For years, ever since their time in the academy, Castisius and (Y/n) were inseparable. In class, she would sleep on his lap, ignoring the lecture, and outside of class, he would rest his head on her shoulder. Always hand in hand, they walked around campus with undying affection for one another. They were the school's power couple. He was the top student, setting records for his magic prowess and she was the most accomplished alchemist student. Though she didn't particularly care about attending, only really there because Castisius was, outside of school, she created some of the most groundbreaking discoveries.

Even after they graduated, they remained together. Inseparable, they never had a single attachment to anyone else. There were no scandals about them cheating or lying. Everything they did seemed so unrealistic, but, still, people couldn't get enough of their relationship. It was rare for two accomplished people to be so loyal to the other. And when they began wearing promise and then engagement rings, it became even more fascinating.

And, yet, after the two had moved in together for the first time, the (h/c) haired girl felt her heart break. For some time, the male had been murmuring about his magic power not being enough. She, of course, denied it, telling him he was the most incredible magic user, likely in the entire world. Yet, somehow, it wasn't enough for him. She had been concerned, but, that night, even after they took such a big step in their relationship, snuggling into one another, he began mumbling about it again.

He became obsessed with finding a way to become more powerful, greedy for anything more than he had. Over the next few months, he wouldn't even sleep in the same bed as her anymore. Instead, he would stay up for nights at a time in his study, researching and studying, studying and researching. He never got any further in his investigations, prompting him to become ever more frantic about making his desires come to fruition. All the while, she tried to comfort him, asking him what she could do, but he only told her that she just had to kiss him. That way, he could recharge. A little bit of (Y/n) went a long way.

Still, at some point, she refused. He stared at her, baffled, asking her what she meant, but she only gave him an ultimatum. It was either her or the magic research. Of course, Castisius did everything he could to convince her to stay with him a little longer. He promised he was on the cusp of a revelation; he would be ushering in a newfound power no one had ever seen the likes of. All he asked for was two weeks. To convince her, they spend their first intimate night together, bathing in their love for one another. Afterwards, two weeks passed. It was two weeks where he hadn't even shown his face or slept, all to meet that deadline. But, in the end, nothing came of it.

Again, she offered the ultimatum, and again, he begged her to stay a little longer. He began promising that he wouldn't work so much on the research. Rather, he promised her dates and all of his nights, but she couldn't bear to see him tear himself up anymore. So she made him give her an answer. He hesitated, but not nearly long enough to come off regretful. In the end, he had chosen magic, so she had to chase him out. It broke her heart, but it had to be done to get him to see his senses. As he left, she placed a loving kiss on his lips, telling him she would be waiting when he decided to give up.

Four years had passed and no one had seen any sight of him. There was no news, no sightings, no nothing. So, with a heavy heart - one she shared with a very special gift he left behind - she had to go on with her life. She found someone else, a man that was ordinary but loyal. His name was Therit. If she asked, he would stay home the entire day with her. Though she didn't love him nearly as much as she loved Castisius, it was a stable love, so it was worth leaning on. Another year passed with Therit before the news finally spread all over the country.

The already scarce wizards everywhere had begun dying on a massive scale. They were first found shriveled up, horrified expressions plastered on their faces. At first, people thought it was a serial killer, and while the term applied, it was more of a purposeful genocide. It was too late when they figured out someone was stealing magic. Far too late, when a war was waged on the one person doing the bone-chilling act, they didn't stand a chance. Time and time again, they sent armies and wizards alike to fight, and time and time again, they dropped and only added to his strength.

A year was all it took for every single wizard to die. And so countries scrambled to appease the threat. They tried offering riches and titles just for him to offer his protection, terrified of his capabilities. But he would only let one country bribe him, of which he made a strange demand. Still, in the face of an unprecedented amount of mana and the only remaining wizard in the world, there was no denying him.

(Y/n) awoke in the middle of the night to hear her front door being pounded down. She snapped awake alongside Therit, both shivering as they looked out the window to see an entire squadron of imperial knights raiding them, fire and other weapons in hand. Quick to run out of the room, the woman moved to grab her son, coddling him tightly despite his screams of fear. She shushed him as best as she could, his crying becoming infectious to her. Eventually, her face was stained in her own tears, too, but that didn't stop the assault.

The knights quickly burst into her house, tons of shouting echoing around the walls and only becoming louder as they moved up the stairs. She could not escape. No matter what window she tried to escape from, there would be knights stationed at every possible escape. So she could only huddle tightly with her son and lover against a wall and wait for them to catch her. And when they arrived, standing in front of them, one of them held up a portrait of her, holding it close to her face. It must have solidified their goal.

Immediately, they grabbed Therit, forcing his head down as they barked orders aggressively, placing him in cuffs. Then it was her son. Without any regard for the terrified child, they ripped him away from her. He screamed, crying out for his mother and reaching for her safe arms, but they didn't care. She ran after him, begging them not to hurt him and to give him back, but they didn't care. The woman even dropped to her knees and apologized for whatever she had done, but they didn't care. They dragged each of them away, all separately, blindfolding and gagging each and every one of them without a single word as to what they wanted.

(Y/n) was forced into the castle, aggressively ushered into a room where she had her clothes forcibly removed. They pushed her into a bath and scrubbed her skin raw before tightening her into a dress. A strange atmosphere, everyone kept their eyes to the ground, shivering each time they came into contact with her. Then she was led on some kind of parade through the palace before her head was forced down and she entered the throne room. Terrified, she couldn't help but to cry, wondering about the safety of her child and her lover with an aching heart.

"Now that was quick."

"O-Of course! We wanted very much to meet your expectations!" A pause before a trembling voice escaped. "So, about the agreement...Can we count on your protection?"

"We'll see. I need to check if you've damaged my bribe."

The (h/c) haired woman didn't recognize his voice. He had matured, so she didn't even have the inkling of a hint that it could have been him. But, presumably with the gesture of whoever was speaking, the woman's hair was grabbed by a knight and she was forced to look up. As soon as she did so, a hand fell to the ground, and she felt the familiar trace of a particular someone's magic. Quickly, she turned to note the person on the throne. It was not the king.

The purple-haired male was sitting there, one leg crossed over the other while the king stood nervously beside him. Castisius gave a pure grin, as if he was asking if he did good getting rid of the hand that dared hurt her. The knight beside her began squirming around in pain, screaming until his voice got hoarse, at which point his head rolled on the ground next. As she swiftly glanced over to see it fall to the ground, a dull thud sounding, she saw his eyes still shaking. Dismembered or not, he still had full consciousness.

The knight opened his mouth to scream out his pain, but he had no lungs to deliver the air, so a grating sound came from his seeping neck. Then a gurgling sound was made as he began choking on his own blood, eyes rolling back and maw gaping. She stumbled to get away from the sight, knowing that it was done on purpose. Castisius had not just killed him. He made him experience his own chopped up body, dying in complete and utter horror.

"It's been so long, precious," the wizard beamed, resting his chin on the back of his hand with a playful grin, "If I didn't know any better, I would say you've completely forgotten about me. But we both know that can't be true. I'm your everything."

"Was. You made your choice."

The male gave a surprised expression, as if he hadn't expected her to be so infuriated with him. Contemplating that, he gave a sigh, uncrossing his legs and walking over to her. He mumbled that he had some catching up to do, telling the king to send him the rest of his demands within a week. The man agreed, promising to do whatever he wanted. Still, Castisius's eyes remained solely on the woman he dragged through the corridors.

"Get off! You sociopath!" she growled, trying to pry his fingers off of her wrist.

"What do I get in exchange?"

Though he was merely teasing her as they used to do, asking for a bribe in the form of a kiss, he was taken aback when she refused to play along. That only made him walk faster. He didn't understand. Sure, she had gotten herself what looked like a new lover, but he knew there was no way she could love anyone half as much as she loved him. Pausing as they arrived at a particular corridor, the male turned to her and gave a loving smirk. He finally removed his hand from her wrist, instead interlocking his fingers with hers and holding them up to give great satisfaction to himself. How he had missed that.

"I have questions," she hissed at him, trying to tug back her hand, resulting in him spinning her around and hugging her tightly from behind.

"As do I. Let's start with mine because if we don't, I'm very liable to kill a lot of unfortunate people."

Quickly released from the embrace, the woman narrowed her eyes. It was only when they neared a door did her eyes dilate in horror. She heard her son banging his fists against the wood and crying out for help. Protectively, she threw herself in front of the door, but she was too late. Castisius already opened the wooden barrier, a trembling boy staring up at him in terror before an ear-splitting shriek was heard. The purple-haired male glared at the thing for the noise, thinking very deeply about just killing him already. That was when the woman scooped him up in her arms, holding him protectively.

"He's yours, isn't he?" the male hummed, reaching out to touch right below the boy's eyes that so much resembled hers, "What's his name?"

"You don't need to know," the woman snapped, pulling her son away from the cambion's reach.

"That's a shame. Say, does he recognize his father? Look here, kid."

Another scream of terror came from the boy as Castisius held a disembodied head in front of him. It was still moving, eyes twitching and a low vibrating noise coming from his poorly chopped neck. No doubt the cut was made by a blunt object, having taking perhaps even more than ten tries to completely sever it. (Y/n) also couldn't help but scream at the sight of Therit's half-dead appearance, stumbling back and tightening her hold on her son. The boy began gripping at her, begging her to stop whatever monster was in front of them. She bit down on her lip in guilt.

"Put it away," she whimpered, humbly requesting the favor from him.

"I wouldn't have brought it out if you had just answered my question. Will you tell me now, precious?"

"If you put it away..."

"Anything you want."

The male hummed, a flash of light appearing before the head disappeared. He then moved to sit in front of the two, glancing from one to the other. The boy really did look so much like his mother. It was uncanny. That almost made him want to spare the thing. Almost. Curiously, he reached out to tuck a stray strand of hair behind the girl's ear. This time, she didn't struggle. He smiled.

"His name is Lycoph."

"And his father?"

"Isn't it obvious...?"

"It might be if he didn't share so much in common with you. The eyes, the cheeks, the hands - Oh, even his nose. How cute."

Silence.

"I could always just drain him of all his blood to see his parentage."

"Mommy," the boy sniffled, hugging the woman tightly, "I'll be good from now on. I'll eat all my veggies and do my chores and study lots, so please don't let the monster eat me!"

"Mm, better listen to him. I'll make sure he suffers as much as possible."

(Y/n) couldn't believe what Castisius had become. He had never been particularly sweet to anyone else, but he had never been fully evil. Rather, he reigned in his impulses, if only for her sake. That was when it hit her. For the past five years, he didn't have her. That was how he was able to do so many things - how he was able to kill so many like him, how he was able to terrify everything in sight, even how he was able to threaten something that he knew could be his own flesh and blood.

"Yours," she mumbled under her breath, shaking.

"What was that?"

"I said he's yours. He's your son."

Castisius had a very wide smile on his face. Of course, he knew. He was almost a hundred percent sure that Lycoph was his, if only because he had steadfast faith in the (h/c) haired girl's love for him. There was little doubt in his mind that he was the only one she would have laid with. And though he had no particular care about the existence of his child, he did see the use in having one.

"Great," he chuckled, snapping his fingers before the boy vanished into thin air.

"What did you do?! Give him back! Give him back, you monster!"

"I don't remember my nickname being 'monster'. Shall we try that again?"

"I won't do anything until you give my child back! Right now!"

"If you'd like, I can do just that. But I'll be returning him in the same state the bastard that took you was in. Will that work?"

(Y/n) glared at the male through teary eyes, balling her hands into fists until they drew blood. He was evil. Castisius couldn't have cared less about what happened to his own child - one he shared with her. He just wanted things to go his way. The same was true as he picked up the girls hands and unfurled them, kissing the blood away lovingly. Even when he stared up at her, an innocent twinkle in his eyes, his heart was anything but.

"Castis."

"Yes, precious?"

"Please give our child back."

"Why, of course. But before I do, why don't we lay down together and catch up? I want to hear all about you."

She could not refuse him. On the contrary, she had to follow his whims, laying on the bed begrudgingly next to him before he pulled her suddenly onto his chest. The male then pet her head with a hum, mumbling her name over and over again before he let her talk. Castisius then began trailing all over her body, pausing every once and a while to massage her with his thumb. He could not stop smiling.

"That sounds so difficult," he sighed, placing a kiss on her nose and chuckling when she wiped it off, "How could you have ever lived without me?"

"I managed."

"Try that again."

"...I missed you, Castis. I can't live without you."

"How romantic. The only thing that would make this better would be a hug. You wouldn't happen to want to give me one, would you?"

A sny grin was plastered on his face as the woman slowly moved to hold him. He sighed within her embrace, snuggling into her contentedly. There was only one thing better than recharging with her, and that was holding all the magic in the world and recharging with her. And now, he could do it whenever he wanted. They would make up for lost time and do all the things they planned to do, including their wedding. After all, when he had her child as a hostage, she was willing to do whatever he wanted, including falling in love with him all over again.

And she said he could only have her or magic. What a silly girl.