episode_0028

“Haa… That’s not it. Please remember correctly.”

“I’m sorry, Your Majesty.”

“Don’t just say sorry.. Zeros, you clearly understood things that weren’t told to you before and you hardly had any problems. Is studying at the academy that hard on your body?”

“… ”

Zeros was unable to say anything more to Katlena’s words, which felt suffocating.

As she had said, just a few weeks ago, or to be precise, before the Academy came up, Zeros had been showing himself to be a fairly excellent student, and for this reason, Katlena had been enthusiastically praising him and smiling brightly at him almost every class.

However, for Zeros, the situation was completely different then and now.

Until now, Zeros had been aiming to escape from being treated as an ignorant child as soon as possible, and become a normal person who can read and write and possesses a certain level of knowledge.

Naturally, it was a situation where I had no choice but to show my proficiency in learning to write and understanding knowledge.

However, the current Zeros had to show that he was as lacking as possible and naturally fail the Academy exams.

Furthermore, if Katlena, who was teaching him, gets tired and gives up without even having to take a test, that is also a good option.

However, even though Zeros himself had only shown her a look that seemed despicable, Katlena did not back down and had dragged Zeros here.

7 weeks passed like that

Now, with the exam date just around the corner, Zeros was still far from passing.

“Haa.. Okay, let’s take another look. I said this part will definitely be on the test. You have to memorize it and move on. If it’s a complicated problem, I don’t know, but if you just get these right, you’ll be able to pass somehow.”

“… Yes, Your Majesty.”

Katlena, who is trying to calm her emotions down and continue with her tutoring, and Zeros, who is responding in a weak voice.

No matter what, I couldn’t show myself as completely incompetent because of the image I had built up until now, and if it got too bad, it could have a negative impact on my ability to switch ships in the future, so I had no choice but to show a certain level of growth.

And there’s another reason.

That’s because, even if the part about passing was like that, Zeros’ feelings, which had felt a bit playful at first, were becoming more and more directly uncomfortable as time passed.

‘No matter how much I have to fail this test… I feel uneasy as it goes on.’

Over the past few weeks, the passion Katlena has poured into herself has been truly remarkable.

The fact that the young girl sat in front of her desk for hours like a test taker was something that even Zeros would want to praise, and on top of that, the fact that she would repeatedly gather her emotions and focus on teaching while being trolled on purpose by Zeros was something that even Zeros would have found difficult to do in his current state.

However, as he himself, who was the object of her great passion and patience, was basically mocking her sincerity head-on, Zeros’ uncomfortable feelings about this were growing stronger as time passed.

‘In that sense, this situation needs to end as soon as possible… Either Katlena gives up, or I fail the exam. There’s no need to feel this tired in a situation where the ending is already set either way.’

With that thought in mind, Zeros’ gaze turned to Katlena, who was proceeding with the lesson by pointing out the contents of the book.

Katlena’s face was visibly tired and haggard from weeks of hard work.

Despite this, the beauty that still appeared in her remained, but now that beauty served to further enhance the sadness felt in her appearance.

Looking at Katlena like that, Zeros began to feel the burden on his mind growing a little heavier.

at that time..

“Ah!..”

“..sigh..”

The next moment, something red falls onto the book.

Zeros could immediately recognize that it was the blood dripping from Katlena’s nose.

“Oh.. Your Majesty! My nose is bleeding..”

“Whew… It’s okay. Don’t worry about me and just read a book.”

“Ha.. But..”

“Do so. This is an order as a princess. Don’t worry about me, and just make sure you understand this content and move on.”

“… Ugh..”

Her figure remains unwavering even as blood drips from between the fingers covering her nose.

Looking at this, Zeros unconsciously began to bite his lips with emotion.

‘Why are you doing this? Why on earth? It’s time to just give up. Why are you hanging on to something that won’t work out anyway?’

Now, there were only about two weeks left until the exam, but Zeros still had a long way to go.

And at the current rate, it would be nearly impossible to reach the passing score.

Katlena must know that too.

Nevertheless, seeing her not giving up, even while torturing herself to the point of bleeding, Zeros could not hold back any longer and opened his mouth.

“Why on earth are you doing that?”

“Huh?”

Zeros’ question suddenly changed in tone.

At this, Katlena began to show slight embarrassment, and Zeros spoke to her in a voice filled with emotion that he couldn’t suppress for a moment.

“Why on earth… are you doing all this for someone like me? As you know, Katlena, it’s hard for me to enter the academy with my current abilities. But why… why are you wasting all this time and effort for me?”

“… ”

The act of sitting at a desk for weeks on end to teach someone else something other than one’s own studies.

Perhaps no one else other than parents could do this for oneself.

No, actually, this is the first time in my life, both past and present, that I have experienced something like this, as even my original parents have never shown this level of passion.

The fact that a 9-year-old girl is doing it while pouring coffee.

Zeros, who was in the position of deceiving the girl, could not bear it any longer.

and.

Looking at the boy reacting so violently, Katlena said with a smile on her tired face.

“Because I like it.”

“..Huh?”

Katlena tells an unexpected story.

At this, a deep look of bewilderment began to appear on Zeros’ face, and looking at him like that, Katlena spoke in a bright voice.

“Because I like you. That’s why I’m doing this.”

“… ”

A story that sounds like a confession at first glance.

At those words, Zeros felt his face flush as he remained speechless, and Katlena smiled brightly as she looked at Zeros.

“Of course, I also know that it won’t be easy to pass in the same situation as now. But even if I fail, I don’t think of this as a waste. Doing something with someone I like. Just that in itself makes my time meaningful.”

“Ugh… ”

The damage was quite high from the first hit, and it kept coming in succession.

At this, Zeros began to feel dizzy for a moment, unable to come to his senses.

‘I…like…you? Oh…no. There should be no misunderstanding here. The other person is a 9-year-old kid. This is just a childish conversation about how my little sister wants to marry my older brother when she grows up! It definitely doesn’t mean anything…’

Zeros tries his best to calm his heart down with excuses.

However, Katlena still struck the final blow at Zeros with a smiling face.

“Although I do feel a little suffocated at times, when I think of you, those feelings quickly disappear. That’s why I can keep going. Because I love this moment itself. Because I’m so happy to be face to face with my favorite Zeros and be by his side.”

“… .”

A bombing so massive that you would never believe it was the story of a 9-year-old girl.

At this, Zeros felt dizzy and was unable to answer, so he started to move his hands diligently to somehow escape from this situation.

Movements so fast that you can feel that all the hesitation up until now was a lie.

one side..

Without seeing Zeros like that, Katlena turned her head slightly.

At that moment, in order to hide his own face, which was starting to burn just as much as Zero’s.