“Almandine, I’m going to stay in the office for a few days to finish a model. It’s almost finished and I’m not going to miss that moment, but I’ll come back when I get the result, okay? So take care of yourself when I’m not around. If you’re short of cash, dig out my pillow for the spare I kept inside, or send me a message, and I’ll think of something…”
Almandine acknowledge all his instructions and reminders, then continue with the lecture notes he had given her after the call.
She had been staying in his apartment for four months and seemed quite like a normal person compared to how she looked like a blank slate when their first met. However, she just “seemed quite like a normal person”, and she still had no idea what to do when she was not given any instruction, or to be precise, she didn’t know how to live.
This attitude further reinforced Bahyun perspective of her as fitting his idea of the “magical world’s version of Artificial Intelligence”. Thus, to prevent her from spacing out into “idle mode”, which pained his heart whenever he saw her do so, he came up with an “order” for her to follow: If she remained idle for 15 minutes, she should start working on things she liked to do.
After many tests and trials, she found out her likes and dislikes through comparisons; she couldn’t decide anything without first trying it and comparing it with things she had experienced before. So, she preferred to move if she have to choose between moving or sitting idly; she preferred sweet compared to spicy food; she preferred repetitive and quiet jobs compared to working ad hoc or being cheerful… Now she knew what she could do when her “idle mode” activated for 15 minutes.
Her first choice would be cooking, preparing meals that would make Bahyun happy. Secondly, she would knit, making items Bahyun could wear. Thirdly, she would do some house chores, ensuring Bahyun could live in a comfortable environment…Essentially replacing her “master” with Bahyun, doing everything she could to please him as if he was her new core task.
Bahyun sensed this, but he can’t do anything about it as it was somehow “programmed” into her foundation of magic circuits. He did plan to take her for a body check, but he hadn’t come up with any ideas on how to “body check” a body formed by magic…That would be one tough task for him.
Anyway, she started by knitting a scarf for him since his notification of staying in office. It was an enchanted scarf that could provide extra warmth, and she could easily enchant anything since she was a magic circuit. Though she couldn’t create any new spell or runes, she could easily understand many of them if she had the chance to take a look at them, and she could master and use them freely in a second, which was a pace that Bahyun couldn’t compete with.
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When she set down the scarf she had just finished, the phone Bahyun had given her rang.
“Hello, Almandine?” Almandine sensed that he sounded weaker somehow, “I’ll need a few more days before I can come home. Can you manage yourself alone at home?”
“Yes, no problem.”
“Sure? Great, then I’ll…Hey, give me back my phone...Hello, are you Bahyun’s family?” The voice changed from Bahyun to another person. Her eyes, which had stated to soften, sharpened again. Ever since she knew Bahyun was capable of creating his own rune and purifying a polluted wasteland, she recognized him as a powerful wizard because no one else she had ever witnessed was as skilled as him, not even those Mages she saw in the news. How could a wizard as powerful as him allow his phone to be taken by others?
“Bahyun is in the hospital after three sleepless night and forgetting to eat.” She could easily picture the person holding the phone effortlessly pushing someone down amid the chaotic sounds in the background. Apparently, “someone” was jelly with his limps and unable to revolt from being bullied. “I’m his colleague, Otsan. If you’re coming, then I’ll wait for you here. If not, then I’ll arrange a shift with others to take turns looking out for him. What do you say?”
Almandine felt an indescribable feeling bloating in her chest, and suddenly she had an urge to hit Bahyun with a bunch of wind blades.
“I’m coming, just wait.”
Otsan, who was on the other end of the call, looked at the phone with an amused expression when the call was cut by the lady who apparently had some connection with his colleague, and that lady sound nothing like Bahyun’s younger sister which he met before. He let out a whistle and looked at Bahyun with teasing eyes, “Wow, when did you have a queen in your house? She sounds so badass even though she just replied to me with one sentence.”
Badass your heck! She’s just an AI lacking self-emotion adjustment and thinking too little. Bahyun thought to himself as he annoyingly grabbed back his phone after a few moments of struggle to raise from his bed, “Why did you tell her I’m in the ward? It’s just a small matter, and it would all be good when I eat something and have a nice nap after the IV drip.”
“Oooh…I see, you don’t want to worry her, huh?” Otsan pushed him back onto the bed and lay down, “Well, well, hiding some pretty lady at home, eh? I thought it was weird when you said you were training your new pet. So, it’s not a pet, but a girlfriend! Sneakily living together with a girl and telling no one. I wouldn’t be surprised if you suddenly sent us your wedding invitation.”
“No wedding, you moron. I told you to cut out the nonsense drama-ish novels. ‘Nosy genius programmer’ sounds nothing like a professional.”
“Well, it’s an interest I’m born with, can’t help it.” Otsan shrugged.
The two grown-up men started teasing and attacking each other’s weak points with words in the six-bed room ward, until a cold female voice that gave them a shudder shut them up.
“Seems like I’ve interrupted your game, and you look like a lively prawn that could survive another three sleepless day without water, huh?”
Whoa, Almandine is…angry? This was the first thought that glided through his mind.