“Correct. But many people don’t really want to learn it,” said Kaichen. “They believe it is not really needed.”
“Really? But why? It makes things so convenient….” I cut the siron in half. It did require a bit of strength, so I concentrated on cutting it.
“It also consumes a large amount of mana. You can’t really lighten a large number of things at once, or things of considerable size. If you falter, the objects will become heavier, so you would also need to concentrate and maintain control.”
“Hm…”
“Injecting and pulling mana into an object is the hardest part of mana control. On top of that, distributing accurate mana to items that needs to be lightened also requires great control.”
“Hm…”
“Lightening magic is difficult to maintain but it is classified as the basic form of magic. Even a beginner wizard can do it right away.”
Kaichen wasn’t this talkative usually. So, I nodded and gratefully listened to the facts that I hadn’t known about before.
“Then, does that mean I have a talent?” I asked. “I can use only basic magic, so maybe not. But I have practiced and used the basic magic so often that it now comes naturally to me.”
Kaichen raised his eyebrows. He only did that when he had something to say… or if he was displeased. What else is he going to say? I wondered. I pretended to be occupied with the siron. I cut it into triangular shapes and placed it on the plate.
I placed the plate of sirons near him. His eyes looked at me questioningly. “It’s called a siron. Have you tried it?”
“No, never.”
“Then you are in for a pleasant surprise! It is really sweet.”
I didn’t hide my smile when I saw Kaichen glancing at the siron. I picked up a piece to take a bite out of it. The taste was refreshing. “It’s sweeter than I thought.” Relishing the sweet taste of siron, I hummed to myself.
The willow leaves swayed in the gentle wind. The rustling of the leaves and branches created a nice sound. The clouds were so sparse in the sky. Everything felt so peaceful. As I was humming, I heard Kaichen next to me taking a bite out of the siron. When he tasted it for the first time, he opened his eyes a little wider. He slowly took another bite. It was adorable to see Kaichen tentatively taking another bite of the siron.
His golden, blonde hair and beautiful natural tan shone in the sunlight filtering through the willow leaves. The tips of his ears were a bit red. Everything about Kaichen right now was so adorable to me. I averted my gaze quickly and tried to brush my thoughts away. I must be going crazy. We didn’t talk until the plate was empty. I felt all fluttery. He hates me yet he worries about me and occasionally cares for me…I really don’t know what to make of it…
He was also extremely serious and focused while teaching me facts about magic. He never looked at me like I was a monster. He didn’t get jealous of me, either. He only occasionally twitched his eyebrows.
I had been trapped in the time magic for a hundred years. It would make sense if people looked at me strangely or treated me differently because of that fact alone. I was grateful Kaichen never treated me any different. He would only display surprise not resentment.
“Teacher,” I said tentatively. “I have to go back to Acrab, right?” It was something I didn’t want to bring up. However, it has been three months. The ‘incident’ described in the novel would take place soon. Kaichen would leave to be by Julius’ side, and I will have to leave for Acrab. Besides, I couldn’t ignore my work back in Acrab any longer.
“Do you want to go back?” asked Kaichen. I had expected him to say yes. His question surprised me. He looked at me.
“What?”
“Do you want to go back to Acrab?” he asked calmly.
“It’s… not up to me to decide,” I said. “It’s my land. My people are there.”
“Will you be resuming your duties as the countess?”
I sighed and lay down on the bench. The cool wind ruffled my hair. “I can’t abandon Acrab,” I said, “I can’t let it go to ruins.”
Going back to Acrab was akin to going to hell, but that was the only way. I had to protect my people. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to forgive myself. It was as much my duty as a need to appease my guilt from my past.
“I want to ask you something,” said Kaichen after a long pause.
“Ask me anything you want,” I replied. I looked up at him with my back on the bench.
His warm, golden eyes looked at me. Usually, he would have nagged me for laying down so carefree on the bench, but today he went oddly quiet. Today he was different.
“I want to know what happened when you were trapped there.”
My eyes went wide. The Kaichen I knew was so indifferent to everything so why was he asking me that? Was it for his research? But his research on time magic was already done.
