Attu was sitting in the room and organizing his things. After a while, Valorant entered the room.
Attu:
-"Teacher, what happened?"
Valorant:
-"We need to do something. Look at this." He showed Attu a box and opened it.
Attu:
-"What is this..." As he looked into the box, he saw a container filled with gold coins, and his mouth dropped open. Attu had never seen so much gold in his life.
Valorant:
-"I think this is enough for you to buy a sword."
Hearing Valorant's words, Attu felt overjoyed and hugged him, saying, "Thank you!"
Valorant:
-"Alright, alright, now we need to choose a sword. We will go and pick one tomorrow."
Attu:
-"Why not today?"
Valorant:
-"We will go tomorrow. We've just arrived as guests; let's take a little time to rest."
Attu:
-"Understood, then we'll go tomorrow." He was excited.
After that, Valorant left the room. Attu lay down in bed and fell asleep. When he woke up, Suna was knocking on the door and calling out.
Suna:
-"Attu, can you hear me?"
Attu got up and opened the door:
-"Yes, I'm up. What happened?"
Suna:
-"It's time for food. Come down and eat right away."
Attu:
-"I'll come down now."
Attu went downstairs and looked at the table. He approached the large table and sat down in front of Valorant. Only two people were sitting at the big table, but there was a place set for three. Attu called Suna over with his hand and asked:
-"Is Anna not coming to eat?"
Suna:
-"She is a bit afraid of you."
Attu:
-"Why?"
Suna:
-"I don't know."
Attu:
-"There must be some reason."
Suna:
-"If you see her, ask her." She left after saying that.
Attu was left wondering what to do. After finishing his meal, he got up from the table. He thought to himself, "Is she upset with me for disturbing them while they were playing? Or did I scare her? Whatever happens, I'll ask her when I see her." These thoughts troubled him. With that, Attu went to his room, lay down, and tried to sleep.
Around midnight, Attu woke up—more accurately, he couldn't sleep. He had gotten used to sleeping in uncomfortable places in the forest. He had never slept in such soft beds before. The softness of the bed was preventing him from falling asleep. He rolled over this way and that, but still couldn't sleep. Finally, he decided to get up and go outside. As he walked down the hallway, he noticed a door slightly open, with light spilling out from within. Curious, he peered through the door. It was a library.
Looking inside, Attu saw that the light was coming from a lamp sitting on a table. He quietly entered the library. It was large, with book shelves set up along the pathways leading into the library, allowing him to walk between them. Attu walked toward the lamp, glancing at the books nearby. He looked at the table. Anna was sitting there, reading a book.
Seeing Attu, Anna became startled and stumbled backward, hitting the book shelf behind her. As Attu saw the books falling toward her, he rushed in to stand under the books that were about to fall on Anna. She shut her eyes in fear. When the books stopped falling, Anna opened her eyes and looked up. She saw Attu's face very close to hers. Their faces were almost touching. Anna's cheeks flushed bright red like a tomato.
Attu:
-"Did nothing happen?"
Anna, feeling shy, replied:
-"Nothing happened."
Attu:
-"Then that's good." He began to turn away.
Anna looked at Attu's head. Blood was flowing from it. Since Attu had white hair, the blood stood out clearly in his hair.
Anna said in a very soft voice:
-"Stop!"
Attu:
-"What did you say? I didn't catch that."
Anna took a deep breath and said:
-"Stop."
Attu:
-"What happened?"
Anna:
-"Blood is coming from your head."
Attu:
-"Where?" He started to hold his head with his hand.
Anna:
-"From the top."
Attu looked at his hand, and indeed, blood was flowing.
Attu:
-"Oh, it really is bleeding. Can you find any cloth?"
Anna pulled a handkerchief from her pocket and said:
-"You can use this. And thank you."
Attu:
-"Thank you. What were you doing here in the middle of the night?"
Anna:
-"I was reading a book."
Attu:
-"What kind of book were you reading?"
Anna hid her book behind her back and remained silent.
Attu:
-"If you don't want to say, that's fine. I'm just curious about books too. But I don't have time for them since I practice so much."
Anna didn't say anything further. Attu began to feel a bit uncomfortable.
Attu:
-"Well then, I'll lie down and sleep. You should sleep too. Good night." He said as he left the library. Anna looked at the book in her hands. On the cover, it said, "Healing Magical Illnesses."
Morning came. Attu woke up and ran around the house to do his morning exercises. Valorant was watching Attu as he practiced. Despite the cold outside, Attu was practicing in just a shirt. After completing his exercises, Attu practiced striking with his sword. After practicing a hundred strikes with the sword, Valorant called him.
Valorant:
-"Attu, bring your sword."
Attu picked up his sword and prepared to strike. Valorant also prepared with his sword in hand. Attu went on the attack. He delivered a strike from above with his sword. Valorant deflected the blow, changing its direction to the left. As Valorant lifted his sword to strike from the right, Attu blocked it with his sword. Just as Attu thought he had stopped the attack, Valorant kicked Attu in the stomach with his foot, sending him flying. Meanwhile, Anna was watching their training from the window. She picked up her book and took it with her. Outside, Valorant finished Attu's training.
Valorant:
-"That's enough for today. You can rest."
Attu:
-"Master, when will you teach me to perform the fiery strikes that you use with the sword?"
Valorant:
-"To be able to use them, you must master this technique very well, and you need to reach level 2 or close to level 2 of the 'Fiery Wrath' spell."
Attu:
-"In my current state, can't I perform that strike?"
Valorant:
-"You can't do it like I can. And you also need a good sword."
Attu:
-"When are we buying the sword?"
Valorant:
-"That's exactly what I was going to tell you. We're not going to buy the sword today."
Attu:
-"Why not?"
Valorant:
-"When I spoke with Gustav yesterday, he said he would order a sword for me to bring. The Duke's condition is worsening, so he wants us to stay here as long as possible."
Attu:
-"I wanted to ask you about that. One question has been bothering me."
Valorant:
-"What is it?"
Attu:
-"Is someone trying to kill the Duke?"
Valorant:
-"It seems like you've managed to understand a lot."
Attu:
-"Yes, there are very few servants here. I've only seen five servants. For some reason, this place doesn't feel like the Duke's house. I didn't imagine such a large house would have so few servants."
Valorant:
-"You're starting to think quite intelligently."
Attu:
-"Thanks to your help."
Valorant:
-"I'll give you a task. Try to fulfill this task well."
Attu:
-"Okay."
Valorant:
-"Get to know Anna closely and be around her. If possible, always. I will try to protect the house."
Attu:
-"I understand, Master."
After the training was over, Attu went back to the library. Thinking Anna would be there, he found that Anna was indeed in the library, reading a book.
Attu:
-"Hello, how are you?" he greeted.
Anna:
-"Hello," she said, and remained silent.
Attu:
-"Would you mind if I sit here and read a book?"
Anna glanced over from behind her book.
Attu:
-"I'll take that as your permission." He picked a book from the shelf and began to read. Anna and Attu spent quite a bit of time reading there together. Eventually, Attu got bored of reading.
Then Attu started to ask questions:
-"Anna, what book are you reading?"
Anna didn't respond. Attu stood up, moved closer to Anna, and looked at the book she was reading. Anna quickly closed the book. However, Attu managed to read some parts of it.
Attu:
-"Are you interested in healing people?"
Anna:
-"No."
Attu:
-"Then why are you reading books about medicine? Or are you trying to heal someone?"
Anna:
-"Yes."
Attu:
-"Are you trying to heal the Duke?"
Attu realized why Anna was interested in medicine.
Anna:
-"I want to heal my grandfather."
Attu:
-"I understand you. Like you, I also don't have parents. I can understand why you read so much. You want to do everything you can for the last remaining person close to you. Isn't that right?"
Anna:
-"Yes, my grandfather is my last closest relative, and I don't want to lose him."
Attu:
-"I understand you. But there are some things that we cannot change, even we are powerless before them."
Anna:
-"Are you saying this to discourage me?"
Attu:
-"On the contrary, I want to say don't hold back anything to keep your loved one safe. I don't know why these words came to my mind from somewhere. But I do know this: you are a good girl. I really like girls like you."
Hearing these words, Anna's face turned red. Attu, looking at Anna's face, thought she was feeling unwell and placed his hand on her forehead, saying:
-"Are you feeling okay? For some reason, your face has gone red. Do you have a fever?"
Meanwhile, Suna entered the library and overheard their conversation.
Pretending not to have heard anything, Suna walked in and said:
-"Attu, it's time for food."
Attu looked at Suna and said:
-"I think Anna has a fever; you should give her some medicine." Then he left the library.
Suna:
-"I'll get the medicine right now." She hurried over to Anna.
Anna had rested her head on the book.
Suna:
-"So, how was the first kiss between the books?"
Anna:
-"What do you mean?"
Suna:
-"Didn't Attu kiss you?"
Anna:
-"Nooo, that didn't happen."
Suna:
-"Then why did you turn red?"
Anna:
-"He just..." she fell silent.
Suna:
-"Did he kiss you? Did he hold you close? Did he hold you by the waist?"
Anna:
-"No, no, no. He just checked to see if I had a fever by touching my forehead."
Suna:
-"Oh, I thought something more interesting had happened."
Anna:
-"Nothing you're thinking happened at all."
Suna:
-"Well, it's okay. Everything develops slowly. Today, he touches your forehead without realizing it. Tomorrow, he'll hold your hand unknowingly, and slowly, you'll start holding each other and getting to know each other better." She laughed.
Anna:
-"It's not like that at all."
Suna:
-"You'll see; that's how it will happen. By the way, go eat something. You haven't had breakfast yet. Boys like strong girls. Attu has a crush on you. So, start eating better."