“What are you looking at with such a stupid expression on your face?”

Upon seeing her rise to greet him, Raytan opened with his usual abrasive remarks.

“Oh, I’m just… glad to see you,” Sezh offered him an awkward smile.

Well, I’m not really lying, though.

“How amusing. You just saw me yesterday.”

“Well, that was yesterday. Today is today!”

“…”

“And tomorrow is… tomorrow,” Sezh glanced at him as she finished, but Raytan said nothing further and only stared at her before going to sit near the window. Beneath one arm, he was carrying a book.

[Introduction to Kazaki]

Sezh checked the title and began laughing unknowingly.

“What are you laughing at?”

“Ah, I just laughed because… Aren’t we going to study at our usual place?”

“Just study here,” Raytan commanded her tersely. “Bring that over.”

Sezh’s eyes followed the direction of Raytan’s gaze to a small desk in one corner of the library. She nodded and went to retrieve the desk. According to common practice, those who were lowest on the social ladder were required to come forward and volunteer to complete the task if a job needed to be done. In this case, Sezh happened to be that person, but she didn’t mind.

She happily dragged the desk and its accompanying chair to the window near where Raytan was standing while looking at him with sparkling, expectant eyes. Raytan threw the book he had been holding onto her desk.

“You’re going to use this from now on.”

The harshness of his tone reminded her of what he had asked her to write yesterday. ‘Didn’t I tell you to write stupid princess?’ That ridiculous statement had caused Sezh to grow nervous under his scrutiny and confess to him that her writing skills were lacking.

“First, you need to memorize all the vowels.”

“I understand.”

“Then, solve this problem here, and I’ll grade your work after that.”

“Yes.”

Sezh opened the book to the page Raytan had indicated and then assuredly picked up her pen. It’s not a difficult problem, she told herself. Just like the title of the book said, the question he assigned her was a beginner level problem. Theoretically, given her knowledge of Kazaki from before, she should be able to answer all the parts in no time.

“Solve it quickly.”

Sezh began to write her answers just as Raytan was instructing her to.

I feel good about this. Just yesterday, he literally dropped some books in front of me without bothering to explain anything properly, but he seems a little different today.

Others probably wouldn’t have noticed any change in the red-eyed prince’s taciturn demeanor, but after spending the past few days in his company, Sezh was able to detect the subtleties in his persona. The changes were slight and nuanced, yet the fact that she had been able to detect them gave her confidence that she was making progress with him.

Raytan continuously checked on Sezh as she solved the problem, unlike yesterday when he paid her no mind and continued reading his books on wizardry. The intensity of his scrutiny was admittedly a bit much, and she felt a little uncomfortable by his almost relentless staring; however, the attention was not so unbearable that she couldn’t continue her work. After writing diligently for a short while with no sound other than the light scratching of her pen nib against the paper, Sezh proudly handed him the sheet as soon as she was finished doing as he asked.

“…”

Raytan narrowed his eyes as he looked over what Sezh had written. She grinned at him triumphantly. All that time and effort she had spent learning Kazaki before she died was really worth it after all, even if she didn’t get to use it in her previous life. She was sure she had solved all the problems correctly.

“I did well, see? I learned it all by myself!”

Sezh’s excitement caused her to start boasting enthusiastically as she awaited confirmation that she had done the assignment correctly. Expressing such eager confidence around him, or anyone for that matter, was rarely something she ever did.

He didn’t answer her and just glanced over her writing and the book expressionlessly. Still, in spite of his lack of reaction, her energy did not falter. In fact, her zeal continued to heighten.

“Luna said so, too, that I’m actually very smart.”

“…”

“Actually, I’m good at other subjects, too. Like math and science… and she also complimented me then, saying that she didn’t know I was this smart.”

Since she rarely ever reflected positively on herself or her accomplishments, once she was presented with the opportunity to talk herself up, she latched on and didn’t stop. Sezh’s mouth just kept running like a fish gurgling out of water while Raytan kept silent.

“That’s why I study so hard. It feels good to be praised, and I also feel like I’m not being completely useless anymore…”

“…”

“And, I thought she’d compliment me if I was able to at least do something well.”

At the mention of a certain woman, a shadow suddenly loomed over Sezh, who was so chatty before, and caused her to pause briefly.

That’s right. That’s why I studied hard. When I was young, I was so naive and thought Yerena would start to pay attention to me if I had something that I could do well.

“I think I felt that way until I turned fifteen, and then I stopped trying to seek validation. But, at the very least, those skills still proved to be useful until now.”

Raytan raised a brow as he interrupted her, “Fifteen years old…?”

“What?”

“You’re twelve right now.”

Oh my. My mouth can’t do anything properly. Sezh immediately clamped her lips shut as she tried to find a way to explain herself.

“Uh, did I say I was fifteen?” she nervously continued after a moment. “Well, I hit my head really hard yesterday, and it seems like I’ve just been saying nonsense since then.”

That was a pretty lame excuse.

“Sometimes it happens, you know? When you hurt your head… you just keep… talking… nonsense… after that… cough.”

She frowned as she stifled a cough, but as she did so, the sudden force through her airways caused the cotton bundle plugging her nostrils to pop out and leave nothing in place to stem the gush of blood spurting from her incessant nosebleed. Despite the meticulous effort she had put into ensuring she looked decent today, she now seemed more like a dinosaur shooting fire through her nose than a prim and proper princess. How ridiculous she looked wasn’t the main problem, however. After gathering her bearings, Sezh realized with horror that the stream of blood had splattered all over Raytan’s stomach.

“Big, big brother…”

Last time, she had vomited on him. Now, she bled on him.

“I’m so sorry…”

Acutely aware of her embarrassment, Sezh tried to wipe the blood off his clothes with her sleeve, but Raytan flinched a little at the contact.

“Big brother…?”

Sezh looked up at him, puzzled at his reaction. He grimaced as if in pain, and his skin paled as if he was sick. Even though she just barely grazed his stomach with her hand, she surmised that he was reacting adversely because his stomach must have still been hurting from yesterday. She recalled the moment when Bern had kicked Raytan in the abdomen with all his might.

“Are you hurt from yesterday’s…?”

“Don’t touch it.”

“Why didn’t you call the physician? What will you do if the wound gets infected?!”

“I said don’t touch it!”

Raytan brushed her aside and grunted.

I thought he hadn’t been hurt at all…

Faced with the unexpected fact that she had grossly underestimated Raytan’s condition, Sezh was swallowed with guilt.

I mean, if I hadn’t stepped in yesterday, the fight wouldn’t have gotten so out of hand. And it turns out that you were hit harder than I thought. It’s my fault you got hurt to this extent.

“Can you show me your injury, big brother?” Sezh met his eyes with the most pitiful and regretful expression she had ever made. “I’m just worried…”

“Just stop your nosebleed.”

Ah, that’s right. I’m glad Luna told me to bring some cotton with me.

Sezh pulled out a ball of cotton from her bag and quickly stuffed a couple of wads into her nostrils. Then, she proceeded to look at Raytan, who was still recovering from the aching in his torso.

“Or, should I maybe call the physician?”

“No need. It’s fine.”

“But…”

Sezh reached for the delicate fabric of his shirt, hoping to get a look at the extent of his injury for the sake of her peace of mind.

“Move your hands away!”

Rrrip!

The sound of cloth tearing echoed unusually loudly through the library. In the brief ensuing struggle, Raytan’s shirt had been ripped apart from him violently pulling away from Sezh as she held onto the hem. She hadn’t meant to ruin his shirt any more than her nosebleed already did, but in all fairness, if Raytan hadn’t reacted so violently then things wouldn’t have become like this. He currently looked ridiculous with his shirt all bloody and half-shredded.

“… I didn’t mean to do that,” Sezh was the first to break the awkward silence between them.

“…”

“It’s true.”

“Ha…”

Raytan sighed. He looked so defeated. Suddenly, Sezh’s gaze turned to Raytan’s stomach.

“Oh my God…“