Ch.1578 Years Old (4)

When Levi and Arthur had met for a month, then two months passed. Arthur and Levi were able to become quite close.

Since all they did in the annex was train, they naturally grew closer as they constantly crossed swords until they collapsed from exhaustion.

If one were to count wins and losses, the probability would be about fifty-fifty. As time passed, Arthur was the one claiming more victories.

At first, he had lost miserably, but gradually he became accustomed to Levi’s sword techniques.

Still, the age difference couldn’t be ignored, and at some point, their win ratio stabilized at fifty-fifty and remained that way.

“Arthur… sir, shall we stop?”

“I can still keep going. And I told you to speak comfortably. How long are you going to keep that up?”

“…Alright, I’m just tired. You know I have weak stamina.”

Seeing Levi panting with exhaustion, Arthur nodded.

After all, there was bound to be a difference in stamina between himself, who had been training since childhood, and Levi.

He could fully understand why Levi would say that.

As Arthur sat down, Levi wiped the sweat from his forehead and plopped down.

“Is it that tiring?”

“Yeah, I need to build more stamina… but it doesn’t improve all at once.”

Levi, being a commoner, had never held a sword as a child. He only started because he caught Chris’s eye.

Therefore, he was bound to fall behind Arthur in the basics.

Although he had natural talent and was keeping up, it was only natural that there would be a gap in skill between him and Arthur, who had received formal knight training.

Arthur was aware of this and had been contemplating this issue lately.

Since Chris had been retired for quite some time, there were various problems with providing proper training like the knights of Yuris.

If the goal was to build stamina, wouldn’t it be better to do so in the rugged northern territories?

Two months wasn’t such a short time.

It was enough time to realize that Kyle was sincerely trying to change,

enough time for Robelia to think differently about Kyle.

And wasn’t it enough time for Arthur and Levi to become friends?

Whenever Arthur looked at Levi, he thought he was “wasted potential.”

If Levi hadn’t been a commoner but a noble from childhood like himself,

wouldn’t he have much better skills than now?

It might have been presumptuous, but Arthur wanted to help Levi.

“Um, sis.”

“…What? I’m tired.”

“Do you want to come to Yuris?”

At those words, Levi’s eyes widened, and Arthur scratched his head as he continued.

Actually, he had been careful about bringing this up, fearing it might offend, but the more they sparred, the more he thought it would be good for Levi to come to Yuris.

After all, hadn’t sister Rofena also risen to her current position after being a commoner?

Just as his mother had brought Rofena, he wanted to bring Levi and raise him as a knight.

There was affection involved, but more than that… he genuinely wanted Levi to become a knight.

“It’s okay if you don’t want to. Just, you said you wanted to be a knight. It’s hard to become one at the academy. You know that, right?”

“…I know.”

The Imperial Academy—Levi wasn’t even a student there to begin with.

He was just brought by Chris and allowed access to the annex.

When Chris wasn’t around, he had to hide from others’ gazes, and it was only thanks to Arthur that things became easier for him.

While it was true that he was tempted by the mention of Yuris, Levi hesitated to answer.

…Being a commoner came with more restrictions than one might think.

Even associating with someone from one of the three great families like Yuris was quite burdensome. Though Arthur didn’t know, there were always people who criticized Levi just for being close to him.

It had gotten worse recently, and if he were to go to Yuris, wouldn’t he become a burden?

“Can I… think about it for a while? I need to ask my mom too.”

“Don’t feel too pressured. Just, um…”

After hesitating for a moment, Arthur finally stroked his cheek and smiled quietly.

Why was such an obvious statement making him feel so awkward? Overcoming the embarrassment, Arthur shrugged.

“We’re friends, aren’t we?”

Friends—why did that word sound so awkward? Levi smiled wryly but couldn’t hide his conflicted expression.

Whether he could accept this offer or not, Levi wasn’t sure if he could thank Arthur properly.

#

Summer had arrived, and the cherry trees that had once been pink were now quickly turning green.

Bees flew around instead of butterflies, searching for flowers,

and the garden at one corner of the academy was now filled with colorful flowers, attracting many students.

“How are things lately? I heard you made a friend.”

At Robelia’s words, Arthur nodded slightly.

He had always been following knights around and never had time to make friends, but come to think of it, wasn’t Levi his only friend?

“Levi, she’s a year older than me.”

“I heard you invited her to Yuris. How did that go? Did she say yes?”

“…No, there’s still no answer.”

Not knowing why there was still no answer, Arthur pouted.

If she had at least given a clear reason, it would be different, but it had been a week since she said she’d answer later, and there was still no word.

It didn’t seem like she didn’t want to come, so could it be that her parents wouldn’t allow it?

“I don’t plan to give her a hard time if she comes.”

“If you did, Rofena would rush over to scold you.”

Robelia made a growling sound and spread her arms. Arthur looked at her incredulously,

then fell back into thought, staring blankly at the garden.

Lately, Levi had been coming to the annex less frequently, and it seemed like she was avoiding him.

Was it because he had been too rough during their last sparring session? But he had taken just as many hits.

Since Levi didn’t seem like the type to avoid him for such a reason, Arthur sighed deeply, unable to understand her behavior.

“I don’t know. She’ll tell me eventually. How about you? I mean with Kyle.”

“He’s weird. He hasn’t confessed to me yet. It’s been three months already.”

Robelia frowned slightly at the thought of Kyle. Lately, he hadn’t been talking to her,

and though he still reacted when he saw her, his reactions were much more subdued than before.

He would just stare blankly for a moment and then quickly turn his head away. She had asked if he’d been severely scolded by the Crown Prince,

but Kaisel just smiled faintly without giving any answer.

“Dad says it’s a relief, but I think something’s up.”

“With his personality, I don’t think he’d hold back something for three months.”

“No, it’s weird that he’s not confessing. It’s strange!”

She used to dislike receiving confessions, but now she found it strange that he wasn’t confessing.

Unable to understand what Robelia was thinking, Arthur turned his gaze away, and his eyes suddenly narrowed.

Spotting Levi with her water-blue hair walking alone somewhere, Arthur quietly moved his lips.

“…That’s her. Levi, my friend.”

“She was a woman?”

“How many times do I have to tell you she’s older than me, you blockhead.”

“When did you ever say she was a woman? And why am I a blockhead? You’re worse at studying than I am.”

“Be quiet. I’m watching Levi right now.”

Though he wanted to approach her out of joy, Arthur’s steps suddenly halted.

The voices he heard were clearly directed at Levi.

“Hey, Levi. Are you Levi?”

Arthur and Robelia were startled by the voice and hid behind a tree.

The tree was thin and barely provided cover, but they hid anyway, feeling they needed to.

As they observed the situation, two people were approaching Levi.

Though the faces were unfamiliar, the emblems on their chests were clearly noble insignia.

Probably from a count’s family, Arthur thought as he quietly watched the situation.

If they were meeting as friends, it would be different, but the expressions on the faces of the two approaching Levi were clearly mocking.

Feeling uneasy despite himself, Arthur kept his eyes on Levi even as Robelia tugged at his collar.

Levi’s expression was visibly dark to anyone who looked.

As if anxious about something, her glances around didn’t seem normal at all.

After briefly looking at those approaching her, Levi finally bowed her head and opened her mouth.

“Hello. But what business do you have with me…?”

“There’s only one reason to have business with you. Why are you so clueless?”

“I’m not sure what you mean…”

At those words, Kanna clicked her tongue. Recently, there had been complaints among the noble ladies.

There was talk of a commoner approaching Arthur Yuris in the annex with impure intentions.

So she came to confront her about it, only to find her with such an innocent face.

There were also rumors that she had even received an invitation to come to Yuris,

so all the noble ladies who were interested in Arthur disliked Levi.

To be more precise, they hated her. Kanna smiled wryly and quietly looked at Levi.

If she had been from a fallen noble family, it might have been different, but how could a parentless commoner think of wagging her tail at a duke?

Disliking the gaze that continued to watch her, Kanna furrowed her brow and shouted loudly.

“What have you done to look at me like that? Do you know how annoyed Lord Arthur is because you keep clinging to him? Because an orphan like you keeps hanging around, Lord Arthur’s reputation is being tarnished. Do you really not know that?”

“Is, is that true?”

At those words, Levi’s eyes widened. She had been worried about this, but to think it was actually true.

She still considered Arthur a friend, but Levi had been constantly worried about the difference in status.

She was a commoner, and Arthur was the son of one of the empire’s most prestigious noble families.

Even if they wanted to be close, wouldn’t status always stand in the way?

As Levi’s complexion turned pale, Kanna laughed and continued.

“It’s true. Do you think we don’t know your intentions? You approach pretending to be pitiful, planning to act like you don’t know him later when you become a knight. Isn’t that right?”

“That’s really not—”

“What’s not? It’s truly laughable. Do you think a commoner can even come to the Imperial Academy? If it weren’t for Sir Chris, you wouldn’t even be able to come near this place. You—”

As Kanna was speaking, Levi saw someone appear behind her and closed her mouth tightly.

A familiar face, Arthur, with an unusually cold gaze, grabbed Kanna’s shoulder and quietly moved his lips.

“Who says so.”

What flowed from his lips was a chilling voice. Just as Airin once did,

his gaze, devoid of even a hint of emotion, pierced through Kanna.

The mana leaking from Arthur’s body was continuously lowering the surrounding temperature, making one mistake the season for winter.

“Who says I find Levi annoying.”

“Ah, no, that’s not—”

“And stop calling her an orphan over and over.”

Arthur brought his wooden sword to Kanna’s forehead with a tap and twisted the corner of his mouth.

With a smile so cold that Evan would have said it resembled Airin’s, Kanna involuntarily flinched.

“Who are you to treat Levi like that?”