Third Person's POV

"..."

"..."

"What?! Stop staring at me, I am trying to study here." Alaric snapped, dropping his book and glaring at the two women, who hadn't even tried to be subtle about staring into his soul with suspicion evident in their eyes.

"Well, it feels… strange to look at you with a book in your hand after the hours I spent watching you run like a dog under the son for these past few months."

"Not to say that young master is lying on top of the table, trying to take advantage of his... minimal stature by using the table as a bed."

Aurelia and Eirlys said putting their book down as well.

"Is that so?" Alaric mumbled in a tone that wanted to wave their attention off him.

Alaric flipped to another page, staring blankly at the intricate diagrams. 'Too many circles,' he thought, barely skimming over them.

"Why are you even reading that? Wouldn't it be much better to read another Skill book?" Aurelia said. She was very familiar with the book Alaric had in his hands and the look he had on his face was a clear sign of him finishing whatever he was reading today at any cost even though she knew he couldn't understand a single stroke of ink that the book has.

"Indeed. Why not try learning the other Rank-1 Skills since you are so good at learning them? You will have to, one day or another, better do it now." Eirlys added. Watching a 7-year-old child read a Spellbook was taking a toll on her head.

Spellbooks are purchased by people who are in the field of craftsmanship or who have given up on cultivation, Eirlys was worried that all that endurance training made the young child give up.

"Yeah, yeah, I'll get to it... someday," Alaric said still flipping through the book without so much as glancing in their direction.

Eirlys sighed, giving up and going back to the book she was reading, Aurelia did the same but continued glancing at Alaric from time to time finding him absorbed in the book everytime.

It was after lunch that the three of them were gathered in the library, Eirlys would always read here until the evening when the preparation of dinner started and she had to return to work.

Aurelia was only in the arbor for the sole reason of keeping a watch on Alaric, now that he was done she had returned to spending her time buried in books inside the library. Aurelia was a doctor so the only time she left the library was when it was time to eat, sleep, bath, or an urgent need of her in the hospital that she worked in.

A few hours passed, and all three of them were still engrossed until Alaric groaned and shut the book close. He sat cross-legged on top of the table and took a quill and paper.

Alaric dipped his quill in ink, scribbling furiously across the paper. Aurelia and Eirlys exchanged a glance, eyebrows raised, before looking back at the kid, who was completely lost in his own little world.

Curious about what he was doing they kept watching until Alaric dropped the quill and placed a finger on the paper.

The paper quivered for a moment before it suddenly turned bright.

"Alaric, get away fr—!" Aurelia's voice cut off as the paper flared up in a bright light. Alaric flinched, bracing for an explosion... but instead, all he heard was a soft ripping sound.

Everyone stared blankly at the paper. Silence shrouded the library, all three of them stared at the paper with a dumbfounded look before Aurelia's eyes moved and met Alaric's.

She walked up to him with a frown and took a look at what he had drawn, Aurelia was certain he had tried drawing the magic circle from the book and messed up.

"What the hell were you thinking?!" Aurelia's voice was sharp, startling Alaric. The child curled up, like a startled deer. "Do you even realize what could have happened? What if it had blown up? What if you had gotten hurt?"

Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

Each word pressed on Alaric like a physical weight. His eyes dropped as he looked at the table. "I'm sorry," he mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper. "I won't do it again."

The sight of him—small and defeated—doused Aurelia's anger induced by worry like a bucket of cold water. She closed her eyes, exhaling slowly. "You don't need to apologize," she said, her tone softer now. "I just..." She hesitated before reaching out to ruffle his hair gently. "I just don't want you to get hurt, Alaric. That's all."

Alaric looked up at Aurelia, who had a wry smile as she caressed his head. "Let me make you something. You can try drawing any magic circle however many times you want without being in danger as long as you use it," she said and saw Alaric's eyes gleam with hope. The fear, one that Aurelia believed to be her fault, crumbled.

Eirlys was looking from her seat. Unlike Aurelia, she wasn't an active user of magic circles, so by the time she realised the circle had gone haywire, all she could do was stand and watch. Her worries only grew when she saw Alaric apologize.

Eirlys sat down quietly when she saw Aurelia calm down.

'A child…' A fact that many seemed to forget, echoed in the maid's mind. Alaric was a child, he hadn't even passed single digits in terms of age.

Aurelia pulled a fresh sheet of parchment and quill toward her. Her movements were calm now, her frustration replaced with a sense of purpose. With steady strokes, she sketched out a clean, intricate magic circle. "Here," she said, pressing her finger to the paper. A soft pulse of mana spread across the lines, causing them to glow faintly before hardening into something that resembled stone.

"This," she explained, handing the paper-slab to Alaric, "is a failsafe. It's a magic circle designed to drain and cancel out unstable magic circles. If you're going to experiment, use this. Always."

"Thanks!" Alaric said with a bright smile. Aurelia ruffled his hair with a small smile but her eyes were on the paper that was torn.

"Sound barrier... but why?"

"Uhh..." Alaric rubbed his neck, his eyes looking away as he tried to find an excuse.

***

[We need to stop our training for a few days.]

Alaric glanced up at Boon, the ball of fire in his hands flickered out. He was sitting at his usual spot near the window and training at night, from what Boon had said a while before he was sure that he had mastered it, the first stage of learning a skill.

[Fireball] initially formed a ball of flames barely the size of his fist but the one he was forming now was a bit bigger than Alaric's face and it was incredibly chaotic. Every time Alaric created one, his fingers were bound to be burnt, not that it hurt much at this point, Alaric would barely wince at most.

"Why? Don't tell me you need breaks?"

[(˘･_･˘)... I'm deserving, not gonna lie.]

Alaric clicked his tongue.

[The next stage will have to wait. It is going to cause a whole lot of noise so there is something else you need to learn first.]

"And that is?" Alaric asked curiously before taking a healing potion. The amount of healing potion Alaric had been taking made him wonder if it was even safe. He simply shrugged it off because he didn't have that many choices to begin with.

[Sound barrier spell.]

***

"Just curious, I guess..." Alaric's attempt at an excuse was so flimsy it barely made it past his lips. Aurelia didn't even need to think twice before her eyebrows arched knowingly.

"Alaric~" she cooed, leaning forward with a dangerous gleam in her eyes. Her lips curled into a wicked smile. "Don't tell me you're trying to hide something... something that requires utmost privacy?"

Alaric froze, a slight crease forming on his forehead. "What… what do you mean?" he asked cautiously, though his brow furrowed deeper in confusion.

The activities of utmost privacy that the two were bickering about, have no similarities. Except, both of them failed to realize that.

Alaric concluded that she must have heard some noises at night and got suspicious, and now that she has seen him learn the magic circle, she must be connecting the dots of her theory.

But for the conclusion, Aurelia had reached…

"Oh, nothing at all to worry about~" she replied airily, her smirk widening as she raised her hands in mock innocence. "It's just… well, you're a healthy, curious, growing boy, aren't you?" Her tone dropped to a sultry purr. "Surely you've had a few, let's say, vivid dreams, Alaric."

Alaric blinked. Then blinked again.

The slight tremble in Alaric's throat as he swallowed only encouraged her teasing. Aurelia's ring gleamed for a second, and in a flash, a small white rectangle appeared between her thumb and forefinger. It looked like paper.

"Dreams like this~" she teased, her words lingering in the air. She flipped the rectangle with a dramatic flair, revealing a picture that made Alaric's heart stop.

"What is th—HUHHHHHHHHH!"

Alaric's horrified scream could have shattered glass. His face turned crimson as he lunged, barely thinking. "Give me that! Now!"

"Oh no, no, no~" she sang, dodging with ease, her nimbleness almost magical. "What's the rush, Alaric? It's just a little artistic capture of you… in your natural state."

"You evil witch!" Alaric shouted, his arms flailing as he made another wild grab. Aurelia side-stepped, sticking out her tongue with a gleeful laugh.

The image of himself sleeping—and, to his utter embarrassment, with a very clear… situation—burned into his mind. His entire goal in life condensed into one thing: destroy that picture.

Alaric attempted to snatch it again, this time lunging from the table at her in an attempt to reach her, burning the picture of him sleeping with a boner was his life goal right now.

"Woosh~" Aurelia made a sound before the picture vanished and went back to her storage ring and she smoothly moved out of the way.

Aurelia couldn't hold it in anymore. She doubled over laughing, tears forming at the corners of her eyes. Casually, as if nothing had happened, she strolled back to her seat, humming lightly and picking up her book.

Alaric landed face-first on the floor, groaning and Aurelia burst out laughing, sitting back down in her seat like nothing had happened.

For a good while, Alaric stayed sprawled on the floor, unmoving. Aurelia peeked over her shoulder, wondering if he'd actually hurt himself, only to find him staring at her.

Alaric's face pressed firmly against the ground, his arms and legs sprawled like a defeated starfish. Slowly, he turned his head, his big, watery eyes meeting hers with a pitiful glare. "Pwease~" he whined, his voice muffled by the floor. "Pwease~ just give it back."

Aurelia quickly turned her head away, biting her lip to keep from squealing at how adorable he looked.

Eirlys, however, was less amused, casting both of them a stone-faced stare.

Aurelia composed herself, turning back with a teasing grin. "Nope. That picture is coming with me to my grave," she winked, her playful tone only making things worse for Alaric.

Alaric's exaggerated display ended with a long, dramatic groan before he scrambled to his feet and dashed toward the door. "I'm telling on you to Mother! Just you wait!"

Before she could even respond, Alaric was gone, leaving only the sound of his retreating footsteps echoing down the hallway.

"Just 'you' wait," Aurelia chuckled to herself, tucking a stray lock of her lavender hair behind her ear and settling back into her book.