"Master?"

My teacher, who had been momentarily shocked, finally clasped her hands over her mouth, and with exaggerated gasps, she exclaimed, "Oh my, oh my, oh my, what a surprise!" She was making quite the scene.

"Can you believe it, Duran? My student is getting married! It feels like it was just yesterday that I first met Lisir, and now he's about to become a groom!"

"It *was* yesterday. Actually, not even yesterday—it was just today."

"Oh, really? It must be because Lisir has left such a deep impression on me that I got confused!" 

"Are you serious? You’re saying we only met yesterday? I thought it had been at least ten years!"

"See? Even Lisir feels the same way!" 

"This is ridiculous. You two should just get married at this point." 

"Oh, Lisir, shall we?"

"Sadly, I’m already taken..." 

"Ah, so that’s how it is." 

An arranged marriage, huh? 

The Dintal family, of all people.

Master fell into deep thought, repeating the keywords related to the arranged marriage.

"Lisir?"

"Yes, Master?"

"What do you think about all this?"

"Being a son-in-law? Well, I doubt I, as a bastard, have much say in the family matters. That aside, I do find the whole thing rather inconvenient."

"Oh? Is there perhaps someone else you've got your eye on? Who? Tell me, who is it? Is she not human? Is she unusually tall for a woman? Does she have rare silver hair? Is she someone with an intellectual aura? Does she live in a dark forest to avoid sunlight and have flawless skin? Not to brag, but does she happen to have an alluring figure?"

"Master, please control yourself. You’re making me feel embarrassed. Even though I'm just a book."

I calmed my enthusiastic master and resumed the conversation.

"It’s not that I have someone specific in mind. It’s just that being a son-in-law, in reality, is like being a cow sold off to another farm. My concern is, I already live uncomfortably in my own home as a bastard. How much worse would it be in a foreign land with that same label?"

"Hmm~ Even if you're officially the son-in-law, they won’t overtly mistreat you, but as you said, there will be hardships."

"And more than anything, I was planning to leave this place soon."

"Leave?"

"I was going to ditch the whole 'bastard' identity and start a new life. After all, the bastard build has a pretty clear ceiling."

"…"

Master and Duran looked at me with a mixture of curiosity and awe. Well, Master’s a book, but still.

"I’ve always thought this, but my student is quite an odd one, huh?"

"Am I?"

"Yes. Most people in your situation would cling to the hope of getting recognition."

"For clarification, by 'your situation,' she means being a bastard."

"Oh, Duran, I wasn’t wondering at all, but thanks for the clarification. But seriously, is it that rare for a bastard to leave their family?"

Master gently stroked my hair, the golden strands that were the symbol of nobility.

"Bastards are essentially only a hair's breadth away from being proper nobles. The only difference is whether or not they’re allowed to use the family name."

"Right."

"For most, their goal is to be recognized by their family."

That was true for me as well.

Or at least, it had been in the past.

The old me had lived solely with the hope of being recognized by my father.

"Even if they are acknowledged, they’ll still have to subtly reveal their status as bastards, but that’s still something. Once the family recognizes them, anyone who disregards them is essentially challenging the family itself. In other words, they become quasi-nobles—bastards in title but not in treatment."

Master shook her head.

"I don’t know if it’s appropriate to say this in front of my student, but I don’t get it. Is chasing after the noble title, even in name only, really worth all that? Is there value in it, even if it’s just a hollow shell?"

Now, I thought the same way as Master.

But back then—

"That’s easy for you to say. You don’t need a noble title to be special."

Duran interrupted.

"There are those out there who are nothing without that title. They believe that without being called a noble, they’re worthless. To those people, being recognized as a noble, even if only in name, is everything. It’s their one and only chance, the opportunity of a lifetime. We don’t understand their world, so it’s best not to speak too lightly about it. You understand what I mean, right, Pamon?"

"Yes, I see. I was being thoughtless."

Duran’s words didn’t fully mirror my past feelings, but they did capture part of them.

I had once thought that if I could just be granted permission to use the family name, everything would be okay.

It's an extreme perspective, but understandable. The biases and discrimination of adults can easily turn an innocent child into a creature consumed by inferiority.

"Master? Did I say something wrong?"

Seeing me deep in thought, Master carefully gauged my reaction.

"Oh, no, Master. I think what you and Duran said makes sense."

"Why do you sound like you’re talking about someone else?"

"My student~ Why is your heart so vast and kind~"

Master continued to ruffle my hair affectionately.

"Getting back to the point, I support Lisir’s decision."

"Leaving the family?"

"Yes. The Dintal family won’t provide an environment where your unique qualities can truly shine. Neither will Heiyern."

"Then where would be a better fit?"

"There's no limit to learning. But if there’s one place to broaden your horizons, it’s the capital."

"Then I’ll follow your advice, Master."

"Oh my, are you sure you can decide so easily?"

"I trust in your wisdom, Master."

"Oh, how sweet! Does my student spend all day figuring out how to say such lovely things~?"

Ruff, ruff, ruff!

Master’s hand grew more vigorous as she tousled my hair.

Is this some kind of lesson already? Fire attribute magic?

It’s getting a bit hot.

"But Master, is the place you’re heading after you finish your business in Heiyern the capital?"

"No~ I’ll stop by the capital for a bit, but not right away. I have other places I need to visit first."

"And once all your business is done?"

"I’ll probably head back to where I came from—the forest. I have unfinished business there."

"Then, should I accompany you, Master?"

"Oh, that would be wonderful~"

"Wonderful? More like you’d be dragging Lisir’s corpse halfway there."

"Oh, Duran, must you always talk like that? I was only joking."

Master turned to me with a serious look.

"Lisir, you should live your own life. Just because I’m your master doesn’t mean you have to follow me everywhere."

"...That’s a nice sentiment, but is that really something you can say after taking in a student, only to abandon them after a week?"

"Thud."

Master flinched and scooted a little farther away from me.

"Don’t worry~ One of our weeks is like a year, isn’t it~?"

"Duran, that metaphor. I approve of its literary value."

"Oh my~ Even a book acknowledges my literary talent~"

"Wow, a week that feels like a year~"

I think I picked the wrong master.

---

After walking for about 20 minutes from the library, we arrived at a residential area.

"We’re here~"

Master confidently strolled into one of the houses as if it were her own.

"Oh, Master, do you have a place to stay in Heiyern? You must visit often?"

"Of course~"

"It’s an empty house. I found it yesterday while looking for an abandoned place that had been vacant for a while using magic."

"Duran~"

"Master?"

"Are you disappointed~? That your master isn’t an upstanding adult who owns a house in the city~?"

"No."

"That’s a relief."

"I’m disappointed because you’re a petty thief breaking into an abandoned house."

"Oh no~"

Still, I followed her inside without complaint. She wasn’t the type of person you could criticize for every little thing.

"Lisir? Take this."

Master placed a silver orb in my palm.

"Now, think of that orb as an extension of your hand and try to move it."

"Understood."

"For the next week, we’re going to focus on moving that silver orb. The significance of this exercise—actually, I should explain the importance of the training itself. As I said, we only have a week—"

"Master?"

"—so we need to make the most of it. Yes, my student?"

"Was the orb supposed to float like this?"

"Yes, that’s our final goal. To make it float—wait, what?"

"Huh?"

"Huh?"

The three of us made the same sound in unison, even though one of us was a book.

"…?"

Master gently tapped the silver orb, which had already started hovering ever so slightly above my hand.

"Master?"

Master muttered in disbelief.

"Guess I’ll have to rewrite the curriculum~?"

Her voice was just a little more animated than usual.

---

Surprisingly, learning magic turned out to be far more physically exhausting than I expected.

"Ugh, I’m dead."

Though my muscles

 were holding up fine, my entire body was screaming in protest. Even my soul.

You think you’re tired? I’m exhausted on a whole new level.

Three days into Master’s magic training, I stumbled back to the Vendel estate, barely keeping myself upright.

Master had emphasized the importance of rest, saying that magic wasn’t something you could master by mindlessly grinding away at it. Because of that, even though training was done, the sky was still bright and blue—it was probably just around lunchtime.

A nap followed by reading the book Master had copied for me seemed like the perfect way to spend the afternoon.

As I made my way home, I heard a chair scrape loudly somewhere nearby.

"Miss, please wait—"

A frantic voice tried to stop someone.

"Lisir-nim!!!"

But a clear, high voice ignored it entirely.

Thud.

It felt as though a baby bird had flown into me. That was about the weight I felt hit my back.

And then, a pair of delicate arms wrapped around me from behind.

I turned around to see a girl dressed in white hugging me tightly.

"I missed you!!!"

She looked up at me with bright, sparkling eyes.

"Uh...!"

I recognized her immediately.

‘Who is this?’

Recognized her as someone I was meeting for the first time.

[RESISTED]
[Resisted target: Mental interference]