Side Story 4 – Liber Awakens as a Man

“Master, why are your eyes below mine?”

Lydia, about to have her coming-of-age ceremony, tilted her head, looking down at Liber’s eyes.

“That can’t be. Huh?”

It was true. Lydia’s green eyes were above Liber’s. With a look of disbelief, Liber dragged Lydia to the mirror.

“Gasp!”

In the mirror, Lydia appeared half a head taller than Liber.

“Kid! When did you get so tall?”

Liber stared at Lydia.

Her long, tangled black hair, flushed cheeks like peach blossoms, and prominent red lips.

‘Why is she so beautiful?’

Lydia had always been pretty, even as a baby. But the face he noticed now was strikingly different.

Lydia wasn’t just tall.

Trapped in the Mage Tower, learning magic and focused on research, even in her messy mage robes, she bloomed with beauty inherited from her mother.

It seemed just yesterday she was crawling around, but Lydia was now a young woman.

Suddenly, heat pooled in his lower abdomen. Liber staggered away from her.

‘Huh? What’s this?’

His heart raced wildly, something twisted in his belly, and he felt oddly blocked up.

An instinctive sense of crisis hit him. It wasn’t just the shock of Lydia being taller.

He needed to escape.

“I’m going into closed-door training.”

Liber declared, dazed.

“What? Suddenly? You promised to come with me to my coming-of-age ceremony.”

Lydia fluttered her lashes like butterfly wings, blinking. Her green eyes sparkled like jewels.

“Gasp!”

His heart pounded so hard he hyperventilated.

“Heal!”

Lydia quickly cast healing magic.

But even Lydia’s healing magic, which could save the dying, didn’t help. Liber broke out in a cold sweat.

“Huh? What’s happening? Master, are you okay?”

Lydia grabbed Liber’s arm. Even though their skin didn’t touch, it felt hot as if branded, and Liber roughly shook off her hand.

“Don’t touch me. I’m fine.”

“You’re just overworked. Rest for now, okay?”

Lydia looked worried.

Thinking about it, Liber hadn’t slept well lately, making a gift for Lydia’s coming-of-age. Maybe these strange symptoms were from lack of sleep.

“Yeah, I need to sleep first.”

Liber staggered to his room and fell asleep.

That night, Liber, who normally didn’t dream, was plagued by strange dreams. But when he woke, he couldn’t remember them.

And his body felt odd. Specifically, his lower abdomen.

Curious, he looked down and saw a tent pitched over his pants. His normally limp member was standing tall.

“Gasp! What is this?”

Liber was startled by his *rection. It was his first time experiencing this.

“Heal!”

Liber cast healing magic on himself. But it didn’t go down.

‘What kind of illness is this?’

‘Did I live so long I was about to die?’

After his body stopped growing, Liber lost track of his exact age.

Maybe he was dying from some big illness.

‘Oh, what to do?’

He hadn’t passed all his knowledge to Lydia yet.

“Master, are you awake?”

At Lydia’s voice, Liber jumped up and covered his lower body with clothes. It just felt right. The clothes felt tight and uncomfortable.

“Huh? Master, your eyes are above mine again. Your face changed, too.”

“What?”

Liber stood before the mirror.

His jawline was sharper, his neck thicker. His wrists and ankles stuck out below his clothes.

He had grown taller.

Not just taller—his face had changed.

Suddenly, he remembered what his master said before passing away.

[“Liber, listen well. You won’t grow any further from now.”

“Forever?”

“Not forever. When the woman who makes you a man appears, you’ll shed your boyish form and become a young man. Then, tell your symptoms to an adult male friend for help.”

“What symptoms?”

“Ahem, you’ll know then. Don’t forget. Never let go of the woman who makes you a young man.”]

It was a faint memory from so long ago.

‘Could an *rection be the special symptom?’

“Master? Are you okay?”

Lydia approached Liber.

Again, his heart raced and his face flushed pink.

“Don’t come closer, don’t come!”

Liber shouted, making Lydia stop in surprise.

“Why all the commotion this morning?”

Middle-aged Shutal, father of adult children, entered Liber’s room. Seeing a young man, Shutal tilted his head and said, 

“Liber?”

White hair, dawn-gray eyes, pale face.

It was definitely Liber, but not Liber he knew. Just a week ago, he hadn’t been like this. It was absurd.

He knew Liber was strange, but did he grow up so suddenly?

And what a handsome young man he became.

His pretty boy face matured into a man’s, making him stunning—rivaling Lydia’s brother, the fourth prince.

“Sir, Master is acting strange.”

Lydia clung to Shutal’s arm, teary-eyed. True to Liber’s teaching, Lydia didn’t call people by name or title properly.

“Yes, he does look very strange, Princess Lydia.”

“Heal spell doesn’t work. What should I do about Master?”

Lydia was on the verge of tears.

“It’ll be fine. Calm yourself and get ready to go to the Kingdom.”

“Oh, today’s the day we go to the Kingdom?”

Of course. He’d visited a week ago and said he’d come for them today, but eccentric geniuses never remembered.

What else could he do? As the normal one, he had to adjust.

“Just pack the essentials, Princess. The rest is prepared at the Kingdom.”

Shutal added. Most of a mage’s things weren’t needed by a Princess.

“Master, may I pack my things?”

Lydia asked Liber. Other than her mother Adela, only Liber could move Lydia.

“Yes, go ahead.”

For once, Liber let Lydia go without fuss. 

‘He really is acting strange.’ 

Shutal thought.

Normally, Liber’s possessiveness made taking Lydia to the Kingdom a struggle.

Once Lydia left, Liber cast a soundproofing spell. Still unsatisfied, he huddled close to Shutal and whispered.

“Duke, it’s bad.”

“What?”

“My thing got big and hard.”

A grown young man calling it “my thing” like a child was almost funny. Liber was deadly serious.

‘Wait, an *rection?’

Shutal was alarmed. This was no time for laughter.

Liber was a Grand Mage with immense power, but sexually, he was still like an eight-year-old. He’d never shown interest, nor any s*xual responses.

So everyone thought he was neutral, but now? An *rection?

“My master said before passing: when the woman who makes me a man appears, I’ll become a young man. Then, I should tell an adult male about my special symptoms for help.”

“Oh my!”

Shutal covered his mouth.

All of Liber’s cryptic words made sense. The woman who would make him a man—there was only Lydia.

So, that woman was Lydia.

The special symptom was an *rection.

That meant, because of Lydia, Liber awakened as a man and became a young adult.

“Oh dear.”

Shutal pressed his forehead.

He cherished his apprentice so much, and now, as Lydia neared her coming-of-age, Liber realized his love for her as a woman and became a man.

How big was their age gap?

“This rascal.”

Was he just a rascal? He was in a league of his own.

“Huh? I’ve never stolen anything.”

“You will, you rascal.”

How was he going to tell Braden about this?

Braden would be furious and the Kingdom would be thrown into chaos.

“Why am I like this? Duke, you’re an adult man, so you must know the answer, right?”

Shutal stared blankly at Liber, who had the face of a young man but still sounded innocent.

How was he supposed to explain this?

It was so complicated.

“Haa.”

Only a sigh escaped Shutal’s lips.

– The End –