Loathed Treasure

Chapter 17: Deceived

*TIME SKIP* - The Next Day - ~ Athanasia POV ~

"Miss, your father is going out again. Would you like to see him off?" Lily asked me from the other side of the door.

"He's going to come back anyway. Tell him that I'll be waiting for him at home" I said as I prepare to meet the magician named Lucas.

"Oh! Ok..." Lily leaves me alone in my room. I go into the mirror and check on my face again.

Oh dear, I aged again.... I no longer look like a teenager but as an adult instead. I need to get rid of this cursed mana quickly!

"Athy..." Mother appears in front of me with a pale face. She was stunned by my adult look. "What happened?" She gasped in shock.

"Mother..." Crap! I need to make up an excuse! "T-This is nothing! I was just practicing my magic!" I smiled innocently. "This spell will make me appear older but inside I'm still the same age!" I lied to reassure her that I'm fine when really I'm not.

She sighs in relief and looks at me sadly. "Ok if you say so, my daughter. But why haven't you been talking to your father? The fight was a long time ago..."

I turned around and put my head down. "Well he's still probably mad at me. He didn't even talk to me when he was aware I went outside the mansion without his permission"

"This is childish though. He does care about you but he doesn't know how to handle this situation as a parent. You are his only child" Mother said. "You'll have to make up eventually"

"... I'll do it tonight then. I'll talk to him for you" I said to satisfy her.

"This isn't for me! This is for both of you guys!" She exclaims. "But please, do it and I'll also talk to your father"

"Ok, I'm going outside to play with Raven," I said. "Thank you and bye"

"Ok... Bye Athanasia and don't worry too much about it too" She vanishes in the mirror.

*TIME SKIP* - Hours Later -

"Sigh. Raven you really don't need to come" I wander around the field outside the wizard tower with a blank mind. Then something caught my attention and I stared at it.

'Master, what's wrong??' Raven bounces around and stands next to me. 'Is there a threat??' He bares his fangs and growls at nothing.

"No... It's" I walked over to the thing and picked it up. "It's the flower crown that I made yesterday... while you were fighting him" I move the crown around and inspect it closely while holding it up in the air. It's still intact even after I dropped it?

'Master! I sense him!' Raven lifts his nose and sniffs his presence.

"Oh shoot. I forgot we're supposed to meet by the river" I facepalm. "I'm too lazy to walk there but I also gotta save my mana for the transfer" I cried to myself.

'Master, I can carry you there!' Raven wags his tail at me. I rejected his offer but he insisted and I thought about it. My laziness overpowers independence and so I took off his collar. He grows in size and becomes as big as a lion.

I get on top of him and position myself so that I won't fall off while riding him. I held onto his fur tight and put on my hoodie, just in case I needed to go back by foot because I couldn't bring my ring or bracelet. It might get destroyed in the process.

'Ok! Hold on tight!' Raven hops up into the air which caught me by surprise and was unnecessary. Then he dashes into the forest so fast that the wind causes me to have pink eyes, forcing me to keep my head down for the rest of the ride. When he began to slow down, I lifted my head up to see a familiar figure standing by the river, waiting for someone.