The Baroness Misbehaves
Chapter 232: First Attempt To Awakening

Chapter 232: First Attempt To Awakening

Madeline and Cassian returned to the house after speaking with Osvaldo and Napoleon. The first place Madeline went to was the secret passage she had discovered in the library, and she placed a burning lamp on the ground, brightening the secret room and revealing all the symbols that had been neatly carved onto the wall.

She could feel an air of magic run through her veins whenever she stepped in here. It sparked her energy and made her feel determined to learn it. If her Mother can do it, then she sees no reason why she can’t learn the barrier spell herself.

With her arms crossed, she walked around the circled room, studying each hand pattern on the wall that Napoleon had told her about. There were a lot of things that she never knew her Mother was capable of doing, for example, carving such detailed magical patterns on a wall, and since the steps were quite vivid, it didn’t look difficult to learn.

Her mind crossed to the familiar face of Jeremy who stood outside the palatial building. It could be possible that it wasn’t Jeremy, but someone impersonating him. As far as she knows, Jeremy never possessed those red eyes, and the thought of it never failed to make her shudder.

"What are you doing Maddie?!" She scolded herself, giving her body a mental shake to snap out of her negative thoughts. "You can do this, you have nothing to be afraid of. A lot of lives depend on you, Cas’s freedom depends on you, and I’m sure both my Mother’s blessings are with me."

She took a deep breath after using the words from her mouth to motivate herself. Taking a step back and feeling her courage build gradually, Madeline tried to picture the same hand pattern on the wall.

She sat on the ground with both of her legs crossed, but she made sure to cover her legs properly with the hem of her gown keeping her modesty intact. After getting comfortable in that position, Madeline closed her eyes briefly to connect with the power that was deep within her reach.

She remembered Osvaldo and Napoleon’s words, the spell they had told her to memorize before taking the patterns on the wall into practice.

As she quietly chanted the spell, a certain lad showed up in the secret passageway, watching her. He had searched the whole house for the young woman before deciding to come here, but he was met with the sight of his lovely wife, practicing her powers using meditation.

Unknown to Madeline, the young lad had made his way in front of her, and he quietly took his seat on the ground, facing her. With his back leaning against the wall, he watched her try to concentrate with all of her might, which looked funny and adorable as she squinted her eyes tight, until she let out a displeasurable hiss.

"Why can’t I-- ahh!! What are you--??" Madeline’s eyes snapped open, nearly jumping out of her own skin when she noticed a pair of Amber-brown eyes watching her, and her heart that already got stuck to her throat slowly returned to its position after seeing it was Cassian.

She released a breath of relief before looking at Cassian with a ’are you trying to kill me?’ kind of gaze.

"At this rate, you’ll give me a heart-attack." She added, but Cassian shook his head lightly before tilting it to the side, his gaze still fixed on her.

"Don’t you think you’re trying a little bit too hard?" He asked, feeling concerned for the only lady he cared about, but Madeline sighed before lowering her downcast gaze .

"I’m doing my best here."

"Maddie, you’re meant to summon your powers, not conjure a spirit." He teased, but when he noticed his jokes to make her feel better weren’t getting through, he moved closer to the woman who finally raised her head back up to look at him.

"Why did you come here?" He asked, leaving Madeline staring blankly as to what he meant.

"Isn’t it obvious?"

"You tell me."

"I came here to practice."

"Exactly." He held her hand in his, "you wouldn’t come here if you didn’t believe you weren’t capable of doing it. You’re competent, smart, intelligent, and just like every other situation we’ve found ourselves in, I know you’re more than capable of getting through this, and of course, I’m right here to hold you even if you stagger back."

"I don’t stagger that much." She defended, smiling once again as she made an attempt to hit him with her raised fist, which he avoided.

Hearing him speak, Madeline couldn’t hold back the fluttering feeling in her heart. Aside from her late parents, no one else has told her she was a smart woman, and it felt good to just hear someone remind her of these words again.

"You remind me more of my Father." She said, making Cassian blink in bafflement, but she continued. "He always calls me the sweetest name, and tells me how great I’ll be when I eventually grow up. He treated me more like a viking princess"

Madeline chuckled lightly at the remembrance of how her Father always told her she was no ordinary beauty princess. He always made her follow him to the woods, made her carry as many woods as she could, took her fishing and made her do all the hardworking stuff even at her Mother’s refusal.

Those happy times still felt like yesterday, and at least she could still dream of those days rather than the horrible accident.

"Well I’m not your Father," Cassian placed a kiss on both her palm. "I’m your husband, the only man who successfully stole your heart for himself, and is selfish in sharing it with anyone else."

Madeline tried not to blush too hard, and he released her hand. "What do you say? Want to give it another try?" He raised a brow at her, wanting her to accept the challenge, and Madeline nodded her head with her lips pressed into a thin line.

"Great." He smiled at her unyielding determination.

Regaining her posture, Madeline proceeded to close her eyes again and see if she could summon her powers. She felt genuinely positive this time around, and she wouldn’t have done it without Cas’s presence in her life.

Staying focused, she silently chanted the spell Osvaldo had taught her. Cassian’s gaze remained fixed on her as he stayed with her, giving her the encouragement she needed, and although it took a bit of time, Cassian noticed a progress.

The tiny scar on her chest suddenly lit with a faint white light, but she didn’t stop and continued to change the spell. She couldn’t afford to get distracted at the last minute, and Madeline could feel the progress because the same strange energy ran through her veins in a strange magical light.

When she opened her eyes, unlike the usual dark orbs Cassian had gotten used to seeing. His jaw almost dropped when her dark irises turned white, taking the same color as the ones that escaped from her chest, and Madeline, who wasn’t aware of the changes in her eyes, noticed Cassian staring dumbfoundedly.

"Keep going." He quickly said before she ruined everything with the question she wanted to ask him.

"You’re doing......great." The astonishment in his gaze, and the way his tone dropped left her unhinged for a few seconds, but she continued regardless of the distraction.

Looking at her fingertip, Madeline noticed the white sparkling light that glowed at the tip, and her eyes widened drastically. If she wasn’t guessing it wrong, this would be the first stage in awakening her powers.

As though her own body knew what it needed to do, the hand patterns on the wall didn’t seem like a stranger to her, cause she found herself taking those patterns into action.

The more she did it, the stronger her powers grew.

Cassian was left speechless at his wife’s magical display of powers, and he couldn’t take his eyes off her. For a moment, he thought an Angel just appeared right in front of him.

Madeline rose to her feet. The powers were indeed working but - but there was an overwhelming feeling that filled her within. It felt strange, and at the same time, her energy drained and sank back to her knees, the light dissipating from her body as she tried to catch her breath.

"Maddie."

He crouched down in front of her, placing both his hands on her shoulder to steady her. She had barely gone far and it felt like every life form inside of her was about to flee.

"How... How did I do?" She asked Cassian who was looking at her.

There were so many things he wanted to say to her, and yet he couldn’t even open his mouth to speak.

"You did well." He patted her head, feeling proud of her, and Madeline smiled through her blurry vision.

"I guess I need more practice."