3. Liberal Arts Teacher.

Time passed, and Robert and Izeline were now seven years old.

Their heights, which had been identical like twins, had changed. Izeline became slightly taller than him. Perhaps because of this, Robert had come to dislike standing next to her, and he was now deliberately lying on his bed reading a book.

“This is really delicious.”

Slurp!

He gave a curt reply as he watched Izeline empty her fifth glass of the sweet and sour fruit tea.

“Stop drinking that.”

“Why don’t you drink it? It’s Mom’s special recipe.”

“I already drink one glass a day.”

Thanks to Izeline diligently bringing him some every morning, he had been starting his day with Monica’s special fruit tea for several weeks now.

To be honest, he was now sick of it.

“Just have one more glass.”

“It’s too sweet.”

“That’s why it’s delicious.”

As she got off her chair and approached him with dainty steps, Robert suddenly raised his upper body and assumed a defensive posture.

“I said I won’t drink it.”

“Oh, please. Just a sip, just a sip.”

“….”

This was unexpected. Robert found himself disarmed by her cute, pleading eyes.

‘Now’s my chance!’

Seizing the opportunity, she jumped onto the bed and forcibly gave him the drink. Even though he dropped the book from his hand in the process, he had no time to retrieve it.

“Wait a minute, Izel! You’re spilling it!”

“If you just drink it obediently, this will be over.”

Robert blushed as he watched her, her mouth stretched wide open in amusement.

This girl had somehow managed to pin him down with her strength and was now sitting on top of him. In fact, it wasn’t that he couldn’t shake her off with his strength, but somehow, he didn’t feel like it, and so he lay there motionless.

Izeline pestered him again.

“Now. Ah, do it.”

This idiot. How was he supposed to drink something while lying down?

Robert replied with a pained expression.

“You’re so heavy, I can’t move…”

“But you’ll just run away if I get off.”

“It’s not running away, it’s retreating.”

As Izeline’s eyes flashed sharply, he raised his hands in surrender. Understanding the meaning of his gesture, she took a step back and moved to the side of the bed.

He sighed as she finally managed to get Monica’s fruit tea down his throat.

“You’ve really gotten heavy.”

“What?”

She used to be embarrassed when he called her heavy, but now she just got angry. Izeline seemed determined to make him regret his words as she put even more weight on him.

Even so, to Robert, she was as light as a feather, but since his goal was to annoy her, he had succeeded.

All of a sudden, his heart was beating faster and faster, and he frowned in pain. He focused on the movement of his heart trying to break free from its protective barrier and on readjusting the intricate web of mana that was tangled around it…

Knock, knock.

Just then, the door opened, and someone entered.

“Michael!”

Izeline greeted him as usual. However, he couldn’t frown at him as he normally did. Robert, who would usually have told him to ‘get out’ the moment he saw him, was unusually quiet.

“You two…”

Their position was a bit strange.

Michael swallowed a laugh as he noticed Robert blushing and panting. It wasn’t the first time he had seen this.

“Izel. Stop teasing Robert and get off him.”

He still clearly remembered Robert coughing up blood three years ago when Izeline went missing. He even remembered how he had used his mana to control the disease. No doubt, his heart was pounding wildly inside him right now, trying to break free.

“Tch. Fine.”

As Izeline reluctantly got off him at Michael’s intervention, unaware of this, Robert looked even more disappointed than she was.

Seeing that, Michael cursed him inwardly, calling him a madman.

Would he really risk his life just to feel his heart beating?

Well…

It wasn’t something he couldn’t understand.

“Take care of your health. The promised time is next year.”

He was referring to the contract between Duke Brioche and Izeline.

If he could just hold on until next year, he would have surpassed the average life expectancy of five years for Krug patients after the onset of the disease. Izeline would also be free from the contract that held her life hostage.

Robert, who had been absent-mindedly managing his pounding heart, remembered the forgotten contract and felt complicated. It wasn’t just his own life, so he really had to take good care of his heart.

“Don’t worry, Michael. Robert will live a long life.”

Izeline spoke confidently as if she was unaware that Robert was struggling to solve a problem that even the top scholars in the tower couldn’t solve. Of course, it was true that he looked healthy on the outside…

Michael, who suddenly became suspicious, asked.

“How can you be so sure?”

“Huh?”

Then, as if he judged that his question could be misunderstood, he corrected his words.

“It’s natural to be worried. You seem too optimistic.”

“Oh… that’s…”

Izeline looked around. She couldn’t just say that she knew because he was healthy until he became an adult in the original story.

After a moment of contemplation, she decided to keep it simple.

“I just believe it. Hehe.”

At that innocent answer, Michael sighed, feeling like a parent sending their ignorant child off to town. How was she going to survive in this harsh world?

On the other hand, Robert had a somewhat touched expression.

‘That idiot…’

There was a limit to acting without thinking. He knew it, but when he heard with his own ears that she had risked her life for him, his heart sank.

Nevertheless, the words that actually came out of his mouth were blunt.

“Think about it.”

“What?”

“You were young then, so you didn’t know any better and did it, but you can’t do that anymore.”

Even though he was only seven years old, Robert acted like a grown adult. Still, he knew deep down that he was able to grow up without being beaten because Izeline had stood up to her father that day.

But what could Michael say?

He was worried that this fearless girl would risk her life here and there if he was okay with it. Izeline, who had suddenly become a thoughtless child, pouted and muttered something. It was too clear and loud to be a whisper.

“Back then, he was so grateful that he cried.”

“Wh-when did I cry?”

Robert, who had never actually cried, panicked, and his face turned pale. He had endured so much to avoid showing an embarrassing expression whenever he wanted to cry!

At that moment, his heart felt heavy with resentment at the words that made all his efforts go to waste. The face that had been staring at her with eyes full of words he wanted to say soon turned into a crying face.

When the puppy’s eyes were filled with tears, Izeline’s heart softened.

‘Gasp! Did I bring up a painful memory?’

The young Robert, who had gone through a hole alone to get out of the stuffy mansion because of Krug, the disgust mixed with hatred he received from his father and the contempt of the maids, suddenly crossed her mind.

Izeline quickly corrected her words, feeling sorry.

“Ah, um. Come to think of it, I don’t think you cried.”

Robert glanced at her and muttered quietly.

“It wasn’t that… I really didn’t cry.”

As he tried to correct the wrong memory of the past, Michael, who had been watching the two from a distance, stepped in as if he couldn’t bear to watch.

“You’re acting cute.”

Robert raised his eyes slightly at the uninvited guest’s interruption.

Michael was openly showing a displeased face. It was hard to watch the guy acting cute whenever he was at a disadvantage. It seemed that Izeline, who had been through thick and thin with him since she was young, couldn’t see the disgusting acting that was clearly visible in his eyes.

Robert, who had thrown away his gentle mask, asked in an unpleasant tone.

“Aren’t you leaving yet?”

“That’s too much for someone who just arrived.”

And Robert, who was about to say something more at the following words, shut his mouth as Michael continued.

“I won’t be able to see you for a while anyway.”

“….?”

A question mark floated above Robert’s face.

Izeline asked the question.

“Where are you going, Michael?”

Michael shrugged his shoulders lightly, looking at her, who was surprised as if it was nothing.

“I heard that the Imperial Palace is holding a birthday banquet for His Highness the Crown Prince.”

“Isn’t that something that happens every year?”

“That’s true, but… I think it’s a little special this time.”

She blinked.

The only special birthday was usually on his sixteenth, when he became an adult, right?

Michael and Arsen were the same age, so Arsen was only nine years old. The question was immediately answered by Michael’s following words. There was an event that was even grander than the coming-of-age ceremony.

“I guess he was able to grasp the divine sword that was kept in the main temple.”

“Oh…”

“His Majesty the Emperor was so delighted that he said it would be more splendid than usual.”

Her green eyes shook finely.

Michael said it as if it was nothing, but this was more important information than she had thought, especially for Izeline, who had read the original story.

The divine sword, Caliburn, was an item that the main temple cherished and doted on as the Barcan Empire’s treasure. It was a legendary sword that was said to have been given to the first emperor by God at the time of the empire’s foundation, and only the chosen one could pull it out of its scabbard.

Throughout the history of the Barcan Empire, there were only a handful of people who became the master of that sword, and one of them was the Crown Prince Arsen, the male lead of this world.

It was the most famous sword among the famous ones that even swordsmen could not rival. If they used it wrong, not only would the blade break, but their torso could be cleanly cut in half.

“Izeline, what’s wrong?”

At that moment, her ears perked up at the voice, and she suddenly came to her senses.

Robert was looking at her with worried eyes.

“A-ah, it’s nothing.”

She even stuttered unusually, making Michael look at her suspiciously. Seeing that, she quickly made an excuse.

“I’m so hungry that I can’t concentrate…”

At those words, Robert let out a small laugh.

“You’re still hungry after eating like that?”

“How can I be full from fruit tea? Water didn’t count.”

“Let’s go to the dining hall and eat something. I was just about to go out anyway.”

When Michael agreed with her, Robert didn’t say anything more. Still, even though he didn’t say anything, his heart was pounding.

‘The Crown Prince’s birthday banquet at the Imperial Palace will be grand?’

Originally, it was natural for the successor of the Armanty dukedom, one of the pillars of the empire, to attend. However, patients with Krug were exceptions to everything.

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