Chapter 39: Chapter 39

Tyrelle accompanies me the next day for my second day of training with the witches. He’s already aware of the circumstances regarding Aelfric, so he wants to come and see him for himself. Aside from accompanying me to the location, he’s also here to ask him a few questions.

“According to Doctor Kusher, he’s already been transferred to another room.” Tyrelle and I walk side by side as we are being escorted by the other witches inside of their home. Tyrelle seems to have two types of images among the female witches. One is of adoration, while the other is of fear.

I recall Julie telling me about the witches and wolves’ relationship before, so I suppose that explains the mixed reactions we're getting.

“Are you and Al going to fight again?” I sneak a glance at him to see what his reaction is going to be.

“I simply want to ask him some questions regarding the attack in the hospital.” He gives me a side glance when we finally pause in front of a door. He knocks on it before adding, “You know as much as I do that he’s the only one who knows what really happened during the attack. You also want to know about that, right?”

Even though I hate to admit it, Tyrelle’s right. The incident involves my parents, so I want to know about it as much as possible.

Doctor Kusher answers the door and gets out of the room. “Lord Tyrelle, do you mind if we can talk for a moment?”

Tyrelle turns to me with a small encouraging smile. “It’s alright. You can head inside first. I’ll just have a small talk with doctor Kusher.” He encourages me.

“I’ll see you inside then. Don’t take too long.” I swear, trying to act like a couple is beginning to become a chore, especially when the people around us think that we’re in a soap opera or something.

“Alright. Take care. If he tries to do something, just yell or stab him with something sharp.” I turned to see if his expression was joking or not, but it seemed like he was pretty serious about it.

“I-I’ll keep that in mind.” I gulp before entering the door.

Upon entering, the first thing that I hear is Aelfric yelling and complaining. Judging by his ruffled hair, I can see that he has just woken up and is in a very bad mood. The two witches that seem like they’re trying to check his temperature are already at the edge of the room.

I close the door behind me and give a sour look at Aelfric. “What are you doing scaring the people who are helping you? Are you an ingrate or something?” I place my hands on my hips and glower at him.

When he heard my voice, he turned to me with a brightened face, despite having a frown earlier. “Gabbie poo! My darling, I miss you!”

Shivers crawl up my spine at the pet name. I even feel my eyebrow twitching a little. “What’s with you right now? Why are you yelling?” I decided to revert the subject back to his mood because I don’t want to deal with his simping.

Al’s expression turns sour the moment I ask about it. He raises a hand and points at a sunflower on a flower vase at his bedside table. It was the same one that I picked up from the gardens yesterday. “These witches are teasing me. Look at how they placed that thing there. It’s hideous!”

“I picked that flower.” I deadpanned at his insults.

“Hideously neglected! What a shame.” His mood goes a 180 degrees when he learns that the flower was originally mine. He grabs it from the vase like a fragile child. “It’s so pitiful that they even think of putting it in a cheap vase. Shame on you, witches!” He glares at the two witches that were already cowering on a corner. “My girlfriend brought me this. How dare you treat it this way?!”

At this point, I don’t even know what to say. I’m simply tired of dealing with his abnormality. Maybe I should just grab the vase and hit him on the head to make him fall asleep?

“A minute ago you were saying ninative things about it.” I try to be calm as I say this to him.

“Was that me? Are you sure that you didn’t hear it from someone else?”

“No. You’re the only guy in this room, Al.” Having a conversation with Al is draining my energy a lot that I feel like I might leave the room myself if Tyrelle hadn’t entered right at that moment.

When Tyrelle sees that Al is awake, his gaze automatically turns to a frown. “I see you’re doing well.”

Instead of giving a snarky remark like he used to, Al shows Tyrelle the sunflower in his hands. “Hey, mutt. Look what I got. I bet you don’t have one, don’t you? Are you jealous?”

Tyrell’s frown never disappears. He crosses his arms and gives Al a look. “Why would I be jealous to an ugly looking-”

“Gabriella picked this.”

“-face that holds a very pretty flower? You do not know how priceless and valuable that sunflower is. In fact, I don’t think that you should even be holding that.” Tyrelle tries to grab the flower from him, but Al moves it away.

At this point, I just have no words to say. Tyrelle is just playing right into the hands of Al. “Tyrelle,” I sigh. “Don’t you have some important matters that you want to discuss with Al?”

The two paused what they were doing. Tyrelle is now on the bed with Al while reaching for the flower. Al has a hand on Tyrelle’s face while trying to move the flower away from me. Al raises a brow. “Discuss what with me?” He wonders.

Tyrelle finally separates himself from Al and composes himself. Then, he turns to the two witches that are still in the room with us. “Please leave and ask Doctor Kusher to guard the door and don’t let anyone eavesdrop.”

The two witch girls nod their heads before heading out the door. I see Tyrelle listening carefully to the receding footsteps outside before turning to face Al. “I’m here to ask you about the attack in the hospital. I want to know everything that happened.”

Al’s easy going demeanor suddenly turns serious. “There’s nothing more for me to say. Didn’t you and your family already figure out that I attacked it?” Al grins, but his smile holds a lot of malice in them unlike the usual arrogance it holds when he’s being serious. I turn to Tyrellle to tell him about it, but from the look on his face, I guess that he has seen through his lies as well.

“I would have assumed that as well if Gabriella’s parents did not testify. From what I heard from them, you saved their lives.” Tyrelle presses on, and I see Al’s brow deepening before lowering his gaze. “My question is, if you didn’t attack them, then who?”

Al snorts. He finally raises his head and looks at Tyrelle dead in the eyes. “Are you hearing yourself right now? I wonder what your father will think if he hears that you have a different opinion regarding the hybrid. Looking at your face right now tells me that your father doesn’t even know that you are keeping in contact with me, are you?” Al chuckles, which angers Tyrelle. “I’ll bet he’ll be disappointed. The future leader of the pack is defending the enemy.”

If I did not step in at the right time and press my hand on Tyrelle’s chest, he would have lunged for Al - and this time, I don’t think that he is aiming to grab for the sunflower.

Al laughs. “There. That’s more like you.”

I glare at Al. “Al, why won’t you just answer the question?”

Al’s attention transfers to me. “Gabbie poo, I think that you might have forgotten my advice about magic, right?” He sighs disappointedly. “I still have a strong opinion against you practicing magic, but what kind of man will I be for you if I stop you from doing what you want?” Al yawns and gets up from his bed. He comes closer to me and smiles affectionately. “The only thing for me to do right now is to support you in your choices.”

Al tries to touch my face, but Tyrelle swats his hand away before he can even touch me. “Hands off.” The warning growl in Tyrelle’s growl is enough for Al to get out a growl of his own.

“I swear, if you didn’t have your uses for Gabriella right now, I might just rip out your throat. But alas, I can’t be with her 24/7 because I have other duties to attend to.”

“Who is it?” Tyrelle tries to ask him again. “Who was behind the attack at the hospital?”

“I’ll tell you if Gabriella promises to stop practicing magic.” Al smirks.

“That’s not fair.” It’s my turn to say something. “Earlier, you said-”

“I said I am not going to force you to stop.” Al cuts me off. “I am simply making you decide.”

I turn to Tyrelle. In return, Tyrelle gives me a smile before facing Al. “She doesn’t have to stop. Gabriella will continue to practice her magic.” Tyrelle must have seen my troubled expression because he made the decision for me. And while I am relieved that he made the decision for me, Al doesn’t seem too happy about it.

“Now you’re deciding for her. How cute. Have it your way.” Al moves past us and heads for the door.

“Hey, where do you think you’re going!?” Tyrelle calls for him. “We’re not done talking.”

Al pauses just before opening the door. He turns to Tyrelle with a dominating gaze. “Yes, we are. We’re done here. You already made the decision. Thanks for the hospitality, but I can’t stay here for long. If you want to make yourself useful, you better stay with Gabriella until I return.” He pauses for a bit to fix his expression when he turns to me. His face becomes bright especially when he raises the sunflower that he is still carrying. “Thank you for your gift of love, Gabbie poo. Don’t worry too much. I love you, my little cupcake~!” He says.

Before the clinginess of the nickname fully sank into my system, Al left the room, leaving Tyrelle and I with more questions in our heads.

Why does Al not want me to do magic? What was the true perpetrator of the hospital attack? When I consider everything we learned today, I can only conclude that my magic is attracting danger to this town.