“Fortunately, it was a young wolf, so the wound isn’t deep. If it had been another child, it wouldn’t have been this serious, but of all people, this one had to be the one caught up in it….”
He couldn’t understand a single word being said. Right now, only one thing mattered to Elijah.
“When will he fully recover?”
“Hmm, well. He’ll recover soon, so don’t worry.”
He turned around to look at Master.
“I couldn’t remember anything at all….”
“Hm?”
“Once I actually saw the wolf, I was so, shocked, that I just couldn’t, think of anything….”
His throat felt completely blocked and his chest felt stuffy as if a stone had been placed on it, so the words wouldn’t come out properly.
“I must be an idiot….”
Jade, who had been watching Elijah gasping for breath as if he might burst into tears at any moment, bent his knees to meet his eyes.
“If you were really an idiot, you wouldn’t have been able to turn Igrit into that state just now. Isn’t that right?”
“….”
“Haven’t I always told you? Composure is important. When you panic, people forget even how to breathe. Much less magic formulas. Maintaining calmness in an emergency situation is a difficult thing.”
“Then what should I do? If that situation comes again, I, nothing….”
A warm hand firmly covered his shoulder.
“Practice and practice again. Until you can handle magic more naturally than breathing. That’s how you can become a great mage.”
“What can I do if I become a great mage?”
“Well, what do you want to do?”
“I….”
Elijah turned his head and looked at Rose lying peacefully on the bed.
“…I want to protect Rose.”
“Yes, that’s exactly it. Well done.”
Master praised him greatly and patted his shoulder. He had merely spoken his honest feelings in this moment, but the reaction was as if he’d gotten the correct answer on a test.
“If you become a great mage, you can protect your family and friends. If you want, you can also enjoy wealth and glory.”
“….”
What’s wealth and glory…. Elijah felt a bit upset, thinking Master didn’t understand what he meant. He didn’t need wealth or glory or whatever it was, and he didn’t have any family or friends anyway. He just wanted to stay by Rose’s side right now. That was all.
“So hurry back to your room and practice. Take today’s failure as a lesson and train even more harshly.”
Elijah had to turn away without getting any comfort for his heart from the master he had trusted and followed so much. A large hand lightly wrapped around his shoulder and led him outside.
The door closed right in front of Elijah’s nose. Left alone in the corridor shrouded in darkness, Elijah looked down at the flower he held in his hand.
It was the first time in his entire life he had felt such powerlessness.
* * *
Elijah couldn’t meet Rose until the wildflowers he’d placed beside his pillow had all withered away.
Daily life went on just fine. The children attended class quietly with attitudes different from usual, being mindful of Jade’s mood, and Jade also treated the children as if nothing had happened.
However, for Elijah, with just the one thing of Rose not being by his side, he absolutely couldn’t concentrate on anything at all. He no longer read books, didn’t draw the magic circles he’d drawn so tediously, and just endlessly stared at the door for the tenth day.
The sound of the opposite door opening was heard.
Elijah jumped up, opened the door, and ran into Rose’s room. Rose, who had just been lying down on the bed, raised his eyes upon seeing him.
“Get out!”
The pillow that flew at Elijah’s face fell to the floor with a flop.
“I hate you! Go away!”
The blanket that flew in succession covered Elijah’s head. When he pulled down the blanket that had blocked his vision, Rose’s fierce face glaring at him with huffing breaths came into view.
“Rose.”
Elijah quickly approached and sat down next to him. Punches, utterly weak and fragile, flew wildly at his shoulders and chest.
“You were bad. You were mean!”
“I’m sorry…. I was wrong, Rose.”
Elijah didn’t block or avoid his hitting and just apologized repeatedly.
“I’m really sorry. I…, I didn’t know there was a wolf there….”
“Then why did you leave me alone?”
The rambling excuse was cut off at once. Eyes filled with resentment looked at Elijah with a fierce light.
“You should only look at me. You should only look at me and only cherish me! Are the other kids more important to Elijah than me?”
“No, they’re not important at all. I was wrong, Rose. I really was wrong….”
Instead of the words stuck in his throat, tears burst out all at once. Elijah hadn’t cried even once while waiting for Rose. But as soon as he saw Rose, who had gotten better, tears burst out at this strange timing.
“Why, …why are you crying?”
A flustered voice was heard from above his head.
“Elijah, are you really crying?”
Rose pulled down the arm covering his eyes and tilted his head to check Elijah’s face. Upon confirming the face covered in tears in that short time, he was startled and wiped away the tears.
“What…, why are you crying? Does it hurt? Is that why? Are you hurt too?”
“No…. You, hic, sniff, you….”
I was so scared thinking something happened to you…. The words crushed by crying sorrowfully seeped into Rose’s embrace. Rose, who had been blinking quietly with a flustered expression, soon patted his back.
“Don’t cry. I’m okay now, Elijah.”
However, there are people who cry more when consoled. Elijah cried for a long time, enough to thoroughly soak Rose’s collar, as the grievance he had been holding back burst out.
“Stop crying, Elijah. How can I be angry like this? …Actually, I’m not angry. I was just being a bit sulky. Okay? Stop crying now.”
“Sorry, sniff…, but the tears keep, hic…. The tears keep…. I’m sorry….”
It was really strange. Rose being safe was a good thing, so why did tears keep coming like this? In the end, Elijah only stopped crying after his throat became hoarse and his eyes swelled up puffy.
“Were you very worried?”
“Yeah.”
“He said I’m really okay now. Look at this. I was only bitten a little. Want to see?”
Rose, who had placed his ankle on Elijah’s thigh, brought his hand to the bandage. Elijah hastily stopped him.
“No, don’t unwrap it. You might make it worse.”
“It’s really just a little. They stitched up this much.”
“But then why…, why did you bleed so much?”
As he spoke, his throat choked up again. Elijah tried hard to hold back his tears. Rose smiled with a nonchalant face.
“I’m originally like that. My blood doesn’t stop.”
“…Your blood doesn’t stop?”
“Yeah. So they said I have to be careful.”
It was the scariest thing he’d heard in his entire life. His blood doesn’t stop. Then doesn’t that mean he could die from even a very small wound? Whenever he hugged Rose, he’d thought he was like a fragile cotton doll, but he really was a being weaker than a doll.
Elijah stared at Rose with the feeling of looking at a sand castle that would disappear smoothly if held in his hands. His heart ached indescribably, and he was afraid of losing him. Even though he hadn’t lost him yet and he was right here before his eyes, his chest hurt enough to choke his breath.
Not knowing what was inside him, Rose just smiled widely with a pale face.
“So next time, don’t leave me alone.”
“….”
“I want Elijah to only look at me and only cherish me…. If you don’t, I’ll be so sad.”
As if his words were some absolute law, Elijah nodded very seriously.
“I will.”
Actually, he couldn’t understand exactly what Rose’s words meant.
“You’ll stay only with me from now on, right?”
“Yeah.”
“You’ll protect me well so wolves won’t bite me, right?”
“Yeah.”
Still, Elijah earnestly nodded and hooked his finger with the finger Rose held out, making a promise. Rose, who had been staring blankly at their intertwined hands for a while, suddenly got down from the bed.
Elijah, who had anxiously followed him down to the floor worried that his injured ankle might be strained, watched Rose rummaging with his hand under the sheet.
“Ah, found it.”
Before long, he pulled something out. A red satin string was held in his hand. Elijah immediately knew what that string was. It was the ribbon that had been tied in Rose’s hair on the day Rose first came.
“Give me your hand, Elijah.”
The red ribbon wrapped around the wrist he obediently held out.
“You’re mine now.”
Hehe, Rose laughed innocently out loud. Elijah, who had never worn an accessory in his entire life, looked at his wrist unfamiliarly. The end of the ribbon, which had wrapped around his slender wrist a couple of times and been tied, tickled his arm.
Rose, who had been fiddling with his wrist with a satisfied face, pursed his lips as if disappointed.
“It would be nice if it had a bell on it.”
“A bell?”
“It needs to make a sound so I can know where you are.”
Elijah quietly nodded. Then even if they were separated somewhere, it seemed good that they wouldn’t lose each other. And he also wanted to do something for Rose. But it was disappointing that he didn’t have anything appropriate to give.
Suddenly, Elijah recalled the magic he had recently learned.
“….”
He silently took Rose’s hand. A puzzled look crossed the brown eyes looking at Elijah.
“Um, …I don’t have anything separate to give.”
“Hm?”
“I learned it a while ago…. Do you remember the imprint magic by any chance?”
At Elijah’s question, Rose calmly shook his head. Though they always took classes together, in truth, Rose didn’t seem to listen to most of what Master said. Since he didn’t have magic power anyway, even if he listened attentively to class, it would be useless to him.
Elijah looked down for a moment at the pure white wrist where veins showed through. He had never tried it on skin, but he’d already practiced it hundreds of times. Since it was a principle of making magic power seep in a specific shape on the surface rather than causing physical damage, it was safe magic with no worry of harming the target.
Having reached a conclusion, Elijah began to draw something on Rose’s arm with the tip of his index finger.
