The Warlock's Queen

Chapter 25: The First Contractor

Lelouch wakes up in his room and immediately notices the empty space beside him. He looks around hoping to see the green-haired witch but much to his surprise, C.C isn't there. He thought that the immortal witch must have gone wandering around the house again. After fixing himself, he takes his exit from his room and sees Sayoko cleaning the large windows.

"Have you seen C.C?" he asks.

"She left early in the morning," replies Sayoko. "She seems to be in a hurry and she seems uneasy."

"What do you mean?" asks Lelouch with a confuse look plastered on his face.

"She usually wears her stoic expression but when she left, her expressionless face looked shocked," the maid replies.

Further confusion stirred Lelouch's mind. He haven't seen the immortal witch flustered or scared before. She has been fighting against strong enemies and she had been kidnapped before but she still wears either her emotionless expression or her teasing attitude. What could have changed the witch's expression? That question keeps on echoing in Lelouch's mind. He didn't even noticed that Shirley is talking to him.

"Lulu!!!" the orange-haired girl calls out with a pout when she notices that her crush is spacing out. With her sudden outburst, Lelouch flinched and he came back to his senses.

He looks at Shirley's emerald eyes and asked, "What were you saying?"

"It's nothing," the girl replies as she stomps away.

"Good morning."

With the familiar voice, Lelouch looks behind him and sees the red-haired girl standing timidly.

"Why are you here?" he asks in a low tone of voice, "You should be resting."

"I am resting," replies Kallen as she passes by him, "You don't have to worry."

While walking in the hallways, Lelouch overhears the conversation of a group of boys.

"Have you seen that lady this morning?"

"You mean the green-haired chick?"

"Yes, you're right. She's stunningly beautiful, right?"

"Are you talking about the girl we bumped into when we were jogging early in the morning?"

"Yes, have you been listening before? Anyway, if I ever see her again, I'd get her number and name."

"I'd ask her out for a date."

"These guys are totally under that witch's spell," Lelouch thought. "But why is she in a hurry? It must be really urgent that she even went out of her way and woke up early."

After his morning class, Lelouch went on his way to the Tower of Babel where the Britannians with high ranks are gambling and spends time in. He heard that they're playing chess so he was interested to join in. On his way as he was passing by the bridge, he sees a familiar profile which made him stop on his way.

"Is that C.C?" he asked in his mind. After seeing her, he was assured that it is indeed C.C. She is standing at the edge of the bridge and is staring at the opposite side. Lelouch looks at the direction C.C is looking at and he sees a white-haired guy who seems to be staring back at the immortal witch.

The white-haired guy walks towards C.C and he suddenly grabs her hand and hugs her. Lelouch is surprised, a lot, since C.C didn't push the guy away. What even made him more shocked is that C.C, slowly, lifts her arms and hugs him back. He didn't move an inch upon seeing how the immortal witch is acting strangely.

"I finally found you," says Mao as he tightens his hug on her.

"It seems you're doing fine, Mao," the immortal witch replies. Mao lets go of her and looks at her golden eyes.