“Aren’t you going to take it?”
“W-Will, I will take it.”
Why is this kid so scary?
I quickly took the flowers and felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
‘I think there was a time when I’ve been scared by a kid like this before…’
“You don’t like flowers?”
The boy asked, looking disgruntled. I shook my head desperately in embarrassment.
“No, I like them.”
“It doesn’t seem so. But you seemed to like that punk’s flower after receiving them.”
…punk’s flower?
“You mean the flowers Brantley gave me?”
“Brantley……? Why do you even know the assistant’s name?”
The boy’s expression grew sour.
‘Just what I did wrong?’
I bent my head down and pretended to smell the flower, avoiding the growling boy’s eyes.
‘Well, the scent isn’t bad.’
Unintentionally, I found myself smiling, but suddenly the flower disappeared.
Kathrine had snatched it away.
After tossing the flower, Kathrine glared at the boy.
“Don’t talk to my friend.”
“Your friend? Did you ever have a friend?”
The boy laughed at her.
‘I know she’s a bit… less sociable, but it isn’t right to treat Kathrine like that.’
I was feeling bad for her..
But Kathrine laughed coldly, as if she was used to such comments.
“You are the least eligible to say something like this when you have such a personality that makes even the elders of the family avoid you. Unlike you, I at least have a sense of sociability, Fritzka.”
“Are you sure you’re not delusional? Let’s ask your assumed friend.”
“I told you not to talk to my friend! And why did you come here? We agreed to pretend not to know each other at the academy.”
“I have no interest in you either, I’m interested in this girl you ‘claim’ to be friends with.”
“Ugh! Keep your hands off her, Fritzka Spigent!”
Kathrine shouted.
Fritzka Spigent!
That was the name of Kathrine’s twin brother.
‘Come to think of it, they look so much alike, don’t they?’
Their hair color, personalities, everything!
‘They look so similar, yet they have such a bad relationship.’
Is this sibling rivalry?
Kathrine suddenly created a ring of wind and a fierce wind started to blow. Fritzka didn’t back down and created another huge wind ring.
The children practicing around them were not surprised and quickly moved away.
“Here we go again,” I heard someone grumble.
‘I have to stop them.’
“Guys, listen…..”
“Get the hell out of here, Fritzka!”
“Kathrine, I have no business with you!”
Kathrine and Fritzka seemed to see nothing but each other.
It was just the two of them in their world right now.
‘Maybe they really do care for each other?’
I shuddered, imagining the twins freaking out, hearing my inner thoughts.
But no matter how much I thought about it, this was no place for me. I had no choice but to sneak away like the other kids. As I started to walk, I heard something breaking and shattering from behind. But I left resolutely.
‘Shall I go see Brantley?’
It had been such a long time. Just thinking about his face made my heart flutter.
I was proud to see him learned magic so well.
“He was with Professor Richter earlier. Where’s he now?”
Just then, I heard a commotion among the tall trees and grasses.
“Make way. I have to go to the Professor.”
“Where do you think you’re going?”
It was Brantley and Jacob.
I rushed towards the sound.
Behind the sarcastic Jacob, a group of burly children stood like bodyguards. They were the children of the Duke Eisen’s vassals.
‘He fought Brantley the other day and lost. And now he was bringing a bunch of kids who are good at fighting. Coward!’
“My father made it clear that you have no place at the Academy. Did you come here to displease him?”
“I’m here as an assistant, not a student. I didn’t disobey father.”
“What are you talking about, you lowlife! What’s Professor Munich doing? As the new Vice Chancellor, shouldn’t he be getting rid of this filthy blood?! I can see why my father wants to kick him out. He doesn’t have the right judgement for the academy!”
“What do you mean by ‘filthy blood’?”
My voice cut through the lush grass, and the children turned to my direction.
Brantley’s face was white with worry when he spotted me.
Jacob, on the other hand, grinned savagely, as if he was happy to see a familiar face.
“You’re laughing? A spoiled boy like you deserves to be reprimanded. How can you have the mind to laugh?”
“No one’s going to scold me for not calling that illegitimate brat ‘brother,’ and my parents are all on my side.”
“The future Brantley will scold you.”
“That asshole?”
Jacob held his stomach and laughed.
I grinned back at him.
“Yeah. In the future, Brantley will be a Duke. But Jacob, you are just the Duke’s second son. The future Duke can punish his naughty little brother.”
Jacob’s smiling face twisted.
“How dare you… that the future Duke of Eisen is me! I’m going to be the Duke!”
“The Academy is open to anyone who has the ability. His Majesty has decreed so. That means it doesn’t matter what your father says.”
“Ability? The bastard hasn’t even learned magic properly. When I was being tutored at home, he was locked in his room!”
Jacob exclaimed while creating a small earth golem.
The golem, resembling Jacob’s temper, stomped towards me.
Suddenly, the ground trembled, and a large golem popped out. It swung its fist and shattered Jacob’s golem to pieces.
Brantley’s golem stomped on Jacob’s.
“Don’t touch Henelope. If you hurt her, I will punish you myself.”
The boy glared at his half-brother with cold eyes.
There was no sign of the intimidation that had gripped him a while ago.
After a moment’s hesitation, Jacob barked orders at the large children who surrounded him.
“Beat those impudent little bastards into submission!”
The large boys came towards us. Their stomps were making the ground shake.
Brantley, who was standing before me like a shield, punched one of the kids who was nearly going to attack us.
No matter how good Brantley’s natural physique was, the kids in front of us looked much older, and their stature was massive.
Yet, these kids were knocked down by Brantley’s fists like leaves falling from a tree. Even when several kids rushed at us simultaneously, Brantley used magic to deal with them effortlessly. They were no match for him.
One of the boys, feeling desperate, tried to sneakily attack Brantley from behind.
I yanked him by the hair.
“Don’t hit Brantley!”
“Ouch, ouch, it hurts! Get off me!”
Seeing his side losing ground, Jacob, in frustration, didn’t know what to do. He eventually picked up a large stone from the ground.
‘He’s going to throw it at Brantley!’
I had to stop him. I was about to release my mana hastily.
Just then, a gust of wind came from nowhere. The kids were forced apart, and Jacob dropped the rock he was holding.
“Who’s making so much noise that it’s disturbing us?”
“You’re making so much noise that we can’t fight!”
Kathrine and Fritzka appeared dishevelled and covered with grass. Their hair was a mess and their clothes tattered.
Jacob who was terrified before, looked at Fritzka and grinned broadly.
“Fritzka, you’re here! Teach those rascals a lesson!”
He appeared to believe that Fritzka was on his side.
But Fritzka just glanced at Jacob and the kids.
When Kathrine noticed my dress was a bit messed up. She shouted,
“Who hit my friend?”
Fritzka’s face turned sour as he also took note of my presence.
“Who touched her?
“Who touched her?”
Kathrine and Fritzka bared their teeth and snarled. The two were only of average size, but even the large children were intimidated by their appearance.
Apparently, their notoriety was quite high.
“I didn’t hit her. Instead, I got hit by her!”
Especially the kid I grabbed the hair of.
Katherine and Fritzka glared at him.
“How dare you hit my friend?”
“I told you, I didn’t hit her yet!…”
Before he finished speaking, a strong gust of wind blew the child away.
I was left speechless by the twins’ madness.
‘Kathrine was understandable, but what’s wrong with Fritzka?’
I wondered.
“Fritzka, what are you doing? He’s our friend! It’s Hanelope and Brantley, you need to punish!”
Jacob shouted like an ant in a hot pan.
Fritzka frowned.
“Why am I friends with that boar, and who the hell are you to tell me what to do?”
“Wh-What…..?”
“You were already annoying me by sticking around. I didn’t want it to be a nuisance, so I left you alone. Don’t go around mistaking me for a friend.”
“So you’d rather side with those lowlifes than me, the heir to the Eisen family?”
“You keep yelling, do you even know your position!”
“What po-position?”
Jacob lost his sanity. Though he was the one used to putting others in their places. He never imagined he would have to face something like this.
Seeing Jacob get angrier, Fritzka got more annoyed and guided a ring towards him.
‘Fritzka was able to use magic this freely as the son of the Archmage.’
Even children who learned magic at the Academy can’t use magic recklessly. If it were possible, the entire capital would be in shambles.
Jacob flew away, as well as the big kid who had been following him like an escort.
But they didn’t fly as far as the first kid.
“What are you doing?”
It was then that Professor Munich appeared from among the broken shrubbery.
Professor Richter, who accompanied him, negated Fritzka’s spell.
“You guys… fought.”
Professor Munich looked at the sprawled Jacob alongside the twins with their tousled hair and came to a logical conclusion.
TY for the TL