Lord of Charm

"hm, is it a container of sorts?"

"It is an enhanced bag. Lady Tara uses those as welcome gifts to the mages she recruits since they are very difficult to obtain for anyone who isn't at least a duke and they are very useful."

"What's special about it?"

"The space inside is dozens of times larger than it looks. This bag can contain at least 300 liters, and it is considered a low-quality magic bag. There's also a gravity spell inscribed on it making everything inside weigh only 10% of its real weight. Since only mages from empires can manufacture those, only dukes and royalty can put their hands on them in the kingdom."

"That's awesome! I didn't even know gravity magic existed!"

"In theory, you can use it if you have a high affinity with the four basic elements, darkness, and light. However, nobody qualifies. When manufacturing those items, a few different experts cast their spells together and slowly combine them into gravity magic."

Gale instantly felt excited; magic made of all elements combined sounded overpowered, and he seemed the perfect person to do it!

"I see, thank you for your explanation."

His words quickly made Sol happy she could be of help to him and flaunt her knowledge.

"Lord Gale, you can keep it since I already have one from Lady Tara."

"Thank you, I accept this gift. We are so close by now, don't use formalities when addressing me, Sol."

He smiled and used her name to create more intimacy between them, and it worked great. Honestly, nearly anything worked great when his charm was involved if the target could rationalize it, and the stronger Gale was compared to the target the more forceful the rationalization could be.

"Sol, do you think Lionel will recognize you if he sees you?"

"He will. I'm considered famous in the dukedom as a genius baron heiress. He had tried to recruit me but I wouldn't serve under a magician, so I refused."

"Hm, would you quit serving Tara to be by my side, Sol?"

"I would, nothing would make me happier than doing just that."

She answered in a heartbeat. She was sure her destiny was to be with this man, or else she would not know happiness in her life.

"Great, I wouldn't want to part with you so soon after we just met. There's no need to hide you from Leo, he doesn't know you were serving under Tara anyway. Even if he makes the connection, we can just say I convinced you to move to my side."

"Gale, I don't know what Lionel has said to you, but he isn't as innocent as you think he is. Don't you think it's weird he is traveling with no bodyguards?"

"It is now that you mention it. How come?"

"It's because his mage servants are all on a mission to kill his younger brother while the rest are collecting information on Tara and the youngest brother who contend for the title. You should be careful, too."

"I didn't know that, thank you for your warning."

Gale leaned closer to Sol and their noses brushed against each other and they were close enough to hear and feel each other's breaths.

"I'm really happy you are here with me. You are happy too, right?"

He decided to use his charm abilities repeatedly once every few hours to make sure Sol wouldn't think of unnecessary things like why she was flirting with her enemy.

"I am happy, I want to remain by your side forever."

"You can, you only need to be truthful with me and tell me if you are hiding anything. You said I need to be careful with Leo, but do I need to be careful with you?"

His lips were touching hers, teasing them with a light brush and departing away, leaving Her frustrated and hungry for more.

"I… I'm afraid you will hate me if I tell you."

She felt an irresistible urge to tell her about how she incited the wolves to attack him and how she wanted to kill him.

"I won't judge so I hope you can tell me, otherwise it will be more awkward when I find out without you."

She felt it was true, she couldn't hide it forever. She looked down shamefully and came clean.

"We planned to kill you after killing Lionel. I'm so sorry, I promise I don't want to kill you anymore!"

Gale nodded with satisfaction, since she told him about her plan to kill him, it meant she was completely under his charm. He only had to keep at it for while and check later whether she comes back to her senses and tried to rebel.

"It's all right, I forgive you. Thank you for telling me."

He took a step away from her and turned to leave. Their skins stopped touching each other, leaving Sol with an empty feeling. She took a step forward and grabbed his hand.

"Please don't be angry with me, I promise I will never try to harm you again and protect you with everything I got if you are ever in danger."

She felt a sense of pain in her chest as soon as he stepped back. Although he said he forgave her, she didn't believe he wasn't hurt by her actions after saying he trusted her completely. Gale's charm distorted her reality more and more the longer she was under its effect.

"It's ok, I'm really not angry anymore. Let's go outside and meet with the rest of the convoy, we made them wait for a long time."

Sol nodded with relief and they left the tent. They found the camp all packed up and ready to leave except for themselves. They sat down on a rock and were served a meal while other travelers quickly packed up Gale's tent for him.

"Isn't this Sol of the Jenner house? What are you doing here?"

"Oh, you know Gale's new girlfriend? Is she a noble too?"

Lionel's and Nina's voices were heard as they sat down by their sides and scanned Sol.

"I met her yesterday, she will be traveling with us to the capital. By the way, we won't face any further attacks on our trip."

pαпdα`noνɐ1`сoМ Gale didn't explain much with his words and didn't plan to, he had no idea how to tell his adventures from last night and chose to simply skip them. Nina and Lionel caught on quickly.

"Is she the instigator of the wolves' attack on us? Could it be she is on Tara's side?"

Lionel asked carefully. He was unsure of his current situation; if she was on Tara's side, did it mean that Gale fell for her beauty and changed sides? That would put him in imminent danger!

However, if it was the other way around, then he could take advantage of it and take down Tara, which was no less exhilarating than the first option.

"She is on my side now, she won't give us any troubles anymore."

Leo immediately drew a sharp breath in excitement.

"Then we can turn the tables on Tara with her help, that's amazing!"

However, Tara didn't do anything against Gale, and going against her was against his principles. He would help someone in danger in front of him, but he won't help him take revenge. It would be unfair to the other person if he just attacked them without hearing their side first, especially after he heard that Leo sent men to kill his own brother.

"No, there's no 'we'. I'm not taking any part in this contest. I will help you survive the trip to the capital, but we will part ways after that."

Gale drew his line; he won't kill for others, and he won't kill innocents without investigating, which he didn't plan to do.