“It’s alright. It’s just grocery shopping. I feel much better than yesterday. I will just take the medicine. I will come back really soon.” I went up to get my coat and headed downstairs again. I heard some mumblings.
“You’re going to leave me behind?” asked Julius, incredulously.
“Why? Is there a problem?” asked Kaichen, with a frown.
“I had so much trouble taking out some time to come here and visit you!”
“I know you left Bart behind to take care of things.”
“Do you know how difficult it is to deal with Bart?”
“Well then, rest here for a while and go back.”
“What?! You know why I am here!”
I thought they were fighting but when I could peek inside the kitchen, Julius was actually tugging at Kaichen’s arm and begging him. “You said that it was true and you made an antidote after you confirmed it was some kind of poisoning, right? You know I came here to check the facts for myself and to gather information.”
“Organize it and go. I’ll check it when I get back.” Kaichen put on the robe that he had thrown on the sofa in the living room. I blinked awkwardly and looked at the two of them.
Kaichen looked at me. “What are you doing there? Didn’t you say you were going to the village? Come here.” It was only then that I could make some sense of the situation unfolding. Did he tell Julius he was going to the village with me? He was leaving Julius behind…?
“Teacher, are you also going to the market with me?”
“I am going to buy the things I need so you can come along.”
“You’re not going with me because you’re worried about me, are you?”
“No.”
I smiled at his answer and went up to his side. “Then that is okay.”
Kaichen’s eyebrows twitched as he saw me chuckle quietly. He didn’t say anything else. He stretched out his hand to me as though asking me to take it. He was going to use teleportation. Looking at his stretched hand, I wondered if I should take it. I grabbed his robe instead. Kaichen’s face stiffened and then he scowled as Julius took his outstretched hand instead.
“What? Teacher? I didn’t know anything about that,” said Julius, teasing Kaichen. “What is it about then?” he held tighter to Kaichen’s hand as Kaichen tried to extricate it from his grip.
“I don’t like being left alone at the house, so I’m going to join you on your errands to the market,” declared Julius, in all his princely glory. The Crown Prince certainly is a sly person. I smiled. It was like he had a thousand faces and selected what he needed the most based on the circumstance.
He was the protagonist after all, full of talent and tricks up his sleeves. However, Kaichen wasn’t any less of an opponent. They had been childhood friends. They knew each other well.
“If you want to follow us, come on your own,” said Kaichen with a frown. “I do not want to travel with Your Highness.” He extricated his hand from Julius’ grip and grabbed my hand that held onto his robe and teleported in an instant.
I wasn’t prepared for the golden light to rise in front of my eyes and engulf me. But the light fell away as soon as it had risen and Sharatan village came into focus. I was so surprised even when I had expected it. No wonder he was called the greatest archmage in the entire continent.
“Teacher, can we leave His Highness just like that?”
“If he is with us, only annoying things will happen.”
“He came to get a report on what happened to me, right? Maybe he wanted to examine my body?”
“If that’s the case, are you going to give up your body?” No, Teacher. That sounds really wrong and weird. I looked up at his cold face in confusion.
“Do you not want me to offer my body to the Crown Prince for examination?” I asked back. His expression is as cold as frost, but why do his golden eyes feel so hot? His gaze was always filled with displeasure. I didn’t know what made him so grumpy.
Does he really hate it? I had just asked the question as a retort to his question but Kaichen didn’t answer. Only the corners of his mouth twitched.
“Is that really it?”
“No.”
“You don’t want me to give up my body to His Highness for examination, do you?”
“Why are you talking so crudely?”
“Did you not bring it up first?”
Again, he had no answer to that. He clicked his tongue and looked away. His ears looked a bit red. I observed his face.
“Don’t worry,” I said teasingly, “I will not give my body, not even for examination, to anyone but my teacher.”
“Dalia!” he exclaimed.
“Yes, Teacher!” I said, saluting him. He closed his mouth. I suddenly remembered that Kaichen was still holding my hand. “Teacher, it’s a lie that you have mysophobia, isn’t it?” I asked with a smirk, indicating my hand that he held.
Kaichen let go of it in annoyance. He then wiped his hand on the hem of his robe and looked at me with an icy gaze.
