Chapter 60: Confrontation (1/2)

I took a deep breath as I sat outside on a nearby bench Realizing that I ended class a bit too early, I noticed the campus was fairly peaceful with most students still in their classroo up and walking around definitely helped

I sat idly, watching Sylvie chase after a butterfly through the lawn in front of ht

"Is this seat taken?" I turnedforward so her face was level with o ahead" I said as I slowly scooched a bit to my left to make room for her She carefully placed her handkerchief over the bench and took a seat on top of it, straightening out her rumpled skirt We sat there, silently, as both of us just watched Sylvie finally capture the agile butterfly that was now struggling in her paws

"I heard about what happened frorew quiet at the end of her sentence

I kept my eyes focused on Sylvie but responded with a soft chuckle "Why are you saying sorry as well? Even if it was your brother's fault, which it isn't, he already apologized"

"It's just… I feel like ies For what happened with Sebastian and my father as well That time at the Auction House… he's not usually like that but he was shocked as well at the turn of events and he needed to keep his i flustered as her usual composed face became flushed, her expression panicked as she tried to make me understand

"I think this is the first time I've seen an actual difference in your expression, Princess It's a nice change" I snickered as she blushed even brighter, turning her body away from me

"…Please, don't mock me, Arthur I didn't expect you to be this type of person," she said with her head still turned

"Oh? What kind of person did you expect me to be?" I tilted my head in curiosity

"W-Well, when I first met you at the auction event, I noticed you held yourself withback around

"You noticed how people hold the the posture of a person was so keen adults barely learned how to do later on with years ofthe only princess of a kingdo that skill fairly quickly Also, with bothquite the characters, I felt like my mother and I were the only normal ones at times" By this time, Princess Kathyln turned back to faceunusual about your brother He see Curtis for the first time at the Auction House Compared to then, he'd otten a lot better, seeing as he's able to apologize to you That would've been very hard for hih as the both of us spectated Sylvie's little battle with another bug "When I first saw you, I noticed right away that you were very different froued by you…" Her head lowered a bit as she continued speaking

"Haha… is that right? I thought the opposite since your face had no reaction or change the whole ti the event that happened four years prior

"I apologize I-I' my facial muscles effectively" I found it cute as she pushed her cheeks up and doith her fingers in an attempt to forcefully make different expressions

"Tella aze onme feel a little aard

"…I will practice" Princess Kathyln suddenly nodded to herself as I noticed her expression looked slightly more determined than usual

"Pfft! I' you can practice Just don't force your emotions down and let your faceto how you feel When you feel sad, your face will naturally want to frown When you're happy, your face will naturally want to serated the expressions on ht s her to suddenly turn away from me

Oops Did I overdo it?

KATHYLN GLAYDER'S POV:

I couldn't show any weakness As the only girl in the royal family besides my mother, I had a duty to uphold When ain ainst ht

I couldn't read minds, but it wasn't hard to see that all of the e and ones a lot older, had ulterior e, superior ability, and physical appearance… the things that all people believed would make their lives easier were shackles that robbed me of the freedom I wished to have

Yet, here I ith a boy ht after, yet still so… bright He shi+ned with a brilliance that made me want to be like him What made him so different from me? Hoas he still able to express his e afraid of how others would view hih as Arthur contorted his face like that He looked so silly

I i to hide erated s me

"I should teach stuff like this instead of Mana Manipulation, right?" He let out a pained laugh as he leaned down to pet his bond that was sitting between his legs

"That reminds me The wind bullet spell that you used to demonstrate seemed almost like a conjurer's spell compared to the second one you used How exactly did you do it? I am also curious as to why you made the conjurers try and absorb the spell back into their bodies I have never heard of conjurers doing that" I went on like an excited child about the questions that filledme embarrassed

"Whoa! Is that why you came up to me? Is this what you were after?" He leaned away from me, shocked

"N-No! Of course not! That was never my intention!" Oh no! I wasn't like the men that ca there and wanted to… why did I ask to sit next to hi his arm so I pulled it back quickly

"Heh, I was obviously joking, Princess I'h It wouldn't be very fair of ave me a little wink that made my chest feel heavy all of a sudden What was that?

"I-I guess you are right It would be unfair to give ned," I responded quietly

"Mive a little pointer for a fellow disciplinary committee member Watch now" I look up to see him concentrate as he lifted both his hands, pallow as soft winds swirled, surrounding his hand As for his right hand, only a sathered towards this hand didn't surround his entire hand, but instead, swirled into a sphere just above his palusts of wind in both hands forward

The wind that surrounded his left hand dissipated after a few ht hand shot out several ti with a soft 'pa'!

"There is your hint for the augned the conjurers, think backwards" He got up as I conte now Let aveh this ti next to him I couldn't help but feel a bit e for just me to sit on

ARTHUR LEYWIN'S POV:

"Psst I heard you got hurt on the first day of class Are you okay?" Elasses shi+fted down as she leaned forward next toabout the basic components that made up different types of artifacts

All of a sudden, a piece of chalk flew straight at E soht cough, his hand still stretched out after throwing the chalk at her "Miss Watsken, please enlighten the class on the various co artifact"

"The basic light-producing artifact is made up of the basic foundation crystal, Florenite, found abundantly near the outskirts of Sapin and also in the Kingdom of Darv After Florenite is refined, it will constantly let out a diht so in order to control the output of the ore…"

"Ok ok, that's enough Sheesh, I just asked for theunder his breath as he cut E, she took out soe the piece of chalk buried soed notes for a bit, writing to each other about what happened I tried ski over the details but that didn't really seem to ith her

Eventually, because of the lack of details froether, leaving her frustrated and curious

"So see up our things For honed soht-producing artifact, or LPA for short

"You're overthinking things, Emily I'ned us I' the first week" This was actually true My critical thinking abilities and vague knowledge of technology from my past allowed me to make connections and understandabout how this class was one of their hardest Leave it to that eccentric Gideon to teach a basic class as if it were several levels higher

"Meh, I already have a couple LPAs I ht as well put them to use" She adjusted her oversized backpack and we headed over to grab lunch

"Wow… you could probably ace this class in your sleep" I shook rabbed some food

"Kyu!" 'Get more meat, Papa!' Sylvie hopped on top of etables

"Ok ok" I went back and picked up a few more pieces of meat when Emily looked at me with a weird expression on her face

"Can you understand what your bond is saying?" She lifted her glasses up in place as she looked up at Sylvie

"Can't all bonds?" I asked

"No, not at all, actually They can understand their emotions to a certain extent but not… verbal cues" Her eyes squinted as she took a closer look at Sylvie

Pushi+ng her head back with er on her forehead, I responded, "That's what Iand I just inferred that it was because I picked up vegetables You're overthinking things again, Eht She's cute though" She just shrugged and picked up more food for herself