๐โน pairing: mage!geto x isekai'd!reader ๐โน
๐โน mdni fluff + silly misunderstandings. reader is a lovergirl. slight yandere suguru. ๐โน
All you really wanted was for him to like you back.
It was pathetic. A foolish girlโs dream wished upon a few too many falling stars.
Staring at the seams of the stained glass window overlooking the quaint village outside, sighing to yourself as you waited to be called into his office.
How many fates were worse than being condemned to a side character in your favorite romance novel? One where you would soon be forced to watch the second male lead you loved so much fall for the leading lady while you were stuck working all day and slumming it in the shitty dorms of the mageโs tower all night?
Even though you had access to magic now, you were barely an amateur, making low-level potions for them to sell to merchants rather than anything remotely cool or exciting.
โHeโs ready to see you now.โ
You didnโt have your story rehearsed.
How the hell were you supposed to explain why you had stolen a handful of restricted books from their archives to research opening a portal back to your real world?
You nervously nodded, brushing down your skirt as you followed his assistant back into his office, sneaking a peek up at the beautiful man behind the desk.
The most talented mage in the past fifty years. Dark hair spilling down his back, half of it tied up in a messy bun that still managed to look deliberate, thin glasses perched on the bridge of his beautiful nose. You didnโt think there was anything about him that wasnโt beautiful.
He came down to the level where you worked a few times a day, always offering warm smiles and murmuring things in that honeyed tone of his, checking in on how everything was going with the rest of the workers. Sometimes you thought he even looked at you, convinced you caught a glimpse of his gaze on your skin only for him to be focused on someone else every time you glanced back.
Sometimes he left treats for everyone. Ordered a round of drinks for the room when you were at the tavern next door.
But you never thought he really noticed you. Until now.
God, you were so going to be fired.
You knew he'd never like you. Not the way he would love her once the story you had the misfortune of getting sucked into started. So why the hell did you have to be punished for just trying to go home?
Even in a place like this where magic existed, you sincerely doubted he'd believe you if you confessed you belonged to another world where this was all just a book.
"Sneaking into the archives is a fireable offense," he spoke sternly, pulling off his glasses to look up at you with soft purple eyes. "Stealing tomes-"
"I'm sorry," you blurted out, your voice coming out all squeaky as you bowed your head with apology.
Maybe if you seemed remorseful enough-
"You weren't trying to sell them on the black market, were you?" He asked, his sharp tone nearly making you flinch as you starting wildly waving your hands in denial.
"No, of course not, I just-" You gasped, taken aback at his accusation just to clamp your lips shut before you could tell him the truth.
"I just wanted to study some of the spells in it," you muttered, an awkward half-truth.
"Like the love spells?" He asked, your face scrunching up in confusion as you scrambled for a new defense.
What use did he think you have for a love spell?
Your cheeks were heating up, embarrassment coursing through you as you considered the possibility your crush wasn't nearly as subtle as you previously believed.
"N-no," you mumbled, cringing at how unbelievable you sounded.
"You're a cute girl," he murmured, and you wanted to dissolve into a puddle on the spot, a little whimper threatening to leave your throat as he pushed back his chair and stood up. "Why do you need a spell to get someone to love you?"
"The date you took it out was the same day the prince came by to visit," he commented, as if he was making a connection your humiliated brain was struggling to comprehend. "Was it for him?"
Just when you thought it couldn't get worse, he was convinced that you were a loser so in love with a man out of your league that you were willing to cast a spell to capture his heart.
"Am I being fired?" You impulsively asked, itching to just go back to your room and collect the meager handful of belongings you had and leave before your pride could take another hit. You'd rather go be a waitress or find work somewhere else than live like this.
"I was thinking of a reassignment," he hummed, a hint of a sly smile curling up on his lips as you contemplated just quitting instead. It's not like he'd expend any energy searching for you if you ran away either.
"Reassignment?" You nervously echoed, fiddling with your fingers.
"I've been needing a new apprentice," he murmured, shrugging his shoulders as his robes fluttered around him. Dignified. A dangerous glint in his swirling stare as it seared straight through to your shaking soul. "I appreciate your, ah, unconventional thirst for knowledge."
"Really, I, uh, couldn't dream of accepting," you tried to insist, caught off guard again as he effortlessly disarmed all the excuses you'd been preparing. "I'm flattered, but I'm not nearly skilled enough-"
"His Highness comes to visit me regularly," he added, as if it sweetened his offer, and you wondered if he could feel the heat of your humiliation burning you up from across the room. "I can't allow you to test your spells on him, of course, but-"
"I wouldn't do that," you protested, nearly stomping your foot in frustration as your lips pushed out in a pout.
He paused, smiling nonchalantly as he pulled out a paper from the thick stack on his desk and dipped his quill in ink, holding both out for you.
"Uh-huh," he hummed. "Please sign here to confirm your new assignment. It comes with a higher pay and a better dorm."
"I would be working directly under you?" You asked, swallowing hard as you eyed the parchment.
"Learning from the very best," he confirmed, eyes crinkling softly as he tilted his head to the side.
Spending your shifts by his side instead of the back of the sidelines.
Even if he thought your heart was in someone else's hands.
Perhaps that was for the best.
You'd be forced to move on if you were faced with proof of his disinterest every single day.
"Okay," you anxiously accepted, nervously walking over to his desk, leaning over to take the quill from his hands and sign your name by the X. "If you're sure you want me."
Suguru ran his fingers over the dried ink of your name, still clinging to the faint traces of your perfume in the air, glancing up at the door you just walked out of as he sighed.
It wasn't his fault you had enraptured him from the first moment he picked up on the strange aura that surrounded you. Who could blame him for being addicted to your shy attention, the adorable affection you were too scared to show him? Shyly staring and sneaking around trying to look up love potions?
He liked your desperation.
How was it any different to devotion?
It was obvious on your face when he asked about the prince that you were trying to just cover up your crush for him.
Was he supposed to not find it cute?
He filed your contract away, an easy smirk curling up on his face as he got one last look at the fine print.
A little love spell of his own. Sealed by your own signature
One that would ensure your heart would stay his.
top div: @petalpxl botom div: @tsumiinum
