Ch.1568 Years Old (3)

Evan and Irene paid special attention to their children’s education. While they didn’t want to force studying on them, they believed the basics were necessary. Since they couldn’t allow rumors to spread about the duke’s children being illiterate, after looking into various options, they decided to enroll their children in the Imperial Academy.

Due to Evan’s previous accomplishments, the tuition was waived, and since it was established by the emperor himself, the educational standards were quite high. Compared to private academies, the curriculum wasn’t too rigorous, so after careful consideration, Arthur and Robelia were enrolled and managed to make friends quite well.

They had agreeable personalities to begin with. Evan could finally relax seeing how well the two children were adapting to the academy. While Robelia had always had a pleasant personality so there were no issues, even the rather stoic Arthur was getting along without any fights and bringing home good test scores.

“I don’t want to go to school.”

However, regardless of how well they were doing, not many children actually enjoyed attending school. Robelia was no exception, and her expression was pouty as she rubbed her eyes that were still heavy with sleep. If only today had been a day off—why did the day he confessed to her have to be a Monday of all days?

“Me neither.”

When Arthur responded that way, Robelia sighed deeply and looked at the academy. What should she tell her friends when she entered the classroom? She had received so many confessions now that she could count them on her fingers, and even cleaning up the aftermath was becoming tiresome.

It was fortunate that they had known each other since childhood; if it had been a stranger, she probably would have told her father to resolve the issue. Arthur, noticing Robelia’s gloomy expression, shrugged his shoulders.

He figured she must be worried about Kyle’s situation. But it seemed silly to tell him to stop confessing at this point, and besides, Kyle wasn’t doing it as a joke.

He probably genuinely liked her. Having spent a lot of time with Evan, Arthur had heard many stories about the crown prince. If Kyle took after the crown prince, he was surely sincere. But it felt awkward to interfere between the two. While it was somewhat amusing to see his sister troubled, how could he discourage Kyle if he was sincere?

He only hoped their friendship wouldn’t be ruined. Arthur tossed his bag to Robelia and spoke.

“I’m going to where the knight apprentices are. Hang my bag up for me.”

“Again? What if Ms. Rofena catches you?”

At the mention of Rofena, Arthur’s face turned pale. The only person who scolded the two children when even their mother and father rarely did was Rofena. Arthur shook his head and frowned as he replied.

“It’s fine. She won’t know I’m skipping class like this.”

“You got caught last time too.”

“I was careless then. This time is different, and I don’t need to study anyway. My dream is to be a knight.”

Seeing Arthur showing no signs of remorse despite having been caught and spanked by Ms. Rofena just recently, Robelia clicked her tongue softly. He wasn’t one to listen to her anyway, so she nodded slightly, and Arthur disappeared with a grin toward the annex where the knight apprentices gathered.

“…What am I supposed to do?”

There was a high probability of chaos erupting once she entered the classroom. Given Kyle’s personality, he had never been quiet the day after a failed confession. Wondering what kind of event he had prepared this time, Robelia’s steps were heavy with worry, her face turning pale with concern.

“Phew.”

After taking a deep breath, she slowly opened the classroom door. Expecting something to appear before her, Robelia tightly closed her eyes, but there was nothing there. Just an unusually quiet classroom and students awkwardly looking at each other.

“Oh, Robelia, you’re here?”

Her friend Rachel clung to her arm. When Robelia gestured with her eyes asking what was going on, Rachel chuckled and walked with her toward the chairs.

“Look over there. Don’t you see something strange?”

“…Kyle is sitting quietly.”

The person sitting calmly at the desk was Kyle. With black hair and red eyes characteristic of the imperial bloodline, clearly showing his royal lineage, the boy sat with a serious expression he had never shown before, continuously writing something while looking at the textbook open in front of him.

“This is the first time I’ve seen him studying. Did something happen?”

“I don’t know, I’m not sure either. Is he sick?”

All the students were staring at Kyle as if entranced. It was surprising that someone who was said to be the spitting image of the crown prince as a child had become so well-behaved. Some wondered if the crown prince himself had disciplined him. However, only a few were truly reassured. Everyone silently believed that he would eventually return to his original self as time passed.

#

“I heard Kyle’s gone crazy.”

After a month had passed, all the students realized that Kyle had completely changed. His attitude during class had become diligent, and he had completely stopped confessing to Robelia every few days. It was to the point where Robelia herself thought, “Isn’t he going to confess?” Everyone realized that Kyle had made some new resolution.

“I don’t know, maybe the crown prince uncle scolded him?”

“That’s good, isn’t it? You didn’t like getting so many confessions anyway.”

“Call me sister. Always remember in your heart that I was born before you.”

“…What sister? You were only born a few minutes earlier.”

Arthur yawned briefly and tossed his bag to Robelia as if it were routine. Now that Kyle had calmed down, there was no reason to keep watching, and he thought he might be able to focus more on training. Although Robelia looked at him with an incredulous expression, Arthur waved his hand casually and headed toward the annex as usual.

“Hey, you’re here.”

“Grandpa, what brings you here again? Don’t tell me you’re going to tell Ms. Rofena?”

“Of course not. I support your decision to become a knight.”

When Arthur appeared at the annex, the first to greet him was Chris. He occasionally came to teach the knights, but lately, he had been coming more frequently, perhaps because of Arthur. When Arthur grinned, Chris smiled back and grabbed his head with his rough hand.

“…Are you trying to kill me?”

“I was trying to pat your head.”

“Your hands are too big, Grandpa. Don’t forget I’m only 8 years old now.”

Chris’s expression darkened again, so Arthur took the wooden sword hanging at his waist and slightly extended it toward Chris. If he came here, there was only one thing to do. Seeing that cocky attitude, Chris grinned wickedly. Rather than his usual gentle smile, this evil smile seemed to suit him better.

Clack!

Although the sword was lightly held in one hand, Arthur’s body had not yet fully grown to withstand it. Since this was instructional sparring, Chris was more focused on guiding Arthur in the right direction rather than subduing him. How to position the sword, what mindset to have when holding a sword, and what goal to pursue as a knight.

Although Arthur resembled Irene, teaching him like this reminded Chris of Evan when he was young. Evan was once this young too, and Chris wondered when he had grown up to become a father.

“So, how’s Kyle these days?”

“How would I know? He’ll be fine on his own.”

“Don’t pretend you don’t know when you’ve been going to the classroom every break time because you’re worried about your sister. You can’t fool me.”

“When did I ever do that…!”

Noticing that Arthur’s movements had faltered, Chris lightly twisted the wooden sword to break Arthur’s balance. Perhaps because he was still young, his movements easily became agitated by emotions. Chris tripped Arthur’s knee and caught his arm as he fell, then popped a candy into Arthur’s gaping mouth.

‘Still a long way to go.’

Well, he was only 8 years old after all. Even if not as much as Evan, he had enough talent to become a master.

“…What was Dad like at my age?”

When Arthur, who had plopped down in his seat, asked, Chris shrugged. How should he describe Evan back then? He was like a doll without emotions, and any swordsmanship Chris demonstrated would be replicated by Evan’s hands within a week. But was there a need to tell him that? After pondering briefly, Chris smiled slightly and spoke.

“Your father was extraordinary from a young age. Do you think he reached the Grand Master level for nothing?”

“Of course not. I was just curious. I’m like this… and I wondered what Dad was like.”

“You don’t need to compare yourself to your father. The times are different anyway. You know well how Evan lived.”

“Well… that’s true.”

The story of how he lived like a puppet after being brainwashed by Extinction, and later broke free from the brainwashing to defeat Extinction and the ancient dragon himself, was one of the stories Arthur had heard countless times since he was young.

Now it was a peaceful era. There were no large-scale reactionary forces like Extinction, and the biggest threat was at most the northern barbarian tribes’ movements. But even the northern barbarians couldn’t dare to target the empire. The empire’s war deterrence, the existence of just one person, allowed them to enjoy peace for the time being.

‘Because of Dad, they can’t advance south for 100 years.’

Having parents with stories famous enough to be in fairy tales naturally meant being influenced by them. The story of his father Evan, who single-handedly caught the Bonddragon and went on to subjugate the ancient dragon—a heroic tale that ordinary people couldn’t achieve.

Some might be discouraged by such stories. But Arthur was rather delighted by them. Because he could become like that too. No, even if he couldn’t, he intended to make it possible someday.

Crunch—

After staring at the wooden sword that had broken during the sparring, he bit the candy in his mouth and turned his gaze toward Chris. He had no intention of trying anything in sparring anyway, and now he planned to build up his strength a bit.

As he picked up a dumbbell from one corner, Arthur tilted his head as he noticed something. A child swinging a sword alone in a corner. The child looked about his age, so he observed carefully, but the child continued swinging the sword without giving him a single glance.

“Who’s that girl?”

Seeing the blue-haired girl, a face he had never seen since coming to this annex, Arthur asked, and Chris scratched his head and spoke.

“She’s been coming here to train for a few days. Her name is Levi. She’s not an academy student, but a commoner who wants to become a knight.”

“Hmm, is she the same age as me?”

“No, she’s a year older than you. Sparring with her… would be helpful. She’s quite skilled.”

At the mention of skill, Arthur stared at the girl. He couldn’t always spar with Chris, and he had been thinking of finding an opponent of similar level. Arthur got up from his seat and approached the girl with a wooden sword in hand. She was a year older than him, he’d been told.

“…What is it?”

Sensing Arthur’s presence as he approached, Levi looked at him calmly. She already knew his face, so Levi quietly gazed at him until Arthur spoke.

“Should I call you sister? I don’t usually call my sister ‘sister’ either. Anyway, I came because I have something to say.”

“And what would that be?”

The blue eyes staring at him reminded Arthur of his mother, Irene. Perhaps that’s why he felt this strange emotion.

Standing slightly on his tiptoes to hide that he was a bit shorter, Arthur finally spoke while holding the wooden sword with both hands.

“Let’s have a match.”

As their similarly colored blue eyes met in the air, Levi smiled slightly and gripped her sword.