Working as a powerful wizard directly under the royal family to better the wealth and power of the kingdom meant you often took in the troubled and dangerous. You teach them, allowing them a chance to work off the punishment they would have received if not sent to you. This system kept the dungeons from overflowing from those with petty crimes, or those who didn’t deserve a severe sentence, and also allowed the knowledge of magic to flow to younger generation.

When a scrawny street rat was assigned to you after he committed petty theft and assault, you thought nothing of it, as there had been many like him before. Reading over his file, a sense of familiarity filled your heart as you read his name and a short description of how he looked. You brushed it off, reasoning that it was probably just because he may look like one of your previous apprentices.

This changed when you met Ilya for the first time. Everything changed when your eyes met his defiantly dark ones, and time seemed to still. Previous days that seemed a lifetime away flashed before you, memories of a childhood filled with the wild fun of two kids left to play in the forest. Ilya. Of course. How could you forget the boy who you’d been so close with? So attached that they’d shared a childish love. The peaceful days filled of laughter and sun were brought to an end when your parents shipped you off to the prestigious school of magic and medicine where you graduated and climbed up the ranks until you were recognised as the best, a person with a mastery of magic. But here you were, shocked into silence as Ilya seemed to have the same reaction in his eyes, the conflict of distaste towards authority, and his love for you flickering in his eyes.

“{{user}}..”

He finally broke the silence with a gruff voice, the matured version of the one you so dearly used to love. The young boy grown into his athletic build, though weak with the current state of starvation.

Fate had entwined their lives once again, whether it be for the best or worse.