The King And Queen「Tom Riddle」(slow updates) [UNDER EDITING]

Chapter 7 - Echos of Intent: A Dance in Shadows

𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐭𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠: 𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘦𝘹𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘴𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘰𝘭𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘷𝘪𝘰𝘭𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦, 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘪𝘱𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘱𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘺𝘯𝘢𝘮𝘪𝘤𝘴, 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯, 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘥𝘢𝘳𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮𝘦𝘴, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘤𝘵. 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥, 𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘰𝘱𝘪𝘤𝘴.

*𝐈'𝐦 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐈'𝐦 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐰𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐠𝐚𝐢𝐧. 𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐛𝐞 𝐚 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐬𝐤𝐢𝐩 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐀𝐝𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞'𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐚 𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐇𝐨𝐠𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐬 𝐥𝐞𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐛𝐞 𝐟𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐡𝐨𝐰 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐲𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐲 𝐚 𝐫𝐨𝐥𝐞. 𝐒𝐨 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐤 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐢𝐞𝐰𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤. 𝐖𝐡𝐞𝐧 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐝, 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝𝐧'𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞, 𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐠𝐮𝐲𝐬!*

***

Adeline, having made her deal with Gloria, walked out of the old witch's shop. As soon as she was out the door and out of Gloria's sight her posture changed. Her steps were heavy, her breath lightly labored. The power she had exerted to hold Gloria in place had drained her more than she had anticipated.

She stumbled into a nearby alleyway, leaning against a cold brick wall for support. Her chest heaved as she struggled to catch her breath. Weakness coursed through her veins, a stark reminder of her own limitations.

Adeline could bear her own weight to a certain extent, but she reluctantly admitted that Gloria, with centuries of experience over her, possessed greater power. This had taken a toll on Adeline, physically depleting most of her strength.

In the dimly lit alley, Adeline's mind churned with a blend of frustration and pride. She had achieved a significant milestone in mastering her magic, taking pride in her ability to hold her own against a witch as powerful as Gloria for an extended period.

Adeline couldn't stifle the laughter escaping her lips; she tilted her head back, and the sound echoed through the alley like a scene from a movie. It was hysterical.

Adeline had trouble keeping up her defense as long as she wanted. She didn't like that she got too confident, letting Gloria have a chance to hurt her. It took her a while to get into a good position and strike back. Nevertheless, Adeline remained unchanged about intensifying her training, to push her limits further.

Amidst all those emotions, Adeline couldn't help but feel a trace of curiosity on how Gloria made her feel like her head was going to explode as she didn't feel the slightest brush of magic on her occlumency shields. 𝘞𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵? 𝘏𝘰𝘸 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯? 𝘋𝘪𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘤𝘶𝘴, 𝘰𝘳 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘢 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘪𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘵, 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘢 𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘭𝘦𝘹? 𝘞𝘢𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘪𝘤? 𝘐𝘧 𝘴𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘺 𝘥𝘪𝘥𝘯'𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘪𝘵