“It’s true. I didn’t steal it, I was trying to find you and return it.”

“Okay.”

“Really. I was keeping it safe before other kids could steal it.”

“I know. Thank you, JJ.”

What did she know? William felt his insides churning at Larisa’s overly kind response.

“W-well, I’ll be going now.”

“Take care!”

Larisa waved at JJ’s retreating figure as he fled without looking back, his tail between his legs.

William felt a heavy sense of responsibility.

“You don’t actually believe what that guy is saying, do you?”

Larisa remained silent with a lonely expression. William sighed.

“Phew. That’s a relief. I thought you might actually believe all that…”

“I do believe it.”

“What?”

Then Larisa said with a bright smile.

“I just… want to believe it.”

JJ had been a neighbor for a long time. They had gone hungry together and shared leftover bread with each other. She wanted to remember him just like that.

William looked down at Larisa’s small head, which seemed lost in thought, and just sighed inwardly.

Sometimes, a few words from this little one felt more difficult than conversing with a famous philosopher.

“More importantly, William! What should we do, are you in a lot of pain?”

Larisa grabbed William’s hand with a tearful expression. His hand still had dried blood crusted over where it had bled.

“Something like this heals quickly.”

It was true. William, born with the blood of the great witch, tended to recover quickly from small injuries. If left alone, it wouldn’t even leave a scar.

“But it must have hurt.”

Yet Larisa’s eyes welled up with tears. William felt a strange sensation.

He had seen many people find his actions odd, but this was the first time someone had shown such concern.

“I said it’s fine. Let’s go home now.”

He held Larisa’s hand with his uninjured one and walked. Larisa, who had been fiddling with the necklace that was her mother’s keepsake, began to slow down gradually.

Wondering what was wrong, William looked down at Larisa’s face and realized his mistake.

‘Ah, she’s still only seven years old…’

For a seven-year-old, she had walked too much all day today. Even a child with good stamina would be whining about not being able to walk by now.

“Want me to carry you?”

“Huh?”

“If you can’t walk, just say so. I’ll carry you on my back.”

“Ah, no. I can walk.”

“Don’t be stubborn. Are you feeling sleepy now?”

Larisa said, straining her eyes.

“I’m fine. I’m not sleepy at all.”

William picked up Larisa regardless. Carrying her in his arms was more tiring than on his back, but there was no choice since she was being stubborn.

“William, I’m really okay…”

“Just take a nap.”

Larisa soon fell fast asleep. After confirming her regular breathing, William stopped abruptly and said,

“I know you’re all there, so come out.”

William’s sense of presence was far superior to that of ordinary humans. He had known from the beginning that Hedel was following them.

“I said come out?”

“Tch, how did you know?”

“I felt it from the moment you used concealment magic.”

Despite being born with immense magical power befitting the son of the great witch, and being able to sense magical waves and flows more keenly than anyone else, he couldn’t move it. Hedel couldn’t hide his strange emotions.

The perceptive William couldn’t possibly miss those emotions. William said gruffly,

“Why did you follow us?”

“It looked like you were running away.”

“What business is it of yours whether I run away or not?”

“As Lord Rodante’s only disciple, I can’t just stand by and watch her son go astray, can I?”

‘What nonsense.’

William inwardly scoffed. Hedel was probably the person most anxious about the moment he might become a magician.

Hedel looked down on William just the same.

‘If I were Guinevere Rodante’s son, by now I would…’

Hedel shook off his habitual thoughts and approached William.

“Give her to me. I’ll carry her.”

“No.”

William ignored Hedel and started walking.

“It must be hard for you, right? Someone who doesn’t even exercise… She looks heavy?”

“I said no.”

“Shall I teleport you instead?”

William stopped again and turned to look at Hedel, who was following leisurely behind, and said plainly,

“Go back alone. Your magical power seems to be running low.”

Hedel, his true colors exposed, disappeared with an unpleasant expression. William carefully adjusted his hold on Larisa after confirming that Hedel’s presence had completely vanished.

“Ugh. I need to exercise.”

He had a feeling that his mother wouldn’t raise Larisa well, and it seemed he would end up taking care of this little one himself.

No, since the moment he first saw Larisa, he had been feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. It was an as-yet unrealized desire to protect Larisa.

*

“Ran away?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

Hedel shrugged and said,

“What would have happened if I hadn’t followed? You should be grateful for your disciple.”

Hedel had tattled everything that happened today to Guinevere. Hearing this, Guinevere asked with a pale expression,

“W-why… Why is Larisa here?”

“What does that little girl have to do with anything? It didn’t seem like he had been preparing to run away for a year or two.”

“That can’t be.”

Hedel stepped back, startled by Guinevere’s somewhat frantic face.

“I should go see them. Where are they both… Ah, in the dining hall.”

Guinevere let out a sigh of relief after confirming with detection magic that the two were having dinner in the dining hall.

“If you’re so worried, why didn’t you treat him better from the start?”

Hedel grumbled without realizing it. It was more his own complaint than for William’s sake.

He wanted to blame Guinevere’s insensitivity for giving birth to a son but not caring for him, and for taking in a disciple but not even looking at him.

But this time was different.

“I see. Thank you, Hedel.”

Silence fell.

“I’ll go see the children.”

Hedel remained dazed until Guinevere disappeared through teleportation. Thank you? Did she just say thank you? Now?

Hedel wasn’t a fool. Something had changed. And it clearly started with the little one called Larisa.

He suddenly felt like he should have dinner. And he slowly walked towards the dining hall.

Guinevere, who had arrived first by teleportation, was sitting awkwardly in front of the two children.

“So… What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“Pardon?”

“Dreams or something. That kind of thing.”

Guinevere was trying to act friendly with Larisa with a very awkward expression.

She thought she should be extremely nice to Larisa for now. It would be a big problem if the two of them ran away.

It would be even better if she could teach her well and make Larisa feel greatly indebted to her.

Larisa’s drowsiness completely disappeared. William had woken her up saying she should eat before sleeping, and she was forcing herself to eat, but now she felt like she might get indigestion again.

“I promised your mother I would support you in anything until you become an adult. So go ahead and tell me. What do you want to do? Is there anything you’d like to learn?”

“Why did you make such a promise with my mother?”

“I received something in return.”

“Something in return?”

“Yes. I agreed to receive something very precious. I’ll tell you what it is when you’re a bit older.”

It would be troublesome if she said she didn’t want to marry William. The plan was to keep it a secret until the two entered puberty and realized their feelings for each other.

However, when Larisa looked frightened, Guinevere reluctantly added with an anxious face,

“It’s not your mother’s soul or her heart or blood and flesh, so don’t worry.”

“Eek!”

Seeing Larisa’s pale face, William protested,

“Why are you scaring her in front of a child?”

Guinevere was very flustered because she had no intention of scaring her at all. What should I do?

“It’s okay, Mother is just joking. Besides, even if she received such things, they couldn’t be used anyway.”

“Really?”

“Yes. If you really wanted to use a heart as an ingredient, you’d have to extract it while the person was alive or apply special treatment, but your mother had a proper funeral, right?”

Larisa started trembling at William’s comfort(?). Hedel, unable to bear it any longer, stepped in.

“Both of you, stop it.”

He picked up Larisa and patted her back while saying,

“You’re both saying such inappropriate things in front of a child. She might have a seizure at this rate. Are you in your right minds?”

“Why are you interfering, mister?”

“Lala, don’t worry. Marina was a very good person, so she must have gone to heaven and will never be in pain again.”

William, who had stood up abruptly to take Larisa, hesitated. Larisa was crying with her head buried in Hedel’s shoulder.

“And although the master might seem scary, she’s not a bad person. She protects Arendia. She must have decided to support you after seeing your potential.”

“Sniff, really?”

“Of course. Even I became a disciple without any compensation.”

Larisa didn’t believe in selfless good deeds, but she soon fell asleep from exhaustion while being held in his warm embrace.

Then Hedel turned to the two dumbfounded people with a victorious smile.

“She’s fallen asleep. Isn’t she adorable?”

William made a frustrated expression, unable to snatch the sleeping Larisa away.

“What’s with the nickname when you just met her today?”

“Lala didn’t say she disliked it. Oh, William, have you still not called her by a nickname?”

“Eek!”

Hedel smiled contentedly at the boy’s genuinely frustrated face.

“I guess I win. Hehehe.”

Guinevere, who had been watching the two, sighed and said,

“Hedel, just in case, don’t harbor any ulterior motives towards Lala. She’s the one who will marry our William.”

“What?!”

Hedel was bewildered at suddenly being treated like a pedophile, but he was more surprised by the news that Larisa had been brought as William’s marriage partner.

William exclaimed with a bright red face,

“Ah, please don’t go around saying such things!”

Hedel looked at William seriously.

“Don’t you have any conscience?”

“I, it wasn’t me, Mother decided on her own!”

“You’ll wake Lala. Please be quiet.”

William fumed silently.