色戒无删除版

Ezio easily integrated to his new life inside the bake shop and every now and then, he would still visit the fruit stand. Many people had expressed their condolences at his uncle\'s passing even though they were not sure of he had passed. Ezio would only tell them it was a long time sickness that he had feeling.

The fruit stand owner smiled at him, "Perfect timing, I have a batch of freshly picked pears and dragon fruits, would you like to buy some?"

Ezio\'s eyes sparkled at the plump fruits but after a while, the sparkle faded. "I\'ll take one kilo each."

"Alright," the vendor weighed the fruits then handed it to Ezio. " By the way, where are you staying now?" There was a hint of concern on his voice while asking this.

"Oh, I\'m staying at the bake shop just around the corner. My uncle knew the owner so it just happened," Ezio smoothly answered. No one needed to know that it was only because the master was interested him that he was able to stay there.

He could not help but feel depressed at the thought. The master has never failed to make him feel flustered and awkward with all the staring and grinning being sent his way. He was like an interesting animal and if the master could, he felt that he would have dissected him already.

The owner of the fruit stand was relieved after hearing that Ezio has someone to take care of him. "That\'s good then. I\'ve met the owner of that shop a few times whenever I go and buy some cookies for my kids. He\'s a bit weird but I think that he is a good guy."

Ezio awkwardly laughed because the truth was, he himself doesn\'t know if the man was really good. The way he killed that monster was beyond anything he had experienced, especially at how coldly he looked at that time. He was not even sure if he was hallucinating, but he thought he saw something dark embracing the man that night.

He shivered at the thought and chose to chase it away from his mind. He bid the owner goodbye then he returned to the bakeshop only to frown again. That mage was there again.

"May I ask, why are you always coming here? Aren\'t you supposed to return to that Magic Tower?" Ezio wasn\'t able to control himself and ask.

The man has been coming non-stop and would even ask him if he was okay. It was already five days from the incident but he was persistent.

"I\'m just here to make sure that everything is fine," he simply answered without reacting much to the teen\'s irritation.

"He must have had some enlightenment during that fight and decided to look after you," Cygnus hollered from the back, where he was baking. "Or he must have been feeling guilty." He whispered as he suddenly appeared beside Astrophos with a wide grin on his face before disappearing again.

Astrophos raised his hands in the air before bringing them down on the table. He gazed at his scar-ridden hands for a moment before he was able to look at Ezio again.

"The Magic Tower has never been good, it has its dark side and I never got to know that not until I joined them. Like everyone else, I dreamt of becoming a mage and saving people. That dream came true and here I am now but along that I\'ve seen things," he paused for a moment to see if Ezio was still listening to him before he continued, "it was not all roses."

The teen was silent. He did not know why Astrophos was talking about this thing to him but he was still compelled to listen.

"Your uncle was a righteous man. He would save anyone no matter what the circumstances were and this did not please some people. He would always get on an argument against the other mages because of this and then it happened. I am not clear of what really happened but he suddenly left without a word. I looked up to him. He was a precious mentor and taught me many things so, when I finally saw him, I was actually relieved that he was fine. Then, I saw you and how he protected you form us. I could see how he valued you so." Astrophos stopped and Ezio could pretty much understand what happened next.

"Thank you for the concern but I\'m not really fond of mages any longer. And what you just said, that might be the reason why my uncle would frown at me whenever I talk about them." Ezio left but Astrophos actually felt at ease after telling him all of that.

"He is a naive child and still carries some kindness of sorts," Cygnus once again appeared in front of Astrophos, "but what do you think would break him?"

The last statement lit the anger inside Astrophos but he calmed his heart. "You won\'t be able to break him."

It was firm and full of resolve. Cygnus could see from his eyes that he fully believed that Ezio would remain kind for the rest of his life.

"You know I used to believed that phrase too but it was never true. Humans will always face a situation that would break them, not only break them but also destroy their very being." Cygnus was only casually saying those words but the darkness in his eyes says otherwise.

Astrophos stood up, as he cannot handle how uncomfortable the atmosphere had turned. "No matter what, I still believe in Ezio." He left after saying those words.

Cygnus sat on the chair without moving so the butler decided to approach him. "Is there something wrong master?"

He leaned on the chair with a blank expression on his face, "I was just reminded of some unsavory memories."

"Do you want to eat something sweet then?" The butler readily offered. Whenever his master was in a bad mood, sweet food would ay least lighten his mood.

"Hmmm, I want that chocolate cake I baked a while ago and give me some hot chocolate too." He stretched his hand then waved the butler away.

While waiting for his sweet escape, a wide grin broke out from face followed by a booming laugh. Ezio and the butler walked out from the kitchen and saw tat Cygnus was laughing like crazy. He was eve pounding the table so hard.

"Master, what\'s the matter?" Ezio asked because this was the first time that he was seeing this man acting crazier than usual.

"They\'re coming."