The family I grew up in

Chapter 7

Noelle had gotten better, Asta noticed. Just as she had asked him, he showed how to treat other people. That it wasn't right to look down on them just because they had a different status, or less powerful magic.

That was another thing though. She couldn't control her magic. No matter how hard she tried and trained, her spells would never hit her target.

When Asta discovered that, Noelle was more than just a bit embarrassed. A royal that was unable to control her magic was something that was frowned upon. But Asta and the others assured her that they didn't really care. And they would try to help her gain control over her magic.

The ash blond teen noticed how overwhelmed the other was after that confession. To him it seemed like she hadn't been treated well herself. Like she had been in the position of the bad girl her whole life.

If that was true, he had yet to find out.

But he guessed that this was another reason why she had been treating people badly. To hide her own shame that she felt because of her magic. It was a way for her to conceal it, to hide her true feelings. If he had to guess, he would think that she admired other people for her magic just like himself.

And the fact that, as his mother used to tell him: 'the way people act towards each other depends on how they were raised'.

And this was how she was raised. Believing that royalty was better than commoners. Preposterous, he had thought. He could worry about those things later.

Now though, now Asta had other things on his mind. It was his first mission. Finally!

It was simple enough. Go into a new discovered dungeon, find the treasure room, and get out. With all the stuff in there of course. How people knew that there even were interesting and important things hidden inside, was beyond his understanding.

Luck and Noelle went with him. He was excited, really. He was also a bit surprised when they met three other members of the golden dawn. A girl with vermillion colored hair, ironically called Mimosa Vermillion. Who he also learned was Noelle's cousin. And some guy with glasses that he didn't bother to remember the name of. The teen just decided to call him 'four eyes'.

but every thought he had had flew out of his brain when he saw that boy again. Yes, that boy. The pretty one from the entrance exam. His face was blank and betrayed no emotion.

But in those honey eyes he saw something else. Something that made him shiver. Asta didn't know what it was or what it meant, but he was determined to find out.

Asta knew that he himself was an open book most of the time, but the other was not. He locked his emotions away, hiding them from everyone.

He desperately wanted to find out what the other was hiding. What he was really feeling. And when they decided to split up in groups, he took his chance and dragged the pretty boy with him, who didn't seem to resist at all. And if he was, Asta didn't notice it due to his inhuman strength.

But as soon as he was alone with him, everything Asta wanted to say got stuck in his throat. He just couldn't get a word out. Why though? He wasn't the shy kind of person, always spoke his mind. So why couldn't he bring himself to talk at all?

Was it the aura around the other? The Ki was strong, and he couldn't quite describe it. It was nice, but a bit weird. Like honey. Sweet but with a strong and slightly stinging taste.

Asta felt himself blush a bit at the thought. An interesting comparison. How did he even get such a thought?

"Why did you drag me with you" the voice brought him back to reality.