Episode 7. The Snot-Nosed Kid Who Overstepped

Uncharacteristically for someone as articulate as Brienne, her words trailed off. Her mind went blank, unable to come up with any excuse. Again.

She had embarrassed herself in front of this man yet again.

As Brienne stood flustered, Hereis reached out with ease and picked up the book in question. Brienne jumped back in horror.

“W-why are you picking that up?”

“…Please don’t misunderstand. I just intend to return it to its place.”

Hereis glanced briefly at Brienne and spoke in a low voice. In the meantime, Brienne had stepped back several more paces, widening the distance between them.

“W-well then, I’ll be going now…!”

As she hurried to flee, Hereis extended his arm. In that large hand, Brienne was far too easily caught.

“……”

A faint sunlight spilled into the cozy corridor. He stepped closer, stopping right in front of Brienne. The narrowed distance made it hard to breathe. As Hereis leaned forward, their faces drew uncomfortably near.

“Lady Ford.”

A dazzling smile bloomed on his face, which had been lightly shaded. Only then did Brienne get a proper look at Hereis Belif’s face.

A face she had never paid attention to, having eyes only for Kaiden.

“You should take this book.”

Her body was pulled forward along with the wrist he held. At a distance close enough to feel each other’s breath, he overlapped his hand over hers and slowly handed her the book.

A fox…

Now that she saw him up close, it wasn’t just the looks—his actions were cunning too.

Meeting those deep gray eyes, Brienne’s face instantly turned crimson. Her small feet, which had retreated several steps, suddenly spun around.

Before she even realized it, Brienne was running out of the library, clutching the book to her chest.

Hereis let out a low laugh as he watched her flee like someone being chased.

He thought she looked just like a rabbit.

***

When Hereis Belif was about nine years old—

The noble faction families of the Rontiano Empire would gather every weekend in the garden of the Bannon estate under the pretext of their children’s playdates.

A time to review matters to be brought before the council and to build camaraderie among the heirs of noble houses. And at the very center of it all were the leaders of the noble faction—Duke Bannon and Duke Belif.

“I’m Hereis Belif. You know who I am, right?”

Thanks to that, young Hereis brimmed with immense confidence. Wherever he went, people would flock to him first, and he had never heard a harsh word. Perhaps it was only natural.

“…What’s that? Potato head?”

Fluffy blond hair like a newly hatched chick, light green eyes sparkling like a predator’s.

The tiny girl clinging tightly to Kaiden’s back pouted her plump cheeks and mumbled something unintelligible. Hereis distinctly remembered how funny she looked to him.

“This is Brienne. She likes to read.”

Kaiden seemed quite fond of the girl, enough to hold her hand tightly and slow his pace to match hers. He even turned down an invitation to go treasure hunting in the forest to sit and play dolls with her.

But unlike Kaiden, who was precocious enough to be called a prodigy even at that age, Brienne Ford behaved exactly as a child her age should.

She whined at the drop of a hat, tripped over her own feet, and walked around grinning with snot on her face…

Why Kaiden liked such a snot-nosed kid was beyond him. Whenever he saw Brienne, who seemed even younger than the average child her age, Hereis secretly frowned.

Her short legs scurrying after Kaiden annoyed him. So did the adoring eyes that looked only at Kaiden, as if no one else existed.

At that age, even a one-year difference felt huge. Three years? That said it all. Back then, he simply found her presence a nuisance.

“…Ugly. Go away!”

So, hearing such a thing from a snot-nosed kid shouldn’t have mattered…

But that day, Hereis returned home and didn’t leave his room for a while. Hiding under the covers, he stared into the mirror, poked at his face, lifted his nose, and stretched the corners of his eyes, but nothing changed.

The sensitive boy had taken a deep wound from those few words. He had always known he wasn’t especially good-looking, but it was the first time anyone had outright called him ugly.

Perhaps that was why he couldn’t help but pay more attention to that girl.

After that, Hereis went out of his way to avoid Brienne at weekend gatherings. Her brother, Shiloh Ford, was caught in the same net. Whenever their eyes met, Hereis would quickly look away. If their paths crossed, he would take the long way around.

And yet…

Whenever he came to his senses, he was watching the backs of Brienne Ford and Kaiden. He had often rushed up to talk to her, only to chicken out and run away like a fool. Seeing Brienne beam up at Kaiden scared him.

He was afraid she’d ignore him again. After all, he wasn’t as handsome as Kaiden.

It was the first time he had ever envied Kaiden Bannon. All over a little girl’s glance. He wanted Brienne to smile that brightly at him, too.

And perhaps his desperate wish reached her.

Hereis grew handsomely as the years passed. At some point, he sprouted up taller than his peers, his build broadening, and his once-blurry features filled out without flaw.

He still had a long way to go before he’d be considered fully grown, but no one could call him unattractive anymore.

However, just as he was starting to hear he was decent-looking, around the age of thirteen—

The Ford family, who had only appeared occasionally at the weekend gatherings, disappeared from his life. Leaving behind Hereis Belif, who had been agonizing over whether he was finally allowed to talk to her.

“Father… what about Shiloh Ford?”

“Who knows. I always thought he was a bit soft, and now it seems he’s fully siding with the imperial faction. The Marquis of Ford appeared neutral in the council; he must have made some deal with the imperial family. At this rate, they’ll end up our enemies. What, are you disappointed your peer is gone?”

Hereis shook his head immediately at his father’s question. There was no need to feel disappointed or sad. Rather, if anything, he felt relieved. He no longer had to hide from Brienne Ford.

Just a girl he knew.

A girl he only had to see at gatherings.

The boy whose wounds had healed wanted to leave Brienne Ford as just that—a memory. Though her voice calling him ugly sometimes echoed in his ears when people said he looked good, though he was a bit curious whether she would say such things again if he met her…

…Hereis tried desperately to forget Brienne Ford.

In the years that passed, many things happened in Hereis’s life. After his mother’s death, he left home and enrolled in the Academy, dedicating himself solely to study. Distanced from the nobles of the Rontiano Empire, he had no one to connect with besides Kaiden.

The first year, assigned to freshmen, was enough to explore various fields of study. Overflowing with innate magical power, Hereis chose the Department of Magic the following year. It was an obvious result. Dormitory life was overly ordinary, even boringly smooth. So why did those light green eyes from childhood keep surfacing?

During vacations, guided by that hazy memory, he returned to the social circles of Rontiano. He even attended the Bannon family’s parties during the semester. It was because of a vague belief that he might see Brienne Ford if he went where Kaiden was.

What do you look like now?

Do you still smile like you did back then?

That small curiosity quietly fed off his memories and grew in size. But fate never allowed him to run into Brienne Ford. She rarely attended parties, and during Shiloh’s vacations, she never left the manor.

After learning that, Hereis stopped going to meaningless parties. Still, he did gain one thing during those events:

That Brienne Ford still liked Kaiden. That they might even marry.

It burned.

Only after hearing that did Hereis vaguely realize what the emotion that had followed him all this time was.

It bothered him, consumed his thoughts, made him want to get close, made him long for her smile. Watching her treat Kaiden with affection hurt him, and he thought if only he could be in Kaiden’s place, he’d ask for nothing more…

Facing those feelings, even knowing he should give up, he didn’t want to. No, he couldn’t. All he wanted was to see Brienne Ford one more time.

Then, at twenty-two—

That summer vacation, Hereis had his eyes stolen by a woman at the Bannon estate’s lakeside.

A green leaf, unable to withstand the breeze, fluttered down. The scent of grass from the lakeside blew in strong with every breath. Warm sunlight poured softly from the blue sky.

And under the shade of a tree, like the very essence of summer, a beautiful woman immersed in a thick book.

He couldn’t look away. Time flowed slowly, like the ripples on the lake. It was an unfamiliar feeling. Even though the scene was familiar, that woman’s presence alone stirred something deep inside him.

The calm gesture of tucking her softly fluttering hair behind her ear. Light green eyes moving gently along the lines of text beneath long lashes.

Then, as if she found something amusing, her red lips curved slightly. And in that smile, a glimpse of small teeth, shyly revealed.

‘…Brienne Ford.’

It didn’t take long to recall the name of that fairy-like woman. From Kaiden’s stories, from her appearance, there could be only one woman at the Bannon estate’s lakeside.

When had that snot-nosed brat grown up so much?

The little girl he had longed to meet again had grown into a fully matured woman. There wasn’t a trace of the clueless child on her elegant, composed face.

Hereis, who had stood frozen for a while, felt his heart pound violently. It was like a long-overdue assignment from his youth; he wanted to go up to her and say something.

Really, if Kaiden hadn’t appeared, maybe he would have.

He would’ve gently greeted the wide-eyed Brienne, sat beside her on the mat, and talked about books together…

Do you remember me?

I never forgot you, not once since those childhood days.

***