I thought it was already too late, and it really was.

I wanted to run away right at that moment, but Olmu was seated comfortably on my knee.

In front of me was the 16-year-old Eunho, and beside me was Baekho-gun.

No matter how much I thought of it, it was already too late for me to escape.

‘If I knew this would happen, I would’ve returned to my dorm right away…’

Hwang Jiho laughed so hard while he prepared the medicine.

I felt like my bones were ringing at the smell coming from the medicine hotpot.

Because the smell was so strong, Olmu sneezed a few times on my knee.

I soothed my angel while I was in a sour mood.

‘It’s gonna taste worst than it smells…’

…But doesn’t Jeokho have his share?

I thought having someone share the pain with me would at least make it better.

Jeokho was in the room too, so why is this damned old man only making my share?

“I took the medicine prepared by my son. He made it very well.”

Jeokho began to brag about his son with a pleased dad face.

Kim Shinrok was embarrassed of course.

Jeokho was able to willingly drink some medicine thanks to his son.

‘…If Olmu made my medicine instead of this old man, maybe it would taste good.’

Olmu is a genius, so making something like this wouldn’t be too hard.

But the scent of the medicine was already too difficult to endure, and I wouldn’t want to put Olmu through that suffering.

I have to let the old man boil this soup and endure its taste.

“Alright, it’s all done. Drink this before it gets cold. It’ll be harder to drink it if it gets lukewarm.”

“…I’ll drink it well.”

“Hahahaha! I can do this much for the benefactor.”

I don’t think I can though.

When I took the medicine bowl, all the tigers’ eyes turned to me.

Their attention was too hot, so I closed my eyes shut and drank the soup.

‘It tastes bad…!’

Hyagrok’s signature fresh tasteless medicine swirled in my mouth!

I felt like my brain was fiercely protesting why I kept abusing my tastebuds.

Each sip stabilized my energy waves, but my mind wavered.

The unbearable taste made all other senses numb.

It would’ve been better if the taste subsides over time, but it was so vivid as if Hyangrok himself made it.

I heard Eunho’s voice calling me from afar.

“Do you want a top knot cookie, Euishin hyung? I made it with citron and it doesn’t taste too bad. There’s an orange cider here too.”

I blinked my eyes and saw Eunho in front of me.

I felt like I left this world for a second.

It was only after I saw the empty bowl did I feel relieved.

I took a bite of the cookie that Eunho offered, and it felt like my senses were instantly revived.

“It looks like you had a busy night last night, Jo Euishin.”

Hwang Jiho said he gave me the medicine in gratitude for my hard work, but it didn’t feel like it at all.

It’s like he expressed that he disliked that I moved without informing him, without actually putting it into words.

…But I can’t deny that the medicine was indeed good for my body.

“You didn’t just stay up all night, didn’t you? You wouldn’t have slept this deep if you did. If nothing happened, you would’ve woken up when Shinsoo woke up.”

Woof woof!

The angel on my lap barked at Hwang Jiho with dissatisfaction.

He seemed to be protesting for me.

I wanted to join him.

Hwang Jiho dared to ignore Olmu’s protest and talked to Eunho instead.

“I think Baekho and Eunho knew what happened to you though…”

Hwang Jiho looked at Eunho.

Was it because of Eunho’s direction that Baekho-gun picked me up yesterday?

“I knew that Euishin hyung was busy, but I didn’t know exactly with what.”

“…”

Eunho answered vaguely, and Baekho-gun was silent as usual.

Something felt strange, but I couldn’t question it since it didn’t feel like I could speak carelessly.

I can’t reveal by accident that there was something in Eungwang High, a school run by the Tiger Clan, that excluded the royal lineage and their descendants.

And that the principal that Hwang Jiho chose himself, Hwangbo Yoon, knows something about it.

‘But I can’t not say anything.’

I haven’t checked what was in the data chip yet, but I’m sure it’s something very important that the former head of the association gave up his life for.

I would need help from the Tiger Clan to deal with this information.

I decided to mention only what I could reveal.

“It’s hard to say how I got it, but I got important information. I haven’t checked it yet, so I can’t make a report. I’ll tell you as soon as I finish analyzing it.”

I carefully put my thoughts together.

I said what I had to say, but the tigers stayed silent as if they were waiting for more.

They remained silent until I emptied the bottle of orange soda.

The first one to break the silence was Hwang Jiho.

“…Is that it?”

…It’s not, but I can’t tell them anything more than that.

I thought about what else I could say, but there was almost nothing else that I could safely reveal.

I nodded, and all the tigers had complicated expressions, except for Eunho.

He looked like he expected it.

“I thought you’d say that, Euishin hyung.”

“…”

“Jo Euishin…”

Did I misspeak or was there something wrong with what I said?

In hindsight, I don’t think there was anything except for the things that I couldn’t say.

Hwang Jiho pressed his temples.

“What we want to know is not what you moved so much for. We were worried about what you went through.”

Looking at the other tigers, they seemed to agree with Hwang Jiho.

The words of concern weighed on my heart.

I was hiding something from them, but the tigers only worried about me.

I should wrap this up as soon as I can and tell the tigers about it.

I’ll tell them as soon as I can…

‘I’ll check the data chip, ask principal Hwangbo Yoon for an interview, talk with Sung Siwan, ignore Gye Bastard, and…’

The further the silence went on, the heavier it all felt.

Each breath was audible enough to make me lose my mind.

“…Jo Euishin, do you remember what I said?”

I don’t know which of this old man’s lectures he was talking about.

As if he read it from my expression, Hwang Jiho continued speaking.

“I said you should look for a way to consider both your intention and your safety.”

He could’ve said that earlier.

I was reminded of when he said those words.

Around the time of my birthday, Hwang Jiho brought the other kids with a private jet to pick me up from England.

— I’m going to guess what you think. You’re not talking because you’d say you thought I’d stop you or try to come with you.

— From now on, tell me about your plans in advance. I’ll find a way to consider both your intent and security.

I said yes to that, but this case was hard to compare to the England incident.

First of all, it happened in Eungwang High so it couldn’t be anything dangerous.

In addition, it was an otherworld simulator in an inaccessible place to the royal lineage.

Even if I needed the Tiger Clan’s help, it was a position where it was difficult for me to tell them the whole story.

I couldn’t have told Hwang Jiho in advance.

“…You still got a long way to go. Let’s have dinner before going to the bamboo forest.”

“Alright. Euishin hyung didn’t eat the whole day so he must be very hungry.”

The medicine and the cookie replenished my hunger, but I decided to eat quietly to avoid the uncomfortable conversation.

Food was immediately served as if Hwang Jiho had cooked them in advance.

Starting with the grilled rock ear mushroom, Korean autumn dishes were served one by one, and each one of them was surprisingly delicious.

Olmu had his share of food too, so it was truly a perfect dinner.

Having drank the medicine in advance made me enjoy the dinner better as well.

“Be careful on your way.”

“Goodbye. I’ll go to you if anything comes up.”

It was time to head to the bamboo forest.

Jeokho and Eunho, who weren’t going with us, sent us off in front of the mansion.

After bidding us goodbye, Jeokho greeted his son for longer.

He seems to be very worried about Kim Shinrok.

‘Jeokho could hide and follow him but… he seems to want to wait.’

He was doing it in consideration of the tiger couple.

“This way.”

I thought we were going to Eungwang High since the forest was near the west gate, but it seems like there’s a path near the mansion as well.

It was a pathless mountain trail, but when Hwang Jiho walked ahead, the road opened up.

There was a faint sense of energy waves around the road.

When we felt that we were deep in the forest…

“You’re here. We’ve been waiting for you.”

From the shade of the bamboo trees, Jukho appeared and greeted us.

He looked very happy, a smile formed on his mouth.

While waiting for the couple, Hwang Jiho spoke to Jukho.

“You look very happy. What happened?”

“To tell you the truth, today my student successfully used her light skill for the first time without my help.”

“Kim Yuri? Congratulations.”

“Yes! She was very happy and I couldn’t help but be happy for her too…”

Jukho excitedly talked about his student as if he had been waiting to be asked.

As expected, our class president and my playable character managed to win the admiration of the Tiger Clan’s chief sorcerer.

I listened with joy to the anecdote about Kim Yuri.

“Hello…”

“Oh, Baekho-nim is here too.”

While we were almost done talking, the tiger couple appeared.

They were still wearing their masks, but their voices sounded softer than before.

They also acknowledge Kim Shinrok who greeted them politely.

Jukho, who was watching the scene with an anxious face, spoke in a relieved voice.

“Alright, before you go into the garden, let me tell you some precautions.”

Jukho mentioned several points that we should remember while inside the Tiger Clan’s garden.

First, we should always protect ourselves with our energy waves since the energy pressure inside is quite high.

Second, device communication with the outside world is not possible because of space-time axis distortion.

“Time and space are intertwined inside, so you have to use items or high-level skills when communicating with people from a distance.”

“It would be best to refrain from moving away from the group until we leave the garden.”

Hwang Jiho looked at me as he said those words.

…I don’t intend on doing anything else here though.

Jukho mentioned some other things before standing in front of a thick bamboo tree.

“Alright, I’ll see you off.”

He fluttered the hem of his robe and energy waves scattered in the air.

Then, without a single breeze of wind, the bamboo leaves began to shake.

Swaaaa…

After the sound of rattling leaves filled the forest, the space finally opened.