Kirian scrutinized her expression to gauge her intent, but only quite sincere concern emerged.

“If there is something I can help with, please let me know.”

As Kirian looked at her with an indifferent, expressionless gaze, Esmeralda forced a small smile.

“Think of it as a bonus, since we’re bound by a deal.”

And she wore a slightly awkward smile, as if something was bothering her.

“Of course, I’ll keep it a secret from Princess Reina too.”

(This is a time separator.)

I skipped school for a few days because I didn’t want to see either His or Kirian.

“Miss, you’re not sick, are you?”

Eliza asked with concern.

I stopped reaching for a cookie.

“Me?”

Eliza, who had gathered both hands to her chest, nodded.

“Yes, you haven’t been getting out of bed all day, and you’re not eating properly.”

I closed the novel I had been reading as I tossed and turned.

“Me?”

Around me, tins of cookies and chocolate boxes were stacked high, and all sorts of food wrappers were scattered. I had been eating three meals a day, just as Eliza brought them.

But Eliza seemed not to see the mess.

“I’m really worried to death.”

Eliza, who would only worry about strange things, said.

“You’re not worried about me not going to school?”

I asked with a slightly subdued voice.

“School?”

Eliza tilted her head.

“Isn’t it good not to go to school?”

“Ugh.”

I sighed heavily.

“Enough, Eliza. I’m really fine, so don’t worry.”

I lay back down again. Although avoiding things this way was not a wise decision, I wanted to rest a bit right now.

Both were asking for things I could not give. It would have been easy to refuse if it were someone else, but since they were precious people, it wasn’t easy.

“Shall I ask Prince His to come visit you?”

Eliza, still convinced I was gravely ill, asked.

“No!”

“Then shall I call Kirian, Your Highness? Have him talk with you while combing your hair.”

I finally jumped up.

“Never!”

With trembling fingers, I pointed at Eliza.

“Don’t call anyone! Don’t even think about it! Don’t even imagine it!”

Eliza started to sob.

“Miss… Don’t try to endure all the pain by yourself… Really, your heart is so tender that it’s dangerous…”

Someone knocked on the door at that moment.

“Ah! Maybe, did you call him already?!”

I pulled my hair and screamed inwardly, but Eliza was busy clapping her hands in delight.

“I didn’t call him, but it seems lovers’ hearts communicate!”

And she briskly walked towards the door.

“Just a moment, Prince His! I’ll be right there.”

I desperately ran after Eliza, jumping off the bed, trying to stop her.
But I couldn’t keep up with Eliza’s pace, and finally caught up with her after she flung open the door.

I hid behind Eliza in shock, but it was too late.

“Er… Princess Reina? I was worried since you didn’t come to class, so I came to look for you.”

It wasn’t His’s voice. I peeked my head out.

“Math teacher?”

The math teacher standing by the door greeted me cheerfully.

“Princess! I’m glad to see you looking well. Your face has brightened a lot.”

“Ahem, yes. I’ve been resting a bit.”

Ignoring Eliza’s suspicious glance at the math teacher, I hurriedly invited him inside.

And quickly closed the door to my bedroom to hide the messy bed, and gestured for Eliza to make tea.

“Please sit down. What brings you here?”

“Ah… You missed a few days of class, so I thought I’d catch you up on what you’ve missed.”

“Math lessons?”

I sipped my tea with a slightly nervous expression.

Even if I fell behind, I probably still hadn’t advanced beyond middle school level, so reading one more novel seemed more productive.

Moreover, when I take classes with other students, I can doze off without getting caught, but if I start nodding off right in front of the teacher, that would be a disgrace.

It would have been better if the etiquette teacher had come instead.

“We’ve started studying magic books recently.”

The math teacher pulled a book from the bag he’d brought. It was quite a thick book, filled with math problems.

“A workbook?”

I flipped through a few pages, and there was no separate workbook covering everything from elementary school to high school, even collegelevel material.

The last few problems even approached the level of university major courses.

“A workbook? No, it’s a magic book.”

“Magic book?”

When I looked at her with eyes that understood nothing, the math teacher’s smile awkwardly slipped.

From the fleeting expression, it seemed like she was wondering if the other teachers’ complaints about my stupidity were really true.

But I had decided to be confident about my stupidity.

“I’ve never seen a magic book before. How do you use it?”

“Ah…”

With a bitter exclamation, the math teacher pointed to the first page of the magic book.

“If you look here, there’s a spell written down, and underneath that, there’s a formula needed for the spell.”

As she said, the first page had a firestarting spell and a simple problem.

“Solve this formula and channel magic, and the spell manifests. The more powerful the spell, the more complex the formula needed, and if you want to manifest a powerful spell with a simple formula, you need that much more magic.”

I understood how to solve the formula.

“What’s magic?”

From the twitching of the math teacher’s lips, it seemed an outofcommonsense question. But the teacher soon resignedly took out a pen and solved the first formula.

“Place your hand over the spell once. If you concentrate a little, you’ll feel the magic flow out right away.”

You can light a fire just by touching it?

I steadied my throbbing heart and placed my hand over the spell.