Chapter 141

“I don’t want to.”

 

Hayden spoke to Roseanne, his brow deeply furrowed.

 

“Baby doesn’t need to study. I can do everything without doing that.”

 

As if she had never expected Hayden to refuse, Roseanne spoke to him with a look of considerable flusteration.

 

“But Hayden, the spells I have are things I must teach you personally. It’s because I created them myself. And with the light attribute, you have to keep clashing with it to gain the strength to overcome its weaknesses….”

 

“Baby is a part of God, Auntie.”

 

Hayden shook his head a couple of times, cutting Roseanne off.

 

Then, leaning his head against Windel’s back, he continued.

 

“A part of God can do everything without learning.”

 

“No, I know you’re a part of God, but….”

 

As if she had overlooked that part, Roseanne’s face was stained with embarrassment. It seemed she only then realized that since Hayden was a part of God, he might not need magic lessons at all.

 

Perhaps feeling uneasy about her expression, Hayden let out a short sigh and said: “But I like having lessons with Auntie. I’ll do it.”

 

He said he would do the lessons with Roseanne, but since he hated bothersome things, he had no intention of putting in much effort.

 

Furthermore, he mentioned that his dad said if he didn’t take Roseanne’s lessons, he would have to go to the academy. He argued that there was no way he—a part of God—couldn’t use the power God gave to humans, so she didn’t need to put so much energy into his education.

 

Then, turning his head to look at Belona, he continued.

 

“If I set my mind to it, I can avoid being caught by Auntie’s light attribute, too.”

 

At that, Belona nodded, saying she had momentarily forgotten that Hayden was a part of God.

 

“Then there’s no need to strain your brain, is there?”

 

“Yeah.”

 

When Hayden nodded at Belona’s words, Roseanne felt bashful, wondering why she had forgotten such a thing.

 

“It’s okay. Mom and Dad forget sometimes, too.”

 

Hayden said, glancing at Enria while still leaning on Windel.

 

As Enria gave Hayden an awkward smile, Belona gently nudged Roseanne’s arm and whispered.

 

“Is it just my imagination, or has his speech suddenly become very fluent?”

 

“Ah, yes. It’s been like that since a few days ago.”

 

Belona nodded at Roseanne’s words, then tilted her head and looked at her.

 

“But since he’s a part of God, shouldn’t his speech have been fluent from the start?”

 

“……Ah ……But then again, even if he’s a part of God, he was born with a human body, so maybe it’s impossible to speak fluently the moment he’s born.”

 

Belona nodded at Roseanne’s reasoning and looked at Hayden.

 

There were still many things she couldn’t understand, but thinking that it was nonsense for a mere human like herself to understand a part of God, Belona asked Roseanne what she planned to do about Hayden’s lessons.

 

Roseanne smiled at Belona and replied that there was probably nothing she could do other than play with him.

 

 

***

 

 

“You can just teach him character instead of magic.”

 

To Enria, who had sought out Caldeon because she was concerned that the magic lessons Roseanne and Belona had ambitiously planned had fallen through, he provided a surprisingly clear answer.

 

Enria struggled to close her gaping mouth and nodded.

 

“You’re right. There was no absolute need to teach magic.”

 

“Character is the most important thing for Hayden, anyway.”

 

Caldeon pulled one out of a pile of documents, scanned it, and signed it.

 

Realizing she might be intruding, Enria stood up, saying she should leave. She had come to Caldeon’s office with a restless heart, but she realized now was the time Caldeon needed to focus on his work.

 

“Where are you going? It’s almost finished, so wait.”

 

“Pardon? But….”

 

For something that was “almost finished,” the mountain of documents stacked beside his desk was formidable.

 

“Five minutes…… no, just sit for ten minutes.”

 

Caldeon quickly signed a document and picked up the next one.

 

Enria sat in the empty chair beside him and stared intently at him. Whether it was five or ten minutes, time seemed like it would fly just by looking at his beautiful face, so waiting didn’t feel boring at all.

 

However, she felt bad, thinking she had interrupted the two hours of the day when Caldeon absolutely had to concentrate. She had vowed never to seek him out while he was working in his office, and she felt pathetic for somehow forgetting that.

 

As if reading her mind, Caldeon put down his pen and looked at her.

 

“If you’re thinking this is an interruption, stop it; it’s a useless thought.”

 

“I’m sorry, I was in a rush and didn’t think about your work hours, Lord Caldeon….”

 

“I told you, those useless thoughts. And why is it ‘Lord Caldeon’ again? Where did our pet names go?”

 

As Caldeon gently took Enria’s chin, wondering aloud if he should punish her, Enria’s eyes instinctively drifted toward Arsen.

 

As usual, Arsen was plowing through his own work with an expression that suggested he had absolutely no interest in the couple’s business.

 

“Where are you looking, Jagi? You should be looking at me.”

 

But at the words Caldeon uttered, Arsen’s gaze snapped toward them.

 

Enria, whose head was being forced to turn by Caldeon’s grip on her chin, ended up making eye contact with Arsen.

 

As Enria quickly avoided his gaze in the uncomfortable and awkward situation, Arsen coughed as if something had gone down the wrong pipe.

 

“Quiet, Arsen.”

 

Caldeon’s brow furrowed slightly as he looked at him.

 

In a situation that looked like a villainous boss not even allowing a cough, Enria removed his hand from her chin and spoke.

 

“I’ll go to Hayden for now. Please come find me when you’re done.”

 

“I said it’s almost over. Just wait ten minutes.”

 

“It’s because Hayden might be looking for me.”

 

Lately, Hayden hadn’t been looking for her at all, but she said this on purpose to stop interrupting Caldeon’s work and to make Arsen feel more comfortable.

 

At that, Caldeon wore a dissatisfied expression but nodded as if he had no choice.

 

“Fine. I’ll be there soon.”

 

As Enria nodded and stood up to head toward the door, Caldeon called out to her.

 

“Jagi.”

 

“Keu—keug! Keugh, Keugh!”

 

When the term of endearment left Caldeon’s mouth, Arsen coughed violently, and Caldeon looked at him with a dissatisfied expression again.

 

“Do you have a cold?”

 

Because Caldeon was looking at him with eyes that said, ‘If you have a cold, don’t think about spreading it and go to the doctor immediately,’ Arsen quickly shook his head and cleared his throat.

 

“No, I am fine.”

 

“I—I’ll be going now.”

 

Enria, knowing exactly at which point Arsen had choked, felt her face heating up and quickly escaped Caldeon’s office.

 

As soon as she stepped into the hallway, she ran straight into Blizzan. When she gave a light bow, Blizzan approached her with his characteristic sly smile.

 

“Good morning, isn’t it?”

 

“It’s almost lunchtime to be calling it morning, though.”

 

When Enria spoke with a slight smile, the corners of Blizzan’s mouth rose naturally.

 

“I drank too much yesterday and only just woke up.”

 

“It seems everyone overslept. You came to find Caldeon, right?”

 

“Yes. I was thinking of heading back to the Spirit Village soon.”

 

Nodding, Blizzan joked that since Caldeon was his contractor, it wouldn’t be polite to leave without a word, and that he was a spirit who observed etiquette that well.

 

Enria gave him a polite smile and gestured that she was leaving.

 

However, instead of going to see Caldeon, Blizzan followed her.

 

Enria looked at him with a puzzled expression, but Blizzan walked alongside her unbothered, chatting about various things. From how funny the drunk Graum was yesterday to the story of Silri and Eva fighting.

 

“Because Eva was blindly opposing the marriage between you and Caldeon, Silri….”

 

At the mention of Eva’s feelings toward Caldeon, which Blizzan had let slip, Enria stopped dead in her tracks.

 

“What did you just say about Eva?”

 

In an instant, because Eva’s name had escaped Enria’s lips, Eva appeared abruptly before them.

 

As if spirits also suffered from hangovers, Eva was holding a cup of water and a hangover remedy provided by the doctor.

 

“What is it?”

 

“Ah, sorry. I called your name without realizing….”

 

Enria said, lightly covering her mouth with her hand.

 

As Eva’s brow furrowed in irritation, Blizzan chimed in.

 

“I was explaining why you and Silri fought yesterday.”

 

“Your mouth is as light as ever, Blizzan.”

 

“It’s not so light that it’ll blow away in the wind, so don’t worry.”

 

When Eva spoke while glaring at Blizzan, he gave a sly grin.

 

“I don’t know what this infinitely flippant jerk said, but Caldeon wasn’t the reason for the fight with Silri.”

 

When Eva spoke while looking at Enria, Blizzan cut in again with a smirk.

 

“But it started because of Caldeon, didn’t it? Because you opposed Caldeon’s marriage….”

 

“You, shut up.”

 

“Do you… oppose the marriage?”

 

Eva, who had been growling at Blizzan, looked at Enria with startled eyes because of the cautious and flustered way she asked.