“Well, since we have to go together for a lifetime, should we adjust a bit?”

“Yeah. We should adjust. I like people with self-restraint.”

“Because you can do it later, right?”

His gray eyes narrowed and curved. What could be going on in his mind? Roo sighed, brushing her face at the topic that kept deviating from the main discussion.

“Why did you change like this…?”

“What are you talking about? I was a yellow little guy who only thought about marrying you since I first met you.”

Roo’s arm, which resisted, lost strength and sagged. Hayden’s huge body loomed over her.

“From the beginning. From the beginning.”

“… Why?”

He laughed as if it was amazing and gently pressed his forehead against Roo’s.

“Because you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever seen.”

Even according to Hayden’s standards, she was really a little girl at that time. He wanted to become close to her in some way. If he could recover everything, he could confidently stay by Roo’s side. With that one wish, he had endured so far.

“Well, then, since you’re the most beautiful person, can’t I help you a little?”

Haha. A dry laughter erupted from Hayden’s parched throat.

“If you were this weak, you should have been a bit gentler when you were in trouble with Ingram.”

“I was weak, so I managed to get out of it.”

“What am I going to say?”

Hayden covered her cheek. Always as if wrapping something precious and delicate, he gently touched with a hand that had no strength.

“Check if it’s the right or wrong answer yourself.”

His gray pupils filled Roo’s eyes.

“I heard that you’ll be together for a lifetime, so naturally, I have to do at least this much.”

Everything in front of her turned white. It was his light.

Sophia Claris was a very affectionate person. Even by just looking at Hayden’s memories about her, Roo could clearly see that.

Unexpectedly small in stature for someone from the North, she carried a staff and went back and forth over snow-covered mountain ranges. Until the son of the prince, who begged her to tell stories about the North, fell asleep, she told stories.

Hayden had known the fair-skinned Sophia Claris since he was very young. She often came to his house, checked if he was well, and told many stories about the North. She was a kind foster mother. Even adults naturally thought it was natural that Sophia visited him frequently.

It seemed like adults already knew that he was the successor to the Northern Sage. This was something Hayden realized after he became older. Literally, Roo was now seeing his past through Hayden’s eyes, so she could understand that as well.

“It’s not a very interesting memory.”
After briefly showing memories with Sophia Claris, Hayden quickly moved on. Even in that moment, his past, glimpsed here and there, was incredibly affluent and peaceful. Hayden was never alone. Parents who resembled him, household elders, or siblings were always by his side.

That happy moment suddenly shattered.

“Shall we pass over this roughly?”

Someone, people familiar to Hayden, collapsed in the corridor. Memories, including the corridor stained red, quickly passed. It was evident that there was something he didn’t want to show. Roo didn’t forcibly pry into it. She had to see only what Hayden allowed.

“Listen carefully, Hayden, our Sage.”

In the midst of the Abyssal Uprising where Carlos indiscriminately slaughtered aristocrats, Sophia Claris, holding the young successor, spoke. Even in that situation, her voice was very warm.

“From now on, you have to be very brave. You must survive.”

“S-Sophia. My mom…”

“I know. Listen to me carefully!”

Sophia grabbed Hayden fiercely. He was startled when she, who had never done such a thing before, raised her voice.

“Now you’re alone, Sage. You must survive until you recover everything. Absolutely, you must not be caught as the Northern Sage.”

“I’m not the Northern Sage, and Sophia is…”

“From now on, you are the Northern Sage, Sage.”

Wearing a white-cloaked mantle, Sophia grabbed Hayden’s shoulders.

“Hide your identity as the Northern Sage until you become an adult and cultivate your strength. Even if you’re alone, you must survive. Live.”

Amidst the screams, Sophia briefly lowered her head and then raised it again.

It seemed like she was enduring the overwhelming emotions. Terrified, Hayden didn’t quite understand what she was saying. No, he understood but didn’t want to understand. The more he heard, the more frightened he became.

“Sophia, I want to go with you!”

Feeling instinctive unease, Hayden clung to Sophia. However, Sophia, who always warmly embraced him, firmly let him go this time.

“You were bound to part with me anyway, Sage. It’s just happening a bit earlier.”

Appearing to be in her fifties but with a delicate face and a small build, she turned back once and hugged Hayden.

“Don’t follow me, just stay here quietly. Even if someone comes to take you, don’t resist too much. Don’t get hurt.”

Hayden was extremely confused. In such a situation, he had to be saved by Imperialley or his grandfather, the Emperor, or Dragonlord.