Ch 29: Familiar and Similar - part 1

The professor was excited to soon have Layla as his student, a sight that made Mary snicker behind his back.

She had half a mind not to tell this man that he was delusional, but then she thought better of it and decided to open her mouth.

"Hey, aren't you getting too ahead of yourself here? You have no proof that my young miss will choose you to inter with. Maybe you should dial it back a notch-"

Mary tried to warn the First-Class magician, but the half-dragon immediately offended her.

"Huh! What do you mean? Anyone would die to intern under me! I am one of the only five First Class magicians alive and a half-dragon to boost. Just who could be better than someone like me?"

 Rodric Burnance boasted with unwavering confidence, already knowing the answer to his question- no one!

Rodric Burnance asked with dull confidence. He already knew the answer to his question - no one!

There was no one better than him when it came to learning magic.

"I don't know where you get your confidence, but you might need to lower your expectations this time. As far as I know, potion-making is the field my young miss has chosen to intern in.

And from what I know of your record with potions…you are the last person anyone would choose for it."

The sound of something cracking could be heard as the first-class magician felt himself freezing in shock, realizing the field his young miss had chosen was his one true weakness.

Of all the fields the young miss could have chosen, she chose the one he was terrible at. It was his one true weakness.

But still, there was one solace he had.

"Ha, I may not be good at potions, but no one knows! Your young miss would still end up coming to me. Just wait and watch."

The first-class mage boasted, and Mary just smiled back at him.

"Ah, then, would you like to make a bet with me? How about a year's worth of salary? We both don't need money after all, and it could be fun."

Mary asked, and the half-dragon agreed in a heartbeat. That was how confident he was.

For the first time in forever, the half-dragon tasted defeat, a bitter realization of his overconfidence.

...

Everyone had expected Layla to choose a big-short magician to inter under, but she had other plans.

After reading the original work, Layla knew that the best person to learn potions from was a 300-year-old elf named Loyad Ragnarock. 

His meeting with the Female Lead had been described as 'fateful' since he had been a family friend.

He notices the villains abusing the female lead and decides to help her.

He also noticed the female lead's incredible potential and brought her in as an assistant.

You may ask how the female lead was good with potions when she had no magic. It was simple - because this was a fantasy romance world.

Everything in here revolved around the female lead. Even the world's end could have been prevented if the female lead had used her powers correctly…

'But why would she when there was romance on her mind.'

So, that led Layla to take the initiative.

With unwavering determination, Layla had already located where Loyad Ragnarock was; now, all left was to meet him.

But before leaving for the elf's house, Layla visited the temple. 

Despite this being her fourth visit to the temple, the priests always regarded Layla with suspicion, which she found amusing.

Even today, the priests couldn't help but look at Layla as a threat, but she only responded with her charming smile.

"Please lead me to the praying room."

Layla asked as she flashed the priest her usual smile. 

She could feel a presence looking at her as soon as she entered the temple's sacred grounds, but this had also become common.

"Here! You know the drill by now. I will take my leave now."

The priest left quickly, and Layla maintained her smile all the time.

She waited for the priest to leave before opening the door and walking out. She would do what she had been doing the past few times she had been here.

Layla did not even cross three corridors before she felt the familiar presence running toward her.

"You came back to meet me again! Did you bring cookies? I shared them with other kids, and they liked them a lot! They want to meet you as well. Are you sure you don't want to meet them?"

Rosette asked in a small voice. She looked at Layla with an expression that begged her to reconsider her choice.

But Layla did not intend to extend her help to people she did not need. She had a lot more on her plate to begin with.

"I don't have the time to stay here for long. I should be heading back now and-"

Layla felt the presence seconds before she was pushed away. She looked up and saw red eyes glaring back at her from underneath her white hair.

Maybe because they were both kids, but Layla suddenly felt spooked by how similar this new kid looked to her.

If not for their genders, the pair could have been considered twins.

"What are you doing with Rosette? Are you trying to harm her? I will not let you! You would have to go through me first-"

The kid, who was likely the same age as Layla, yelled out loudly.

At this rate, he would attract unwanted attention, and Rosette must have thought similarly because she quickly blocked the male's mouth with her small arms.

"Adam, stop it! Layla is the friend I told you about. She gave me cookies, and she came to visit me! Please, stop this-"

Rosette's words clarified things for Layla, and she immediately wanted something to relieve her headache.

'Wow! So, this was the male lead of this world? I knew that he was possessive over his things, but I did not think it started this young.'