Guinevere was pondering in front of the dog hole that William had made.

‘Should I get rid of this? Or leave it?’

She had no idea William was thinking of running away. No, she knew, but she thought it was because of Larisa, not that he had been planning to leave this house even before meeting Larisa…

‘What on earth is the reason?’

William was already sick of this house. Enough to dig 7 dog holes.

‘What should I do?’

Since she couldn’t raise her son by locking him up, she ultimately had to solve the root problem. It meant finding the cause of William’s desire to run away.

But Guinevere had no idea what the problem was. Her mind was blank like a white sheet of paper, unable to think of anything.

“What did I do wrong?”

“Pardon?”

Hedel, who had informed Guinevere about the existence of the dog hole, responded reflexively.

“Did I do something wrong?”

“What’s gone wrong?”

Hedel looked at the dog hole that Guinevere was glaring at. There was an intricate barrier that seemed unbelievable to have been set up by a boy who was about to turn 14.

But that was all; it didn’t seem to be a problem at all for Guinevere. As Hedel was staring at the dog hole, wondering if he was missing something,

“Why on earth does he want to run away?”

“Ah, so that’s the issue.”

Hedel smiled brightly. He had been worried there might be something he didn’t know, but that wasn’t the case. Hedel spoke nonchalantly.

“Isn’t it obviously because he dislikes magic?”

“He dislikes magic?”

Guinevere was dumbfounded.

“Why would he dislike magic?”

“Because he can’t do it.”

“If he can’t do it… he should just try to get better at it.”

Hedel gave a bitter smile.

“He probably doesn’t want to try because he dislikes it.”

“So why does he dislike it in the first place?”

In Guinevere’s not-so-short life, if there was one absolute truth, it was magic. Magic had elevated Guinevere’s life from the gutters of poverty to the ranks of nobility. Only magic never betrayed the effort put into it.

“Perhaps it’s because he knows he can’t surpass you no matter how hard he tries, Lady Guinevere?”

Guinevere stared at the dog hole with dejected eyes, then turned her back, leaving it as it was.

“Are you going to leave it be?”

“Yes.”

Getting rid of a mere dog hole wouldn’t change William’s heart. What needed to change was herself.

“If he dislikes it so much, I should tell him he doesn’t have to do it.”

She couldn’t let him attempt suicide again.

“What’s with the sudden change of heart? I thought you would never give up.”

“Did I say that?”

“You did. You said it didn’t make sense for the son of the Great Witch Rodante to be unable to perform even simple magic until the end.”

That’s right. If William had absolutely no talent for magic, it would be understandable, but he was born with tremendous magical power. In terms of pure magical quantity, he overwhelmingly surpassed even Guinevere.

Even if Guinevere were to perfect the time regression magic, she might not be able to cast it alone due to insufficient magical power.

Yet William had three instances of realizing imperfect magic through sheer will and magical power alone. It was an incredible talent.

If you were to ask if William couldn’t sense magical power, that wasn’t the case either. He was sensitive to the flow and changes of magical power, and his intuition was well-developed. The only reason William couldn’t use magic was because he couldn’t control his own magical power.

“It was wrong of me to keep pushing him to do something he couldn’t, whether it was due to psychological pressure or whatever.”

Hedel unknowingly let out a regretful sound.

“But he’s still only 14. He just doesn’t know yet.”

“No.”

Guinevere knew. Throughout the 50 years that had disappeared, William never managed to use proper magic.

Even the time regression magic completed through death was somewhere between magic and alchemy.

Although alchemy got its name from alchemists’ pursuit of gold, alchemy was originally the study of extracting magical power from matter.

William couldn’t draw out magical power on his own, but he had reached the pinnacle of alchemy, which used magic by using his own blood as a material.

“As long as he’s good at something, it’s fine.”

“Pardon?”

“Never mind.”

Guinevere ignored Hedel’s grumbling and thought to herself.

‘Yes. Why didn’t I think of this earlier? It’s fine as long as he’s good at something.’

It’s not like William would become a failure in life just because he couldn’t use magic. Even if William didn’t accomplish anything, what did it matter? Guinevere could protect William for his entire life.

“And yet.”

And yet she had let that child die. Three times. Guinevere stood still, overwhelmed by her emotions.

“Master?”

She felt Hedel’s questioning gaze. Guinevere teleported to her research lab.

*

‘For some reason I can’t fathom, mother…’

Cares for this child. William felt strange. Even though it sounded like a joke, the statement about bringing this child as his marriage partner seemed sincere.

‘That’s the most troublesome part.’

William looked at Larisa, who was munching on snacks. She was simply adorable.

Her pink hair, so thick it was almost fuzzy, and her red eyes that made you want to look twice, were gazing at him with an innocent expression.

Feeling an inexplicable sense of guilt, William said,

“So, have you thought about what you want to learn?”

“Huh?”

“How about trying various things?”

“Then can I learn magic too?”

“Magic probably won’t work.”

William said with a regretful expression.

“Magic requires special talent… I can’t do magic either.”

“I don’t even know what’s available… What do you want to learn, William?”

William hesitated for a moment. He had never been asked such a question before. After pondering for a while, William answered.

“I… actually want to learn alchemy.”

‘Although I’m already learning it.’

“How do you learn alchemy?”

William was self-taught. But since they were currently discussing Larisa’s career path, he answered sincerely.

“There’s an alchemy department at the academy. I’ll probably have to enroll in the magic department because of my mother, but…”

In fact, that was why he had tried to run away. It was obvious how much of a laughingstock he would become in the magic department if the son of the Great Witch Rodante still couldn’t move even a bit of magical power.

“Then I want to do alchemy too.”

“Um… let’s think about it slowly. There are many other faculties at the academy. Learning a bit of everything while attending basic school will be helpful.”

“I like wherever William goes.”

‘How many years would she have to repeat to attend a 4-year program with me?’

After briefly entertaining this silly thought, William said in a regretful voice,

“You’ll be enrolling after I graduate anyway, so it doesn’t matter if it’s not where I attended.”

“But we could work together after graduation.”

For the first time in his life, William felt a tightness in his nose. Larisa, who had become an orphan, now had no one else to rely on but William.

‘She’s a pitiful child, so I should protect her for life.’

Although his thought process was quite strange, William didn’t realize it at all.

“Then let’s quickly inform the Witch. She said to decide quickly.”

“The Witch?”

“Ah, William’s surname is Rodante too, so it would be weird to call her Lady Rodante in front of you.”

William pondered for a moment. The Witch… It’s a strange title. It sounds like a terrifying witch from a fairy tale.

“Don’t call her that, just call her Mother.”

“Mother?”

“When respectfully referring to someone else’s mother, you call her Mother.”

“I see. Got it!”

And unaware of this conversation between the two, Guinevere felt her heart flutter at Larisa’s adorable title as she came running cutely from afar.

“Mother! I’ve decided to learn alchemy!”

Mother…

“You’re already calling me that?”

“Pardon?”

“No, it’s just that you suddenly called me Mother…”

Then Larisa said with a bright smile,

“William told me to call you that?”

Mother and son looked at each other with cold eyes. William was the first to break eye contact.

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s normal to respectfully call a friend’s mother ‘Mother’.”

“I see. I thought you were trying to pull something.”

“What…!”

Ignoring William’s indignation, Guinevere spoke in a deliberately kind voice.

“So, you want to learn alchemy?”

“Yes!”

“Lara, I hope you’ll listen without misunderstanding. I’ll respect your choice no matter what you choose. But alchemy is often chosen as a minor, so how about choosing the Knight faculty as your major later?”

“Knight?”

“Yes. I’d like you to at least be able to protect yourself, Lara.”

‘You need to be physically strong to live long.’

Moreover, recalling the disappeared past, someone had clearly tried to harm Larisa. William’s protection alone wasn’t enough. This time, she intended to use every possible means to protect Larisa.

“That sounds great. I’ll do as you say, Mother!”

‘How cute.’

Guinevere smiled contentedly. Her son William had never been very childlike since he was young, but Lara’s sparkling eyes showed the kind of innocence that made her think, ‘So this is what being childlike is about.’

However, contrary to Guinevere’s misconception, Larisa’s true intentions were different. From the beginning, she had intended to do whatever Guinevere told her to do.

“You’ve thought well. William will also enter the Knight faculty, so it will be very helpful later.”

“What?!”

William was surprised by this sudden news about himself.

“The Knight faculty, not the Magic department?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“You don’t have any aptitude for magic anyway.”