Chapter 13

Felix couldn’t have said those words because he truly thought Elena attending the academy was meaningless.

He had only been criticizing her actions—her inability to use even one of the spells she had already learned. There was no malice in his words, no intent to tear her down.

Felix wasn’t someone who spoke kindly or elegantly by nature, but his personality wasn’t fundamentally twisted.

Still, did he have to phrase it like that in this situation?

“I know you’re worried about me, but you could’ve said it a little nicer.”

Elena tried to keep her eyes open, but the strength kept leaving them. Eventually, she had no choice but to close them.

Tears that had been pooling spilled relentlessly down her cheeks. With her eyes shut, she spoke, unwilling to look at Felix’s face.

“I’m grateful you saved me, and I’m grateful you treated my wounds, but right now, I don’t want to see your face. What are you going to do? Should I leave with Little One, or will you leave?”

There was no response. She couldn’t imagine what expression Felix might have on his face with her eyes closed.

Was he angry? Or was he wearing an incredulous expression?

Suddenly, she found the situation oddly amusing. She had first met Felix when she was three years old, and they had known each other for fifteen years now. Yet she still didn’t understand him. All that time seemed so insignificant.

“Should I leave?”

Still, there was no response. She couldn’t picture his expression at all.

For a moment, an oppressive and unwelcome silence weighed heavily on her shoulders.

“I…”

Before she could even finish her question, she heard the sound of the door opening and closing behind her.

After that, the only sound in the room was Little One’s whimpering.

“Maah.”

“Yes, I know. You’re sleepy, aren’t you? Go to sleep.”

As she patted Little One’s back to soothe him, Elena tried to organize her thoughts.

But even as Little One’s eyes drooped halfway shut and he finally fell completely asleep, lying on the bed with Elena gently patting his chest, a knot of emotion remained lodged in her heart.

She knew exactly what that knot was. She knew it too well, to the point that it was almost a curse.

Though she had lashed out at Felix, her anger had stemmed from her own inferiority complex.

As he had said, her grades had never been good since the moment she entered the academy.

Despite pouring all her energy into studying, she had barely managed to make it into the enrollment quota. If students were lined up in order of their grades, she would undoubtedly be at the very bottom.

Far away from Felix, who had been personally scouted by the academy’s headmaster.

The only reason she had managed to stay afloat was because her grades in magical history and theory were outstanding enough to compensate for the abysmal scores she received in practical subjects.

No matter how hard she tried, her innate magical energy was weak, and her mana affinity was low. Practical magic never went the way she wanted it to.

So, of course, Felix must have seen her as a pitiful girl chasing after impossible dreams.

But just because she lacked ability didn’t mean she didn’t have dreams. She had dreams, too.

‘Why are you even attending the academy?’

It had been a summer day when she was eight years old. Her mother, whom she had thought would always be by her side, had left her without warning.

It was a carriage accident. The carriage wheels had slipped on the wet road, and her mother had passed away on the spot without anyone being able to do anything.

For young Elena, the concept of eternal separation was foreign. She couldn’t understand what death truly meant.

All she remembered was the overwhelming sadness, as if her world had collapsed, when the adults told her that her mother would never return.

– Why can’t Mother come back?

– Is it because I didn’t want to learn the empire’s common language and hid in the garden? Because I didn’t do my homework and made her angry?

– Is that why she’s not coming back? Did she stop loving me?

Unable to escape her grief, Elena spent her first Saint Esna Festival without her mother six months later.

Perhaps out of consideration for the eight-year-old child’s sadness, the dining table was more lavish and abundant than the previous year. But there was no family beside her to share its warmth.

Her father, who had never been particularly family-oriented, devoted himself even more to his business after her mother’s passing. Her brothers didn’t come home from the academy.

On such a day, it was Jane, Felix’s mother, the Countess Christian, who came to her rescue.

Worried about her friend’s daughter being left alone, Jane had brought Felix to Elena’s mansion at the beginning of the new year.

– Elena, it’s been a while since you’ve seen Felix, hasn’t it? Aren’t you happy to see him? Felix, what about you? Don’t you think Elena has grown prettier?

Even back then, Felix had been just as curt and self-centered as he was now.

– No, she’s ugly.

Though visibly flustered, Jane had urged Felix to apologize, but he never did.

It wasn’t a big deal, but for some reason, Elena had been particularly annoyed that day. She stomped hard on his foot and ran to the garden before he could catch her.

She went to her usual hiding spot, where she always went to skip her empire language lessons, and nervously hoped Felix wouldn’t follow her.

In the desolate garden, devoid of life and battered by the same sharp, biting wind that blew outside now, she sat alone.

– What are you doing here?

Of course, Felix found her and grumbled that he had gotten scolded by his mother because of her. She sat on the cold ground, listening silently to his long complaints.

– There’s nothing to see here. What are you even looking at all by yourself?

He asked her in his usual curt tone.

– There’s nothing now, but flowers will bloom in spring.

Elena had replied in a tone just as curt as his.

– Mother and I were going to plant pink roses in spring. She said she’d buy me pink roses that matched my eyes as a birthday present.

She had marked her birthday on the calendar and waited for that day. But deep down, she had known. That day would never come.

– I miss Mother.

She mumbled softly, meeting Felix’s gaze.

To this day, she didn’t know why she had said those words to Felix of all people.

The adults often tried to label their relationship as that of childhood friends, but in truth, Elena had never been particularly close to him.

There were no secrets between them that could be considered special or exclusive.

And yet, perhaps because they were of the same age, her words began to flow out once they started.

– I wanted to see the pink roses. I wanted to plant them with Mother.

Under the barren trees, she cried her heart out, tears and snot streaming freely. Felix stood silently, watching her.

As mentioned, Felix back then was even more curt and self-centered than he was now. He didn’t offer her a single word of comfort as she sobbed before him.

He merely threw out a single, blunt remark in his usual curt voice.

– Then just plant them. The pink roses.

At that moment, under the pale winter sky, in that desolate garden where even sunlight barely reached, the air filled with the rich scent of roses.

It was the scent of spring in full bloom, the scent that had surrounded her when her mother held her close.

For a fleeting moment, it felt as if her mother had returned. And when she looked up, Elena saw a miraculous spring unfold before her, as if by magic.

Though the wind still bit her skin and the heavy gray clouds had begun to scatter white snowflakes, the garden before her was filled with the pink roses she had longed to see.

No, it truly was magic.

It was the first magic Felix had ever shown her.

Even after performing a miracle that other children his age couldn’t even imagine, Felix simply stared at the blooming roses with his usual curt expression.

A white butterfly fluttered shyly, its wings trembling as it danced among the roses.

– Well, they’re pretty.

– Yes, they’re pretty.

Everything felt so unreal that she couldn’t believe what was in front of her.

She wanted to touch the roses and smell their fragrance, but she was afraid that the moment she reached out, everything would disappear.

– What are you doing?

Felix’s curt voice broke her reverie as he gestured toward the roses with his chin.

Only then did Elena stand and approach the rose vines. Up close, the roses were even more beautiful than they had seemed from afar, and tears welled up in her eyes.

Pink roses. They’ll be beautiful, won’t they, Elena?

Yes, Mother! They’ll be beautiful! I can’t wait to see them!

I can’t wait to see, too.

Her conversation with her mother, which she had never imagined would become an unfulfilled promise, echoed in her ears.

In the winter garden, where her mother was no longer present, Elena stood with Felix instead.

– Could I… see my mother again someday? Like planting the roses?

Hesitating, she asked a foolish question. Felix frowned slightly.

– That’s impossible.

It was an obvious answer.

No matter what, the dead couldn’t be brought back. It was a completely different matter from making roses bloom in winter.

But then, Felix relaxed his frown and spoke with a serious expression.

– But when I grow up and my magic gets stronger, I’ll bring Lady Vanessa back. I’ll create a spell for that.