Hedel managed to procure a carriage in a short time. It was a magnificent carriage with the Rodante family crest emblazoned on it. William was dumbfounded when he saw it. Larisa excitedly said:

“I asked him, and he bought us a carriage.”

William was thinking that Larisa really was special when she continued:

“He probably would have bought one if you asked too. You’re just too timid to ask for such things, aren’t you, William?”

‘Timid?’

William wanted to deny it, but he couldn’t bring himself to.

‘Is that really true?’

Why hadn’t he asked his mother to buy a carriage? Compared to the bold Larisa, he did seem timid.

‘Well, it’s not like the Rodante family is in financial difficulty. If I had asked, they would have bought a carriage…’

It was probably due to an inferiority complex. After all, among those who frequented the Rodante household, he was the only one who couldn’t use teleportation magic. William smiled bitterly.

*

And then the day of William’s entrance exam arrived.

“William, do your best!”

Larisa was adorably cute as she cheered with her tiny fists clenched, but William couldn’t show his appreciation.

That was because the cold and stern Archmage Guinevere Rodante was sitting next to Larisa.

William sighed, hesitated for a moment, and then asked:

“Why did you come here?”

He couldn’t get used to the idea of Guinevere playing the role of a parent. Not just William, but everyone gathered here was holding their breath and watching Guinevere’s every move. Guinevere, however, remained nonchalant.

“I came to make sure you enroll in the Knight Department.”

“I had absolutely no intention of enrolling in the Magic Department anyway.”

“That’s why I need to see with my own eyes that you’re going to the Knight Department.”

The conversation was going nowhere.

And as rumors spread that Guinevere Rodante had arrived, crowds began to gather.

Chatter and murmurs filled the air.

“Look over there! That’s Guinevere Rodante!”

“Then which one is her son?”

“Isn’t it that handsome one with black hair?”

“But his eye color is different…”

“He must have gotten his eyes from his father!”

“Why is he going to the Knight Department instead of the Magic Department?”

“Maybe he’s already mastered magic and wants to conquer another field!”

‘No, that’s not it…’

William sighed. Even amidst all the whispering, Guinevere’s expression remained unchanged.

‘This is so embarrassing… Why did she come?’

William had been absolutely certain that Guinevere wouldn’t come, which made the situation even more awkward for him.

“You can do it, William!”

William gave a sheepish smile to the cute Larisa and then went to stand in the waiting line.

‘If I had known this would happen, I should have learned more instead of just doing physical training.’

The sword instructor had said that this level of preparation would be enough to pass without difficulty, so William had only consistently done basic physical training and spent the rest of his time playing with Larisa.

If he had known this would happen, he should have held onto the instructor who was about to leave and asked to be taught some decent swordsmanship.

The thought of having to show his clumsy skills in front of such a large crowd made him feel sick.

‘It’s not like I knew Mother would come…’

Without Guinevere Rodante, William was just an insignificant boy. But to think that his mother would even come to the entrance exam. He had never imagined it.

Surprisingly, the entrance exam for the Knight Department was in a tournament format, and only the top 30 would be accepted. William waited nervously.

Soon the tournament brackets were revealed, and William’s turn approached.

The boy who was William’s opponent frowned with a somewhat doubtful expression and said:

“William Rodante, why did you choose the Knight Department instead of the Magic Department?”

There had been no rumors of William taking knight lessons. The upper class was small enough that everyone generally knew what others were up to.

There had been a rumor that he had called for a sword instructor recently but sent him away after just one day. If he thought he could enter the Knight Department with just that, it would be an insult to all the aspiring entrants.

They had been diligently training since childhood to reach this point. After all, graduates of the Royal Academy’s Knight Department could be knighted by a member of the imperial family.

“If you’re not looking down on the Knight Department, you must have prepared something. But if you have any honor, don’t use any tricks and face the duel fairly.”

“Tricks?”

“Magic is prohibited in the entrance exam.”

“I can’t use magic.”

“W-What did you say?”

“I said I can’t use magic. I have absolutely no talent for it.”

“Stop talking nonsense!”

Thinking he was being mocked, the boy started to get angry. William held the wooden sword carelessly and said:

“And I’ve never properly learned swordsmanship either, so please go easy on me.”

The boy opponent decided to go all out from the start. And William did his best to avoid the attacks.

Literally, he just kept dodging.

“Yikes! Why are you only dodging!”

“I’ve never learned swordsmanship, so I’m not sure how to attack…”

“Stop running away and attack me too!”

“I told you, I don’t know how.”

As William kept dodging here and there, his opponent’s stamina began to drop. Surprisingly, William was physically fit. Even though he had only been consistently doing basic physical training, his stamina was better than the boy who had trained for a long time.

“I said attack!”

Finally, the exhausted boy shouted in frustration. And to William’s quick perception, the boy’s upper stance left his sides wide open.

William didn’t miss the opening and struck hard with his wooden sword.

“Argh!”

The boy went down with a single hit.

And William’s boring duels continued. William waited for his opponents to exhaust their stamina and show an opening, then clumsily swung his sword.

Yet, William ended up being the final victor. Every match ended with a single decisive blow.

“Wow! William! You’re first place!”

William was walking towards the jumping and excited Larisa with a smile when he suddenly froze. It was because of what Guinevere said next to her.

“Top of the class entrance. Well done.”

‘Did I hear that right?’

Even when he looked again, Guinevere said nothing more.

On the way back in the carriage, Larisa chattered:

“Mother, what does ‘top of the class’ mean?”

“It means first place.”

“Wow, William. Top of the class entrance. Well done.”

Larisa repeated Guinevere’s words. She had a habit of eagerly using new words she learned during her recent reading lessons.

Thanks to this, William realized that what he had heard wasn’t an auditory hallucination.

“Mother, you seem… different lately?”

“Me?”

“You’re giving praise and such that you never used to…”

William didn’t look particularly pleased to receive the compliment. Rather, he looked suspicious. Seeing this made Guinevere’s heart bitter.

‘I must change, at least this time.’

Guinevere watched her son’s reaction and made a small excuse:

“I always thought it was natural for my son to excel.”

‘Did she just say ‘my son’? Just now?’

William was inwardly shocked. He was starting to suspect that his mother might have contracted a terminal illness. No, since she had already lived for over a hundred years, it might really be possible.

Suddenly worried, William asked:

“Is it your time to die?”

“What?”

“No, I heard that when people change like this, it means their time has come…”

“No, it’s not.”

Phew. William inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. Guinevere barely held back her tears at her son’s joke and changed the subject. Lately, whenever she thought about her son’s suicide, tears would threaten to fall of their own accord.

“Anyway, this was where your talent lay. I’m truly glad we discovered your talent, even if it’s only now.”

“This is pretty early, isn’t it? I’m only 14 years old…”

Guinevere, who had discovered her son’s talent after 64 years, was at a loss for words.

“I’m busy, so I’ll be going now.”

And with that, she disappeared using teleportation.

Guinevere returned to her laboratory and began to sob while clutching her bed, but William just thought it was typical of his unpredictable mother.

Left alone, Larisa began to chatter:

“William, you were really cool. And I’m so glad you didn’t get hurt.”

“Once I decided to enter the Knight Department, I have to accept that I might get hurt during training.”

“Accept?”

“It means I have to be prepared for it.”

“But I didn’t want to see you getting hurt right in front of me. I’m really glad you dodged everything.”

That… William felt the same way. If possible, he didn’t want to see Larisa getting hit right in front of him either. But he couldn’t oppose her entering the Knight Department if that’s what she wanted.

William knew well what true ‘protection’ meant. As if he had pondered only that for a long time.

“Me too. I don’t think I want to see you getting hurt.”

“Then I should practice dodging like you did!”

“Yeah.”

William smiled bitterly. Had he been lonely all this time? Is that why he had become so attached to this child who suddenly appeared?

And mother too… Mother had changed since Larisa appeared. Hedel, of course, and everyone in the mansion felt the change.

‘Is it because Larisa is so cute?’

William briefly recalled himself at 7 years old.

‘Why do I have to learn magic anyway?’

He remembered his 7-year-old self shouting defiantly.

‘Wasn’t there a time when I was cuter?’

He tried to recall his memories from when he was 5 years old.

‘I don’t want to! I don’t want to learn magic! You do it yourself!’

He remembered the shocked look on his mother’s face when he told her to do it herself, and how she had stumbled away. Hmm. Not cute at all.

“Will Willy help me?”

“Huh?”

Larisa tilting her head as she asked was just too adorable. When William responded dumbly, Larisa said with a bright smile:

“Willy is a good teacher, right? You taught me how to read, and I think you’ll teach me swordsmanship well too.”

“Ah, sure.”

Although William didn’t know the first thing about swordsmanship, he answered with a fond smile. He would teach her well.

If he let some strict person teach her and saw her getting hit, it would break his heart.