What? What do you mean, I won? I recalled our conversation from the street earlier that day:

“Teacher, were you this popular when I wasn’t there?”

“What are you trying to say?”

“Just… I knew you would be popular, but this is…”

“So?”

“No, it’s just… well, I mean….”

“What? Tell me.”

“I’m afraid I’ll lose.”

“And what are you going to do if you win?”

I was shocked. What did he mean by that? Was this the continuation of our last conversation? I pressed my lips together. My mouth was dry, and my heart fluttered. I was lost in my thoughts when I heard Lamia’s small cry. I looked up to see that the fight was already over while I had been spacing out and Chushinick knelt on the ground.

“Oh…” Is Kaichen so strong in swordsmanship?

“Sir… L-Lord Petral!” Lamia shrieked.

I noticed that she corrected herself when addressing him. ‘Sir’ was correct because he was the Crown Prince’s knight. However, she wanted to hide the fact that he was a knight because he had just lost a duel to someone who wasn’t even a knight. Since he became the official escort of the Crown Prince, the title ‘Sir’ was of course correct, but since he lost the duel, she seems to want to hide the fact that he is a knight. Lamia’s sudden change of title made Chushinick even more miserable. Everyone knew who he was anyway. I felt sorry for him.

“If you want to serve the Crown Prince, you must first learn to discern people and situations,” said Kaichen. “The Imperial palace is in a worse state than what you are feeling right now. If you don’t learn to question who you trust, it will be most damaging.” Kaichen casually threw his sword back into the subspace.

Chushinick looked shocked. He must have figured out who Kaichen was. Lamia, who was flustered in the situation, turned pale.

Kaichen passed them indifferently and approached me. He wasn’t even out of breath. He didn’t look like he had just won a fight. A cold, stern face that doesn’t even feel the joy of having won…

He walked to me and dusted off his clothes. “I guess now you can live peacefully with yourself.”

I slowly recalled what I had said to him before the duel. “I can’t live with myself if you get hurt because of me…”

He looked so casual. It was as if there had been no interruption and he was continuing without conversation. I wasn’t prepared for words that gripped and made my heart flutter like this. I felt the heat rise to my face.

“Teacher, when you said that I won…”

“…”

“I… uh… so, does that mean…”

My mouth was dry. The words didn’t come out easily. How could I ask if that meant he liked me? If it ended up being just my misunderstanding, I would just die. It might even affect the relationship we have now. I didn’t want to ruin everything. It didn’t seem like Kaichen liked the original Dalia.

It wasn’t easy to bring it up. What if I get rejected? That would make everything uncomfortable and awkward. It made me anxious. I was afraid to voice out my thoughts.

“So, does that mean I can hog the teacher all for myself?” I asked jokingly. I couldn’t do it. At least this way, he would think I didn’t want to share him as a teacher with anyone else.

Kaichen’s eyebrows twitched. He looked displeased. Is he still angry about the restaurant?

I definitely thought his anger would abate after the duel. Instead, he sighed and reached out a hand and stroked my hair. His gentle hands made my heart flutter again. I blushed to my roots.

“Yeah, if you want.”

“I told you… not to treat me like a child,” I murmured and turned away. I couldn’t look at his dazzling face and intense gaze. I took a deep breath and turned to Chushinick and Lamia.

Lamia was still pale. She looked around and seemed to want to leave the place as fast as possible. She must be embarrassed facing Kaichen after so many years. What was worse was that she had made a scene in front of him and Chushinick had lost miserably as well.

Chushinick, on the other hand, was so shocked that he did not stand up even when Lamia urged him. There were people gathering around the restaurant because of the duel. Perhaps he was stunned that he had picked a fight with the precious friend of his master’s whom he had vowed to serve with all his heart.

“Teacher, you revealed your identity on purpose, didn’t you?”

“…”

“You could have pretended until the very end, but you nagged him.”

“…”

“I’m telling you that you are just showing off now.”