"Ah, there he is again with that Light Magic-user," Katarina observed from the third floor of Academy that late evening. The room she used to observed her fiance and that commoner is occupied by another person, calmly pouring tea into his cup. Two pots of different tea in front of him, blue passion and rare blend from East. He wondered how she can drink that blend. The taste of that blend is really.. bitter.
"Oh? Are you perhaps jealous of Miss Campbell?" Kai Geran, herbs and medicinal magic instructor, inquired while sipping some blue passion tea.
"Don't be ridiculous, Kai. Why I should be jealous because of that Light Magic user?"
"Right..you don't really care about what your fiance doing."
"I couldn't care less about some cheating bastard and stealing harlot. I don't really care even if they have sex in front of me." She moved away from the window and sat down in front of her instructor.
"My, my. If the Prince hears about this, he probably will get you executed. What happens if I tell him about all bad things you say about him?" He poured the blue passion tea one for him and the green tea, blend from East for her.
"And yet you never tell anyone." She calmly said, before she sipping her own cup of tea. "Because you love me." She continues.
"Because I love you. Heh, what a simple reason, yet complicated one." He stopped sipping his tea and leans onto his back.
"I love you too, just you know. Our feelings mutual." She gets up to search for something.
"Even though we should be normal teacher and student, yet we fall for each other. How you can even be so calm in kind of situation?" He asked his student/lover.
"I already accepted that I love you. So this isn't so hard for me. I don't fear the consequences." She said while walking back to the table with chessboard and chess pieces. "So, care for few games of chess?"
"You know, Jeord's favorite activity is playing chess." She moved her pawn.
"Really? I thought he liked to practice his swordplay or his magic." He countered with knight piece.
"No. He liked to play chess as his hobby, and sword and magic practice are more like...prince duty." her bishop moved.
"Ah, chess does require a sharp and fast mind to playing, otherwise you just make a fool of yourself if you doesn't have one of either." He moved his rook, make her in check.
"And one must be patient while playing, one rushed move and your chance of winning zero. The Royal and Nobles liked to play political and mind games too much for my tastes." She moved her own rook to counter his rook.
"Yeah, sometimes too many." He moved his other rook.
"If I were to ask you, what pieces of chess best represent you? Ah, checkmate by the way." She casually moved her queen pieces, making him lose the game.
"Ah, I lose again. Why suddenly ask me that?"
His hand moved to take the tea.
"Jeord view this world as a chessboard, and the people in it as pieces." She explained, grabbing her king pieces. "And he viewed himself as king."
"Oh...I may be the knight or rook, I guess." He answered her question. "What pieces represent you then?" He asked her back.
"There are two roles I can assume. One is the queen whose role is to support the king, as the king is one of the weakest pieces on board... And Jeord wants me as his queen for this reason. He viewed the queen as nothing more than a crowned pawn." She answered, this time grabbing the queen pieces and give them to him.
"And another one?"
"To make you understand my second role, you must answer this question first. In chess, everything has a role, yes? And every piece has its own rule and restrictions. But two things don't have to follow the rule and have restrictions. What are they?" She started her question to him.
"Let me think.." after a few of silence, he gave up. "I don't know the answer." He honestly doesn't know the answer to her question.
"It's the players. They can leave and end the game any time they choose to. They are the ones who move the pieces to their desired location or favorable position. They control even the king, the most important pieces. I'm one of the players." She answered her own question.
"Really?" He is skeptical.
"Jeord thinks he played me, but in actuality, I'm the one who's played him."
"If you are one of the players, who's the other one?"
"Maybe the world, God, maybe even Fate itself. Who knows? But there is one thing I know." She gets up from her seat, getting closer to him. She takes off her white gloves and undone her brooch, letting her hair fall. Her very sight makes his breath stop.
"And what is that?" He asked as she stood in front of him, who was still in his seat, waiting for her answer. She doesn't answer him yet, instead, she flopped down on his lap, her hands wrapped around his neck, her face directly in front of his face. So close, just the slightest push or gust of wind can send her kissable lip onto his own. She leaned forward, nearing his ear.
"I know that I want you... right here, right now." Her whisper sends shivers down his spine. His hands moved on their own, caressing her back. She arched her body at his touch.
"It seems like you understand." She said, panting softly. Her face formed a soft smile. One that rarely graces her face, one she only showed to him.
His face formed his own trademark, fox-like smile before he claimed her lush and pink lip with his own.