Chapter 61: Romantic Idiot (1/2)

"Art, can we talk?" As she resolved herself, the slight tre in her voice disappeared

"Sure It see toonwith the fresh water

"About the k-kiss—are youhow nervous she felt compared to her terse expression

"I'm notif I said I hadn't noticed Tess showing feelings for me since all the way back when I lived with her in Elenoir

There was brief silence where I could tell Tess aiting for , except I didn't knohat to say at thisbetween liking or disliking Tess, of course it leaned heavily toward the former, but this situation wasn't as black and white as that While I kneasn't unnatural for children, especially of royalty, to get e of thirteen or fourteen, there was another factor that cairl in front of e to let out a deep breath

I began to question the use of being so experienced in fighting and politics when I didn't even knohere to start when it ca as basic as love—or whatever this was

"Arthur, what are you thinking about?" She leaned closer as her brows furrowedatI could keep pushi+ng aside

"Tess, we've known each other since ere four The first tiht with your parents The first thing you did when I saved you was cry your heart out After we h to be able to stay in your castle, where your grandpa and eventually even your parents war to the point of it being weird…" I took a deep breath before I tried to continue

"I don't understand what you're trying to say" Tess had an impatient look on her face

"Tess, we're still so young I mean, I'm only twelve and you've barely turned thirteen as well! I know that it's not weird for a girl your age to get married since you're royalty, but I round" I realized I was stuttering a bit

"Art I know you well enough and right now, you're justexcuses You and I both know that what I s to progress Even back in Elenoir, you just treated ht years since then, Art… I have a lot to learn but I don't consider aze turned soft as she desperately tried to reason with me

"It's because I've known you since ere both children that it's harder for ht now, Tess It hasn't even been that long since we u out round

Tess's bangs covered her face as her head turned to the ground She suddenly sprung to her feet, her face red and tense, as if on the verge of tears

"So, you're telling ht of h pursed lips

I avertedat her

I didn't kno to respond Of course there were times when I had to ask s Tess had of me back then, but my conscience firmly stopped —for the e, I still had memories of the near-forty years I had spent in my previous life With rown up in calling me 'Uncle' whenever I visited, I couldn't help but picture Tess as one of those kids

"I see," she whispered, taking my silence as the answer Tess whipped around and sto facility

As she opened the door, she said without turning around, "You know, Arthur You're so confident in soyour brain You're so confident in everything you do because you're good at theood at You're not good at confronting your feelings You always put on a mask and pretend you're happy or apathetic when you can't handle a certain situation I think in that sense, you're a lot less mature than even the so-called 'children' you see in this acadeths to ood at!"

As the door closed behind her, I was left with an eerie silence that not even the sound of the waterfall could cover

'Papa's a du away from me

I sat in front of the pond, stunned by her last words I had to admit that in some ways, maybe Tess wasa great fighter, I wasn't that impressive of a man I had the charisma and character to appeal to the masses but when it came to interpersonal relationshi+ps, I consideredrelationshi+ps, seeing the ainst me In order to be the best, I had to have no weaknesses, and having a lover would've eventually led to my demise

I'd co into this world Having family that I would happily die for reminded me of how truly weak I was If someone were to kidnap any one ofI personally was, I would be at their beck and call

The thought of having a lover, so, but it was also so back the bracelet that sealed my fire and water elemental attributes, I made my way back to the surface and headed towards my next class Hoas I supposed to face Tess inon top of ry

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"Good to have you back, Art" Claire ran toa bit better?" Curtis also caught up to us, Grawder following behind him

"I'll probably have to sit out for a fewhim a weak smile as we arrived at the field

"Good to see you walking, Mr Leywin!" Professor Glory beamed as she spotted the three of us arrive but when she was about to walk over to us, a rather malicious intent radiated from beside her

Lucas had a harsh look on his face as he took big, confident strides towards us

Iaway as he approachedmy shi+rt up by the collar, he pulled me close to his face

"I think we need a reht to behold as he scowled,his wrist, I replied, my face stone cold and eyes deadlocked to his "This is a pretty rude way to ask for soth, but I didn't stop there I surged a blast of ive out

Grie flames conjured in his free palh!" Professor Glory roared as she shoved her sheathed sword between us

"Arthur, go rest in the viewing platform You're not to take part in any activities in this class until you're fully healed—Director Goodsky's orders As for you, Lucas, you need to cale with a fight or with a hug, do it after Arthur is fully healed Now is not the ti platfor for half a day, I didn't need my sword to lean on but I couldn't walk at a nor back, my eyes unconsciously searched for Tess but she was nowhere to be found "Professor Glory, where's Princess Tessia?"

"She stopped by not too long before you ca well She said she would make up class somehow but she seemed off so Clive took her back to her dor?" Professor Glory asked

I lied, shakingplatforht? Just rest up for a couple entle hand onback off towards the rest of the class

I watched the class split up into different teaet in various foring, conjurers played a crucial role so aug solely on protecting the long-range caster In scenarios where guerilla fights were necessary, only one or two augmenters remained close to the conjurer as the rest went off on their own

The class was only a week in so it was very basic but it was obvious that Professor Glory knehat she was doing The class grasped the lessons hile even having fun It was a nice sight to see but ret the things I said, but I had to question whether I had actually said it well

My next class was the class I was actually looking forward to the ic Theory Unfortunately, our professor, Professor Drywell, placed ut the basics first, so even after a week had passed, she was barely covering the foundation of Deviant Magic

"Whenever deviant er stress on the price of your ic, like its name, is deviant from the natural elemental mana pool that is evident in our world The mana that surrounds us is ic that coreater cost, as I would like to say, coinal eleravity,us in the atmosphere In order to produce these phenoe must be able to directly alter their parent element and manipulate it into its deviant fored lady and although she had the i

"Professor! But gravity, lightning, ma, sound, and ice all exist naturally in our world as well Why doesn't our world produce these types of irl asked

"Good question, young one! Honestly, no one knows for sure why that is! Many mana theorists believe that because a certain set of conditions must be met for those deviant elements to occur, mana directly correlated to them does not exist Then there are always exceptions such as fire, where it certainly does not just spontaneously es believe fire to be the highest foric itself," Professor Drywell explained as she paced around the lecture hall

"Deviant ic that strays even further froreater cost All of you knohat emitters are They are healers, essentially The ory of water, earth, fire, or wind Instead, I would dare say that there exists a holy eleain little benefit froht elemental mana within our world Instead, they work to condense and purify the mana that forms in their mana core so that even when less mana is used, there is still a substantial effect in their spells" I could tell Professor Dryas running out of stea breathier