Hobbies (2)

"You have nothing to do?"

Reed asked in surprise.

He knew that Dolores was a workaholic.

He thought she must have left a few busy schedules behind to come here.

Dolores nodded her head.

"I happened to have nothing to do today, so I just came over. It won't be a big deal if I'm away for a while."

"Really?"

"Yes, that's right."

As she spoke with a serious expression, Reed had no choice but to accept it.

Reed turned his head to Rosaria.

"She says so."

"Then can you help me?"

Rosaria's eyes sparkled again.

Dolores smiled and said,

"I'll help if you're okay with it, Rosaria."

"Yep!"

Rosaria grabbed Dolores' hand and led her to her room.

There was only one thought in Dolores' head as she entered her room.

'Why did I lie...?'

Dolores was surprised at herself.

She had decided not to tell lies that could easily be discovered, but she reflexively lied anyway.

Dolores rolled her eyes and sneaked a glance at Reed.

He was silently staring at her, which made her feel flustered once more.

"I won't do anything bad to the kid."

"I've never thought that you would do anything bad."

Reed could trust Dolores, unlike other Tower Masters.

That was Reed's thought.

Reed nodded his head and closed the door.

'I've already done wrong.'

So now she decided not to think about anything but focus on Rosaria.

"So, do you want to tell me what you don't understand?"

"Everything!"

"Do you really not understand everything?"

"Yes!"

What Rosaria showed her was a basic magic book.

It was something that was studied at an average age of 14-15 before entering the academy.

In Dolores' case, she understood it at the age of 8 and began her path in serious magic study.

Rosaria was a girl with an extraordinary talent.

Thus, she assumed that Rosaria had already understood the basic books.

"Wait a minute... So you've been using magic without understanding the basics?"

"Yes!"

'Is that even possible?'

Watching her innocent smile, it didn't seem like she was lying.

As her blue sapphire-like eyes stared at her, Dolores decided to measure her power once more.

"Can you show it to me once?"

"Like how I showed Papa?"

"Yeah, let's try that."

Rosaria began to emit magic with a bright expression.

'Oh!, my goodness...'

An exclamation came out.

Various elemental spheres rotated chaotically in the air.

'The form is maintained, but there is no order in the movement.'

Form and order.

Dolores had been taught that those two things were the most important.

If the form is not maintained, there is no order. If there is no order, the form cannot be maintained.

That was called the rule of traits.

The rules are unbreakable because they are rules.

However, Rosaria ignored such rules casually.

She had heard that she was a genius, but she never imagined her to be such a monster.

In terms of math, she found the answer by ignoring all formulas.

It was an impossible task even for Dolores, who had once been called a genius.

'What is the true identity of this child?'

She knew the fact that she was an orphan and that she had been bought from the black market, but no one knew her true identity.

"How was it? How was it?"

Rosaria stopped the magic and asked Dolores.

"It was really beautiful."

"Is it beautiful? Pretty?"

"Yes, it's really pretty."

Dolores' compliment put a big smile on Rosaria's face.

"Even though you can use mana like this, you don't understand the content of the magic books?"

"Yeah, I don't understand even though everyone teaches me. Rosaria doesn't want to be stupid..."

Rosaria pouted her lips.

Basically, all magicians were well-versed in basic magic theory.

'But it's difficult to pass that on to someone else.'

Teaching someone is different from learning.

Everything is like that, but magic is the most difficult among them.

Meeting a good teacher, diligently climbing the steps, and accumulating experiences. The process is as natural as water flowing.

Most wizards probably went through this process.

However, there aren't many people who can remember the entire process and explain it.

Once they become familiar with the unknown realm, it becomes difficult to explain it from the perspective of their inexperienced days.

"Rosaria."

"Huh?"

"You probably won't be able to understand this. Do you know why?"

"I don't know!"

Rosaria answered energetically.

Dolores smiled at the sight of her not being ashamed of her own ignorance.

"It's because Rosaria is not a fool but truly amazing. That's why you can't understand basic magic theory."

Dolores, like other magicians, had learned magic while understanding basic magic theory.

However, Rosaria understood and acquired everything sensually.

So, teaching her the basics of magic studies was just like teaching her how to breathe, which was unnecessary for her.

In other words, the basics of magical studies were meaningless to Rosaria.

Dolores pushed Rosaria's book aside.

"Studying with a different book would help Rosaria understand more."

"I see."

"Didn't your dad teach you this?"

"Dad said he's busy. But he still plays with me! At first, he taught me letters!"

"Letters?"

"He taught me one by one using an encyclopedia. It was fun!"

"It must have been fun. I'm glad."

Dolores sincerely responded to Rosaria's words.

"Didn't he teach you anything else?"

"No."

Was it indifference, or did he really want his daughter to live the way she wanted?

Amidst such doubts, Dolores naturally continued the conversation.

"You know what? I learned magic from your dad."

"From Dad?"

"Yes, when I was only as old as Rosaria, your father came as a home tutor for me."

That was Dolores and Reed's first encounter.

"Back then, I called your dad 'Oppa'.'"

A faint smile appeared on Dolores' face.

The first meeting.

It was such a happy memory.

Back then, Dolores was as small as Rosaria.

- You are the eldest daughter of the Baldschmidt family, Dolores. Since you were born into nobility, you should always remember that. You should no longer disobey your parents.

Reed's voice echoed sternly yet gently.

Although his voice was often criticized for sounding rigid, Dolores liked Reed's voice.

Because there was nothing else that could comfort her heart but him.

- If you want to act out, tell me. I'll be with you until you get tired of it.

Reed had been a strong support for Dolores, who had always relied only on her teddy bear.

That's why she admired him, and when she found out that he was her fiancée, she worked hard to enter Escolleia Academy.

Although they walked their separate paths, she worked hard to become the pride of the family.

In a way, all of those efforts were also for Reed.

Her first love, and the one who knew everything about her.

But Reed abandoned her.

He cruelly and impulsively disbanded their engagement.

She found out that it was due to the pressure from the Baldschmidt family.

It was because she was such an outstanding person that they didn't want to give her to Adeleheights, who was working hard.

But, even knowing that Dolores began to hate Reed.

She hated him for leaving her with scars without saying anything.

She despised him for ruthlessly abandoning her.

That's why Dolores looked at Reed with resentment.

Like a girl going through belated puberty, she blindly hated Reed.

Though she felt sorry for his increasingly broken state.

But at some point, her hatred disappeared.

It was undoubtedly when he stood up against Freesia.

She began to see him not as an object of hatred but as her first love, mentor, and her one and only Oppa, Reed.

"Unni, are you crying?"

"Uh, huh?"

"Don't be sad."

Rosaria covered Dolores's eyes with both hands.

"I'm not crying. I was just thinking about the past for a moment."

"Really?"

"Yes."

When Rosaria carefully removed her hands, Dolores' smiling face appeared.

"Shall we find a book that Rosaria can study together with Unni?"

"Yes!"

They began to look through the books piled up on the library shelves one by one.

As if picking out toys to play with, they continued looking for books, unaware of the passing time.

***

Dolores carefully left Rosaria's room.

She felt drained even though they were just looking for books.

Rosaria, who was the most active, began to doze off at the desk, and Dolores put her to bed and left.

'It seems like a lot of time has passed...'

Although she had initially discarded everything, the clock showed that too much time had passed.

The current time was 4:20 pm.

She couldn't believe that she hadn't been aware of the time until now.

'I need to get back to work quickly now.'

Dolores's head throbbed due to her disrupted schedule.

She needed to fix it.

Because it was a problem she brought upon herself.

That's when it happened.

"Ms. Tower Master."

A deep voice made her head turn.

Reed was standing in front of her.

She nonchalantly praised Rosaria.

"Rosaria is quite impressive. I was surprised when I heard she folded the mana pillar but like this…"

"Your secretary came."

Dolores's speech was cut off.

She had been with Rosaria, completely unaware of anything else.

"When did she come...?"

"She came around 2:10 pm, asking if the Lord of Wallin Tower was here."

Most likely, she had been worried about something happening to Dolores and had been searching for her.

Since she had never overridden her schedule before, it was reasonable for her to find it strange.

"Your secretary seemed to have made a mistake."

"Excuse me?"

"She said that the Lord of Wallin Tower had no schedule today, but kept insisting that there was a schedule."

"...So?"

"I didn't listen to the nonsense anymore and sent her away."

Dolores looked up at him incredulously.

"Did you send her away at the door?"

"I didn't have enough time to entertain her nonsense, so I sent her away."

"Ha... I understand. I'll handle it. But why didn't you tell me? What if it was really important?"

When Rosaria was with her, it would have been just a nuisance.

"From what I heard, it was all trivial matters. It would have only disturbed you while you were with my daughter."

Dolores finally understood.

It was his consideration for her.

When the secretary came looking for her, Reed must have realized that Dolores had some business to attend to.

However, Reed pretended not to know.

So that Dolores could have some time alone with Rosaria.

That's why she couldn't brazenly raise her voice.

"...Anyway, Rosaria is a very talented child. It's just that other people can't understand her. It's a problem."

"Is that so?"

"It's not that she lacks comprehension, but she doesn't know why she has to understand. It's like breathing naturally, but they can't accept it when you tell them to understand. The problem is that everyone dismisses it as normal because she is just a kid and can't understand."

"I see."

Reed pondered on who could be the most suitable person to be a teacher for her.

Dolores just looked at Reed quietly.

Somehow it felt like he was considering everyone except her, and it made her feel upset.

"Shall I teach her?"

In the end, she spoke up first.

"Huh?"

"Since I have work on weekdays, I can't do it... I'll visit every Sunday. I can certainly teach her better than the other wizards here."

"Personally, I don't mind... but is it okay for you?"

From Reed's perspective, it was a very good thing.

Having Dolores, a graduate of Escolleia Academy and a genius, teach his daughter was nothing short of a blessing.

However, he was also concerned about Dolores being a workaholic and whether Rosaria could cause problems in her work.

"It's fine. This is... a..."

She drew out a word that didn't come to mind immediately.

"Hobby."

That word she had never taken up before.

"This is my hobby."

***

So, Dolores became Rosaria's private tutor.

Rosaria liked Dolores, and Reed didn't feel any awkwardness, so everything went smoothly.

The problem was the people around them.

- I heard that the Lord of the Wallin Tower is teaching the young lady.

The person making a fuss was the Lord of Monolith Tower.

He was a fat man who took up about 70% of the screen that appeared.

He was also famous for having as much greed as he was fat.

"It's because my daughter likes her and she agreed to it. This is beyond my authority."

-Isn't the Lord of Wallin Tower just trying to pull her into her domain? Blindingly obvious!

"It's none of your business."

-What did you say!

The Lord of Monolith Tower became agitated.

As Reed tapped his chin with his right index finger, he said,

"Let's think about it. What did all of you send for my daughter?"

-Isn't our lecture notes enough? If it were a student or an apprentice in our tower, they would bow down to me every morning.

"That's the story for the students, but my daughter is only 7 years old. She doesn't even know her identity yet. To her, it's just a thick and boring book full of letters."

-Are you saying that our gifts are not gifts?

"They're not gifts. She felt stressed as soon as she received it. How could that be a gift? It's just torment. The only real gift came from the Lord of Wallin Tower."

-What did the Lord of the Wallin Tower give?

"She gave her a small teddy bear."

How could they not think of that?

In fact, it was natural.

-....

Since she was a genius before she was a girl, they had hoped for her to grow up and be beneficial to them.

They hadn't thought about things like fairy tale books or dolls.

"All I did was choose someone who thinks of the child first. It doesn't matter how much her academic achievements increase or how much her grades rise. All that matters is someone who can treat her as a teacher, a big sister, and a friend."

The Lord of Monolith Tower became silent.

He must have come to terms with Reed's words.

Reed was about to suggest hanging up when the Lord of Monolith Tower spoke again.

-That...

"...?"

-There is a magic measuring dummy that resembles a doll, what about that...?

"...."

'I should hang up.'

Reed was proud of himself for suppressing the urge.

"Anyway, why bother sending it when it'll be destroyed soon? Just leave it."