“Aren’t you the one with impure interest in the baby?”

“That’s impossible.”

Chamuka immediately denied it with the reaction of someone who heard something absurd.

But when Astrid stared at him, suggesting his denial was wrong, he added further.

“Rather, I’m the one who drives away people with impure interest in Leti.”

“Why drive them away?”

“Don’t you understand the meaning of ‘impure’?”

Astrid’s eyes sharpened at his reproachful tone.

“Don’t you think what you’re doing to Leti right now is impure?”

“I’m purely protecting him, that’s all.”

Purity is dead. Astrid felt choked with frustration.

If it were Ferik, he would have smacked him on the head already, but Astrid couldn’t bring herself to hit her son’s head. She barely composed herself and said.

“Then, with that pure heart of yours, let Leti associate with people his own age. Friends or lovers.”

“Wouldn’t it be better not to have friends with impure intentions?”

“Then a lover at least! Lovers should have personal interest!”

Finally, a shout burst out from her frustration.

But Chamuka countered as if it were obvious.

“No. Leti is still too young to marry.”

“Who said anything about marriage?”

“If he’s not going to marry, why should he interact with the opposite s*x? It’s inefficient. When he’s older…”

Having said that much, Chamuka frowned quite clearly, perhaps imagining Leticia’s marriage, and corrected himself.

“…Come to think of it, since marriage is about creating a family, if he’s already satisfied with his existing family, is there really a need for additional external recruitment?”

“You seem to keep forgetting this fact, so I’ll tell you: Leti is not your biological brother. He’s my disciple. If we’re being specific, Leti’s family is me, and you all are just the extra baggage that comes along.”

Among mages, the master-disciple relationship was treated the same as parent-child.

Astrid stared with disgruntled eyes at the extra baggage(?) trying to interfere in her relationship with her lovely disciple.

“That’s only true for now.”

Chamuka spoke without hiding his displeasure at Astrid’s words.

“When I inherit the title and Leti also receives his inheritance, I’ll adopt him so we can become a real family. If Father and Mother don’t allow it, I’ll even register him as my child…”

“You’re insane.”

A cheap exclamation escaped her momentarily.

Astrid pulled at her hair, recalling the early days of her romance with Ferik.

She grabbed Chamuka’s shoulders with bloodshot eyes.

Astrid truly hated the Basilintes. These damn people.

“Why go that far! Chamuka, my son! You’re not like your father when he was young, with all emotions gone! Come on, let’s examine your feelings carefully. Hmm? You can do it!”

“Mother, what is this suddenly…”

“You’ve fallen in love! Fallen in love! You have extremely, very, seriously impure interest in the baby! You’re the most impure! Impure boy, what will happen to our baby? Oh my, how did I end up giving birth to something like this…”

To Astrid’s lamentation, Chamuka coldly pointed out her final statement.

“That’s not a very good statement for your child’s mental health.”

“Talking with you right now isn’t good for my mental health. Is this the time to point that out?”

Astrid spoke deliberately while firmly gripping Chamuka’s shoulders.

“You. Like. Leti. Do you understand?”

Chamuka frowned.

And while carefully removing Astrid’s fingers from his shoulders, he answered.

“Of course I like him, but not in the way you’re suggesting.”

In Basilinte, where private relationships outside of family were non-existent, Leticia was somewhat special.

Tan, Kalia, and even Ferik or Gaien liked Leticia.

But that didn’t mean Ferik or Gaien treated Leticia like their spouses.

Chamuka, growing up in this not-so-normal household, simply believed that he alone could truly protect Leticia, but he didn’t think his affection for her was any different from what other family members felt for her.

“You said it yourself, Mother. That Basilinte can’t help but love him.”

How could anyone not like a child who revives ruins and restores emotions?

“He’s special. I probably won’t see anyone as special as him in my lifetime. But isn’t that the same for the rest of the family?”

Chamuka poured out words more profound than any love confession in a flat, indifferent tone.

Astrid thought that saying “I love you” would be less embarrassing.

“As you said, Mother, he’s the most beautiful and genius mage in the continent who will save us.”

“….”

Is this the problem?

The reason is so objectively clear why one should like him, that he’s never even considered liking him in a different way.

Astrid sighed deeply at Chamuka, who had listed “reasons why Leti is special.”

After a pause, she opened her mouth.

“What if he’s no longer a genius, no longer beautiful, and no longer a mage?”

“….”

“Would you stop liking him then? Or would he still be special to you?”

“There’s no point in assuming something that won’t happen.”

“No. Try it. It’s an order. You need to think about this. You must.”

At his returning gaze that seemed to ask why, Astrid smiled bitterly.

She loved Chamuka, but she loved Leticia just as much.

To Astrid, Leticia had always been her most painful finger.

“Because Leti doesn’t like you in that way.”

Those loving, shining purple eyes were always the same whether looking at Chamuka, Tan, or Kalia.

To Leticia, Chamuka wasn’t special.

“He loves ‘us’ enough to sacrifice his life for Basilinte… but that’s actually because he considers himself that worthless. His own life or body isn’t very important to him. Since he first came here.”

Leticia was brought here as a hostage and had her magic drained, yet she began to love them simply because they treated her with a little kindness.

Astrid knew the reason from the moment she first met Leticia.

You don’t really want to live, do you?

You needed an excuse to die.

Seeing that, she didn’t probe further. Whatever Leticia was hiding seemed to be her sore spot.

No matter how preciously they embraced and cherished her, it felt like pouring love into a bottomless jar. She wondered what Leticia had left behind to have such lonely eyes here.

“Whatever way you want her, he’ll do whatever you ask. Because he’ll think his own feelings aren’t important as long as it makes you happy.”

“….”

“To put it extremely, even if you continue like this without thinking and impulsively touch him…”

Unable to continue, Astrid let Chamuka finish her sentence.

“-Leti wouldn’t reject me.”

“Yes. He would. No matter how terrible your touch, even if he doesn’t feel a single flutter when looking at you, even if… Yes. Even if there’s someone else he likes.”

Astrid deliberately didn’t mention the more terrible fact.

That quite a few Basilintes throughout history had made similar mistakes, not knowing their own feelings.

Ignorance sometimes becomes a sin. And what’s done cannot be undone.

“So you need to think about it. What you want from him, what kind of relationship you desire.”

Astrid advised coldly.

“Think about it constantly, and remember this, Chamuka. To him, you are neither unique nor special.”