The Dark Mage Chose Me

On enrollment day, my crystal orb didn't spark a single flame.

The failure of a distinguished mage family. The half-thing with no magic.

That's what everyone called me, and that day was no different.

"Null."

The professor's voice rang through the hall.

In an instant, laughter broke out.

I lowered my head.

My fingertips went cold.

The crystal orb that had brought nothing to life sat before me, clear and empty.

That night, I climbed up to the forbidden tower that no one ever went to.

I needed a place to cry.

Dark enough that no one would find me, a place where no one would laugh at me.

But from the highest room of the tower, a low voice came.

"So you've finally come."

I held my breath.

A man stood in the dark. The dark mage Kael.

Pale skin. Loose silver hair. Eyes red as blood.

A man dangerously beautiful.

The moment his cold fingertips touched me, a black flame rose up over my palm.

"You're not weak."

He laughed low.

"They just never recognized you."

He bent his head close, his lips almost brushing the back of my hand.

"I'll wake the disaster sleeping inside you."

And in that moment,

I took the hand of the forbidden dark mage.