episode_0000

I just wanted to see a happy ending.

I never expected it would turn out like this.

“The contract ends today.”

“What does that mean?”

Elin’s eyebrows gather in the middle.

As if he really didn’t understand.

How on earth did this happen?

Luke couldn’t help but let out a sigh.

“… I am no longer a tutor. I have no reason to be here.”

“Teacher, were you by my side because of the contract?”

Elin smiles faintly.

I am absolutely certain that a teacher would never do that.

But Luke had to betray Elin’s heart.

“I guess… that’s right.”

“… … What?”

Ellin laughs as if she misheard.

Instead, he smiles brightly and brushes his hair back.

“What does that mean?”

Do you still think it’s a joke?

Still have strong faith.

Luke said nothing, just met her eyes.

“… Teacher?”

Only then do the corners of your mouth become stiff.

It didn’t take long for my strong faith to waver.

Elin, who was trembling like an animal abandoned by its owner, barely managed to squeeze out a voice.

“… … Lie.”

“… … ”

Yeah, that’s actually a lie.

Of course, the reason I was by Elin’s side wasn’t just because of the contract.

But now I had to push it away even if I had to make excuses like this.

“The contract is over if we renew it.”

Ellin’s voice was full of tremors.

“Just sign here.”

When did you prepare it?

He thrust the contract in front of me.

A contract filled with special treatment that you wouldn’t receive even if you went to the royal palace.

There was only one thing that was annoying.

“Who makes the contract period permanent?”

Knowing that it was not honest, the contract period was written in very small print.

“There’s nothing more you can learn from me now, right?”

“… … ”

Elin kept her mouth shut.

Her level had long since surpassed Luke’s.

“I have to go to the top of the tower now. It’s an old promise.”

“Are you going to where ‘he’ is now?”

Elin’s eyes sink.

Just like when I first met her.

The eyes that once shone like sapphires were now covered in darkness reminiscent of the deep sea.

“… … ”

It was only then that I realized I had slipped up.

Ever since, Elin had hated the guy who tried to take Luke to the Magic Tower.

“Don’t go.”

Ellen took a step closer and held out her hand.

“Stay with me.”

The small and scarred hands have now become white and beautiful.

Luke made it that way.

“… That can’t be.”

So even more so, I couldn’t hold that hand.

As if she had expected it, a gust of wind escaped from Elin’s mouth.

“Yeah. The teacher was always like this.”

Elin takes a step closer.

Luke took a step back.

“When I take one step closer, the teacher takes three steps back.”

Another step closer.

As expected, he stepped back.

“As if this is the distance allowed between us.”

Bam.

Then my back hit the wall.

“You approached me first. But when I tried to approach you, you just ran away.”

“I’m not running away.”

“Then why did you hide it until now? Why are you leaving now of all times?”

Tears form at the corners of Ellen’s eyes.

A look of resentment and clammy affection pierced Luke’s heart.

“Your Majesty, we need some time.”

I barely managed to open my dry lips.

“Time? Why do you need that?”

Anger rose across Elin’s face.

“You said you would always be with me. You said you were always on my side.”

Eventually, tears flowed down my cheeks.

“Was it all a lie?”

“… … ”

This was clearly Luke’s fault.

You shouldn’t have said things you couldn’t keep from the beginning.

“You can’t run away anymore.”

“… !”

Chorus.

A chain stretched from the wall and grabbed Luke’s arm.

Chains rose from the floor and bound his ankles.

The magic Luke taught me.

But now it was magic at a level that Luke could not dispel.

“Your Highness… !”

“I didn’t want to do it like this either.”

Luke with his whole body tied up.

Elin, who came right up to our noses.

Our gazes become entangled in the air.

A longing that comes from deep within stabs my face.

I turned my head.

I didn’t have the confidence to accept emotions that were difficult to even imagine.

What broke the suffocating silence was the chatter of people downstairs, laughing and laughing.

“They all came to congratulate the princess. Why are you doing this on such a good day?”

“When the teacher leaves, it will be the worst day.”

“It’s finally your chance to be recognized as a proper noble and adult.”

“If only the teacher would look after me properly, I don’t need anything else.”

“… … Let’s start with this first and then talk.”

“I hate it. Do you think I don’t know that you’re trying to escape by teleporting?”

Ellen, who had blocked out even the slightest possibility, placed her hand on Luke’s cheek.

A distance so close that our breaths collide.

I turned Luke’s head with my hand, forcing our eyes to meet.

“Look carefully. It was you who made me like this.”

Purple hair that sways with magic.

The hair that used to fall on his shoulders has now fallen down to his waist.

Blue eyes so vibrant they almost look like they’re burning.

Her empty, unfocused eyes were filled with emotion.

A mature body that now shows the appearance of a woman.

The gaunt physique that looked like it might collapse at any moment is no longer to be found.

No more little abused children.

There are only great wizards who grew up with twisted affection.

“Give me a reason to live… .”

Blood was flowing from her tightly bitten lips.

“You made me like this. You want to leave?”

…I promised myself that I would definitely make you happy.

But now Ellen’s face was even more distorted.

It was just to prevent a bad ending.

How on earth did it come to this?

Today is Elin’s coming of age ceremony.

And the day Luke’s tutor contract ends.

“… Absolutely not.”

For the first time in her life, she acted like a child.