Guinevere inwardly lamented how the situation had come to this. Using invisibility magic to spy on children’s school – was this a crime or not?

“Why on earth do I have to be doing this?”

“Aren’t you curious?”

“…”

“What if our cute Lara gets bullied by her classmates?”

‘Since when were you so close with Larisa….’

Guinevere sighed and watched through the window. Larisa finished her self-introduction with a nervous face next to the homeroom teacher and sat down at her seat.

Class was about to begin soon. Guinevere didn’t have time to stay here for long.

“I’m busy, so I’ll be going now.”

Just as Guinevere was about to teleport, her hand was gently grabbed again.

“Wait.”

“You can watch by yourself. I’m busy.”

“What’s so busy? I already checked everything. Al is fine and Lord is sleeping, right? Is there anything more important than Lara’s happiness right now?”

She hadn’t completed the time reversal magic yet. But Guinevere wanted to keep the fact that she was researching that magic a secret from Siod. She didn’t know how he would react.

Would Siod be able to betray his own kind and take Guinevere’s side? Probably not to that extent. She had no choice but to change the subject.

“Just because you get bullied a bit as a child doesn’t mean your life will be unhappy.”

“Wow.”

Siod marveled at Guinevere’s character.

‘I shouldn’t have asked Larisa what happiness is, I should have asked Vera. After all, the standard of the oath depends on Vera.’

Siod decided to ask now while he was at it.

“Vera, what do you think happiness is?”

Guinevere furrowed her brow. It was a question she had never thought about before. After hesitating, the answer she gave was one she herself wasn’t sure about.

“Being safe… prosperous… and healthy?”

‘Fortunately, her standards are low.’

Siod just nodded without saying anything. If that’s what Guinevere thought, it seemed better to leave her thinking that way.

Even if Larisa herself thought she was unhappy, as long as Guinevere didn’t recognize it, the oath would still be valid.

“Anyway, don’t go. I have something to give you.”

Siod took something out from his breast.

“What is this?”

“A mithril dagger.”

Guinevere reflexively took the dagger he gave her. From the scabbard, it was clear this was no ordinary item, with exquisite craftsmanship engraved on it. When she drew the blade, a dazzlingly smooth blade was revealed.

“Why are you giving me this?”

“The one you had before looked too shabby.”

The magic engraved on the blade was of a kind Guinevere couldn’t even begin to guess.

Siod chuckled as he watched Guinevere glaring at the dagger, unconsciously trying to analyze what kind of magic it was. It was undeniable that he had fallen head over heels, finding even this side of her cute.

“The magic on there isn’t human magic. So you won’t be able to decipher it.”

“Then what is it?”

“My curse.”

Curse? Guinevere silently glared at the blade. Then she quietly sheathed it.

“What happens if you stab with it?”

“Even a dragon wouldn’t be unscathed.”

It was quite a pleasing gift. Guinevere tucked the dagger into her bosom and said.

“Why are you giving this to me?”

“Why, you ask? Your old one was too shabby. How were you going to face a dragon with that? Well, I’ll make sure you don’t have to face one, but still, just in case.”

“…”

Siod took Guinevere’s silent hand and leaned against the wall. He smiled and said to the dazed Guinevere.

“Anyway, now that I’ve given you a gift, don’t go. This feels just like we’re on a date.”

“Stop talking nonsense. How is this a date? It’s stalking.”

“Stalking…? I just want to watch over a child’s growth with a parent’s heart.”

Siod put on a thoroughly wronged expression.

“Look at Larisa’s nervous face. As someone from the slums, am I allowed to be in a place like this? What if I mess up school life and bring shame to the Rodante family?”

“…”

“Can you hear it? The voice of Lara’s heart?”

Guinevere silently looked at Larisa’s face. Come to think of it, she did seem nervous. Why was she thinking such useless thoughts? Larisa was already no different from her own daughter. She was confident she could send anyone who dared to ignore her to hell.

“What are you thinking? Some scary thoughts? Don’t do that to kids.”

Guinevere glared at Siod with suspicious eyes. Did this dragon bastard actually have the ability to read minds?

“Don’t worry, I can’t do mind reading or anything like that. You can just tell by looking. I’ve lived among humans for how long now?”

“How long?”

“About a thousand years?”

Guinevere was quite surprised. No wonder he seemed to know human society quite well despite being a dragon.

“Why does a dragon know human life so well?”

“Because we’re wary of humans.”

Guinevere found it fascinating. The current Siod seemed like he would chatter on about anything if she just asked.

“Why did you approach me in the first place?”

“Because a transcendent appeared in human society for the first time in hundreds of years, so I wanted to take a look.”

“…”

“What else are you curious about?”

Siod grinned. It felt very special that an indifferent woman like Guinevere was showing curiosity towards him.

“Hmm? Hurry and ask.”

“Never mind.”

“Ah, why? Don’t you have anything else you’re curious about me?”

“…”

As Guinevere kept her mouth shut, Siod started talking about things she hadn’t even asked.

“I went on Lord’s orders. It’s something we always do whenever a transcendent appears in the human world. If that person seems like they might be a threat to dragonkind, we cut them off at the root.”

“Then why did you leave me alone?”

“You’re not interested in anything but magic, right? I didn’t think you’d covet something like a dragon’s heart even if we left you alone. You’re not interested in politics either, so you wouldn’t dream of world domination. Have you ever thought about crossing the Valley of Dragons?”

She hadn’t. Guinevere furrowed her brow. Truly, she had no interest in anything but magic.

“And I told you. I fell in love.”

Guinevere watched Siod’s smile and smirked. She couldn’t believe his words.

“If Lord finds out I gave you a gift like this, he’d try to kill me… You still can’t believe me?”

“I don’t trust anyone.”

It was true. Even her parents abandoned her, and even her only son abandoned her without hesitation. When William stabbed his own heart, Guinevere felt abandoned.

“But I’m sincere, Guinevere.”

“Then why did you leave?”

Siod, at a loss for words, started banging his head against the wall.

“Right… Why did I do that… Haah…”

While the two were killing time with idle chat, class had already ended. A girl approached Larisa, who was sitting quietly. Guinevere unconsciously leaned in to listen.

“Are you Larisa Rodante?”

It was a girl with rather sharp-looking eyes. Larisa blinked her innocent eyes and answered.

“Huh? I’m not Rodante.”

“Then you’re just Larisa?”

“Yes…”

“I’m Juliana Dimore.”

At this, Larisa visibly became flustered.

‘Why is she like that?’

As Guinevere wondered, Siod muttered beside her.

“Oh dear, she’s a noble.”

“What about being a noble?”

“Lara is a commoner, so she should use honorifics with nobles, right?”

Finally understanding Larisa’s situation, Guinevere frowned. Fortunately, the girl didn’t nitpick about Larisa’s informal speech and continued.

“Then… is it true?”

“What is?”

“Is it true that witches eat children?”

Larisa’s eyes widened as she exclaimed.

“No, it’s not!”

“If it’s not true, why are you shouting like that?”

Larisa pressed her lips tightly shut. As the girl who seemed to be the class’s power player turned away, the other children also watched their behavior and didn’t speak to Larisa.

Guinevere watched the unfolding situation and became exasperated. She muttered ominously.

“Is that… little thing trying to bully our Lara?”

“Whoa, whoa, calm down, Vera. She hasn’t bullied her yet.”

“What’s with that atmosphere? How dare those ignorant brats disrespect a Rodante?”

“They’re ignorant children, that’s why. Please calm down, will you?”

With nowhere to vent her rising anger, Guinevere glared at Siod. Siod spoke as if he had expected this.

“William didn’t have friends either, right? So of course it would be even harder for Larisa, wouldn’t it?”

“William’s personality was…”

“You mean he didn’t have friends because his personality was like yours? Is that really the case?”

Siod continued dispassionately.

“The rumors circulating in the academy don’t seem to have formed in just a day or two. She may be the child of a noble family, but she’s an illegitimate child who doesn’t even know her father. When others were being taught by subject-specific tutors, she was sent to a crumbling basic school, so it’s clear her mother doesn’t care about her. There’s nothing special about her, so the teachers have no reason to pay attention to her, and you didn’t even attend her entrance or graduation ceremonies, right?”

Guinevere stared blankly at Siod, beaten down by all these facts. Siod sighed and continued.

“I know. I have no right to say these things to you. But things can be different from now on. Both you and me.”

Inside the classroom, Larisa sat with a gloomy face. What could that child be thinking? Guinevere whispered, as if making an excuse.

“I didn’t know. How other nobles taught their children…”

When Guinevere was young, she desperately wanted to go to school. Because if you graduated from school, you could get a proper job. But as someone from the slums, she didn’t even have a family register, so she couldn’t go to school and couldn’t get a proper job, so she entered a mercenary group as a child doing odd jobs.

She started learning magic by watching over the shoulder of the mercenary group’s magician as she helped with the chores he assigned, and even then, when she was caught, she had to be beaten black and blue. Her life changed when she bought a proper magic book with the money she had scraped together penny by penny.

She thought it had changed.

“Should I take her out of school now and hire tutors for her at home?”

“Why bother when I’m here?”

“But if we keep sending her to school…”

“The important thing is to show that Larisa is a loved child.”

How?