“I’m sorry I hung up so suddenly. I’ve got an abrupt report about a hybrid wanting to be your disciple, and the Tower’s lobby was in a mess right now.”

Michael swallowed his saliva. He became more nervous because Diamide didn’t answer right away.

“What shall we do with that hybrid?”

*****

It was an evening that was nothing special from the usual.

“I know you thought it was a sauce because the colors were different. But it was actually guts.”

“Do you eat the guts too?”

“Yes, scratched it with a fork like this…”

Jayna was learning how to eat a dish she had never seen from Hilvenzia.

There were also table manners classes such as how to use a fork and knife.

At first, she thought it was bothersome, but it was quite fun to listen to why such manners were created.

“How does it taste?”

“Delicious.”

Jayna nodded enthusiastically with her plump cheeks.

There was a feeling of pride and joy in Hilvenzia’s face seeing Jayna like this.

Even with the dishes served every day, Jayna did not forget to thank her politely every time.

“Thank you, Hilvenzia-nim.”

“What? I’ve never seen anyone in my life worth feeding like this.”

Unlike her usual gritty smile, Hilvenzia smiled calmly.

She soon playfully poked Jayna’s plump cheeks.

Keug!

“You look like a squirrel with a mouth full of acorns.”

“I’m not as cute as a squirrel.”

“Oh, my. Are you saying there’s a problem with my eyes now? “

Amid the friendly atmosphere between the two, Michael, who was alone and stabbing his food with a fork, retorted sarcastically.

“How lowly of you, seducing a child with food.”

“Oh, then do you know how to make that food?”

“What’s important about eating food anyway?”

Hilvenzia laughed leisurely.

“Oh Well, you don’t even know how to seduce someone in the first place.”

“You old lady-“

“Our Michael has no friends, no lover, when he dies, who will bury him in the ground?”

Michael glared at Hilvenzia, but Hilvenzia gazed at Jayna like she doesn’t care about him at all.

It is a situation that could be burdensome for other people.

But Jayna didn’t care at all and just busied herself with food. It’s because this murderous atmosphere was happening once or twice a day, and has been experienced by Jayna dozens of times.

Also, when eating with Jayna, the two wizards maintained their own proper boundaries, so it doesn’t turn into a big fight no matter what.

But sometimes, Michael crossed the line.

Kwang!

Michael got up as he punched the table.

“Old lady. Let’s fight now and see who wins.”

“You wanted to fight with me all this time, didn’t you?”

“Oh, it’s because I don’t like you. You sly old lady!”

And Jayna just sat between the two with a stunned look on her face.

“Shrimp…”

Jayna glanced at the shrimp that jumped out from her plate and fell to the floor.

She was just about to pick it up with a fork after hardly peeling it.

“Michael-nim…”

“Oh, no, I….”

“Poor shrimp.”

The faint voice of Jayna made Michael feel very embarrassed.

“Don’t you know Michael-nim, you shouldn’t play with food?”

Michael had never heard of it, but when Jayna said it, he could not refute it and stammered.

“That…”

“Whoa, already eighteen, but still childish than ten.”

Hilvenzia breathed a sigh with a worried look.

“I wonder when will this ‘child’ mature.”

“Shut up!”

“To tell you the truth, you have the loudest voice I’ve ever heard.”

Michael’s face turned red. Whenever he fights with Hilvenzia, he feels like his being teased one-sidedly.

Michael looked at Jayna as if wanting her to take his side, but she turned away from him, distracted by eating.

No, I think it was on purpose because of the shrimp he dropped earlier.

“Damn it…”

Michael felt great shame at the thought of losing the fight. He thought he needed something to reverse the situation.

And, the opportunity came right away, in a completely unthinkable way.

“It’s the Tower Lord!”

Hilvenzia’s face, which had been relaxed all the time, hardened.

And Jayna, who was preoccupied with her meal, also opened her eyes wide in surprise.

The whole restaurant erupts in noise with the appearance of the Tower Lord.

But that wasn’t the end.

“Is that a mixed-race standing next to him?”

“No way… Does it mean, he accepted it as a disciple?”

Noise.

Everyone seemed to speak quietly, but the sound grew louder as they spoke one by one.

Jayna looked at Diamide without saying anything.

‘Is there any occasion as to why the Tower Lord came to the restaurant?’

‘He always eats with reagents, right?’

Jayna, Michael, and Hilvenzia exchanged glances with each other.

Up until now, the air that had been excited by the playful words quickly subsided.

Even if Jayna tried to relax her mind that it was nothing, she could hardly let go of her worries because she could see Diamide right across their seat.

The seats where Diamide and Izren sat were, unfortunately, the most visible seat to the three (Jayna, Hilvenzia, Michael.)

“…..”

Jayna felt like the food she swallowed earlier was stuck in her throat. She couldn’t help but pay attention even if she didn’t want to.

Michael and Hilvenzia whispered at Jayna’s side.

“I think the Tower Lord is dying”

“Maybe one of my reagents that the tower lord took went wrong.”

Hilvenzia spoke with her peculiar sense of observation.

“The Tower Lord is not eating a bite. That’s not unusual, but why come down himself to the restaurant?”

When Hilvenzia said that, Michael turned around just to find Izren was the only one eating at that table. Then he said as if realized something unbelievable.

“You mean he actually came to the restaurant to take care of this hybrid knight?”

“What do you mean hybrid knight?”

“I mean…”

Michael explained to Hilvenzia what happened yesterday. Then he asked back with her eyes wide open.

“Then, is it true that the Tower Lord really accepted that hybrid as a disciple?”

“I don’t know either. Of course, I thought that he would reject it.

“Did he really accept it as a disciple? Are you sure?”

“But if it’s not, then why does the Tower Lord have him next to him?”

The words of the two spread quickly in the restaurant.

But it was Jayna, who was shocked the most right now.

The fact that Izren is at the tower, means that Diamide accepted him as a disciple, unlike the original story.

Her face was reflected in the tea she had was somewhat worried.

‘Is it because of me?’

Isn’t it possible that her act of trying to spend the rest of her life in a small luxury on the tower caused a butterfly effect and moved Diamide to do this?

‘Maybe the tower lord wants to use Izren to hurt me…’

But Diamide could play and hurt her with his own ability at any time.

There was no need to use this hybrid knight.

‘I think I’m over-thinking.’

Jayna did not realize that the two people, who had been raising their voices for a long time, had become quiet because they were also lost in thought.

‘I need to to create something, maybe an argument right now to divert her attention. I’m afraid she will be hurt if this continues’

‘How do you feel when you see your father, who never even stood there, come to the restaurant with another hybrid?’

Michael and Hilvenzia’s eyes were deeply locked.

The two of them had something to say but soon shut their mouths.

‘Jayna, who has always been calm, looked shaken this time.’

‘I didn’t know this kid can be this silent.’

But what they don’t know was Jayna had a completely different idea.

‘Would I attract attention if I go get a dessert right now with this quiet atmosphere?’

Jayna mused while biting her lips lightly with a sulky face.

“Jayna. If you do that, your lips will be chapped.”

Hilvenzia looked worriedly at Jayna and tried to speak to her, but stopped. It was because people’s voices grew louder again.

“How could it be human? The eyes are so different. “

“It must have been born between man and beast. It’s not a pureblood in my eyes.”

A thought flashed through Hilvenzia’s mind when she heard the diners at the restaurant.

It was because of their eyes that the hybrid or the mixed-race were persecuted. Born with sparkling gems different from humans.

The same was also true for Jayna. The reason why she was persecuted by the dragon was that her hair and eyes color is different from the ordinary dragon.

‘Did Diamide see Jayna in that hybrid’

But it’s Diamide we’re talking about, it’s not like he can feel pity towards the hybrid.

Hilvenzia quickly erased her hypothesis.

****

“Long time no see, brother. How have you been?”

“Who’s your brother? Don’t act friendly.”

“Yes, then I will omit the title as you desired.”

That afternoon, Rosian visited the Tower after a long time.

Originally, visiting was only possible in special cases, but Michael rarely used the family visits, so he was able to meet his family at any time.

Michael didn’t even like the family visiting system.

His parents died at a young age, and the human uncle was also an ice-cold Diamide.

Therefore, he doesn’t want or need family affection now. Being next to Diamide was a wake-up call to him. What he needed the most is strength and power to keep himself alive and to have the face to face other people.

‘You can’t choose blood ties when you’re born.’

So ‘family’ never meant anything to him

‘But maybe it’s a little different these days.

Michael glanced down at Jayna.

Because it is smaller than him, the top and back of her head was the only thing visible to him.

‘If you look at her in this angle, she really looks like a squirrel, just like what that old lady said.’

No, since it’s a dragon, should I call it a lizard?

They both have tails, so it seems like that.

“Oh…”

Michael’s warm gaze at Jayna soon turned hideous.

Unlike Diamide, her aunt, Princess Elia, cared about him, but her ways were not good.

Everything she did so far, only made Michael uncomfortable.

Urging him to come to the ball and wear funny clothes, or to memorize all the lineages of useless aristocrats in the country.

What he didn’t like the most was her nagging to him to become an imperial nobleman.

But these days it seems like he’s starting to change his mind on what he didn’t like the most.

It was because of his cousin Rosian.