The Reason I Keep Avoiding My Childhood Friend

I will get through this. I didn’t find the need to tell them how old I am, I simply got off the carriage. The coachman, who was looking at me with concern, smiled as if nothing had happened.

“Is this the sage’s study? It is unique and wonderful.”

He seemed surprised to see the exterior of the building, as if this was his first time visiting the Sage’s Study. Now that I belonged to the Sage’s Study, when someone admired the Sage’s Study, I felt proud as if I myself had been praised.

“It’s even better on the inside.”

“What else is inside?”

I tried to answer his question as his eyes were shining with curiosity, but I suddenly came to my senses. Even though he didn’t seem malicious, he was still suspicious. I didn’t have to gave him any explanation. It was absolutely not because that person treated me like a child that my kindness diminished.

“It’s better to see for yourself than to hear it. That would be more fun, right?”

“I guess so. Thank you so much for taking me this far.”

“I hope to meet the person you were going to meet.”

After exchanging greetings, the man first disappeared inside the building. I thought he was a blackmailer who was trying to rip me off, but that must have been an unintentional accident.

Did I overreact? Well, it was stranger not to be overly aware of an incident that’s eventful as compared to my normal daily life. But I felt unease, as if the situation wouldn’t simply end this way.

“I will come at the time I always come to pick you up.”

My dazed mind was awakened by the coachman.

“Yes. You can go back.”

“I’m really sorry for making a mistake earlier.”

“That person suddenly jumped out. It’s not Uncle’s mistake. Don’t worry and just go back carefully.”

The coachman apologized again like he was truly concerned about the near-accident, so I strongly reassured him that I was okay. Only then did relief spread over the coachman’s face. The coachman nodded and started the carriage.

My schedule was almost always the same. It would take too long for the coachman to wait here for me to return, so he usually went back and picked me up again around the time I finished.

I went inside the building with my lunchbox and the homework that Uncle Popo gave me. Today, I came because I wanted to meet Miss Katie.

I don’t greet her every day. However, since she was my teacher’s teacher, I would visit Miss Katie often to say hi to her. I knocked on Miss Katie’s lab door and opened it.

“Hello!”

I made a lively greeting and entered with a comfortable mind, then paused. Then, nervously, I greeted the person in the lab.

“Hello, Mister Dave.”

The owner of the lab was not here but, instead, there’s my teacher’s teacher’s teacher! Mister Dave was sitting there like the owner himself.

“Yes. Aren, it’s been a while.”

I shrugged my shoulders at the gentle greeting. Was it because of his age or because of the solemn atmosphere? Mister Dave, who I meet a couple of times a year, gave me a hard time. He was more burdensome to face than the Grand Duke. Mister Dave never scolded me, so why did I feel that way? Was it because of those amazingly defined eyes?

His intense eyes, uncharacteristic of an older person, looked terrifying as if they were lenses. Those eyes were scary whenever I looked at them. When that gaze fall unto me, I always get very nervous.

“Miss Katie is not here?”

“Yes. She is away for a while. Who are you learning from these days?”

“Uncle Popo… Sage Popo is watching over me.”

I quickly changed the title from ‘Uncle’ to ‘Sage’. He didn’t point it out in particular, but I was just conscious in front of Mister Dave. Maybe he didn’t hear me saying the wrong title, or maybe he was pretending not to hear it, Mister Dave spoke calmly.

“Really? The physics and math are probably too much. How is it?”

I couldn’t even ask why physics was too much. In fact, Mister Dave had a similar side to Kir’s father, the Grand Duke. Speaking in his own standards, he used words that inadvertently hurt the other person.

“Sage Popo explains it well, but math is a bit difficult for me, so I’m lost.”

Mister Dave ran his hand through his beard slowly. Tension tightens as if waiting for the final sentence at the courthouse.