. Insisting him to let go and give it to her, unleash his inner beast and make her time worth. Well, it was certainly worth if she had lost count of the times they done it while also losing track of time.
The way he made her see stars or make her out of breath even if it hurt her. She never felt so submissive in her life and the fact that Keith exposed that part of her made her feel such a scandalous woman rather than a sorceress since a sorceress would never spread their legs like that for their own lover.
She could feel her mind losing it and craving for any warmth that would make her comfortable. Eunji Jeong was breaking and before it could even get worse, a familiar voice echoed in her head.
"Don't give up. I'll be here with you. Just wait for me."
It was Keith's voice as she immediately looked up and saw the gentle face of the ancient being instead of seeing the arrogant and cocky expression. Was she hallucinating? Maybe… maybe not if he was sitting next to her while glaring daggers at the behemoth who was shivering even further, squealing in total fear as the staffs outside her cell was still trying their best to get the behemoth to assault her.
Keith's presence was confusing to her but never paid attention to it as the only thing she focused was at his statement. Bringing hope in her heart as Eunji was desperately fighting her exhaustion to stay awake although the ancient being's existence was making her feel energetic rather than being drained as his presence made her crave for his warmth and protection.
Eunji couldn't believe herself but wanted to utter the words to him even if it was a hallucination or not. "You know. I think I'm liking you… Not from our sexual encounters… I rather enjoy your company especially when you're being humble and apologetic with that former teasing and catcalls then that first encounter of ours…" She uttered while smiling to herself before leaning her head on his shoulders, "Fxck it. Maybe I'll let you court me despite our odd situationship but I'll only tolerate you if you keep this behaviour up rather than the ones that I feel traumatised and disgusted…." Eunji added before focusing with her survival while Keith smirked at her.
"I know… That's why I'm doing the best for you. Sweetie." He responded before keeping her company.
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