as the day drew to a close, the tension between the first-years and upper-years had only escalated. but for apollo and his classmates, the festival had taken on a new meaning. they never anticipated that ruining the seniors would bring them so much joy; their expression every time their plan failed was so hilarious that other classes were able to capture it with their cameras.

    it wasn''t just about competing or winning; it was about proving their selves, supporting one another, and proving to the seniors that they messed with the wrong enemy.

    as apollo stood with his friends, watching the festival lights twinkle against the night sky, he felt a warmth that had nothing to do with the hot drink in his hands. for the first time in a long time, he truly enjoyed something aside from magic. he laughed so much during the day he almost cried; he couldn''t even remember when he last laughed like that. the tower mages were also jumping along them and he never anticipated they could play games like they did today. these two days, he was able to see new sides of everything that made him even more happy than before.

    "to think the academy had succeeded in this aspect," he said softly, now realizing the effects the academy aims to achieve through this festival.

    watching the light changes, apollo remembers a certain someone he barely saw today.

    "i wonder where mom is"

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    "your mom? i sense her on the other side of the event grounds," alicia answered apollo''s random question, apollo was then confused.

    "you marked her?"

    "well i know you will ask about her so i was keeping my senses sharp enough to sense her"

    her words made apollo laugh a bit, but soon went on and looked for her mother.

    "oh by the way apollo your mother is not alone"

    alicia reminded him, though he couldn''t understand what she meant.

    "with this crowd, no one is gonna be alone," he mutters; however, soon he realizes why as he makes his way through the bustling crowd. his eyes narrowed when he spotted two familiar figures near one of the performance stages. a girl with pure white hair and a young man standing beside her, eyes as gold as the sun his white hair similar to the sunset.

    eros and athena.

    his older siblings stood by the refreshments booth, deep in conversation with isabella, their mother.

    "right i am not the only child she has"

    among the moving crowd, apollo stood alone, looking at the seemingly perfect family, of which he is not included.

    the whiplash again, but even when the pain almost drives me insane, i never cream nor beg for him.

    "brother.....please...."

    or maybe sometimes i did.

    the chains kept ringing while the whip continued lashing at a little boy bound in a prison cell.

    i think it all started when i was around six; i would tremble under my brother''s gaze, though at times i would glare back at him. since no matter what i did, he would still beat me up, so what''s wrong with a little glare? even once i fought back, though, i was beaten worse than before. what can i do? there are three of them while i am only a tiny kid with nothing to defend myself.

    eros is a hard-working person i have admired in the past. that side of him, he had tried so hard to be a proper lionheart. despite his lack of innate talent for casting complete magic, to even inherit the staff, he''d poured hours into learning instant incantation and swordsmanship.

    that side of my brother drove me to work harder hoping it would be enough to earn the family''s approval. but no matter what i did, it was never enough for eros.

    ah... i think it was because i was working so hard that he ended up getting annoyed and started whipping me to vent his anger. i just did not understand what part of me is so hard to love. i even made a scroll just to show him that even without proper talent, i could do something, but his face at that time was neither looking at me with disdain nor disgust. instead, i think it was fear.

    after that scroll incident, he began to have a weird hobby of putting me in prison or even whipping me until i passed out.

    the whip lashed across my back, the pain searing and relentless but that is when i learned that some people would never learn to love or accept you.

    the continued assault made me try to escape that torment, so every time i felt, my brother''s presence or any of the servants, i would hide anywhere just so they wouldn''t be able to catch me. then, there was a time when i hid inside the manor''s massive library. it was there, nestled among towering shelves of dusty ancient books, that i found peace.

    one day, while cowering behind a stack of books, i heard footsteps. i would pray not to get caught. the sound of steps drew close at that time i was already expecting to see eros or one of the servants. instead, it was athena.

    that shocked me since she is often away staying inside a private school only for talented young witches like her.

    athena actually had mother''s hair silver hair, yet she had father''s eyes. as she moved gracefully through the aisles, her expression unreadable. she didn''t spare me a glance, her attention fixed on a book in her hands.

    for a moment, i felt invisible, as if i didn''t exist. i was thankful for that. even now, every time i remember it, i felt somewhat warm. as the days passed, that is when i realized something: as long as i stayed near athena, no one could hurt me.

    eros, for all his cruelty, would never dare cross athena. the servants, too, seemed to shrink in her presence. i don''t know. she looked nice to me at that time, but for some reason, everyone would dodge her like the plague. it still puzzles me even to this day.

    "she''s my shield," i had thought back then. "even if she doesn''t care about me, at least she doesn''t hurt me."

    but why, i wonder ...what happened and she did that to me.