Track 01. He and I Are Childhood Friends (Part 1)

Vivian Gerhartz and Kanin Albrecht.  

The two had known each other since birth. It was inevitable. The Gerhartz and Albrecht families were among the five ducal houses supporting the Lyos Empire, and they had traditionally produced the Commanders of the Imperial Magic Knights Order, Moonlight Division.  

‘Who will be the next great Commander?’  

Naturally, such attention was focused on the two. The parents were no exception.  

“You must become friendly rivals.”  

“Always be mindful of each other.”  

Growing up under such scrutiny, the first to receive attention was Vivian.  

“My goodness! Is this the amount of magic a human can possess?”  

“It’s immeasurable.”  

At a young age, the only thing that could be measured was magic power. And Vivian’s magic was outstanding. Not only among her peers but also among mages, it was exceptional.  

“Will it be from the Gerhartz this time?”  

“You must be proud, Duke Gerhartz.”  

When a mage uses magic, magic power serves as fuel. No matter how skilled in constructing magic formulas or controlling magic, without magic power, the number of spells one can use in a day decreases.  

In that sense, Vivian had great potential.  

But that was as far as it went.  

“It’s hot. So hot!”  

The fiery magic within her tormented young Vivian.  

“It hurts, it hurts!!”  

“Young Lady!”  

The uncontrollable, rampant magic caused her pain. At such a young age, unable to emotionally restrain herself, flames would often erupt.  

“Make her room with fireproof stones!”  

At first, Duke Gerhartz was delighted that his only daughter had so much magic power, but he quickly grew weary of Vivian, who could turn a forest to ashes in an instant. Her uncontrolled and vast magic was a poison in itself.  

Locking a child alone in a stone room—how would that affect the child’s emotions?  

“Waaa!!”  

Vivian cried endlessly. It felt like she was the only one in the world. All sorts of destructive desires boiled within her.  

‘I’m in so much pain! How can everyone else be happy? I wish everyone could feel this pain!’  

The person who calmed her turbulent heart was Kanin.  

* * *  

‘It hurts so much. I feel like I’ll burn to death.’  

As usual, unable to bear the pain, Vivian ran out of her room. What was different that day was the impulsive thought of wanting to throw herself into the lake.  

“Ahhh!”  

Running to the small lake on the Gerhartz estate, she saw a boy with black hair and glasses sitting upright in the shade of a large tree.  

‘Who?’  

Through blurry eyes, Vivian looked at the boy. He raised a finger upon seeing her, who was crying like a beast.  

“Shh.”  

It was strange. As if by magic, the burning heat within her vanished like steam.  

‘What a strange feeling.’  

It was as if a bubble rising from deep water had transformed into a person. The fierce heat that had tormented her since birth was, at this moment, calm.  

Vivian blinked and approached the boy.  

“Who are you?”  

He could have answered more kindly, but the boy replied in an extremely cold manner.  

“It’s noisy, so be quiet. Can’t you see I’m reading?”  

The boy was as cold as his nature. However, Vivian did not feel that coldness. She just liked the comfort that came, so she sat next to the cold boy.  

As she gently rested her cheek on his shoulder, a refreshing coolness spread through the skin that touched him.  

‘So nice.’  

Vivian rubbed her cheek like a cat. A smile naturally spread across her face.  

“This is the first time I’ve felt so peaceful. It’s cool.”  

“……”  

The boy showed no reaction, only looking down at the book he was reading. After a while, as Vivian eagerly absorbed the coldness emanating from the boy, she looked at him blankly.  

“Am I bothering you?”  

The boy did not meet Vivian’s eyes.  

Just as Vivian was about to feel a little down due to his cold and composed face,  

“No, you’re not.”  

The boy answered in a blunt voice.  

“So just stay quiet.”  

It seemed he wouldn’t mind as long as she was quiet, whether she rubbed her cheek or leaned against him. Vivian, who was staring at him, pouted her lips.  

“That’s difficult.”  

A vein bulged in the middle of the boy’s forehead. Just as the boy turned to look at Vivian with a disapproving expression,  

Vivian’s face, which had always been scrunched up, brightened with a smile.  

“I like you so much, I have so many questions to ask.”  

“……!!”  

Thanks to that, the boy saw something no one else had: her fresh, plump cheeks, curly brown hair, and round eyes with long eyelashes shining brightly in front of him.  

It was beautiful.  

“You shouldn’t say you like someone so easily.”  

The boy pouted his lips and turned his head away. The tips of his ears were subtly tinged with red.  

Unaware that the boy was embarrassed, Vivian’s eyes sparkled again as she asked,  

“What’s your name? How old are you? Do you have something you like? Why did you come to our house? Will you come often?”  

“Ask one at a time.”

Though he replied gruffly, the boy answered each question.  

My name is Kanin Albrecht.  

I came to be your friend.  

* * *

‘……That’s how it was.’  

She didn’t know how she managed to get through the day.  

From the moment she realized that the lewd message was mistakenly sent to her by Kanin, who intended it for someone else, she had been in a daze, like someone who had lost their mind.  

There was only one thought in her mind.  

‘I want to go to sleep quickly.’  

Fortunately, time passed quickly, and it was time to leave work.  

Although she felt like she hadn’t done anything, her body felt incredibly heavy. She left the knight order as if fleeing.  

‘And as soon as I came home, I fell asleep.’  

She was so exhausted that she slept in her shirt. She barely managed to take off her pants and hang them on a chair.  

‘Ah, it’s already morning.’  

She rubbed her dry eyes with the back of her hand. But she felt moisture.  

“What?”  

When did I cry?  

She sat up in a daze. Tears that had pooled around her eyes fell as she moved.  

‘I dreamt of the first time I met Kanin. Was that why I was sad?’  

It was a good dream, definitely not a bad one. She loosely combed her curly hair with her fingers.  

‘Without realizing it, I must have relied on Kanin a lot.’  

Since their first meeting, they had spent almost every day together. Because she still couldn’t control her magic.  

• Can I entrust my daughter to you, Duke Albrecht?  

At first, her father desperately wanted to hide the fact that his daughter, overflowing with magic, couldn’t control it. But eventually, he entrusted her to the Albrecht Dukedom.  

Considering the family’s interests, it would have been better to refuse, but the Albrecht Duke and Duchess were warm-hearted people. They pitied her, who suffered the pain of wandering a desert in everyday life due to rampant magic at a young age.  

• If our son’s magic can help, let her stay as long as needed until she can control it, Lady Gerhartz.  

So she spent most of her childhood at Albrecht duchy until she stopped having seizures at 14.  

‘After that, I naturally followed Kanin to the academy, joined the knight order, and……’  

By now, it was no exaggeration to say she grew up like a twin with Kanin.  

‘I guess that’s why I was shocked.’  

At first, she was surprised that he saw her as a woman.  

‘And then.’  

Knock, knock.  

As a heavy feeling made her frown, there was a neat knock from outside.  

“Young Lady, are you awake?”  

“Yes.”  

It was her maid, Nora.  

When she answered, Nora carefully opened the door and came in.  

She was carrying a washbasin at her side, and since it was her personal wash water, it had a thin layer of ice on it.  

Crack.  

As soon as she touched it with her finger, the ice melted into water. It couldn’t be helped. As a fire mage, she was always emitting heat around her.  

‘It would have been nice to have a little less magic.’  

Thinking that, she washed her face. Nora, handing her a towel as usual, asked,  

“You seemed really tired yesterday. Are you okay?”  

It must have been noticeable to Nora how sluggish she was. She felt a bit embarrassed and laughed awkwardly.  

“I feel better after sleeping.”  

It wasn’t a lie. It wasn’t that her body was unwell, just that she was mentally exhausted. After sleeping, her head was clear, and she wasn’t as confused as yesterday.  

Nora, who meticulously examined her face, asked kindly,  

“What would you like for breakfast?”  

“Um.”  

But that didn’t mean Vivian felt completely better. Her stomach felt queasy, as if worms were crawling inside.  

After hesitating for a moment, she answered brightly,  

“I’ll skip it.”  

“Okay. Then I’ll prepare a light snack.”  

She often skipped meals when something bothered her. Since it wasn’t uncommon, Nora didn’t mind much and answered.  

‘Oh, come to think of it, the field training is soon.’  

Realizing an important fact belatedly, she called Nora.  

“Hey, Nora.”  

“Yes.”  

“I forgot to mention it. The field training is set for the southern region.”  

At her words, Nora’s eyes widened.  

“What? Young Lady, will you be okay? Especially since it’s summer.”  

The harsh heat of the south exhausted her. And summer…  

Just imagining it made her breath catch, but there was no other way. She just laughed awkwardly.  

“I’ll have to pack the thinnest clothes possible.”  

“Still……”  

Knowing how she struggled even at the estate during summer, Nora’s face clouded. But soon, she smiled.  

“But since the Young Master Albrecht will be with you, it’ll be fine. We should send a thank-you gift in advance.”  

“Kanin……”  

At Nora’s words, she felt like she couldn’t breathe for a moment.  

‘Yes, I’ve been able to endure thanks to Kanin.’  

As an adult, her magic outbursts had significantly decreased. She could endure the heat that endlessly tormented her.  

But accidents still happened. There were countless times she would have been in trouble without Kanin.  

‘I’m not confident about the heat during field training.’  

Kanin didn’t have a lot of magic power, but he controlled it well and was as cold as an ice mage. Just being near him calmed her heat.  

But she couldn’t always be by his side. She bit her lip.  

“Kanin won’t take care of me like he used to.”  

“What?”  

Nora, not understanding her words, asked back. She just smiled awkwardly.  

‘Since he has someone he likes, it’ll be harder for him to pay attention to me.’  

The uncomfortable feeling of worms crawling in her stomach spread again. She sighed and stood up.  

It was a morning that started with a heavy heart.