Mage Manual

Freyja had started going on the offensive with Ash a long time ago, but her habit of confessing her love anytime, anywhere was obviously going to cause irreparable negative impact on the corporate-wage-slave environment. Normally in this situation, Ash would either sleep with her or fire her—anyway, you can’t let this kind of bad apple affect the production efficiency of surplus value. However, Ash chose a third path: setting three ground rules.

After work she could ask him out however she wanted, but during work hours she absolutely couldn’t cause trouble. Yet after work Ash never accepted Freyja’s invitations—either he stayed to work overtime or went home to spend a pleasant night gaming in front of his 98-inch TV.

Maybe he knew he was being a bit of a jerk, because later Ash loosened up and agreed with Freyja that she could hug him during work hours too—but only once a week. So for the past three years, every Monday as soon as Ash stepped into the company, he would be hugged by Freyja. Occasionally when Ash slacked off and didn’t want to come to work, Freyja would even call to drag him out of bed, otherwise she couldn’t complete her weekly Task.

The magical thing was, there actually wasn’t much gossip in the company. Freyja’s outstanding warmth, airheaded personality, and flawless looks made everyone happy to "raise this daughter in the cloud." People were more than pleased to see Freyja and Ash interact; it felt just like watching their daughter play house with a kindergarten kid.

Ash looked at her for a while, then leaned over to rub his cheek against hers, like two cats licking each other’s fur. "Freyja."

"Mm?"

"You’re so warm."

"Heehee." Freyja happily lifted her head, the tip of her nose twitching. "Ash, you feel kinda different today. Do you have something you want to tell me?"

"Yeah."

"Really?" Freyja’s eyes lit up, her expression instantly turning nervous. "I—I—wait, let me go touch up my makeup first—"

"Send me the research report before eleven." Ash flicked her forehead. "I need it in a hurry."

"Got it—" Freyja rubbed her forehead, looking totally displeased. "Are you free tonight?"

"No, I have to work overtime." Ash couldn’t help yawning. "Got a video conference with HQ..."

"I knew it." Freyja pulled out a gift. "This is chocolate I made myself!"

Ash took it and smiled. "Thanks, now I’ve got snacks for tonight’s overtime."

Freyja rose on tiptoe and kissed Ash on the cheek, straightened his collar, and said crisply, "Then I’ll go back to work!"

Watching her hop away, Ash still felt sleepy, but his mood had improved a lot. Even the Monday-morning work blues had been washed away. Humming a tune, he took the elevator up to the third floor.

*

Freyja walked into the break room and saw a black-haired girl brewing coffee. She immediately hugged her from behind and started sobbing. "Sif—Ash still hasn’t proposed to me—boo hoo hoo—"

"I told you long ago." Siflin’s face was completely calm. "He’s never going to put you on the list of potential wives. If he were willing, he would’ve already eaten you up sometime in the past three years."

"Then why did you remind me to give him chocolate today, Sif?"

"This is laying groundwork for the future." Siflin said, "Given Ash’s personality, before he gets married you basically have no hope. Deep down he’s the conservative, traditional type. Your personality doesn’t give him a sense of security. Unless something happens to test your relationship, he’ll never easily accept your feelings."

"But if he gets married I’ll have even less hope!"

"That’s the limitation of men like him. The reason he won’t accept you is that he takes feelings too seriously and worries he’ll waste your time..."

"I take feelings really seriously too!"

"Listen to me first. He takes feelings very seriously, but he’s never fallen in love before. Which means he has wildly unrealistic fantasies about married life. Only after he actually gets married will he realize how many headaches come with two people living together. Once the marriage filter shatters and you show up in front of him again, with your meticulous love for him, it’ll be like pulling him back to Heaven when he’s fallen into Hell. That’s when he’ll belong to you body and soul."

"So do you get it now?" Siflin concluded. "There’s no hope in being his first love. Becoming the third party is your only guaranteed-win strategy!"

"Okay!" Freyja listened, blood boiling, already fantasizing about Ash coming to her for comfort. She clenched her fists and said, "I will definitely become the third party who can destroy Ash’s marriage!"

*

Ash returned to his office and sat down. First he turned on his computer to check emails, then looked over his schedule for the day. His chair hadn’t even warmed up when someone knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Hanna came in holding two cups of coffee. Today she was wearing a black fitted long dress and a white scarf, with a little beret perched on her head—part romantic artsy girl, part nun-like ascetic. She walked around behind the desk and leaned against the edge. "Have a cup after pulling an all-nighter, unless you want to fall asleep here drooling and let the whole company know."

Ash took a sip, and the bitterness made his whole body jolt. He pulled a face. "At least add a little milk. I really can’t handle pure black."

"You can’t handle it, that’s why it wakes you up." Hanna stretched lazily and drawled, "If you want milk, squeeze it yourself."

As Hanna lifted her head and thrust out her chest, the ample curves tightly wrapped by the black long dress quivered even more, bringing to mind ripe peaches. Ash’s gaze was involuntarily drawn in. After sneaking a couple of glances, he felt it was rude, so he simply turned his head and openly enjoyed the view, taking small sips of coffee as he asked, "What did you need me for so early in the morning?"

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