“I told you that I’m not angry.” He was frowning and his eyebrows furrowed. But he didn’t look angry. Rather, he looked a little sleepy. Then why is he avoiding me?
“Is going out a hassle for you?”
“I hate crowded places.”
“Then you could have stayed at home…”
“Don’t make me repeat myself.”
I rolled my eyes. Since he wasn’t angry, everything was fine. I placed my hands on my waist and said, “Then please come with me even if you are tired.”I grinned and grabbed his hand. “I really want to have a good time today.”
Kaichen flinched and turned away. I thought he would shake my hands off, but he didn’t. This is why I am so confused about how he feels about me. His hand was burning hot. My heart pounded.
“Teacher! Look at that building! The architecture is so exotic.”
“Teacher, look! I have never seen this type of food before. It smells so good!”
“Teacher! Let’s go over there! A crowd is gathered there. Maybe something interesting is going on.”
Heulin was a place of spectacular sights. It was a city five times larger than Acrab so we could look at only a few good places today. The western square was a street with the largest market where merchants from the continent gathered. So, we went there.
In the Kalhai Empire, Kaichen was a celebrity. There was no one who didn’t know the blonde, golden-eyed, bronze-skinned man who had the title of Golden Archmage. So, that was why Kaichen always disguised himself when he went out. But his disguise was so sloppy. He had only changed the color of his hair and eyes.
Shouldn’t you cover your face? I wondered. Every person we passed turned and looked at him intently. Some followed us tenaciously. His dazzling appearance was even more prominent when people didn’t know he was the Archmage.
After walking for a while, I asked, “Teacher, you know that people are looking at you, right?” Then, “Do you also know you look handsome?” I ventured.
“Don’t talk and eat your snack.”
I munched on bread and sausages I had bought from a while ago from one of the stalls. He pulled me to a corner so people wouldn’t bump into me. My legs hurt from walking all day, so I obediently followed him and squatted down to sit in a corner. I noticed even more people glancing at Kaichen.
“Look, Teacher. Everyone is looking at you.”
“Just eat.”
“I don’t think it was like this in Acrab…”
“I told you to eat.”
“You definitely seem to be enjoying the attention.”
“Dalia,” he sighed.
“I’m eating. I’m eating.” I took a large bite of the bread just to prove it. It certainly wasn’t like this in Acrab. The only difference was that, here, he had changed his hair color and eye color. And yet, women looked at him. I had thought his title was what made people pay attention to him. But that wasn’t the case…
Those gazes seem to covet him…
I felt the food I ate boil in my stomach. There were so many foreigners in this place. The atmosphere here with too many foreign people seemed free-er but quite blatant.
No matter how much Kaichen ignored his surroundings, he might not really be entirely oblivious to how many people wanted to be with him. He isn’t enjoying this, is he? I seethed. I was suspicious of even him who had spent his life in reclusion and avoided women. My shallow heart was pounding with dark jealousy. I felt the sausage bread getting stuck to my throat.
“Teacher, were you this popular when I wasn’t there?”
“What are you trying to say?”
“Just… I knew you would be popular, but this is…”
“So?”
“No, it’s just… well, I mean…”
“What? Tell me.”
“I’m afraid I’ll lose,” I mumbled.
Jealousy, having no place to go, turned into a whimper and ran to Kaichen. I felt pathetic. I was jealous but I couldn’t even flirt with him openly because I was afraid to lose the fragile teacher-disciple bond we had. As I mumbled my insecurities, Kaichen merely grinned.
“And what are you going to do if you win?” Kaichen grinned.
I sulked sitting on the ground. I didn’t want to lose him to someone else. If maybe someday he introduces some he likes to me, I can’t just congratulate him on it. But I couldn’t possibly compete with all these brilliant women, either.
Until dawn, I had imagined that maybe Kaichen might also like me. But that was all that had been, my ‘imagination’. Kaichen hadn’t ever given me a sign he liked me. Maybe some pretty woman might appear and steal him away from me.
