Chapter 29.1

Gerald shook his head. What would he know? He’s just an average eight-year-old.

He sighed deeply and said, “I’ll find out about him. Billiers, we have to make this medicine in ten years. We have to make it in ten years.”

“. . . You have a point.”

He nodded his head. It was of no use to us if the drug was invented after those ten years. Because my goal was to save my dad and nothing else.

“Okay, I’ll find a way to mix mana stone with other herbs. I’m going to continue the experiment based on the three herbs that Louella wrote down.”

“Okay, I understand.”

“So, can we start the class now? I was paid to teach you. Your parents might scold me.” Billiers laughed cheerfully.

Studying with Billiers was quite enjoyable.

Billiers was not a person who enjoyed stereotyping, perhaps because he was a researcher.

The class was conducted in a way that was enjoyable and understandable for us. He interpreted the sentences creatively and looked at the intention of the book with a slightly distorted perspective.

Although it may be different from the author’s intention, Billiers had a more realistic perspective.

The first class was over after that.

* * *

“Why aren’t you leaving?”

“I decided to leave after dinner,” Gerald said with a small smile.

I knew it! Mom is a liar! How could you do this to me?

Adults often lie like this. Teaching children how to lie is a bad thing.

This is really not in good faith. Mom, why are you doing this to me?

I trudged along with a book.

Gerald caught up with me and asked, “Do you want me to hold your book?”

“You don’t have to do that. I have hands.”

Gerald paused. A frown became evident on his face.

Did I go too far?

Turning his head, Gerald stood with his head down. “But . . . We’re friends.”

Gerald pressed his lips tight.

“. . .”

“It’s not like we’re not friends.” Gerald looked up. Large, watery eyes were staring directly at me in the face.

I always thought I didn’t know what I was thinking, but now, I felt like I would be showing my emotions seeing him crying like that.

“You don’t want to be friends with me?” Gerald’s voice trembled. “Louella?”

I gulped down my saliva.

My thoughts have become complicated now.

It was very difficult for me to know what to do now.

Is he guilty now?

But the person in front of me was not my husband, Gerald.

He was just an eight year old kid.

Are you sure you want to continue hurting him for something he hasn’t even become yet, Louella?

Honestly, this isn’t revenge. Why am I acting like this? It’s just plain rudeness and being a mean girl to a kid!

What are you going to do if you make a kid cry, Louella?

He isn’t asking you to marry him. He’s just asking you to be friends with him. You can’t even do that for him?

All you have to do is not get married, that’s it, Louella!

As soon as you turn eighteen, you can date many people and marry the best man.

A friend . . .

“Are you sure that you just want to be friends?”

Gerald nodded, “Yes.”

With a grin, Gerald caught up with me again. Then he reached out his hand, “The book.”

“You really don’t have to do it, really.”

“I want to do it for you.”

“Well . . .”

Was he always like this? It wasn’t until my book was in his hands that Gerald smiled.

I don’t remember this happening when I was eight.

* * *

Gerald stared outside with a blank facial expression.

He looked different from when he was with someone. Gerald was now on his way to the Academy alone.

On the surface, Gerald’s goal was Billiers, but he said he was going to see Dean Rowland.

Now Gerald was waiting for him in Billiers’s lab. Billiers said he was in class for a while.

Yesterday, Billiers showed up with a note that said Mana Stone.

It wasn’t long before Billiers came in. Billiers looked surprised, staring at Gerald, “What brings you here . . .?”

In fact, Billiers was working with Louella, not Gerald. Compared to Louella, Gerald looked like an ordinary eight-year-old.

Of course, he was exceptional compared to his peers, but he was not as good as Louella. Louella had a deeper understanding of Nisephor than Billiers.

“Billiers.”

But something was different today. He had a distinctly different atmosphere from the boy who was smiling next to Louella.

Gerald stared at Billiers with clear, cold eyes.

His eyes were deeper than those of an adult.

Billiers got goosebumps for a moment. “. . . Gerald?”

Where did the child, who was reading a book and sharing opinions yesterday, go? It seemed as though a mature adult was standing in front of him.