In the end, it all came down to gaining his favor. I did not want to be involved with him, but I already was, by being associated with Kaichen. So, I had to try as much as I was able to keep the main character in my good books.
“Hmm.” I closed my eyes with a sigh. Compared to Kaichen, I was cold to Julius. I asked myself why I was so cold to Julius, but I wasn’t any closer to an answer.
“I just don’t like him!” I shouted to myself and hit my innocent pillow. Just because I was cold to him doesn’t mean he wouldn’t visit Kaichen, though. I should have given him more steak.
Lying on the bed and hitting fruitlessly on the blankets and the pillows, I reflected on myself. I heard a knock on the door while I lamented about things I should and shouldn’t have done to the main character.
I flinched knowing there was only one other person at home who could be knocking at my door. Kaichen. He was also the reason for my worry and agony over everything. I knew that Kaichen would do anything for Julius even though most of the time he was cold and annoyed towards Julius. I sighed.
When I heard the knock, I got up from my bed and opened the door. I had intended to open it slowly, but the door flew open at the slightest pressure. Maybe Kaichen had anticipated it because he had taken a step back from the door.
His cold eyes looked at me. He was very tall, so he had to look down to look at me. He wore the magician’s loose, comfortable clothes. Contrary to his icy and cold expression, his golden eyes exuded a warmth. Damn…
In the end this man had become more important to me than Julius. The really important person should have been Julius as he was the main character and Kaichen should have been just a foothold for me but…
The corners of my mouth lifted up. Seeing Kaichen, I couldn’t help but smile. “Teacher! What brings you here early in the morning? Are you hungry?”
“I found the connection between time magic and the medium and the definition of magic.”
“What?
“Did you forget it already?”
“Ah.”
Kaichen’s eyebrows twitched a little. Without holding back a smile, I leaned against the door and nodded. It had already been two months since I had come here. I was reminded of my purpose here. I came as Kaichen’s subject of study. I completely forgot about it with everything going on, my symptoms and all…
I was surprised at his declaration. Kaichen, in the original novel, had a hard time figuring it out because of the crazy Dalia. But I wasn’t crazy here, so it would have been easier to figure out.
“After all, the Teacher is amazing!”
“If one becomes a medium of forbidden magic, they usually cannot survive. Until you, that is. You are an exception. How can a person be so carefree? You even forgot about it.” His eyes looked at me, full of annoyance.
I smiled at him. “Because I am your competent student?”
“Nonsense,” he said and walked away. I closed the door to my room and followed him. I had been to the research room multiple times. It was full of scrolls and books scattered everywhere that there was no place to sit.
It was so disorderly that I doubted whether he actually had mysophobia. But I guess he didn’t have a problem with things being messy only with them being dirty. I could see no grain of dust anywhere. Even old items that had been in the room were spotless. I realized he cleaned it every day. Or maybe he uses cleaning magic on them.
There was one thing I learnt while being here. Apart from the mysophobia, Kaichen had so many things that bothered him. He also wanted to eat delicious food, but he doesn’t want to cook. He was a cold-hearted, indifferent person or he pretended to be, but he was sentimental.
I found these out as I explored the house. I thought the two ducks in the pond were wild ducks who had wandered into the pond by the house and made it their home. But they were Kaichen’s pet, and he took care of them. It was a surprising thing to discover. I had found this out the hard way. The conversation went something like this:
“Teacher, there are two ducks in the pond. Do you want smoked duck for dinner?”
“Are you crazy?”
“What? You can’t eat duck meat?”
“Don’t even think about touching them! They are my children.”
I was really perplexed and embarrassed at the accusing way he looked at me, as though I was some murderer. I had begun to feed the ducks in the pond in the mornings. I also found out that the circle of influence of Kaichen’s magic was not only limited inside the house but also outside to a certain area. I stumbled upon this realization when I saw no duck poop around. There was no duck poop on sight and no smell. While being grateful and astonished about his fact and how convenient it made our lives, I couldn’t help wondering what a waste of mana that was.
