‘What’s the point of scolding or making promises with the child if we never even meet!’

Even if they did meet, Aeli, who couldn’t touch anything, couldn’t possibly inflict physical or mental damage on Lutis, but it was a matter of feelings.

She thought he might have finally wanted to mend their relationship by calling the child by his true name.

‘If this is how it’s going to be, why did he call him by his true name in the first place, no… I’m not saying I dislike it, but still, this is a bit…’

Aeli raised one hand to cover her eyes and tried hard to swallow the sigh that was about to escape.

“…Mother?”

The child tilted his head, sensing something odd about Aeli’s behavior.

−Hmm. It’s nothing. Adi, what shall we play today?

“Hup.”

Well, then can I eat pudding and go to the library! The child exclaimed, clasping his hands tightly as if he had been waiting for this. Aeli nodded.

After breakfast and dessert, until the afternoon walk time came, the child’s daily routine could usually be narrowed down to a few activities.

Baking with Mari, drawing with coloring tools, or going to the stable to feed the horses.

‘Or he asked to be taught studies in the library.’

Yesterday was drawing, the day before was baking, and the day before that was the stable, so today must be the library.

Aeli stroked the back of the child who was swinging his legs back and forth, looking at the pudding that Mari had placed on the table in front of the couch at some point. This much was as expected.

“Since you’ll be having chocolate cake later this afternoon, I brought custard pudding and milk pudding. Which do you prefer?”

“Can’t I have both?”

“I’m afraid not, because you didn’t keep your promise to brush your teeth after drinking chocolate milk before bed last night. Considering your teeth that suffered all night, you should only have one.”

“Ung…”

“You also have the option of eating both puddings now instead of the chocolate cake in the afternoon. Would you like to do that?”

“…I’ll eat the milk pudding.”

“Alright.”

“Can I have syrup too…”

Aeli held back her laughter at the child who stopped swinging his legs and spoke glumly.

It was obvious that if she laughed now, the sulking would last for at least three days.

−That’s why Mom told you to brush and go to sleep last night, didn’t she?

Having barely managed to hold back her laughter, Aeli instead spoke to the child as if gently scolding him. She clearly warned him yesterday that he needed to brush his teeth.

In response to those words, the child’s mouth protruded and his cheeks puffed up, but from Aeli’s view diagonally behind him, only the bulging white cheek was visible.

‘Who was it that crawled halfway into the bathroom half-asleep and then collapsed and fell asleep right there.’

Huh. Aeli shook her head, unable to contain her dismay at this unreasonable attitude.

She wished he would consider her feelings a little when she found him sleeping soundly on the cold marble floor after not coming out for a long time.

Really, for a moment she thought her already stopped heart had stopped again.

“Does it suit your taste?”

“Mm. It’s delicious. But it seems too small.”

Isn’t this for babies? The child smacked his lips as he ate the pudding, which was only as big as a small child’s palm, with a tiny spoon.

‘…Well, you are a baby after all…’

Aeli was at a loss for words as she watched the child, who had already finished the pudding and was now cleaning up the remaining syrup at the bottom.

Mari, likewise speechless at the bold statement from a child still as small as a bean, opened and closed her mouth.

After a long time choosing her words, Mari finally managed to speak as she took away the empty plate the child had cleared.

“Well… um…”

“…?”

“If you don’t forget to brush your teeth every day for a month, I’ll ask the chef to make them a bit bigger…”

“Really?”

Mari let out a helpless laugh at the child who immediately brightened up, and left the room.

‘…Should I tell him that scraping the bottom of the plate clean goes against dining etiquette?’

Aeli contemplated as she observed the small black back of the child’s head in the room where they were left alone, but that thought didn’t last long.

“Mother! Library!”

−Mm, alright. Then let’s go get Adi’s notebook and writing tools.

She thought it would be fine to let him do as he pleased for now, since it wasn’t like he was about to debut in high society right away.

−What would you like to learn today? If you don’t want to study, shall we read instead?

Aeli asked, looking at the child who had arrived at the library, half running.

“Magic! I want to learn what we did last time!”

−Is that so? Let’s see, where did we leave off last time…

“Making circles!”

The child said, raising his hand brightly while sitting in the chair. Nodding at that, Aeli opened her mouth.

−Alright. Then before we start, can you tell me what Mom first taught you?

“Don’t use magic or move magical objects carelessly in front of others except Mother, and if I need to use it, get permission first.”

It was a reminder she had been making every time since first witnessing the child using magic.

Additionally, since coming to the main house, she had been asking this every time they came to the library to continuously remind him.

‘We need to be more careful than before, after all.’

Compared to the annex where only a few designated servants came and went, the main house had more people coming and going.

Moreover, with the training ground right behind where knights with developed ki sense were almost stationed, and most importantly, with the Sword Master living under the same roof, it was better to be prepared as much as possible.

Aeli clapped her hands together, satisfied with the child’s answer.

−Circles are the first basic step a magician must go through to become one. Why do you think that is?

“Uh, because… without circles, you can’t use magic.”

−That’s right. You need to feel mana and condense it… well, gather it to make a ring, and only then can you use magic. The number of circles also determines what magic you can use.

“Why?”

−If you use magic recklessly beyond your ability, it puts a strain on your body. It’s set for safety.

“Why?”

−Because if your mana runs out and you become depleted, or if your circles break from overexertion, it hurts a lot. In severe cases, you could even die.

“Why?”

−Well, because the backlash…

But didn’t I explain this last time? Aeli, who was tilting her head, noticed the child’s trembling corners of the mouth and let out a deflated laugh.

No wonder he kept asking the same question, he was just playing a prank.

Aeli reached out and tickled the child’s nape. The high-pitched laughter unique to young children filled the library.

−Is it okay to tease Mom, or not okay?

“Not, ahihik! Not okay!”

Only after receiving a definitive answer did Aeli remove her hand and open her mouth again.

−Anyway, in the case of ordinary people, they can’t use magic without circles. But Adi is using magic without circles, right?

“Umm… yes.”

−The reason why Adi shouldn’t use magic in front of others is not only because Adi is the young lord of Rattliffe, but also because of this.

Even Mom has never seen a case like this before. The child blinked his big eyes at Aeli’s words.

As she said, it was a situation Aeli had never heard of, even having lived in that Mason for practically her entire life.

‘Whether in terms of mana quantity or application skills, this level would be counted among the top even in a magic tower.’

Not only does he far exceed the maximum mana capacity that a young body should be able to handle without any issues, but he also naturally uses magic without circles as if it’s a matter of course.

It had long since left the realm of normalcy.

Just in case, she tried to persuade him to try making circles now, but even that was abandoned after a few failures.

To be precise, it would be more correct to say that it was impossible to make them at all.

‘Considering the level of magic he usually uses and his understanding, he should have been able to make them long ago…’

Every time the child tried to make circles, the path of mana movement was as clear as those who had already completed them.

Even if he tried to circulate mana to make circles, it was like running on a hamster wheel since it was already in place.

Literally, there were no circles, but mana was spinning in the air.

−…

“…Mother?”

Even if Mason blood was mixed in, isn’t it strange for such an unusual magician to come from the Rattliffe family, who are not born with innate mana?

So Aeli remained silent for a moment before asking the child.

−Adi, have you really never learned magic from anyone?

It was then that the child’s eyes trembled slightly.

Aeli opened her mouth again.

−Adi.

“…”

−If you know something, you need to tell Mom honestly about this. Only then can we figure out what to do from now on.

“I’ll just… use it quietly, so you don’t need to figure out anything…”

−Can you be sure there won’t be any danger at all? What if the person who taught you magic is dangerous-

“It’s not dangerous!”

The child shouted before Aeli could finish her sentence.

Aeli looked at the child with wide eyes in surprise.

−…

The introductory stage of becoming a magician wasn’t created for nothing.

Although the child’s magic was unusually powerful and well-implemented despite being cast without circles in a strange form, it could be dangerous for that very reason.

‘Well, at least if I had some information to work with, I could try to find a clue, but this reaction…’

Crash!

The chair fell backwards with a loud noise as the child suddenly stood up from his seat.

Even he seemed startled by his own action, stammering in great confusion.

“Th-that’s not it…”

−…Mm, I’m not angry. What’s not it?

“I… I didn’t learn it, I saw it being used a long time ago.”

−How long ago is a long time ago?

“Uh, very very long ago… even if I tell you, Mother, I don’t remember well so I can’t.”

Aeli sighed as she pressed the corners of her eyes.

No matter how long ago “very very long ago” was, considering the child’s age, it would be at most 5 years even counting from birth.

Moreover, it wasn’t that he couldn’t tell her because she wouldn’t understand, but that he couldn’t remember.

‘It’s been… about winter when I opened my eyes like this, so at most it hasn’t even been 6 months yet.’

Aeli parted her lips, intending to tell the child that it was okay and to try telling her who it was first.

However, she couldn’t ask as the child, who had been moving his eyes back and forth, suddenly ran towards the library door.

−Adi!

“I don’t know! They’re not a bad person…!”

−I understand, so don’t run! What if you fall and get hurt?!

There wasn’t even time to sigh at the thought that today’s lesson was ruined.

“Ack!”

The child, who was trying to run out after opening the library door, bumped into someone’s leg and clutched his hurt nose.

The next moment, the child’s eyes widened as he met the gaze of the person who had put their hands under his armpits and lifted him up.