~Chapter 41~
“Hiya!”
“Lower your voice a little.”
“Hiiiyaaa.”
“And don’t drag out the words like that.”
“…But why do I have to do this?”
Aveline, following Theron’s lead in training, suddenly asked a basic question.
For some reason, Theron had decided she needed to train her magic control with him—right now.
As a result, Aveline had been repeating the exercises over and over again.
“Like I said before, you don’t have much time left in Chloe’s body.”
A slight smile appeared on Theron’s face as he spoke.
‘Devil!’
Aveline saw that smile and was sure he was enjoying making fun of her.
“Think of the magic inside your body as tangled thread.”
“I did.”
“Now imagine you’re slowly untangling it. Try to do that with your magic.”
“Ugh.”
Aveline flopped to the floor, feeling like she couldn’t go on.
What Theron was asking was like telling a child who can’t even walk:
—Have you imagined walking?
—Yes.
—Then try running.
To someone who didn’t even know how to use magic properly, he wanted her to untangle twisted magic.
“Chloe.”
While Aveline was showing she couldn’t do any more, someone opened the door and walked in.
“My little cutie.”
“Brother!”
For once, Aveline was actually happy to see Klein’s face.
She jumped up and ran to him.
She could feel Theron’s annoyed gaze behind her, but she ignored it.
“Hm?”
But Klein looked a bit puzzled as he saw his sister.
“Your hair color…”
As Klein tilted his head, Aveline realized her hair was still pink.
‘Oh no!’
Theron had changed it earlier!
“I—I just wanted to do it!”
Before Klein could notice anything strange, Aveline shouted quickly.
“I begged him for pink hair!”
Aveline looked at Theron, signaling him to agree.
“…It’s true. Her Highness was having a hard time with the intense magic training, so I changed it for her as a little reward.”
Theron answered with a sigh and a reluctant tone.
“Hmmm. Is that so? It’s cute.”
Luckily, Klein didn’t ask any more questions.
“Your Majesty! The Duke of Charles is waiting to see you!”
A servant came running in behind, looking worried.
“Tell him I’m busy.”
Klein replied coldly, then turned back to his sister with a big smile.
“So, Chloe, how are your lessons going?”
“Good!”
Aveline gave him her most innocent smile.
Klein’s face relaxed.
“I just stopped by to give you this.”
Klein took something from his inner pocket and handed it to her.
“Flower?”
It was a single yellow rose.
“It’s the flower you said you liked before.”
“Wow…”
Aveline was touched by the unexpected gift.
‘That was something I just said in passing back then.’
When she first entered the story, Klein had once asked what flower she liked.
She was still afraid of him then, so she just named whatever flower came to mind.
‘He actually remembered that.’
She knew Klein was supposed to be a “sister fool,” but she didn’t expect him to be this thoughtful.
“Thank you.”
“You little rascal.”
Klein smiled and ruffled her hair gently.
“Your Majesty!”
The servant called again, almost about to cry.
“Sigh, fine. I’ll go now.”
Klein turned away, defeated.
“Keep up with your lessons, okay?”
“Okay.”
After Klein left, Aveline kept smiling at the yellow rose in her hand.
‘He did this just for me…’
At first, she had been afraid of him because he was a tyrant.
But as time passed, she wished Klein could really be her big brother.
She realized how happy it was to have someone care for her like this.
“It smells so nice.”
Aveline smiled and sniffed the flower.
Theron, watching her, narrowed his eyes.
“This is interfering with the lesson.”
“What are you doing!”
Suddenly, Theron snatched the flower from her hand.
Aveline jumped up in surprise, but with her little five-year-old arms and legs, she couldn’t catch up to him.
“I thought you didn’t even like flowers.”
Theron spun the yellow rose in his hand, looking at it as if judging its value.
“It doesn’t even look that special.”
He sounded annoyed for some reason.
‘What’s with him?’
Aveline had seen Theron’s moods change before, but now it felt like he was actually sulking about something.
“The flowers I gave you before were much prettier than this.”
‘Oh, so he was upset about that basket of flowers I said I didn’t like.’
‘Why does he care about something like that?’
She remembered she only accepted those flowers as part of pretending to be his lover.
“But this one is from my brother.”
Aveline’s words made Theron’s lips twist a bit.
“Brother, huh…”
After a moment of silence, Theron spoke again.
“Before, you liked that Edward guy. Now you like faces like his?”
“What?”
Aveline opened her eyes wide at the strange question.
‘Why is he picking a fight?’
Annoyed by losing her flower, she stomped on Theron’s foot.
“Ouch.”
But only Aveline felt any pain—Theron’s face didn’t change at all.
“He looks like a weak, plant-eating animal who can’t even protect himself.”
Theron suddenly bent down to meet her eyes and brought his face close.
“Look closely.”
Aveline was startled by his sudden closeness.
She saw his smooth forehead, sharp nose, long eyelashes, and blue eyes.
The look in his eyes was a little strange, but there was no denying he was very handsome.
“Aren’t I better looking?”
Theron went on and on about his looks, even saying things most people would be embarrassed to say.
‘Why is he so obsessed?’
Lately, Theron kept asking about her “type” and whether she liked guys like Edward.
“If you think I’m worse than him, then your sense of beauty must be… oof!”
“I can’t take it anymore!”
Finally, Aveline couldn’t stand it and headbutted Theron on the forehead.
“You’re so childish, I can’t even watch.”
She rubbed her sore forehead and grumbled.
“I don’t like people because they’re handsome. What matters is the heart.”
The reason she was happy about Klein’s flower wasn’t because he was handsome or the flower was pretty.
‘What touched me was that he listened to my small words and remembered them.’
“Heart?”
Theron raised his head and repeated her word.
“That’s right.”
Aveline blew her bangs out of her face and crossed her arms.
“If you get it, give me back my flower.”
But instead of returning the flower, Theron turned away.
“That’s all for today’s lesson.”
“Wait! Where are you going?”
Aveline tried to grab him, but he was already out the door.
“Come back!”
She ran after him, but Theron was nowhere to be seen.
‘Is he sulking because I didn’t say he was handsome?’
He really has a strange personality.
While grumbling, Aveline noticed something had changed.
“Huh?”
She looked down and realized her view was higher than before.
“No way…”
Looking at her now-longer arms and legs, she ran to the mirror.
“I’m back to normal…?”
Her pink hair was gone, her eyes were her original light green, and her face was no longer that of a five-year-old.
She was wearing the white nightgown she had on before sleeping.
‘Is this even possible?’
It had happened before, but only when Theron did it for her.
But now, he was already gone.
Was there something really wrong with Chloe’s magic?
‘I should go back to my room and think.’
Just as she turned to head back before anyone saw her—
“Who are you?”
A familiar voice, one she shouldn’t be hearing now, called out.
