Chapter 129

“Did you hear that, Hayden? From now on, Young Lady Kaznaren will be your magic teacher.”

 

As Caldeon spoke while looking at Hayden, Hayden arched an eyebrow in a manner that perfectly mimicked Caldeon.

 

“Don’t need it.”

 

In an instant, Enria, Roseanne, and Caldeon’s eyes widened simultaneously.

 

“Hayden, what do you mean you don’t need it? A magic teacher is essential even just to learn how to properly manifest magic formulas.”

 

“Baby is part of God, so I don’t have to.”

 

At those words, even Windel’s eyes went wide.

 

“Huh…?”

 

When Roseanne looked back and forth between Hayden and Enria with a puzzled expression, Enria turned to Hayden with a flustered face and asked.

 

“Is it… okay to talk about that?”

 

“Auntie Roseanne is harmless.”

 

After giving that calm answer, Hayden looked at Roseanne and continued.

 

“Baby is part of God. So I don’t need a teacher.”

 

“Even if you are a fragment of a god, you don’t know anything about magical formulas yet. To learn and master them systematically, a teacher is vital. Studying alone is…”

 

“Hate studying. Baby doesn’t have to.”

 

When Hayden cut Enria off with a stern look, Roseanne looked between the two of them, looking utterly bewildered.

 

“You should learn what you can, whether you’re a fragment of a god or a genius.”

 

When Caldeon finally stepped in to speak to Hayden, Roseanne finally realized that what she had heard was true, and her eyes widened in shock.

 

“A f-fragment of a god? Hayden is?”

 

When Roseanne turned to Enria, Enria nodded a few times and spoke.

 

“I’m sorry I couldn’t tell you sooner. It’s a secret that the public must never know, so I couldn’t speak of it until now.”

 

“It’s okay, Enri. If he’s a fragment of a god, there’s no way you could just go around spreading such a monumental fact.”

 

As Roseanne looked at Hayden and muttered, “A fragment of a god…,” Caldeon spoke to Hayden.

 

“So, be a good boy and learn well. Acquire everything you can, make it your own, and use it with more experience, Hayden.”

 

“Hate studying. Hate teachers.”

 

“How can you hate it when you haven’t even tried it yet?”

 

“Humans usually hate it.”

 

“I thought you said you weren’t human, but a fragment of a god.”

 

When Caldeon folded his arms and countered Hayden’s point, Hayden glared at Caldeon with a sulky face.

 

“Hayden, I’m sure it will be fun. It won’t be dull or boring at all.”

 

As Enria spoke soothingly to Hayden, he let out a short sigh and asked her.

 

“Do I have to?”

 

“Because it’s a power you’ll have to keep using in the future. It’s about making the power you have easier to handle and more skillful. You know, back when I was pregnant with you…”

 

She told him the story of how she had learned formulas from Rahar while heavily pregnant and summoned cute, wondrous familiars, saying that back then, she had been so absorbed in the fun of learning that time had flown by.

 

As Caldeon listened quietly to Enria, he suddenly reached out a long, firm arm and wrapped it around her waist.

 

Because he pulled her toward him so suddenly, Enria’s back bumped against Caldeon’s chest.

 

Startled, Enria turned her head to look at Caldeon, only to find him looking at her with a somewhat disgruntled expression.

 

“While I was wandering looking for you, living in a hell where one day felt like a year, you found the time to be fast-moving and fun?”

 

“…Excuse me?”

 

As Enria blinked her eyes rapidly, flustered by the sudden remark, Caldeon let out a low vibration in his throat and buried his lips into Enria’s shoulder.

 

“Lord Caldeon, I…”

 

“It’s a joke. As long as you were happy, that’s enough,” Caldeon said as he moved his lips to the nape of her neck.

 

It was a light, brushing kiss, but the moment his lips touched her neck, a strange, erotic sensation rushed through her, and Enria’s face quickly turned red.

 

“Could you please save the displays of affection for when the two of you are alone?”

 

When Roseanne saw Enria’s expression and spoke to Caldeon with a slight frown, Caldeon looked at Hayden instead of Roseanne.

 

“If you learn formulas from Young Lady Kaznaren, I won’t send you to the Academy separately, so sit still and learn well.”

 

“Academy?”

 

Hayden asked back, his eyebrows instantly furrowing in a manner exactly like Caldeon’s.

 

“If you’re not going to learn elsewhere, you’ll have to go to the Academy to learn.”

 

“No, Baby is a fragment of a god, so I don’t really need to go to such a place…”

 

“Even if you are a fragment of a god, you are my son and the next head of the House of Jupiter. You don’t need to learn everything humans learn, but making sure you can skillfully use your abilities—which are far superior to those of humans—is practically a duty. You cannot refuse an education.”

 

When Caldeon cut Hayden off with a firm expression, Hayden pouted his lips again with a sulky face.

 

“Fine…”

 

When Hayden reluctantly agreed, Caldeon looked at Enria and said,

 

“You and I need to pay a visit to the Imperial Palace.”

 

“The Imperial Palace?”

 

Enria looked at Caldeon with surprised eyes.

 

Caldeon gave her a single nod.

 

“To bring in Young Lady Kaznaren as Hayden’s teacher, we need a confirmation letter stamped with His Majesty’s seal. It’ll be faster to meet him in person and get it rather than receiving a message. So, we shall go together.”

 

He explained that since Roseanne was currently at the castle as the surrogate Grand Duchess, they needed to present a valid reason to remove her from that post and have her stay as Hayden’s magic teacher.

 

He said that the best way to explain those valid reasons in detail and receive approval was to have a direct audience with the Emperor.

 

“And truthfully, there’s another reason to visit the Palace besides this issue.”

 

“Ah, you plan to push forward with the wedding to Enri while you’re there, right?”

 

When Roseanne asked, acting as if she knew his mind, Caldeon gave an immediate shake of his head and replied.

 

“To me, that is the most important matter, so the ‘while I’m there’ part would actually apply to Young Lady Kaznaren’s business.”

 

“Ah…”

 

“In any case, we were in a situation where we had to have an audience with the Emperor once anyway. It seems best to go together now and resolve both our business and the Young Lady’s.”

 

At Caldeon’s words, Enria nodded and said she understood.

 

Having never visited the Imperial Palace, her heart began to race at the thought of seeing the inside.

 

Of course, more than that, it raced at Caldeon’s words about speaking to the Emperor regarding their wedding.

 

 

***

 

 

“He took Enria to the Imperial Palace?”

 

Rahar’s eyes widened slightly as he asked Roseanne.

 

Roseanne, who was holding Hayden and feeding him snacks, gave a nod and answered.

 

“His Majesty the Emperor has never seen Enri. She is to be the future Grand Duchess of the Empire, so he has to see her at least once, don’t you think?”

 

“But why didn’t they take Hayden?”

 

Tearen, who was leaning his chin on his hand beside Roseanne watching Hayden eat his snacks, asked her.

 

“We still need to be careful regarding Hayden. Both our father and the Emperor—as long as the Magic Tower remains intact—want to somehow make the Grand Duke’s black mana their own.”

 

She explained that if they took Hayden and people found out he could use both black mana and holy power, he would be plagued by political marriage proposals from a very young age.

 

Simply because he was Caldeon’s son and might have inherited black mana, they might already be picking out young ladies from among their close associates to be Hayden’s match.

 

“Enri says she wants the world to stay ignorant of the child’s power until Hayden has grown up to some extent.”

 

Roseanne curled the corners of her lips slightly as she brushed a cookie crumb from the side of Hayden’s mouth.

 

“Since he was born the eldest son of the House of Jupiter, wishing for a ‘normal’ life is out of the question, but she said she’s trying her best to ensure Hayden can be as free as possible.”

 

“Hmm, but he’s already a fragment of a god whose birth was far from normal. I wonder if he can truly live a normal life.”

 

As Tearen murmured to himself, Rahar quickly turned his head and looked toward the outside of the drawing room.

 

“Watch your mouth, Tearen. I told you Hayden’s secret must only be known to the Grand Duke and his wife, me, you, Belona, and Roseanne. If you blurt it out so carelessly and a servant here overhears…”

 

“I’m sorry, but an illusion is already cast on this room, so no one can hear our conversation.”

 

When Tearen cut Rahar off with a fake smile, Rahar looked a bit flustered and replied, “Oh, really?”

 

Then he immediately stared at Tearen with wide eyes and shouted.

 

“You cast an illusion on this room?! Is that why Belona isn’t coming?!”

 

He scolded Tearen, saying he thought it was strange that she hadn’t arrived no matter how long he waited, and asked how he could cast an illusion when everyone hadn’t even arrived yet.

 

Tearen let out a short sigh at Rahar, while Roseanne shook her head.

 

“The illusion Lord Tearen placed on this space is limited to those who do not know Hayden’s secret. Only those who don’t know the secret cannot see or hear this space, so Miss Belona can come whenever she wishes.”

 

“…Oh, really? Then why isn’t she coming?”

 

Rahar turned his head again to look at the drawing room door.

 

To that, Roseanne said she was probably still sleeping, adding that she heard Belona must take naps during the day ever since half of her soul vanished.

 

At that, Rahar looked at Hayden, who was eating cookies, with a very worried expression and asked.

 

“Hayden, Belona’s condition is really okay, right? She’s going to be okay from now on, right?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

“Really? But why does she absolutely have to take naps?”

 

At Rahar’s question, Hayden lifted his gaze and stared at him intently.

 

When Rahar instinctively flinched at the sight of eyes and a gaze so similar to Caldeon’s, Hayden swallowed the cookie he had been munching on and answered him.

 

“It’s okay if Uncle stays by her side.”