TYHL 160

~Chapter 160~

Ch.17

I opened my eyes under the bright sunlight.

Blink, blink.

A strange ceiling came into view.

Where am I? Oh, the capital—at the duke’s mansion…

Ah.

As my foggy mind cleared, the memories flooded in.

Yesterday… Yesterday was really unbelievable!

‘I said everything.’

I told them I was a mage, and all about my past!

‘Wow, nothing in life ever goes as planned, does it…’

I realized that truth all over again.

Last night, the adults listened to my story so calmly.

‘I thought it would take forever.’

But honestly, my big confession didn’t take very long. Once I got it out, it all felt less important than I thought.

After everything, Dad, Mom, and Grandpa hugged me tightly.

Their warmth relaxed me instantly, and I fell asleep right away.

“Whew, anyway, I do feel better now.”

I stretched and sat up quickly. Just then—

“Did you sleep well?”

A voice surprised me out of nowhere.

That’s when I saw it: a round back of the head at the foot of my bed.

“Khalid…?”

“I saw you wake up, so I’m leaving.”

The boy stood up, dusting off his clothes.

“You didn’t see me though?”

He was turned away.

Khalid stayed silent, which felt odd. I kicked off my blanket and rushed over in my slippers. He finally turned his head a little.

Wait—his eyes…

“Hey! Your eyes look all puffy!”

When I pointed at his red eyelids, he turned away again.

Honestly, even as a “fish” (crybaby), he was still a bit cute!

“Why are you like this? Did you cry or something…”

“I didn’t cry. I just didn’t sleep, so they’re swollen.”

Khalid answered in a super blunt tone.

“So you admit they’re swollen?”

“…”

He clammed up again.

“Why did you cry?”

“I told you, I didn’t.”

So cold.

“Hey… at least warn me when you’re going to be cold like that…”

I drew circles on his back with my finger. I thought I understood why he was sulking.

“Are you mad at me?”

“I’m not sulking—no, I am mad.”

Wow, it’s the first time.

Khalid is actually mad at me.

“Why didn’t you call me?”

He spun around, eyes full of blame.

“You know why. I was scared the Mage King would find out about you.”

This was something I could never reconsider. If it happened again, I’d make the same choice.

“I really don’t want you to get dragged off to the kingdom because of me.”

Just imagining Khalid under the Mage King’s control, with a stigma, was horrifying.

I thought of how Second lost her mind under the stigma, and it only made me more determined.

“How weak do you think I am?”

He turned away again.

“Hey. It’s not that…”

I drew on his back again.

Calm. Down.

A few letters…

Khalid finally looked back at me. His eyes were full of frustration and a little hurt.

“You have no idea how lost and anxious I felt…”

“Aww. I get it, sorry for worrying you.”

I tapped his head gently. He pressed his lips together but lowered his head a little.

“Don’t ever do that again.”

“Okay!”

“Now you’re just lying.”

“Heh.”

Khalid gritted his teeth, then started taking off one of the rings from his bracelet.

“Hey, what are you doing? I told you not to take that off…”

“I’ll get big and strong enough to control my power without it.”

He pressed a ring into my hand.

“When that happens, even if I say I’m going to go after the Mage King, you won’t stop me, right?”

“What? I feel like I definitely would stop you…”

But Khalid ignored me, just like I ignored him.

“I’ll definitely return all these bracelets to you.”

He pressed his palm firmly over my hand.

Hmm, I thought, it’s going to take a long time for him to take off all those bracelets…

But I was a good friend, so I didn’t ruin the mood by saying it out loud.

Besides, he was acting all passionate, saying he’d get stronger—not weak at all. Kind of cute.

Even if his face was as grumpy and cold as ever.

“Okay! Good luck!”

I cheered with both fists raised. Khalid started to say something, but turned his head away again.

The tips of his ears looked a little red in the morning sunlight.

Khalid walked down the knights’ building hallway.

‘I need to go train right away.’

He felt restless.

He was frustrated that he couldn’t do anything at the academy. Just thinking about it made him tear up last night… just a little.

“Come to think of it, I told her I was a mage.”

He remembered the brief conversation with Rubian.

She’d said she told everyone her secret last night.

“Yeah, good job.”

“But I didn’t say anything about you. That’s not my secret to tell. But if the adults are smart, they probably figured it out…”

“I don’t care if they did.”

“…”

“It’s not like they’ll kick me out just for that.”

“Yeah, true!”

“So, whatever.”

He really meant it.

He didn’t care if they found out, as long as they didn’t make him leave.

He wanted to stay close to Rubian, and the training here was the best.

Khalid was about to open a door when he stopped.

“Hey, why is there nothing in this room?”

“…Duke?”

The Zebert Duke was there, as if it were his own room.

Khalid closed the door and stepped in calmly.

“What is it?”

Leviathan was sitting on the bed, tossing and catching an apple, looking relaxed but still intimidating.

He glanced at Khalid.

“You knew Rubi’s secret, didn’t you? From the start.”

Straight to the point.

Khalid could only nod, not sure what else to say.

Is he going to blame me? For not telling him?

Suddenly he remembered the box of candy the Duke had once given him.

He hadn’t told Rubian, but he also remembered a letter from Allen saying he’d met the Duke.

Khalid guessed the Duke might have seen that letter, or maybe even intercepted it briefly before sending it on.

He knew the Duke wasn’t a sloppy person.

So if he figured it out from that…

Khalid clenched his fist, bracing himself.

“Thank you.”

Leviathan spoke.

“Huh?”

“Thank you. Why do you look so surprised?”

A big hand reached out and messed up Khalid’s hair.

“Since you kept Rubi’s secret, I guess my daughter made a friend she can trust.”

Khalid felt awkward and stepped back.

The Duke looked down at his now-empty hand and smiled.

“So, just keep it up—”

“I will.”

Khalid answered suddenly, his voice stronger.

“Rubian. I wasn’t good enough yesterday, but I’ll work hard and get stronger so I can protect her.”

He fiddled with his bracelet out of habit. Leviathan watched quietly.

“So I’m going to train even harder, so I can—”

“That’s not it, you cocky brat.”

Thump. A light flick landed on Khalid’s forehead.

Khalid rubbed his forehead in surprise. Leviathan sighed.

“You don’t need to protect anyone. Just promise not to sneak into my daughter’s room. You little squirt.”

“…”

“Protecting her is my job. But you, since you live in my house, of course I’ll protect you too.”

Khalid was stunned. No adult had ever said they’d protect him before.

“Honestly, there are things I want to ask you… but someone like you, if you don’t want to talk, you never will.”

“…”

“So I’ll let it go for now. But if you ever want to talk, come find me. Got it?”

Khalid fell silent for a moment.

If he didn’t have to confess his secret right away, and he didn’t need to worry about protecting Rubian all on his own…

“Then what should I do here?”

Leviathan laughed.

“How old are you again?”

“Twelve.”

“When I was twelve, I went to hunt magical beasts by myself.”

Khalid tilted his head.

“It was rough. Some accident happened, all the knights with me died, and I wandered alone in the beast lands for a month.”

“…”

“At first, I waited by the corpses for rescue, but no one came. It was cold, I was hungry. So I started going through the corpses’ bags and finally made a decision.”

“…To get out of there?”

“Nope. I decided to smash up the beast nest first.”

“…”

Well, good for you, I guess. So impressive, huh? Khalid thought, a little sarcastically.