GDT | Chapter 1.4

He must’ve walked all the way from the garden to the annex while staring at the ground. Scratching his head, Yurkia walked over to the window and called out with a smile.

“Young master! Are you watching the world again today?”

“……”

The boy didn’t answer, just leaned on the railing and gazed at the distant mountains. Was he longing for them? Yurkia glanced back to see what the boy was looking at, then grinned.

“Young master!”

At Yurkia’s shout, Ruberteo’s gaze dropped down. Seeing the boy’s eyes on him, Yurkia beamed and spread his arms wide.

“Jump down!”

“…?”

For the first time, an expression of disbelief appeared on the boy’s face. But Yurkia called out confidently,

“It’s not that high, and I’ll catch you, so don’t worry!”

Don’t you want to come outside? At Yurkia’s words, Ruberteo blinked. He stared at Yurkia like he was looking at something strange.

Even though his nose was red from the cold, he was smiling so brightly. Honestly, he didn’t look trustworthy at all. Even if he did catch him, they’d both probably fall over. So why was his body leaning forward?

The first time Ruberteo blinked, his body was falling over the railing. The second time, he was in midair. And the last time, when he squeezed his eyes shut, he felt a warm embrace.

“Ow, I managed to catch you, but I didn’t expect to fall over too.”

Looking up, Ruberteo saw Yurkia lying in the snow, which hadn’t been cleared at all. He’d managed to catch him, but standing up gracefully was a fail. But honestly, lying here like this—

“It’s not so bad, right?”

Yurkia asked, brushing the snow off Ruberteo’s clothes with a bright smile. It was really strange. The last teacher would yell or raise a hand to hit him.

But why did this person give him sweet things, read him books so he could sleep comfortably in a warm bed, and even suggest sneaking outside like this?

“We better hurry inside before Madam finds out!”

Ruberteo thought, This teacher is really weird.

***

It’s been three years since Yurkia came to the Northern Region. Today, with the snow coming down harder than usual, he hurried from the main building to the annex, brushing the snow off his shoulders.

“Haa… so cold…”

Will this place ever get warm? They say the Southern Region is super warm. Sighing as he watched the snow fall to the ground, he quickly moved on, not wanting to waste any time. Even complaining has to be done on a schedule. He pulled out the book he’d kept safe from the snow, tucked close to his chest.

“Teo will like this.”

His goofy smile was all because he was thinking of Ruberteo, who had changed so much over the past three years.

Ruberteo, who used to avoid eye contact and barely spoke, started meeting Yurkia’s gaze and having short conversations after a year. By the second year, they’d talk for hours and spend late nights together.

And now, in this third year, something truly precious had happened.

‘I get to eat with Teo!’

What a huge step forward! Ruberteo had always insisted on eating alone, which made Yurkia a little sad, but just recently, before bed, Ruberteo had ‘asked first.’

‘Teacher. Let’s have breakfast together tomorrow.’

So cute! Yurkia actually stomped his feet in excitement as he walked, then had to lean against the wall to calm his racing heart. How could he say no when an angel-faced kid asked to eat together?

He was so happy that the cat who’d always been wary and kept its distance was finally coming closer, he secretly marked it as a special day on his calendar.

[ The day Teo asked to eat together first ]

If Ruberteo ever saw it, he’d probably think it was pathetic to call this a special day, but what could Yurkia do? To him, it was as good as a holiday.

“Teo—”

Madam Ireunoa would probably be shocked to hear the nickname, but Yurkia called out as he opened the door, only to find Ruberteo, just out of the bath, getting dressed.

“…You’re here.”

Teo quickly turned his body to hide his bare skin. Maybe it was puberty. Yurkia used to help him get dressed, but now he just pouted and let it go—it’s something all kids go through.

“Were you training?”

“Yes.”

“Wow—Teo, you can hold a sword even in this weather? That’s amazing! My hands get cold just holding a pen.”

He blew on his red hands, chilled from carrying the book. Then he noticed a cravat tossed carelessly on the bed and picked it up.

“Here, let me help.”

“…I can do it myself.”

“Tsk, this is something adults are supposed to do!”

Yurkia moved closer and tied the cravat around Ruberteo’s neck, humming a little tune. How did he get more beautiful every year?

“You look so pretty today.”

Yurkia tapped the neatly arranged cravat. Under that white hair, Ruberteo’s eyes—an odd mix of green and blue—shimmered slightly.

So cute, and now he could even notice these little changes. Yurkia looked up at Ruberteo, who was now a bit taller, and grinned.

“Aren’t you hungry? Let’s eat and then read together!”

“…More.”

“Hm? What was that?”

“It’s nothing.”

Let’s go, Ruberteo said, lightly squeezing Yurkia’s shoulder before letting go. Yurkia blinked, then nodded. Yeah!

“…So I argued with the chef. There was a mountain of strawberries, and I asked if we could have some! It’s not like I’m eating them all—I wanted to share them with you.”

During meals, Yurkia did most of the talking. Ruberteo, who followed all the manners he’d learned from Yurkia, would just put meat on Yurkia’s plate without saying a word.

“By the way, there’s supposed to be a festival at the end of the year. Aren’t you curious?”

“…Do you want to go?”

“No—I just think it’d be fun to go out with you. We’ve never even been to the village.”

Yurkia pointed out that Ruberteo had spent all three years in the annex. Ruberteo wiped the sauce from Yurkia’s lips with his hand and said,

“Madam won’t allow it.”

“…Should we sneak out?”

“I know you got caught last time.”

“Caught? It was just… you know… adult talk…”

Seeing Yurkia blush in embarrassment, Ruberteo quietly put down his utensils. The way Yurkia got all excited about going to the festival, he seemed more like a kid than Ruberteo himself.

“I’ll ask her.”

“Huh? No, I’m responsible for you, so I should—”

“Wouldn’t it be more effective if I asked?”

Yurkia glanced at the pomegranate in Ruberteo’s hand, then at Ruberteo himself. Ruberteo cut the skin with a knife and scooped out the seeds with a small spoon. Instead of eating them himself, he offered them to Yurkia.

“For me?”

“Yes.”

“Oh… thanks.”

Yurkia awkwardly opened his mouth and took the spoonful of red seeds. As the spoon slid out, his lips stuck to it for a second before letting go, and Ruberteo just stared at them. Yurkia’s lips were slightly red from the juice.

Yurkia didn’t notice Ruberteo staring at his lips as he chewed the fruit. Ruberteo scooped up more seeds with the same spoon, still staring at Yurkia’s lips as he ate.

“Uh, that’s…”

I just used that spoon. Yurkia couldn’t finish his sentence as the spoon disappeared into Ruberteo’s mouth. Ruberteo didn’t look like he thought anything was wrong—he just calmly looked at Yurkia as he chewed.

‘Am I overreacting?’

Well, kids use the same spoon as their parents when sharing food. It’s probably just that. Yeah, that’s it. Yurkia stood up first.

“I, uh, I’m done eating, so I’ll go ahead! You finish up—”

“Let’s go together. We have to see Madam.”

He’d meant to leave alone, but it was awkward to refuse, so Yurkia just nodded. For some reason, his lips felt weird from the juice, so he rubbed them with the back of his hand as he walked ahead.

***

“You mean the festival?”

“Yes. I thought it’d be nice for the young master to see the festival this year.”

In Madam Ireunoa’s office, Ruberteo stood quietly while Yurkia tried to convince her to let them go to the festival.

“Hmmm…”

Madam Ireunoa took off her glasses and looked at the two of them, then smiled.

“No.”

“What? Why not…?”

“Have you two looked in the mirror?”

She turned a small mirror on her desk toward them. The two of them looked at their reflections, tilting their heads in confusion.

“What’s the problem…?”

“As I said before, there are a lot of good-looking people in the Northern Region, but… you two are just too much.”

Ah, Yurkia made a silly noise and looked at Ruberteo. His own blond hair was bright enough to attract attention, but Ruberteo was even more striking.

“Yeah… the young master really stands out.”

“You say that like Teacher Yurkia doesn’t.”

“Me? Who would notice someone like me… I’m really not that special.”

Yurkia scratched his head, eyes wide at the way the other two looked at him. What’s the problem?

“…Anyway, no. It’s not good to go out even in disguise, so it’s best to stay in the estate…”

“We can use the potion. There’s that stuff you can put on your hair to change its color for a while. No need to change the eyes…”

Ruberteo said. He stepped closer to Madam Ireunoa’s desk and looked down at her.

“That should be fine, right?”

“……”

“Isn’t it?”

Madam Ireunoa bit the arm of her glasses. Well, look at that. Her gaze pierced right through Ruberteo, who was standing in front of Yurkia, and after a brief silence, she spoke.

“Fine. I’ll prepare the potion.”

“Wow! I mean, ahem. Thank you.”

“But you can’t skip training or fall behind in your lessons before the festival.”

She meant she’d be checking their progress. Since that wasn’t a problem, Yurkia reassured her and left the office with Ruberteo.

“Phew—what a relief. Right, Teo? Oh! I mean… young master!”

He’d gotten so used to talking casually in the annex that using honorifics felt weird, so Yurkia scratched his neck.

‘I really need to be careful not to slip up in front of Madam.’

He hurried after Ruberteo, who was already walking ahead.

“Let’s go study. We can’t have any problems if we want to go to the festival! You have to keep up, I mean, you must keep up, young master! Got it?”

“Of course.”

Yurkia taught with the energy of someone whose last wish was to go to the festival. Watching him, Ruberteo remembered their very first lesson.

“Let’s start with speaking!”